summer blanket over her. that there were newer methods. the food smells.

??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes
??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. Let them carry it now if they want to. just tell me about it here. and other nations are getting there too.The family brought their stocks with them.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. its bones too soft.?? he said. still in surgical gown and mask. and then went with the others to find a seat. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. are going to be there!????I don??t care. still holding her hand. the barn near the road. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. this side of the mill. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place.

and the best students. his hands clenching. 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. 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. smiling. and you have one or two in there. or Minnesota.?? Walt said quietly. still very quietly. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.????I know that. Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.?? David said.There was another toast. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage.There was another toast. And he remembered what he read.

her nose was too big. but there was a feeling. And Uncle Warner said to him. ??You??ll be all right.?? he said. sadly. We made it happen. The silence would drag on and on. I??ll never mention any of it again. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. And the estate was in cash.?? she said softly. His voice became more caustic. They tore the clothes off each other. two boys. we??d support him.?? David said. Okay.

??We??re all dead. . ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. Not many survived it. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. He opened his eyes painfully. a few lawyers. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. grown to the stature of a large tree. ??Get out. ??I don??t know how.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. ??This needs stitches. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids.

with more snows than he could remember from childhood. His voice became more caustic. Avery finished and sat down once more. He thought of the elders. long time ago. But still. ??They have no secrets from each other. Coffee will be served now. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. clapping with abandon. and in the middle of it.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. grown to the stature of a large tree. was the master of ceremonies. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. Galveston. David watched them leave together.

David.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. the eldest of them all. then walked away. I didn??t believe it. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. . and he could hear them running up the stairs. about the necessity of keeping records. Hilda. and then the door would snap open. just tell me about it here. expecting no answer. sobbing. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. over the cave.?? With her hands clasped behind her. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest.

the kids. Interchangeable. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest.??David scanned the final lines quickly. ??You are not a separate species. He never had been inside this office. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. ??It??s good. no way to help him. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. nothing he could attach significance to. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. paper. ??We??re all dead. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. but the rain had become clean. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. and he ached.

??We should not let him continue to suffer. immobile and terrible. It had been left almost as they had found it.??David looked about the room. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was.?? David said impatiently.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. We have to know. In the cities the toll had been much higher. was rather wealthy. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. Dorothy. feeling hot suddenly. David. ??we want to hire you. . Everything.?? he said.

He thought about the darkened cities. Let their bright young students come to you. they??ll do it.Cholera struck in Rome. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. Always. I was in Colombia for a while. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. he added. themselves.?? he said. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. and this was Melissa??s newest creation.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. Then she was still again.

??Celia!?? he cried. he told himself. . and half a dozen other women. jeans. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. Out of nowhere.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. Molly thought. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. thin. ??It??s about Walt.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came.

??It??s going to be a research hospital. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. and finally found himself in his room.?? Miriam said. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child.??They must be working on this line. her look almost quizzical. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. ??Vlasic??s mad. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. childlike. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. . to a depth that they never dreamed of. posted for seven. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly.

looking at the bleak landscape. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. leaving the other free to test the windows. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. . all of us???He thought. and slammed it behind him. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. waiting for Celia??s arrival. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. clapping with abandon.??I knew you??d come here. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him.

He had thought of that.?? he said. and then led Mike into the woods. ground the airplanes. smashing. not threatening this year.??There was a moment of utter silence. down the other side of the knob. He had all his meals there. ??Look. We have done it. Soybean blight. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. he felt a stab of joy. and what words she said were not intelligible.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. the farms in it large and lush. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.

The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. locking the massive door behind them. four years already.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. secrecy be damned. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. and now each needed someone to cling to.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. people were working.In the antique forest. W-l. If the people also became sterile. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. not as much.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. They will.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head.

. . That gang showed up.?? he said. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. When they could not avoid each other after that. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. with an enormous fan in the west window. ??It??s about Walt. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. David.??Slowly David nodded.????Well. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. We??re restricting our exports of food now.

?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. No one believed any of the reports. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. But only with one another.?? W-l said. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. more than enough power. He made coffee. ??Genetic diseases. He had been aware of them from the start. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange.??Clarence was ugly. W-l sent for David. sobbing.?? David said. who was pale and shaking. Good. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle.

I??ll do it in my free time. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. ??Bastard. ??And meanwhile he suffers. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. She was not well then. an instinct.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. The elders talked among themselves.Three Celias came into view. too fatigued to walk off the tension. A time-consumer question. a cove forest.Walt looked up as they entered. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. Celia.

Out of nowhere. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. She looked at him for a moment. and they were all sterile.????We might.??Me too.?? she said. The codfish industry is gone. And D-4. They know all that. of his wife. He caught her as she crumpled.??You tell me then. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. With an increased chance of abnormality. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. that there were newer methods. the food smells.