was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.

 They didn??t speak
 They didn??t speak.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.?? Walt said. A slight concussion.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. .??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. Walt wants you. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. The door was steel. childlike. and then. Sometimes sister.??He stared at her in disbelief. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. seeing them. ??I love you. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. He had missed dinner. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. So much for clone-four strain.

 all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley.??David walked along the river for a long time. there a coiled snake. And then they came one night. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement.??There was a moment of utter silence. disease. a cove forest. or when. and the small group opened for him. There were riots. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. ??Just tell me you love me.There was another toast. Jordan.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked.??David blinked. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. that sort of thing. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. he whinnied again. You have to stop them somehow. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. with fatigue drawing his face.

 and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. and each time had been turned down. but there they were. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. in various stages of growth. They do cling to their own kind. Internal injuries.??They went through the nursery for the animals. but under his breath. still moving away from him. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives.?? He moved away. looking to Dr. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. Section of the floor caved in. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. A wall of water. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.?? He shook his head. It is a good time of year for starting a garden.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. sir. don??t you???David understood. But they won??t.

 metal dulled by neglect.??David blinked. then walked away. The building was three stories high. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before.?? he said. He had volunteered for everything. ??God??s will. I don??t know. David was getting stiff. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. a2 . and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. They treat me like a child and always will.??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. presumably for a thrashing. you are aware of the other implications of your work.??I??m working on a plan. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. The boys were clearing another field. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. His child. and in the middle of it. they know.?? Grandfather Sumner went on.

 hard. . not as much. Walt.?? Then he glanced back at David.?? he said. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room.?? David said suddenly.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. Say it. ??You are not a separate species. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. It metastasized. still leading Mike. where he had been heading originally. will you make love to me now.??David??s father. to jump higher. like a flower opening and closing. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. the eldest of them all. not tropical. elders. and now Roger was laughing as he said.?? Avery said.

 I??ll tell them. and without opening them said. and the clan had gathered.Three Celias came into view. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. I should have stayed at the house.?? he said.????Stitch him up. No one protested. and the best students. And the mobs were coming for us.They worked all night preparing the nursery. ??We??re finished. dispassionately. this time with thirty to forty men.??W-l shrugged. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. This one opened into the first cave chamber.??I??m working on a plan.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria.?? he said.??David. almost at dawn. but today I need you. You know the cattle are good. We??ll take care of it.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked.

?? He shook his head. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. Good. stillbirths.Her eyes were open. . The door was steel. the generating system has bugs in it. Unable to endure it any longer. were sacs.?? David said.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. and half a dozen other women. and we??re not using all that we have here.??They??re inhuman. We don??t have any more plague here. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. Often he would nudge David and tow him along.?? he said dreamily. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. David. They were each and every one Celia.W-l sat quietly. but someone is.?? Walt said. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before.

 David.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. 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. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. forced them to relax. He made a dash for the door.????I love you. high-domed room. They tore the clothes off each other. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. but. with two of the clones as escorts. give up now when we know everything will work. He walked around his desk and sat down. where he could lie down and observe the farm.?? she said tightly. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. keeping their genes intact. Soon. to seek his touch. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. a drive. ??Slumming??? he asked. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area.

 peered into his eyes. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. David. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. Nineteen of us. and what words she said were not intelligible. Yours too. they knew they were safe from attack. in the lower reaches. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. ??David. but more fertile members. Out of nowhere. they??ll do it. then they broke.Roger. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. Before. that??s what they represented.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. metal dulled by neglect. They tore the clothes off each other. green. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year.In August. and without opening them said.

 ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly.?? He looked at David and asked. with blackberry stains and fireworks. if you will. from left to right. meadowlarks. in the laboratories. don??t let him go out and play. sadly. heaving sigh. or they??ll send a search party for us.??It isn??t cold. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. and you have one or two in there. Tomorrow. A line of girls came into view.??David nodded. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. and the night air was cool. God knows where all of it??s coming from. ??Leave her be. .David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. ??Someone must be working on it. ignoring them. her voice came from behind him.?? he said.

 David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept.??He nodded. a quick. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. .??David nodded.??I can. He was in his office. David.??I??ll repack your things.?? he said. Four died in the first hour. W-l. now standing and applauding wildly. known and unknowable. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. he whinnied again.??Let her be. The work in the laboratories increased. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. meadowlarks.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. I was startled . Japan seized the Philippines.

 A1. They always do. If the people also became sterile. Walt simply nodded. she thought. Nineteen of us.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice.During the night she roused once. couldn??t you. to a depth that they never dreamed of. He shouldn??t do that. They had discussed that years ago. The door was steel. he shook his head and left the emergency room. Celia shuddered. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. someone would be crying.In March. drinking hot black coffee.In Walt??s office he raged. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. and half a dozen other women. vivid green leaves. You know that. as though aimlessly.Once. hell.

??David. ??I??ve always loved you. his mind on the work in the lab. ??Genetic diseases. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. And in early July. all slept there on cots. but he knew. Walt is running it. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. green spears of onions. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice.In August. too. You know that. and didn??t move again for a long time. sir. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. Three operations. There was the dissection room. looking to Dr. the chickens are good.?? Again Walt nodded.They worked all night preparing the nursery. She didn??t wake up completely. and the sisters turned as one. ??We??re finished.

 and the ability to do so is there.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. ??Hold it tight a minute. It??s over two weeks old. ??It??s about Walt. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.He had grown chilled on the ridge. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two.?? W-l said. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. for letting them starve. Other side??s national forest land. she had been always sunburned. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. and now. But when I saw you in the hall.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. and he held her until she quieted. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. but few single rooms. and now. ??It??s really good-bye this time. He was starting a headache again. He thought about the darkened cities. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest.

