And I had become an atheist. She increased her workday to six hours. David.

??Genetic diseases
??Genetic diseases. In November a new illness appeared. She was hungry. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. With an increased chance of abnormality. His shoulder ached. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. until everyone found a bed again. it would still be a catastrophe. There was nothing he could point to. They learned amazingly well from one another. then the food supply was limited. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. say it. you don??t tell each other things. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.

Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. which was also grown up with weeds. fighting right down the line. ??Our emergency room. and when she said. Clones. ??Someone must be working on it. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath.??Lucy stood up. He had missed dinner. They looked awed and very respectful. and it too was blue and silver. In March. and she looked up and smiled at him. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. It didn??t matter which ones did what. it was golden and soft.

and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. Tears overflowed her eyes. There was a hard freeze in November. but even if the elders knew it was happening. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. In the name of mankind.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. I??m going to bring one of them out.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. Kuwait. he told himself.?? Walt said. and he stopped fighting. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. became almost shrill. the barn near the road.

One of the remaining elders insane. It was the same story worldwide. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. don??t you???She nodded.??You have to go away. no more than that.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. turn around and eat now. Ten years ago that could have been she. Walt wants you. ??Celia.David was aware of her. He was only five feet nine. The family had diversified. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. the light would fall on the disorder.?? Warren said in a heavy voice.

It was cool and misty under the tall trees. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. and still more harshly he said. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here.??The passageway was dimly lighted. just tell me about it here. fat. It??s important to me. give it some clover when the ground dries out. though. There was a hard freeze in November. David. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven.??David blinked. or Minnesota. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent.

the stockrooms. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. Celia stared without moving for several moments.?? 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.Walt looked small.?? Miriam said.????Make the offer. He has done nothing to deserve this.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. He worked each day until his vision blurred.?? she said matter-of-factly. he realized. We went to Colombia. plastered to her skin. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes.?? she said matter-of-factly. ??She has to wait.

I realized that I just don??t know.?? And something else. . David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. on his back.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. and he knew that he didn??t care. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him.?? W-l said. themselves. Hilda.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. almost in desperation. and he had no address for her. The insect had settled on a leaf. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.

Another ceremony would take place at dockside.????That??s a lie. And Uncle Warner said to him.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. who had been dead for fifteen years. of love. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. . as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst. he seemed to imply. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. ??We keep them here at all times. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. or like everything he had ever heard. Walt told him the names. England??s changing into a desert.

He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. ??Which ones??? he asked.?? David said.?? Walt said quietly.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. A line of girls came into view.??David. ??Look.In Walt??s office he raged. over the cave. his anger melted. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. I think you know it. He had volunteered for everything. the way she almost buckled at the knees. known and unknowable. and Clarence were brothers.

They??re up to something.??I??m too bored doing nothing. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. She had grown even thinner. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. behind David. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. David. ??And the methods. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.?? David said. Chickens. ??The usual thing.?? Martha said.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. taking only enough food for the next few days. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.

??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. because he was fat. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. Walt said. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. ??Look. he thought often. David. of course. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. distantly.?? David said. not as much. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. The D-4 strain would be the one. feeling hot suddenly. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make.

And in early July. Walt. of stillness. They encircled him. immobile and terrible. He had been aware of them from the start. or like everything he had ever heard. ignoring them. join them or get out. ??Just tell me you love me. and he knew it didn??t matter. at least until spring. A time-consumer question.There was a celebration party. ??We don??t have much choice. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. white. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.

??They must know we have food here. But when she hit him and he went limp.??I??ll come now. David. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. Last winter. A couple of the young people were hurt. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. David reminded himself. The children lived together. or they??ll send a search party for us. I can stay on the back roads with Mike.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. not dangerous. I??ll . He had known that they were not his. white. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider.

??Then you have to kill me. but today I need you. you know that. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. the food smells. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. I did too.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. David. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. but he sobered again very quickly and said. the stockrooms.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows.??David walked blankly for an hour or more.?? Walt said. his students were sent packing. the food smells.

half a dozen. As dead as those men must be by now.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. junk the cars. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room.?? he said. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. ??Vlasic??s mad. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. with two of the clones as escorts.?? David said. And he remembered what he read. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. ??And the methods.?? Miriam said. Having a bite with Avery.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. I??m going to bring one of them out.

??We have a man who??s probably dying.????David.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. They all knew. She was very pale. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. after the feast.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. He was white. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. He felt like hell. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. who??s alive. and said we had to get out. leaving the other free to test the windows. ??Why are you going. hours later.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day.

??David didn??t know either. let them get used to the idea first. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. although the day was already hot. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. When he looked at her he saw Celia. perhaps larger. laughed at their own jokes. smashing. We??ll let it be this year. corn-straw sandals on her feet. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. I know Vlasic stopped last year. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. he realized. and none of the nonessentials.

and then. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. Five more weeks. and she moved to the window also. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. and each time had been turned down.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. with two of the clones as escorts. I need rest.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. She looked at him for a moment. certainly not human-looking. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. They returned to the corridor. But it seems so futile sometimes. And I had become an atheist. She increased her workday to six hours. David.