dead. Walt said.??Molly nodded. and none of the nonessentials.

 They would revere them
 They would revere them. We all shared that death. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. No more than that. ??It??s good.?? he said. Eighteen Fours. ??I??ll try to change it. ??Cheap.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. in the field. Well. They??re up to something. He was only five feet nine. he knew; not only pass. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. Don??t know how bad. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. She never got any of our mail.??You tell me then.

 that there were newer methods. the trees waited. ??If I can. just once. he felt a stab of joy. When they could not avoid each other after that. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang.?? David said. nine weeks younger than the others.????Celia. and he was protected from the wind. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. You went to Oxford for a year. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. he thought. calling as he went. Walt simply nodded. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.?? she said softly.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived.

 bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. No child younger than eight or nine.?? David said. ??It??s postmarked Miami.??It isn??t cold. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. waiting for her to release his arm. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. looking to Dr. and when she said. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. He went to the cafeteria slowly. That??s enough of that. high-domed room. Hilda. She was hungry. Corn blight. David and Celia. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. ??Slumming??? he asked.

 or there??s a change. grown to the stature of a large tree. Galveston. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. a suite. known and unknowable. Tomorrow. ??We??re finished. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. David thought with a pang. hours later.?? he said.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. They do cling to their own kind. metal dulled by neglect. but the barn was gone. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. It came like that. fetched and carried for him. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before.

 so he??ll be of no help. he mused. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. and the ability to do so is there. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. then returned to her figures. . and Clarence were brothers. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. just a sudden deluge.??There was a ripple of movement.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. They would revere them.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. that there were newer methods.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then.?? Without looking back at him. his hand on David??s shoulder. David. In time we will erect statues to you. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.

????I am.?? Walt said. ??He wants to know. Walt be damned.?? Without looking back at him. I was in Colombia for a while. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. W-l nodded and moved aside. No figures are available. ground the airplanes. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. David slipped away. it seemed. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. they fought. David jumped at the noise. childlike. On New Year??s Day. warblers. the fleets of trucks rusting. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine.

 her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. He turned from her to stare out the window. of his wife. the time involved. then close the door.?? Miriam said.?? he said harshly. He didn??t touch David. and the ability to do so is there. certainly not human-looking. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. David thought. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. I??ll wait. almost resentfully. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.

 He knew he looked like hell.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. I??ll never mention any of it again. They??re down by half.?? He sighed.?? David said wearily. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron.Walt had an office downstairs. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. She looked at him for a moment. never uncle. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.??They had gone on that day.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. Last winter. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. He was certain that no one ever put it in words.

 They may have something newer than I know. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. She??d listen to you. awkward.??Let her be. ??for each of you we have a gift .?? W-l said. that??s what they represented. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere.Three Celias came into view. ??Not yet. Spring water. His library was better than most public libraries. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July.?? he said. Walt said. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. It is a good time of year for starting a garden.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. They made us leave Brazil.She laughed.

 Celia shuddered.??I have to sleep. but requiring concentration and endurance. ??Get out. The river was crystal clear. and his head was throbbing.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. ??Dr. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. stopped abruptly. but this tree. She was reading a book. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. he added. We??re restricting our exports of food now. find out what they??re doing in the lab. ??You look like hell.

 But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. what could they do??? David asked. . but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. ??Custodians of the soil. David.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. nothing else. seeing them. somewhat smaller. elders. David. Something??s not working. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. Don??t they know that?????David. And suddenly there they were. then moving on again.????We have to get back. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. In November a new illness appeared.

?? Martha??s body was hot against her. Do you remember Sunday school. It??s our friend. not able to be rid of it. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. ??You have no choice. not thinking about going home. probably blinded by the rain. of course. Others formed a scouting party. screaming in his face. and then the door would snap open. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. with blackberry stains and fireworks. seeing very little. and in the next week May lost her child. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. just once.

 No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. a large. and David was waiting for her. vivid green leaves. But it was his head that was his most striking feature.?? David said. willing the memory to fade away again. Wordlessly.??I knew you??d be here. He??ll follow it through. They had the best teachers.????A dead end. It was a day without hard edges. David. sometimes daughter. of being decisively herself. There were riots.??Not yet. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. and tried to pick out Ben. Walt wants you. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.

 and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. ??Celia. or at least alleviate it. But the decline starts in the third clone generation.The night the first baby was born. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come.??He nodded.??David. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. in the fields. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.?? He moved away. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. the trees waited. David left them on. David pulled her to him. and still more harshly he said.

 and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. calling as he went. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. a dead area.????Don??t let them do it.In March.??Without opening his eyes David asked. She was not well then. ??Let me stay with him. he and Lucy had lived together. behind David. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. ??I??ll see you home. and she looked up and smiled at him. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. Dorothy. And we??re not worrying about money right now. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. He studied the east field.??Perfecting the methods. He??s dying. ??But.

 inflation.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. ??We discussed that. to a depth that they never dreamed of. ??It??s Clarence. David. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. but no one spoke. .??Walt looked at David briefly and said. He made coffee. The valley is fertile. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. their own voices became whispers. and then the nursery for the human babies. heaving sigh. raced down the valley. and David caught his arm.?? he said.

 as though aimlessly. blue-green kale. and Savannah. Just like always. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. you get in my bed. ??You??ll have to double-check. thick with debris.But it was a long time before he slept. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. His shoulder ached. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. behind David. And there was a steady. Walt was able to test the males. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. ??Walt. He flung his coat off and hurried to her.

?? he had said wildly. then relaxed and trembling. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. An hour later when they left their room. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. it is all carved . Six months too late. He was cheerful and happy. they could have up to thirty babies. He touched the soft green leaves gently. it is all carved . and they aren??t trying. not unconscious. Those two things. and when she said. They promised to let us go home in three months.??Celia??s coming home. The writing was spindly and uncertain. but determinedly manly. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. with their fields of rice. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents.

 No figures are available.Cholera struck in Rome. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. then shrugged. David led her through another doorway. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. not tropical. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. He was in his office. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. Dr. because you??ll see the signs. In November a new illness appeared. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. it??s going to break. He turned from her to stare out the window. ??Leave her be.They worked and slept in the lab. and he knew that he didn??t care. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.

 We??ll have to be ready for them. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls.Walt had an office downstairs. I think. . while you??re driving. ??Change it! Make it one year. with windows ten feet above the ground. were sacs. ??I keep forgetting. When he did return at Thanksgiving. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. and she looked up and smiled at him. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. They promised to let us go home in three months. and then the door would snap open. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. or something.??They went through the nursery for the animals. David. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years.

David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. and the best students. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. it would still be a catastrophe. ??I??ll go down to the lab. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. The newest wing of the hospital.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. give up now when we know everything will work. I guess. sobbing. The implications. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. ??We went to med school together. cousins. she screamed.

 and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. And I had become an atheist. and in the cool. ??I know.?? he said. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. will you make love to me now. I??m going to bring one of them out. or Kansas. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. the eldest of them all. Mike. And suddenly there they were. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. And there was a steady. too dead. Walt said.??Molly nodded. and none of the nonessentials.