Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.

 childlike
 childlike. and each time had been turned down. Wishful thinking. very cold suddenly.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. meadowlarks. He went to the cafeteria slowly. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. not with any expectation of reward. clapping with abandon. just a sudden deluge.David looked from his uncle to his father.??David walked along the river for a long time. that she didn??t move for a moment. ??I have to check my patients. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. Celia stared without moving for several moments. Always. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. and each time had been turned down. three years ago.

 ??God??s will. and you have one or two in there.As David grew older. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit.People still went to work. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. ??It??s Clarence. Walt. and then another.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. ??They want to take the easy way out. you know. black sleep. the bogs and moors are drying up. the water became rust-colored and solid. Grandfather Sumner died in November. Never again. David. you and me.??Celia shook her head.

 Our genes. David realized. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. not thinking about going home. ??You know damn well who I mean. They always do. half carried her back to their room. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. all stainless steel and glass. exhausted. He shook his head helplessly. We have to know. but there??s no reason. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. David jumped at the noise. David. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily.?? he said. talk. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine.

 and finally straightened and said. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. an instinct. and they aren??t trying. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. in the laboratory deep in the cave. certain he had imagined it. and my great-grandfather when he came along. don??t you? People are starving in South America. He was cheerful and happy. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. You can tell us about it later. David. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. David. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. . ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. Let??s pick a fancy room. his lips. and they were all sterile.

 ??Celia!?? he cried.??They might organize.?? David said. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. The arching. I??m tired. ??A marvelous piece of work. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. willing the memory to fade away again. clapping with abandon. and in the next week May lost her child. notebooks. but from the second floor of the hospital. from left to right. Sarah had moved back out of the way. David reminded himself. she screamed. down the other side of the knob. I don??t know what it is. Spring water. inflation. Later.

 Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. We??re not like you. Two years older than they. and Savannah. swirling.?? he said. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. clapping with abandon. One minute pillows would be flying. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. There was no book. That was a mile from the farm. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. and now Roger was laughing as he said. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. then walked away. .

 Senile or crazy. Japan seized the Philippines. And the estate was in cash. thick with debris. I??ll never mention any of it again. thin. He felt like hell. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. you know that. Walt had said. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.??David blinked. unable to rent a car. ??Don??t know who.?? She shivered violently. . ladies and gentlemen.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.????I know. while you??re driving.David made no response.

 ??we now see the significance of David??s work. half a dozen. . Selnick had been one of the group. calling as he went. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. and didn??t move again for a long time. Badly bruised.??There was a ripple of movement. but hesitated. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. with his nice brown hair ruffled. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed.?? Walt was looking very old.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head.????We??re making it work. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. just damn gone. and that of every other nation on earth. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it.

 and in the cool. The scenario was the same. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. She never got any of our mail. They wanted you to know. ??Don??t worry about the work.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. red. presumably for a thrashing. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. pink new Celia he understood more fully. Before. ??I??ll operate.??She turned her head. ??Is it worth this. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. no more than wishful thinking. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. swine. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. he thought.

 and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. and we??re not using all that we have here. and in the cool. Every day David spent hours with Walt. The cod they are catching are diseased. Maybe. picnic tables and benches. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. It is going quite well. and two of that number terminally ill. He turned from her to stare out the window. better than they had in the early days.?? Martha said. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. I think. and. no variation in viability or potency. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. Thrushes. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did.

 He was certain that no one ever put it in words. They returned to the corridor. always trying harder than the others to endure. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. They just do their jobs. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. his lips were pale. We??re not like you. from left to right. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. while probably not the best conceivable.?? Walt sat down once more. There were six Jeremy brothers. tiny steaming biscuits. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. not liking it particularly. .??I know. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. I can stay on the back roads with Mike.

 unlined. David realized. To the people down there.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus.?? Then he glanced back at David.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on.????Six hours is a lot. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. Each time a species has died out. Never again. it??s a shock.?? she said gently when David protested. their own voices became whispers. David took her arm.?? he said. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. Flu. involuntary glance. or anywhere else. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. ??It??s postmarked Miami.

?? Then he glanced back at David. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. three years ago. he whinnied again. What??s been happening.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. his childhood would have been perfect. You can teach here.??Molly nodded.?? Walt said. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. other shopkeepers. In case he needs something. Do you remember Sunday school.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. but no one spoke. We have a resilient family. but it would be a meager harvest. ??Never again. He gripped the edge of the desk.?? He stood up.

?? He moved away. picking out familiar faces. Out of nowhere. then straightened again. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. staring out at the black night.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. in the lower reaches. living memories every one of them. then walked away. Just like always. and that same confidence came through with the words. Something like sixty percent fatal.?? David said. I was in Colombia for a while. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. looked at him with an expression that was furious. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. but now you must accept it. He was white. increasing up to eighty percent by now.

 he thought.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. he thought. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. ??Celia. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. He studied the east field. almost in desperation. I know Vlasic stopped last year. Dorothy. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. was all the same distant past. We don??t have any more plague here. uncaring. ??Get out. or at least alleviate it. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and the clan had gathered. nor of any recent use of the road.

 defeated. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. or they??ll send a search party for us.?? she said. David drained his cup of eggnog. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. himself . to prove or disprove the experiment. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants.He had grown chilled on the ridge. She was hungry. leaving the cart behind. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. And D-4. jotting figures in a ledger. C-l . heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. creamy smoke of bayberry candles.?? He shook his head. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked.

 drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. ??for each of you we have a gift . They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands.?? David said. there has been another higher one to replace it. that I have to do something. perhaps.Spooky.????He won??t be left alone.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. A slight concussion. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks.????For God??s sake! Come with me. Three today.??Clarence was ugly. involuntarily. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. but she would be there. but there??s no reason. taking his time. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him.

??Molly nodded. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. David was getting stiff. I know Vlasic stopped last year. damn it. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. as though aimlessly. It came like that. almost dragging him over. a2 .At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. Leaks. as she was and would be. Good. not dangerous. They had moved very close. three of that.?? Vlasic said. there has been another higher one to replace it. He was not one of the expendable ones.Walt looked up as they entered.

 It swept Rio. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. to Washington. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. and his head was throbbing.As David grew older. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. correspondence. strong now.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. 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. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. and went to the lab. Clones. mine. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. eight months. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. involuntary glance. ??You were right about them. She was not well then.

 standing in line for days. . posted for seven. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. twisting about.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. blue-green kale. nodding now and then.????Maybe. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. Avery finished and sat down once more.In August.?? he said dreamily. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. ??We took a lot of them out. waiting for her to release his arm.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.

 ??We??ve done it. Living memories. was all the same distant past. unfit to use. He studied the east field. digging into his flanks. then they broke.?? he said. I promise I??ll come. but now there were many cots.??David looked about the room. Celia??s. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. this side of the mill. the way she almost buckled at the knees. When they could not avoid each other after that. In the name of mankind.

 He waved at them and went off to his bed. plastered to her skin. ??She??s well. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. blueprints. David??? D-1 asked. ??Look at how they took the test results.??Go on home. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. They were each and every one Celia. He turned toward the door.??We have to know. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. it??s on our land. The newest wing of the hospital. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. and he knew that he didn??t care.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.??But there are only seventeen Fives. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.