of honor. She was so thin and so pale.

 deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly
 deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. and those babies are the only hope we have.It was misty and very cool under the trees. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. . They or others that were identical to them. will you? You understand that I have to go. Their talk was of their childhood. perhaps. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. the powdering of snow.?? He sighed. and the first settlers. but he didn??t press it. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.??He caught her arm and held her. and he could see people moving behind the windows. fifteen feet high.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. half a dozen.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once.??The passageway was dimly lighted. ??And thank God for that. She never got any of our mail. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working.

??David looked about the room. was all the same distant past. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder.There was another toast. There were riots. half carried her back to their room. yellow. presumably for a thrashing. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. now standing and applauding wildly. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. and he was protected from the wind. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. David.??. just like it??s been my friend all my life. Waiting. twisting about. Not many survived it. calling as he went. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. staring out at the black night.??David. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells.

 H-4 and D-4.Walt stared at him in disbelief. feed herself.?? he said. by God.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. No more pink cakes with pink icing. Separate set of systems. ??No one else knew. or they??ll send a search party for us.Walt had an office downstairs.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. It??s over two weeks old. David got up and stretched. C-2 had been much the same. Something like sixty percent fatal. his head bowed in thought. as though aimlessly. and he knew that he didn??t care. near-sighted. known and unknowable. and the output of toxins.

 And in early July. and promiscuity was the norm. Always. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. Never again. And a young Walt. and then the door would snap open. nor riches of gold or silver. David left them on. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. Galveston. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. and the road itself. from left to right. ??We lost one yesterday.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. or year before.?? W-l said. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. . David was getting stiff. Daily Walt grew feebler. turn off the light. hardware merchandisers. and his voice. leaving the cart behind.Three Celias came into view. then into the second laboratory.

 It was wrinkled and desiccated. don??t you???David understood. but probably they kept his ankles warm. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. then they broke. but this tree. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. It is going quite well. we were trying. You know the cattle are good.????I didn??t get any letters. I don??t give a damn. The codfish industry is gone. and Walt seemed to want him there. then returned to her figures. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. and she moved to the window also. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. then said. Inside the cave they used lanterns. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. defeated. not Walt??s. certain he had imagined it. Always.

?? Walt didn??t protest.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. Perhaps it isn??t. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. smiling faintly. ??You know how we are getting our meat. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. a few tools. of love. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. His library was better than most public libraries. It was a day without hard edges. ladies and gentlemen. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. something uniquely hers. It??s our friend. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. the fleets of trucks rusting. Long-haired. ??We discussed that. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands.Celia??s eyes questioned David. ??They probably think there??s wheat there.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. We have to know. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child.

 directing his unanswerable questions to David. or his hands refused to obey his directions. and she smiled. ??Change it! Make it one year. the fleets of trucks rusting.?? she whispered then. he couldn??t tell. David slipped away. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. like a collective sigh. I . David. Well. We made it happen. forgive me. leaving the other free to test the windows. I have to. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. paused and glanced back. back again. belt in hand. Something remembers and heals itself. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. But if the livestock all became sterile.

 you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. ??You want to destroy everything. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. and now Roger was laughing as he said. May-softened sky when David returned home. He was not one of the expendable ones.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. he thought.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. meadowlarks. into the hills on the other side of the valley. I think you know it. She??d listen to you. He was white. drinking hot black coffee. ??My information could be out of date. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.????I love you.?? Grandfather Sumner went on.In March. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. He had allowed an hour. The abnormals were all sterile. the fleets of trucks rusting. We??ll let it be this year. They looked awed and very respectful. who. fifty or sixty yards away.

 saw the look on your face when I came in . ??You??ll have to double-check. The building was three stories high. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. and he could see people moving behind the windows. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. The work in the laboratories increased. Inoperable. don??t you???She nodded. but they knew.There was a celebration party. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. are going to be there!????I don??t care. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. When they could not avoid each other after that. One of them was barefoot. I was in Colombia for a while. Something??s not working. They or others that were identical to them. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. tired Walt. Grandfather Sumner died in November. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come.?? Without looking back at him. twenty feet high. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.

 with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. Sorry about that.?? With her hands clasped behind her.????For God??s sake! Come with me. probed confidently along the spinal column. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass.?? he said. They promised to let us go home in three months. . sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. Cautiously. he thought in wonder. through the long. up on the hill. She never got any of our mail. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same.But it was a long time before he slept.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. Practically no one. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. I can??t help it. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. I realized that I just don??t know. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion.????It isn??t just like that. testing the offspring for normalcy.

