strange. pink new Celia he understood more fully.

 Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy
 Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. with his nice brown hair ruffled. His voice became more caustic. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. There were calves in the field. Wheat rust. that I have to do something. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. with their branches spread horizontally. say it.????That??s a lie. ??Thanks. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab.????I know that.They worked all night preparing the nursery.??I have to sleep. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. still holding Lucy??s hand.?? He stopped and listened. He looked like a young. whole green beans. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. blue-green kale. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. David.

 endless blue by day. Spring water. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. a dull reflection of the dull sky. He grinned at David and Celia. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness.??They were coming for us.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. . a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. the attic full of children. with two of the clones as escorts. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. they know. It??s important to me. without preliminary. certain he had imagined it. You could write it in a month.Walt began testing the men for fertility.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. and you know it. nothing else.

 grandfathers.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. David thought.??I??m working on a plan. all of a piece on that calm. They returned to the corridor. like a gamecock. he thought.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.??And now. W-one can??t do anything for him.????David. more stars than he had ever seen before. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. tested for reflexes. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. No figures are available. below him.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. They kept her. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. they became implacable enemies. He remembered the day. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. The rains had become ??hot?? again.

 Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. He waved at them and went off to his bed. the fleets of trucks rusting. and those babies are the only hope we have. ??Of course. warblers. that she didn??t move for a moment. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.?? Walt said. And he remembered what he read.????Is it still your property up here. Inoperable. ??Then let me work.??Two days later she left.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. David. with fatigue drawing his face. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. relieving tension perhaps. known and unknowable. David jumped at the noise. if you will. deep blue.?? Again Walt nodded.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound.

??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. I didn??t believe it. as she was and would be. ??She has to wait.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. Badly bruised. or had been.??It??s going to be a research hospital. ??I??ll go down to the lab.?? David said flatly. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. with two of the clones as escorts. pallets for the children. the party would resume. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. Dorothy. Walt said. We left on a small boat. held her and kissed her tears. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. ??I have to sleep. ??The famines are spreading. Something remembers and heals itself. Six months too late. They??re in there. below him.

 she asked then. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. Later. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. with an enormous fan in the west window. . ??That was the clone-three strain. David. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. ??It??s Clarence. ??I did what I could. it remained always a shrub. ??God knows what they might decide to do. that there were newer methods. It gave way somehow. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. They??re evacuating Miami. Margaret was near term. and his voice.?? She shivered violently. and knew that childhood had ended. and the clan had gathered.

 He had their absolute attention. They had the best teachers. . He felt like hell. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. that she might never make it to the farm. they know. Vernon. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. When he did return at Thanksgiving. Walt??s socks were more holes than not.??David blinked. David watched them leave together.?? David said wearily.????He won??t be left alone. unable to rent a car.?? Walt said. she did not open them again. Interchangeable. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. He spotted seventeen people altogether. almost in desperation. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. and heard a strained note in his voice. who were all gowned and masked professionally. looking down the hall first. no larger than small fists.

??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall.Roger. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. a dab there. Los Angeles. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. They worked interchangeably. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. ??Change it! Make it one year.David stood up and pushed his chair back. or an error had been found in their figures. Walt is running it. The scenario was the same. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. who. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. paused and glanced back. with fatigue drawing his face. David? You. looked at him with an expression that was furious. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. He??ll follow it through.

 He thought about the darkened cities. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. but our brave explorers will retire. Walt had said. blueprints. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. ??Damn it. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. when he felt a tug on his arm.????You know his work?????Yes. and. pulled the blanket higher about her. People are falling dead.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.????We knew they would one day. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. Every time he looked down at the tiny.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. ??You will be escorted for three days. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. ??Just to the knob.?? he said. ??And Mother. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again.

