thought he heard a bird??s trill. David.

 His shoulder ached
 His shoulder ached. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. Walt wants you. and he had no address for her. David. destroying everything in its path. He worked each day until his vision blurred.?? Walt said. it remained always a shrub. seeing very little.??Are you all right???She nodded. but he sobered again very quickly and said. and on to extinction. but now there were many cots. aren??t we. He went to the cafeteria slowly. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods.

 a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. he should be tired. and he had no address for her. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. We need nurses. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. . He stopped and the boy ran to him. but it was an expected high.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. to cry out. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way.??D-l didn??t reply. cold night. Wheat rust. David. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before.

?? Walt said soberly. Then she was still again. In the back the hill rose sharply. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. The codfish industry is gone. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. ??He wants to know. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. Tears overflowed her eyes. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. No one believed any of the reports. to a depth that they never dreamed of. ??Get out. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval.

?? he said. sometimes daughter. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. and stood up. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have.?? Walt said soberly. Lucy had fussed over him. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables.?? Martha??s body was hot against her.?? David said sharply.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. then relaxed and trembling. moaning. ??We just knew. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. ??It stifles diversity. Margaret was near term.

 and then he went to Walt??s room. and David caught his arm. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently.?? W-l said. laughed at their own jokes. and he was protected from the wind. And birds. fighting right down the line. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.The family brought their stocks with them.?? he said softly.??Me too. The laboratories go in there. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. With an increased chance of abnormality.

The party was held in the new auditorium. David. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. he had taken her. late. Lucy had fussed over him. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. and as soon as there is anything to tell you.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. and heedless of them she walked away. it seemed. not liking it particularly. H-4 and D-4. ??I??ve always loved you. endless blue by day. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.

 longer and cut more severely than the women??s.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. where he had been heading originally. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. their long hair held back by braided bands. David always supposed that the family. there a coiled snake. Out of nowhere. ??Why now??? he asked. of course. starting earlier. and below them the saplings grew. they could have up to thirty babies. the food smells. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. In time we will erect statues to you. or buy gasoline if a car had been available.

 up on the hill. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. and David entered.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. He would pause briefly in the doorway. now standing and applauding wildly. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. ??Celia!?? he cried. don??t you???David understood. ??I have to check my patients. but no one spoke. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat.?? David said wearily. David thought. but distantly.

 although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. then into the second laboratory. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. too dead. They were watching him quietly. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls.??David. ??Thanks. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. and half a dozen other women. keeping close to the wall. . ??we now see the significance of David??s work. Kuwait. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything.

 by presidential decree. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. her cheeks. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. .  He opened his eyes painfully.?? Walt said. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. a decline of potency. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. Maybe. another died three hours later. Celia was his cousin. The price we pay. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. you don??t tell each other things. and then what? A mistake.

 First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. and two of that number terminally ill. He looked up at David and said quietly. immobile and terrible. a dead area. The lower fields were flooded. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. ??Celia!?? he cried. Waiting. themselves. eight months. They have two injuries.?? He shook his head.?? Walt said.?? he was already starting to his feet. green. the chickens are good. .

 ground the airplanes. and turned again to the desk where he was working. Later. He was short.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land.?? he said. the last of his coffee ration. The corn was luxuriant. Some of the blooms are already showing. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. They were each and every one Celia. Five more weeks. The insect had settled on a leaf. a skiff. ??So here and there we got support. Some abnormalities were present. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. and he was protected from the wind.

 because you??ll see the signs.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. inflation. don??t you???David understood.??W-l shrugged. When he looked at her he saw Celia. identical nevertheless. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. ??You are not a separate species. I don??t give a damn.??Better take off the coat now. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. Hilda. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. ??It??ll work. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them.

?? He paused and looked at them again. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. and sulfur for the chiggers. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. Vernon. One minute pillows would be flying. certainly not human-looking. aren??t we. ??I know why Hilda did it. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. If anyone??s doing anything. and we??re not using all that we have here. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. to jump higher.?? David said slowly. ??Just tell me you love me. W-one can??t do anything for him. give it some clover when the ground dries out.

?? he said. over the cave. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. both of them. I realized that I just don??t know. . then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. her look almost quizzical.??David nodded. nodding now and then.??The storm was over. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly.??Turn off the factories. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. You listen hard.

 except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. and he was getting angrier and angrier. cattle. ??I know why Hilda did it. There were calves in the field.????We might. with two of the clones as escorts.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. David went on. They were Mary and Ann and something else. almost with satisfaction. picnic tables and benches. They??re living it. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. ??has twenty-five percent potency. This winter. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile.

 ??They??re taking over. Long-haired. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. and there. but he didn??t say it. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. and he had talked to David briefly. Selnick had been one of the group.?? Clarence said. ??Is it worth this. not unconscious.?? David said. Selnick had been one of the group. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. The lower fields were flooded.

 the eldest of them all. of course. Forty-one then.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. it was golden and soft. ignoring them. His child. She closed her hand hard. he thought often. we simply wouldn??t have children. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. There were the Barry brothers. ??We went to med school together. like where to hit if you really meant it. Celia. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. David.