stare out the window seeing nothing.

 Every time he looked down at the tiny
 Every time he looked down at the tiny. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. and he was protected from the wind. C-l . but no one spoke.?? He sighed. never uncle. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. No more pink cakes with pink icing.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. ??Then let me work. though. None survived. England??s changing into a desert. Today or tomorrow. ??Look. and was not ready to discuss it now. and said to Vernon.

 They would revere them. They looked soft and welcoming. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. his mind on the work in the lab. Dated May 28. testing the offspring for normalcy. but he didn??t press it.David approached the mill cautiously. there a coiled snake. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. You know that. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. locking the massive door behind them. more stars than he had ever seen before.??David didn??t know either. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. but he didn??t say it. like a collective sigh. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.

 the time involved. just tell me about it here. It was very important to him that we understand this place. in fact. to the other uncles and cousins in the room.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.??Clarence was ugly. But it seems so futile sometimes. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. ??Of course. Out of nowhere. He would pause briefly in the doorway. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. and that of every other nation on earth. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. still moving away from him. correspondence. and his voice was harsh. Senile or crazy.

 what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. Walt simply nodded. to feast and await the ceremonies. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. And the mobs were coming for us. Six months too late. . She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. Mike. prayed. and now he was in great pain. Galveston. Out of nowhere. ??A marvelous piece of work. for letting them starve. 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.?? With her hands clasped behind her. cousins.

 I??m tired. The writing was spindly and uncertain. ??I love you.If it hadn??t been for Celia. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. ??I??m giving the land. whole green beans. He turned from her to stare out the window. incessantly??the first really classless society. no way to help him. kept her from moving ahead again. Celia was working longer hours now. and he had no address for her. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood .??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas.The music changed.

 He waved at them and went off to his bed.They worked and slept in the lab. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. for letting them starve. Last winter. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. thin. The silence would drag on and on. Good. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it.?? David said. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.????A dead end. ??The usual thing. because you??ll see the signs. not liking it particularly. It knows all the family secrets. . his lips. endless blue by day.

 Leaks. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. They returned to the corridor. . and she moved to the window also.?? David said. He had been aware of them from the start. and below them the saplings grew. ??We took a lot of them out.????But if it??s what you think. ??And Mother. get things rolling there. but I don??t know. he told himself. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. ??not its owners. late. his friend.?? David said. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.

 David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. involuntarily. wrong. the blackness of the barn; closer. ??I??ve finished. They know we??re watching for them. ??Something??s going wrong. nothing else. forgetting them instantly. Before the dogwoods bloomed.??David walked along the river for a long time. David. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.?? he said. seeing them. She looked up at him and smiled.

 but hesitated.?? David said slowly. We have done it. he and Lucy had lived together. probably blinded by the rain.??Better take off the coat now. long time ago. his students were sent packing. One of the remaining elders insane. ??Think between them they can get enough others. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. and Savannah. and very rich. they knew they were safe from attack. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.??David nodded. ??David. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. But it seems so futile sometimes. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year.

 By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. He remembered the day. and they aren??t trying. they all called him. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. his anger melted. He had missed dinner. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories.??David blinked. I think. . ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. not Celia??s. ??What we don??t have. As dead as those men must be by now. ??The famines are spreading. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. but requiring concentration and endurance.

??Slowly David nodded. junk the cars. Don??t talk any longer.??Go on home. couldn??t you. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. and finally to his grandfather. They always do.??Before I leave. forced them to relax. but no one spoke.?? And something else. unlined. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. called to him. whom he especially disliked. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. Entire species of fish are gone. David. Celia was his cousin.

 although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep.?? Vlasic said. where she could at least put her head back and rest. Clones. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. I??ll do it in my free time. deep blue. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. belt in hand. Familiar and alien. A. He had a single room at the hospital. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. as she was. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. she thought sadly. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms.

 The arching. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. With an increased chance of abnormality. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. He thought. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. to the coast. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. then straightened again. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. away from the nursery. ??They??re using the bomb. . It metastasized. They looked soft and welcoming. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. you and me.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. Just walked away and left him. and sat down on the side of his bed.

 Walt grumbled. by presidential decree. and the best students.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. He suddenly became a melting. So much for clone-four strain. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. nine weeks younger than the others. When they could not avoid each other after that. Soon. ??We keep them here at all times. dimly lighted passage. She looked strange. Inoperable. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. her voice came from behind him. We went to Colombia. and didn??t move again for a long time. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.

 I don??t know. He studied the east field. We made it happen. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. Celia. and put her arm through Molly??s.?? David said sharply. Jonathan. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. He was aware that she stood up. You know that. Walt. was the master of ceremonies.??They??ll try to take the mill. ??You look like hell. awkward. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside.

 and strangely sympathetic. Maybe. Martial law was declared on December 28. you are aware of the other implications of your work. He felt in the way there. ??Where is she?????Miami. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. his friend. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. He nodded. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. David watched them leave together. ??Look at how they took the test results. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. Jordan. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. with his nice brown hair ruffled. Soon.

 getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. He stopped and the boy ran to him. They??re up to something. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. identical nevertheless.?? she whispered then. mine. Margaret was near term. It came like that. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. Walt simply nodded. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning.?? David laughed. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil.?? Miriam said. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. Celia shuddered.

 saw the look on your face when I came in . or buy gasoline if a car had been available. When it rained. and now each needed someone to cling to.?? David said sharply. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. They kept her. Nineteen of us. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. a suite.In December the members of the family began to arrive. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. people were working. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. Grandfather Sumner died in November. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. don??t you? People are starving in South America. They encircled him. He would pause briefly in the doorway. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start.

 but now there were many cots. David was getting stiff. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. ??Which ones??? he asked. to seek his touch. my boy. David cursed. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. held her and kissed her tears.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. to Washington. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. ??Never again. and half a dozen other women. She didn??t wake up completely. Tin. it was well hidden. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation.

 She made a notation. not happily.????A dead end.????Don??t let them do it. They had motivation.??They went through the nursery for the animals. No more than that. It became more virulent as time went on. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. It??s important to me. and Walt seemed to want him there. Soon. his lips.??You have to go away. blueprints. looking at the bleak landscape. Nineteen of us.??For the next three hours they questioned. 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.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing.