00073

Snow, green snow, for miles and miles. Harsh winds tossed it about, covering everything except the dome-shaped block building in the middle of the miles wide bluff. Bright lights from behind its large view window in the front of the building looked so inviting in this dreadful landscape.

Inside the building, in a small but comfortable set of rooms devoted to her personal living space, a seniorly woman sat back in her soft, plush recliner, petting the head of a strange, shaggy blue animal. It appeared to be a cross between a dog and a lion, and it was close to the size of a St. Bernard. The woman’s free hand held onto a personal screen device, and she used the device to record her reflections.

With a small titter, Dr. Kitchen admitted, "I almost feel sorry for betraying Xavier Bright like this. After all, he especially wanted me for this position at his Research and Development Lab that sits here in the middle of nowhere, on this planet in the middle of nowhere. Almost feel guilty, but not quite."

The odd beast nuzzled her hand, then it suddenly jumped away, hopping about and nearly knocking a small, closed valise from the end table aside the chair.

Dr. Kitchen's hand quickly darted out, keeping the valise from tumbling.

"Fuzzy! Be still! And please don't damage this, not after I spent all that time, taxing my mind to come up with the answer to Security Leader Clyden's special request. Heh, I think I perfected it, too. No tests, so far, but we'll find out shortly. Now, behave! I'll take you out to play in the snow soon enough."

The old woman returned to her recording. "Besides, why should I feel guilty? Xavier knows he can't count on me to be loyal to him, or to anyone. I would do anything to conduct an experiment never before tried, to find out whether the experiment could be done, to learn something new. And I most certainly will double-cross him, if that's what it takes. He can't be ignorant about such a turn in my character, or he would not be smart enough to have become the Governor of the World of Hope, after all. I am sure he has done psych profiles on all of us here at the R and D. Besides, he remembers my disposition, from since back when he knew me, way back as one of his professors in college. He was very bright in those days- Hehe, I made a pun. Xavier Bright was very bright!”

Fuzzy tried to sit in her lap. "Oof! Off, Fuzzy, off! You're not a pup, or a cub, anymore. You're too big, you cannot fit on my lap anymore."

Fuzzy, disappointed, flopped down on the floor by her chair, sulking.

"Xavier knows I was always cold-blooded and pragmatic, and that's what he likes best about me for working in his R and D Lab, because he knows I don't care about the consequences of whatever we make here, only about whether it can be done or not. After it’s done- no matter what we have created- I don't much care about how it is used. In some ways, I think Xavier is a lot like me, and that's why he likes me."

Fuzzy whined while he sulked.

"Oh, stop that. I am not talking about you. I may be cold-hearted and not care about anybody, but that doesn't include you, of course. I still love you, my Fuzzy-wuzzy!" She reached down and scratched his ears.

"Fuzzy is so insistent today,” she said to the device. “It will take me forever to set down this record, the way he keeps bugging me for attention. Ahem, back on track. It's not like I promised Xavier any kind of loyalty. He knows I would not give such a promise. I take my promises very seriously, and so I will not promise something if I cannot fulfill it. Like when Security Leader Clyden asked me to do this favor for him- getting back to what he wants me to develop- and I promised to try. Not that I particularly like Sec. Ldr. Clyden. I just wanted to see if I can make what he wants. I like the challenge, like I said before.

"I must say, it is no surprise that he asked me for such a favor. I saw it coming for a long time, this decision on Clyden's part- to do what he can to take down Xavier from his governorship. If Xavier had been willing to make him his Lt. Governor, like Clyden had asked, this decision on Clyden's part to oust Xavier could easily have been avoided. Indeed, I see no real reason for Xavier to have refused Clyden, but that's Xavier for you. Kind of a snob.

"Clyden had helped Xavier with so many problems, often making the ‘problems’ end up at the fuel ore mines, transformed into a monstrosity with his identity wiped clean- the ol’ ID Wipe- and brainwashed to love Gov. Bright and to dig and dig the fuel ore for him. Only convicts, mostly from Earth, are supposed to be made into miners, digging in the mines, but not just a few people who disagreed with Xavier and became ‘problems’ for him populate the mines as well.

"One such person is Xavier Bright’s old college roomie, George McCleer. Earth sent McCleer here to supposedly help the Governor make his administration more efficient, but George McCleer didn't fool him. George McCleer actually wanted to find out for Earth whether Xavier had a secret fuel ore processor hidden on the World of Hope. Earth can't have that. They need this world to be dependent on Earth for processing this world's own ore for this world’s use. Otherwise, the World of Hope might become too self-sufficient, and might want to break away, become its own world and government.

"Well, I can't say I blame Xavier Bright for sticking Mr. McCleer in the mines. Why wouldn't the Governor be annoyed, since Earth deliberately kept supplies short for the World of Hope and the citizens- necessary things, like medicines and better equipment for the Enviro-Gens and such-  to make the World of Hope a poor beggar, always looking to Earth for help and supplies, too dependent to rebel? Why wouldn't Xavier be interested in being able to process his own ore into power fuel for us here on this world, and to shake off Earth's chains, and gain some dignity?

"Now what’s interesting about when Gov. Bright made George McCleer a miner is, the ID Wipe they gave McCleer didn't seem to work as well for him as it did for the other miners during the transformation. I don't know why, but for some it just doesn't always take so well as for most miners. So then, the brainwashing that follows the ID Wipe doesn’t work properly, either. That's why McCleer keeps trying to escape the mines. Sure, the process kinda worked. It made him lose his memories about who he was, but I think inside he is still George McCleer, trying to come back. Poor McCleer. Sooner or later, some Warden at the mines will run out of patience because of his constant escape attempts, and just toss him to the Eaters that patrol the moat around the mining mountain.

"It's funny. McCleer's wife Nina, another former student of mine- She never believed Xavier that McCleer had been caught in a cave-in at the mines during an official inspection of the mining mountain. She suspected Xavier's bad deed from the start. And Nina must have known that I am working here at this research lab, even though this place is a secret- Her husband George probably mentioned the fact. And yet she did not come to ask me for my help to find her missing husband. Maybe she just didn't know how to reach me. Maybe she didn’t expect I really would help. Maybe, because she pretty much despised me, she simply didn't want anything to do with me. Still, it was her husband's disappearance in question. Anyway, instead, she tried to get Earth to send someone to help her find the truth... but then Xavier sweet-talked Earth into turning a blind eye to the whole thing. Earth doesn't like Xavier very much as the Governor of Hope these days, but they would hate to replace him, too- unless he did something really bad, like make a secret power fuel ore processor for the World of Hope. Xavier Bright is very good at getting the supply of ore they need, and on time, too, as well as the food from the farms on this world which Earth depends on. But... Nina asked Earth for help, instead of me. A lack of sound judgment on her part, in my humble opinion. But okay, it's her choice. I owe Nina, big time, after all, and I would have paid her back. I would have helped her rescue her husband, had she asked me. She didn't, though, and I did not volunteer, either. I only promised to help her if she ever asked. I never promised to volunteer help.

"And when Earth was no help to her, Nina McCleer got together with the illegal house church, those harmless fools who prefer to worship God their own way, and not the way the state- i.e., Xavier- wants it done. Xavier Bright didn't like their refusal to let him control them and their religion. He’s such a control freak. That’s why, once in awhile, when the Governor needed new miners, some of the illegal church leaders would mysteriously disappear. They were made into miners, like George McCleer-

“Nina McCleer fell in with these people, and she organized them and talked them into staging protests. They demanded to know where were their loved ones who had been taken. The theory was, all this bad publicity would make the public, both here and on Earth, put pressure on Xavier to come clean, and to release those who did not deserve to be his prisoners in the mines. A good theory, but look how it turned out!" She tittered again, at the thought of it.

“So Sec. Ldr. Clyden helped Xavier deal with this big problem as well, these church people- once and for all- the folks whom Xavier Bright disliked so much. Nevertheless, Gov. Bright still did not make Clyden his second-in-command. He regards Clyden as a buffoon and a thug.

“When Clyden first asked for the promotion, Xavier used the excuse that Clyden didn't take care of the illegal church, which he didn’t at the time. The illegal church continually embarrassed Xavier. That was the excuse the Governor used to not promote Clyden. So, Clyden did take care of the church, and still, Xavier was not satisfied."

Dr. Kitchen giggled some more. "Of course, maybe that was because Clyden accidentally blew up the building in which the church- and Nina- were holed up. Bad publicity. Very bad. Plus, Xavier still carried the torch for Nina, after all these years, it seems, ever since their college romance, and even though she and George were now married.

"Clyden realized Xavier would never promote him after that Incident with the church people blowing up. He decided to take action about it. 

“Clyden had been very patient, in his own eyes, with some of the things Xavier had done, such as how Sec. Ldr. Clyden had never liked Osmo Martin, and yet, Xavier had invited him and his friends to come to the World of Hope after their years at school on Earth were over. Clyden didn't want to deal with the Punk, as he calls the Martin guy. Practically a juvenile delinquent during his school years, this Osmo Martin. But, apparently, Xavier invited him because he wanted to influence Osmo's father, Gunther Martin. Mr. Martin the senior was close to some of the Earth Leaders and to those on the Committee for Policy on Hope. Maybe Gunther Martin could persuade the Council to send more aid to Hope, Xavier reasoned. Yeah, and no doubt then Xavier would use it for something other than what it was intended for, like he usually did. Clyden also stayed patient with Xavier's somewhat spoiling of his

undisciplined niece Sheila Bright when he became her guardian. But it really bugged Clyden when Sheila and Osmo Martin got together.

“Surprisingly, though, they seemed to help each other to mature a bit. Ha ha, and then Xavier offered Osmo a job in the Security Agency. That must have drove Clyden, the head of the Security Agency, bananas! At least, however, when Sheila wanted her Uncle to not allow Sec. Ldr. Clyden to put Osmo on guard duty at the mines for a week, Xavier did not countermand Clyden's decision. He allowed the youth to be sent there for guard duty, and, in fact, Osmo Martin is serving there even as I record this.

"Clyden's mind is made up now, though. He would not change it, whether Xavier had ordered him to not send Osmo to duty in the mines or not. So, Clyden has asked me to make him a present to use on Xavier. And Clyden's flying up here shortly to fetch it.”

The woman rose from her chair. "C'mon, Fuzzy. We'll go out the back way, and you can play in the snow when he gets here. The security at the back door is more lax, so I can hide this valise under my heavy coat and slip out with it. We'll go find a room in the back of this building in which to hide ourselves, and wait for Clyden to call and let us know he is here. We won't go outside to wait and wait and wait, and maybe wait some more. Not in this cold! I know you like the snow and want to play in it, but not me! When he comes, you will be my excuse for going outside and meeting him over the hill, and then you can frolic like a little puppy- Wait, let me shut this off, Fuzzy."

She stopped recording on her personal screen device and slipped it inside her pocket. Fuzzy waited impatiently by her apartment door. She got her coat and draped it over her arm, hiding the valise she carried.

"How ironic, Fuzzy. All this knowledge I gain, through hacking, eavesdropping, intercepting, and bugging, and yet, I hide my surveillance-knowledge from everyone else. I encrypt it on my screen device. But then, I must, for legal reasons. But I like to keep a record of what goes on here on the World of Hope.”

She and Fuzzy stepped out into the hallway. Fuzzy jumped all about, as usual. "Oh, my, Fuzzy. It is like you are always on a Space Trip! Heh heh, say, want to hear something funny? Do you know who invented that drug, Space Trip? Heheh, I confess, I did. But, now this is the funny part- It's not my fault it became such a widespread problem. I blame that on Nina McCleer. Heheheh, but, that's another story.”

(c) 2012 drk

00072

George the miner lost count of all the times he had been pulled from his Work Team to go dig out the dangerously volatile pure fuel rocks. In time, he began to turn a nice reddish tint from being so close to the pure rocks’ dust and absorbing it- a nice reddish tint good enough to match the best of the old, dedicated miners. Quite a status symbol; it showed off one's many years of hard-working service, breathing in the dust over many years, for Gov. Bright. The other miners grumbled. It was not right that an ingrate and slacker, a Digger (but not worthy of being called a Digger) without even a full year at the mines, like No. 317, should sport such a beautiful glow. Nevertheless, there it was, the result of his constant exposure to the pure fuel rocks.

George the miner wasn’t the only one who dug out the perilous rocks on a regular basis. Now also so did 248, who became quite good at it, too. After their daily work details, when each of them returned to lock-up, No. 248 and No. 317/George greeted each other in passing one another on the way to their respective cages. Later, while eating their meals left on dinner trays inside their cages, they called to each other and traded tips on how to lessen the risk of blowing up while uncovering the buried pure fuel rocks.

George was digging with his Team when he found himself yet again called upon to perform his special job, and as he carefully freed the potent stones from the ground, while mentally blocking out that annoying, blaring miners music from his head so he could concentrate better on the task at hand, he thought of his escape plans. He had taken out a couple of large sparkling rocks and a few separate pebbles as well. The reluctant miner glanced about to see if anybody gave him much attention. All the other miners had gone far from him, just in case he had an accident and vaporized himself and the surrounding area. No one cared to watch him; they instead heartily dug for fuel ore at the new place to which they had gone to get away from George and any possible accident. They waited for No. 317/George to complete his job. George pretended to wipe dust from his face, but in reality he slipped into his mouth a larger pebble of pure fuel, and he swallowed it.

The rest of the pure fuel rocks which he had dug out George gathered into the special transport cart, a cart full of thick packing gel. Once he pushed a rock into the goop, it stayed in its place in the goo as he moved the cart, and the rocks would not collide with each other during moving the cart.

Then, after he had loaded the rest into the conveyance buggy, he took it (accompanied by summoned human guards- who followed from a safe distance) to the special pure fuel storage site. Once there, No. 317/George took the rocks and stones and pebbles from the cart and packed them in another container full of similar stiff gel, and the pure fuel slowly absorbed the inert gel into itself, reducing its grade to that of post-proscessed fuel ore, becoming somewhat stable and safe.

George went back to his Work Team, where the other miners ignored him or insulted him, as usual, because of his lack of love for the Governor... and also because they were jealous of his body’s red tint.

At the conclusion of his work day, a pair of human guards and some robot guards escorted him back to his cage with another dinner on a greasy tray awaiting him and also the chance to take care of biological needs. Some days he passed No. 248 in the doorway and sometimes 248 worked different hours. Today, the two monitored miners arrived at the same time at lock-up and said Hi to each other on the way to their respective cages.

The human guards verbally pushed them along, keeping blasters at the ready. "Keep moving, get into your cage, don't dilly-dally!”

Except for the two cages occupied by Nos. 317 and 248, the rest had been empty the past few days, and yet the two miners were locked up in cages at either ends of the chamber as before. Once both of them were locked in, the guards left the imprisonment cave. The two miners did not expect the guards back until the beginning of the next work detail.

George ate the same mystery garbage that he had been given every other day for food. He called to his friend, "I'm ready for another try at freedom after I eat. How 'bout you, 248? You game?”

“Okay, but, well, there is a slight problem. I am locked up in a heavy-duty cage. I don’t know its composition, but it must be expensive to make. And so are you confined."

"Ha ha, that's no problem, because I smuggled away some pure fuel rocks from a few of those assignments. I got some more today. A tiny amount. I have been saving it and saving it, until I got enough. I simply hide it from prying eyes in with the dirt and trash of my cage, piled in the corner. No one's the wiser. Now I have enough to blast off my door- mine, and yours, too."

248 grinned. "Great. You kept it as a surprise for me, until you got enough, eh, George? But how did you sneak it past the guards?"

"I swallowed it."

"What? Isn't that dangerous? And it must taste awful!"

"Actually, it tastes a lot like chicken." Both laughed. George said, "It makes me spit up blood for a day or so, but then this miner's body heals itself up again."

"Oh... So how do you make yourself throw it back up again?"

George tried to put it delicately. "When it comes out, the direction it uses isn't upward."

248 winced. "Oh."

"I can only swallow one pebble at a time, in case they rub against each other in my digestive tract and I explode. I must be careful not to trip. Luckily, my stomach acids don't set it off, being neither extremely hot nor high impact. But now, the trick is to estimate how much pure fuel is enough to blow off the cage door, and to see that I don't use too much pure fuel and blow us up with the cage doors."

George removed some tiny stones from the hiding spot. He put a few pebbles on the cage floor directly under the door lock. The rest he kept with him at the back of his cage.

"Well, here goes... May God guide my hand..." He grabbed his dinner tray. "I hope my aim is good. I don't remember if I was ever athletic." He tossed the tray with all his might straight at the pebbles of pure fuel sitting beneath the lock. A direct hit!

The pebbles burst with a white flash that smashed George against the bars at the back of his cage and popped the door right off its hinges. George slumped over onto his cage floor.

No. 248 shouted, concerned, "George! Are you okay?!"

George stood and rubbed his shoulder. "Ow! That sure has a kick! But we have success!"

The two of them cheered.

George scooped up the remaining pebbles and ran for No. 248's cage. "Your next, buddy-"

However, it didn't happen that way. Instead, this month's Warden, Piku, came in with Security Agent Samm, who substituted today for Security Leader Clyden. Agent Samm had arrived at the mines not even an hour ago with a fresh batch of new guards. "Since you are not as familiar with this section as is Security Leader Clyden, I need to show you our resident trouble-makers-" said Warden Piku. Samm and Piku gasped in astonishment upon seeing No. 317 on the loose.

George looked shocked as well to see them come in. Nobody was supposed to check up on them until the next shift! He hesitated a moment. Should he just run for it? He couldn't leave his friend behind-

248 shouted, "Go! Go! Get moving!!”

George pushed Warden Piku and Agent Samm out of his way. He ran past them and out the chamber exit. Samm radioed over his headset for guards to come ASAP to the incarceration hall to capture an escapee.

Once out into the main shaft, George the miner lost hope.

There were new and old human guards milling about the various tunnels in the mines. The old guards  were showing the new arrivals their various posts and stations that they would be taking over. But now the nearest group of guards dashed toward the area of the imprisonment cave, in answer to Agent Samm's call. They brought along robot guards and even some faithful miners recruited on the spot to”help catch the enemy of Gov. Bright.”

George didn't get far at all!

A small mob tackled him as he darted down a stony corridor. The small mob piled on top of him, and even though he was a miner, the numbers proved too much for him to escape, especially with more fellow-miners joining in the pile-up. Their extra weight made the human guards beneath them in the pile-up moan and complain.

George swung wildly, but then those atop him restrained his arms as they kept him pinned to the floor. A robot, full of new dents thanks to George's flailing limbs, struggled to hold the miner's thrashing legs.

One of the guards called in the capture to Warden Piku.

Warden Piku and Security Agent Samm hurried down the tunnel to where the mob had captured No. 317, to take charge of the situatiion.

Warden Piku sighed, staring at No.317/George under the mountain of guards and miners. The Warden shook his head. "This is what I was telling you about, Agent Samm. He's always trying to escape."

Agent Samm asked, "If he wants to get out of the mines, why not grant him his wish? Just toss him to the Eaters and be done with it, then."

The Warden replied, "He really is very good at digging out the pure fuel nuggets. Still, maybe you are right, since his companion-in-mischief is getting equally as good as No. 317 in digging out the pure fuel. I guess we can do without this one, if we have to."

Agent Samm nodded. He turned to the guards, still pinning down George and awaiting the decision about what to do with him. "Okay. Toss 'im."

A chill clutched George's heart. He recalled, during one of his earlier days as a miner, what happened as the miners loaded an ore truck full of the fuel ore. As the miners were crossing the narrow bridge over the moat, the bellowing Eaters below tried to catch for themselves a tasty meal. Some long hairy tentacles shot up, feeling about the bridge, attempting to snag a miner. And the stupid miners guarded the carts of ore with their lives as they pushed the carts over the trench's bridge, shouting "For the Governor!", even as some of them were snagged by the groping tentacles and pulled from the walkway into the darkness under them

The taken miners had put up a fierce fight against the Eaters, but soon all that was heard was the roaring of the awful things below, and the screams of pain from the miners, and then silence except for bones snapping.

This recollection inspired George to struggle to free himself from his captors with renewed vigor, all in vain. Against his will, the small mob dragged him, thrashing, away and up the tunnels to the mine's entrance. All along the way, more guards, who had been hurrying to answer Agent Samm's original call for help, kept coming to give support in case the prisoner should escape from their clutches.

"Wait, you don't want to do this-" George blurted out in fear. Obviously, though, they did. They pushed him out past the entrance way, to the outside. They took him- half-carried, half-pulled him- toward the edge of the deep trench full of Eaters that surrounded the mountain mine.

The throng of pressing guards running to the scene continued to grow by the moment, and amongst their numbers was the youthful Security Agent Osmo Martin. He wondered, guessing what the mob of guards planned to do, what this poor miner had done to deserve such a gruesome fate.

From the bottom of the moat came vicious growls and howls, Eaters eager for another meal.

Agent Osmo Martin looked, like everybody else, at the flailing miner. He saw the struggling miner's face, and he believed he recognized him-! "Hey! That's Mr. McCleer! George McCleer!" he shouted in surprise.”

(c) 2012 drk

00071

Osmo Martin sat back and sipped a lemonade served by B-12 in the Morning Garden. Sheila, likewise, rested in a lounge chair. Osmo told her, "We nabbed Albert, we had him, and then he escaped. We didn't hear anything about him since. Looks like he retired from his preaching job on the corner of New and Liberty. Security Leader Clyden is very upset with me over Al escaping. Gov. Bright, however, said nothing to me over the matter, fortunately.”

Sheila Bright smirked. "Ha! Sec. Ldr. Clyden is upset over Albert getting free? Look how many times he himself let the house church people escape. Anyway, I hope Al's done with disturbing the peace, telling everybody how the state church isn't good enough and doesn't help us get to Heaven."

Omso Martin said, "There were quite a number of people gathered on the street corner, listening to what Al had to say, when we grabbed him. I don't know if it's accurate to say he was disturbing the peace. Instead, I think it's, well, as if they came to find out from him how to get the peace. Peace in their hearts. They listened, maybe they wanted what he seems to have- a peace, in spite of what happened to his church gang, and to Jane. It's public knowledge what went on at the miners' headquarters. Few people really believe that home-made bomb exploding nonsense... Al was not happy over such a loss, of course, but he was... at peace. Sheila, he even said he forgave me."

She listened, then shrugged. "Well, I guess then I am happy for him, if he is at peace at least. And, I suspect, things'll be settling back down to normal, and we can relax, now that the illegal church people are no longer a problem- Not that my Uncle will appreciate it and relax, though. He's so pre-occupied lately, especially since the Incident."

Osmo Martin agreed. "I've noticed. But, you know Gov. Bright- even though his job is taking everything out of his constitution, he will continue to give. He does what is necessary, if it will benefit the World of Hope. When it comes to this planet, I suspect he doesn't know how to take it easy or to consider his own self and welfare."

"Yup, that's Uncle Xavier. Another thing, too, why he doesn’t relax, is maybe he knows of some hidden trouble brewing, and is keeping an eye on it."

"Maybe."

Just then, the Security Leader joined them in the Garden. "Chop chop, Punk. Look lively. In about an hour the new rotation of the guards for the ore mines will be leaving, and you, Mr. Martin, shall be amongst their ranks."

"What?!" Agent Osmo Martin put aside his glass and sat up. "But- you didn't say anything to about that earlier- You are giving me very little notice to get ready, you know.”

Sec. Ldr. Clyden smiled. "Yup. That's life in the Security Agency. Besides, after your recent blunder, don't complain if so-called short notice to go to the mines is all that happens to you. Anyway, it's quite a dull duty, usually, so it will give you plenty of time to think about how you can better do your job next time we apprehend a criminal."

Clearly, this news upset Sheila Bright. "Security Leader Clyden, must you move Omso to the mines? You know the dust from the fuel ore is radioactive! I don't want him catching something!"

Sec. Ldr. Clyden frowned. "Oh, so you think it's okay for other guards to go and risk something happening to them, but not Agent Martin? Do you think that's fair for the other Security Agents? Should he get special treatment and not have to serve his duty-time at the mines like everybody else?"

Sheila Bright remained silent.

Osmo Martin kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. An assignment of guard duty at the mines is typically only a week, not long enough for the dust to become toxic. I'll be back before you notice I am gone, and we can pick up right where we left off, sitting out here drinking lemonade. Gotta go now and quickly pack my things.”

Sec. Ldr. Clyden nodded. "And hurry- I don't want to keep the others waiting because of you. You know where to find us.”

The Security Leader and Agent Martin both left the Garden at the same time. Sheila stayed there, considering the matter, then she hurried over to the Governor's House and bounded inside, rushing to her Uncle's office. She ignored his secretary and barged into his inner office, where he sat studying some reports.

Xavier Bright looked up, annoyed at the unannounced interruption, until he realized it was Sheila, and then his face became welcoming. "Good morning, Sheila. Is there something I can help you with, or did you simply drop by in the middle of my morning routine for a social visit?"

"I know I am interrupting, Uncle Xavier. Sorry, but I want to complain about Security Leader Clyden sending Osmo to the mines for guard duty in less than an hour, and if I waited until you were free, it would be too late to tell you about it."

He put the papers aside on the desk, puzzled. "Okay, so what's the problem?”

His young niece blurted out, "That mine dust is dangerous, it is radioactive. And Security Leader Clyden practically admitted he is doing it out of spite, because of how Osmo messed up the arrest the other night."

"Really? How strange, considering how many times the Security Leader hinself erred in capturing the trouble-makers previously. However, don't worry about the dust. Honest, the Guards are rotated and brought back to Sparkle City before it can become a health issue.”

“But you'll stop him from sending Osmo, won't you, Uncle? Why should he be allowed to bully Osmo like this?"

Xavier Bright shook his head. "Sheila, guard rotation duty at the mines is part of his job. Whether he is sent as a discipline because of a lapse in his performance of his tasks, or simply because it is his turn, it doesn't matter. Somebody has to serve duty at the mines. This week, it is Osmo. I cannot undermine Security

Leader Clyden's decisions in something like this. His people will lose respect for him." After a moment's pause, he then asked,” “Or, is there another reason you protest, something that you aren't saying?"

Her cheeks reddened. "Like what, Uncle?"

"I know these days you have not had much time to see Osmo, between his Security Agency training and the attempts to round up the house church trouble-makers. Perhaps you wanted to be able to have some moments to enjoy Osmo's company, like when he first arrived?"

"Uncle, if you refuse to help me, then I'd better get back out there to say good-bye before he leaves." She hasted back out the door without directly answering the question. As she left, she heard a slight chuckle behind her. Huh! Well, at least Uncle Xavier found something to chuckle about- her Uncle laughed so little lately.

Sheila dashed across the lawn toward the Security Agency buildings. There, she spotted the land transport that would take the Agents to the mines. A bunch of Security Agents stood about it, waiting to go. Osmo Martin stood there also. He, like the others, carried a small knapsack and also a headset.

Sec. Ldr. Clyden stood apart from them, holding a clipboard and going over some lists, and Agent Samm finished handing out the last of the headsets which they would need at the mines, to blot out the incessant digging music.

Osmo Martin decided to try on his headset. "Hey, this is too tight! I can't wear this one!"

Sec. Ldr. Clyden looked up from the lists. "Is it? Oh, too bad. We don't have anymore available, so just wear it and bear it." With that, he laughed at his joke, but Osmo just winced, not sure if he even understood the Security Leader’s the jest.

Then Osmo saw Sheila. He smiled and left his place by the transport and went to meet her as she headed towards them. She walked with him back to the troop vehicle.

While the two said their fare-thee-wells, Sec. Ldr. Clyden called Agent Samm over to the side. He said a few words to Samm and gave him the clipboard. Clyden announced to the rest of the Agents, "I won't be going with you guys today, to oversee the rotation transition, but I think Mr. Samm can handle it. He's a good Agent, so don't give him any lip, or when you get back here, I will give you a fat lip."

Most of the others chuckled. Some groaned, wondering what was up with all the bad jokes today? The Security Leader seemed in an especially good mood.

Sec. Ldr. Clyden continued, "I wish I could go with, but I must get some accounts from the border patrol robots. I hear there is supposed to be a loose Eater hanging around the edge of town, and I think it is best to verify if that is true or not, so we can take appropriate actions.”

Osmo and Sheila hugged briefly, and then he rejoined the rest of the troops, who began to board the transport. He waved a final time before he entered.

Sheila Bright sighed and turned around. She headed back to the mansion, expecting the week ahead to be full of monotony, which would be a good excuse to go on another shopping spree with Mita Morgan...

Sec. Ldr. Clyden remained in place, standing and watching the transport start its journey to the wilderness and the mining mountain. He stayed in his spot and watched it until it became a speck in the distance. “Good. There go the majority of the most loyal and/or naive supporters of the Governor.

He walked over to an aircar on the Agency Vehicles Lot. He had lied to them. He didn't intend to question the robots. There had been no reports of an Eater sighted nearby. As he got in the skycar, he called Dr. Kitchen on the secure cell to confirm their meeting at the usual spot. "I look forward to seeing how well you've done your work. Perhaps, after I carry out my plan and I am in my new and proper position, you will find yourself a nice promotion.”

(c) 2012 drk

00070

Albert Zoeniga blinked his eyes. He always kept the lights dim here in Kelli O’Mally’s beachside food stand so as not to let others know that someone was inside the locked building since Kelli's Stand had been closed for the past few days. Eventually, someone would investigate why no one operated this stand lately, but for now, Albert called it home. His home, where a robot visited him just now.

Albert Zoeniga cleared his throat, assessing the situation. "Uh, I don't know who you are, X-9, or whatever you said is your name. Why come here? Who sent you to fetch me?"

"Nobody." X-9 rethought that and amended his statement. "Maybe God did, according to what you preach. Either way, I need your help."

"A robot... needs my help? Why? And why aren't you in the recycle pile? You look a mess! What happened to you?"

"I was in the explosion in which you were nearly also caught, but a wall and door between the flashpoint and me provided some small measure of protection from the full force of the blast. Obviously, not very well."

"Oh... you were there??"

"Yes, Mr. Zoeniga. Please accompany me, and I shall show you rather than merely tell you why I need your help."

Albert Zoeniga considered the robot's plea. "Well, why not? What if whatever it is you want to show me, is the reason I have not yet ended up in the ore mines? I must still have a job to do outside the mines. Okay, lead on, I suppose.”

Albert Zoeniga locked up the food stand, and X-9 led him away from the beach. The robot said, "It is not far for a robot, but I do not know if it is far for a human. However, I think you look in well enough shape, so that it should be little problem for you."

"Well, I do keep in shape," said Albert Zoeniga.

The walk took three quarters of an hour. During the travel, X-9 demonstrated skill in staying unnoticed by any passersby. He had developed it into an art form. The robot kept to the shadows and the least-lit places. With the onset of evening, the city's network of alleyways provided ample concealment.

X-9 took Albert towards the city outskirts in the direction of the rocketport. But as they neared the rocketport, suddenly X-9 veered, now heading in the direction of the farms on the periphery of Sparkle City.

Finally, X-9 halted at the edge of Abyss Gorge, near the bridge from which Albert Zoeniga had rescued Security Agent Osmo Martin before. The two moons and the lights from the nearby rocketport made much of the details of the gorge and bridge visible. No traffic crossed the bridge at the moment, and very seldom pedestrians passed this way. And, in fact,  nobody had yet cleaned up that spill of goo.

"Okay, so do we go over the bridge to the farms, X-9?" asked Albert Zoeniga.

"Not quite."

"I hope you aren't going to tell me we must climb down into the gorge itself!"

X-9 replied, "It is not as hard as it seems. I can spot the secure handholds to grab onto, and the safe footholds to step on during our descent. If you are uneasy or afraid, you can hang onto my shoulders, and I will carry you down."

Albert Zoeniga observed once more the poor mechanical state of the robot. "No, thanks."

So X-9 began the climb down the steep wall of the deep chasm. Albert followed him very carefully, trying to not look too far down, only down far enough to see what rocks and ledges the robot utilized during his climb. As the two continued descending, Albert Zoeniga remarked, "X-9, you said it was not very difficult. You're a liar."

X-9 did not go all the way to the bottom of the gorge where the narrow creek flowed. Instead, he held onto a skinny rock shelf and swung himself from there downward and into a cave under the ledge.

"Oh, boy..." muttered Albert Zoeniga, right behind X-9. He, too, tried the same maneuver. When he swung himself inward, into the cave, his feet barely touched the floor of the cavern, and his hands began to slip. Uh oh- Albert found himself toppling backward, ready to fall the rest of the way to the bottom, until X-9's hand reached out and grabbed his wrist and yanked him from danger and into the dark opening.

The robot picked up a flashlight from off a boulder inside the cave upon which he had other sundry supplies sitting. "During her youth, Miss Sheila Bright played in this area. She showed me this cave. She made me promise not to tell her Uncle the Governor- even though robots have no such thing as robot promises- that she played in here, for fear her Uncle might forbid it, because, she said, he might view it as too dangerous for a young girl to be climbing down the way we just went. Miss Bright loved to explore this planet, back then. Gov. Bright ordered me to accompany her during her playtime, as her robot guardian. I wonder, since I allowed her to come down here, if I

perhaps failed as a good guardian..."

Albert Zoeniga tried to relax after that unnerving climb. "Yeah, X-9, I think you were a bit too lenient with your charge. But why did you bring me down here?"

X-9 guided him to a mound of rocks further back in the cave, and to the other side of the rocks, where lay a sleeping figure wrapped in blankets. "I need a human I can trust. I have had very little training in medical matters.”

“Huh- and yet you left Sheila climb around on that cliff when she was a kid?! Amazing. What if Sheila had fallen?"

Albert Zoeniga leaned over to peer at the face poking out of the blanket. Some small blisters here and there, a reddened face, like it had been scorched. A woman's face. Her hair fell from inside the blanket into view, and some of the locks bore signs of being singed recently. She appeared to be sleeping, and very deeply at that, for not even their noisy arrival had awakened her.

Albert Zoeniga grinned, suddenly recognizing who it was. A smile of happiness and surprise covered his face. "It's Mrs. McCleer- Sister Nina! She's alive! -How, though? And she looks in rough shape, if I can judge by her face alone. X-9, what happened? How did she get here?? She was in that blast-! I- I can scarcely believe what I am seeing!!!"

"Which is why I reasoned it to be best if you came here and actually witnessed it with your own eyes, instead of merely my telling you, because then you might not even come see, dismissing me as a crazy slagged robot.”

Albert Zoeniga nodded. "I probably would have! But, tell me the story-"

"Okay. I had overheard plans being made at the Governor's House to raid the old miners' quarters, and I came to warn Mrs. McCleer. I got there just ahead of the Security Agents. I climbed in the miners' building through a high window in the back, a window in a store room, even as Mrs. McCleer had come to that same store room for a wedding cake- I saw your name on it. She didn't have time to hear my warning and escape the raid before Security Leader Clyden and his forces arrived. Once I heard the tear gas missiles being launched, I knew, assuming there were still some samples of various grades of fuel ore lying about, that it was only a matter of moments before an accident must surely happen. Immediately, I flattened Mrs. McCleer against the floor and the outer wall with my robot body, shielding her from the inevitable. She protested and demanded to be let go, calling me a crazy robot, and asking what was I doing- and then there was that great flash."

Albert Zoeniga listened, absorbing the story. "You protected her with your own body. No wonder you look a mess. Then how did Mrs. McCleer get from there to here?”

“The blast knocked her out. In the confusion, with people everywhere- fire fighters, dismayed Security Agents, onlookers coming to see what just happened- I easily crawled out of the burning debris, dragging Mrs. McCleer, and I carried her away under the cover of smoke. She had been bruised and scorched, but I had saved her from the worst of it. Since then, she slips in and out of consciousness, and when she does wake, she is confused. I think it is a fever. I brought her to this cave because I did not want her to be arrested. During those spells when Mrs. McCleer wakes, I can get her to eat and drink a little. I tried to nurse her back to health. From time to time I come back into the city to borrow what supplies I think I might need to help her recover. When I came into town to borrow more supplies, I heard you speaking on the street corner. I had heard about you from street chatter, and also I had seen your name on the cake. I reasoned you and Mrs. McCleer must be friends, so perhaps you would help Mrs. McCleer. I guess I am not made very well to be either a child's nanny or a nurse on my own.”

Albert Zoeniga said, "X-9, we must get her to a hospital-"

"-and then she will be imprisoned,” the robot said. “That is why I sought a human I can trust. If we can get her fever to come down, I think she will be okay after that. Maybe she doesn't have to go to the hospital for help- and to jail."

"Mmm, I don't know, X-9." Albert Zoeniga tried to decide what was best for Mrs. McCleer. "Jane did teach me some things when we volunteered at the Sparkle City Hospital, and even back on Earth, when she had done some volunteering, she had told me some of the stuff they taught her..." Albert checked over the unconscious woman. "There's no guarantee she would get proper care at the hospital, anyway, since they are always short-staffed. And I think moving her and carrying her back up the cliff is dangerous. Maybe she will do just as well if she stays here and we tend to her, for now, like you say, anyway. If we can get down her fever, like you said-"

X-9 said, "Yes, Mr. Zoeniga. But- well, I truly don't want to jeopardize her life, either. If you think it is wiser to take her to the hospital..."

"She seems stable. If she takes a bad turn, or even if she doesn't improve under our care, then we will take her to the hospital.”

“Okay, that sounds good to me," said X-9.

"I still can't believe she's alive..." A touch of excitement was in his voice when Albert Zoeniga next asked, hopefully, "X-9, did anybody else make it out of there alive?"

X-9, in his robot matter-of-fact bluntness, replied, "None of which I am aware. Realistically, how could anybody at all have survived that explosion?"

Albert Zoeniga sighed deeply. "I guess you are right. And yet, Mrs. McCleer survived... Hmmm...”

(c) drk 2012