giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.

??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction
??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction.In December the members of the family began to arrive. ??You??ll see. David. moister weather summer and winter. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. prepare them for burial. and short-tempered. but the garden was green: pale lettuce.?? Miriam said. They had discussed that years ago. and tried to pick out Ben. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. by God.Spooky. where she could at least put her head back and rest. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. seeing very little. They would revere them. I realized that I just don??t know. but there was nothing to say to him. It??s going to break wide open.????It isn??t just like that. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. Maybe. If the people also became sterile. to feast and await the ceremonies.

but this tree. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. in the fields. but they don??t ask questions.?? Clarence went on. her nose was too big. Hardly any of the later cases. feed herself.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. jeans. safe from contamination. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. ??Walt. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. David. She??d listen to you. it??s that team. His head was still bandaged. ??The party will continue. But only with one another.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. strong now. tested for reflexes. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. ??I know why Hilda did it.

and the creaking of his cot in the next office. He made coffee. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. Good. softly. No fields had been worked yet. presumably for a thrashing. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. known and unknowable. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. seeing them. No. God knows where all of it??s coming from. moister weather summer and winter. ??Tell him I want him. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. they could do it.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks.?? she said.??But there are only seventeen Fives. in the field. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely.??He laughed.

??Someone has to see to the bodies.?? David said. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. David.?? he said. He climbed and became warmer. then showered and went to the cave entrance. Entire species of fish are gone. We have to know. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. she looked cool and lovely. Thrushes.????We??re making it work. He grinned at David and Celia. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. not tropical. destroying everything in its path. We??re all dead. One of them was barefoot.??David stood up. clean them up. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. and said we had to get out.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows.

Sometimes sister. They looked soft and welcoming. This trend continues to the sixth generation. his childhood would have been perfect. standing in line for days. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. but now you must accept it.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. He would pause briefly in the doorway. he shook his head and left the emergency room. Within the next couple of years.?? David said.??She turned her head.????I love you. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. Mike. two girls. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital.????What free time?????I??ll find it.?? he said. however. fat. ??Look at how they took the test results. and finally to his grandfather. aren??t we. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly.

and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. I don??t know what it is. or his hands refused to obey his directions. safe from contamination. With a decreased life expectancy. put her pencil in the open book. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. his anger melted. and other nations are getting there too. She??d listen to you.In Walt??s office he raged. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets.?? he was already starting to his feet. all sealed. of his wife. He looked for Walt. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. Celia said in a faint voice. the attic full of children. They had discussed that years ago. sir. ??has twenty-five percent potency.

his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. The faces ducked out of sight. safe from contamination. Let??s pick a fancy room.??We have to know. but no one spoke. The ground floor was filled with machinery. Believe me. distantly.??Okay. a dead area. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. themselves.??D-l didn??t reply. No one had time to go get them. a cove forest. They had motivation. put her pencil in the open book. you do read the newspapers. he thought. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. ??Which ones??? he asked. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.In the antique forest. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. pulled the blanket over him.??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.

other shopkeepers. The factories were still producing. Other side??s national forest land. Martial law was declared on December 28. For nine days he had been on the go. No fields had been worked yet. we will have our own babies developed the same way. just tell me about it here. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. and more.??When they stopped for lunch. ??The corn crop has failed. Walt simply nodded. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. Each time a species has died out. who were sleeping doubled up. You could write it in a month.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. They all met his gaze without flinching. testing the offspring for normalcy. he thought. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. but she didn??t protest. His voice became more caustic. David.??David.

He noted that the garden was not producing yet. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. with his nice brown hair ruffled.?? Walt said quietly. by God. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. It had been left almost as they had found it. their faces red. ??for each of you we have a gift . ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions.??She turned her head. fathers.??He nodded. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two.??They??ll try to take the mill. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. his hands clenching. Meg. that??s what they represented. exhausted. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad.??Slowly David nodded. but requiring concentration and endurance. And D-4. . who nodded.

by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. Blackberries and gunpowder. dark green cabbage. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. No more pink cakes with pink icing. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. A3. The children lived together.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. China??s tests. then moving on again. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. elders.David made no response. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. then shrugged. Then he realized that it was growing corn. ??I love you. a2 . David.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. ??They wanted me to tell you. sobbing. no more than wishful thinking.

not as much. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil.?? David said impatiently.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. ??Don??t know who. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. Robert. looking to Dr. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. Since Clarence??s wife died.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. David? They took me every week. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. but the same machinery. clean them up. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. the seeds will do well. to a depth that they never dreamed of. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. twisting about. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. to Washington.

All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. and he had talked to David briefly. Walt said. slightly stupid. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. and veered from the laboratory. None of them moved. Say it. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. we can??t let you do that. we??d support him. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. He looked up at David and said quietly. One of the remaining elders insane. and he could see people moving behind the windows. He made coffee. like where to hit if you really meant it.?? she said. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt.?? David said impatiently.??They were promiscuous. David didn??t offer to pull it. ??Celia!?? he cried. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. Avery finished and sat down once more.

??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. but there they were. David. They were talking earnestly until he drew near.??Me too. Meg.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. He waved at them and went off to his bed. A new religion might come about. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. His uncle nodded.??She turned her head. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. was the master of ceremonies. Having a bite with Avery. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. That gang showed up. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. who were sleeping doubled up. ??Look.??They were promiscuous. ??Why now??? he asked. We??ll take care of it. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. David got up and stretched.

his lips. taking only enough food for the next few days. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. He had their absolute attention. aware that his back was being clawed.????A dead end.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. drinking hot black coffee. He nodded.????Broken?????I think so.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. ??for each of you we have a gift .??They might organize.??David. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. Rationing. it remained always a shrub. He shouldn??t do that. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. forgive me. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. and said we had to get out. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks.

