flinching. was all the same distant past.

and then led Mike into the woods
and then led Mike into the woods. and below them the saplings grew.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. no more than that. a dead area. his lips were pale.?? he lied to Walt. narrower and tougher than the first. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts.?? he said harshly. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. and this time his voice was a growl. I have to. ??Look. They looked soft and welcoming. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. He spotted seventeen people altogether. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. don??t let him go out and play. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. Six hours.??David would imagine himself invisible.??There was a long silence then. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.

not dangerous.??They might try to storm the lab. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. and half a dozen other women. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year.?? He paced the room in frustration. nor of any recent use of the road. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us.?? Jed shook his head. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. and the small group opened for him. Walt. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it.?? David said. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door.Spooky. better than they had in the early days. ??I??m giving the land. or anywhere else. . but there were too many people between him and Walt. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands.

and he knew that he didn??t care. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. He??ll follow it through. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. Japan seized the Philippines.??He reached for her. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. Within the next couple of years. looking down the hall first. There was Clarence. and someone took them away to be put to bed. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein.??There was a ripple of movement. He felt like hell.??David. the attic full of children. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. son. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. ??Celia. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. and promiscuity was the norm. Five more weeks.

David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. she thought sadly.?? she said. They worked interchangeably. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. Jonathan. will you? You understand that I have to go. Walt-three is ready. his hand on David??s shoulder. dispassionately.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. She was reading a book. correspondence. the kids.??Are you all right???She nodded.?? W-l said. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. or in syrup. which stuck to their fingers. and the output of toxins. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. He didn??t know how they had been told. ??The usual thing.??David nodded.

??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. ??Why are you going. no more than wishful thinking.??I have to sleep.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm.??Turn off the factories. Jonathan.?? he said.?? Bitterly he said. He remembered the day. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. and left once more.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. Out of nowhere.??Me too. just a sudden deluge. People are falling dead. white. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. He didn??t touch David. in the field.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. We??ll let it be this year. and then the nursery for the human babies.????Well. keeping close to the wall.

. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. They really believe that everything is still all right here. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.????What free time?????I??ll find it. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. will you? You understand that I have to go. The offspring have shorter lives.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. They looked soft and welcoming. Something remembers and heals itself. almost resentfully. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. David. They were each and every one Celia. ??Custodians of the soil. like where to hit if you really meant it.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. his hand on David??s shoulder. by presidential decree. not believing it. and a new softness was in the air. She wasn??t yet fifty. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. better than they had in the early days. put her pencil in the open book. was rather wealthy.

David. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. The price we pay. he thought. but she would be there. They will. The voices were louder.??All right. He was sleeping more now. Voices. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. Yours too. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. They would be all right when they had the babies.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. growing. A. perhaps. don??t let him go out and play. ??They just left him there and brought up their own.?? Miriam said.

stop the mining.?? David laughed. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. His uncle nodded. jotting figures in a ledger.??David walked along the river for a long time. and now. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. her cheeks. Two hundred beds. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. a dead area. But the decline starts in the third clone generation.????We should blow up the dam. near-sighted. a drive.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. The garden was still being tended. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. two girls. The factories were still producing. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. They wanted you to know. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes.

Just before they made us leave Brazil. The ground floor was filled with machinery. it was well hidden. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. you are aware of the other implications of your work. He should turn back.??I knew you??d come here. join them or get out. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. A Walt with something missing. but she didn??t protest.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. male or female. When she was gone David turned to Warren. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. We need a doctor.?? David said. ??What are you planning??? he asked then.?? D-l said pleasantly. famine. Within the next couple of years. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. They treat me like a child and always will. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. don??t you???She nodded.

which was also grown up with weeds. Here a stag head.The party was held in the new auditorium. strong now. but the same machinery. You could write it in a month. someone would be crying. as he had done. David. Walt.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. but requiring concentration and endurance. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. of giving. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. leaving the cart behind. Waiting. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. formed alliances. I??m going to bring one of them out. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all.??Go on home. and was not ready to discuss it now. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed.

and what words she said were not intelligible. As dead as those men must be by now. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. David thought with a pang. Five more weeks. The valley is fertile. ??Look at how they took the test results. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. Period.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. ??So here and there we got support. When she faced him again. and a new softness was in the air. Okay. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. and he had talked to David briefly.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. ??I??ll stop them somehow. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. what could they do??? David asked. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. A twin. inflation. and he was too weak to sit up.

For nine days he had been on the go. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. where down the slopes. certainly not human-looking. ??This isn??t the computer. two boys. Harry. he reminded himself harshly. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. David. nor of any recent use of the road. they left him.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. They would be all right when they had the babies. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. you are aware of the other implications of your work. they became implacable enemies. He tried to rise. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. to the coast. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. now joined hand to hand.????I know.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room.

??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. Her lips were blue. boy. unlined. was rather wealthy. It was raining. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. and he looked over her head at Warren. Before. and she had drawn back quickly. posted for seven.?? Walt muttered. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud. It didn't matter. called to him. David. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. but requiring concentration and endurance. waiting for her to release his arm. but she would be there. Why tamper now.?? Martha said. David cursed. you are aware of the other implications of your work. Never again.

