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Nina McCleer found the late night worship service to be of comfort, and she derived some spiritual strength from God through it. She prayed to be able to find out the truth about what had happened to George. Did he actually die in a cave-in? Or... Either way, she believed at least in the end he’d be okay. He had made peace with God long ago through God’s Son Jesus. Or, better, God had made peace through Jesus, and George had accepted that peace.

After the service, Kelli O’Mally, Albert Zoeniga, and Jane Ashton sat and talked with her. Nina McCleer told them, "If George were here, he would like the worship service, too. I know that I drew strength from God through it tonight.”

"That's very good," said Kelli, "Remember to be careful for yourself, since you stay at the Governor's House, and he is not very fond of our house church."

"He doesn't like anything if he can't be in control, including, apparently, even worship services," said Nina McCleer. "Believe me, I know.”

Albert Zoeniga asked, curious and concerned for Nina's well-being, "So, what did you tell this butler robot, so that they don't know where you are?"

"I told X-9 that I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to be alone, but that I wanted to get my mind off of thinking about how much I miss George. So I said I wanted to catch the new Buster Keaton computer generated comedy down at the theater."

Brother Simon finished saying good-bye to the last of the leaving congregants, and then he joined Nina's small group. "I trust you were tactful about our location, Mrs. McCleer, so that Gov. Bright doesn't come visit us. Not that he would not be welcome, if he actually came to worship with us, instead of that state church at the chapel."

Jane told Bro. Simon, "Don't worry. Mrs. McCleer told the robot butler that she was going to the movies, and then she met us at the beach stand from where Mrs. O’Mally brought her here ."

"Oh, I see," said Simon Kaul.

"What?" His tone made Nina suddenly concerned and she felt guilty. "Is it because I lied? Is it wrong to lie to a robot? Is it unethical, if a robot isn't even alive? I mean, he's a good robot, but must I worry about always telling the truth to a robot?”

Bro. Simon shrugged. "Who knows? I know the argument has been made that, since their cpu's have been built neuro-chips on a matrix model derived from the brains of rats, that maybe they are alive. Anyway, I hope you won't lose any sleep over it."

"Don't worry about that. I assure you, that's not a problem for me. I have much bigger problems that keep me up at night."

Simon Kaul nodded understandingly. "I am aware you recently lost your husband. My sympathies, Mrs. McCleer, and may the comfort of Jesus Christ help you through your hard time."

"He is some comfort to me, to some extent," Nina McCleer confessed. "Still, like I told Mrs. O'Mally not long ago, I must know if George really died in a cave-in, as the governor claims, or if he has been forced to become a miner, like so many others."

Kelli O’Mally patted Nina's shoulder. "Not a day goes by that I don't pray we find out the truth of Billy Boy, also."

"And yet, your church group also prays for the Governor," marveled Nina, "even though you suspect he had a hand in your church pastor's disappearance."

"The Bible says we should pray for our leaders," Bro. Simon reminded. "Who knows, maybe Gov. Bright will one day repent, and then release some of his prisoners- the ones that did nothing wrong to deserve being put in the mines."

Albert Zoeniga wondered. "How can anyone be so.. so .. How can Gov. Bright justify- to himself- so much of what he does, but in particular, getting rid of the house church folks, and those who honestly have legitimate gripes against him, and those who tell him why they think he is wrong. Does his conscience not bother him?"

"Xavier Bright hates to be wrong, and he hates even more to be contradicted in public," said Nina McCleer. She seemed to see things a bit more clearly now. The church service helped her focus better. "Xavier's way is the only way. Just like with his state-approved church. He probably figures his thoughts of how worship should be done are the best, the only sensible way. So I suppose that helped him to view Billy Boy as an enemy, because he was someone who disagreed with him about how a church should be run. Yes, he hates being wrong, or even just to be perceived as being wrong. And now that he is older, it seems he has gotten worse. And he might even reason that, because he is so much smarter than anyone else, he is entitled to expect to be followed without question, and he probably thinks he has a right to take out those who would oppose him, just because he is like a king or something in his own mind."

"He is his own number one fan," Kelli O’Mally said.

Nina McCleer considered an idea. "What if all the unhappy citizens decided to hold a protest demonstration against him? A peaceful protest, of course. What then? What would he do? He can't send everyone to the mines.”

“But he would hate the bad publicity. He especially would hate the tourists from Earth seeing it. Then, he might change his ways. He might give in a bit, compromise, before the Leaders on Earth take him away from his post. That would be an awful blow to his ego, because he seems to actually believe he is the best person to run the World of Hope. He hates when Earth, on those rare, and not nearly enough, occasions, decides to actually meddle with the way he does things here and pushes for him to follow policy procedure."

The minister cautioned, "Gov. Bright might not punish everybody, but he might punish those who organized the protests, Mrs. McCleer. Do not think about such things. Do not add to your own grief and sufferings by ending up in the mines or on the farms.”

"Oh? I will suffer more if I do not do anything and everything I can, to find out the truth about my husband!”

"Your suggestions sound good to me, Bro. Simon,” said Kelli O’Mally.

"No, no, let us try to reason first with Gov. Bright," Simon Kaul insisted. "Let us be plain and ask him where are our family members, our friends, who have vanished in the middle of the night. Perhaps we can get to him, reason with him, reach his conscience."

"How will you do that, Bro. Simon?" asked Kelli O’Mally. "He never gives you an audience, to discuss the matter with you. He ignores all attempts you make to communicate with him. Bro. Simon, I love you like a brother, but, forgive me, you are too naive."

Nina McCleer volunteered, "Since I am staying at his mansion for the time being, maybe I can get you an audience, Pastor Kaul, even though I wouldn't expect much to come of such a meeting.”

Simon Kaul shook his head. "I think I have a better way than for you to get involved, Mrs. McCleer. I will enlist the aid of the government-approved chaplain. He will stand with me in the matter, if he has any desire at all to please our Lord. Together we will present to the Governor the grievances of the people. He won't refuse to hear his own chaplain, will he? I suspect, if both he and I encounter Gov. Bright together in private, he will not lose face, and so he will not be so quick to say No- not with the state-approved chaplain also desiring to see him clean things up. It will not be as hard for him to then give clemency for his political prisoners and return them to their people- if we do not make it a public confrontation."

"You think he will do that because you ask him?" scoffed Nina McCleer. "No offense, but Mrs. O’Mally is right about you being naive."

"We can at least try," he said. "As the saying goes, You can catch more bees with honey, than with vinegar... Why choose to confront and embarrass him on our first effort? That will force him to become more stubborn, the way I see it. And if he already told you the truth about Mr. McCleer, he will most certainly be offended, and fight back, and refuse our requests to tell us regarding the others."

"I don't know..." Nina McCleer sounded very skeptical.

Kelli O’Mally thought about it. "I am willing to try it your way first, Bro. Simon. I am not as optimistic as you are, but I think it is worth trying, at least."

"So do I, although I don't think we can really trust the Governor." said Albert Zoeniga.

Jane Ashton also felt it was not likely to produce results, but at least it was an attempt to work with Gov. Bright, instead of immediately antagonizing him.

Nina McCleer rolled up her eyes. "Okay, so I will wait until you try it your way, Bro. Simon."

"Good," he said. "This will be a chance for us all to practice patience and restraint. If I have no success, next I will visit Earth to lodge a complaint against him. Oh, and Sis Jane, we are all glad you decided to stay with us on our little world.”

“Thank you, Bro. Simon. Despite the troubles here, it really is a nice place to live.”

(c) 2012 drk