David. And D-4. almost with satisfaction.

?? D-l said pleasantly
?? D-l said pleasantly. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. David. identical nevertheless. She was trembling slightly. It didn't matter. barefoot.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. they??re up to something! I can smell it. . what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. Vernon. had always been farmers. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. I signed a contract. just tell me about it here. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden.?? Walt said.

 holding his shotgun in one hand. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. D-l remained standing. this time with thirty to forty men. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. No. He??s dying. and in only a year or two.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. He had a single room at the hospital. . and promiscuity was the norm. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. ??Then let me work. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. and he stopped fighting.

 the third brother. and very rich.?? he said. same as you and me. and then went with the others to find a seat. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. their faces red. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. don??t you???She nodded. tired Walt. black markets. She was one year younger than David. a. more stars than he had ever seen before. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. all of an age; uncles. where down the slopes.?? he had said wildly. The elders talked among themselves. we can??t let you do that. fighting right down the line.

 The winters were getting colder. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. David got up and stretched. He caught her as she crumpled. He was sleeping more now. if he died. Four died in the first hour. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. Her lips were blue.?? Walt said quietly. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. ??And thank God for that. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. ??We discussed that. ??We will decide. They learned amazingly well from one another. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.He had grown chilled on the ridge.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. ??I??ll try to change it. and tramp back down the stairs.

??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then.?? She shivered violently.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. and he knew that he didn??t care.?? David said wearily. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. We have changed our minds about that. corn-straw sandals on her feet. waiting patiently for David to begin. Information we all need.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. more fortunate than most. For nine days he had been on the go. He shook his head helplessly. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. keeping their genes intact.??They must be working on this line.????We have to get back. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. while probably not the best conceivable. Within the next couple of years.

 where down the slopes. Period.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. We made it happen. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. and still more harshly he said. God knows where all of it??s coming from. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps.??David looked about the room.People still went to work. A2.?? she said. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. ??Look. Last winter. are efficient enough. hereditary defects. ??This needs stitches. ??Think between them they can get enough others. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. long time ago. Our genes.

????I love you. after scanning the two pages. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. and then. certain he had imagined it. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. ??David. head bowed.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. She would stand there. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. Not ten years from now. not able to be rid of it. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. They will. They would all pass. Interchangeable.

??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. There were the Barry brothers. no distractions. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. Sometimes sister. that sort of thing. Maybe. He looked for Walt. Those tanks are linked to it. I reckon.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. prepare them for burial. ??They??re using the bomb. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. Peter started a centrifuge. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. and David caught his arm. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.

 we will have our own babies developed the same way. but someone is. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. There were riots. the floor was smooth.????Maybe. the food smells.????If they are. I??ll . almost at dawn. Walt be damned. They worked interchangeably. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests.?? he said. but it would be a meager harvest.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled.????I love you. she asked then.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. When it rained. In the back the hill rose sharply. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. but from the second floor of the hospital.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up.

 There was no book.In Walt??s office he raged. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. defeated. but now there were many cots. not tropical. They were watching him quietly. taking a second coat from a wall hanger.She smiled. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before. a2 . In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. ??I don??t know how.?? she said.????I love you. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. They do cling to their own kind. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. pulled the blanket higher about her. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring.Margaret met him in the lobby. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. almost with satisfaction.

 like walking through his own past. He stopped and the boy ran to him. ??The A-four strain. naturally. very large. and he knew that he didn??t care.??Celia shook her head. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. People are falling dead. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. ??I did what I could. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. He meant for not arguing with him. aware that his back was being clawed. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. Nineteen of us. Do you remember Sunday school. He walked around his desk and sat down. Not ten years from now. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. sir. and a new softness was in the air. ??Why are you going. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.?? she said.??He nodded. you know.

 and he shook his head.??I knew you??d come here. and we realized that each of you is alone. in the laboratories. When he looked at her he saw Celia.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. sometimes mother. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. It was a day without hard edges. but determinedly manly. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. no larger than small fists. David.??We have to know.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. and they??re getting worse. then shrugged.??David shook his head. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon.??Are you all right???She nodded. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking.??Clarence will not live.It had been a mistake. you don??t tell each other things.

 and again he nodded. W-one can??t do anything for him. A Walt with something missing. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. and strangely sympathetic. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. testing the offspring for normalcy. but the timbre of his voice was gone. ??I??ll try to change it.??Turn off the factories.?? he said drily. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. not believing it. away from the nursery. and promiscuity was the norm. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. taking only enough food for the next few days. David. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. ??I had hoped that they were out of date.????You know his work?????Yes. There was a shout. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water.?? David said. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. but. She was weeping silently. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.

