The Clarkl Soup Kitchens (25 page)

Compare that to this tiny cabin! Here I have no room for a dining table and only a twin bed.

Of course, there are plenty of acres. We back up into a wilderness, a thicket of brush with snow on the ground most mornings. Can’t go tramping around through all that, even if it were warm enough for a hike.

Getting to hate this place! There’s nobody to talk to except these cackling hens.

The farm people keep to themselves. They work about fourteen hours each day and have no time for visiting. Mostly younger, anyway. In their thirties and forties. Making upwards of $7,000 a month, each of them.

Need to keep focused, though. I’m here to wait out the years until I can go back as Gene and spend the $22 million.

March 22, 2139
, 1900 hours, on Clarkl
– through the holidays now, and the accompanying slump.

No Christmas greeting from anybody. I sent seven cards to Gene’s friends and a check for $100,000 to Genuvusa.

Tata has received permission to operate her medical clinic, but the Bishop has no money to spare. I gave $25,000 when she asked, and she seemed to be stunned. I’ll donate more when I can, I told her.

Other people are giving $100 or $500. She had a sign-up sheet, and everybody saw what everybody else had pledged. Lots of smiles directed my way from the kitchen helpers now.

Actually, the clinic will only prolong the lives of these miserable creatures. Patch them up and send them out to live in the tiny houses, eat in the charity dining rooms, and congregate on street corners.

As for the Drones, better health will only mean more interest in fornication.

The Wolpters might actually do some work if they were in better health, but Tata won’t limit the services to the Wolpters.

If I could have put a stipulation on my donation, it would have been to limit services to the Seekers, Slinkers, Carriers, and Wolpters, the entities who do all the work. Let the Monarchs and their bastards the Batwigs arrange medical services for themselves, and let the Drones go without.

September 15, 2139
, 2000 hours, on Clarkl
– the plans for the clinic are nearly finished, and two doctors have been found who will come from
America
to treat the locals.

Go over every afternoon to the site, just after my conference with the chef. Lots of interior finishing to be done now. Wired the three examination rooms last week, starting on the waiting room this week.

Tata is wonderfully energetic, though. She finishes her lunch shift at the dining room and rushes over to the clinic to supervise the work. Then, back to the dining room to help with the evening meal.

It’s a half-hour walk for me to get to the clinic. Another half-hour walk back here. Am feeling strong, with no huffing and puffing. Maybe lost another pound or two over the last month. Just turned fifty-five, and in better shape than I was when I left the Army.

Not much news from Genuvusa, except to say she needs $75,000 for repairs on the house. It’s old, of course, and a house is never sold unless it is an inconvenience to the owner. New roof, new bathroom.

Even with all this larceny, I’ve got over $24,000,000 in the bank. The bank has paid well over the last two years, and I’ll have more than I planned when I return.

December 22, 2139
, 1600 hours, on Clarkl
– the clinic is open now, and Tata has left her dining room to act as full-time receptionist.

How can she afford to live here without her monthly income? Can’t figure it out.

Gave her another $25,000 just before the doctors arrived. I would like to see the plan for paying the expenses, but I’m too ashamed to ask. Probably should have let her down more easily on the spacecraft. A woman like that is probably not used to rough speech.

Louise never was shy around colorful language. Got used to just saying what was on my mind, without regard to the sensibilities of others. Probably did not serve me well.

The general was a cultured gentleman, from a good family and a Clemson graduate. Can’t imagine she is hearing any foul language now. Yes, dear, no, dear. Lots of that silver-plated hollowware they give generals’ wives everywhere they go, engraved with dates and names of units. Not much use to anybody. Can’t put silver plate on the table if you are a general. Need sterling hollowware.

Maybe I’ll buy twenty pieces of sterling hollowware to use when I return to
America
. Set up house in some fancy place, like
Washington
,
Georgia
, where the genteel folks live in quiet comfort. Nobody knows Gene in Georgia, or me either.

May 3, 2140
, 1900 hours, on Clarkl
– the clinic is a wonderful success, and Tata is pleased with the way the locals are willing to follow doctors’ orders.

She keeps complete records about who comes and who is successfully treated. Most of the complaints are about skin problems, and the clinic has helped Clarklians of all types. One Monarch came about a month ago, and Tata spread the news.

God, it was ugly! She took a picture of the older doctor with the ugly Monarch and hung it in the waiting room, as if the other Clarklians were anxious to rub elbows with this celebrity. Has made no difference in the attendance. They just keep coming in the door.

No birthing situations, though. Apparently the Clarklians are used to delivering their own children. Of course, the Drones and the Batwigs don’t have offspring, and the Drones are over half of Tata’s clientele.

November 26, 2140
, 1300 hours, on Clarkl
– back to the clinic each day, wiring the new addition.

The dumb Monarchs have decided they can’t sit with the others. Need their own waiting room and examination room. Monarchs paid Tata about $800,000 to build the extra rooms, and Tata has spent most of the money on fancy equipment.

No lack of help with the project this time, though. The farm people are coming late in the evening to help with erecting the frame, and one woman from the Bishop’s office is a master plumber. We ought to have the new rooms ready by the time the equipment arrives in January.

Certainly admire how Tata is taking the lead on this.

February 22, 2141, 0900 hours, on Clarkl
– just finished with the unloading of the staples, and will go down to the clinic after lunch to help place the equipment in the new rooms.

This spacecraft was full of nearly everything we ordered. I know we have enough flour and sugar for over a year, even if other units have to borrow.