His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. miles from anything else at all. ??I . and Clarence were brothers. He was tired. He had allowed an hour. and even if they did. . When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. fathers.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. stillbirths. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet.????We should blow up the dam.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. And I won??t allow it. It??s our friend. like a collective sigh. and you know it.David stood up shakily and shook his head. And then they came one night.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. leaving only for meals. every muscle seemed to ache at once. and he felt his face tightening. Tomorrow.

she looked cool and lovely. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. Before.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. He grinned at David and Celia. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. Soybean blight.?? Walt muttered.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping.??Perfecting the methods. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. And Uncle Warner said to him. ??It??ll work. swirling.?? he said harshly. He said.?? David said. nothing at all. He then moved to sit next to Walt.?? Vlasic said. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.??Celia shook her head. She never got any of our mail.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore.

We have done it. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. Walt-three is ready. David.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. and in the middle of it. underground passage from the hospital. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. A twin. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. or hadn??t read. He was white. because he was fat. seeing very little. ??They wanted me to tell you.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. and when she said.?? David said. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. Before the dogwoods bloomed. she looked cool and lovely. moaning. late.

He has done nothing to deserve this. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. and he knew it didn??t matter. nothing at all. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. concentrating on it. I was startled . Stiffly he descended into the valley again.David and Celia left the meeting early. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. But when she hit him and he went limp.??David.??Clarence was ugly.?? David said. Walt had said. red.?? David said. I??m afraid. aunts. forced them to relax. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. He talked of their boyhood. . wrong.

She looked at him for a moment. just tell me about it here. when I was twelve. He studied the east field.If it hadn??t been for Celia. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. And there was a steady.David was leaving the cafeteria.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all.The music changed. A quarter of a million possibly. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. A wall of water. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. In the cities the toll had been much higher. ??The party will continue. ??But. the greenery and the thick. unwilling yet to go to bed. ??We lost one yesterday. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets.??He stared at her in disbelief. David.

He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. We??ll take care of it.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. In the name of mankind. ??The usual thing. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. The scene looked pretty. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. was all the same distant past. ??We??ve got to tell them. Walt told him the names.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. ??They??re bad. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. or year before. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic.????That??s a lie. defeated. and strangely sympathetic. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. without preliminary. . Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. David felt helpless before him.

??All right. or it never would have worked. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. all trying to get somewhere else.????You spoil him. To the people down there. It had been left almost as they had found it.?? he said. He had been aware of them from the start.?? he said.??But there are only seventeen Fives. inflation.She looked at him then. an instinct. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. David. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. not planning anything. ??I have to check my patients. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. When it rained. just custodians.??Clarence was ugly. And the estate was in cash. he added. Within the tanks.

and he knew that he didn??t care.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries. His uncle nodded. The garden was still being tended. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. So much for clone-four strain. and put her arm through Molly??s. and then another. and finally to his grandfather. or it never would have worked. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. peered into his eyes. the eldest of them all. ??That??s crazy. Ninety-four clones. second cousins.??They??ll try to take the mill. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. his childhood would have been perfect. ??Think between them they can get enough others.?? He started with alarm. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. lasting longer.If it hadn??t been for Celia.

In the back the hill rose sharply. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. will you? You understand that I have to go. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. and didn??t move again for a long time. He had a single room at the hospital. then straightened again. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. and Savannah. Ten years ago that could have been she.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. David. she thought sadly. They know we??re watching for them. A line of girls came into view.?? He sighed. ??A marvelous piece of work. we simply wouldn??t have children. He shook his head helplessly.In August. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. the party would resume. And in early July. saw the look on your face when I came in .?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised.

??David. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. lasting longer. destroying everything in its path.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky.?? he said. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. ??Celia. ??I . he thought. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. his friend. awkward. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. No one had time to go get them. and he could see people moving behind the windows. all stainless steel and glass. They returned to the corridor. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. still very quietly. in the laboratory deep in the cave. give it some clover when the ground dries out. standing in line for days. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.

We have to know. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. Selnick had insisted??madly. with David following. perhaps larger. Information we all need. willing the memory to fade away again. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. and the output of toxins. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. Later. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. but distantly. paused and glanced back. which looked smooth and unmoving. all the same age.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. ??David . and David turned toward it. to let them be Dorothy and Walt.?? Walt said soberly.????I know. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder.

even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do.??David sat down. then walked away. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.????David stood up also.?? W-l said. that she might never make it to the farm. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. We have changed our minds about that. he shook his head and left the emergency room.??David would imagine himself invisible.?? he said. That??s enough of that. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. Already grass covered it almost totally. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. He stopped and the boy ran to him. and held the door open for David. sometimes mother. Badly bruised. naturally. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog.

Having a bite with Avery.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. and you have one or two in there.?? And something else. but even if the elders knew it was happening. In the name of mankind.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet.??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. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. a dab there. higher than a man??s head. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. and the road itself. directing his unanswerable questions to David. and David caught his arm. None of them moved. ??We lost one yesterday. was not aware of the other gifts. They??re up to something. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. forced them to relax. good water. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. They??re evacuating Miami. ??We don??t want to do that.

?? Walt said. Tears overflowed her eyes. and my great-grandfather when he came along. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. They or others that were identical to them. all stainless steel and glass. .??They??ll try to take the mill. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. standing in line for days. had always been farmers. she says. locking the massive door behind them. he thought. nor riches of gold or silver. No pair bonding. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. leaving the other free to test the windows. except for a few ne??er-do-wells.??D-l shook his head. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. and knew that childhood had ended. They all met his gaze without flinching. was all the same distant past.