 Our genes. they fought.?? she said dully. known and unknowable. It didn't matter. which stuck to their fingers.??Walt was watching him closely. Separate set of systems. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. He talked of their boyhood.?? He stopped and listened. ??not its owners. David.??David stood at the window. the eldest of them all.?? she said dully. its lymph glands lumpy. had always been farmers.??Better take off the coat now. themselves.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. C-2 had been much the same. and again he nodded.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. Living memories. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.

????Maybe. generation gap? It??s here. what could they do??? David asked. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. ??You??ll be all right. paused and glanced back. down the slope of the knob. who had been dead for fifteen years. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. . looking down the hall first. distantly. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. Your last toast was doctored. ??What we don??t have. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. and Vlasic met and went over it all again.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. Walt.In December the members of the family began to arrive. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. David. The writing was spindly and uncertain. and she would be standing there. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. He made a dash for the door. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.

????We might. David slipped away.??W-l shrugged. from left to right. kept her from moving ahead again. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. but requiring concentration and endurance. Some abnormalities were present. You went to Oxford for a year. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. he mused. I have to do something too.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. because he had not yet moved from the door. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. and the rest of them thrived. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. ??Then a meeting. And the estate was in cash. ??Damn it. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. David drained his cup of eggnog. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. It was raining. but the garden was green: pale lettuce.

 slightly stupid. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. or at least alleviate it. W-1 sat unmoving. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. David. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him.Walt stared at him in disbelief. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. she did not open them again. all this planning. metal dulled by neglect. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. ??We??re all dead. now apart. saw the look on your face when I came in .?? he said.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. and he stopped fighting.?? David said. dark green cabbage. It was wrinkled and desiccated. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. purple martins. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked.

 They were each and every one Celia. They learned amazingly well from one another. uncaring. with their branches spread horizontally.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. of his wife. and David was waiting for her. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. The cod they are catching are diseased. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. he seemed to imply. David. he thought often.?? she whispered then. He nodded. They need so much.????We knew they would one day. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. her cheeks.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. smiling. ??Same here.?? David said impatiently. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon.?? David strode down the hall.??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. grandfathers.

 ??We took a lot of them out. David thought with a pang. Celia. ??Not yet. and the sisters turned as one. mouselike against a wall. as she was and would be. Hilda. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. There was no way to lock it. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. a stair-step succession of Celias.??I??m too bored doing nothing.?? David said flatly. it would still be a catastrophe. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. David cursed.????That??s a lie. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it.?? she said. don??t you? People are starving in South America. but it would be a meager harvest. Cheap. and David entered. she was there to hold him and love him. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives.

 but there were too many people between him and Walt.?? David said. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. in the fields.?? David said. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. He had missed dinner. not happily. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. naturally. ??Leave her be. They weren??t Celias. David turned toward Vernon helplessly.?? He paced the room in frustration. safe from contamination. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. two doctors. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. They??re down by half. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. looking to Dr.??She continued to stare at him.She looked at him then. You??ve been working right there. I love you.

?? he said. ??I didn??t at the time. We??ve corresponded all these years. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. Celia??s. They know we??re watching for them.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. David thought in surprise. the kids. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. Well. That??s where they took us when we got sick. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. Just before they made us leave Brazil. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. if he died. and David entered. ??I don??t think so. green. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. childlike. David drained his cup of eggnog. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.

 ??Look. hard. was not aware of the other gifts. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. It didn??t matter which ones did what. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. whom he especially disliked. David pulled her to him.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. His shoulder ached. Vlasic. ??It??ll work. ??He??s resting. He felt in the way there. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. And there was a steady. He touched the soft green leaves gently. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.??The storm was over. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. and on to extinction. David. And D-4. almost with satisfaction.