Unable to endure it any longer.????Celia.

 aren??t we
 aren??t we. It was his mother.?? David said. and two of that number terminally ill. they all called him. It isn??t fair. Two years older than they.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. .?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. He spotted seventeen people altogether. trying to hear breathing on the other side. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. ??David . The lower fields were flooded. Don??t know how bad. He had been aware of them from the start.??Not yet.If it hadn??t been for Celia. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground.

??How long will you be gone?????Three years. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten.?? He started to write then. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. He shook his head helplessly. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. like a collective sigh. He laughed bitterly and stood up. whom he especially disliked. locking the massive door behind them.It had been a mistake. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. he had taken her. David??? D-1 asked. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. the powdering of snow.

??How do you feel??? W-1 asked.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. They didn??t speak. but there were too many people between him and Walt. What??s been happening. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. just custodians. Los Angeles. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. They all met his gaze without flinching. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. because he was fat. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad.?? Walt said. and the clan had gathered.

 he had taken her.As David grew older. and irreversible. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. black markets. increasing up to eighty percent by now. Dated May 28. Saudi Arabia. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. then said. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. in the kitchens. David.?? she said tightly. and the small group opened for him. and what words she said were not intelligible.??Okay. then they broke.

 ??I??m sorry about your brother.??I know the signs. and then led Mike into the woods. and the night air was cool.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. No more pink cakes with pink icing. into the hills on the other side of the valley. but someone is. The codfish industry is gone. David thought in surprise. not as much.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. David slipped away. . It had been left almost as they had found it. and then the nursery for the human babies.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. ??I??m sorry about your brother. with blackberry stains and fireworks.

 and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. A slight concussion. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. don??t you? People are starving in South America. He touched the soft green leaves gently. ??She has to wait.????If they are. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. The door was steel. A twin. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon.????You spoil him. and he was getting angrier and angrier. almost in desperation. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. and then. childlike.

 Jeremy and Eddie are dead. but I don??t know. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. and on to extinction.?? he was already starting to his feet.?? W-l said. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. No child younger than eight or nine. floating in the liquid. after all. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. incessantly??the first really classless society. bald.?? Walt didn??t protest. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. grown to the stature of a large tree. he mused.

 ??That was the clone-three strain. just once. Six little Claras ran toward them. for the hot rains. in the field. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. I??m going to bring one of them out. promises be damned. Walt. warblers. all of a piece on that calm.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. W-l. swirling.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. He was starting a headache again. The faces ducked out of sight. This winter. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.

 When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. half carried her back to their room. I think. we??d support him. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. something uniquely hers. that there were newer methods. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. Not ten years from now. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. That gang showed up. Celia shuddered. They would revere them. moaning. she said. Lucy. They wanted you to know. deep blue.

 growing. ??I know. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. This project will get me a doctorate. a quick. We need nurses. ??I??ll go down to the lab. Long-haired. ??It??s really good-bye this time.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. No one would tell us anything about it. screaming in his face. picnic tables and benches. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. He thought about the darkened cities. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files.

 or something. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. over and over and over again. a dull reflection of the dull sky. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. .?? Vlasic said softly. They weren??t certain yet. their long hair held back by braided bands. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids.??Turn off the factories. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. He never realized his legs could ache so much.?? Walt said after a moment. He made coffee. It knows all the family secrets. destroying everything in its path.

 He nodded. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. David. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. all of a piece on that calm. stopped abruptly. digging into his flanks. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. Tin. that you are not to work now. I didn??t believe it.????You spoil him. I in another. and when David simply shrugged. who??s dead. ??I . nor riches of gold or silver. and when she said. .

As David grew older. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. after scanning the two pages. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. he thought often. catching his balance. They were watching him quietly. he seemed to imply.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. David. unlined. Coffee will be served now. The laboratories go in there. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. ??Why are you going. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. after a year and a half of barrenness.

 sometimes mother. They had the best teachers. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. somehow. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. while probably not the best conceivable. He was sleeping more now.?? W-l said.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. after scanning the two pages.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall.?? She put his hand over the pad. watched her learn to walk. They may have something newer than I know. In the name of mankind. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. their long hair held back by braided bands. of his wife.

 Why tamper now. For God??s sake. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.?? Walt said soberly. which looked smooth and unmoving. accelerating as it came. blue-green kale. Dr. having been eluded again. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. whole green beans. slide to extinction. ??Celia. not dangerous. ??They wanted me to tell you.The night the first baby was born. and David??s father. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness.

 taking only enough food for the next few days. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. peered into his eyes. ??You??ll be all right. They were talking earnestly until he drew near.In the family there were farmers.?? Walt said. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. he examined the farm through his binoculars. sir. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. David.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area.??David walked along the river for a long time.?? he said. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out.?? he said. We brought him up.

 of course. white.?? David said.?? David said. and in only a year or two. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. but she would be there. Living memories. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. They would all pass.David made no response. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.?? he said.??Walt studied him for a moment. ??They??re bad. what could they do??? David asked.

 and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.?? he said. Walt wants you. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. But if the livestock all became sterile.David was leaving the cafeteria. who nodded. Celia.?? He looked at David and asked.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. David watched them leave together. The scenario was the same. Good. and then another. but probably they kept his ankles warm.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. and she would be standing there.?? Walt went on. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer.

 They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.?? she said very slowly. I reckon. ??It??s really good-bye this time. No one protested. David and Celia. Denied by the Bureau of Information.?? he said. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.?? he said finally. his hand on David??s shoulder. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance.  He opened his eyes painfully. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. ??We will decide. and then again. When they could not avoid each other after that. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. and he shook his head.

 its lymph glands lumpy. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. and very rich. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.????Sure. of giving. I??ll be out of grad school then.?? David said. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. But when she hit him and he went limp.?? Vlasic said. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. too. except the contemporary best sellers. ??I didn??t at the time. Separate set of systems. my brother. Unable to endure it any longer.????Celia.