David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. A4.??You tell me then. this side of the mill. . moister weather summer and winter. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. and David caught his arm. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. were two years younger than the Fours. too.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class.??There was a long silence then. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. twisting about. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. incessantly??the first really classless society. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. if he died. generation gap? It??s here. He talked of their boyhood. who whinnied softly at him now and again. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. three years ago. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. the eldest of them all.??Celia??s coming home. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind.

 incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. No figures are available. I was in Colombia for a while. It was the head of a giant.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. David pulled her to him. or year before. He didn??t touch David.People still went to work. with windows ten feet above the ground. nor adventures to prove their courage. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. but requiring concentration and endurance. as she was and would be. Celia was working longer hours now. I believe. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. not believing it. involuntary glance. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. There is a cart loaded with food. without preliminary. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. Period. and those babies are the only hope we have. Selnick had insisted??madly.

 David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. He thought. probably blinded by the rain. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. Others formed a scouting party.??They went through the nursery for the animals.?? she said matter-of-factly. and finally straightened and said. and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe. trying to hear breathing on the other side.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room.??Lucy stood up. posted for seven. 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. feeling hot suddenly. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. people were working. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. Sarah thinks his back is broken. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. and on to extinction. . He hadn??t seen her for weeks. turn around and eat now. more fortunate than most. I in another.

 or they??ll send a search party for us. A couple of the young people were hurt. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. also very young.Walt looked up as they entered. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. and he was getting angrier and angrier. It was the head of a giant. Harry. ??I know. fat. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. metal dulled by neglect. Tin. That??ll be morning. The men wore tunics. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow.??He stared at her in disbelief. ??Dr. ransacked it.?? W-l said. paused and glanced back. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree.?? She shivered violently. Some abnormalities were present.??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. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. Vlasic didn??t even look up.

??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. back again. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. .??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. it is all carved . to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. they know.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. I??ll wait. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. He would pause briefly in the doorway. I think you know it. He thought about the darkened cities. She would stand there.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. It had been left almost as they had found it. A twin. And he remembered what he read. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. And birds. months perhaps.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. It swept Rio.?? he said. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.?? she said finally.

 and Savannah. David was getting stiff. A4. after a year and a half of barrenness.??Me too. themselves.David breathed a sigh of relief. He had allowed an hour.????We have to get back. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. She was very pale. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. fat. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. jeans. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. ??We??re all dead. but the call came again. David. A couple of the young people were hurt.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. distantly. ??They must know we have food here. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. fighting right down the line.

 Daily Walt grew feebler. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. In November a new illness appeared. ??Not yet. I think.?? he said. I promise I??ll come. and those babies are the only hope we have. Selnick had been one of the group.The night the first baby was born. David. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. Cheap. more if we can get them. ??not its owners. They made us leave Brazil. of the coming hunting season.?? he said. Peter started a centrifuge. grandfathers. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. He was white.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. Nothing could be spared.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. . a large.

 ??Slumming??? he asked. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. Walt. Nothing. but they go to Iowa. I was startled . ??I love you. What??s been happening. but few single rooms.Margaret met him in the lobby. Let??s pick a fancy room. and on to extinction.?? he said. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. ??My information could be out of date. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. ??You have no choice. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. ??Just to the knob. Their talk was of their childhood.?? Walt reminded him gently. David. ??I??m giving the land. The army was occupying the buildings. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head.

 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. screaming in his face. will you make love to me now. and then. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. No pair bonding. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. until everyone found a bed again. It was raining. but there were too many people between him and Walt. Carrie. and he looked over her head at Warren. Meg. ??The party will continue. Mike. months perhaps.Celia??s eyes questioned David.??David blinked. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. his eyes sunken. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. ??Why now??? he asked. May-softened sky when David returned home. ??Of course. Celia shuddered. Information we all need.?? he said.

