00029

X-9 entered unannounced with a tray of food for Nina McCleer. She sat limply on the chair, her vacant eyes staring at nothing in the guest suite of the Governor’s House. She ignored the robot.

"Ma'm, excuse me-" he tried to get her attention. He called a second time

She slowly turned her head and looked over. "Oh? What is it, X-9?" she asked in a flat voice.

He held out the tray toward her. "Ma'm, Gov. Bright said he is worried, and he has instructed me to bring you food."

"I'm not hungry, thank you.”

“Ma'm, Gov. Bright said I must do whatever I can to convince you to eat, since you won't leave the suite, nor will you allow any company to visit you, and no one has observed you taking a meal for days.”

So tired and emotionally drained, Nina McCleer was unable to even get upset. She pointed to the coffee table. "Oh. Okay. Leave it on that table then."

The robot obeyed. He poured her a glass of water and held it out to her.

"Okay, you can go," she said. She ignored the proffered glass.

Still holding out the water, X-9 replied, "Ma'm, Gov. Bright said-"

Disinterested, Nina told him, "I don't care what Gov. Bright said. Until Xavier can tell me he found the body of my husband and can produce proof that the accident actually happened, I don't want to hear anything that Gov. Bright says."

"Yes, Ma’m."

"And please be sure to tell him that, X-9."

"Yes, Ma’m." X-9 left the tray of food and the glass of water and went out.

When X-9 reported to the Governor the message from Nina McCleer, Gov. Bright frowned. "Okay, you are dismissed. Return to Mrs. McCleer. Do what you can to help her in her time of grief, and to help her recover from her loss."

"Yes, Sir.”

Watching the departing robot, Xavier Bright thought long, heavy thoughts to himself...

Her eyes said it all when I gave her the news about the cave-in. Even before she called me out on it, her eyes saw right through me. At one time, she never considered that anything which I said could not be true and right. But then George must have begun to habitually contradict me behind my back, and so poisoned her mind. How else can it be explained? Can I once again persuade her, over time, as before, now that he is gone, of how right I am? I don't see even a hint of a change in her attitude since the visit to the mines, a softening to suggest that maybe she could accept my version of events. None. I begin to think it is an exercise in futility, as they say, to expect such a thing anymore.

George, what have you done to me? George, what trouble you still cause me, despite the fact that your identity has been wiped. I think I shall see that your crew leaders demand more from you than from the other miners. I will tell the mining leaders to be merciless with you, my dear ex-room-mate. It may not win me the affections of Nina, but it will make me feel better about the situation.

Meanwhile, X-9 once more joined Nina at her rooms, as per Gov. Bright’s instructions. She told X-9 to leave her alone. By now the robot knew better than to try to change her mind if she wanted solitude. He stood outside the suite entrance, awaiting any orders or commands from her but knowing none would be coming, probably none for a long, long time.

Nina continued to brood, staring at nothing again. Her mind drained of any thoughts. She had spent the last few nights trying to come up with a way to ascertain exactly what had happened to George. Was he really dead? Or might he still be alive somewhere? Did Xavier Bright make him a miner? Or did Xavier actually tell her the truth? She hated to blame Xavier if he were an innocent man, but she knew all about people occasionally disappearing from Sparkle City to become, according to the tales, Diggers at the fuel ore mine. And she wanted to think better of an old friend, but she could not forget his blazing eyes for that brief moment when George had rebuked him in public.

She decided to poke a little bit at the food. Maybe some nourishment might re-energize her mind, giving her the ability to think again.

If George was still alive, did he have adequate food? Tasty food? Or was he forced to eat something a pig would refuse? Worse, was he instead trapped under some cave-in rubble, in an air pocket, slowly starving and suffocating?

Nina McCleer glanced at her husband's traveling case leaning against the wall. Still packed. Each time she mentioned taking care of it, George had said he would do it, because there were papers there he didn't want to get mixed up, important papers, and he would unpack it later. However, from time to time, she had observed him opening it and taking out a few papers, only to put them back inside later. He never made a real effort to unpack it.

It seemed he would never get the chance now.

Nina realized, after several bites of food, that sitting around here did nothing for George. Or for herself. If she couldn't figure out a plan of action for finding the truth, at least she could do some activity to keep her mind from atrophying, until an idea did occur to her about how to solve the mystery, how to get to the truth.

She went over to the case and opened it. Whatever papers George had in there, it might be prudent to sort through them, see what was what. Maybe Earth would be asking for some of these important documents.

Nina McCleer took out two folders overstuffed with papers. She started paging through the contents of the first folder. Nothing special. Receipts, shipment billings, inventory analyses. Very dull stuff.

“I hope the second folder is more exciting."

Her wish came true. Underneath several sheets she found an almost wafer-thin plastic black square with a few small pinholes and three buttons in the corner. This strange device puzzled her. She lifted it out from the folder and studied it. Why should George hide it among the papers? And she felt certain it was actually hidden here, not just carelessly left in the middle of a report. George McCleer was too orderly a man for that!

What in the world was that thing? So George kept a secret. But why, what was its purpose?

Only one way to find out.

Nina pressed first one button, then another, then the last. She kept this up until suddenly the object lit up a moment, indicating... what? Something, surely, but what?

Now we're getting somewhere! she hummed.

She picked it up and peered very closely. No screen appeared. What could this thing be? She held it to her ear and shook it. Unexpectedly, a voice squeaked out of it, startling her enough that she dropped it.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" asked the voice.

"Who is this?" Nina McCleer wanted to know.

"This is Operation Verify... Who is this? Is this Mrs. McCleer?”

“Yes- yes, it is! But who or what is Operation Verify?”

"We are stationed on Earth, Ma’m. We have questions. Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“You are speaking on Mr. McCleer's scrambled communicator. Have no fear, Ma’m, you can talk secretly with us on this device and not be detected, but it might be advisable to go to the shower and turn on the water to prevent eavesdropping."

Puzzled, nevertheless Nina followed the advice. "Okay, now what?"

"Did he find it?”

“Did who find what?" Did the other person mean, did the Governor find George's body? “I told I wanted to see where it happened, but he refused, said it was too unstable and dangerous!”

A long, long pause from the Earth end. "We regret your loss, Ma’m. Please accept our sympathies. This link has been kept open and monitored, despite the tragic news, in case the situation somehow did not match the facts, or new facts came to light."

“But... who could you possibly expect to contact you- Only George knew of this device-“

“In case, Ma’m, there were some... mistake about what happened, and Mr. McCleer were able to again establish communication with us.”

Nina McCleer gave her take on the matter. "People disappearing or having accidents seems to happen a lot here on the World of Hope. So I have doubts about the official account. I... I don't know what to do about it, though. How can I find out the truth? Can you- can Earth help me somehow?"

After another long pause and some whispering on the other end, the voice squeaked again. "We have Gov. Bright's reports in front of us. The official account from the World of Hope's Security Agency is questionable. That is why your suspicions are echoed here, Mrs. McCleer."

"Then what will you do about it?" Nina demanded. "You can't let Xavier continue this way, ruling the World of Hope like a dictator and putting anyone he wants in the mines!”

The other answered, "He gets results, and so there has to be a certain amount of patience and leeway extended toward him and his methods. However, it is unacceptable to allow him to treat our chosen and sent representatives maliciously. That is a red line he is not allowed to cross. There will be another representative arriving from Earth to investigate the matter, Ma’m.”

She felt gratitude for this news. "Good! When?"

"Soon, Mrs. McCleer, soon.”

(c) 2011 drk