Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. “It’s the only way I’ll ever get to see you at all,” she said gently when David protested. “I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. Okay?”
David took her through the lab the following morning. The new entrance to the cave was concealed1 in the furnace room of the hospital basement. The door was steel, set in the limestone2 rock that underlay3 the area. As soon as they stepped through the doorway4, the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia’s shoulders. “We keep them here at all times,” he said, taking a second coat from a wall hanger5. “Twice government inspectors6 have come here, and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. They won’t be back.”
The passageway was dimly lighted, the floor was smooth. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. This one opened into the first cave chamber7, a large, high-domed room. It had been left almost as they had found it, with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides, but now there were many cots, picnic tables and benches, and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. “Our emergency room, for the hot rains,” David said, hurrying her through the echoing room. There was another passage, narrower and tougher than the first. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room.
One wall had been cut through and the computer installed, looking grotesquely8 out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. In the center of the room were tanks and vats9 and pipes, all stainless10 steel and glass. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos11. Celia stared without moving for several moments, then turned to look at David with startled eyes. “How many tanks do you have?”
“Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes,” he said. “We took a lot of them out, put them in the lab on the other side, and we’re not using all that we have here. We’re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out, and so far we haven’t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.”
Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks, jotting12 figures in a ledger13. He grinned at David and Celia. “Slumming?” he asked. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction, and continued down the row checking the other dials, stopping now and again to make a minor14 adjustment.
Celia’s eyes questioned David, and he shook his head. Eddie didn’t know what they were doing in the other lab. They walked past the tanks, row after row of them, all sealed, with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. They returned to the corridor. David led her through another doorway, a short passage, then into the second laboratory, this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.
Walt looked up as they entered, nodded, and turned again to the desk where he was working. Vlasic didn’t even look up. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. Another woman in the room didn’t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. Hilda. Celia’s aunt. David glanced at Celia, but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks, and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. Each was filled with a pale liquid, a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. Within the tanks, floating in the liquid, were sacs, no larger than small fists. Slender transparent15 tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus16 covered with dials.
Celia walked slowly down the aisle17 between the tanks, stopped once midway, and didn’t move again for a long time. David took her arm. She was trembling slightly.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I . . . it’s a shock, seeing them. I . . . maybe I didn’t quite believe it.” There was a film of perspiration18 on her face.
“Better take off the coat now,” David said. “We have to keep it pretty warm in here. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. The price we pay,” he said, smiling slightly.
“All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity?”
He nodded. “That’ll be our tour tomorrow. Like everything else around here, the generating system has bugs19 in it. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours, and we just don’t let it go out for more than six hours. Period.”
“Six hours is a lot. If you stop breathing for six minutes, you’re dead.” With her hands clasped behind her, she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. “This isn’t the computer. What is it?”
“It’s a computer terminal. The computer controls the input20 of nutrients21 and oxygen, and the output of toxins22. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. Those tanks are linked to it, too. Separate set of systems, but the same machinery23.”
They went through the nursery for the animals, and then the nursery for the human babies. There was the dissection24 room, several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work, the stockrooms. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown, people were working. “They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before, but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight,” David said. “And thank God for that, or it never would have worked. I don’t know what they think we’re doing now, but they don’t ask questions. They just do their jobs.”
Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory, he felt a stab of joy. She increased her workday to six hours. When David fell into bed exhausted25 after fourteen or sixteen hours, she was there to hold him and love him.
In August, Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. “They’re bad,” he said gravely. “They took over the Phillotts’ place, ransacked27 it, and then burned it to the ground.”
After that they kept guards posted day and night. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. “They’re using the bomb,” Avery said. “Don’t know who, but someone is. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean28 area.”
In September they fought off the first attack. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack, this time with thirty to forty men. “We can’t keep fighting them off,” Walt said. “They must know we have food here. They’ll come from all directions this time. They know we’re watching for them.”
“We should blow up the dam,” Clarence said. “Wait until they’re in the upper valley and flood them out.”
The meeting was being held in the cafeteria, with everyone present. Celia’s hand tightened29 in David’s, but she didn’t protest. No one protested.
“They’ll try to take the mill,” Clarence went on. “They probably think there’s wheat there, or something.” A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. Others formed a scouting30 party.
David and Celia left the meeting early. He had volunteered for everything, and each time had been turned down. He was not one of the expendable ones. The rains had become “hot” again, and the people were all sleeping in the cave. David and Celia, Walt, Vlasic, the others who worked in the various labs, all slept there on cots. In one of the small offices David held Celia’s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. Their talk was of their childhood.
Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness, still holding her hand. She had grown even thinner, and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest, Walt had said, “Leave her be.” 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. Then she was still again, and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. Later he heard Walt moving about, and the creaking of his cot in the next office. David was getting stiff, and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep.
The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up, the barn near the road, and the road itself. Nothing could be spared, and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed.
David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire’s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard, or like everything he had ever heard, recombined to make this noise that shook the building, that vibrated in his bones. A wall of water, fifteen feet high, twenty feet high, raced down the valley, accelerating as it came, smashing, destroying everything in its path.
When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land, swirling31, thick with debris32, Celia said in a faint voice, “Is it worth this, David?”
He tightened his arm about her shoulders. “We had to do it,” he said.
“I know. But it seems so futile33 sometimes. We’re all dead, fighting right down the line, but dead. As dead as those men must be by now.”
“We’re making it work, honey. You know that. You’ve been working right there. Thirty new lives!”
She shook her head. “Thirty more dead people. Do you remember Sunday school, David? They took me every week. Did you go?”
He nodded.
“And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. And I wonder if this isn’t God’s doing after all. I can’t help it. I keep wondering. And I had become an atheist34.” She laughed and suddenly spun35 around. “Let’s go to bed, now. Here in the hospital. Let’s pick a fancy room, a suite36. . . .”
He reached for her, but suddenly a violent gust26 of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. It came like that, without preliminary, just a sudden deluge37. Celia shuddered38. “God’s will,” she said dully. “We have to get back to the cave, don’t we?”
They walked through the empty hospital, through the long, dimly lighted passage, through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches, through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office.
“How many people did we kill?” Celia asked, stepping out of her jeans. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy’s. When she faced him again, her ribs39 seemed to be straining against her skin. She looked at him for a moment, 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. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.
There was a hard freeze in November, and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone, they knew they were safe from attack, at least until spring. The people had moved out of the cave again, and work in the lab went on at the same numbing40 pace. The fetuses41 were developing, growing, moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. He worked each day until his vision blurred42, or his hands refused to obey his directions, or Walt ordered him out of the lab. Celia was working longer hours now, still resting in the middle of the day for several hours, but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.
He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him and smiled, then returned to her figures. Peter started a centrifuge. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted43 and fed to the embryos, then called out, “Celia, you ready to count chicks?”
“One second,” she said. She made a notation44, put her pencil in the open book, and stood up.
David was aware of her, as he always was, even when totally preoccupied45 with his own work. He was aware that she stood up, that she didn’t move for a moment, and when she said, in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief, “David . . . David . . .“ he was already starting to his feet. He caught her as she crumpled46.
Her eyes were open, her look almost quizzical, asking what he could not answer, expecting no answer. A tremor47 passed through her and she closed her eyes, and although her lids fluttered, she did not open them again.
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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underlay
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| v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的过去式 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起n.衬垫物 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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hanger
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| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
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inspectors
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| n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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grotesquely
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| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
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vats
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| varieties 变化，多样性，种类 | |
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stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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embryos
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| n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 ) | |
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jotting
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| n.简短的笔记，略记v.匆忙记下( jot的现在分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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ledger
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| n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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bugs
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| adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误 | |
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input
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| n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机 | |
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nutrients
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| n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 ) | |
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toxins
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| n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 ) | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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dissection
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| n.分析；解剖 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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numbing
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| adj.使麻木的，使失去感觉的v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的现在分词 ) | |
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fetuses
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| n.胎，胎儿( fetus的名词复数 ) | |
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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notation
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| n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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46
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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