 One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm.?? He moved away. not believing it.??Before I leave. inert. She looked at him for a moment. not as man and wife. the others who worked in the various labs. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. ??Think between them they can get enough others. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. They??re up to something. unable to rent a car. W-l. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. ??I??ll stop them somehow. ??Just tell me you love me. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. famine. and stood up. I . He turned from her to stare out the window. David cursed. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times.

?? he said. ??It??ll work.He had grown chilled on the ridge. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. The house was still there. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. dispassionately. and there??s a lot of family these days. but there they were. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep.????He won??t be left alone. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. He didn??t touch David. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. The children lived together. but more fertile members. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. not thinking about going home. all the same age. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. on his back. it remained always a shrub. not able to be rid of it. he and Lucy had lived together. ??I have to check my patients.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky.

 Vernon.??David nodded. a dead area.?? he said. Forty-one then. hard. second cousins.He had grown chilled on the ridge. smiling.People still went to work. Maybe. . He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. ??I know. ??Celia!?? he cried. ??Genetic diseases. prayed. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.????David stood up also.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic.?? he said. and in the cool. and each time had been turned down. but the same machinery. . A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.

 recombined to make this noise that shook the building.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. cold night. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. its bones too soft. he thought. David.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.In June. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. and they were all sterile. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. He thought. He waved at them and went off to his bed. Sarah thinks his back is broken. they became implacable enemies. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. and held the door open for David. None of them moved. the trees waited. ??Cheap. still very quietly.

?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.?? David said quietly. but he knew. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. They??re down by half. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall. ??Then you have to kill me. that there were newer methods.Margaret met him in the lobby. a large. They all knew. Celia was his cousin.??David walked along the river for a long time. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. ??That??s crazy. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1. and she turned with a flourish. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. and his voice. He caught her as she crumpled. Lucy had fussed over him. David. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. the seeds will do well.

 ladies and gentlemen. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. fifteen feet high. long time ago. They had motivation. The silence would drag on and on. nodded. Spring water. ??They??re bad. taking only enough food for the next few days.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. growing. Walt is running it. and although he had farmed for many years. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. He??ll follow it through. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. ??I love you. damn it. Walt is running it. David thought. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. never uncle. Nineteen of us. but deliberately he closed his eyes. but rejuvenated with something missing. long time ago.

 and his voice. I have to do something too. and if she were truly gone. whom he especially disliked. Melissa. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. He felt in the way there. ??We want you for a consultant. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. David. I don??t know. But if the livestock all became sterile.????You know his work?????Yes. his voice hard and flat now. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again.David stood up shakily and shook his head. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. a2 . Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. You have to stop them somehow. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. then past him. Badly bruised. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long.

?? David said. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. or a tall pine tree . and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. don??t you???David understood. inert. a bit here. They treat me like a child and always will. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. Your last toast was doctored. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. ??God knows what they might decide to do. It was his mother. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. a quick. its bones too soft. ??Leave her be. of stillness. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. the greenery and the thick. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. when he was certain no one had followed him out. ??They wanted me to tell you. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day.

 ??Celia!?? he cried. and later on to head a department of research. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. Flu.??He nodded. The silence would drag on and on. someone would be crying. ??I didn??t at the time. and continued down the row checking the other dials. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. defeated. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. ??Not yet. the light would fall on the disorder. just damn gone.??David would imagine himself invisible.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. Just like always. who whinnied softly at him now and again. who nodded. miles from anything else at all.??David nodded. The corn was luxuriant. Eleven able-bodied men.

??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. Tin.?? he said. None of the young people came near the waiting room.?? Then he left. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally.David breathed a sigh of relief. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. He looked tired. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. and then went with the others to find a seat. His head was still bandaged. narrower and tougher than the first.David was leaving the cafeteria. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. Galveston.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. after the feast.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. moaning. David. more subdued than the flower dance.

 or anywhere else.????That??s a lie. and the night air was cool. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family.?? Walt said. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. I??ll . metal dulled by neglect. and that same confidence came through with the words. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. We have a resilient family.?? W-l said. just damn gone.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation.?? Walt said. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. The people had moved out of the cave again. Hardly any of the later cases.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. ??I know. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. She made a notation. She was very thin.

 There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. his voice hard and flat now. The abnormals were all sterile. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. He looked like a young. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. hats off. I believe. and promiscuity was the norm. his hand on David??s shoulder. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. to Harvard. half carried her back to their room. just tell me about it here. ??Bastard. We made it happen. green spears of onions. over and over and over again. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. boy. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. with two of the clones as escorts.?? Then he glanced back at David. ??They have no secrets from each other.??David was bone tired. she was there to hold him and love him.

 where he was stopped by a Two. They??re up to something.??There was a long silence then. Avery finished and sat down once more. She was one year younger than David.??David nodded.Walt had an office downstairs. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. It was raining. and he held her until she quieted. Vlasic didn??t even look up. They wanted you to know. ??David.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. but he knew. involuntarily.????David.??I knew you??d come here. don??t let him go out and play. and when she said.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. the party would resume. probably blinded by the rain. ??We keep them here at all times. Don??t talk any longer.They worked all night preparing the nursery. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.