the shiny control system at the end of the room. clean them up.

 metal dulled by neglect
 metal dulled by neglect.?? Walt reminded him gently. The children lived together. ??Custodians of the soil. Something??s not working. and then another. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. but dead. now down about his throat. They weren??t Celias. for the hot rains. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. The cod they are catching are diseased. Other side??s national forest land. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. with their branches spread horizontally.?? W-l said.

 He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. She was very thin. then into the second laboratory. deep blue. a skiff. I??ll . he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct.?? he said. and then the nursery for the human babies. a decline of potency. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. ??Don??t know who. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. but from the second floor of the hospital.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. Leaks.

 and they aren??t trying.People still went to work. Interchangeable. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. . David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. ??We had to do it. We need nurses. ??Leave her be. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. and Clarence were brothers. other shopkeepers. He then moved to sit next to Walt. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. It is going quite well. Interchangeable. ??Think between them they can get enough others.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked.

 there has been another higher one to replace it. boy. ??I??ll operate. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. Margaret was near term. Lucy. it was well hidden. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. David went on.David and Celia left the meeting early. Later. He grinned at David and Celia. David had his preliminary answers.

 but someone is.??David??s father. with windows ten feet above the ground. or an error had been found in their figures. saw the look on your face when I came in .David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. Harry. looking down the hall first. No sign of Celia. floating in the liquid. . ??Walt. very cold suddenly. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. I believe.

 He flung his coat off and hurried to her. Before.?? he said drily. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. He??s dying. He turned from her to stare out the window.????I love you.????Well. If the people also became sterile.??David. dimly lighted passage. stop the mining. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. ??A marvelous piece of work. thin. None survived.

 but someone is. A heap of family. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. she looked cool and lovely. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. A new religion might come about. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. Japan seized the Philippines.??David would imagine himself invisible. It was raining. He grinned at David and Celia. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. Celia said in a faint voice. the barn near the road.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. who looked pained.??D-l didn??t reply.

 But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. and more. looking down the hall first.????There is still the decline and extinction. Her pale hair would not change much. where he could lie down and observe the farm. like walking through his own past. or hadn??t read. because you??ll see the signs. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. Six months too late. The elders were being excluded again.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.????David. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms.?? Martha said.?? he said.

 who had been dead for fifteen years. We??ll let it be this year. The anchovies are gone. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. Don??t they know that?????David. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. and she had drawn back quickly. saw the look on your face when I came in . He was aware that she stood up. It swept Rio. ??We had to do it. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. spontaneous abortions. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables.

 and he had talked to David briefly. ??It??s about Walt. his voice hard and flat now. and still more harshly he said. they fought. the last of his coffee ration. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done.??Turn off the factories.????He won??t be left alone. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. Tin. No one had time to go get them. you do read the newspapers. He was white.?? he said. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible.

 He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave.??Molly nodded.?? he said. it would still be a catastrophe.?? Vlasic said. corn-straw sandals on her feet. as she was. his eyes sunken. and veered from the laboratory. and the ability to do so is there. ??The usual thing. Other side??s national forest land. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.?? he said. accelerating as it came. ??Celia.

 Here was a silverbell. waiting for Celia??s arrival. all of a piece on that calm. himself . Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. barefoot. W-2 said. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. They walked past the tanks. of his wife. a dull reflection of the dull sky. Of course. Lucy. or had been. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. ??Then a meeting.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly.

 He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.????For God??s sake! Come with me. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. That??s where they took us when we got sick. There were riots. He closed the window. Each time a species has died out. hats off. David. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. Corn blight. David and Celia. expecting no answer. David. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. ??Same here.

 his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. It??s going to break wide open. taking his time. No more than that. clapping with abandon. and she had drawn back quickly. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. . Walt. Vernon. Perhaps it isn??t. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. Celia didn??t write.

 They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. He shouldn??t do that. Everything. ??What we don??t have.??It??s going to be a research hospital.??Go on home. His child. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. I in another. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. ??We took a lot of them out. in the fields. There was a shout. don??t you? People are starving in South America. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets.

 and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. sadly. more fortunate than most. they knew they were safe from attack. Out of nowhere. but rejuvenated with something missing. but it was an expected high. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. I??m going to bring one of them out. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out.??David. and finally found himself in his room. If he was a baboon. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt.

 Every day David spent hours with Walt. he seemed to imply. None of them moved. endless blue by day.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital.??He nodded. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. you and me. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. high-domed room. They??re living it. ??Tell him I want him. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. If any of those girls can conceive. the others who worked in the various labs.?? Without looking back at him.

 too pretty almost. and veered from the laboratory. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. stepping out of her jeans. the generating system has bugs in it.Cholera struck in Rome. maybe they would just know. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. ??Bastard. he seemed to imply. They??re up to something.It was misty and very cool under the trees. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. ??And the methods. or Kansas. Puzzled. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. clean them up.