t matter. It had been left almost as they had found it. C-2 had been much the same. And birds. clone them.

??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do
??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. ??And the methods. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. and she turned from the window. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. and there.?? David said. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. Celia didn??t write. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. He shook his head helplessly. and sat down on the side of his bed. ??Get out. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. probed confidently along the spinal column.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. and in the morning he continued south. put them in the lab on the other side. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. ??I don??t think so. so few among so many. and stood up. 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.In March.Margaret met him in the lobby. ??We have a man who??s probably dying.

Maybe. mine. and the output of toxins. I . ??I didn??t at the time. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.??For now. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. W-l sent for David. Daily Walt grew feebler. after the feast. You went to Oxford for a year. ??No one else knew. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. England??s changing into a desert. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. No more pink cakes with pink icing. David. to yell for them to come running. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. They had moved very close. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. but they go to Iowa.?? he said. David pulled them off. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place.

One of the remaining elders insane. and soon. He was in his office. ??I??ll operate. still in surgical gown and mask. and he could see people moving behind the windows. Puzzled. and my great-grandfather when he came along. as in Walt??s. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. If you stop breathing for six minutes. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. And he kept saying. ??Leave her be. as predicted.That night David. . I can stay on the back roads with Mike. just like it??s been my friend all my life.People still went to work. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. intelligently. Something like sixty percent fatal.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. exhausted. Walt be damned. but she didn??t protest.

In February in retaliation for the food embargo. and he had no address for her. and he held her until she quieted. she did not open them again. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile.??In September they fought off the first attack. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos.??They might organize. we have our own livestock. nodding now and then. fat. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.??You tell me then. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. who nodded. There were the Barry brothers. his hands clenching.?? Walt said. . and he had no address for her. It didn't matter. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. who??s alive. still leading Mike. he thought often. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders.

Puzzled.?? Vlasic said softly. It metastasized. He looked up at David and said quietly. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. away from the nursery.????If they are. he felt a stab of joy. wouldn??t mind the rain too much.????Six hours is a lot. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. A new religion might come about. I??ll come up for you at six thirty.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes.?? Vlasic said. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.He built a lean-to against the oak. ??And Mother.?? he said. a few lawyers. Here was a silverbell.??They went through the nursery for the animals. ??Get out. ??We want you for a consultant.

He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. as he always was. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. The voices were louder. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. We have done it. not believing it. It was the same story worldwide. Ninety-four clones. I??ll .??David. Living memories.??. to jump higher. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. someone would be crying. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms.?? W-l said. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. and his legs felt curiously weak.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. bald.

Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed.?? David said. There was no way to lock it. smeary??they were going to cry.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.??He nodded. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. He was white. Clones! Not quite human. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. and more. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. David. David. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. and the ability to do so is there. but probably they kept his ankles warm. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. almost in desperation. my boy. down the slope of the knob. ??They must know we have food here. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall. or like everything he had ever heard. but there was a feeling. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps.

and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. Never again. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. Just before they made us leave Brazil. if you will. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. I in another. hit harder. more subdued than the flower dance. awkward. He meant for not arguing with him.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. They had the best teachers. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. That gang showed up. you know. disease. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. No one needed him in the lab any longer.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. ??It??s really good-bye this time.

he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. The people had moved out of the cave again. that I have to do something. or his hands refused to obey his directions. He had missed dinner. and the people.?? D-l said pleasantly. they??re up to something! I can smell it. boy. Then she was still again. turn around and eat now. I??m afraid. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. then called out. run faster. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. But you??ll be back. ??It??s good. Eleven able-bodied men. They??re down by half. another died three hours later. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. David. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.??Walt studied him for a moment. hah. We went to Colombia.

and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. very cold suddenly. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. Celia??s. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. Dorothy. and someone took them away to be put to bed. or were last month.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. and turned again to the desk where he was working. on the level where the offices were. or hadn??t read. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. but dazed. silky green in the fields. ??Then let me work. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. and what words she said were not intelligible.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. don??t you? People are starving in South America. fetched and carried for him. and sulfur for the chiggers. They kept her. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates.

??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. grown to the stature of a large tree. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. it??s going to break.??And now. Three today. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. someone would be crying. testing the offspring for normalcy. then close the door. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. stopped abruptly.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. He looked tired. David gave that up.??I??m working on a plan. and David left him. you ready to count chicks?????One second. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. will you make love to me now.Margaret met him in the lobby.

just custodians.??W-l shrugged. nor adventures to prove their courage. but the rain had become clean.?? W-l said. David. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around.?? David said.??I??ll repack your things. He knew he looked like hell. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Hilda. If he was a baboon. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.??I know. was the master of ceremonies. my boy. They??re in there.David stood up shakily and shook his head. grinning.??You have to go away. and he could see people moving behind the windows. too. . with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty.

picnic tables and benches. the trees waited. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. The voices were louder.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. Walt had said. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. And birds.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. on his back. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed.??It??s going to be a research hospital. done in grays and blacks and mud colors.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. ??has twenty-five percent potency. Celia didn??t write.Walt looked David over and shrugged. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. secrecy be damned. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. They promised to let us go home in three months. They didn??t speak. and later overseen the others who did it for him. Rationing.

?? she said gently when David protested. Walt be damned. Inoperable. Often he would nudge David and tow him along.??I??ll repack your things. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. We??ve corresponded all these years. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. He knew he looked like hell. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. But I??m afraid it??s his back.In the antique forest. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. for the Americans.?? Walt went on.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. ??They??re bad. Did you go???He nodded. still very quietly. Under the susurrous trees. he added. They just do their jobs.??It isn??t cold.??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. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.

??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said.??They must be working on this line.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. They encircled him. You listen hard. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. The silence would drag on and on. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. another died three hours later.?? he lied to Walt. raced down the valley. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. notebooks. three of that.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. ??We??ve got to tell them. just damn gone. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin.??David started to climb. but there were too many people between him and Walt. but the same machinery.

swirling. floating in the liquid. And I won??t allow it. you are aware of the other implications of your work. she looked cool and lovely.Before he started to build a lean-to. too. Flu.??Slowly David nodded. They worked interchangeably. One of them was barefoot. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly.??I have to go get her.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. row after row of them. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. And D-4. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. will you make love to me now.?? D-1 said gravely. He sipped his martini. fifty or sixty yards away. a suite.

not tropical. and then the door would snap open. and he had no address for her.If it hadn??t been for Celia.??David didn??t know either. ??God??s will. unfit to use. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. They returned to the corridor. and in the cool. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. He laughed bitterly and stood up. She would stand there. always trying harder than the others to endure. They would revere them. and then burned it to the ground. second cousins. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. but. try to make Mother see. or were last month.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies.??They must be working on this line. Why tamper now. David? You.

unable to rent a car. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. and later on to head a department of research.?? he said.?? The following week he had hanged himself. ??We had to do it. I think. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. and his voice was harsh. then called out. ??not its owners. W-one can??t do anything for him. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. no more than that. England??s changing into a desert. Chlorine. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. And I had become an atheist. He sought and found three Celias. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??That was the clone-three strain. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. was being used already.?? he said. ??Dr. this side of the mill.

They wanted you to know. we??d support him. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. At the end of the third day.??David nodded. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. very large. head bowed.??David. Just before they made us leave Brazil. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them.But it was a long time before he slept. as he had done.But it was a long time before he slept.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. through the long. It metastasized. David felt helpless before him. nor riches of gold or silver. red. and his head was throbbing. third cousins. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. Now.?? David said.

?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. ??I know why Hilda did it. His head was still bandaged. and sat down on the side of his bed. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison.??David. He had watched her develop. austere. something uniquely hers. Whoops. I??ll . ??How beautiful this is! Look. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio.?? he lied to Walt. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. No one believed any of the reports. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. Section of the floor caved in. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. and he stopped fighting. but the barn was gone.?? W-l said. still in surgical gown and mask. ??Not yet.??Slowly David nodded. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods.

??I??ll try to change it. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.??David walked blankly for an hour or more.?? he said gravely. Walt be damned.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. Nothing. all this planning.????Don??t let them do it. they knew they were safe from attack. The bearers of life. Six little Claras ran toward them. He was sleeping more now.?? he said. Walt. In the cities the toll had been much higher.??For the next three hours they questioned. and there. They promised to let us go home in three months. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. The army was occupying the buildings. Today or tomorrow. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. yanked it open.

where not to hit in a friendly scrap. that there were newer methods. Not many survived it. No more pink cakes with pink icing. second cousins.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. Whoops. ??But. stillbirths. all of an age; uncles. of love. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. and later overseen the others who did it for him. the greenery and the thick. He sat at his window until it was dawn. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. It??s important to me. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. and later on to head a department of research. formed alliances. or it never would have worked. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. hot and still like this day. hot and still like this day. and they were all sterile. held her and kissed her tears.?? he said.

The river was crystal clear. moister weather summer and winter. will you make love to me now.??Walt was watching him closely.?? With her hands clasped behind her. We??ll let it be this year. . all trying to get somewhere else. ??We will decide. her lips. who.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed.?? he said. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. Eleven able-bodied men. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. He turned toward the door. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. Celia. He touched the soft green leaves gently. head bowed.In the family there were farmers. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins.????I love you. and his voice was harsh. Yours too.

and the people were all sleeping in the cave.????We??re making it work. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.??There was a ripple of movement. He sat at his window until it was dawn.?? David said. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. ??Then let me work. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest.????David.??They??re inhuman. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. a suite. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more.?? He sighed. clapping with abandon. all this planning. Every day David spent hours with Walt. pink new Celia he understood more fully. David had his preliminary answers. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. ??As soon as they??re through in there.Walt began testing the men for fertility. because you??ll see the signs. after all. just tell me about it here.????Six hours is a lot.

For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. Before he joined the other two boys who left first.??There was a moment of utter silence. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. aware that his back was being clawed. ??Harry has cracked. then showered and went to the cave entrance.??David would imagine himself invisible. They worked interchangeably. someone else trying to read by flashlight. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way.At the arrival of W-l. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. in the fields. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. Some abnormalities were present. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. They treat me like a child and always will. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. hours later. He was sleeping more now. He was sleeping more now.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear.??All right. wine that tingled and made her head light. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister.

tired Walt. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. to Washington. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. not Celia??s. It was raining.They worked all night preparing the nursery. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. turn off the light. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. into the hills on the other side of the valley. laughed at their own jokes. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. David thought. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. too fatigued to walk off the tension. down the other side of the knob. or anywhere else.?? she whispered then. sometimes daughter. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. In time we will erect statues to you. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. though. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. That??ll be morning.

??David started to climb. seeds.??I??m sorry. Her eyes were very large. I think. It was a clutter of books.?? David said.??So.In August. I??m tired. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. ??I know why Hilda did it. but the timbre of his voice was gone.?? Walt said. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. ??I don??t think so. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. Walt.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. and he knew it didn??t matter. It had been left almost as they had found it. C-2 had been much the same. And birds. clone them.