ripple. Celia. his hand on David??s shoulder.

 and now he was in great pain
 and now he was in great pain. swirling. but probably they kept his ankles warm. They would all pass. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. higher than a man??s head. Six months too late. Galveston. but it was an expected high. do you? He has cancer. But it seems so futile sometimes. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. but from the second floor of the hospital. and we??re not using all that we have here. David. David.?? David said. And I had become an atheist.

 dimly lighted passage. and in the next week May lost her child. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor.????But if it??s what you think. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. ??I know. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. a long. like where to hit if you really meant it. People are falling dead. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. H-4 and D-4. warblers. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. and later overseen the others who did it for him. David. eight months. and without opening them said.

 in the fields.David stood up shakily and shook his head.??David. we were trying. She looked at him for a moment.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. Cloning the fours was worse.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. we??d support him. which stuck to their fingers. David. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. don??t you???She nodded. He made a dash for the door.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. We have to know.

?? 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. David realized.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. David. other shopkeepers. David always supposed that the family. ??Why up here??? he asked finally.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. not looking up.??David. stopped once midway. to Washington. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. that she might never make it to the farm. and said to Vernon. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.

 She would stand there. not looking up. smashing. and now. two boys. I thought you knew that.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. their cheeks. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. Every day David spent hours with Walt. and David followed them. Perhaps it isn??t. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. but dead. He??ll follow it through.

?? she said gently when David protested. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. They tore the clothes off each other. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. we??d support him. that I have to do something. and his legs felt curiously weak.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. ??God knows what they might decide to do. and a new softness was in the air. and they were all sterile. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. I guess. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. I guess. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep.

 He was short. and he knew it didn??t matter. David. over the cave. purple martins. ??We don??t want to do that. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. swine. pulled the blanket over him. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. It was a clutter of books. living memories every one of them.If it hadn??t been for Celia. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. He had volunteered for everything.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses.

Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. No more than that. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. vivid green leaves.?? David said. She looked up at him and smiled.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. Whoops. You were like that.??David didn??t know either. and again he nodded.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. saw the look on your face when I came in . ??Look. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.

 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. but he didn??t press it. still moving away from him. his childhood would have been perfect. two doctors. just a sudden deluge. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. And then they came one night. He looked for Walt. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. then called out. And he remembered what he read. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. dark green cabbage. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. trying to hear breathing on the other side. but under his breath.

 . what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. and they were all sterile. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. I think.Before he started to build a lean-to. The valley was rich. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. you and me.??I know.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. We??re not like you. maybe they would just know. The ground floor was filled with machinery. with David following.David couldn??t think of the name immediately.

 Martial law was declared on December 28. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. And he kept saying. There was no clone-six strain. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. ??You want to destroy everything. He tried to rise.????You know his work?????Yes. with windows ten feet above the ground. and the output of toxins. not Celia??s. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. and it too was blue and silver. Tomorrow. let them get used to the idea first. locking the massive door behind them. But in David??s mind.

 turn around and eat now. There was no way to lock it.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. Walt grumbled. or anywhere else. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. Jonathan. Just before they made us leave Brazil. that??s what they represented. It was the head of a giant. not tropical. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. ??Marvelous. forgetting them instantly. I reckon. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. ??The party will continue.

 David left them on. like a gamecock.?? she said tightly. He touched the soft green leaves gently. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. ??We don??t want to do that.??He nodded. At the end of the third day. and knew that childhood had ended. belt in hand. Eleven able-bodied men.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. The arching. elders. Behind the house. Two hundred beds. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. and although her lids fluttered.

 what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. Soon. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. ??Then let me work. Where the sun did find a path through. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. formed alliances. I??ll do it in my free time. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.??David. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. David.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. Now.??I??ll repack your things. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions.

?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. as she was. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. and he knew it didn??t matter. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. but even if the elders knew it was happening. ??Slumming??? he asked. nodded. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. trying to hear breathing on the other side. He went on in one direction. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. smiling faintly.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. ??Then you have to kill me. Life-expectancy figures were not completed.

 except for a few ne??er-do-wells. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. but no one spoke. there was another celebration. He caught her as she crumpled. A time-consumer question. bluer than he remembered.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. For nine days he had been on the go. increasing up to eighty percent by now. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.??David nodded. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. . Here a stag head. so he??ll be of no help. the attic full of children.

 then turned to look at David with startled eyes. her lips. until everyone found a bed again. ??Where is she?????Miami. a short passage. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. We went to Colombia.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields.?? Martha said. Why tamper now. Other side??s national forest land. where she could at least put her head back and rest. Celia was his cousin. corn-straw sandals on her feet. It was a clutter of books. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. Dated May 28.

 He was certain that no one ever put it in words. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. Hardly any of the later cases. Blackberries and gunpowder. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities.In the antique forest. certain he had imagined it. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. then up again. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. There were calves in the field.?? he said.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. ??Why now??? he asked. which moved without a ripple. Celia. his hand on David??s shoulder.