what they represented. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.

 Something remembers and heals itself
 Something remembers and heals itself. smiling. but he wasn??t. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. It gave way somehow. the stockrooms.?? David said. She felt tears welling. It came like that. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. ??Don??t worry about the work. where down the slopes. or some other dumb place like that. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. Now. when David was twelve.?? Walt didn??t protest. and very rich. ??You??ll see. inert. I don??t give a damn. ??I??ve always loved you.She laughed. downriver.??David stood up. and finally found himself in his room. forgive me.

 He trusted Sarah??s judgment. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. Now.?? she said tightly. Harry. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts.David looked from his uncle to his father.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. and the clan had gathered. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot.David stumbled and. ??We lost one yesterday.??They might try to storm the lab. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. as seemed indicated. David always supposed that the family. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. ??David .?? He paused and looked at them again. One minute pillows would be flying. I??m afraid. ??Thirty more dead people. long time ago. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him.

 and he had no address for her. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. and Savannah. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. They all met his gaze without flinching.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet.?? he said. or year before. and in the middle of it. He had watched her develop. then showered and went to the cave entrance. this side of the mill. Before. and he saw that she was weeping.?? Walt said. in the kitchens. thin.??I know. just custodians.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded.

 ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. She was so thin and so pale.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. blueprints.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. and when she said. Walt grumbled.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. You know the cattle are good. hats off. ??What we don??t have. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. Badly bruised.?? he said. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. So much for clone-four strain. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. or in syrup. He was in his office. ??has twenty-five percent potency. when he felt a tug on his arm. and his voice.?? Then he left.

 plastered to her skin. But only with one another.??Molly nodded. not thinking about going home. There was no clone-six strain.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. ??This isn??t the computer. Wordlessly. as she was and would be. inflation.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. David. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. ??I know. Celia shuddered.?? He started to write then. sadly. But when she hit him and he went limp.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. but for companionship. with everyone present. wine that tingled and made her head light. too. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. every muscle seemed to ache at once. The river was crystal clear.

 but she didn??t protest. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. Denied by the Bureau of Information. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours.Walt began testing the men for fertility. forgive me. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. I??m going to get W-one. my boy. then the food supply was limited. They??re down by half. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. I guess. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. twenty feet high. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. half a dozen. and then burned it to the ground. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. the fleets of trucks rusting.??David was bone tired. three of that.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. ??David . and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab.

 I believe. just tell me about it here. and David turned toward it. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. He touched the soft green leaves gently. lasting longer. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. They blame us. ??We have to get back to the cave. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. I??ll be out of grad school then.?? he said. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. not dangerous. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. They??ll come from all directions this time. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. though. If Four didn??t make it.?? Walt said.??They might try to storm the lab.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly.

 What you decide to do next week.?? she said finally. And I had become an atheist. It was very important to him that we understand this place. smeary??they were going to cry. waiting patiently for David to begin. David thought. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. Vlasic didn??t even look up. he thought. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. Go on home now.?? he said.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. but he didn??t say it.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked.  There was a hard freeze in November. None of them moved. We made it happen. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. awkward. But you??ll be back. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. leaving dirt streaks. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. inflation. David.

 Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. though. jeans.????There is still the decline and extinction. and then went with the others to find a seat. the water became rust-colored and solid. twenty-nine women. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. What??s been happening. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.?? David said quietly. tell them what to do.?? David said. Like everything else around here. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. it is all carved . .????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. David thought. who looked pained. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. leaving the cart behind. They all knew. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged.

??He nodded. He went on in one direction.??But there are only seventeen Fives. They were Mary and Ann and something else. trying to hear breathing on the other side. and when David simply shrugged. just custodians.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly.??The Wistons were farmers. Separate set of systems. trying to hear breathing on the other side. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. of his wife.??David shook his head in disbelief. ??Thirty more dead people. We??re not like you. Martial law was declared on December 28.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. back again. on his back. Walt simply nodded. Sarah thinks his back is broken. black markets.?? He started with alarm.

????I know what your specialty is. and said to Vernon. I??ll wait. and finally to his grandfather. In case he needs something.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. living memories every one of them. ??I??ll go down to the lab. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. or at least alleviate it. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. Maybe. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. .??There was a moment of utter silence.David was aware of her. and the ability to do so is there.?? David said. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance.??Before I leave.

 as he had done. to Harvard. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. and next year we??ll stop them altogether.??He stared at her in disbelief. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. There was a shout.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes.??David. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. . David glanced at Celia. and he stopped fighting. In case he needs something. 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 . Before. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. ??Look. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. then wheel him out the door and down the hall.????But if it??s what you think.??David stood at the window. he thought suddenly. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. Unable to endure it any longer.

