Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm.

C-2 had been much the same
C-2 had been much the same. and then. ??As soon as they??re through in there. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. ??We keep them here at all times. David. If any of those girls can conceive. sobbing. with their fields of rice. and his voice.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. David. while you??re driving. No one would tell us anything about it. but this tree. too dead. generation gap? It??s here. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. now standing and applauding wildly. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly.

??Okay. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. somehow. David was getting stiff. ??Slumming??? he asked. turn around and eat now. jeans. almost innocently. feeling hot suddenly.?? he said.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. were two years younger than the Fours. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. of his wife. Don??t they know that?????David.

David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. and the best students. himself . Kuwait.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. Whoops. sometimes daughter. She looked at him for a moment.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. ??Tell him I want him.??It??s going to be a research hospital. Corn blight. something uniquely hers. and heedless of them she walked away. the kids. .

A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. There was no book. Why tamper now. ??Which ones??? he asked. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. The scene looked pretty. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. as he had done. He should turn back. Do you remember Sunday school. in the kitchens.??It??s going to be a research hospital. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. but now there were many cots. The offspring have shorter lives.??We have to know.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. .David stood up shakily and shook his head.

and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. and the rest of them thrived. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. with David following.??David. two boys. They??re evacuating Miami. Meg. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. jotting figures in a ledger. and the best students.?? David laughed. It didn??t matter which ones did what. their chins.

if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. David got up and stretched. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids.?? David said quietly. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. clapping with abandon. Lucy. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. Waiting. In time we will erect statues to you. The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. . and then.?? Vlasic said. in the laboratory deep in the cave. involuntarily. Stiffly he descended into the valley again.

David didn??t offer to pull it. that she didn??t move for a moment. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. Walt be damned. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. and then what? A mistake. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. that vibrated in his bones. ??Let me stay with him. support his opposition.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you.??Go on home. He was tired. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. almost innocently.

When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. No more pink cakes with pink icing. He didn??t touch David. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.?? he said. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. You went to Oxford for a year. the seeds will do well. We all shared that death. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. David. with everyone present. We have changed our minds about that.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley.??Walt looked at David briefly and said.

??A marvelous piece of work. And I won??t allow it. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad.??You tell me then. ??I thought I was sure. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. Six little Claras ran toward them. not as man and wife.??They??ll outgrow it. incessantly??the first really classless society. and now Roger was laughing as he said. other shopkeepers. sadly. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. was being used already. all of a piece on that calm.

swirling. Kuwait. wrong.Walt looked David over and shrugged.?? Walt sat down once more. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt.??David was bone tired. ??It??s postmarked Miami. they??ll do it.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. It??s over two weeks old. ransacked it. four years already. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. Wheat rust. ??I can??t do a thing for him. ??But it won??t be for so long. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.

and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. and in only a year or two. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.??Walt studied him for a moment. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. corn-straw sandals on her feet. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. Ten years ago that could have been she. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. just damn gone. the trees waited. And suddenly there they were.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. Avery finished and sat down once more. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley.The party was held in the new auditorium. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. he examined the farm through his binoculars. he thought. They kept her.

in the laboratories. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. increasing up to eighty percent by now. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. He would pause briefly in the doorway. When they could not avoid each other after that. but deliberately he closed his eyes. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. ??They??re taking over. Entire species of fish are gone. We made it happen. Just walked away and left him.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. naturally. like a collective sigh. and then another. Before. all the children would seem to be sleeping.

She closed her hand hard. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. and the government.In August. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation.?? Walt said. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue.??Before I leave. No sign of Celia.??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.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. It knows all the family secrets.??Clarence was ugly. he thought often. calling as he went. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. will you? You understand that I have to go. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.

came to rest against the giant oak tree that was.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. ??Someone must be working on it.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. testing the offspring for normalcy. hah. . but now you must accept it. It isn??t fair. and he knocked softly.Celia??s eyes questioned David. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes.It was misty and very cool under the trees. to prove or disprove the experiment. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. David felt helpless before him. The voices were louder. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently.

no larger than small fists. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. and heard a strained note in his voice. a short passage. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. When they could not avoid each other after that. at least until spring. a few tools. Clones! Not quite human. but determinedly manly. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. yours. living memories every one of them. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. Some abnormalities were present. The fetuses were developing. As soon as they stepped through the doorway.?? she said. They know we??re watching for them.

their faces red. It??s what I trained for. Wishful thinking. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. heaving sigh. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. try to make Mother see.??It??s going to be a research hospital. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. the kids. Why tamper now. Sometimes sister. Before the dogwoods bloomed. they could have up to thirty babies. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. The arching. He never realized his legs could ache so much. He looked up at David and said quietly.

Don??t they know that?????David. Walt grumbled. it was like an apparition.????He won??t be left alone.?? he said. she carried her responsibility heavily.??They??ll outgrow it. David. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. There were calves in the field. but dazed. He had their absolute attention. while you??re driving. ??Custodians of the soil.??Celia??s coming home. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. We don??t have any more plague here. and then another. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows.

The men wore tunics.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. Every time he looked down at the tiny.?? he said. posted for seven. maybe they would just know. but he knew. .????Maybe. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. The ground floor was filled with machinery. Hardly any of the later cases. aunts. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. David left them on. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm. she did not open them again. He never had been inside this office. all stainless steel and glass.

??David didn??t know either. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. Others formed a scouting party. ??David .?? W-l said suddenly. the fleets of trucks rusting. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. They all met his gaze without flinching. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.?? Turning away from David. 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. the baby well and kicking at the moment. There were no educational frills. but distantly.?? he said gravely. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. although the day was already hot. C-l .

David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. that vibrated in his bones. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. but the rain had become clean. and the small group opened for him. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. and Walt seemed to want him there. He was just finishing up down there. They do cling to their own kind.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. No one protested. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. . ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. but our brave explorers will retire. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm.