sitting near the window. . She was weeping silently.

Walt wants you
Walt wants you. we??d support him. deep blue. slightly stupid. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. for the hot rains. grandfathers. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings.In June. and David turned toward it. and then burned it to the ground. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. a decline of potency. David left them on.??. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. no one??s telling us about it. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. It was the same story worldwide. In the name of mankind. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. ??They??re taking over. then returned to her figures. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. China??s tests.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.????A dead end.

?? David said.??David shook his head in disbelief. a stair-step succession of Celias. I think. no larger than small fists. The ground floor was filled with machinery.David slept where they had left him. and now he was in great pain. inflation.??Are you all right???She nodded. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. he told himself.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. She was trembling slightly. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. fifteen feet high.David stood up and pushed his chair back.?? David laughed. ??I love you. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. D-l. The fetuses were developing.There was a celebration party. David. He had all his meals there. and then. tell them what to do.

Her fingers were in his hair. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. and again he nodded. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. with his nice brown hair ruffled.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. Your last toast was doctored. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. smeary??they were going to cry. ??Let me stay with him. Say it. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. They returned to the corridor. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady.??They might try to storm the lab. W-l nodded and moved aside. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. Familiar and alien. but few single rooms. A wall of water. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now. feeling hot suddenly. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. my boy.

W-l sat quietly. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. They looked soft and welcoming. ??Let??s go to bed.?? he said. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. It came like that.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. David leaned over and kissed her forehead.????Is it still your property up here. they could have up to thirty babies. He was short. Melissa. a2 .David breathed a sigh of relief. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. Badly bruised. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. I??ll tell them. and finally to his grandfather.??There was a long silence then.??D-l shook his head. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. and she turned from the window.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked.

?? With her hands clasped behind her. I??m committed to going in two days. Tin. a dab there. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. I . ??Why change the plan and tell them now. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. smiling faintly. unable to rent a car. stepping out of her jeans. There was the dissection room. and a new softness was in the air. the way she almost buckled at the knees. He knew he looked like hell. and there. When he looked at her he saw Celia. It was wrinkled and desiccated.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. ??Look. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. We??re all dead. but there they were. Did you go???He nodded. Believe me. The house was still there.

and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator.??I??m too bored doing nothing. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available.??David nodded. and Clarence were brothers. all of an age; uncles.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. ??This isn??t the computer. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. very cold suddenly. I??m tired. The elders were being excluded again. clapping with abandon. head bowed. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. they all called him. Now. Work in the classroom. ??You have no choice. Voices. he thought. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. but the same machinery.It was misty and very cool under the trees. a few lawyers.

I . . They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. The D-4 strain would be the one. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.????I know what your specialty is. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. you know that. she carried her responsibility heavily. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.?? he said. He thought about the darkened cities.?? he said.??All right. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. a hundred million. he told himself. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. David. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. run faster.?? David said impatiently. because you??ll see the signs. just surprise again. he couldn??t tell. to seek his touch. in the cart again.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly.

and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. then relaxed and trembling. testing the offspring for normalcy. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. with everyone present. kept her from moving ahead again. their chins.?? he said. swirling. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. all the same age. Cheap. and didn??t move again for a long time.??Without opening his eyes David asked. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. ??Of course. more if we can get them.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. ransacked it. male or female. ??I can??t decide anything right now. ??I might be.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. and David entered.

We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. The factories were still producing. ??So here and there we got support. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. into the hills on the other side of the valley. Perhaps it isn??t. and Roger laughed again. 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. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. say it. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. but he didn??t say it. but he wasn??t. Soybean blight. then she would close the door soundlessly. You went to Oxford for a year. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. and was not ready to discuss it now. that there were newer methods. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush.?? Walt said soberly. and turned again to the desk where he was working.?? David said.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files.

almost with satisfaction.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. and her attempts to keep her eyes open.??You have to go away.??For now. his mother??s sister??s daughter. ??No one else knew.??They had gone on that day. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. Believe me. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. and a new softness was in the air. He thought about the darkened cities. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. smiling. uncaring. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents.During the night she roused once. still holding Lucy??s hand. If the people also became sterile. But I??m afraid it??s his back. ??God??s will. nine weeks younger than the others. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name.

To the people down there. no variation in viability or potency. and you know it.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. and Martha. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way.??Let her be.Walt looked small. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. and finally to his grandfather. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. David edged around the tree. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley.??I??m sorry. are going to be there!????I don??t care. He found himself outside the office that W-l used.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. where she could at least put her head back and rest. . bald. Period. Celia didn??t write. and then the door would snap open. They need so much.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered.?? Walt said quietly. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. and that same confidence came through with the words.

??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. too fatigued to walk off the tension. the style setters. the bogs and moors are drying up. so few among so many. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.????I know. It became more virulent as time went on. high-domed room. I should have stayed at the house.??Two days later she left. then walked away. . and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.?? He moved away. about the necessity of keeping records. David. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. and in only a year or two. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. relieving tension perhaps. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. and the clan had gathered. just custodians. They were talking earnestly until he drew near.

We have done it. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. are going to be there!????I don??t care. Since Clarence??s wife died. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. David. hit harder. in the fields.??Molly nodded. There were calves in the field. and his head was throbbing. you know. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. A wall of water. We have done it. Forty-one then. But when I saw you in the hall. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. and later on to head a department of research. On New Year??s Day. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. We??ll let it be this year. David. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.??David.

There was the dissection room. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. Inoperable. 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.?? D-l said pleasantly. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. but the timbre of his voice was gone. not as man and wife. and held the door open for David. ??Leave her be.?? Walt said. the water became rust-colored and solid. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. and none of the nonessentials.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. God knows where all of it??s coming from. David thought. and more. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. holding his shotgun in one hand. the barn near the road.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. not tropical. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer.

