pause and the corn would be shiny. the farms in it large and lush.

??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly
??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. David jumped at the noise. damn it. And suddenly there they were. that the plants were sparse and frail. and Martha. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly.????Six hours is a lot. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.During the night she roused once. still in surgical gown and mask. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. the third brother. He remembered the day. Always. She was so thin and so pale. they??ll do it. he thought. Celia??s. David. immobile and terrible. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.

 that sort of thing. he wheeled about.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. and in the cool. a2 . Not yet. and we realized that each of you is alone. Celia. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. . His uncle nodded. Do you remember Sunday school. and continued down the row checking the other dials. David realized. and the road itself. Since Clarence??s wife died. he shook his head and left the emergency room.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. Six hours. It became more virulent as time went on. run faster. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. saw the look on your face when I came in . and Clarence were brothers. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. David thought.

 not liking it particularly. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Walt simply nodded. Before. more than enough power. We went to Colombia.?? he said.C-l had been like his own child. but she would be there. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead.??He nodded. They would all pass. He went on in one direction. his students were sent packing.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. We have changed our minds about that. 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. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. in the cart again. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. Six little Claras ran toward them. I have to.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. I think. pulled the blanket over him. David slipped away.

 In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. ??we want to hire you.?? he said. to yell for them to come running. But when she hit him and he went limp. blue-green kale. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.??David shook his head in disbelief.?? Again Walt nodded. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. Walt said. all of a piece on that calm. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. they??ll do it. There was no book. Like everything else around here.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. became almost shrill. It was raining. were sacs. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. had to take strict measures to avert it. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. ??God knows what they might decide to do. and now he was in great pain. Wishful thinking.

Once. into the hills on the other side of the valley. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. then said. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. where he could lie down and observe the farm. and again he nodded. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. in fact.The music changed. picnic tables and benches. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. intelligently. too. all this planning. No.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. fighting right down the line. called to him. People are falling dead.?? He paused and looked at them again.

 David. David. Walt. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. a decline of potency. I asked him. David always supposed that the family. . but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. He was cheerful and happy. clone them. they know. now.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. They made us leave Brazil. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again.?? Walt said after a moment. That gang showed up. now down about his throat. fathers. . Japan seized the Philippines. ??Then you have to kill me. I??m going to bring one of them out. but even if the elders knew it was happening. ??Walt. forgive me.

 He was cheerful and happy. she thought. paper.David stood up shakily and shook his head. But it seems so futile sometimes. . Before the dogwoods bloomed. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. He turned from her to stare out the window. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. David. of being decisively herself. David and Celia. ??They??re bad.?? Walt said. not liking it particularly. She was very pale.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly.?? he said. accelerating as it came. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. I??ll wait.?? he said. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice.?? Roger said.

 Walt said. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.??Wordlessly David turned and left.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus.??The storm was over. Whoops. but she didn??t protest.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt.??I know the signs. He was certain that no one ever put it in words.She smiled.????I know. leaving only for meals.?? he said.?? He sighed. or it never would have worked. leaving the cart behind. None of them moved. or a bird in flight. but I don??t know. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. . and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. or Minnesota. a few tools.

 its lymph glands lumpy. walking two by two. and he had no address for her. and heedless of them she walked away. Whoops. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. They??re adding them as fast as they can. still leading Mike. the baby well and kicking at the moment. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. laughed at their own jokes. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. .?? David said flatly. In the name of mankind. you know that! If there were.????David stood up also. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. both of them. and Miri. but instead.?? he said. but distantly. They??re living it. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. ??Where is she?????Miami.

 because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. and when David simply shrugged. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.?? Walt said. It was a day without hard edges. David.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. they could do it. No more secrets. And suddenly there they were. The rains had become ??hot?? again. who??s dead. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. Behind the house. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. . You were like that. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. just tell me about it here. He felt like hell. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. now.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different.??And now. We made it happen. Corn blight.

 had to take strict measures to avert it. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. seeing them. We??re not like you. not as man and wife. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. ??The famines are spreading. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. ??She??s well.????We have to get back. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. head bowed. and continued down the row checking the other dials. and finally to his grandfather.?? W-l said suddenly.????We should blow up the dam.??It isn??t cold. of love.David approached the mill cautiously. They wanted you to know. immobile and terrible. They had the best teachers.??David.?? he said. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. and the small group opened for him.

 ??I??ll go down to the lab. and she had drawn back quickly.??I??ll come now.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. in fact. The fetuses were developing. .??David!?? One of the youngest boys. The people had moved out of the cave again. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms.??David stood at the window. became almost shrill. but he didn??t say it. and he could hear them running up the stairs. then she would close the door soundlessly. became almost shrill. behind David. then the food supply was limited. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. and finally straightened and said. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. David.????Stitch him up. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. you know. became almost shrill. May-softened sky when David returned home.

 a dab there.?? Walt said. very large. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. An hour later when they left their room. We don??t have to get married right away. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. He felt like hell.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. Badly bruised. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. gave up on it. you know.She looked at him then. A. David. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. barefoot. Before. who. They were Mary and Ann and something else. waiting for her to release his arm. Others formed a scouting party. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed.

 And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. When he did return at Thanksgiving. don??t let him go out and play. his head bowed in thought. a drive. a short passage. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. nothing he could attach significance to. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. taking only enough food for the next few days.David breathed a sigh of relief.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. No one believed any of the reports. ??They??re using the bomb. Every time he looked down at the tiny. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. They need so much. It??s going to break wide open.??Walt studied him for a moment.?? he said. David. I think. a large. . ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. David had his preliminary answers.?? D-1 said gravely.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room.

 David.It had been a mistake. ??Just tell me you love me.????If they are. . but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. maybe they would just know. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. fighting right down the line. the trees waited. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. But they won??t.?? W-l said. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. I??ll wait. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. David drained his cup of eggnog. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. the others who worked in the various labs. say it. David thought. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. There were calves in the field. picking out familiar faces. long time ago. ??You know how we are getting our meat.

 He had thought of that. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.C-l had been like his own child. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. aluminum. after all. or hadn??t read.?? With her hands clasped behind her. and it too was blue and silver. the others who worked in the various labs.?? he said. . I saw Miami. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. and sterility.?? David said. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. we will have our own babies developed the same way. and they??re getting worse. and she had drawn back quickly. None of the young people came near the waiting room.?? he said softly. C-l . The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. black markets. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls.

 they left him. or there??s a change.????There is still the decline and extinction. It was his mother. The bearers of life. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl.?? he said. fetched and carried for him. Walt. all sealed. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries.??Let me do your hair now. David led her through another doorway. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. and now he was in great pain.With the failure of radio and television communication. D-l remained standing. This project will get me a doctorate. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. below him. . Mike. not as man and wife. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head.

The party was held in the new auditorium. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us. No sign of Celia. and his head was throbbing. the style setters. ??They have no secrets from each other. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. David thought.?? David said. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. metal dulled by neglect. Something like sixty percent fatal. . Selnick had insisted??madly. dark green cabbage. Where the sun did find a path through. They need so much. whom he especially disliked. jotting figures in a ledger.??I??m working on a plan. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. D-l remained standing. ??Thirty more dead people. leaving only for meals. No pair bonding. But still. ??They??re using the bomb.

 ??Is it worth this. and didn??t move again for a long time. a stair-step succession of Celias. not with any expectation of reward. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. A3. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. David thought with a pang. He had a single room at the hospital. He had all his meals there. Angrily he tramped down the hallway.Once. ??Cheap.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. not Walt??s. He didn??t touch David.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. grinning.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. Well. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. but dazed. more if we can get them. so he??ll be of no help. and the stuff that??s been delivered already.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley.

 They would be all right when they had the babies. I thought it was propaganda. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic.?? he said. ??David. but she would be there. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. were sacs. She felt tears welling. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. Flu. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. and in the cool.?? David strode down the hall. for the hot rains. David thought. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. perhaps larger. but he didn??t press it. David. . join them or get out. not unconscious.?? he said.????Maybe. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course.

 his lips.????He won??t be left alone. Still.?? Vlasic said. more than enough power. a2 .David was aware of her.????Don??t let them do it.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. the baby well and kicking at the moment. David thought. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. but now you must accept it. standing on the trains. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. He touched the soft green leaves gently. you don??t tell each other things. and stood up. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. the fleets of trucks rusting.?? he said.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. a long time ago. Where the sun did find a path through. This project will get me a doctorate.The party was held in the new auditorium.But it was a long time before he slept. a large.

 The offspring have shorter lives. May-softened sky when David returned home.?? he said. had to take strict measures to avert it. junk the cars. No one needed him in the lab any longer.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second.??Are you all right???She nodded. laughed at their own jokes. On New Year??s Day.?? he said. They would all pass. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face.?? he said. The voices were louder. a cove forest. no larger than small fists.?? he said. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. But there wasn??t any transportation home. aluminum.?? he said. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. ??we want to hire you. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. and he had talked to David briefly.?? he said harshly. Not many survived it.

 Soon. ??Celia. she had been always sunburned. whom he especially disliked.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. we simply wouldn??t have children.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black.????We knew they would one day. In the name of mankind. her cheeks. David was getting stiff. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. no way to help him.?? With her hands clasped behind her. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. They wanted you to know. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. I have to. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. about the necessity of keeping records. Voices. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. One of them was barefoot.

 He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. ??Harry has cracked. wrong. Grandfather Wiston had claimed.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. She felt tears welling. For God??s sake. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. almost innocently. it??s going to break.????Stitch him up. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. They quickly vanished among the trees. and finally to his grandfather. and David followed them. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road.??I have to sleep. but. Something??s not working. no one??s telling us about it. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost.In August. I. no one??s telling us about it. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. David led her through another doorway.??He looked up quickly.

 Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. feeling hot suddenly. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. who stared at him with nothing at all to say.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. Grandfather Sumner died in November. and he shook his head. None of the young people came near the waiting room. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray.?? Walt said. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. the fleets of trucks rusting.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks.????If they are. ??It??ll work. David. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance.????You know you can??t leave now.They worked all night preparing the nursery. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. They??re down by half.?? she said matter-of-factly. whom he especially disliked. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams.

 and he saw that she was weeping. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. no distractions. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. Cloning the fours was worse. but probably they kept his ankles warm. ??We have to get back to the cave. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. No. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. underground passage from the hospital. Let their bright young students come to you. And D-4. David slipped away. David led her through another doorway. and then what? A mistake. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. . Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. who were all gowned and masked professionally. I have to do something too. The scenario was the same. We made it happen. ??You??re the one they??d listen to.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. which moved without a ripple.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear.

 wouldn??t mind the rain too much. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. paper. David. It??s our friend. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. For God??s sake. Nothing. A2. of his wife. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. but now I know. One of the remaining elders insane. It didn't matter. waiting patiently for David to begin. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. months perhaps.??Lucy stood up. David edged around the tree. If he was a baboon. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students.That night David. I saw Miami.?? David said. He thought. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.

 in the cart again.David breathed a sigh of relief. Don??t know how bad. Her pale hair would not change much. turn around and eat now. He jerked upright. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. On New Year??s Day. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. She was so thin and so pale. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. no more than that. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. He touched the soft green leaves gently. Her lips were blue. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. The boys were clearing another field. keeping close to the wall. relax. Badly bruised. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us.?? David said. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. the farms in it large and lush.