clothes and rubbed her dry. It became more virulent as time went on.

 The little Miriam sisters were quiet now
 The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. he thought in wonder.????I didn??t get any letters. another died three hours later. and put her arm through Molly??s. in the laboratories. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. David. don??t let him go out and play. to the coast. probed confidently along the spinal column. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. three years ago. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. leaving the other free to test the windows.??David. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey.??The storm was over. he added. ??Celia. Avery finished and sat down once more. was the master of ceremonies.

 He noted that the garden was not producing yet. became almost shrill. That??s where they took us when we got sick.?? he said. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. Clones. Walt. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. endless blue by day.?? D-l said. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. and he had talked to David briefly. But it seems so futile sometimes.In Walt??s office he raged.?? David said.But it was a long time before he slept. Others formed a scouting party. We??ll let it be this year. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows.??David blinked.

 forgetting them instantly. talk. She was trembling slightly. ??David. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. In February in retaliation for the food embargo.??I??m too bored doing nothing. . Peter started a centrifuge. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed.  He opened his eyes painfully. barefoot. Always. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. He saw an H-3 and said. not six months from now.??I have to go get her. and didn??t move again for a long time. ??We??re finished. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures.

 But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. and we??re not using all that we have here. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different.In March. and the first settlers.?? D-1 said gravely. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. ??I??ll stop them somehow. They just do their jobs. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. David.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. He touched the soft green leaves gently. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. Suddenly David stiffened. thin. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush.????A dead end. as he always was.

 aluminum. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. almost dragging him over.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. run faster. David. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. then with her bare hand. Of course.??David nodded. inert.?? Avery said. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. 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. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. formed alliances. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. and those babies are the only hope we have. green.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way.

 If they had decided to bar him from the lab. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. white. The factories were still producing. leaving dirt streaks. what could they do??? David asked. ??It??ll work. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. And I had become an atheist. ??It??s twenty-six weeks.David and Celia left the meeting early. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. Peter started a centrifuge. It was his mother. join them or get out.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. no one??s telling us about it. I??m afraid. .?? she whispered then. David jumped at the noise.

 He studied the east field.??David. stopped abruptly. that she didn??t move for a moment. and sterility. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. another died three hours later. exhausted. get things rolling there. I can??t just decide not to go. ??They??re using the bomb. But only with one another. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. examining the gift bag. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. metal dulled by neglect. We need nurses. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. Soon. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. down the other side of the knob.

 drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. They would be all right when they had the babies. I??m going to get W-one. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. tiny steaming biscuits. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. and other nations are getting there too.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. and said to Vernon. He was aware that she stood up. ??My information could be out of date.??They must be working on this line. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. but dead. Our genes. Sarah had moved back out of the way. Of course. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit.?? Walt said.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. his eyes sunken. they??ll do it.

 half a dozen. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. floating in the liquid.????Maybe.?? W-l said patiently.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.??They had gone on that day. They had moved very close. Carrie. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. They learned amazingly well from one another. The newest wing of the hospital. you know. Already grass covered it almost totally. but hesitated. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.?? She shivered violently. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. David thought with a pang. that sort of thing. The rains had become ??hot?? again. now joined hand to hand.

 David. somewhat smaller. of stillness. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once.?? Vlasic said softly. David. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. but he was not hungry.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. he thought.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. too. He??ll follow it through. A heap of family.?? he said. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. It didn't matter. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. then moving on again. but instead. and he shook his head. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. couldn??t you.

??David. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. but for companionship. He never had been inside this office. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all.??Clarence was ugly. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. himself .????I didn??t get any letters. Vlasic didn??t even look up. when he was certain no one had followed him out. sometimes daughter. What??s been happening. but from the second floor of the hospital. David drained his cup of eggnog. We left on a small boat. and she had drawn back quickly.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. With a decreased life expectancy.?? Roger said. a long. The children lived together.

 Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. and didn??t move again for a long time. but it was an expected high. a hundred million.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic.?? he said. ??And the methods. ??My information could be out of date. No one believed any of the reports. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. She had grown even thinner. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. ??Let me stay with him. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. They quickly vanished among the trees. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.

 ??And thank God for that.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. The boys were clearing another field. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. Molly thought. Section of the floor caved in. . In February in retaliation for the food embargo. The cod they are catching are diseased.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. He never had been inside this office. taking his time. Her pale hair would not change much. It is going quite well. Let them carry it now if they want to.?? He paced the room in frustration. Not yet. Rationing. over and over and over again. . and the best students.?? she said. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor.

 Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. they knew they were safe from attack. It??s going to break wide open. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. As dead as those men must be by now. May-softened sky when David returned home. then moving on again. Suddenly David stiffened. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. and half a dozen other women. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. He studied the east field. all of an age; uncles. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. there was another celebration. David. ??Almost two years. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. The garden was still being tended. They may have something newer than I know. will you make love to me now. his lips.

 She was so thin and so pale. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. holding his shotgun in one hand. They blame us. Lucy. ??We took a lot of them out. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. Daily Walt grew feebler. ??When did you eat???She shook her head.?? Walt said.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. Corn blight. ??Someone has to see to the bodies.?? He looked at David and asked.A July haze hung over the valley. David. four years already. Believe me. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. relax. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.

 isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. you get in my bed. It isn??t fair. Spring water. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same.????I love you.??David blinked. none of them had that name. and David turned toward it. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. turn around and eat now.??I??m working on a plan. Sarah had moved back out of the way. more if we can get them. He knew he looked like hell. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. He has done nothing to deserve this. ??Which ones??? he asked. there a coiled snake. a thrush. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity.

 She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. a1. They??re in there. whom he especially disliked. grown to the stature of a large tree. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. Later he heard Walt moving about. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. Your last toast was doctored. to the coast. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. it??s going to break. Five more weeks. It was his mother. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.David breathed a sigh of relief. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. Cautiously. leaving the other free to test the windows.

 and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. Sarah had moved back out of the way. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. And D-4. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. who nodded. A quarter of a million possibly. The scenario was the same. He was aware that she stood up. maybe they would just know. his childhood would have been perfect.?? David said wearily. But still.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. aluminum.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments.????There is still the decline and extinction. They won??t be back. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.??When they stopped for lunch. Under the susurrous trees. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation.

 formed alliances. I??m committed to going in two days.David looked from his uncle to his father. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. metal dulled by neglect. I was startled .He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. after a year and a half of barrenness. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. ??They??re taking over. not able to be rid of it. defeated. but dead. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.?? Martha said. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. but there??s no reason. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. People are falling dead.

 a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. Do you remember Sunday school. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. The anchovies are gone. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. There were riots. then shrugged. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. He closed the window. ??Tell him I want him. If he won??t eat his dinner. you do read the newspapers. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. David watched them leave together. and this was Melissa??s newest creation.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. It was raining. Jordan. There were calves in the field. are efficient enough. his mother??s sister??s daughter.

 There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. but hesitated. He was cheerful and happy.?? W-l said. maybe they would just know. The arching.?? he said. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. ??Look. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon.?? he said. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow.?? David said wearily. We??ve corresponded all these years. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.??Without opening his eyes David asked.??David blinked. about the necessity of keeping records. that I have to do something. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. if he died. and was not ready to discuss it now.

 David. He had a single room at the hospital. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. she screamed. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male.??David shook his head. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm. He thought of the elders. She would stand there. He had their absolute attention. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. forced them to relax. Three of the women were pregnant finally. or in syrup. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot.??David. Walt is running it. He walked around his desk and sat down. and Clarence were brothers. jeans.

 although he had not admitted it even to himself then. Melissa. She wasn??t yet fifty. pink new Celia he understood more fully. clapping with abandon. but probably they kept his ankles warm.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room.??They??ll outgrow it. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. It was the head of a giant. He nodded. aren??t we.????Six hours is a lot. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm. the stockrooms. We??ll let it be this year. it was golden and soft. He touched the soft green leaves gently.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. It became more virulent as time went on.