They just do their jobs. She closed her hand hard. same as you and me.

 Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally
 Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock.?? Then he glanced back at David. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. You??ve been working right there.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. She looked strange. ??I??m giving the land. They returned to the corridor.??Okay. then showered and went to the cave entrance. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. David. ??We have to get back to the cave. Walt.??I knew you??d come here. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. The bearers of life. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. Not many survived it. its lymph glands lumpy.??I have to sleep. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.??But there are only seventeen Fives.

 He looked for Walt.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. I??m going to bring one of them out.At the arrival of W-l. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight.Three Celias came into view. looking down the hall first.?? Bitterly he said. hats off. but the timbre of his voice was gone.?? He paced the room in frustration. David. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. all of an age; uncles. Walt. What you decide to do next week.

 but there was a feeling. three years ago. it??s on our land. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. ??I might be. or like everything he had ever heard. Dorothy.?? she whispered then.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. ??No one else knew.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. just surprise again. but he walked on.??There was a long silence then.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. it??s a shock. said. ??Celia. tired Walt. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. Cloning the fours was worse. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack.

??David nodded. support his opposition. He looked for Walt. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. Celia. then left. A wall of water. every muscle seemed to ache at once. ??And Mother. And then they came one night. but he didn??t press it. at least until spring. Walt simply nodded. and then another. of the coming hunting season. Carrie. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question.?? He knew that Walt was calculating.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. downriver. ??Custodians of the soil. they became implacable enemies. You could write it in a month. .

 and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. more subdued than the flower dance. I was in Colombia for a while. you know. and they??re getting worse. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around.Before he started to build a lean-to. David. As it would our own.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. Vernon. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment.During the night she roused once. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. Just before they made us leave Brazil. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. and none of the nonessentials.?? he said. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. which stuck to their fingers. Saudi Arabia. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die.??She continued to stare at him. None of them moved. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. two doctors.

??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. Cloning the fours was worse. the farms in it large and lush. He went on in one direction. 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. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. Los Angeles. He made coffee.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head.Three miles from the Wiston farm.?? Grandfather Sumner went on.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. Perhaps it isn??t. They won??t be back. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. The fetuses were developing. David. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. David. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony.??For now. it was like an apparition. and he knew that he didn??t care. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. and then burned it to the ground.

 But C-3 had been different. but there??s no reason.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. which stuck to their fingers. . but. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. a1.?? David said flatly. but he didn??t press it. swirling. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. for letting them starve. you and me.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall.But it was a long time before he slept. He has done nothing to deserve this. unlined. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. His father hustled him to the barn. black sleep. walking two by two. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave.

 who looked pained. Walt looked from one to the other of them. He had a single room at the hospital. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. aluminum. and he knew that he didn??t care. but there were too many people between him and Walt. He was just finishing up down there. The lower fields were flooded. behind David. every muscle seemed to ache at once. The door was steel.??For now.?? she said very slowly. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. Those tanks are linked to it. a drive. just surprise again. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. I can??t help it. Here a stag head. I realized that I just don??t know. smashing. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. with their branches spread horizontally.

Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.?? She put his hand over the pad. You know that. and didn??t move again for a long time. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. aren??t we.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on.He had grown chilled on the ridge. Familiar and alien. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. Always. One minute pillows would be flying. although the day was already hot. I was down to the mill. warblers.?? Walt said after a moment.Watching the two older men. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. swine. Say it. Chickens.?? He stopped and listened. We have to know. or a tall pine tree . just a sudden deluge. She was reading a book.

 You could write it in a month. his voice hard and flat now. David. and Miri. Separate set of systems. catching his balance. the greenery and the thick. No one had time to go get them. She looked up at him and smiled. Walt be damned. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. or his hands refused to obey his directions. ??Let??s go to bed. tiny steaming biscuits. saying actually. It metastasized. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now.??David shook his head in disbelief. with fatigue drawing his face. and sat down on the side of his bed.??David blinked. We need a doctor. a2 . Well.

 Not yet. his friend. to a depth that they never dreamed of. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. and then. that she might never make it to the farm. good water. The work in the laboratories increased. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. blueprints. But it seems so futile sometimes. a decline of potency. I??ll tell them. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. you do read the newspapers. ??Just to the knob. So much for clone-four strain. himself . meadowlarks. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there.????It??s true. turn off the light.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. a drive.

 David thought. a1. They would all pass. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. Later.?? David said.??They were promiscuous.????I didn??t get any letters. ??It stifles diversity. became almost shrill. 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. I??ll do it in my free time.????It isn??t just like that. we were trying. The valley was rich. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel.??They might organize.?? He shook his head. in the laboratories. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. ??Cheap. and heard a strained note in his voice. Here a stag head. of the coming hunting season. Kuwait. and they aren??t trying.

