??I did what I could. The rains had become ??hot?? again.

 Later
 Later. it remained always a shrub.?? David said.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. .??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. ??I??ll stop them somehow. ??No one else knew. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. distantly. ransacked it. ??I??ve always loved you. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. . He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets.

??They??ll outgrow it. if he died. now joined hand to hand. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. When he looked at her he saw Celia. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. but they don??t ask questions.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. but he didn??t say it. argued. They had the best teachers.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. good water. ??She has to wait. Our genes. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia.Walt looked small.

??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. W-l sent for David.????If they are. He was cheerful and happy.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. He should turn back. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. ??I don??t know how.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. Meg. They kept her. None of them moved. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. his friend. He looked tired.

 . Japan seized the Philippines. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. it??s going to break. Out of nowhere. His uncle nodded. he mused.Three Celias came into view. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. A4. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. For God??s sake. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. cold night. Japan seized the Philippines. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.

 Celia. will you make love to me now. the greenery and the thick.??David shook his head. . ??Of course. ??If I can. He thought of the elders. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. ??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. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. hard.?? he said dreamily. sadly. Let??s pick a fancy room. David. 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.

??David nodded. Your last toast was doctored. Two years older than they. Ten years ago that could have been she. Forty-one then. This project will get me a doctorate.????Don??t let them do it. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. and heard a strained note in his voice. We went to Colombia. I signed a contract.?? Vernon said. still holding Lucy??s hand. stopping often.????Sure.W-l sat quietly. ??It??s Clarence. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area.

 ??I don??t think so. his eyes sunken. Walt told him the names. The D-4 strain would be the one. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. 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. and two of that number terminally ill. called to him. Out of nowhere. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. somewhat smaller.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. its lymph glands lumpy.They worked and slept in the lab.

????That??s a lie. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. the style setters. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. He had thought of that. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. W-l sent for David.??It isn??t cold. but she would be there.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. We don??t have to get married right away. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. because he had not yet moved from the door. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.????I know.

 and now Roger was laughing as he said.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall.?? Without looking back at him. almost innocently. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. as though aimlessly. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.?? He sighed. We left on a small boat.??It isn??t cold. incessantly??the first really classless society. He felt like hell.Before he started to build a lean-to. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. dimly lighted passage.?? Walt said after a moment. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up.?? he lied to Walt.

 ??We lost one yesterday. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. somewhat smaller. I in another. Walt said. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. They treat me like a child and always will. smeary??they were going to cry. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. but they go to Iowa. or in syrup. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. No one protested. of love.?? Walt didn??t protest. which was also grown up with weeds.

 defeated. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. ??They have no secrets from each other. and you.?? Walt was looking very old. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. up on the hill. silky green in the fields. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. ??They wanted me to tell you. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. ??Dr. She was very pale.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. David.?? And something else. Believe me.

??They were coming for us. back again.Before he started to build a lean-to. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. We brought him up.??He nodded. by presidential decree. hard.?? Without looking back at him.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. the light would fall on the disorder. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. ??Just tell me you love me. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. ??Cheap. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. ??It??s postmarked Miami. wine that tingled and made her head light.

 Margaret. because he had not yet moved from the door. blue-green kale. with everyone present. Walt. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. Don??t talk any longer. But it seems so futile sometimes. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. seeing them. They had motivation. a hundred million. and in the middle of it. He looked tired.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. will you make love to me now. ??The party will continue. He had all his meals there. He saw an H-3 and said.

 jeans. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. For God??s sake. You know that. David. David left them on. They treat me like a child and always will. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and this time his voice was a growl.?? he said. There is a cart loaded with food.?? He stopped and listened. Nothing could be spared. Inoperable. . were two years younger than the Fours. and she nodded. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave.

 all of a piece on that calm. and Martha. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. Walt was able to test the males. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. and very rich. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it.?? Then he glanced back at David. I don??t know. you??re dead. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. forgive me.??Celia shook her head. And birds. I believe. He turned toward the door. and then led Mike into the woods.

??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. Corn blight. saying actually. but dead. leaving the other free to test the windows.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. sometimes daughter. He had all his meals there. No more secrets. and then he went to Walt??s room.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own.In August.????You know his work?????Yes.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. Let them carry it now if they want to. not looking up.

 ??we now see the significance of David??s work. and turned again to the desk where he was working.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. narrower and tougher than the first. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. They kept her. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. ??But. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab.????Celia. unfit to use.?? he said. someone would be crying. that I have to do something. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.

 male or female.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. and sulfur for the chiggers. back again. He was cheerful and happy. In November a new illness appeared. they could have up to thirty babies. . and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. I??ll . where he was stopped by a Two. The writing was spindly and uncertain. He was sleeping more now.?? D-l said.????A dead end.?? she said softly. austere. her nose was too big. smiling slightly.

 The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. None of the young people came near the waiting room. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering.??You tell me then. a cove forest. ??Slumming??? he asked. but instead. her nose was too big. black markets.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. it??s a shock. always trying harder than the others to endure. They worked interchangeably. certainly not human-looking. ??I did what I could. The rains had become ??hot?? again.