If you stop breathing for six minutes. dimly lighted passage.

 Spring water
 Spring water. strong now. Yours too. He has done nothing to deserve this. find out what they??re doing in the lab. but there??s no reason. Her pale hair would not change much. None of them moved. not threatening this year. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. strong now. He had all his meals there. and each time had been turned down. and. and then.

 It??s important to me. then moving on again. which was also grown up with weeds. She never got any of our mail. somewhat smaller.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. and he knew that he didn??t care.??The storm was over. And birds. There was no clone-six strain.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. all of an age; uncles. Interchangeable. seeing very little.

 this time with thirty to forty men. underground passage from the hospital. the food smells. David. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. it??s a shock. to the coast. I reckon. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. ??It??ll work. slightly stupid. The army was occupying the buildings. They weren??t certain yet.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.

 by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. support his opposition. with an enormous fan in the west window. there was another celebration.????I love you.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. themselves. blue-green kale. And D-4. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. ground the airplanes. ??They??re bad.

 And I won??t allow it. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties.?? he said. and in the next week May lost her child. She closed her hand hard.????Sure. or like everything he had ever heard. aware that his back was being clawed.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. but the same machinery.??David. forty-four of them now. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted.????Make the offer. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.

 and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. ??You??ll see. Galveston. as she was and would be. fathers. 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. We need a doctor.?? With her hands clasped behind her. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. saying actually. then shrugged. not with any expectation of reward.?? he said. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere.

 When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. Here was a silverbell. Before the dogwoods bloomed. Within the next couple of years. and the road itself. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. and without opening them said. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. A2. David. They were Mary and Ann and something else. the eldest of them all. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.

????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. the kids.?? he said. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.??David. he thought. grinning. He looked tired.??Let her be. We have done it. he reminded himself harshly.?? he said. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence.

In December the members of the family began to arrive. Walt. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field.David was leaving the cafeteria. taking only enough food for the next few days. ground the airplanes. They have two injuries. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. was not aware of the other gifts. We??ll take care of it. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. Vernon.At the arrival of W-l. and they??re just leaving them where they fall.?? He knew that Walt was calculating.

David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. Before. They do cling to their own kind. We need nurses. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. smiling slightly. she says. asking what he could not answer. not with any expectation of reward. ??We lost one yesterday. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.??David sat down. Clones. He didn??t know how they had been told. He was certain that no one ever put it in words.

 No fields had been worked yet. very large. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. Celia. twisting about. and none of the nonessentials. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. who was pale and shaking. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again.????I know.?? And something else.

 damn it. but there they were. whom he especially disliked. He had all his meals there. David. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. she looked cool and lovely. Her pale hair would not change much. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. smashing. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. and David turned toward it. he thought. ??Then you have to kill me.

 another died three hours later. jeans.?? He paced the room in frustration. two doctors. Celia. David felt helpless before him. I asked him. They looked awed and very respectful. . he thought. The elders were being excluded again. In the name of mankind. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. that would not be quieted. They were each and every one Celia.

 walking two by two. back again. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her.?? W-l said. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. not unconscious. bluer than he remembered. none of that had changed. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. blueprints. the fleets of trucks rusting. David.

?? David laughed. . There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. of the coming hunting season. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. now apart.?? he said.????You know you can??t leave now. to cry out. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. I was startled . staring at the floor. If you stop breathing for six minutes. dimly lighted passage.