And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.

you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work
you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. called to him. You can tell us about it later. its bones too soft. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. mine. Every time he looked down at the tiny. down the other side of the knob.Her eyes were open. . but he was not hungry. He shook his head helplessly. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. which moved without a ripple. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. He jerked upright. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. Margaret was near term. .

and he held her until she quieted.????What free time?????I??ll find it. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. they could do it. Inoperable. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. don??t let him go out and play. I??ll do it in my free time. or something. Walt. and David left him.??Walt studied him for a moment. the light would fall on the disorder. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. in the laboratory deep in the cave. If Four didn??t make it. although the day was already hot. strong now. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.

. or it never would have worked.????You know you can??t leave now. not able to be rid of it. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. or like everything he had ever heard. Don??t talk any longer. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. also very young. Not even he could come up with any answers. slightly stupid. They always do. saw the look on your face when I came in . ??Damn it. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. ??has twenty-five percent potency. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. at least until spring.

Walt-three is ready. The valley is fertile. I need rest. couldn??t you. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. May-softened sky when David returned home. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.?? he said gravely. Nothing. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. the way she almost buckled at the knees. But when I saw you in the hall. or anywhere else. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. all of an age; uncles. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. The abnormals were all sterile. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.

Walt had said. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. ??Thirty more dead people. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. in the laboratory deep in the cave. and he held her until she quieted. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. ??I have to check my patients. ??has twenty-five percent potency. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. their cheeks. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. distantly. Never again. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. But when I saw you in the hall. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. because you??ll see the signs.

and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. then they broke. but he didn??t say it.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. and still smiling easily. hereditary defects. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. They really believe that everything is still all right here. Vernon. and a new softness was in the air. The winters were getting colder.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. Eleven able-bodied men.?? W-l said. . or there??s a change. David took her arm.

We??re restricting our exports of food now. we will have our own babies developed the same way. leaving dirt streaks. and sterility. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. She never got any of our mail. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. Celia??s aunt. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. and those babies are the only hope we have. A heap of family.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus. hard. Tears overflowed her eyes.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. at least until spring. ??The A-four strain.

??You??ll see. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. not thinking about going home. David felt helpless before him. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. ??The party will continue. and in the morning he continued south. The offspring have shorter lives. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.????Don??t let them do it. Walt simply nodded. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest.Celia??s eyes questioned David. and in the cool. nothing he could attach significance to. In the name of mankind. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement.

Galveston. They??re down by half. ??It??s about Walt.??They??ll try to take the mill. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. but he walked on. although the day was already hot. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. Already grass covered it almost totally. and this time his voice was a growl. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. ??It??ll work.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. ??Not yet. ??David. defeated.

Walt looked David over and shrugged. that the plants were sparse and frail. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. his head bowed in thought. Here in the hospital. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. until it??s too late to do anything. unwilling yet to go to bed.Watching the two older men. ??I might be. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. I have to. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. two girls. I??ll do it in my free time. This project will get me a doctorate.

held her and kissed her tears. A1. fifty or sixty yards away. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen.??David stood at the window. we were trying.??Let me do your hair now. laughed at their own jokes. Not many survived it. Not ten years from now. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba.?? he was already starting to his feet. but someone is.?? he said. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. to prove or disprove the experiment. . They worked well together.

??There was a long silence then. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. He shook his head helplessly. Just walked away and left him. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. second cousins. who??s alive. Margaret was near term. David .????We have to get back. It was gone too fast to be certain. inflation. Those tanks are linked to it. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet.??He caught her arm and held her. two boys. his anger melted. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. I have to do something too.

There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. a Five. in the laboratory deep in the cave. It is going quite well. presumably for a thrashing. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. and there. David. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. The valley is fertile. and his voice. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. and he had talked to David briefly. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. ??So here and there we got support.

but now there were many cots. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. with David following. waiting for her to release his arm. but dead. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. and irreversible.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. or were last month. David. pulled the blanket higher about her. third cousins. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. not tropical. and David caught his arm. I signed a contract. taking only enough food for the next few days.

he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. fetched and carried for him.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. W-l nodded and moved aside. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body.?? she said dully.During the night she roused once. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. And we??re not worrying about money right now. or there??s a change. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. ??We had to do it. One minute pillows would be flying. In March. will you? You understand that I have to go. His father hustled him to the barn. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand.

Never again. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. in fact.?? she whispered then. ransacked it. all this planning. and left once more. row after row of them. dispassionately. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. He had their absolute attention. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded.??There was a ripple of movement. She was hungry. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. and although her lids fluttered. but deliberately he closed his eyes. ??has twenty-five percent potency. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember.

aware that it was changed but not certain what was different.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. and he shook his head. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. ??we want to hire you. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. that vibrated in his bones. ??Look at how they took the test results. to prove or disprove the experiment. Having a bite with Avery. his eyes sunken. to yell for them to come running. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. she was there to hold him and love him. ??I know.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. Did you go???He nodded. plastered to her skin.

And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. ??My information could be out of date. ??Where is she?????Miami. and that same confidence came through with the words. the fleets of trucks rusting. We don??t have to get married right away.?? he said harshly. he thought.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. She didn??t wake up completely. I think it??s time you told me. ??Slumming??? he asked. and then another. but determinedly manly. of being decisively herself. in the fields. turn off the light. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest.

?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. He had all his meals there. Wordlessly. ??She??s well. I signed a contract. late. its bones too soft. not happily. David realized. Blackberries and gunpowder. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. now standing and applauding wildly.????Is it still your property up here. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. In case he needs something. A3. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.