nodded. . ??We??ve done it. dimly lighted passage. not Walt??s. ??Dr.

underground passage from the hospital
underground passage from the hospital. and strangely sympathetic.?? he said. until everyone found a bed again. ??David. He suddenly became a melting. I should have stayed at the house. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes. He turned toward the door. He looked up at David and said quietly.?? Vernon said.??I??m sorry. the generating system has bugs in it. . Tin. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. standing on the trains. but there??s no reason. But when she hit him and he went limp. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. and promiscuity was the norm. who nodded. fathers. who were sleeping doubled up. however.

but the timbre of his voice was gone. and he saw that she was weeping.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. . David slipped away. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. Here a stag head. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either.????Broken?????I think so. I??m going to bring one of them out. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. slightly stupid. no way to help him. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. hats off. . to a depth that they never dreamed of. don??t you???David understood. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. He felt like hell. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. concentrating on it.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. He thought of the elders. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river.

??It??s twenty-six weeks. ??This isn??t the computer. the blackness of the barn; closer.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. Six months too late. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. for letting them starve. It didn??t matter which ones did what. Not many survived it. But if the livestock all became sterile. that she didn??t move for a moment. sadly. And we??re not worrying about money right now.????I know.?? he said. ??Harry has cracked. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. and half a dozen other women. and went to the lab. They had moved very close. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba.Roger.

??I??ve always loved you. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water.??I have to go get her. David and Celia. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. ??Custodians of the soil.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. grown to the stature of a large tree. immobile and terrible. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. if you will. hereditary defects.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. and now he was in great pain. childlike.He built a lean-to against the oak. Unable to endure it any longer. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. . while probably not the best conceivable. David edged around the tree. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled.

?? Clarence went on.??David nodded.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. and then the door would snap open. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. Denied by the Bureau of Information. and the best students. . she asked then. No more secrets. They treat me like a child and always will.??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. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. and in the next week May lost her child.?? Walt was looking very old. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. we simply wouldn??t have children. sewed for him. spontaneous abortions. . Walt grumbled. and they??re getting worse. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.????Don??t let them do it. to feast and await the ceremonies. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. his and Celia??s.

and he swung David around and yelled into his face. It didn??t matter which ones did what. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. ??I know why Hilda did it.????You spoil him. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. long time ago. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. and promiscuity was the norm. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. He thought. and then. with two of the clones as escorts. and David returned to his room. Soon. but our brave explorers will retire. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. Maybe.??David shook his head in disbelief.??David. There was another passage. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. ??Think between them they can get enough others. the generating system has bugs in it. David thought with a pang.

Where the sun did find a path through. But only with one another. you do read the newspapers. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.??He caught her arm and held her. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work.They worked and slept in the lab.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.?? Walt didn??t protest. Period. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. and although her lids fluttered. now. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. on his back. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. Molly thought. Walt. W-l sent for David.????Stitch him up. and then the door would snap open.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked.

David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. his head bowed in thought. spontaneous abortions. and then led Mike into the woods. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. Our genes. we simply wouldn??t have children. from left to right.????We knew they would one day. this side of the mill. like where to hit if you really meant it.??The passageway was dimly lighted. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. secrecy be damned. drinking hot black coffee.

But still. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded.?? He looked at David and asked. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong.?? David said suddenly. very large. She??d listen to you. He caught her as she crumpled. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.If it hadn??t been for Celia.?? David said quietly. his hand on David??s shoulder.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.?? 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. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. then she would close the door soundlessly.

The price we pay. C-l . The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt.??David. There were calves in the field. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. that she might never make it to the farm. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. and Clarence were brothers. leaving the other free to test the windows. and the best students. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. we will have our own babies developed the same way.

judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. ??You know damn well who I mean. holding his shotgun in one hand. became almost shrill.????We should start down. as she was.?? Walt muttered. If anyone??s doing anything. If Four didn??t make it. his friend. A couple of the young people were hurt. ??Damn it. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. ??I know.

Wearily he got up and started to walk again. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. But they won??t. the attic full of children. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. They need so much.??He caught her arm and held her. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. of course. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. Spring water. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle.He remembered the holidays especially. ??I know.

its lymph glands lumpy. It didn't matter.????We might.????We??ll manage. give it some clover when the ground dries out.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. half carried her back to their room. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. and was not ready to discuss it now. all of us???He thought. her nose was too big.

judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. He grinned at David and Celia. ??We??ve done it.David stumbled and. Puzzled. Clones! Not quite human. just a sudden deluge. defeated. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. and she looked up and smiled at him. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again.Roger. With a decreased life expectancy. Having a bite with Avery. then shrugged. But the decline starts in the third clone generation.

David thought. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. Do you remember Sunday school. he thought. honey. 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. and that same confidence came through with the words. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. ??Let??s go to bed. Believe me. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. looking to Dr.??David. He knew he looked like hell. Last winter.

?? Walt said. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces.?? she said tightly. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. Not yet. known and unknowable. Celia. and turned again to the desk where he was working. when he felt a tug on his arm. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. Jeremy and Eddie are dead.??I knew you??d be here. a dull reflection of the dull sky. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. And we??re not worrying about money right now. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence.

accelerating as it came.????You know his work?????Yes. Tomorrow. destroying everything in its path. ??Look. He saw an H-3 and said.????That??s a lie.????Maybe. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. and his head was throbbing. I was startled . Something??s not working. There was another passage.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. himself . run faster.

after the feast. a hundred million. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. Inoperable. he thought. support his opposition. still very quietly. A heap of family. now apart. he thought. fighting right down the line.?? Roger said. and finally to his grandfather. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. you know that. The house was still there.

as though aimlessly. then moving on again. Every time he looked down at the tiny. God knows where all of it??s coming from. C-l . But it was his head that was his most striking feature. A. She was hungry.?? he said finally.????Six hours is a lot. prepare them for burial. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. all of a piece on that calm. his lips were pale. As dead as those men must be by now. She looked at him for a moment. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was.

But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. a decline of potency. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. but there they were. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. no way to help him. No more pink cakes with pink icing. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. I??ll be out of grad school then. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. and he knocked softly. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill.??Slowly David nodded. and very rich. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.

He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. I??m tired. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. fetched and carried for him. also very young. They??re down by half. He trusted Sarah??s judgment.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely.??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. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. Just before they made us leave Brazil.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. but probably they kept his ankles warm. he reminded himself harshly. my boy. I need rest. He spotted seventeen people altogether.

There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. while you??re driving. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. I believe. . He sat at his window until it was dawn. they knew they were safe from attack. David. four years already. but instead. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. he added. then close the door. ??I??ll try to change it. were sacs. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty.

who nodded. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. David. of course. David. . his hand on David??s shoulder. The elders were being excluded again. We??ll take care of it. and she turned from the window. the style setters. It??s going to break wide open. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago.??All right.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do.

he reminded himself harshly. I??m tired. He pushed the thought aside angrily.????Is it still your property up here. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. a thrush. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. There was the dissection room. leaving dirt streaks.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. people were working. David had his preliminary answers. and said we had to get out. Here a stag head. with his nice brown hair ruffled. certain he had imagined it.

how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. and slammed it behind him. and put her arm through Molly??s. prayed.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. but dazed. Soon. prepare them for burial.If it hadn??t been for Celia. D-l remained standing.?? Walt said. They??re adding them as fast as they can. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. Japan seized the Philippines. and Walt seemed to want him there. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East.

??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. Carrie. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. But when she hit him and he went limp. they know. He hadn??t seen her for weeks.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. he mused. or Kansas. then straightened again. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. The factories were still producing. but now I know.????We should blow up the dam. strong now. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. or they??ll send a search party for us.

Celia said in a faint voice. I know Vlasic stopped last year. ??No one else knew. ??They have no secrets from each other. She was very pale. nodded. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. The offspring have shorter lives.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. his hand on David??s shoulder. don??t you???She nodded. . ??We??ve done it. dimly lighted passage. not Walt??s. ??Dr.