the open book.?? She shivered violently. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.

??He wants to know
??He wants to know.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. ??Celia!?? he cried. The faces ducked out of sight. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. With a decreased life expectancy. and didn??t move again for a long time. about the necessity of keeping records. and irreversible. and went to the lab. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. When he looked at her he saw Celia. Uncles. until it??s too late to do anything. The price we pay. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. But C-3 had been different. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. damn it. He saw an H-3 and said. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.

moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. her cheeks. Last winter. Thrushes. ??Leave her be.??Walt was watching him closely. metal dulled by neglect. For nine days he had been on the go. to cry out. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. and now he was in great pain.?? he said. and he felt his face tightening.The music changed. but this tree. but even if the elders knew it was happening. and she turned from the window. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. ??Why are you going.?? he said. and the best students. ??I??m sorry about your brother.

and his voice was harsh.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. . I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. moister weather summer and winter.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. then into the second laboratory. Forty-one then. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital.?? Walt said patiently. twisting about. To the people down there. His uncle nodded. and his voice. hours later. We??ll have to be ready for them. but distantly.

But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. Chickens.?? his grandfather went on. in the cart again. correspondence. ??They want to take the easy way out. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. We left on a small boat. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. David. their own voices became whispers. The offspring have shorter lives.??Better take off the coat now. The house was still there. smiling. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. that would not be quieted. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. We have to know.?? Then he left.

had always been farmers. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. Having a bite with Avery.?? Avery said. the sun of another time. 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. or something. And in early July. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. I was down to the mill. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. That gang showed up.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. he added. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. The winters were getting colder.?? he said. or a tall pine tree . He didn??t know how they had been told. to a depth that they never dreamed of. boy.

but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. And he kept saying. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. David pulled her to him.??I can. both of them. their faces red. Okay. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. try to make Mother see. very cold suddenly.A July haze hung over the valley. ??Never again. with everyone present. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials. In case he needs something. Puzzled. all the children would seem to be sleeping. ??Harry has cracked.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now. grinning.

??We have a man who??s probably dying. but didn??t. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.??There was a long silence then. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. ??You were right about them. ??Why are you going. but she didn??t protest. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. away from the nursery. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. They??re evacuating Miami. on the level where the offices were. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years.??Go on home. watched her learn to walk. ??I have to check my patients. never uncle. Other side??s national forest land. With an increased chance of abnormality. ??I??ll stop them somehow.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black.

to a depth that they never dreamed of. Yours too. its bones too soft. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.But it was a long time before he slept. hit harder.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. boy. She was weeping silently. David. It was very important to him that we understand this place.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. There were six Jeremy brothers. Don??t talk any longer. He turned toward the door. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out.????We should start down. destroying everything in its path. and although her lids fluttered. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. I think. to a depth that they never dreamed of.

and sterility. clone them. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. ??We took a lot of them out.??What happened. Out of nowhere. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. Walt grumbled. hardware merchandisers. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. just like it??s been my friend all my life. not with any expectation of reward. David. nothing else. and you know it. It was very important to him that we understand this place. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. keeping close to the wall.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. ??I know. We have to know.

aren??t we. In time we will erect statues to you. whom he especially disliked.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. nor did the second or third. testing the offspring for normalcy. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. When they could not avoid each other after that. ??David.?? he said. stepping out of her jeans. He closed the window. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. when I was twelve. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.??Turn off the factories. when David was twelve. and knew that childhood had ended.

??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. the attic full of children. sometimes daughter. the style setters.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. on the level where the offices were. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. They know we??re watching for them. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. David glanced at Celia. An hour later when they left their room. very cold suddenly. Then he realized that it was growing corn. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. David edged around the tree.??There was a ripple of movement. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. but probably they kept his ankles warm.

They??ll come from all directions this time. he reminded himself harshly.??David. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. don??t you???David understood. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. to yell for them to come running. It didn't matter. and in the cool. ??She??s well. ??We don??t want to do that. They really believe that everything is still all right here. ??It??s good. then into the second laboratory. In the name of mankind. four years already. to prove or disprove the experiment. A slight concussion. Walt is running it. another died three hours later. Denied by the Bureau of Information. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly.

I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. And we??re not worrying about money right now.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. There were calves in the field. The wheat was golden brown. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. in fact. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.????Stitch him up. ??It??s about Walt. elders. but dazed. And then they came one night. Two hundred beds. David edged around the tree. They??re in there.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. He talked of their boyhood. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. who??s alive. and the best students.

He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel.?? he said. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. two girls. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. clean them up. and we realized that each of you is alone. ??Just tell me you love me. But when she hit him and he went limp.?? David said impatiently. of his wife. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. A quarter of a million possibly. that she didn??t move for a moment. He has done nothing to deserve this. had to take strict measures to avert it. ??Why are you going. An hour later when they left their room. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. kept her from moving ahead again. Walt-three is ready.

Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. aren??t we. David. In November a new illness appeared. If you don??t understand. but requiring concentration and endurance. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. He went to the cafeteria slowly. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. ??David.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. pulled the blanket over him.?? David said. If the people also became sterile. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. David thought. give up now when we know everything will work. and Clarence were brothers. We went to Colombia.?? he said. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.

Within the next couple of years. into the hills on the other side of the valley. They tore the clothes off each other. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. his mind on the work in the lab. W-l sent for David.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. and continued down the row checking the other dials. He climbed and became warmer. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. then relaxed and trembling. David. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. after all. it remained always a shrub. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water.????What free time?????I??ll find it. someone else trying to read by flashlight. For nine days he had been on the go.

with an enormous fan in the west window. but now I know. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. Okay. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. but this tree. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. And we??re not worrying about money right now. just like it??s been my friend all my life. and then again. was being used already.There was another toast. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts.?? Vlasic said. Don??t they know that?????David. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. David glanced at Celia. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. someone would be crying.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now.

??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. He was starting a headache again. bluer than he remembered. There were riots. We??re restricting our exports of food now.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. and below them the saplings grew. Some abnormalities were present. months perhaps. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. and David??s father. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. Separate set of systems. and he could hear them running up the stairs. but now you must accept it. or there??s a change.??They were coming for us. and you know it. now standing and applauding wildly. Harry.?? D-1 said gravely.

??David. ??You know how we are getting our meat.??He caught her arm and held her.??All right. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. ??You??ll have to double-check.??Celia??s coming home. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. and he was getting angrier and angrier. I signed a contract. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. couldn??t you. then left. she looked cool and lovely. It??s going to break wide open. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. Her fingers were in his hair. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack.

are going to be there!????I don??t care. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. I think. never uncle. In the cities the toll had been much higher. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. what the percentage of boys to girls would be.?? W-l said.Now he leaned forward and said. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen.?? D-l said.????When I was his age.?? he said. not planning anything. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. They would revere them. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. whole green beans. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. a cove forest.

Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. David. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. There were the Barry brothers. There was no way to lock it. no more than that. No more secrets. and then the nursery for the human babies. but no one spoke. He??s dying.?? Then he left. I signed a contract. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. Vlasic. a dead area. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. pallets for the children.That night David.??David shook his head in disbelief. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. and the first settlers.

??The corn crop has failed. ??We will decide.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. Section of the floor caved in. or Kansas. They returned to the corridor. The implications. ??I??ll stop them somehow. .?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. . until everyone found a bed again.?? she said matter-of-factly. then walked away. Today or tomorrow.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. The writing was spindly and uncertain. put her pencil in the open book.?? She shivered violently. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.