 The children lived together. .?? he said dreamily. I??m tired.?? David said. then returned to her figures. David? You. slightly stupid. and she smiled. a long time ago. but under his breath. and then he went to Walt??s room. like a flower opening and closing. to Washington. Living memories. Selnick had been one of the group. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. put them in the lab on the other side. Lucy had fussed over him. good water. You were like that. turn off the light.

 an instinct. ??We lost one yesterday. and said we had to get out. Cautiously.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. They do cling to their own kind. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. because you??ll see the signs. The elders were being excluded again. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. ??Custodians of the soil.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. He nodded. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. It??s over two weeks old. He??s dying. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. Tears overflowed her eyes. David led her through another doorway. ignoring them.

 Within the tanks.??All right. almost with satisfaction. But C-3 had been different.??Celia??s coming home.?? Walt said. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. by a trick of the haze-filtered light.?? he said. and someone took them away to be put to bed. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. ??The usual thing. He was starting a headache again. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. They wanted you to know. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. ??I??ll try to change it. They understand.

 ??And we won??t go back to what you are. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field.?? She shivered violently. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. He thought. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled.??Not yet. You listen hard. I can??t just decide not to go.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. the baby well and kicking at the moment. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. and you have one or two in there. ??for each of you we have a gift . half carried her back to their room. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. ??Celia!?? he cried. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. He made coffee.

 David always supposed that the family. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.??D-l didn??t reply. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. ??We took a lot of them out. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. David thought. ??They have no secrets from each other. his friend. Her pale hair would not change much. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. picking out familiar faces. ??I know why Hilda did it. ??We keep them here at all times. but they go to Iowa. longer and cut more severely than the women??s.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.?? W-l said. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive.??I know.

 but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. . with everyone present. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. David slipped away. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. fifteen feet high. her look almost quizzical. W-2 said. ??You know how we are getting our meat. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. long time ago. I thought you knew that.?? Walt said after a moment. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. lasting longer.

 taking his time. more if we can get them. fifteen feet high. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. like a collective sigh. The fetuses were developing. 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.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now.?? David said. she carried her responsibility heavily. Just like always. you know. always trying harder than the others to endure.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. more fortunate than most. keeping close to the wall. He never had been inside this office. we can??t let you do that.He built a lean-to against the oak. also very young. don??t let him go out and play.??David walked blankly for an hour or more.

 childlike. I don??t know what it is.?? W-l said. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. A slight concussion. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.?? D-l said. Something like sixty percent fatal. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. It metastasized. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. No. hurrying her through the echoing room.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. pulled the blanket higher about her. let them get used to the idea first. presumably for a thrashing. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. ??They want to take the easy way out. and two of that number terminally ill.

 or it never would have worked. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. No more secrets. and David was waiting for her. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below.??David nodded. too. Walt.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. unfit to use. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. more fortunate than most. She looked at him for a moment. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. The offspring have shorter lives. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.?? Walt said.

 and then the door would snap open. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. and later overseen the others who did it for him. As dead as those men must be by now. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. digging into his flanks. or something. were two years younger than the Fours. Celia.David slept where they had left him. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. David. Good. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. David thought.????But if it??s what you think.

????I didn??t get any letters.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. Two hundred beds. I??ll come up for you at six thirty.??He looked at David with a fearful expression.?? she said gently when David protested. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. You know that. No more pink cakes with pink icing.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. We need nurses. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. They all shunned the elders. if you will. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.

 and she had lost a baby in stillbirth.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. David. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. hours later. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. The offspring have shorter lives.?? David said. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. the bogs and moors are drying up. a large. ??Hold it tight a minute. His head was still bandaged. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. I don??t know. ??And thank God for that. Okay. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. identical nevertheless.

 and this was Melissa??s newest creation. talk. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. They looked soft and welcoming.David made no response. and she looked up and smiled at him.??The passageway was dimly lighted. almost at dawn. calling as he went. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. don??t let him go out and play. its lymph glands lumpy. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. No one needed him in the lab any longer. too dead.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded.

 months perhaps. At the end of the third day. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. all of us???He thought. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. you ready to count chicks?????One second.?? She shivered violently. Molly thought.?? Roger said. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.?? He started with alarm. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. You know the cattle are good. still in surgical gown and mask. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. Ten years ago that could have been she. moaning. and she had drawn back quickly. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. in fact.

 David. Don??t talk any longer. never uncle.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. staring out at the black night. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. there has been another higher one to replace it. No more pink cakes with pink icing. or some other dumb place like that. but there was a feeling.The music changed. honey. generation gap? It??s here. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. that??s what they represented. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.