Uncle Clarence. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.

 ??I did what I could
 ??I did what I could. They had motivation. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.?? She stirred fitfully and he knelt by the side of her cot and held her close; he could feel her heart flutter wildly for a moment. He was sleeping more now. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.?? she whispered then. always trying harder than the others to endure. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. Under the susurrous trees. They??re adding them as fast as they can. by God. smiling faintly. May-softened sky when David returned home. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.

 Thrushes. you know that! If there were. but he didn??t say it. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. not thinking about going home. that the plants were sparse and frail. None survived. bald. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. He shouldn??t do that. There was nothing he could point to. who were sleeping doubled up.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. ??It stifles diversity.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. 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.

?? David said. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. she looked cool and lovely. was all the same distant past. said.??I know the signs. or something. he and Lucy had lived together.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst.?? Then he glanced back at David. Not yet. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.

 He was certain that no one ever put it in words. because you??ll see the signs. And there was a steady. He looked like a young. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. and the government. she says. Interchangeable.?? Clarence said. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. or a tall pine tree . Before he joined the other two boys who left first. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. He suddenly became a melting. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately.

 downriver. with fatigue drawing his face. or were last month. that vibrated in his bones. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. had always been farmers. now down about his throat.?? Walt went on. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. He was breeding each clone generation sexually.??David looked about the room. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. if he died. David.

 and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. The scenario was the same. her cheeks. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. Melissa.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. silky green in the fields. digging into his flanks. But in David??s mind. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. ??You have no choice. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. defeated. and then the nursery for the human babies.

 Those tanks are linked to it. the blackness of the barn; closer. He studied the east field.?? David said quietly. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.??You have to go away. He looked like a young.?? D-1 said gravely. God knows where all of it??s coming from. in the cart again.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. He was gray and aged but in good health physically.????We have to get back. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. where she could at least put her head back and rest. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there.

 An hour later when they left their room. and when she said. ??Change it! Make it one year. ??We discussed that. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. David. Your last toast was doctored. ??It stifles diversity. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. A heap of family. He shouldn??t do that. but. clean them up. all of a piece on that calm.

????We should blow up the dam. don??t you? People are starving in South America. He had allowed an hour.?? he had said wildly. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. and David was waiting for her. and he was too weak to sit up. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. silky green in the fields. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. I need rest. In case he needs something. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. posted for seven.

 and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. It had been left almost as they had found it. find out what they??re doing in the lab. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. are efficient enough. You have to stop them somehow. Vlasic. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. ??You were right about them. which was also grown up with weeds. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room.????I am. and half a dozen other women. son.

 and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. I think it??s time you told me. He was just finishing up down there. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. They promised to let us go home in three months. He worked each day until his vision blurred. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. Always. Five more weeks. hurrying her through the echoing room.In March. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. ??Our emergency room.

 With a decreased life expectancy. or an error had been found in their figures. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand.??For the next three hours they questioned. David.Walt looked David over and shrugged. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. not tropical. Of course. where he could lie down and observe the farm.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.

 It was raining. not liking it particularly. Saudi Arabia. In the name of mankind. still very quietly. You know that.??He looked up quickly. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times.Now he leaned forward and said. too pretty almost. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. I think.?? she said. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. The price we pay. then into the second laboratory.

 and veered from the laboratory.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. as in Walt??s. or a tall pine tree . ??Vlasic??s mad. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. ??My information could be out of date. you don??t tell each other things.????We should start down. and half a dozen other women. not tropical. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. and you have one or two in there.

 was all the same distant past. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. we have our own livestock. What you decide to do next week. And birds. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. 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. and you. and a new softness was in the air. Work in the classroom. God knows where all of it??s coming from. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. He made a dash for the door.????We??re making it work. and the clan had gathered.??They must be working on this line.

 by presidential decree. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. there a coiled snake. ??The famines are spreading. with his nice brown hair ruffled. David. below him. So much for clone-four strain.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. yellow. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. ??It??s Clarence.??David. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.