The Clarkl Soup Kitchens Part 16

The Omaha lawyer has sent me a notice from the Universal Court. The hearing on my competency is scheduled for March 23, 2148. I have until then to figure out how to hide more money.

Certainly buying more Universal Gold coins would be a good plan. My trips to the various castles take me close to Gilsumo and its money exchanges, run by the Carriers. I can buy about sixty pieces of Universal Gold each day without causing comment.

I'll start to plan more maintenance trips. I'll finish my restocking of the kitchen a little earlier. Then, I'll take the bus to the farm and borrow a vehicle, going into Gilsumo for just a few minutes. Next, I'll stop by a castle to clean and maintain the tub. Last, I'll return the vehicle to the farm and catch a bus to the dining room.

Leaves plenty of time to meet with the chef to plan the next day's orders. I have until 2000 hours to phone the orders in, and this plan leaves about three hours to spare.

Got to do it. No option. I'll drain the Pittsburgh bank first. Take me about a year of daily trips to do it. The Monarchs will have to get used to clean tubs.

March 26, 2145, 2300 hours, on Clarkl running myself nearly ragged. Up early every day. Have got so much gold now squirreled away in my closet. Need to find a better place to store it. Maybe could dig a place under the cabin.

No theft here, though. These Clarklians don't allow it, moving suspected thieves to the north to work in the mines. n.o.body wants to work, especially in the mines.

These are the mines that produce whatever the American government is so anxious to buy. Various grades of uranium. That's all we know.

A big warehouse near the s.p.a.cestation. n.o.body sees what comes in, and it is all packed in plain manila wrappers for movement into the crafts for transport to America.

April 27, 2145, 2330 hours, on Clarkl bought a heavy-duty shovel in Gilsumo last week and started to dig under the closet.

Ground is hard but got a two-foot cube dug. Put almost all my gold down there, wrapped in a pillowcase.

Today, bought six pillowcases in Gilsumo. No need to have the devout laundress reporting the theft of pillowcases.

July 2, 2145, 1900 hours, on Clarkl to the Bishop's office today in Gilsumo to rewrite my will. Gene had left everything to Genuvusa except for $100,000 to the Cardinal of America, the only senior prelate left in North America after the collapse of the Roman Catholic Church.

Just turned it around. Left everything to the New Christian Congregation except for $100,000 to Genuvusa. Four witnesses. All people who have known me for over nine years.

Also extended my stay until after the 2148 competency hearing. That's just two extra years, but it will allow the Congregation to put their legal people to work on my case. n.o.body better.

Americans spending their early retirement years serving the hungry of Clarkl. Sounds good, even to me.

August 3, 2145, 2000 hours, on Clarkl called to the Congregation's headquarters today to accept an intelligence a.s.signment.

The pastor and the choir of the Fundamentalists have disappeared, apparently in broad daylight. Bishop says their people have been very closed-mouthed about it, but now they have asked for our help.

Since I travel around to the castles, am being asked to snoop. Bishop gave me a special truck, all my own, to use on my rounds. Won't have to take that open-air bus. Need to wrap my ears too tight.

They aren't taking baths in the whirlpool tubs, I told the Bishop. No American could stand the sc.u.m. The tubs are always filthy when I arrive, no exceptions.

August 25, 2145, 2100 hours, on Clarkl another pillowcase of Universal Gold into the pit today.

One strange thing happened last week. The Fundamentalist organist's cabin was entered by the Slinkers and nearly cleaned out. Clothes and a few books were left, but all the sheet music and computer equipment was taken. The few people in the cabin area at that time were asked to stand back while the Slinkers packed up what they wanted.

Wish I could have been there to follow those Slinkers.

October 14, 2145, 1900 hours, on Clarkl a message from Genuvusa today, asking for $50,000. Wrote back "Drop the competency proceeding and I'll send $100,000."

How can she live until 2148 without her quarterly remittances from my bank? The total, without the house and its ever-present repair bills, usually exceeded $200,000 a year.

I have been lucky with my investments. The Universal Gold market has gone haywire, up about twenty percent in the last eighteen months. Since I have been taking money from the bank to buy Universal Gold, my net worth has increased to about $27,000,000. Of course, the lack of payouts to Genuvusa has helped.

Gave Tata another $60,000 the other day, telling her my gold is doing better than I will ever have any use for. Clarklians keep pouring into Tata's clinic, and somehow she has the strength to see them all. The doctors are very busy, but Tata works every day without any break.

December 22, 2145, 2100 hours, on Clarkl I think the choir is in a castle about an hour out of the capital, to the west. I heard Christmas music being sung as I drove up, but it was silent after I entered the great reception room. Wish I had some reason to roam the halls, but the Batwigs accompany me everywhere.

Ten new whirlpool tubs arrived last week at the s.p.a.cestation, and I asked that one of them be set aside for the western castle. Tata had other plans, but she eventually agreed. I can go there at least twice to measure and at least twice to install. The plumbing lady can help look around, too.

This castle has an outbuilding that houses the first tub, and we will tell the Batwig we want to put this one in the main structure. Hope it works.

February 2, 2146, 2000 hours, on Clarkl no further news from Genuvusa. She has spent her first Christmas without a contribution from Uncle Gene.

No real progress on finding those Americans. The plumbing lady and I measured four different locations in the western castle, but we saw nothing and heard nothing. We are moving ahead with the installation this week, even though it is probably a waste.

There is some chance, of course, that the Clarklians have moved the choir. Maybe a concert here and another concert there. Take them around in that open-air bus, from castle to castle. Roaming minstrels.

The single dining room the Fundamentalists run is having problems with keeping fannies in the seats. The Clarklians go there only if there are overflows elsewhere, according to my plumber friend.

When the Fundamentalists first set up that unit, there were problems with proselytizing. Clarklians couldn't get a meal without being diverted to the chapel outbuilding and being lectured about adultery. The Batwigs complained to the American government, who told the Fundamentalists to serve meals without any preaching. The Fundamentalists changed the entire layout of their dining establishment because so many people in their party were so dependent upon the small stipend from the government.

Now, years later, that unit is still avoided by the Clarklians. Of course, the chapel is gone now.

March 18, 2146, 1900 hours, on Clarkl another pillowcase into the hole today.

Tata tries to keep statistics about the Monarch babies, even though some of them are born at home and not in the clinic. She tells me she has noted the births of over sixty in her medical records. About one out of four is stillborn, but the Monarchs are still very pleased with the population boom.

No additional people are coming from America now, after the scare about the choir. Tata needs a nurse for the Monarch well-baby clinic, but the government won't send anybody. The clinic is staffed by three Earthling doctors and Tata. People from the Bishop's office are trying to find volunteers, but the farmers and the kitchen people are already working nearly fourteen hours each day.

I work about six hours a day on the tub maintenance and about five hours a day on my supply officer job. I probably could spare a half day twice a week and scale down my money exchange runs.

April 27, 2146, 2300 hours, on Clarkl working four hours every other day in the clinic now, taking down identification information and moving it to the intake files.

Each Clarklian has a card with all the information the Clarklian government knows about it. I just slide that card into a special reader, view some of the information in English, and update that ent.i.ty's medical records about the current visit.

We have seven translation machines in the clinic, and the patients speak into them. Out comes broken English, both spoken and written. I do my best to copy the complaint into the medical file for review by the doctors.

It's a social hour. A free medical clinic always is. Breeds hypochondria. Just like in the Army with the dependents.

The doctors fix whatever complaint has been stated, give a little lecture on the importance of cleanliness, and send the patient on its way.

Tata is always busy. No Clarklian wants to leave before it sees Tata and has exchanged a greeting.

June 13, 2146, 1700 hours, on Clarkl still working this hectic schedule, with trips to the money exchange on the afternoons when I'm not in the clinic.

No real progress on my sleuthing a.s.signment. The choir must be hidden in one of the castles, but I have not heard them since Christmas.

