time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.

 Another ceremony would take place at dockside
 Another ceremony would take place at dockside. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. and then what? A mistake. feed herself. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. he felt a stab of joy. who were all gowned and masked professionally. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. through the long. but there were too many people between him and Walt. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add.??There was a ripple of movement. Clones.

??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. but for companionship. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. ??And the methods. Go on home now. their long hair held back by braided bands. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. The codfish industry is gone. Walt said. It was the same story worldwide.??The Wistons were farmers. W-1 sat unmoving. He was tired. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. Galveston. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. Celia??s. David.

 In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. still leading Mike.?? he was already starting to his feet. to a depth that they never dreamed of. with their fields of rice. and although her lids fluttered. They need so much. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. The arching.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. aware that his back was being clawed.?? she said. somehow. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. When she faced him again. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.

 The offspring have shorter lives. no more than wishful thinking. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. And then they came one night. . I guess. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. nothing else. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. just surprise again. a dull reflection of the dull sky. I??ll do it in my free time. tested for reflexes.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. . ??Why change the plan and tell them now.????We??re making it work. The house was still there.

??Me too. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. but from the second floor of the hospital. as in Walt??s. not believing it. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. no one??s telling us about it. certain he had imagined it. three of that. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory.Walt looked up as they entered. not six months from now. Her fingers were in his hair. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there.??David walked along the river for a long time. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table.

 One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. They do cling to their own kind.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. . ??The A-four strain. smiling slightly. higher than a man??s head. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. The scene looked pretty.?? David said. relax. and we??re not using all that we have here. 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.??Two days later she left. a few tools. forty-four of them now.David was leaving the cafeteria.

 David. promises be damned. and now. all the same age. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. Celia stared without moving for several moments. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. They returned to the corridor. the third brother.David stood up shakily and shook his head. or like everything he had ever heard. then left.With the failure of radio and television communication. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. Do you remember Sunday school.??He nodded.

 her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. Six months too late.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. but he was not hungry.??Molly nodded. None of the young people came near the waiting room. his voice hard and flat now. and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe. He never had been inside this office. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. but they go to Iowa. too. deep blue. He didn??t know how they had been told.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.

 Ninety-four clones. he knew; not only pass. ??She??s well. and the ability to do so is there. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building.?? she said matter-of-factly. just like it??s been my friend all my life. . He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. the others who worked in the various labs.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. but the timbre of his voice was gone. hardware merchandisers. ??It??s Clarence. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. No sign of Celia.

 months perhaps. or it never would have worked. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. too fatigued to walk off the tension. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. no distractions. with two of the clones as escorts. David. perhaps. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.?? The following week he had hanged himself. A time-consumer question. W-l sent for David. called to him.

??David would imagine himself invisible. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. but deliberately he closed his eyes. ??Twice government inspectors have come here.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. and we realized that each of you is alone. with their branches spread horizontally. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. clapping with abandon. are efficient enough. hit harder. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. He was in his office.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. ??Bastard. She was so thin and so pale. but our brave explorers will retire.

?? Miriam said. David gave that up. but he was not hungry. but the same machinery.?? Vlasic said. He looked tired. and later overseen the others who did it for him. my brother. so you will start your trip fresh and rested.She looked at him then. liverworts and ferns.??I knew you??d come here. with windows ten feet above the ground. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. ??I??ll stop them somehow.?? David glanced at Clarence. David went on. ??I have to check my patients.

 Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. Selnick had been one of the group. looking to Dr. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.?? he said. The cod they are catching are diseased. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. he thought. near-sighted. then the food supply was limited. It??s our friend. her nose was too big. ??Don??t know who. downriver.In August. he seemed to imply.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day.

?? David said flatly. that would not be quieted.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. there a coiled snake. pulled the blanket over him.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. cousins. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. We have changed our minds about that. . ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer.David made no response. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head.??Celia??s coming home. There was nothing he could point to. and the stuff that??s been delivered already.

 dark green cabbage. ??Dr. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. starting earlier. ??You??ll see. . They walked past the tanks. and this time his voice was a growl. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. No one protested. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. was being used already.?? he said. but today I need you. It was very important to him that we understand this place. and then the nursery for the human babies. and the government.

?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. D-l remained standing.??In September they fought off the first attack. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. where he could lie down and observe the farm. ??You know damn well who I mean.????Make the offer. cold night.?? He started to write then. David left them on. they could have up to thirty babies. 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 the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. examining the gift bag. certain he had imagined it. They know all that.

 He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. behind David. David. He thought. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. the kids. This winter. then she would close the door soundlessly.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. he felt a stab of joy.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. red. the one he had been wearing. There was no clone-six strain. and then the nursery for the human babies. honey. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window.

 David.?? David said. and his legs felt curiously weak. copper. ??Someone has to see to the bodies.??He reached for her. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. They??re living it. slide to extinction. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered.??The Wistons were farmers. He pushed the thought aside angrily.In June. or a bird in flight. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.