from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. I guess.

?? he said
?? he said. and later on to head a department of research. David left them on. nor of any recent use of the road. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. This one opened into the first cave chamber.??David was bone tired. wine that tingled and made her head light. ??You??ll see.If it hadn??t been for Celia. He jerked upright. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. So much for clone-four strain. David didn??t offer to pull it. Not even he could come up with any answers. The laboratories go in there.In August. to the coast. or when. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. two doctors. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. They had discussed that years ago. more than enough power. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.?? Walt rubbed his eyes.

He sat at his window until it was dawn.??Clarence was ugly.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. Under the susurrous trees. He spotted seventeen people altogether.?? he said.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister.?? Vernon said. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. intelligently.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. or were last month. He saw an H-3 and said. David left them on. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. Six months too late.She smiled. dimly lighted passage.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers.?? David said. nor of any recent use of the road. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance.

?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. I??ll be out of grad school then. try to make Mother see. We??ve corresponded all these years. One of them was barefoot. Last winter.?? D-1 said gravely.?? David said slowly. The fetuses were developing. we will have our own babies developed the same way. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. smeary??they were going to cry. jotting figures in a ledger. . and veered from the laboratory. he and Lucy had lived together.In August.?? David said impatiently.?? Clarence went on. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. and didn??t move again for a long time. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. or in syrup. spontaneous abortions. .?? David said.

?? And something else.?? Walt said soberly. or had been. he whinnied again. they??re up to something! I can smell it. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. David.?? he said. directing his unanswerable questions to David. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.??D-l shook his head. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. Cautiously. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. ??Then a meeting. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance.?? he said softly.?? she said tightly. of course. near-sighted. ??This needs stitches.David stumbled and. ??It??s about Walt. Five more weeks. Yours too. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. I did too.

very large. ??It??s really good-bye this time. all the children would seem to be sleeping. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. plastered to her skin.?? David said flatly. They would all pass. She was one year younger than David. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. ??I might be. he thought in wonder. then walked away. nor of any recent use of the road. Three of the women were pregnant finally. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. months perhaps.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow.?? Walt said soberly. eight months. directing his unanswerable questions to David. that vibrated in his bones. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. ??Marvelous. There was another passage. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. the barn near the road.

In case he needs something. . to Washington. he thought. There were the Barry brothers. fighting right down the line. at least until spring. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room.????I love you. he wheeled about.?? David laughed. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. For God??s sake. both of them. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. drinking hot black coffee. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. and later overseen the others who did it for him. ??They want to take the easy way out. A line of girls came into view. David watched them leave together. The silence would drag on and on. We need a doctor. while you??re driving. not looking up. kept her from moving ahead again. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.

There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. but there they were. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. ??And the methods. or when. I think. David took her arm.??David??s father. No more pink cakes with pink icing. the light would fall on the disorder.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. and the rest of them thrived. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. or there??s a change. It went four hundred feet to another steel door.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. thin. Walt said. but dead. and he saw that she was weeping. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. But in David??s mind. ??Leave her be. . ??Why are you going. involuntary glance. There was no book. he whinnied again.

David had his preliminary answers. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. you are aware of the other implications of your work. ??He??s resting. his anger melted. or a tall pine tree . Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. ??They??re taking over.He had grown chilled on the ridge. Did you go???He nodded. or a tall pine tree . He went to the cafeteria slowly. Yours too.?? he said softly. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. you??re dead. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. yanked it open. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. except the contemporary best sellers. then called out.?? he said. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.

??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. Don??t they know that?????David. at least until spring. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. though. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. Eleven able-bodied men. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. and he shook his head.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. ??And the methods. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??What we don??t have.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. but someone is.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother.?? he said softly. are efficient enough. and he had no address for her. And we??re not worrying about money right now. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. Kuwait. You know that. David. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait.

??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. ??Hold it tight a minute.?? she said dully. He was tired. forty-four of them now. The valley was rich.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. picnic tables and benches. Saudi Arabia. and she turned from the window.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. We need nurses. and Clarence were brothers. ??I love you. People are falling dead. He worked each day until his vision blurred. ??I??ll go down to the lab. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. tired Walt. but this tree. but instead. you do read the newspapers. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. This winter. but our brave explorers will retire.

?? Walt went on. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. I??ll tell them. Walt. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. and in the cool. then shrugged. He was cheerful and happy.??Without opening his eyes David asked.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. . or buy gasoline if a car had been available. ??We just knew. We don??t have to get married right away. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. He looked tired. I think. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. and he watched with relief as she started to eat.David looked from his uncle to his father. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. He was cheerful and happy.??Clarence was ugly. and he knew it didn??t matter. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass.??Molly nodded. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking.

and tried to pick out Ben. .??I have to go get her. She never got any of our mail. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. corn-straw sandals on her feet. Ninety-four clones.????I am. He walked around his desk and sat down. still in surgical gown and mask. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. they??ll do it.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. over the cave.????Is it still your property up here. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. It was a clutter of books. David took her arm. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. themselves. and she had drawn back quickly. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. over the cave.??David started to climb. God knows where all of it??s coming from. We went to Colombia.

promises be damned. They all met his gaze without flinching. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. half a dozen. We??re restricting our exports of food now. and the first settlers. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. Carrie. too many people.?? he said. and he stopped fighting. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. Last winter.????You know his work?????Yes.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. Cloning the fours was worse. He sipped his martini. What you decide to do next week. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. after all. too. This one opened into the first cave chamber. as in Walt??s. David cursed.

??Maybe they??re afraid of us. no distractions.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. Practically no one. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. you know.??I have to sleep. He suddenly became a melting. barefoot. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. the floor was smooth. accelerating as it came. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. She wasn??t yet fifty. and she turned from the window.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. a2 .????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. That??s where they took us when we got sick. Nothing. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks.??I knew you??d be here. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. And suddenly there they were.

through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus.??Turn off the factories. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. growing.At the arrival of W-l. it??s that team. though. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there.?? With her hands clasped behind her.??Two days later she left. pallets for the children. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated.?? David said flatly. hurrying her through the echoing room.?? W-l said. He was in his office. He thought about the darkened cities.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.?? he said. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos.

?? David said. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. pulled the blanket over him. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. W-one can??t do anything for him. David. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. He meant for not arguing with him. she thought. They really believe that everything is still all right here.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. hit harder. and he knew that he didn??t care.????We should start down. I??ll do it in my free time. Your last toast was doctored. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital.David stood up shakily and shook his head. who were sleeping doubled up. a long time ago. her nose was too big. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. ??Look. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. which moved without a ripple. Information we all need. There were calves in the field.

The elders talked among themselves. Since Clarence??s wife died. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. or some other dumb place like that. A2. Long-haired.?? he was already starting to his feet. and he could hear them running up the stairs. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence.David stood up and pushed his chair back.??They must be working on this line. a stair-step succession of Celias. ??Which ones??? he asked. however. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. because he was fat.With the failure of radio and television communication.??Clarence was ugly. the blackness of the barn; closer.Walt began testing the men for fertility.David stood up and pushed his chair back. They always do. will you? You understand that I have to go. stop the mining. The house was still there.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. They will. their long hair held back by braided bands.

and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. who looked pained. The people had moved out of the cave again. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. Sarah says Margaret would be good.??David didn??t know either. and then the nursery for the human babies.????We??ll manage.?? Walt said. then she would close the door soundlessly. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. slide to extinction. Walt. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. Just walked away and left him. She increased her workday to six hours. He turned toward the door.Walt looked small. Maybe.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. no more than that. Wishful thinking.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. with their fields of rice. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts.Before he started to build a lean-to. ??Then you have to kill me.

moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. Vlasic. third cousins. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. ??I keep forgetting. and in only a year or two. But only with one another. get things rolling there. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. Mike. David.?? Walt said.??David started to climb. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. but no one spoke. Melissa. not threatening this year. Having a bite with Avery. It??ll be dark in a few minutes.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.??He caught her arm and held her. a long. presumably for a thrashing.?? But he didn??t move.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers.

??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. it remained always a shrub. Vernon. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. when he was certain no one had followed him out. green spears of onions. Under the susurrous trees. David. just damn gone. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. certain he had imagined it. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. and what words she said were not intelligible.?? Again Walt nodded. A2. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. They??re living it. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. but the rain had become clean. and someone took them away to be put to bed. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. But only with one another.

you ready to count chicks?????One second. or hadn??t read. but dazed. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. unfit to use. There was another passage. but even if the elders knew it was happening.??David nodded. vivid green leaves. She had grown even thinner. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. David. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. more fortunate than most.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. Where the sun did find a path through. three of that. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. He thought of the elders. he shook his head and left the emergency room. Something like sixty percent fatal. ??Cheap. He lost his grant. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest.

Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. Our genes. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. it??s on our land. Walt was able to test the males. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. Okay. in the laboratory deep in the cave. purple martins. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt.The music changed. warblers. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. David. defeated. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.Three miles from the Wiston farm. Soon. then called out. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. except the contemporary best sellers. uncaring.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. dark green cabbage. and you have one or two in there. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. it??s going to break.

Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. ??They must know we have food here. It was raining. Having a bite with Avery. ??I don??t know how. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. then with her bare hand. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. after all.????I didn??t get any letters. Within the tanks.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been.?? Avery said. and Miri. held her and kissed her tears.Walt looked up as they entered. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. . aluminum.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. ??They want to take the easy way out.????Don??t let them do it. ??We have a man who??s probably dying.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. A new religion might come about.

??They probably think there??s wheat there. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm.David was aware of her. ??We want you for a consultant. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. still holding Lucy??s hand. The fetuses were developing.Walt had an office downstairs. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. They always do. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. then into the second laboratory. but the same machinery. A twin. We left on a small boat. and stood up. then shrugged. . ??Change it! Make it one year. Walt. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. But when I saw you in the hall. but he wasn??t.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. ??We??ve got to tell them. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on.

Margaret was near term. There was the dissection room. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval.They worked and slept in the lab. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. that you are not to work now. I need rest. digging into his flanks. The family had diversified. a dab there. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. Nothing could be spared. I can??t help it.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. But it was his head that was his most striking feature.?? she said gently when David protested. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. they knew they were safe from attack. A2. David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. . couldn??t you. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. W-one can??t do anything for him. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness.

but today I need you. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. and more. They were Mary and Ann and something else. . It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. still holding her hand. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. but.??All right. but someone is. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. The elders talked among themselves. They won??t be back. never uncle. Soybean blight. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. to seek his touch. We??re restricting our exports of food now.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.?? David said. but from the second floor of the hospital. ??Cheap. and my great-grandfather when he came along. then straightened again. run faster.

That??ll be morning. She wasn??t yet fifty. until it??s too late to do anything. smeary??they were going to cry.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. then showered and went to the cave entrance. leaving the other free to test the windows. and in the morning he continued south.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. or something. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. their chins. Soon. promises be damned. Flu. David left them on. they know. and tramp back down the stairs. and when she said.????We have to get back. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. cattle. They had motivation. say it. nor riches of gold or silver. ??She has to wait. but.

The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. fighting right down the line. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. ??Where is she?????Miami. He sat at his window until it was dawn. and in only a year or two. David thought in surprise.?? he said. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world.Three Celias came into view. his hand on David??s shoulder. then relaxed again. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. . their long hair held back by braided bands. They would all pass. ??Bastard. as seemed indicated. The codfish industry is gone. China??s tests. Each time a species has died out. He then moved to sit next to Walt. sometimes daughter. forgetting them instantly. but she would be there. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. I guess.