Still not receiving replacements from America. Still receiving plenty of flour and sugar, and the crafts are leaving here with whatever the Americans are buying.

Curious, though, that messages that come here for us contain nothing about this situation. We certainly write home about it. Everybody is saying the Clarklians are editing our letters home. Wish I knew enough about writing in code to send and receive information.

July 8, 2146, 1400 hours, on Clarkl back from my shift at the clinic. Will go to the nearby castle for a maintenance run and poke about a little.

Need to figure out what to do about Tata. I'm not getting any younger. If she loves me, she might be very useful when we get back to Earth.

Always said, after Louise ran off with the general, would never marry again. Now, of course, all that is far behind me. Never would have met Gene if Louise had been with me, and certainly never would have pulled this ident.i.ty switch. We would have continued along, fighting like cats until the end of our days.

But Louise was never satisfied. Always complaining about how I was being pa.s.sed over while younger men were promoted. Counted each lost promotion as lost retirement income, never to be regained. Hard to hold my head up in public after one of her tirades.

Frequent dinner parties, with generals as the honored guests. Served bad food and plenty of it. Always asked junior officers' wives to bring dishes, and kept most of the leftovers for our dinner the next day. Very poor form.

Can't imagine what the general saw in Louise, except for her rich mother. Let the general try to wrest something from her. Never could myself.

She wanted half of my retirement fund, but the judge considered her antic.i.p.ated inheritance as community property. I'll never see any of it, of course, since I am now in the family plot in c.u.mberland.

September 24, 2146, 1900 hours, on Clarkl need to make a plan about Tata.

I a.s.sume she is about forty. Maybe a little older. Since American women are now living to an average age of ninety-five, that's fifty-five years of expenses I need to store in the pit under the closet. No good proposing and then not be able to keep her in comfort. No good asking her to work while I enjoy my retirement with Gene's money.

How can I get an engagement ring? Need to order one from Tiffany's and have them send it on the next craft to Clarkl. Not too big, but certainly not too small. About two carats. Maybe a little less.

An unsophisticated girl like that won't know about diamonds, but others will. Don't want anybody to a.s.sume I am ashamed of her or that I married beneath myself.

May as well spend it on Tata rather than have the money as an a.s.set for the competency hearing to wrangle over.

October 5, 2146, 2200 hours, on Clarkl Tiffany's has sent specifications and pictures about five rings. One is on Noowal, two are on Farnoll, and two are in America. The one on Noowal can be here in about seven days.

All sizes, of course. The Noowal ring is refinished, a euphemism for used. No patina on the platinum. Worth $35,000, asking $22,500.

The Tiffany rings from Farnoll are huge, as would be expected since Farnoll is the playground of the wealthy. Entirely new and priced from $65,000. Engraving extra. About a month away.

The Noowal one will do. It's just under two carats, excellent grade. I'll order it tomorrow.

October 8, 2146, 0900 hours, on Clarkl more trouble from Genuvusa now. She says she will drop the competency suit for a final payout of $4,500,000.

Need to talk to the Bishop's lawyer. Can't figure out how I can have her agree to leave me alone for the rest of my life. She's Gene's only family. Lawyers know how to write up this kind of thing. Lawyers always have plenty of experience with acquisitive relatives.

Lawyer will surely tell me to bide my time, let the suit move forward, let her get further into debt. Can't tell him she will recognize me for the impostor I am as soon as I step foot onto American soil. Got to settle it before I leave Clarkl, and $4,500,000 may be as cheap as it gets.

Wish I knew when we will be able to leave. My ten years was up about six months ago.

Business on Earth does not need me. The banks are paying on time, and I have no danger of escheat as long as the government is paying me for my services on Clarkl. Enough proof of my existence for the State of Maryland.

Gene's apartment is still being leased, with the real estate people happy with the several tenants they have found over the last ten years. No trouble there.

Got about $10,000,000 in the bank and about $22,000,000 in gold under the closet. Enough for any eventuality unless somebody figures out I am not Gene.

