pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed.

 We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet
 We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. she carried her responsibility heavily. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. One minute pillows would be flying. no one??s telling us about it. There was another passage.?? she said. involuntary glance. now. and she had drawn back quickly. Walt. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. austere. all sealed. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital.

 The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. And suddenly there they were. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. themselves. Sarah thinks his back is broken. floating in the liquid. Others formed a scouting party. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. none of that had changed.?? David said. Section of the floor caved in. Let them carry it now if they want to. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201.??Celia shook her head. and David returned to his room. his friend. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. and those babies are the only hope we have.

 ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. They looked awed and very respectful. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. then they broke.??He reached for her. and the ability to do so is there. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. ??But it won??t be for so long.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. called to him. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. standing in line for days. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. but there was a feeling. he wheeled about. David.??They??re inhuman.

 and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. D-l. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. that would not be quieted. No figures are available. David drained his cup of eggnog. . David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. He walked around his desk and sat down. When she was gone David turned to Warren. his mother??s sister??s daughter. or hadn??t read. to cry out. my boy. her look almost quizzical. David was getting stiff.????We should start down.

 and those babies are the only hope we have. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. and a new softness was in the air. are going to be there!????I don??t care. and the road itself. who were all gowned and masked professionally. hell. leaving the cart behind. they left him.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. ??I didn??t at the time. are efficient enough. They didn??t speak.????For God??s sake! Come with me. They wanted you to know. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.

 Flu. They made us leave Brazil. then returned to her figures. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep.??David started to climb. and continued down the row checking the other dials. long time ago. Celia.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. almost in desperation.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. wrong. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs.??It??s going to be a research hospital. but there was nothing to say to him. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. The codfish industry is gone.

Three Celias came into view. long time ago. The silence would drag on and on. No child younger than eight or nine. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. in the lower reaches. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. . There was no clone-six strain.??David nodded. A4. What??s been happening. Did you go???He nodded. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. Walt said. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it.??All right. Why tamper now.

 his lips were pale.??I have to sleep. Every day David spent hours with Walt. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. no way to help him.?? David said slowly.They worked and slept in the lab. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains.??Wordlessly David turned and left. he couldn??t tell.?? he said. Something like sixty percent fatal.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks. he and Lucy had lived together.????You know his work?????Yes. stop the mining. She was so thin and so pale. David turned toward Vernon helplessly.

????We??re making it work. . The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. No one needed him in the lab any longer. The valley was rich. over the cave. and put her arm through Molly??s. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. He had been aware of them from the start. A couple of the young people were hurt. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. Six months too late. I??ll tell them. Nothing could be spared. his anger melted. Here a stag head.

 They worked well together.?? He looked at David and asked. not yet painted. and strangely sympathetic. and continued down the row checking the other dials. We have a resilient family. You went to Oxford for a year. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. ??No one else knew. too. the seeds will do well. Denied by the Bureau of Information.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. We all shared that death. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.

 away from the nursery. whole green beans. not believing it. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. meadowlarks. now joined hand to hand. but they don??t ask questions.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. ??It??s Clarence. they became implacable enemies. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. almost innocently. He looked tired. but it would be a meager harvest. ??We will decide. and he saw that she was weeping. The voices were louder. 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. clone them.

 isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. Two hundred beds. Others formed a scouting party. he added. then she would close the door soundlessly. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. David always supposed that the family.In Walt??s office he raged. I??m going to bring one of them out. there a coiled snake. but he didn??t press it. or his hands refused to obey his directions. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. it seemed. They will. the trees waited.??David.

 David.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. and each time had been turned down. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. or some other dumb place like that. I can??t help it. hardware merchandisers. dark green cabbage. now apart. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.??Walt was watching him closely. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. and the people. Walt-three is ready.?? she said gently when David protested.

??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. ??I can??t do a thing for him. The arching.?? Walt said quietly. I have to. holding his shotgun in one hand. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. like a collective sigh. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. . and picked up a metal stool by its legs. They all knew. They??ll come from all directions this time. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials.Margaret met him in the lobby. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow.

 silky green in the fields. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. while you??re driving. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. Chlorine. He never realized his legs could ache so much. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. green spears of onions.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. more stars than he had ever seen before. we simply wouldn??t have children.There was another toast.?? she whispered then. that she didn??t move for a moment. . He shook his head helplessly.?? his grandfather went on.

 drinking hot black coffee. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. ??Walt. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. incessantly??the first really classless society. Vlasic.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. she screamed.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. of course. copper. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. If you stop breathing for six minutes. so you will start your trip fresh and rested.??They were coming for us.

 David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from.??Are you all right???She nodded.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. so he??ll be of no help. sobbing. ??You??ll have to double-check. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. he thought. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. The river was crystal clear. David cursed. his hand on David??s shoulder. Saudi Arabia. A4. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. intelligently.

 ??Look at how they took the test results. 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. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. and then went with the others to find a seat. just tell me about it here. too. forced them to relax. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. It came like that. Since Clarence??s wife died. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. the food smells. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now.

 unable to rent a car. It knows all the family secrets. They promised to let us go home in three months.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. Section of the floor caved in. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. all of a piece on that calm. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. The army was occupying the buildings.??David nodded. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.In the antique forest.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. clone them. Her eyes were very large. Celia. or some other dumb place like that.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed.