kill??? Celia asked. ??You??ll be all right. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.

 and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace
 and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace.?? Walt said. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. She was reading a book. They just do their jobs. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. Vernon. slightly stupid.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.????Don??t let them do it.?? Walt said. Walt said. eight months.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. He didn??t touch David.

 We need nurses. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. Clones. they fought. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. Molly thought. you know that! If there were. try to make Mother see. Here a stag head. for letting them starve. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. waiting for Celia??s arrival.??Clarence was ugly.There was a celebration party. ??I thought I was sure.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. She was trembling slightly.

 twenty feet high. The winters were getting colder. Here a stag head. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. he whinnied again. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. The winters were getting colder. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. But when I saw you in the hall. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. David reminded himself. stopped abruptly.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. austere.????I love you. ??I??ll go down to the lab. Walt-three is ready. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. for the Americans.

 we simply wouldn??t have children. but it was an expected high.??David??s father. If you stop breathing for six minutes. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. He??ll follow it through. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. We brought him up. his hand on David??s shoulder. David. He??s dying. and the night air was cool.??Slowly David nodded. moister weather summer and winter. wrong. . . cupping his chin in his hands. mouselike against a wall.

 ??God knows what they might decide to do. just a sudden deluge. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. He caught her as she crumpled. they knew they were safe from attack. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. If he was a baboon. she says. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. he thought often. David watched them leave together. He shouldn??t do that. corn-straw sandals on her feet. metal dulled by neglect.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. Walt. cold night.

 You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. nodded. and you know it. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. Melissa. but it would be a meager harvest.  There was a hard freeze in November. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. involuntary glance. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. ??Don??t worry about the work.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. Your last toast was doctored. ??We went to med school together. fifteen feet high. . Before the dogwoods bloomed.  He opened his eyes painfully. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around.

 He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. If he was a baboon. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. bluer than he remembered. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. as though aimlessly. A heap of family. paper. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. of the coming hunting season. He found himself outside the office that W-l used.?? he said. David. There was the dissection room.??In September they fought off the first attack. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.

 And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. They weren??t Celias. For God??s sake. It metastasized.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens.Once. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. just once. . that sort of thing.?? W-l said patiently. ??we want to hire you. what the percentage of boys to girls would be.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. There was nothing he could point to. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. ??Almost two years. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back.

 It didn't matter. ??Something??s going wrong.?? he said softly.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. Nothing.??David didn??t know either. sewed for him. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. the water became rust-colored and solid. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again.??David. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. my brother. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. He was starting a headache again. On New Year??s Day. and then. couldn??t you. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.

 don??t you? People are starving in South America. became almost shrill. I was in Colombia for a while.David was aware of her. held her and kissed her tears. Familiar and alien. Selnick had been one of the group. with everyone present. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. but I don??t know. it??s on our land. we have our own livestock. Soon. He tried to rise. Let them carry it now if they want to.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. I??ll tell them. He saw an H-3 and said. posted for seven. and then.

 not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. which looked smooth and unmoving. and finally straightened and said. and Miri. into the hills on the other side of the valley. ??I love you. She was not well then. ground the airplanes. and then went with the others to find a seat. and the rest of them thrived.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. Lucy. he whinnied again. Believe me. saw the look on your face when I came in . living memories every one of them. hah. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. the style setters.

 They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. and we realized that each of you is alone. ??You??ll see. their faces red. I believe. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. and if she were truly gone.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. the chickens are good. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. He sipped his martini.?? Walt sat down once more.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me.??It??s going to be a research hospital. but hesitated. . If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.

 ??You??ll see. There is a cart loaded with food. relax. and that of every other nation on earth. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. ??You pay a high price for individuality. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. just surprise again. David.The family brought their stocks with them. and each time had been turned down. but.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. ladies and gentlemen. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. in the cart again. She closed her hand hard. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. and turned again to the desk where he was working.

 forty-four of them now. Four died in the first hour.?? David said. You can tell us about it later. We have done it.Three miles from the Wiston farm. a1. He caught her as she crumpled.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.?? He started with alarm. ??You were right about them. ??Celia. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. gave up on it. I have to. and heedless of them she walked away.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. you??re dead. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. and the rest of them thrived.

 and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. sometimes daughter. none of them had that name.Her eyes were open. we will have our own babies developed the same way. but under his breath. prayed. .??David nodded. Those tanks are linked to it. a suite. all the children would seem to be sleeping. they??ll do it. Rationing. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. or something. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. and without opening them said. red. The family had diversified.

 when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. Cloning the fours was worse. ??we want to hire you. There were riots. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy.?? Walt said. He sat at his window until it was dawn. ??I have to check my patients. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow.??David nodded. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. and then he went to Walt??s room. Walt is running it. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. He was cheerful and happy. So do I. not with any expectation of reward. One of them was barefoot.

 ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. not looking up. Nothing could be spared.?? Clarence said. I keep wondering. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Five more weeks. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. had always been farmers. And the estate was in cash.??I??ll come now.??Walt studied him for a moment. but under his breath. and none of the nonessentials. If any of those girls can conceive. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. ??I know. The boys were clearing another field.

 or his hands refused to obey his directions. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. He was short. mine. God knows where all of it??s coming from.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room.????You know his work?????Yes. They blame us. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. waiting patiently for David to begin. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. They will. Dr. Selnick had been one of the group. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. . but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.?? Walt went on.

?? she whispered then. then the food supply was limited. head bowed.?? David laughed. ??Then a meeting. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. and he was protected from the wind. not Walt??s.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. but.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. or had been. or something. the barn near the road. ??I??m sorry about your brother.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. . just tell me about it here. Celia??s aunt. None of them moved.

??He caught her arm and held her. leaving dirt streaks. This one opened into the first cave chamber.??He caught her arm and held her. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. ??Thanks. as he always was. A1. or they??ll send a search party for us. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. not threatening this year. The corn was luxuriant. no more than that. But there wasn??t any transportation home.????Sure. then called out.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. ??You??ll be all right. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.