00074

The young Security Agent Osmo Martin yelled out to the miner, "Mr. McCleer! Mr. McCleer! Is that you?"

But the frenzied No. 317 made no answer. He tried to fight off the mob of human guards, robot guards,and the other miners, all intent on pushing him into the darkness of the moat below- and making of him a meal for the Eaters. No. 317 the minder cried out, "Stop! Don't do this-"

The crazy, continuous beat of the digging music blasted out the entrance to the mining mountain- usually giving the miners motivation to do all they could for Gov. Bright, and this time that included tossing No. 317 to the beasts in the trench surrounding the mountain.

Agent Osmo Martin, even wearing his Security Agent guard headset that muffled that awful, harsh, continuous digging music, heard the loud roaring growls coming from the deep trench, filled with Eaters, which kept the prisoners from escaping- except they usually didn't want to. They did not even realize they were prisoners!

Whatever this miner had done, Osmo Martin couldn't see feeding him to whatever lurked at the bottom of the man-made gorge. And what if it truly was George McCleer? It sure looked like him!

It had been told that George McCleer had perished in a cave-in, buried under tons of rock and stone, while touring the mines. But, this miner resembled him so much- Agent Martin called once more, but this time to the guards who were trying to push the terrified miner down to the hungry Eaters. Osmo Martin insisted, "Stop this, stop it right now!" His demanding tone momentarily took aback the bloodthirsty crowd. And one of the miners who was helping the guards in their efforts to try to push in No. 317, himself too close to the edge of the moat, lost his own footing and slipped into the blackness.

Everybody gasped.

In an instant, the sounds of the Eaters attacking and ripping apart that poor miner echoed upward. It happened so fast, the miner never had time to fight back.

Security Agent Samm decided to bolster the crowd into resuming their attempts at disposing of the miner No. 317, the one who constantly kept trying to escape the mines. Agent Samm said, "Let us not be deterred by somebody’s misstep from our duty- For the Governor! Toss into the moat No. 317!"

His words worked. The mob rallied again its efforts to throw that miner who resembled the missing George McCleer into the moat.

Osmo Martin shouted back, "Agent Samm, you cannot do this! Gov. Bright will be furious if you do!”

Upon hearing that the Governor might be angry, everybody totally stopped.

Agent Samm glared, disliking being countermanded on his first stint substituting for Security Leader Clyden. And by a young recruit, the Punk, yet! Still, he decided he should proceed with caution. What if Agent Martin were right about this being Mr. McCleer, and if Samm carried out the execution sentence anyway, and then Gov. Bright did become angry- That would be worse than losing face with this new guard telling him what to do. He asked, "Explain yourself, Agent Martin! Why should the Governor care if we toss a lowly miner to the Eaters, especially one who is noted for being nothing but trouble since he started mining?"

Osmo Martin replied, "Look at his face. I think that's George McCleer!"

Agent Samm took off his heeadset helmet and peered at 317's face, as if he could see better with his helmet off. Agent Samm shrugged. "I never got a good look at George McCleer, so how can I tell, anyway?”

“Well, I did. Mr. and Mrs. McCleer took the same rocket I rode coming to this planet. I am sure that No. 317 is he!"

Osmo Martin faced No. 317, who stopped fighting his restrainers for the moment during this pause of their crazy struggle to toss him. Osmo Martin asked him, "Are you George McCleer? Tell us! Tell me now!"

Confused, not knowing if the miners' doctor would force more ID-Wipe enhancing pills on him if he admitted to believing his name was George, but also wanting to know if indeed he really was this George McCleer, the poor Digger stuttered before answering, "My name is... No. 317! That's the only name I know-”

Osmo Martin shook his head, not understanding what could have happened, that the miner didn't know his own name. "Agent Samm, don't you think we should call the Security Leader to find out what he says about killing this man, if he is who I think he is?"

Samm grumbled, but conceded. He used his comm-device, but after waiting for a brief passage of time, he said, "Security Leader Clyden's not answering... Eeh. I hate to do this, but I suppose I best call the Governor himself then."

After going through the proper channels, Agent Samm finally reached  Gov. Bright. "Good day, Sir. This is Security Agent Samm. We have a problem here at the mines. We were about to throw a troublesome miner to the Eaters, when Agent Martin begged us to stop and stated his belief that the miner might actually be Mr. George McCleer, the representative from Earth who died in a cave-in."

Agent Samm handed the phone to Osmo Martin. "He wants to speak with you."

Osmo removed his ill-fitting headset and took the comm-unit. He explained excitedly to the Governor, "Gov. Bright, this miner looks just like Mr. McCleer!”

The Governor's voice asked over the phone, "How can that be? He is lying under tons of rock. Are you sure? How can you tell since the mining transformation process distorts the body and alters the face... Besides, we all have our doubles. But, if you think this may be Mr. McCleer, then we best hold off harming him, until we can be absolutely sure. Can you please put Agent Samm back on? Thank you."

Agent Samm spoke with Gov. Xavier Bright. "Yes sir. Yes sir." He returned the cell-comm to his pocket and announced, "Okay, gang, let's knock it off. We can't toss him. Not yet, anyway, until Gov. Bright does some investigating of just who is this miner." He turned to George McCleer the miner. "You got very lucky, No. 317. This time. From now on, I suggest you behave. Furthermore, starting today, we will have a guard to watch over you in your cage whenever you are returned there after your work shift. You won't be able to even breathe without us knowing. I think you will soon realize you have no hope of escape. None at all."

Agent Samm ordered the guards, "Take him back to his cage. You miners, get back to your Rec Time, if you were doing that, or get back to work. Stop wasting the Governor's time out here on this ledge!"

