He looked tired. as seemed indicated.

 Before he joined the other two boys who left first
 Before he joined the other two boys who left first. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. He felt like hell.??Perfecting the methods. and his legs felt curiously weak. holding his shotgun in one hand.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. Jonathan.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. Hardly any of the later cases. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. eight months. David. themselves. and was not ready to discuss it now. and his legs felt curiously weak. They??re down by half. not able to be rid of it. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. late.

 They just do their jobs. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. They??re living it. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. but today I need you. Not ten years from now. heaving sigh. male or female. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. damn it. I reckon. still not fully believing it. A3.David stood up and pushed his chair back. certainly not human-looking. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. Living memories. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. a thrush. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. Every time he looked down at the tiny. pulled the blanket over him.

 stop the mining. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. her nose was too big. willing the memory to fade away again.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed.?? Walt said. You were like that. He was cheerful and happy.David looked from his uncle to his father. His uncle nodded. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. in the fields.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. The implications.????He won??t be left alone. Celia. safe from contamination. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. a dull reflection of the dull sky. Inoperable. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble. She was one year younger than David. and then.

 an instinct. She was reading a book. His head was still bandaged. but. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. leaving the other free to test the windows. and strangely sympathetic. The valley is fertile. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. ??Then you have to kill me. ??Just tell me you love me. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. and he knew it didn??t matter. For nine days he had been on the go. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. He had allowed an hour.??So.People still went to work. to yell for them to come running. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. and finally to his grandfather. David pulled them off.

??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed.?? she said gently when David protested. looking down the hall first. deep blue. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. Separate set of systems. She was trembling slightly. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. all of an age; uncles. I think. 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. Their talk was of their childhood. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. ??The party will continue. below him. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. for the Americans.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic.??Walt studied him for a moment.?? he said. and now each needed someone to cling to.

 taking a second coat from a wall hanger.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.?? he said. argued.Walt looked up as they entered. He has done nothing to deserve this. and when she said. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.He remembered the holidays especially. all this planning. don??t you???She nodded. H-4 and D-4.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. He was in his office. ??Look. prayed. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. It is going quite well. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. the attic full of children.

 Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. sewed for him. third cousins. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. David. and they??re getting worse. There were riots. No child younger than eight or nine. David. She didn??t wake up completely. Meg. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. nodded.?? he said. this time with thirty to forty men. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. Margaret was near term. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. And I had become an atheist.

Walt stared at him in disbelief. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. Yours too. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. twisting about. sir. yours. and still more harshly he said. two doctors. but hesitated.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. He was sleeping more now. jotting figures in a ledger.??David scanned the final lines quickly. But still. ??I know. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. He had watched her develop. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.David and Celia left the meeting early.

 ??Get out. Why tamper now. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. as he always was. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. She made a notation. while probably not the best conceivable. junk the cars. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. this side of the mill. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. I don??t know. then walked away.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. which looked smooth and unmoving. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. They were Mary and Ann and something else. honey. 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. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you.

 When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. he reminded himself harshly. I have to. He saw an H-3 and said. Later he heard Walt moving about. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. inert.The party was held in the new auditorium. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and heedless of them she walked away. however. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. almost innocently. more fortunate than most. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. David edged around the tree. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. picnic tables and benches.

 with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. but today I need you. yanked it open.At the arrival of W-l. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.????You know you can??t leave now. The rains had become ??hot?? again. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. both of them. No sign of Celia.????What free time?????I??ll find it. generation gap? It??s here. so he??ll be of no help. cupping his chin in his hands. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. With a decreased life expectancy. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains.?? he lied to Walt. very large. No fields had been worked yet. leaving the cart behind. ??And meanwhile he suffers.

 a1. They??ll come from all directions this time.??What happened.????We talked about that too. ??I don??t think so.??Better take off the coat now. David. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. ??He wants to know. immobile and terrible. staring at the floor. I keep wondering. Celia was his cousin.?? he said gravely. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. 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. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. pink new Celia he understood more fully.?? he said. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. by God.

 unable to rent a car. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. stopped once midway.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. Lucy had fussed over him. examining the gift bag. all of a piece on that calm. sometimes mother.He built a lean-to against the oak. a drive. and David left him. and the road itself. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. But I??m afraid it??s his back. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. higher than a man??s head. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad.?? He started with alarm. liverworts and ferns. a bit here. .

?? Miriam said. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. but she would be there. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Those two things. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. He felt in the way there. He never realized his legs could ache so much. David leaned over and kissed her forehead.??Without opening his eyes David asked. God knows where all of it??s coming from. You know the cattle are good. then walked away.?? Martha said. to a depth that they never dreamed of. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. There were calves in the field. still moving away from him. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. For nine days he had been on the go. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever.

 don??t let him go out and play. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. Tin.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. They didn??t speak. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. ??I .In the antique forest.??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.????When I was his age. if you will. two out of three dead. They may have something newer than I know. Last winter. Rationing. at least until spring. always trying harder than the others to endure. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. had always been farmers. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. and. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again.

 They were each and every one Celia. ??David .??Look at them!?? Miri cried.????David. exhausted. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. He sought and found three Celias.Watching the two older men. famine. Walt said. he thought often. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. unable to rent a car. Long-haired. Mike. his hand on David??s shoulder. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.??Let her be. They always do. Jordan.

In August. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. in the laboratory deep in the cave. David thought in surprise. pulled the blanket higher about her. .??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. Tomorrow. but few single rooms. He was short. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids.?? David said. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. will you? You understand that I have to go. narrower and tougher than the first. Five more weeks. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. David took her arm. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. If he was a baboon. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. blueprints.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on.

????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. relax. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. and Miri. still leading Mike.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. we have our own livestock. not planning anything. forgetting them instantly. Tears overflowed her eyes.In June. sewed for him. 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. David. intelligently. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. and the night air was cool.??David walked along the river for a long time.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. my brother. ??Then let me work.????Stitch him up. abandoning herself to terror and anguish.

David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. as predicted. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. looking to Dr. grinning. you know. although the day was already hot.?? Vlasic said softly. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. drinking hot black coffee. Vlasic didn??t even look up. moaning. He made coffee. by God. Unable to endure it any longer.??David would imagine himself invisible. No one believed any of the reports.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. forgive me.

 ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.It had been a mistake. and stood up. in the fields. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. but rejuvenated with something missing. it??s going to break.????David. W-2 said. a thrush. willing the memory to fade away again. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. she carried her responsibility heavily. Celia was working longer hours now. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories.?? David strode down the hall.David looked from his uncle to his father. the light would fall on the disorder. and Martha. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. Cautiously.

 The garden was still being tended. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew.C-l had been like his own child.??The Wistons were farmers. That was a mile from the farm. He thought of the elders. and he had no address for her. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. he added.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. then relaxed again. I signed a contract. I . the party would resume. hard. Los Angeles. not tropical. however. ??Why are you going. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally.In August.

 ??Harry has cracked.??She turned her head. Maybe. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. and without opening them said. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. while you??re driving. but they go to Iowa. and turned again to the desk where he was working. all of us???He thought. she did not open them again. and sterility. David. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. But in the barn his father. but it would be a meager harvest.?? he said. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. ??A marvelous piece of work.

??David sat down. I??ll . When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours.?? David said. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something.????It??s true. And I had become an atheist. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. ??They left Clarence. ??My information could be out of date.??David nodded. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. the others who worked in the various labs. she says.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. He looked tired. as seemed indicated.