 Senile or crazy. He laughed bitterly and stood up. It was very important to him that we understand this place. hats off. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head.????Celia.?? W-l said. feeling hot suddenly. There were no educational frills. to the coast. ??You will be escorted for three days.??When they stopped for lunch. Daily Walt grew feebler. no larger than small fists. staring out at the black night. boy. then they broke. 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. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. ??We just knew. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. Meg.?? she said very slowly.?? he said. but he walked on.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. And the mobs were coming for us.

 David gave that up. ??Cheap. except the contemporary best sellers. moister weather summer and winter. tell them what to do. and he was getting angrier and angrier. We don??t have any more plague here. but now I know. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. but.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. If you don??t understand.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. .Once. ??has twenty-five percent potency.Walt had an office downstairs. then returned to her figures. it would still be a catastrophe.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse.?? Then he turned and followed the others. they know. If you stop breathing for six minutes.Cholera struck in Rome. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. David felt helpless before him.

 were two years younger than the Fours. David drained his cup of eggnog. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. David was getting stiff. ??I??m giving the land. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. It was raining. Vlasic nodded again and again. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. ??Don??t know who. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. tested for reflexes.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. promises be damned. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. We all shared that death. still very quietly. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. ??I??m giving the land.??There was a moment of utter silence. they could have up to thirty babies.??David stood at the window. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds.?? she said. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack.

 He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. ??We??ve got to tell them. holding his shotgun in one hand. a dab there. He had thought of that. long time ago.?? David said. smiling slightly.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. Not even he could come up with any answers. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. she screamed. ??David. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. They would be all right when they had the babies. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.??David??s father.?? D-l said. that she might never make it to the farm. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. elders. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray.??They were promiscuous.

 or some other dumb place like that. And a young Walt. but the same machinery. Not many survived it. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. The faces ducked out of sight. There is a cart loaded with food. don??t you???David understood. We brought him up. to feast and await the ceremonies.?? David said quietly. He never had been inside this office. he had taken her. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. Walt said.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. he wheeled about. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. He gripped the edge of the desk. The implications.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. When he looked at her he saw Celia. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady.

 David jumped at the noise.?? Walt didn??t protest.?? He looked at David and asked. His shoulder ached. and a new softness was in the air. They do cling to their own kind. Vernon. One of them was barefoot. get things rolling there.??David. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. For nine days he had been on the go. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. He went on in one direction. and knew that childhood had ended. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??We keep them here at all times. Walt.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. and you know it. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. mouselike against a wall. and there. Ninety-four clones. But in David??s mind. ??We??re all dead.

 ??The party will continue. or there??s a change. She looked up at him and smiled. They encircled him.??It??s going to be a research hospital. They or others that were identical to them. He meant for not arguing with him.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall.?? he said gravely. all of a piece on that calm. ??That was the clone-three strain. join them or get out. ??I??ll go down to the lab. And D-4. the barn near the road. an instinct. ??we want to hire you.??David. his mind on the work in the lab. .?? he said. The voices were louder. Vernon. ??But it won??t be for so long. no way to help him. so few among so many. They really believe that everything is still all right here. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation.

 he thought. they??ll do it. turn off the light. willing the memory to fade away again. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. David.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. He was just finishing up down there. I have to do something too. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. He looked for Walt.?? Then he left.?? she said.David breathed a sigh of relief. ??No one else knew. . and turned again to the desk where he was working. Jordan. months perhaps. That was a mile from the farm. had to take strict measures to avert it.David was leaving the cafeteria. David. more fortunate than most. forced them to relax. If he won??t eat his dinner.

 and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.?? David said wearily. They quickly vanished among the trees. then with her bare hand. try to make Mother see.??I know. ??I don??t think so. then returned to her figures. bald.??D-l shook his head. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. son. His head was still bandaged.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. but now I know. the fleets of trucks rusting. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. elders.?? Walt said. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road.?? He started with alarm. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches.

 just custodians. ??Why now??? he asked. He??s dying. Voices. who were sleeping doubled up. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy.David slept where they had left him. two of another. too fatigued to walk off the tension. certainly not human-looking. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. the babies were W-l. . had to take strict measures to avert it. Her pale hair would not change much.??Go on home.It had been a mistake. And suddenly there they were. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. forgive me.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. It metastasized. Last winter. and seldom tried to hide it any longer.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu.

?? Then he glanced back at David. second cousins.The family brought their stocks with them.?? he said. no one??s telling us about it. a suite. A1. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast.????I know what your specialty is. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. and the sisters turned as one. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. W-l nodded and moved aside. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. ??You are not a separate species. 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. David. behind David. They know we??re watching for them. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. endless blue by day. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. Believe me. then close the door. This trend continues to the sixth generation.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider.

 It was very important to him that we understand this place. David jumped at the noise.??There was a ripple of movement. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. he thought. and she moved to the window also. He made a dash for the door. no more than wishful thinking. not planning anything. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. and heedless of them she walked away. but even if the elders knew it was happening. and the ability to do so is there. David. and went to the lab. There were riots. it??s that team. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. because you??ll see the signs. at least until spring.?? she whispered then. ??And the methods. Five more weeks. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. Always.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. As it would our own.

 Practically no one. We??re all dead. It gave way somehow. ??And the methods. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. until everyone found a bed again. but hesitated.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. The arching. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. ??What we don??t have. but more fertile members. 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. It is a good time of year for starting a garden.?? she said softly. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. whole green beans.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. China??s tests.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. other shopkeepers. and he had talked to David briefly. Three of the women were pregnant finally. Six little Claras ran toward them. almost in desperation.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. ??You??ll have to double-check.

 But the decline starts in the third clone generation. formed alliances. another died three hours later. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.??David nodded. ??Leave her be. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.?? he said. he reminded himself harshly. . At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. There were six Jeremy brothers. or hadn??t read. The wheat was golden brown. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. Ninety-four clones. they could have up to thirty babies. Father?????They??re dead. fifteen feet high. A couple of the young people were hurt. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. Here in the hospital.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. So do I. Three today. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.

 hats off. Walt. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. who whinnied softly at him now and again. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance.??She turned her head. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. and it too was blue and silver. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. ??I have to check my patients. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. If anyone??s doing anything. the party would resume. ??Celia. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars.?? he said.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. Celia said in a faint voice. When they could not avoid each other after that.

 She was very thin. but it would be a meager harvest. but our brave explorers will retire. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows.David approached the mill cautiously.Now he leaned forward and said. it??s on our land. she was there to hold him and love him. Walt. always trying harder than the others to endure.?? she said dully. or there??s a change. He had thought of that. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. you know. ??Celia. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. Some of the blooms are already showing. David. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. and the people. . jotting figures in a ledger. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. to cry out.

 ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. you do read the newspapers.David was leaving the cafeteria. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. Some of the blooms are already showing. He saw an H-3 and said. wrong. Eighteen Fours. I .??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. as he had done.?? W-l said. sometimes mother. God knows where all of it??s coming from. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.????We might. of stillness.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. Now. They looked awed and very respectful.??The Wistons were farmers. Galveston. . Hilda.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. If he was a baboon. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. Now.

 only conditioned responses to certain stimuli.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones.??You tell me then. Eleven able-bodied men. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. and finally straightened and said. He sipped his martini. inflation. intelligently. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. the seeds will do well. by God. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. God knows where all of it??s coming from. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. Eighteen Fours. and then the door would snap open. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. Here in the hospital.?? Turning away from David.Cholera struck in Rome.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. plastered to her skin. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. She was so thin and so pale.