The chef was delighted to see enormous bags full of wild rice.
California
has started to harvest wild rice again, after moving the operation to the north after the big quake.

We could never afford to order the
Minnesota
wild rice, but this product is nearly as good and within our budget. Of course, since
Oregon
is warmer now, the southern part of
Oregon
is nearly ideal for rice.

April 17, 2141
, 1500 hours, on Clarkl
– thirty-four different Monarchs have visited the clinic, all with the same problem. Infertility. It seems the Monarchs are dying out and there is nobody to replace them.

The people at the dining rooms have always said they have never seen a child Monarch, and we assured ourselves they were probably hidden away somewhere, deep in the mountains to the north. Keep the youngsters away from the Wolpters, we said, so the Wolpters can’t produce Monarch children.

The Wolpters have no trouble producing Drones and Wolpters. They are the scourge of the planet, refusing to work and living on the dole forever. Sometimes a Wolpter will produce a Slinker, but it needs another Slinker for help and the Slinkers are known to avoid the low-class Wolpters.

Apparently the Monarchs are not interested in Wolpter offspring. They want to grow the next generation of Monarchs themselves. And they want Tata’s doctors to help.

August 31, 2141
, 1100 hours, on Clarkl
– four Monarchs are expecting. Tata is very excited and hopes to have the babies born at the clinic.

Actually, there will be quite a wait. The gestation period for these Monarchs is nearly eleven months. You can build a Drone in seven.

Monarchs rarely have multiple births, according to Tata. None of the four is expecting more than one offspring. Not so for the Seekers, who come in twos and threes regularly.

It turns out the Carriers are also having fertility problems. There is not much concern because the Monarchs can think only of their own troubles. If the Carriers die out, the Monarchs believe some other type will take over their duties.

The only difficulty with this plan is the Carriers are very good workers with some of the best brains on the planet. The Seekers are the true geniuses, but they have to be cajoled into working. The Carriers are nearly as creative and work hard without prodding.

Tata agrees the Carriers must be helped, and the doctors are carefully documenting all the tricks that seem to work with the Monarchs in hopes they can help the Carriers.

November 15, 2141
, 0100 hours, on Clarkl
– a long day today, putting all the staples from the latest spacecraft into the bins. Those bags I used on my feet the night Len died are now on their way to Noowal, wrapped around seventeen pieces of furniture in need of repair.

Our dining room is serving more meals, and my sore back is a testament to that fact. Our orders from the farms have increased about forty percent since I arrived, and the bags of flour and sugar have nearly doubled.

Where do these Drones come from? The dining room that is being redesigned as an automat was supposed to pick up the slack, with creatures now able to eat around the clock. Instead, more of them are coming here and to several other dining rooms, too.

March 26, 2142
, 0930 hours, on Clarkl
– more Monarchs are coming out of the hills, demanding to see the doctors. Tata has another $1,200,000 from them for expansions of the clinic.

No American goes to that clinic. We have two doctors who support all the Americans who have come to work at the farms and the dining rooms.

Americans are healthier on Clarkl. Don’t know why. The star is not as bright, and the days are almost always too cold. The skin cancer that is so prevalent in
North America
is almost unknown here, and people don’t die of other cancers either.

Of course, you can’t get a drink of alcohol here unless you are very crafty. Same with cigarettes. Almost no American has a car, so you have to stay fit to walk to work.

Then, there’s the fact that there is almost no meat to eat. Sometimes some smoked salmon somebody’s nephew sent from
Oregon
. Never any meat offered on the list of foodstuffs I can order. We are all vegetarians. Probably has something to do with our good health.

June 17, 2142
, 1900 hours, on Clarkl
– three live births and one stillbirth for the Monarchs. They are elated! Now, seven more are expecting, and Tata and the doctors have been dragged off to a cold, primitive pile of rocks to receive medals. Much ceremony, little food, no drink.

The three new Monarchs are in very good health, and the doctors expect they will survive their infancy. The entire clan comes into the clinic about once a week so the doctors can look over the babies. What a procession! Sometimes I go over to the clinic to see the bowing and kowtowing as the Monarchs march past the Drones and the Wolpters.

Tata has sent a number of people here, self included, a list of suggestions for the extra money. The doctors would like the latest machines, the Monarchs would like an additional office and waiting room for themselves, and Tata would like to open another facility for the non-Monarchs.

Ollie has been sent home to
Omaha
. Just never got over the loss of Len, and the Congregation decided she would be happier with her parents than with Tata. Feel terrible, but what option did I have?

October 22, 2142
, 1600 hours, on Clarkl
– helping again with wiring. Tata decided to expand the Monarchs’ part of the clinic and order a couple of machines. Gave her $50,000 for upgrades to the non-Monarch waiting room, and she ordered nice chairs.

My money situation looks even better. Genuvusa is still making requests, but the house in
New England
seems to be finally repaired. Just $127,000 this year, so far, but Christmas is just around the corner.

With all the debits and credits, I have over $24,000,000 in the bank now. Should give more to Tata.

January 8, 2143
, 0700 hours, on Clarkl
– five more baby Monarchs, ugly as sin. Monarchs still are coming to the clinic each week, sometimes with the babies and sometimes alone.

Batwigs are always there with them. Can’t understand why the Batwigs aren’t in charge. All the brains the royals have are in these sterile relations.

Gave another $50,000 to Tata. Told her the year-end bank statement contained a windfall, and that’s as much truth as fiction. I expected less, but the bank is paying average interest for the Universal Gold market. I could shop around, but I might increase my risk. Too much risk in my life now.