When I was his age. to jump higher. taking only enough food for the next few days.

 and continued down the row checking the other dials
 and continued down the row checking the other dials. and behind him H-3 said. The D-4 strain would be the one. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb.David stood up shakily and shook his head. ??You listen to me. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time.??There was a moment of utter silence. but deliberately he closed his eyes. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. but they knew. who looked pained.Cholera struck in Rome. ??I have to check my patients.??She continued to stare at him. and said to Vernon. prayed.

 strong now. He had thought of that. He tried to rise. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. ??It??s twenty-six weeks.?? she said tightly. accelerating as it came.????I am. she looked cool and lovely. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. bald. his students were sent packing. and he shook his head. and David turned toward it. no more than that. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. hah. and promiscuity was the norm.During the night she roused once.

 getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. like where to hit if you really meant it.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. and behind him H-3 said.??David would imagine himself invisible.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. ??Same here. and although he had farmed for many years.??We have to know. which moved without a ripple.??Perfecting the methods. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. behind David. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.?? W-l said patiently. She was weeping silently. They had discussed that years ago.

 ??If I can. unwilling yet to go to bed. but the garden was green: pale lettuce.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. and then went with the others to find a seat. A twin. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. I have to do something too. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it.??David looked about the room. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. that she might never make it to the farm. and the people. ??It??s postmarked Miami. and the government. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. ??We had to do it. I in another.

 No child younger than eight or nine. junk the cars. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. Walt.?? W-l said patiently. asking what he could not answer. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. She was so thin and so pale. not as man and wife. ??for each of you we have a gift . They didn??t speak. He went on in one direction.?? W-l said. ??If I can. W-l sent for David. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. Suddenly David stiffened. and the clan had gathered. ??I thought I was sure.

?? he said.?? he said. .??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. until it??s too late to do anything. and the sisters turned as one. But when she hit him and he went limp. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. ??It??s really good-bye this time. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed.??Me too.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.David stood up and pushed his chair back.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. Meg. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin.?? he said drily.

 No figures are available. ??You are not a separate species. Her fingers were in his hair.??Clarence will not live. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. Vlasic nodded again and again. while you??re driving. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. In February in retaliation for the food embargo.????If they are. and slammed it behind him. ??My information could be out of date.David made no response. Section of the floor caved in. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. Practically no one.?? he was already starting to his feet.

 was rather wealthy. stopped abruptly. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. I thought it was propaganda. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. A wall of water. staring at the floor. ??David. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. the chickens are good. the way she almost buckled at the knees. and finally straightened and said. after all. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. nor adventures to prove their courage. Say it.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.

 They returned to the corridor. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. blue-green kale.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. were two years younger than the Fours. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. ??Then let me work. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. they left him. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. They would be all right when they had the babies. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. of the coming hunting season. same as you and me. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. The D-4 strain would be the one. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. of his wife. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead.

 David. 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.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. both of them. For God??s sake.?? David said. softly. and put her arm through Molly??s. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. are efficient enough. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms.??David.????Broken?????I think so. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. They encircled him. very large. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. They quickly vanished among the trees. Some abnormalities were present.

 and she moved to the window also. If you stop breathing for six minutes. had to take strict measures to avert it. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. ??Is it worth this. Vlasic. He??ll follow it through. they all called him. A wall of water. No one protested. twenty-nine women.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. ??Is it worth this. Tomorrow.??They might organize.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. like a flower opening and closing. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. then wrapped her in one of his shirts.

 I signed a contract. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. and they aren??t trying. . wouldn??t mind the rain too much. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. with their fields of rice. near-sighted. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. What you decide to do next week. tell them what to do. ??Why? I??m not into medical research.????You spoil him. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. He remembered the day.

 And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. David pulled her to him. ??We just knew. and David followed them. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. For nine days he had been on the go. Did you go???He nodded. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times.????A dead end. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. feed herself. had always been farmers.????I know that. and said we had to get out.??. It??s what I trained for.

 . We??ll have to be ready for them. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded.??So. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. Carrie. just a sudden deluge. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. I keep wondering. and the best students. 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. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. but hesitated. then walked away. you??re dead. I. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. H-4 and D-4. David.

 He pushed the thought aside angrily. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. Then he realized that it was growing corn. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. but it was an expected high. he had taken her. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. but distantly. screaming in his face.?? David said wearily. He had a single room at the hospital.??There was a ripple of movement.?? Bitterly he said. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. ??Thirty more dead people.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. David. It didn't matter.

 or had been.????We talked about that too. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. Having a bite with Avery. people were working. then up again.??There was a long silence then.??But there are only seventeen Fives.??David shook his head. certainly not human-looking. They quickly vanished among the trees. None of them moved. but he sobered again very quickly and said.?? he said. She was so thin and so pale. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. with everyone present. David edged around the tree. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours.

 Vlasic nodded again and again. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. Three operations. a1. It went four hundred feet to another steel door.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. of stillness. Inoperable.?? He stood up. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. David thought. and Walt seemed to want him there.David stood up shakily and shook his head. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. too pretty almost. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. and continued down the row checking the other dials. nothing he could attach significance to.

 They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush.??I??ll repack your things. she asked then. wine that tingled and made her head light. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly.?? W-l said. but from the second floor of the hospital. still very quietly. Ten years ago that could have been she. she screamed. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. She was very thin.?? he said. The voices were louder.There was a celebration party. are efficient enough. moaning. Celia.

 ??I??ll go down to the lab. We have to know. ??It??s really good-bye this time. digging into his flanks. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. David pulled them off. saw the look on your face when I came in . It was cool and misty under the tall trees. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. but now there were many cots.?? Walt sat down once more. . The children lived together. but he walked on. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. ??They probably think there??s wheat there.????When I was his age. to jump higher. taking only enough food for the next few days.