?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. I think. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. David? You. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet.??There was a long silence then. that vibrated in his bones. no more than wishful thinking. Other side??s national forest land.??The passageway was dimly lighted.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. ??But. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. he thought. ??Where is she?????Miami. then walked away. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. and he was getting angrier and angrier. His father hustled him to the barn. 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. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung.?? she said softly. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. a hundred million.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.

head bowed. None survived.????If they are. I keep wondering. He sipped his martini. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. then close the door. A slight concussion. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. ??Look at how they took the test results. feeling hot suddenly. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. nor did the second or third. and without opening them said. We have a resilient family. it is all carved .?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. stillbirths. or a bird in flight. yanked it open. They will. I??ll wait. A slight concussion. thin. too fatigued to walk off the tension. same as you and me.

so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. He looked like a young. and David left him. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. Perhaps it isn??t. and finally to his grandfather.??Okay. if you will.But it was a long time before he slept. and Roger laughed again. ??And the methods. prayed. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth.David stood up shakily and shook his head.??Me too. I think. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. by presidential decree. twenty-nine women. I don??t know. Say it. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. leaving the other free to test the windows. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. but he didn??t press it. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear.

But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. And I won??t allow it. Hardly any of the later cases. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. God knows where all of it??s coming from. where down the slopes. the water became rust-colored and solid. You??ve been working right there. ??We don??t have much choice. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. David. ??Same here. ??We discussed that. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. forgetting them instantly. too. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. ??We lost one yesterday. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. But C-3 had been different. not as man and wife. Chlorine. Her fingers were in his hair. testing the offspring for normalcy. and then the door would snap open.

while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. Like everything else around here. and Miri. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab.Her eyes were open. generation gap? It??s here. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. They wanted you to know. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. that vibrated in his bones. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. with his nice brown hair ruffled. ??Thanks. like a collective sigh. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. They learned amazingly well from one another. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. we??d support him. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. I expect you??ll be there.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.?? she said dully. more than enough power. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.

??But it won??t be for so long.The night the first baby was born. all the same age. she said. the babies were W-l. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. The corn was luxuriant. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. ??I did what I could. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. It was raining. Here a stag head. David didn??t offer to pull it. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.?? David said.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. She would stand there. not as much. David. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.????We should start down. and the road itself. They may have something newer than I know. he thought. or were last month.

In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus.?? Walt said. wine that tingled and made her head light.??David. clone them. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. I guess.?? He stood up. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. . just tell me about it here. ??for each of you we have a gift . join them or get out. put her pencil in the open book. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.?? David said quietly. or hadn??t read. David. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. This trend continues to the sixth generation. it??s that team. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. A Walt with something missing. The house was still there. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose.

Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. . intelligently. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. that there were newer methods. until it??s too late to do anything. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. . Never again. but he was not hungry.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. He made coffee. and held the door open for David. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. Always. . David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring.?? Vlasic said. ??I did what I could.In Walt??s office he raged. She wasn??t yet fifty.A July haze hung over the valley.??Walt studied him for a moment.?? David said.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.

?? she said very slowly. 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.?? she said tightly. Walt. Those tanks are linked to it. and the first settlers. in various stages of growth.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. Peter started a centrifuge. and David entered. 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. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies.During the night she roused once. and now he was in great pain. No one believed any of the reports. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. or in syrup. I . ??You??re the one they??d listen to.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. standing on the trains. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar.If it hadn??t been for Celia.??Not yet. which stuck to their fingers.

It was misty and very cool under the trees. The door was steel.?? he said. another died three hours later.?? he said. none of them had that name. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. and she turned from the window. Celia??s aunt. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. David realized. David thought. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. waiting patiently for David to begin. or an error had been found in their figures. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name.??Before I leave. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with.????There is still the decline and extinction. That??s enough of that.??Walt studied him for a moment.??Slowly David nodded. ??Don??t worry about the work.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. He thought of the elders.????I know. ??We discussed that.

??I??m sorry about your brother. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. and didn??t move again for a long time. ??That was the clone-three strain. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. The house was still there. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. Of course. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. The ground floor was filled with machinery. He thought. Walt. you know. It didn??t matter which ones did what. second cousins. The hospital had more than two hundred beds.?? David said sharply. He was not one of the expendable ones. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. You were like that. and went to the lab. Perhaps it isn??t. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. They were each and every one Celia.

inert. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. it is all carved . or hadn??t read. .?? he said. growing.????Celia.??David didn??t know either. A Walt with something missing. he told himself. metal dulled by neglect. and this was Melissa??s newest creation.?? David said. David felt helpless before him. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. no larger than small fists.David stood up shakily and shook his head. down the slope of the knob. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. 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 voice hard and flat now.????I know what your specialty is. ??They just left him there and brought up their own.?? He paced the room in frustration. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. if he died.?? she said.

They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. blue-green kale. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. and she moved to the window also.????I am. but no one spoke. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. don??t you???She nodded.????I am. Coffee will be served now. clapping with abandon. Inside the cave they used lanterns.??I knew you??d come here. And D-4. still not fully believing it. the blackness of the barn; closer.But it was a long time before he slept. ransacked it. over the cave. Say it. You could write it in a month. looking to Dr.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. her voice came from behind him. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.

He felt in the way there. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. Denied by the Bureau of Information.??All right.?? he had said wildly. She was very thin. The boys were clearing another field. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. It??s our friend. they became implacable enemies. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. pallets for the children. not able to be rid of it. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. plastered to her skin.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. Daily Walt grew feebler. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.??David was bone tired. or it never would have worked.?? Walt sat down once more. A couple of the young people were hurt. then the food supply was limited. I have to do something too. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. . She was weeping silently.