Clark's Logs, Session 18

WS on CLARK kneeling in his small garden, in overalls and a long-sleeved shirt, with his sleeves rolled up.  His gloved hands are scooping out small handfuls of earth.  At the slightest sound from just offscreen, he snatches up the rifle laying on the ground next to him, and levels it at the open garden gate.  A cottontail rabbit immediately freezes, having gotten only one hop inside the gate.  CLARK sighs.

CLARK

You can come in, if you really want to.  None of the good stuff’s

grown yet.  Should’ve figured you’d waste no time if I left the

gate open.

CLARK puts the gun down and returns his attention to the soil.  Once his attention is elsewhere, the rabbit hops cautiously further into the garden, its nose twitching.

CLARK

Oh, don’t be so dramatic.  You’re far from the worst guest I’ve

ever had.  Of course, I guess I have one fewer now...

CLARK shakes his head.  The rabbit continues to explore the periphery of the garden plot, occasionally stopping to nibble at the green stem of an early weed.

CLARK

Shin...why’d he have to go and get himself blown up?  Okay, I

guess I wasn’t feeling charitable towards him before, but...he went

back because he thought it would help Simon and me.  He died

trying to protect us.  That’s got to be worth something.

The rabbit  pulls up a dandelion, which CLARK watches out of the corner of his eye.

CLARK

Hey, maybe I should keep you on as a weed-whacker  ‘Course,

once my veggies come in, I bet you’ll forget all about the weeds.

That’s fine.  The food will go farther now that Shin’s gone and

Cho is moving out.  Going on the run, I guess?  Haven’t heard

from him in months  Do I hope he’s all right?  I don’t know.

CLARK stabs the earth with particular ferocity using his trowel, and finally seems satisfied with the hole he’s dug.  He pulls a paper pouch out of a pocket in his overalls and scatters a few seeds.

CLARK

If we’re going to win this war, we’ll need him.  Win this

war...we’re not even fighting a war.  Well, I guess we are,

but it’s not one we can win.  All we can do is harry the Word

of Blake and disrupt them, so that when ComStar comes,

they’ll be that much easier to take down.  When will they come,

though?  I first got involved with the Resistance because I

was angry at what I saw happening.  I was scared for my

home.  I wanted something better for Terra.  I guess I still

do, but...I was a younger man, then.  A different man.

The rabbit hops over to CLARK, sniffing the earth carefully around where he sits.

CLARK

I don’t regret it.  We’ve achieved more than I ever thought

possible, really.  We’ve stolen terabytes upon terabytes of

sensitive data, shut down weapons programs, cured a deadly

virus, and stolen an actual BattleMech.  We have a lot to be

proud of, really.

After a pensive exhalation, CLARK scoops some dirt back into the hole and pats it down with the back of his trowel.

CLARK

But now Shin is dead, and the rest of us sure aren’t getting

any younger.  Simon might have lost his legs after our last

fiasco if I had made one misstep during the surgery.  I gotta

confess, I just needed to take some basic principles and hope they

still applied.  People are not my specialty.  No, they sure aren’t.

CLARK stands up, and the rabbit again freezes.

CLARK

Yeah, I can still see you.  It might fool the coyotes, but not

me.  Go on.  Out you go, now!

CLARK herds the rabbit out the open garden gate, then pulls it closed with a clang.  He slides the simple latch to hold it in place while he finishes.  Turning around, he takes a moment to consider his position in the fenced-in garden.

CLARK

I wonder if I might have trapped myself in more ways than one.