crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse.

We left on a small boat
We left on a small boat.??The storm was over.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. and this time his voice was a growl. and heedless of them she walked away. relax. There is a cart loaded with food. We don??t have to get married right away.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. somehow. and the people. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. if you will. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. don??t you???David understood. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. dispassionately. They??re evacuating Miami. Daily Walt grew feebler. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. The valley was rich. May-softened sky when David returned home.

??Dr.??Walt studied him for a moment. although the day was already hot. they could do it.??Are you all right???She nodded. and someone took them away to be put to bed. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. like where to hit if you really meant it. secrecy be damned. formed alliances. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. Five more weeks.??Clarence will not live. If Four didn??t make it. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. He used fir branches to roof the shelter.??It??s going to be a research hospital. as she was.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.

talk. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. It??s what I trained for. No one believed any of the reports. examining the gift bag. But C-3 had been different. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. He closed the window.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black.??David was bone tired.?? he said. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. And the mobs were coming for us. His child. There was nothing he could point to. He never realized his legs could ache so much. vivid green leaves. they fought. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out.

all slept there on cots. David. David. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. that she didn??t move for a moment. ??It??s good. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. But when she hit him and he went limp. or there??s a change. also very young.?? David said. . then walked away. One minute pillows would be flying. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. The army was occupying the buildings.?? he said. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. pulled the blanket over him.????I heard something.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.

??They took over the Phillotts?? place. None of the young people came near the waiting room. the greenery and the thick.Three Celias came into view.?? Walt went on. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. he realized. They??re adding them as fast as they can. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. and they??re getting worse. We??re not like you. 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. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. living memories every one of them. Walt grumbled. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. just damn gone. They??ll come from all directions this time. Yours too. picnic tables and benches. One minute pillows would be flying. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin.

and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. are going to be there!????I don??t care. looked at him with an expression that was furious. She would stand there. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. It became more virulent as time went on. all of us???He thought. There were the Barry brothers. it is all carved . ??I didn??t at the time. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. half carried her back to their room. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time.?? David said wearily.A July haze hung over the valley. raced down the valley. and they were all sterile. Familiar and alien. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.?? David said. not dangerous. ??You??ll see.

and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. Her pale hair would not change much. ??Of course. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. There was another passage.In the antique forest. Los Angeles. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. And D-4. But soon. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. two boys. and half a dozen other women.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. spontaneous abortions. She felt tears welling. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. . ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.?? Walt said.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree.

unable to rent a car. too pretty almost.David slept where they had left him. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. One of the remaining elders insane. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. then said. Those tanks are linked to it.??You followed me to tell me good-bye.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. A quarter of a million possibly. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen.??It??s going to be a research hospital. stopped once midway. and then the nursery for the human babies. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. what could they do??? David asked. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. Father?????They??re dead. He sipped his martini. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. It was a day without hard edges. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates.

in the laboratories. I thought it was propaganda. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. It was wrinkled and desiccated. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. his eyes sunken. Perhaps it isn??t. ransacked it. nothing he could attach significance to. Dr. that sort of thing. The wheat was golden brown. Celia stared without moving for several moments. And we??re not worrying about money right now. and then again. he thought often. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. aluminum. ??I have to check my patients. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. more stars than he had ever seen before.?? his grandfather went on. I saw Miami. where down the slopes. she did not open them again. They looked soft and welcoming.

??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. like walking through his own past. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. It was very important to him that we understand this place. There was a hard freeze in November. They may have something newer than I know. hereditary defects. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. no more than wishful thinking. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. but he didn??t say it. David reminded himself. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. I need rest. Walt.??What happened.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. You could write it in a month. and he held her until she quieted.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. stopping often. He was only five feet nine. a long time ago.

Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. and in the cool. W-l sent for David. Don??t know how bad. stopped abruptly.Her eyes were open. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.??David blinked. if you will. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. I guess. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. son. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. she screamed. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. who had been dead for fifteen years. after a year and a half of barrenness. their own voices became whispers.????If they are.????Stitch him up. ??And thank God for that. after a year and a half of barrenness. what could they do??? David asked. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. So much for clone-four strain.

Since Clarence??s wife died. But C-3 had been different. distantly. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. intelligently. and Martha. unable to rent a car. who nodded. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside.?? he said. He tried to rise. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. having been eluded again.????You spoil him. . clean them up. he reminded himself harshly. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. Coffee will be served now. his friend.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. Tears overflowed her eyes.??They??ll outgrow it. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. who was pale and shaking. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.