October 12, 2146, 1100 hours, on Clarkl package from Noowal is at the s.p.a.cestation, awaiting pickup. Will stop there before my maintenance run to the castle tomorrow.

Almost time to leave for my shift at the clinic. Every day we see more and more of the Drones and the Wolpters. Our reputation is growing as a center for healing. A place to meet and greet. Something to do when the snow has delayed a softball game.

Tata never takes a day off. I don't either, but I have a very easy job, what with driving around all afternoon to castles. n.o.body to tell me what to do, except the chef on one of his bad days.

Hope we can get home soon. A nice big house in Washington, Georgia, with two or three employees to cook and clean and look after the garden. Neighbors visit in the afternoons for tea or bridge. The Episcopal Church on Sundays. Priest and his wife for Sunday dinner.

October 22, 2146, 2300 hours, on Clarkl picked up the ring at the s.p.a.ceport last week. Much, much nicer than the one I gave Louise. Just a cadet at West Point then, wondering what life would hold. Parents were only five years from taking their places in c.u.mberland and couldn't help much.

Louise was pleased, anyway. The other cadets were making do with various synthetic gemstones, mostly of garish sizes. At least ours was a real diamond. Didn't matter after a few weeks, when our families had seen it and fussed over it.

Then, at the Officers' Wives Club, it was just right for a lieutenant's wife. Don't know why the field-grade officers adorned their wives in large jewels from foreign lands. Later, all of that didn't matter.

Today I went to the Bishop's office to see the lawyer. Best to get all of that business with Genuvusa over with. No need to involve Tata in this awkward affair, especially since it brings up the concern that I might not be able to handle my own affairs.

Had an appointment at 1500 hours, just after I called at a castle near the Bishop's to maintain the tub.

"He's running a little late, Mr. Emmentino," the clerk said. "Just have a seat. Need a cup of tea?"

Forty-five minutes later Tata came out of the lawyer's office, gathering her cloak around her and tucking an envelope into her satchel.

I stood and smiled at her. She smiled back and rushed out the door.

"You can go in now," the clerk said. I was too busy watching Tata. Finally, as the door closed behind her, I went into the lawyer's comfortable office, quarters that were larger than my cabin.

"Now, Mr. Emmentino, you say you want to settle with Miss Genuvusa Emmentino? She has a very weak case, and I feel you do not need to give her anything," he began.

"Want it all behind me so I can make plans for the future," I insisted.

"Just buying her off, then?"

"Yes. Can you write up a contract that keeps her away from me for the rest of our lives? Maybe confine her to north of the Mason-Dixon Line?"

He leaned back in his comfortable chair and stared into a far corner of the room for a few minutes.

"We can write up anything," he finally said. "We will have a hard time enforcing that kind of a clause, though. Better to just say if she contacts you in any way she forfeits all the amounts you have ever paid her."

I became angry. "I just want her to stay away from me and my...."

The lawyer nodded. "You can't make decisions for yourself with this woman intent on getting her hands on all your money. We need to execute our contract here, and then you need to file a Universal Restraining Order when you return to Earth. Those orders are not recognized here on Clarkl, but they are nearly everywhere else."

He gave me a draft contract to review, one that he had used successfully in the past, and I left.

What terrible trouble is Tata in that she had to see the lawyer? I wish I could talk to her. Perhaps she needs money.

I've got to get this mess settled immediately.

November 8, 2146, 0900 hours, on Clarkl delivered the executed agreement, along with a money transfer order for $4,500,000, to the Milky Way Amba.s.sador yesterday in Gilsumo. Ought to take about thirty days for it to be finalized. Unless Genuvusa has changed her mind.

Tata seems brighter than before. Perhaps the lawyer relieved her mind about some pressing problem.

Can't help feeling blue, though, with no news about when we can return to Earth. Still receiving lots of supplies and staples from America, but the crafts are not authorized to take any pa.s.sengers from Clarkl.