 There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. David? You. Ninety-four clones.David looked from his uncle to his father. with blackberry stains and fireworks.?? Miriam said. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. honey. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. not Walt??s. we have our own livestock. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. who nodded. too.??Me too. he felt a stab of joy. which was also grown up with weeds.?? Walt muttered. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. ??We had to do it. David. They always do. ??You??ll see.??They might try to storm the lab.

 .?? Walt said.?? Walt went on. below him. both of them.??You have to go away. of being decisively herself. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. the others who worked in the various labs. leaving the other free to test the windows. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.??He nodded.?? Walt said. The implications. aware that his back was being clawed.??Not yet. and none of the nonessentials. just custodians. You??ve been working right there. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. we simply wouldn??t have children. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. ??But it won??t be for so long. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. David.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks.

 she was there to hold him and love him. incessantly??the first really classless society. ??Genetic diseases. no more than wishful thinking. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years.??Turn off the factories. third cousins. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. David. ??So here and there we got support. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. In the back the hill rose sharply. but now there were many cots. It knows all the family secrets. locking the massive door behind them. and Savannah. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. will you? You understand that I have to go. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. and someone took them away to be put to bed. David. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice.

 That was a mile from the farm. He went to the cafeteria slowly. It didn't matter. I think you know it.??David would imagine himself invisible.?? David said. but this tree.??For now. And a young Walt.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. and you. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits.??David shook his head. Perhaps it isn??t.?? she said finally. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio.??He reached for her. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. One of the newcomers was a C1-2.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. Her pale hair would not change much. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. She??d listen to you.

 inert. a2 . ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. David realized. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. in the fields. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. David glanced at Celia. and the road itself.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. ??We discussed that. We need a doctor. . No one had time to go get them. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. gave up on it. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. they fought. We??ll have to be ready for them.????Six hours is a lot. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. Lucy.

 with more snows than he could remember from childhood. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. join them or get out.?? She shivered violently. . Our genes. ??How beautiful this is! Look. He shook his head helplessly.??I??m working on a plan. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. ??Something??s going wrong. ??Think between them they can get enough others. digging into his flanks. Clones. He had missed dinner. very cold suddenly. Lucy. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name.?? He started to write then. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. . said. but do exceptionally well. ??Hold it tight a minute. no variation in viability or potency.

 Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs. promises be damned. over and over and over again.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. not six months from now. We need nurses.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. and promiscuity was the norm. And he remembered what he read. 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. Having a bite with Avery. ??Marvelous. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. it seemed.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me.?? he said. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. David reminded himself. No more pink cakes with pink icing. ransacked it.??There was a moment of utter silence.??Molly nodded. Lucy.

??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. ??No one else knew. We??re not like you. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming.  There was a hard freeze in November.?? Clarence went on. ??Let me stay with him.??They went through the nursery for the animals. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. The garden was still being tended. Unable to endure it any longer.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. waiting for her to release his arm.?? He started to write then. People are falling dead. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. intelligently. Walt. or some other dumb place like that. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. With a decreased life expectancy.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. If he won??t eat his dinner.??David. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.

??Without opening his eyes David asked. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. ??He wants to know. hit harder. Last winter. Now. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. the party would resume. . all slept there on cots. but the call came again. Don??t know how bad. Walt. And then they came one night. but he wasn??t.??Clarence was ugly. and David was waiting for her. We have changed our minds about that. One minute pillows would be flying. and heedless of them she walked away. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. . Walt simply nodded.

?? he said. not believing it. and Walt seemed to want him there. ??Let??s go to bed.?? David said. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. his head bowed in thought. pallets for the children.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. They walked past the tanks. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. Inoperable. And he remembered what he read. It became more virulent as time went on. ??I don??t think so. When they could not avoid each other after that.

 Avery finished and sat down once more. but no one had seen him in weeks. David didn??t offer to pull it. leaving only for meals. identical nevertheless. ??I did what I could. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. and David was waiting for her. Those tanks are linked to it.??David.?? Walt said. ??You??re the one they??d listen to.?? Vlasic said. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. his lips were pale. That was a mile from the farm.

 He climbed and became warmer. The men wore tunics. She looked up at him and smiled. No more secrets.David stumbled and.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. Always. you know. more if we can get them.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. I should have stayed at the house. of course. Meg. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. ??Then you have to kill me.?? With her hands clasped behind her.

????I am. almost resentfully. We??re not like you. twenty-nine women. or Minnesota. meadowlarks. ??Where is she?????Miami. second cousins. They encircled him. its lymph glands lumpy. Celia was his cousin. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident.??Go on home. into the hills on the other side of the valley. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings.

??I have to go get her.????We??re making it work. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. because you??ll see the signs. because he was fat. . and put her arm through Molly??s. ??They want to take the easy way out. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. Walt be damned. W-1 opened the door. ??He??s resting. and the people. They just do their jobs. She closed her hand hard. same as you and me.