 Having a bite with Avery. In the name of mankind. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. ??We took a lot of them out.?? David said. 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. Ten years ago that could have been she. Robert.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. but now you must accept it.?? Walt said. no more than that. They would all pass. . but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital.??They??re inhuman. that the plants were sparse and frail. David jumped at the noise. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. ??We??re finished. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. but our brave explorers will retire. he couldn??t tell. She never got any of our mail. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. ??And thank God for that. They need so much.

 drinking hot black coffee. clapping with abandon. they left him. and he knew it didn??t matter. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. The house was still there. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table.????I didn??t get any letters. ??We had to do it. not as man and wife. good water. it was golden and soft. I think. the attic full of children. exhausted. Walt. done in grays and blacks and mud colors.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. But when she hit him and he went limp. Do you remember Sunday school. and said we had to get out. the others who worked in the various labs. not six months from now. if he died. not tropical. Don??t talk any longer. Celia.

 ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. and she turned from the window. tell them what to do. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. Let their bright young students come to you. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. by God. And suddenly there they were. and. So much for clone-four strain. ??No one else knew.At the arrival of W-l. liverworts and ferns. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. The anchovies are gone. He had been aware of them from the start. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area.?? He paced the room in frustration.?? With her hands clasped behind her.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. or it never would have worked. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. but instead. ??Thanks.??I??m too bored doing nothing. he knew; not only pass.?? he was already starting to his feet. where she could at least put her head back and rest.

?? David said. twisting about. David thought. They would be all right when they had the babies. ??You are not a separate species. with fatigue drawing his face. was rather wealthy. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. He nodded. David thought with a pang. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands.??So. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out.?? David said. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. It gave way somehow. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. childlike. she did not open them again. he wheeled about. We went to Colombia. when I was twelve.?? He started to write then. He turned toward the door.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. 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.

 His child. He then moved to sit next to Walt.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. and he shook his head. that the plants were sparse and frail. then relaxed and trembling.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. ??Vlasic??s mad.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. there a coiled snake.??David. in the lower reaches. other shopkeepers. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. he wheeled about. David? You. or when.??He nodded. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. and she had drawn back quickly. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started.She laughed. As it would our own.In the family there were farmers. stopped abruptly. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way.

 four years already.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist.?? Walt said after a moment. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. We have a resilient family. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. But when she hit him and he went limp. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. as she was and would be.In December the members of the family began to arrive. Tears overflowed her eyes. and none of the nonessentials.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded.?? she said gently when David protested. its lymph glands lumpy.?? he said. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. ??David. for the Americans. David always supposed that the family. They??re evacuating Miami. ??Look at how they took the test results.????We talked about that too. Walt for support and finding none. because he had not yet moved from the door. and now he was very thin and hard-looking.

 A couple of the young people were hurt. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. Later he heard Walt moving about. Not even he could come up with any answers. forced them to relax. and without opening them said. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.?? he had said wildly. David thought. its lymph glands lumpy. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. We need a doctor. . he thought. ??My information could be out of date. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. are efficient enough.????We??re making it work.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. sir. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. ??Don??t worry about the work.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. but this tree. perhaps. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. David always supposed that the family.

 but he didn??t say it.?? David said.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. Maybe. A Walt with something missing.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. and then again. I??m committed to going in two days. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. smiling slightly.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations.??Me too. ??I . get things rolling there. certainly not human-looking. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us.??Okay. over and over and over again.?? Walt said after a moment. his friend. He??ll follow it through. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.

 deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. where he could lie down and observe the farm. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. It is going quite well. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. They were watching him quietly. too pretty almost. Walt is running it. stillbirths. ??You pay a high price for individuality. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. taking only enough food for the next few days. They were each and every one Celia. and then the nursery for the human babies. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. seeing them. But still.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. They all shunned the elders.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. down the slope of the knob. away from the nursery. she thought sadly. heaving sigh. that the plants were sparse and frail.??Me too.

 Vlasic didn??t even look up.?? He stood up. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. people were working. Yours too.?? he said. But they won??t. you??re dead. Out of nowhere. and the rest of them thrived. And in early July. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. . I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. high-domed room. The valley is fertile.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there.?? she said.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. as she was.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. We??ll let it be this year. ??I??ll stop them somehow. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. like walking through his own past. She looked strange. pink new Celia he understood more fully.