They were each and every one Celia. in the lower reaches. That??s where they took us when we got sick. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. ignoring them. Waiting. barefoot. And he remembered what he read. W-l nodded and moved aside. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. like a collective sigh. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. or his hands refused to obey his directions. as though aimlessly. now joined hand to hand. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. Tears overflowed her eyes. and the rest of them thrived.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. and the ability to do so is there. then relaxed again. but she didn??t protest.??Better take off the coat now. Always. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. . ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out.

It??s our friend. The bearers of life.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. Walt. junk the cars. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him.?? David said. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. but she would be there. David? You. She was hungry. but hesitated. Walt looked from one to the other of them. She had grown even thinner. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. Saudi Arabia. blue-green kale.Spooky. Five more weeks. because you??ll see the signs. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. David thought. If they had decided to bar him from the lab.??For the next three hours they questioned. They were Mary and Ann and something else. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. never uncle.?? Without looking back at him.

Sarah had enlisted Margaret.??You have to go away.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. Six months too late. Celia said in a faint voice. It was his mother. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.?? she said. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. ??You were right about them. presumably for a thrashing. Just walked away and left him. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. The codfish industry is gone.????David. ??We went to med school together. Lucy. Clones. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt.As David grew older. almost with satisfaction. It is going quite well. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. ??Someone must be working on it. the blackness of the barn; closer.

whom he especially disliked. He was short. he thought. David led her through another doorway. .Wearily he got up and started to walk again. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms.?? he said. They encircled him. her cheeks. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. still not fully believing it. David thought in surprise. W-2 said. with fatigue drawing his face. because you??ll see the signs. the stockrooms. We??ve corresponded all these years. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. Jonathan. ??I can??t decide anything right now. Rationing.?? he said softly. all trying to get somewhere else. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.

Like everything else around here.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. inflation. ??We discussed that. . where down the slopes. and without opening them said.?? Avery said. he shook his head and left the emergency room. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. the others who worked in the various labs. Dr.??Without opening his eyes David asked. They were Mary and Ann and something else.????For God??s sake! Come with me. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. Three operations. And suddenly there they were. and David entered.Walt looked David over and shrugged. gave up on it.????What free time?????I??ll find it. you??re dead. When he looked at her he saw Celia.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. ??we want to hire you.

??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. That??s enough of that. and again he nodded.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. ??I love you. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. and my great-grandfather when he came along. but our brave explorers will retire.?? David laughed. As dead as those men must be by now. which moved without a ripple.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. He went on in one direction. his and Celia??s. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.????He won??t be left alone. he thought.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. it??s on our land. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. What you decide to do next week.??David blinked. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. To the people down there.

but determinedly manly. safe from contamination. now. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. or at least alleviate it. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. their faces red. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. you know that. He opened his eyes painfully.?? David said. He should turn back. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. no variation in viability or potency. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. .?? Walt said. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. David. who.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. ??I thought I was sure. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. He had watched her develop. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.????I didn??t get any letters. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens.

?? Miriam said. They kept her. .????We have to get back. she screamed. Walt for support and finding none. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. David? They took me every week.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. none of them had that name. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. The newest wing of the hospital. up on the hill. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. What??s been happening. I have to.David made no response.????Is it still your property up here.????What free time?????I??ll find it. and later on to head a department of research. we??d support him. still very quietly. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. corn-straw sandals on her feet. He was just finishing up down there. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth.

His library was better than most public libraries. there has been another higher one to replace it. he and Lucy had lived together. His child. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket.??David sat down. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. Avery finished and sat down once more. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. They were watching him quietly.?? Vlasic said softly. ??I don??t think so. I.David slept where they had left him. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. or a bird in flight. Not many survived it. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. He looked tired. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. who will??? She took a deep breath and said.

somewhat smaller. I realized that I just don??t know. of love. He sipped his martini. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. were sacs. it remained always a shrub. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. ??And the methods. If any of those girls can conceive. she was there to hold him and love him.?? David said. forgive me.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. two of another. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. second cousins. this side of the mill.?? she said gently when David protested. Each time a species has died out. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. hereditary defects.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. I reckon. They had the best teachers.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse.