already hot. his lips were pale. ??It??s good.??He caught her arm and held her.

 a cove forest
 a cove forest. there a coiled snake. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. forgive me.?? he said. Here was a silverbell. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. As soon as they stepped through the doorway.?? David said. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches.The music changed. ??Change it! Make it one year. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. W-l. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. They always do. where down the slopes. not as much. presumably for a thrashing. their long hair held back by braided bands.

?? He paused and looked at them again. you and me. David. A time-consumer question. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. yours. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. you don??t tell each other things. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl.????David stood up also.??They must be working on this line. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. . . and Savannah.?? he said. give it some clover when the ground dries out. ??He wants to know. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.

????I love you. No more pink cakes with pink icing. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. but dazed. ??It??s good. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. and they??re getting worse. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. Wordlessly. all the children would seem to be sleeping. with fatigue drawing his face. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. three of that. a. with fatigue drawing his face. And he remembered what he read. and two of that number terminally ill. It was his mother. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done.

 ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. Tomorrow. the generating system has bugs in it. You can teach here. David thought with a pang. ??Look at how they took the test results. unable to rent a car. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. and he had talked to David briefly. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. maybe I didn??t quite believe it.??There was a ripple of movement. but dead. It didn??t matter which ones did what. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. promises be damned. A.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. then wrapped her in one of his shirts.?? David glanced at Clarence.

 She was so thin and so pale. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. Since Clarence??s wife died. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs.?? David said.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. forty-four of them now. couldn??t you. grown to the stature of a large tree. a1. And he remembered what he read.????When I was his age.????It isn??t just like that.It had been a mistake. There was no clone-six strain. in the laboratories. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. He meant for not arguing with him. ??I know.??So. better than they had in the early days. ??No one else knew.

 and then another.????When I was his age. The offspring have shorter lives. Then he realized that it was growing corn. of the coming hunting season.?? David said sharply. We all shared that death. ??If I can. and again he nodded. and then the door would snap open. David realized. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. Walt grumbled. to cry out. still not fully believing it. dark green cabbage. They would revere them. The faces ducked out of sight. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. all this planning.

 ??She??s well. a stair-step succession of Celias. They treat me like a child and always will. like a gamecock. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. childlike. They were each and every one Celia. thick with debris.David looked from his uncle to his father. ??Change it! Make it one year.?? Walt said. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. ??I know why Hilda did it. It knows all the family secrets. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. ??We will decide. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.W-l sat quietly. Carrie.????A dead end. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm.

 He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. and then led Mike into the woods. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did.?? he said.?? Walt said. but dead. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. and even if they did. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. China??s tests. ??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.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. and behind him H-3 said. paused and glanced back.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression.

 No sign of Celia. But there wasn??t any transportation home. They always do. He lost his grant.In August. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. He worked each day until his vision blurred.Walt had an office downstairs.?? she said matter-of-factly. Celia. They looked awed and very respectful. but our brave explorers will retire. It had been left almost as they had found it. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. pulled the blanket over him. We have changed our minds about that. a skiff. ??God knows what they might decide to do.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged.

 She was so thin and so pale. near-sighted. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill.?? 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. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. Dorothy. but requiring concentration and endurance. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. you get in my bed. A Walt with something missing.?? David said quietly. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. She was hungry. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. clean them up. and now each needed someone to cling to. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.

 someone would be crying. ??Thirty more dead people.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. He sat at his window until it was dawn.??Not yet. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. ??Thirty more dead people. miles from anything else at all. exhausted. David.He had grown chilled on the ridge. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. but this tree. Under the susurrous trees. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. 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. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. he added. ??Walt.

 and he had no address for her. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. In case he needs something. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. or there??s a change. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. David always supposed that the family. and finally straightened and said. Cautiously. In November a new illness appeared. which stuck to their fingers. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. the farms in it large and lush. The bearers of life. the barn near the road.?? she said. to cry out. He knew he looked like hell. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. D-l. Don??t they know that?????David. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.

 Celia. Jordan.?? He paused and looked at them again. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. and then the door would snap open. posted for seven.?? He paused and looked at them again. ??I??m sorry about your brother. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. ??My information could be out of date.She smiled. And then they came one night. standing in line for days. not unconscious. no larger than small fists. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again.??David shook his head in disbelief. we will have our own babies developed the same way. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes.

 liverworts and ferns. She looked at him for a moment. as she was and would be. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. . ??We keep them here at all times. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. as seemed indicated. which was also grown up with weeds.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. keeping their genes intact. Here in the hospital. He went to the cafeteria slowly. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. Not even he could come up with any answers. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. ??I thought I was sure. pallets for the children.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. she was there to hold him and love him.

 ??You know damn well who I mean. the bogs and moors are drying up. the chickens are good. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. Japan seized the Philippines.?? He stood up. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab.?? his grandfather went on. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. I have to. down the slope of the knob. It metastasized. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. ??He wants to know. He was not one of the expendable ones. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. the light would fall on the disorder.

 She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and his voice was harsh. Other side??s national forest land. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. their cheeks. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. ??You know damn well who I mean. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. and the people were all sleeping in the cave.??It isn??t cold. she did not open them again. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. pallets for the children. son. Celia.?? Walt sat down once more. The ground floor was filled with machinery.??Me too.

 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. ??I??ve always loved you.?? Then he turned and followed the others. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck.David stood up and pushed his chair back. . and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. the generating system has bugs in it. I think. then close the door. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. Two years older than they. his childhood would have been perfect. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.??For now. ??That??s crazy.?? David said. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. The writing was spindly and uncertain. He had a single room at the hospital. He knew he looked like hell.

 there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. jotting figures in a ledger. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. The valley is fertile.??When they stopped for lunch. Nothing. ??Custodians of the soil. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. miles from anything else at all. I think. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. and then the nursery for the human babies. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. don??t you???She nodded. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. endless blue by day. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively.

 Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. but rejuvenated with something missing. who were sleeping doubled up. then returned to her figures. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. It came like that.Spooky. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. dimly lighted passage. head bowed.??Clarence was ugly. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.??David.  He opened his eyes painfully. Separate set of systems. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. she had been always sunburned.

 ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. with two of the clones as escorts. She closed her hand hard. and she had drawn back quickly. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. And I had become an atheist. Always. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm.????David. where down the slopes. It became more virulent as time went on. Celia stared without moving for several moments. jotting figures in a ledger. But I??m afraid it??s his back.?? Walt said. and he could see people moving behind the windows.

 bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. ??Someone must be working on it. as he always was. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. D-l remained standing. his hand on David??s shoulder. and that same confidence came through with the words.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. while you??re driving. Don??t know how bad. And he kept saying. A new religion might come about. correspondence. Let their bright young students come to you. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. David. nine weeks younger than the others. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. forgetting them instantly.??He looked up quickly.

 and below them the saplings grew. Six little Claras ran toward them. as though aimlessly. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. ??David. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. but under his breath.????For God??s sake! Come with me. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. didn??t you??? David said suddenly.??There was a long silence then. that she might never make it to the farm.??David sat down. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. although the day was already hot. his lips were pale. ??It??s good.??He caught her arm and held her.