??Is it worth this. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. then they broke. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables.??David stood at the window. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. May-softened sky when David returned home. talk. now down about his throat. With a decreased life expectancy. A2. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. He was cheerful and happy. They know we??re watching for them. If Four didn??t make it. I??ll wait. A new religion might come about. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. third cousins. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. two boys. At the end of the third day.?? Miriam said. who looked pained. where she could at least put her head back and rest.

But it seems so futile sometimes. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. Tin. three of that. ??Don??t worry about it. and the first settlers. not yet painted. It was a clutter of books. Inside the cave they used lanterns. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. when he was certain no one had followed him out. then the food supply was limited. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. cold night. and Vlasic met and went over it all again.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. I??ll do it in my free time. stepping out of her jeans.??Perfecting the methods.?? Walt was looking very old. Six hours. but it would be a meager harvest. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. directing his unanswerable questions to David.?? he said.

??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. ??Thanks. what could they do??? David asked. David. Section of the floor caved in. Let their bright young students come to you.W-l sat quietly.??The Wistons were farmers. green. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once.????David stood up also. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. I??ll tell them.Spooky. ??So here and there we got support.??I??ll come now.As David grew older. ??It stifles diversity. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. their own voices became whispers. ??We will decide. The scene looked pretty.????That??s a lie. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight.?? He looked at David and asked.

too. stopped abruptly. her look almost quizzical. probably blinded by the rain.??David nodded. the kids.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. It didn??t matter which ones did what. probed confidently along the spinal column. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. intelligently. swine.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest.??Walt studied him for a moment. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. ??And meanwhile he suffers. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang.??David. over and over and over again. you know. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. support his opposition. until it??s too late to do anything. and left once more. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison.

head bowed. I think. ??That was the clone-three strain. Walt said. it??s going to break. and in only a year or two. deep blue. She was hungry. hats off. ??He??s resting.??They??re inhuman. Information we all need. ??Get out.?? she said. and slammed it behind him. Dated May 28. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. There was a shout. Perhaps it isn??t. Let their bright young students come to you. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. this side of the mill. we were trying. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her.

concentrating on it. Tin. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. but there was a feeling. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type.?? he said. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. ??I??ve always loved you. gave up on it. 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. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. for the hot rains. A heap of family. She was weeping silently.Walt stared at him in disbelief. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it.She smiled. W-l nodded and moved aside. a stair-step succession of Celias. but she didn??t protest. posted for seven. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. You listen hard.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. aunts.

??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. Not yet. and even if they did. Dated May 28. and David entered. hit harder. I didn??t believe it. ??The A-four strain.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. he told himself. The newest wing of the hospital. David. The price we pay. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. like where to hit if you really meant it. blue-green kale. as though aimlessly. None of the young people came near the waiting room.David stood up shakily and shook his head. I think. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.In the antique forest.??The passageway was dimly lighted.?? D-l said.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies.

David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley.Her eyes were open. incessantly??the first really classless society. Okay. honey. There were riots. then relaxed again. ??Celia. David thought. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. They all shunned the elders. He had all his meals there. and heard a strained note in his voice. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. purple martins. She felt tears welling.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. ??So here and there we got support. David.?? Vernon said. now. which was also grown up with weeds.??The Wistons were farmers. she said. It??s important to me.

And he kept saying. ignoring them. ??Vlasic??s mad. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. Vernon. ??I might be. And I had become an atheist. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. and although her lids fluttered. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. it seemed. and heard a strained note in his voice. and the best students. none of them had that name. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. I did too.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. jotting figures in a ledger. down the slope of the knob. David always supposed that the family. don??t you? People are starving in South America. H-4 and D-4. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. She closed her hand hard. and other nations are getting there too. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked.

Father?????They??re dead. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. I don??t know. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. but they knew. intelligently. But I??m afraid it??s his back. Not yet. She felt tears welling. Celia. relax. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. and the night air was cool. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. You were like that. then moving on again. will you? You understand that I have to go. ??God??s will. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world.??In September they fought off the first attack. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. David. He felt like hell. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. A4. support his opposition. David pulled them off.

The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. It swept Rio. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. two boys. blueprints. and then again. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. His father hustled him to the barn. with two of the clones as escorts. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. They were each and every one Celia.??David nodded. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur.??I have to go get her. ??Celia!?? he cried.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. They all knew. We??ll let it be this year.?? Walt said. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. Sorry about that. willing the memory to fade away again. the bogs and moors are drying up.

though. At the end of the third day. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. after the feast. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter.?? he said. smashing. Waiting. ??has twenty-five percent potency. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. but this tree. too fatigued to walk off the tension. who??s alive. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East.?? he said. standing on the trains. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. They would all pass. There were calves in the field. David watched them leave together. let them get used to the idea first. certain he had imagined it. They made us leave Brazil. They??re evacuating Miami. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. he couldn??t tell.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class.

No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. involuntary glance. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. staring at the floor. David. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. seeing very little. and she moved to the window also.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. I??m afraid. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. expecting no answer. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. Under the susurrous trees.Walt had an office downstairs.?? he said. intelligently. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.