Chapter 19

After I'd finished eating and nearly finished the whole pot of coffee I decided to check in with Charlie and see how things were getting along.

"Good morning Billy Joe. I'm glad you called. There are a few things we need to take care of fairly quickly," he said.

"What's the first?" I asked.

"We need to install some toilet facilities for those that are sleeping outside for now," he said.

"God, I completely forgot about that. Can we have the latest bunch of scumbags you collected start digging via the obedience compulsion you installed?"

"We could, but there is a much easier way to do it," he said.

"Good, what is the way oh all knowing Charlie?" I asked, teasing him into the bargain.

"I have a file pattern for a ten man sanitary unit. It is similar to what you might call a multi-porta-potty. I can adjust for size and add running water and face-bowl sinks for personal washing. When they are in place I'll connect them to the new sewer plant," he said.

"It sounds perfect. Do you have something that can provide showers for them too?"

"Not in the files, but I believe I can extrapolate from the sanitary units and then add what I consider utility type shower units that I've discovered in some of the information from your home planet. They will not be luxury items but they should be fully functional.

"I should probably make them double the size of the outhouses to allow for the women to dry and dress in relative privacy. I also think a little preparation of the area around where I intend to put them would be helpful. We can dispense with them soon enough after we get more permanent shelter in place," he said.

"You seem to be thinking ahead remarkably," I said.

"I like to think I am. Do you have any ideas about the types of permanent living arrangements you'd like to provide?" he asked.

"Yes, but in my mind it won't require you actually providing the buildings. Ideally I want to provide single-family dwellings, or duplexes at the most. I want them to be frame wall construction and brick veneer exteriors," I said.

"That will require a lot of time to complete," he said.

"More time than you think. It's probable that we will have to provide longer lasting types of temporary shelter before these building are finished, but time is not the most important consideration."

"What is the most important consideration then?" Charlie asked.

"Gainful employment for the men. The ones I let live are going to build the homes. In fact they are going to harvest the timber, cut and prepare the lumber, make the brick, mix the concrete, and so on. I'm sure you probably know as much about it as I do, and I'm sure you're going to have to find out more about it," I said.

"I see. You understand that this will take years," he said.

"That is the idea. One of the main problems here is that there was never enough knowledge among the men or enough equipment to get them started on building a useful seeming life. Idle hands truly are the devil's workshop," I said.

"I didn't know that you were so religious."

"I'm not so religious. I simply know what I consider a great deal about human behavior. Men with nothing to do will find something to do, as you've no doubt learned. What they find to do is usually counter productive. I will find them something useful to do and if they want to eat they'll be about it," I said.

"Busy work then?" he asked.

"It all depends on your point of view. Does anyone else here know that you can do it all on your own, and probably faster too?" I asked.

"None that I know of. I'm sure that some may suspect it though," he said.

"I'm assuming that I am now responsible for directing all your actions here."

"That is correct, and due to a stupid mistake by the ships Captain you will always be in direct control of me. I can do things for others if you allow it, but you will always have the last word unless you turn me over to someone else," Charlie said.

"Can you share your thoughts about the situation with me?"

"My thoughts. I think I'm probably the luckiest unit in my class that I have ever heard of. This is by far the most interesting project I know about. I can feel your success already and I'm looking forward to the time I can help you erect a skyscraper, as your people call them. Meanwhile I will entertain myself tinkering with efficient ways to build the small town you're making," Charlie said.

"Good. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"I am, immensely," he said.

"By the way, how much of a mess do we need to clean up from the lack of sanitary facilities up to now?"

"There is no mess. I have made sure to transport all human waste directly to the sewer plant before it reached the ground. Also, I took the liberty of delaying the cycle for any women who were about to begin menstruating before we could furnish the proper supplies. Forty-three were already in process and I supplied emergency materials for them, simply making them appear. They were shocked but not so shocked that they didn't use the supplies," he said.

"You did perfectly. Thank you. I'll leave you alone now so that you can get to it," I said.

"I've already started. I can do more than one thing at a time," he said, so I just shook my head and moved off.

A little more looking around showed me that even with the new kitchen facility we were going to have problems. The women were taken care of now but we still didn't have the capacity to feed the influx of semi-prisoner men. Jim Bob and Hank were still feeding their group, but it was miniscule compared to the new bunch.

As I was heading toward Carl's trailer to see if anyone was gathered there, I ran into Scotty for the first time since Charlie had done the tune-up on him.

"I was looking for you Billy Joe. Now that Charlie has my egg completely unscrambled I want to thank you for your patience and for all the help," he said.

"You don't owe me a thing Scotty. I'm so happy that you're back to your normal self I could just shit," he said.

"You ain't the only one that's happy, and I'm damned sure thanking you whether you want me to or not. You saved my life and now you've made everything right again. Now I'm hoping I can return part of the favor by helping you sort this mess out, or by helping you sort at it. I'm not sure it'll ever be completely sane around here," he said.

"Well why don't we head over to my bus, have a little coffee, and talk about a few things?"

"Sounds good to me Billy Joe," he said, and we headed that way since I thought our talk would be better if held privately.

I made a pot when we were inside and then when it was ready we both poured a cup and sat at the kitchen table.

"What's our next move Billy Joe?" Scotty asked.

"I think we're going to have to get Charlie to put us up a mess hall for the new men, probably tonight. Even with a wonder kitchen like he gave the women, Jim Bob and Hank won't be able to do it all. I'll probably let our first crop of assholes help them out with that and we might even need to draft a few of the newest men to help them," I said.

"That sounds fair to me. There's no sense in letting all of them sit on their asses for the duration," he said, "How can I help?"

"I have a dirty job and a half for you if I can talk you into it. Or at least I think I do. I just thought of it and I need to talk to Charlie for a second and make sure he can furnish what I think we need."

"Do you want me to come along or wait here?" he asked, and at first I wondered what he was talking about until I realized that he hadn't heard about the hookup in my head yet, so I explained.

"You mean you can communicate with Charlie anywhere you happen to be?"

"Yep, and he can even transport me anywhere I need to be. In fact, he can do that for anyone on the planet," I said.

"I'd pretty much figured the transport deal out for myself after the others just appeared here. Is there any chance I can get a hookup in my head like that?" he asked.

"I'm sure you can if you want one. It's a little like a cell phone but you don't have to keep up with it. I'll see if Charlie can do the deal when I'm asking him about the other stuff. If you're sure that you want it that is."