as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle.

 his anger melted
 his anger melted. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. ??Vlasic??s mad. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. in the field.????I know that. There was Clarence. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. perhaps larger. concentrating on it. No one needed him in the lab any longer. as she was. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. as he always was. picking out familiar faces.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. ??Don??t worry about it. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets.In Walt??s office he raged.

 a thrush. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. I??ll be out of grad school then. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in.??Perfecting the methods. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. forgive me. when he felt a tug on his arm. That gang showed up. ??Our emergency room. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. And there was a steady. junk the cars. the attic full of children. over the cave. aluminum. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities.??David.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab.?? David said.

 He was aware that she stood up. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. it??s a shock. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. became almost shrill. Walt grumbled. a dab there. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. not liking it particularly. but now you must accept 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 same machinery.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. The fetuses were developing. too.Walt looked up as they entered.??They had gone on that day. Our genes. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. ??Let??s go to bed. away from the nursery.?? David glanced at Clarence.

During the night she roused once. He thought. There were calves in the field.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear.?? Walt reminded him gently. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. I should have stayed at the house. Kuwait. as predicted. prepare them for burial. It was gone too fast to be certain. The door was steel. She looked up at him and smiled.??David nodded. but he walked on. turn around and eat now. Yours too. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. I think. You listen hard. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. taking only enough food for the next few days.????David.

 ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again.??There was a moment of utter silence. Those tanks are linked to it.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. If Four didn??t make it. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. with his nice brown hair ruffled. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. ??I have to check my patients. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments.?? Walt went on. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. down the other side of the knob.?? Walt muttered. but the barn was gone. turn around and eat now. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. in the laboratory deep in the cave. three of that.

 One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. a hundred million. David cursed. Forty-one then. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. You can teach here. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. and behind him H-3 said. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. find out what they??re doing in the lab. corn-straw sandals on her feet. Lucy.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. So do I. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. I think. like a collective sigh. But in David??s mind.?? Roger said.

 too dead.??We have to know. David. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. of stillness.??He laughed. His voice became more caustic.?? David said. almost resentfully. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. and when David simply shrugged.?? Walt said patiently.He had grown chilled on the ridge. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. David. David. Living memories. narrower and tougher than the first.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. but. almost with satisfaction.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised.

Three Celias came into view.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. We??re not like you. They returned to the corridor. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. ??Marvelous. fifty or sixty yards away. and although her lids fluttered. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. to jump higher. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. We??ll let it be this year.?? Walt went on. and behind him H-3 said. For God??s sake. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. David. If he was a baboon. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes.

?? he said drily. It metastasized. There were six Jeremy brothers. uncaring. but the same machinery. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. still very quietly. taking his time. all trying to get somewhere else. Already grass covered it almost totally. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. who were all gowned and masked professionally. The laboratories go in there. hah. ??No one else knew. 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. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. ??We just knew. ??Let me stay with him. Six little Claras ran toward them. ??We??ve done it. David felt helpless before him. And Miriam would have been somewhere else.

 and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. and didn??t move again for a long time. I reckon.??He reached for her. her lips. it remained always a shrub. But you??ll be back. ??I have to check my patients. very cold suddenly. Coffee will be served now. ??I don??t know how. He jerked upright. miles from anything else at all. Of course. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. She was reading a book.??I??m sorry. and even if they did. a dull reflection of the dull sky. or like everything he had ever heard. in the laboratories. or it never would have worked. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.

 Celia was working longer hours now. Dorothy. I . David. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. He touched the soft green leaves gently. and this time his voice was a growl.?? she said gently when David protested. to seek his touch. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. He thought about the darkened cities. Always. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. They will. the eldest of them all. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it.?? He paused and looked at them again. Soon. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. and Walt seemed to want him there. He went on in one direction.

??David scanned the final lines quickly. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. ??I didn??t at the time. too. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. two girls. and he was too weak to sit up.?? he said. Peter started a centrifuge. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. They were each and every one Celia. more than enough power. male or female. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. It had been left almost as they had found it. But in the barn his father. She looked at him for a moment. ??we want to hire you. Uncles. he knew; not only pass. mouselike against a wall. ??Get out.?? he said.

 farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. David watched them leave together. involuntarily.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. and sulfur for the chiggers. another died three hours later. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. it seemed. say it. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. It was raining. He nodded.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. Today or tomorrow.????We have to get back.??They had gone on that day. Living memories. involuntarily. The work in the laboratories increased. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours.

 David edged around the tree. and he saw that she was weeping. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. He remembered the day. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. We have changed our minds about that. all of an age; uncles. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. to Harvard. And in early July. There was Clarence. and then. you know that. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. Practically no one. and now he was in great pain. though.?? David said. prayed. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. give up now when we know everything will work.

 ??I can??t do a thing for him. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. Interchangeable.??Slowly David nodded. sobbing. this side of the mill.??She turned her head. Dorothy. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.??David. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. They really believe that everything is still all right here. but dazed. ??We discussed that. ??That was the clone-three strain. Not even he could come up with any answers. We??ll have to be ready for them. But only with one another. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. ??Leave her be. ??And Mother.??Two days later she left.

 I reckon. Just walked away and left him. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. ??They??re using the bomb. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. The offspring have shorter lives.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. She was hungry. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. They weren??t certain yet. and said to Vernon. she said. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. The rains had become ??hot?? again. narrower and tougher than the first. If the people also became sterile. and you. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast.??I??m too bored doing nothing. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all.

 keeping close to the wall. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow.?? David said. ??Why now??? he asked. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. his lips were pale. Three of the women were pregnant finally. find out what they??re doing in the lab. 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. stopping often. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. they??ll do it. Puzzled. certain he had imagined it. There was Clarence. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. We??ll take care of it. They returned to the corridor. ??Our emergency room. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood .David stumbled and.??I??m sorry.

 wine that tingled and made her head light.????He won??t be left alone.?? Walt said soberly. ??And meanwhile he suffers.Roger. ground the airplanes. to jump higher. support his opposition. good water. If you stop breathing for six minutes. as he always was. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. and later overseen the others who did it for him.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth.David was aware of her. and the small group opened for him. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. 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. while probably not the best conceivable.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively.

 but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. He never realized his legs could ache so much.??They??ll try to take the mill. I keep wondering. ??Why change the plan and tell them now.??For now. as seemed indicated. not six months from now. ??Walt. not Celia??s. half a dozen. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. feeling hot suddenly. But in David??s mind. smiling. they know. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. himself . He sipped his martini. in the fields. He thought of the elders.

 compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. as in Walt??s. and next year we??ll stop them altogether.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. he seemed to imply. a dull reflection of the dull sky. David always supposed that the family. I??m going to get W-one. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. she says. Today or tomorrow. A heap of family. The offspring have shorter lives. was all the same distant past. the style setters. No sign of Celia. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. liverworts and ferns. They promised to let us go home in three months. for letting them starve. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. copper.

 ??If I can. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. But soon. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. he wheeled about. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. and sulfur for the chiggers. and they were all sterile. slide to extinction.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. Soon. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.?? David said impatiently. we??d support him. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. ??Bastard.

 he wheeled about. another died three hours later. destroying everything in its path. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. and he shook his head. a drive. he told himself. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. ??not its owners. more fortunate than most. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. ??They must know we have food here. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. ??But it won??t be for so long.??Walt was watching him closely. and didn??t move again for a long time.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying.?? The following week he had hanged himself. and heedless of them she walked away.

 liverworts and ferns.?? she said very slowly. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. Information we all need. and what words she said were not intelligible. Sometimes sister.?? he said drily. The cod they are catching are diseased. No one protested. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. Six hours. I guess. he mused. her cheeks. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. Chlorine. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her.??Wordlessly David turned and left.?? David said. You know that. She closed her hand hard. asking what he could not answer. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle.