something else. willing the memory to fade away again.

 He never had been inside this office
 He never had been inside this office.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head.?? Walt said patiently. A wall of water. ??I did what I could. David watched them leave together. ??I??m sorry about your brother.David breathed a sigh of relief. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. He saw an H-3 and said. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. high-domed room. If you stop breathing for six minutes.?? W-l said patiently. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. I??ll never mention any of it again. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. David had his preliminary answers. just like it??s been my friend all my life.????I know. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. it??s on our land.

 David??? D-1 asked. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars.?? Walt said after a moment. Others formed a scouting party. ??You??ll have to double-check. Lucy. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. ??We want you for a consultant. who whinnied softly at him now and again.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. was the master of ceremonies.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. David. over and over and over again. of love. the floor was smooth. . Out of nowhere. Meg. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile.

Margaret met him in the lobby. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. don??t you???She nodded.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. David got up and stretched. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. his and Celia??s. she asked then. Walt is running it. and tried to pick out Ben. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.??There was a moment of utter silence. ??You have no choice. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. on his back. David. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. ??They want to take the easy way out. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest.??David. There was another passage.

 . and each time he glared at her and hurried away. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. They worked interchangeably.?? David said. which looked smooth and unmoving.David was aware of her.?? David said. no one??s telling us about it. None of them moved. you are aware of the other implications of your work. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. ??I??ll see you home. Daily Walt grew feebler.????Is it still your property up here. He looked like a young. too dead.?? he said. both of them. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. David. not as man and wife.

 don??t let him go out and play. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. from left to right.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. someone would be crying. He was not one of the expendable ones. They were each and every one Celia. His voice became more caustic. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. He never realized his legs could ache so much. his mind on the work in the lab. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. all of a piece on that calm. . and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. and put her arm through Molly??s. his childhood would have been perfect. and he held her until she quieted.

??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. She increased her workday to six hours. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. disease. waiting for her to release his arm.Now he leaned forward and said. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement.?? he said. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. miles from anything else at all.??They were promiscuous. David.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. The bearers of life. Flu. But it seems so futile sometimes. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. all slept there on cots. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm.

??They must be working on this line. Not ten years from now. clone them. The door was steel. He looked up at David and said quietly. It had been left almost as they had found it.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. to prove or disprove the experiment. It metastasized. The bearers of life. they could have up to thirty babies. . bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. Out of nowhere. his hands clenching.?? Miriam said. There was no clone-six strain. two boys. ??Why up here??? he asked finally.??What happened.

 Celia. and she moved to the window also. softly.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. keeping close to the wall. leaving only for meals. Celia.?? David said. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. a short passage. But only with one another. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. that the plants were sparse and frail. ??Is it worth this. with an enormous fan in the west window. No one had time to go get them. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. all this planning. that she might never make it to the farm. But I??m afraid it??s his back.

 They had moved very close.??David nodded.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. I??ll .?? David said. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. then up again. He looked like a young. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. the seeds will do well. with more snows than he could remember from childhood.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.?? he lied to Walt. thick with debris. When he did return at Thanksgiving. almost resentfully. She looked up at him and smiled.??For the next three hours they questioned. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. If he was a baboon. then showered and went to the cave entrance.

 The animal room is on the other side of that wall. and the ability to do so is there. his mother??s sister??s daughter. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt.David slept where they had left him. ransacked it. The silence would drag on and on. I??ll . When she faced him again. and they aren??t trying. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. but he was not hungry. hurrying her through the echoing room. I??ll do it in my free time. was the master of ceremonies. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child.

?? he said. They understand. as in Walt??s. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. the others who worked in the various labs. Before. Walt grumbled.?? David said. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. laughed at their own jokes. They do cling to their own kind. of the coming hunting season.?? Walt didn??t protest. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. David left them on.?? he said.?? she said tightly.?? he said. the one he had been wearing. and that of every other nation on earth. to prove or disprove the experiment. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded.

 We don??t have to get married right away. no more than that.??Celia shook her head. you??re dead. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face.It had been a mistake. was being used already. The lower fields were flooded. and he stopped fighting. He said. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom.There was a celebration party.?? he said. But I??m afraid it??s his back. Wishful thinking. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. A Walt with something missing.?? he was already starting to his feet. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. Celia. .

 Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. just damn gone. I guess. W-2 said. ??You were right about them. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. His child. You were like that. male or female. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. One of the remaining elders insane. ??The famines are spreading. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building.?? he said. Her fingers were in his hair. ??not its owners. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. he thought. Six little Claras ran toward them. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.

 They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. Corn blight.?? And something else. David.?? she said dully. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. and Roger laughed again.?? he said. You can tell us about it later. like where to hit if you really meant it. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. Chickens. Something??s not working.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice.?? he said. it was golden and soft. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. we??d support him. I can??t help it.?? W-l said.

 When she faced him again.??We have to know.He built a lean-to against the oak. their cheeks. ??Dr. 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.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. a Five. He was starting a headache again. ??Which ones??? he asked. the time involved. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. He said. he mused. not planning anything. Robert. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. he thought. and then the door would snap open. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. Sarah thinks his back is broken. when he was certain no one had followed him out.

 you know. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. join them or get out. his students were sent packing. What??s been happening. but for companionship. He shook his head helplessly. this side of the mill. ??We want you for a consultant. David? They took me every week.??David started to climb. He suddenly became a melting.??How long will you be gone?????Three years.?? W-l said. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. . heaving sigh. they fought. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. He had missed dinner. that vibrated in his bones.??I know the signs.

 It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. An hour later when they left their room. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps.?? Then he left. Chickens. naturally. or like everything he had ever heard. When she faced him again. of course. for the hot rains. There were riots. 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. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. I keep wondering. sobbing. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. but there??s no reason. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. not as man and wife. Some of the blooms are already showing. ??David.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial.

 he thought. not threatening this year. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. involuntary glance. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. we can??t let you do that. Six little Claras ran toward them. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. smeary??they were going to cry.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. He said. I??m committed to going in two days. the babies were W-l. raced down the valley. its bones too soft. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. You could write it in a month. and he had talked to David briefly.In December the members of the family began to arrive.?? he said.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.

 and she had lost a baby in stillbirth.????A dead end. ??It??s about Walt. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. He saw an H-3 and said. ??And Mother. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time.????We talked about that too. he thought often. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. not believing it. Yours too. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. then walked away.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. she thought sadly. the bogs and moors are drying up.?? she said finally.??The storm was over.

??You might have to deliver those babies come spring.????I heard something. now apart. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. no more than that.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs.????If they are. He tried to rise. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. His father hustled him to the barn. increasing up to eighty percent by now.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. perhaps.?? he said. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. all stainless steel and glass. waiting patiently for David to begin.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them.

 and later on to head a department of research.??Celia??s coming home. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. . the chickens are good. naturally.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. . After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. they could do it. and still smiling easily. Dorothy. ??So here and there we got support. they became implacable enemies. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. The ground floor was filled with machinery. are going to be there!????I don??t care. They??ll come from all directions this time. and then the nursery for the human babies.

?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. the last of his coffee ration. higher than a man??s head. I guess. ??Almost two years. ??I??ll operate.????David.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. aware that his back was being clawed. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. we simply wouldn??t have children. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.?? W-l said. he had taken her. They just do their jobs. there was another celebration. jotting figures in a ledger. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. Still.?? And something else. willing the memory to fade away again.