The miners hustled to obey.

As the guards and Samm took away No. 317, Agent Samm told Osmo, "You come with us also, to that miner's pen. Since you made this mess, you will be the one to guard him. And be very vigilant. This one is always trying to get loose."

"Yes, Sir. I will, Agent Samm.”

317, relieved to still be alive, and especially to not be tossed down to the Eaters, was marched back to his cage with no incident.

When the guards brought him there inside the Incarceration Hall, they encountered a problem. No. 317's old cage door had been blown off, but none of the guards knew where the keys were to load him into a new cage. After some quick searching, the keys were found hanging on the wall behind the shelf with the dinner trays. Agent Samm said to Agent Osmo Martin, “Be sure to keep these out of reach of those troublesome miners.”

No. 248 smiled, peering out the bars of his own cage, glad to see 317 back safe and sound. He noted how stressed George/317 looked, but said nothing as the guards loaded No. 317 into his new cage.

Osmo Martin took up his post. Samm gave the Punk his instructions. Osmo tried to pay attention, but he kept thinking... If this were George McCleer, then Mrs. McCleer's accusations carried some weight, to say the least. She had claimed that Gov. Bright had made her husband into a miner... No, it couldn't be! More likely, as the Governor said, it was Osmo's imagination. Because if it wasn't his imagination- No, Gov. Bright wasn't capable of something so terrible. Osmo Martin tried to figure out this riddle. The miner was no help, not knowing who he was.

Before Agent Samm left, Osmo Martin commented on how No. 317 didn't know his identity. "Can you imagine that!"

Samm informed the Security Agent recruit, "No miner knows who he was before he came here."

"What?" Osmo didn't know what the heck Samm was talking about.

"Part of the process to make a miner is that the identity is wiped from the mind,” Agent Samm explained.

Shocked, Osmo Martin exclaimed, "I never knew that! I never heard of such a cruel thing. Does Gov. Bright know?"

"Of course he does."

"But- why? That is barbaric!"

"How so, Punk? Now the miners are happier. You aren't so naive to believe we can get our production quotas from miners who are remembering their days as hardened antisocial criminals while they are supposed to be digging fuel ore? They won't do much for the good of society on their own. We nudge them along, as it were. So we do them a favor. Now they can lead happier, less bitter lives."

"Oh." A touch disillusioning. "But, back on Earth, nobody knows of this. The human rights groups never bring it up."

"Well, we don't, um, advertise what we do to the miners. Why should we? If the people on Earth get their fuel ore, they stay happy and don't raise too many questions."

"Oh." More disillusioning yet.

“Punk, it's a necessary evil. As you mature, you will learn how life works. But how can you think that this is Mccleer? He was crushed when the ceiling fell on him."

Osmo Martin paused. "I- I have no answer. I cannot understand it myself. Maybe the Governor can figure out this mystery."

Samm said, "If there's any trouble, use your helmet radio. We got boosters here and there, so we will get your call. And if you want to keep it private, for only me, here, use this official Security cell-comm. I need to go tell Warden Piku how this situation is now, since you interfered."

A half hour later, surprisingly, someone called on Osmo's cell-comm Security Agency phone. He heard it through his helmet, and he felt it vibrate in his pocket. Now who would be calling him?? Why, it was none other than Gov. Bright! Obviously, somebody told the Governor how to contact Osmo on his new cell-comm.

"Osmo, we are still checking into this very serious matter regarding No. 317. That was pretty sharp of you to see, though, if it is really Mr. McCleer. But how can you account for something like that, if our investigations show this miner to be truly him? It just doesn't make sense. Surely, if you were smart enough to notice a similarity to Mr. McCleer- if it is him- then you must be smart enough to come up with a theory."

Osmo Martin wanted to share with the Governor what he had hypothesized. "I've been giving it quite a lot of thought, Sir. I don't want to blame anyone, but..."

"Yes?"

"Well, Gov. Bright, to be honest, Sir, I don't trust the Security Leader. Maybe you'll want to dismiss me from this job for saying this, but it needs to be said. I don't want to talk out of place, but Mr. Clyden seems lately to have, um, a bit of disdain for you, if I may say so. When someone asks what priority you want the Security Agents to concentrate on for the day, Sec. Ldr. Clyden tells us, but he seems almost to mention your name with contempt. So, I was thinking... What if he found Mr. McCleer, while searching for his body, under the rubble, but in a pocket, and not crushed, and still alive. What if he then made him a miner, to somehow get you accused of such things as those which the protestors from that illegal church group were saying you did, so that you would look bad? It would be sure to discredit you. Who knows, maybe he even had people kidnapped, to be made into miners, as well, with the same goal of tarnishing your reputation, and that was why people accuse you of such things, because Sec. Ldr. Clyden is trying to undermine you!"

"Security Leader Clyden? But why would he do something like that, Osmo?"

"I've been working with him for some time, now, sir. I think I may see points of his character that you do not, like I mentioned to you already about how he seems to not really like you. I suspect he wants to take over your position. If he can get the Leaders on Earth to remove you from your Governorship- Sorry, Sir, I've said too much already."

"Osmo, what an interesting theory. If this is true, how could I not have caught on... I am ashamed that such a thing could have escaped my notice!"

"Ahem, no one is perfect, Sir. Even the best of us can be fooled.”

“Yes, you are right, Osmo. Hmm. You give me some food for thought. Yes, indeed. Thank you for sharing your concerns with me. I appreciate it. I won't forget this. So, you suspect Sec. Ldr. Clyden is trying to incriminate me? Who would have ever suspected?"

(c) 2012 drk