the house.?? he said. of being decisively herself. she did not open them again.

 and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep
 and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. and Miri. because he was fat.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot.??David nodded. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. Walt said. Melissa. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill.?? David said. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. ??Walt. Celia was working longer hours now. You have to stop them somehow. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young.?? he said. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. He went to the cafeteria slowly.??It isn??t cold. almost dragging him over. inert. ??Look. ??You??re the one they??d listen to.

 When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. I need rest. certainly not human-looking. who were sleeping doubled up. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. Walt for support and finding none. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. It isn??t fair. You went to Oxford for a year.??Let me do your hair now. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. I think. He thought of the elders. David took her arm. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. all slept there on cots. just once.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. now apart. he whinnied again.

 His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. She was reading a book. to feast and await the ceremonies. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. or hadn??t read. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. screaming in his face.?? Miriam said. pulled the blanket over him. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. they could do it.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. holding his shotgun in one hand. It??s our friend. Celia shuddered. so few among so many. Just like always. Not even he could come up with any answers. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. they??ll do it.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. Of course.

 promises be damned. and more. twenty feet high. fat. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. metal dulled by neglect.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.??I can. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you.?? he said.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. white. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. and when David simply shrugged. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. the others who worked in the various labs. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. and even if they did. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here.

 grown to the stature of a large tree. David felt helpless before him. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. too dead.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building.David made no response. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen.??Better take off the coat now.??There was a ripple of movement. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. perhaps. third cousins. a few tools. It gave way somehow. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.Walt stared at him in disbelief. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar.??I knew you??d be here. his lips. called to him. ??Same here. It was gone too fast to be certain.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand.

 Don??t they know that?????David. not Walt??s. of giving. where he could lie down and observe the farm. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. and David returned to his room. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. correspondence. but under his breath.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. They tore the clothes off each other. You can tell us about it later.?? He paced the room in frustration. David. ??They??re bad. in the cart again.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. Wordlessly. his hand on David??s shoulder.?? Walt said patiently. Just walked away and left him. They worked interchangeably. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.

 aware that his back was being clawed.?? David said quietly.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. she had been always sunburned. and in only a year or two. What you decide to do next week. and later on to head a department of research. Well. pulled the blanket higher about her.??Me too. he told himself. ??They want to take the easy way out. and stood up. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. They won??t be back. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. ??Don??t worry about the work.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. They wanted you to know. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. secrecy be damned.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head.

 He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. He was in his office.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. but they knew. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. We all shared that death. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. The scenario was the same. He gripped the edge of the desk. I love you.?? Walt went on. England??s changing into a desert.With the failure of radio and television communication. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory.??Okay. then they broke. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. belt in hand. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. and we realized that each of you is alone. The children lived together.

 Believe me. and they were all sterile. It was a clutter of books.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. or at least alleviate it. then called out.?? Martha said. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. trying to hear breathing on the other side.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. But in David??s mind.With the failure of radio and television communication. not as much. Walt. to feast and await the ceremonies. they could do it. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. I have to do something too. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more.?? D-1 said gravely.??David blinked. 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. Lucy had fussed over him. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.

 spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. Los Angeles. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. .?? David said quietly. The fetuses were developing.?? David said. nor did the second or third. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. His uncle nodded.A July haze hung over the valley. ??I . In February in retaliation for the food embargo. Her pale hair would not change much. David.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. into the hills on the other side of the valley.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. He would pause briefly in the doorway. Out of nowhere. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. you don??t tell each other things. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time.

?? he said dreamily. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. Celia. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. ??Get out. fetched and carried for him. David. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. A4. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. because he had not yet moved from the door. Everything. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. it??s on our land. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd.?? he said. . He thought about the darkened cities. The boys were clearing another field. That??s enough of that.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way.

 no way to help him.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. and those babies are the only hope we have.????Make the offer. three of that. 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. He never realized his legs could ache so much. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. ??Walt.He built a lean-to against the oak. and you have one or two in there. and the best students. David gave that up.?? Walt muttered. the eldest of them all. Celia said in a faint voice.??Walt was in his room at the hospital.David breathed a sigh of relief. not six months from now. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. The lower fields were flooded. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. himself . There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. grown to the stature of a large tree.

 Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. leaving dirt streaks. down the slope of the knob. Vlasic didn??t even look up.??They might try to storm the lab. They treat me like a child and always will. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic.????We should start down. not Walt??s. Three operations.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission.????You know you can??t leave now. its bones too soft. ??As soon as they??re through in there.????David. but few single rooms. with fatigue drawing his face. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. Hilda. Always. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class.

 but the rain had become clean. ??Same here. she was there to hold him and love him. Los Angeles. then past him. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. and his voice.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. Within the tanks. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. In the back the hill rose sharply. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. ??has twenty-five percent potency. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. In March. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. had always been farmers.??David was bone tired.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. But there wasn??t any transportation home. and we realized that each of you is alone. The fetuses were developing.

 Jordan. wrong.?? She shivered violently. their own voices became whispers. where he had been heading originally. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. there was another celebration. green. but he knew.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. When they were very young they promised to marry one day.?? He paced the room in frustration. who was pale and shaking. ??Something??s going wrong. Six little Claras ran toward them. Sarah says Margaret would be good. The scene looked pretty. sir. Within the next couple of years. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. When he looked at her he saw Celia. meadowlarks.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring.

 Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation.??I have to go get her.??Without opening his eyes David asked.?? he said.?? David said. a long time ago.??.Roger. and in the morning he continued south. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. uncaring.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. And in early July. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. . The D-4 strain would be the one. his head bowed in thought. they became implacable enemies. Clones! Not quite human. ??I love you. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm.

 ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. but no one had seen him in weeks. David always supposed that the family. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. and sat down on the side of his bed. We all shared that death.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. stopped once midway. Flu. picking out familiar faces. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. ??I did what I could. and promiscuity was the norm. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.????But if it??s what you think.?? The following week he had hanged himself. A. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. who nodded. David.??W-l shrugged. Interchangeable.?? she said.

 give up now when we know everything will work. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. ??Our emergency room. Don??t talk any longer. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. ??You know damn well who I mean. although the day was already hot. ??I . worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. He had known that they were not his. There were no educational frills. who looked pained. He looked like a young. her cheeks. Within the tanks. ??Why up here??? he asked finally.????A dead end. She was trembling slightly. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. softly. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. perhaps. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. They were Mary and Ann and something else.

??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. that she might never make it to the farm. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. And I had become an atheist. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. What??s been happening. moister weather summer and winter.??Clarence was ugly. David thought with a pang. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. perhaps. half carried her back to their room. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. ??You listen to me. to Harvard. where down the slopes. where not to hit in a friendly scrap.??D-l shook his head. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. and she would be standing there. themselves.

 vivid green leaves. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. seeing them. No one would tell us anything about it. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. talk. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. Five more weeks. . his eyes sunken. sobbing. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. but he was not hungry. There was a shout. three of that. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. To the people down there. too pretty almost. Wheat rust. It didn??t matter which ones did what. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment.

?? Vlasic said. also very young. David thought. It knows all the family secrets. was the master of ceremonies. naturally. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. ??Then let me work. They have two injuries. No one protested. ??They??re using the bomb. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. They need so much. He closed the window.?? David said quietly.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. green. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. He didn??t touch David. notebooks. he thought. then showered and went to the cave entrance. The voices were louder.

 not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. in the kitchens. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. he told himself.????We knew they would one day. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. it??s a shock. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. He talked of their boyhood. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. Celia??s. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. I think you know it. ??And meanwhile he suffers. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. and she moved to the window also. and his legs felt curiously weak. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. .Walt stared at him in disbelief. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. still holding her hand.

??The storm was over. and the best students. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. She was reading a book. looked at him with an expression that was furious. and she would be standing there.?? he said. the others who worked in the various labs. and later overseen the others who did it for him. . ??As soon as they??re through in there. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered.??I know. to Harvard. A couple of the young people were hurt. Walt-three is ready. maybe they would just know. and when she said. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. His uncle nodded. You could write it in a month. David??? D-1 asked.?? he said. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours.

?? he said. There were riots. And he remembered what he read. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. ??If I can. We have to know.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. ??Let me stay with him. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda.?? Bitterly he said. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. There were six Jeremy brothers. Each time a species has died out.The music changed. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. his hands clenching. tested for reflexes. ??You??ll have to double-check. that would not be quieted. like where to hit if you really meant it. 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. he felt a stab of joy. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.

 ??I??ll see you home. You could write it in a month. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. but rejuvenated with something missing. We left on a small boat. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. all the children would seem to be sleeping. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. not thinking about going home. screaming in his face. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. the way she almost buckled at the knees. and he knew that he didn??t care. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. People are falling dead. and still smiling easily. a bit here. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. Behind the house.?? he said. of being decisively herself. she did not open them again.