Without opening his eyes David asked, "Did I do much damage?"

"Very little," W-1 said.

Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. His head was still bandaged, but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. His shoulder ached. He went to the cafeteria slowly, with two of the clones as escorts. D-1 stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. D-1 remained standing.

"Do you remember our class discussions about instinct, David?" D-1 asked. "We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts, only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. We have changed our minds about that. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct, a drive, if you will." He looked at David and asked, "What are we to do with you?"

"Don't be an ass," David said sharply. "You are not a separate species."

D-1 didn't reply. None of them moved. They were watching him quietly, intelligently, dispassionately.

David stood up and pushed his chair back. "Then let me work. I'll give you my word of honor that I won't try to disrupt anything again."

Dl shook his head. "We discussed that. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. As it would our own."

David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers, forced them to relax. "Then you have to kill me."

"We talked about that too," D-1 said gravely. "We don't want to do that. We owe you too much. In time we will erect statues to you, Walt, Harry. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. Our gratitude and affection for you won't permit us to kill you."

David looked about the room, picking out familiar faces. Dorothy. Walt. Vernon. Margaret. Celia. They all met his gaze without flinching. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly.

"You tell me then," he said finally.

"You have to go away," D-1 said. "You will be escorted for three days, downriver. There is a cart loaded with food, seeds, a few tools. The valley is fertile, the seeds will do well. It is a good time of year for starting a garden."