00122




Sheila Bright needed to get this over with so she could return to Uncle Xavier and Mita Morgan. She had no time to waste. As she strode across the grass to the Security Agency Building, she argued with herself about the task. Not whether to do it or not. That argument had already been settled in her mind. She could not- and would not- let down her uncle. She could not let him lose face by not carrying out his threat. Sheila's argument concerned how to do the deed.

Should she simply put her blaster back in its holster, pretend to merely be visiting Osmo Martin at his cell, chat a bit, and when he lowered his guard- ZAP! Quick and easy. No, that felt too cowardly. True, Osmo might not experience any suffering before he knew what hit him, but he deserved better than that. He deserved to know what was coming, by whom, and why.

So then, should she do this to him while he was in his cell, or should she take him outside, to let him die in the open air? Osmo always liked fresh air and the outdoors. Probably he would prefer there than to dying in his stuffy, uncomfortable, droll cell.

The young woman unhesitantly marched up to the door. She unwaveringly entered the building. Sheila traveled up this corridor and down that one, until she finally reached the lock-up cells.

Her heart betrayed her. While she tried to remain cool, objective, her heart knew better, smashing and pounding wildly against her ribs, letting her know it disapproved.

Oh, stop it! This is hard enough! She forced herself to ignore her heart.

She kept a grip onto her blaster as she went through the security door and trudged up to Osmo's cell. She stood before the bars.

Inside, Osmo did not move. He had been sitting on his plastic wall cot, leaning back against the wall. Only his gaze changed position. It had been following her every movement since she came inside the lock-up section with her hand holding onto her weapon, her hand that had often held onto his own hand in times past.

She stared at him, waiting for him to speak. All he did was to arch an eyebrow at her. It was as much a statement as anything he had ever said. He never rose to greet her.

Answering, she said, "I'm sorry, Osmo. I don't want to do this. but I have to. For the good of the World of Hope, so that afterward, after the war, the citizens will still be able to respect Xavier Bright as a strong leader. It is a matter of honor."

No reaction.

She kept the blaster trained on him while she unlocked the door. "Okay, up. Let's go, Osmo." She waved the weapon at him, indicating he should leave his cell.

Without any protest, without a word, Osmo calmly obliged. She kept her blaster trained on him at all times.

"We're headed outside, Osmo. You go first, but remember, I have a blaster. Wait for me at the exit. Don't try to make a run for it, or I will shoot you down like a- like one of those wild animals outside the city. That's right, keep your hands up."

Osmo's silence annoyed and bothered her. Intolerably.

He followed her instructions, showing no emotion. No fear. No anger. No hate. Nothing. Maybe he was in shock.

She took him down the hallways and outside. Osmo paused and waited for her to follow him from the door. He waited to see what new orders she had for him. She kept on the alert for any of his tricks.

He casually said, "You know, Sheila, you're lying to yourself when you say you must do this thing. You're not lying to me, because I don't believe any of it. But you are trying to convince yourself. However, the plain truth is that you do have a choice, Sheila. And your choice is to murder me."

She drew in a sharp breath upon hearing his charge. Oh, I hope Osmo did not hear that! I can't let him know that one got to me!

Sheila kept her tone all business. "We'll walk along the lawn to the Morning Garden. You know the way. I know you always like it there."

His hands still up, he nodded. "Well, yeah, I did during those times we spent there together. You always brightened the garden. We had some nice times in the garden. Now, though, I don't feel that sentimental about the Morning Garden anymore, strangely enough. It seems like it's nothing special, under the circumstances."

That stung! She wiped a tear from her eye. "Keep going. Don't turn around and- and don't talk!" He mustn't see her tear!

Osmo shrugged, as if it didn't matter to him. He stayed in front of Sheila as they proceeded to the Morning Garden. "I see now Gov. Bright has you, too, to do his dirty work for him. Like he gets everybody else, and then he can keep his own hands clean. If it's come to this point, that he must see that his threat is carried out, does that mean Earth has now sent its Army to squash your Uncle like a bug and replace him?"

She kept silent.

"I take that as a yes, Sheila. Good, I'm glad they finally came. You see, I had called them and told them to come, to send their Army, because Gov. Bright must be stopped. I managed to contact them that short time when I escaped. Your Uncle may have jammed communications between the two worlds, but I found a way. Yes, I immediately called them and told them it was time to depose the evil Gov. Bright."

Sheila glared. Her head boiled, ready to erupt. "How could you!?" she demanded, full of indignation. "How dare you call him evil and betray my Uncle! A great man like him- How dare you?!! He brought you here and was your host! He made you a Security Agent! How could you?! He is a great man- if only you were half the man he is!!" Her trigger finger twitched, ready to blast him without any more talking.

And there they were then- They arrived at the Morning Garden.

Osmo stopped, turned, and faced Sheila. "You know by now why Gov. Bright took me in, don't you? He wanted to keep me close for just this occasion. You can shoot me, but I will never regret calling Earth to come stop him, not even to my final breath, because your Uncle must be taken down. I realize now he must be behind so many bad things that happened on Hope. Like the disappearances of the citizens. I am pretty sure now that that miner I saw truly is George McCleer. And others must be in the mines who do not belong there, too- Certainly, Clyden did the dirty work for your Uncle. He took them to the mines for him. But Gov. Bright is the one behind it. Clyden was only his stooge, to be used, same as you now are."

Her cheeks flashed hot red. She shoved her blaster up against his chest. "Shut up! Shut up! That's not true! I am not his stooge! Even if what you say is true, even if Mr. Clyden was a stooge, that doesn't mean I am! I am his niece! I am not just some stooge! I am a Bright! Uncle Xavier loves me! Enough of this- Get ready for it, Osmo! Maybe pray, like Albert would tell you; make your peace with God, or something, because soon you'll be meeting Him face-to-face!"

Osmo crossed his arms, unperturbed. "Sheila, why should it concern you? Will that make you feel less guilty, if you knew I were in a nice place after you murder me? I don't much fear death. Go ahead, Sheila. Shoot."

She took a step back, but still pointed the blaster at his heart. The blaster shook in her hand. She delayed a moment to ask him, "Answer me this, before I- before I kill you. Why, Osmo, why did you not try to escape me when we were coming over here for me to shoot you? Why did you not try to overpower me, knock the blaster out of my hand, and make a run for it? I hear you tossed a toy right inTO Mita's face without a second thought when she caught you before."

Osmo laughed at the question. "For crying out loud, Sheila, what's Mita to me? She's nothing special to me. But you- Well, I'd rather be zapped than hit you, Sheila. Okay, tell you what. I'll make this easy for you. Go ahead. Take a free shot. I won't struggle, duck, or anything. Blast me, if you want to."

She scowled, and set her mind to the task. She grit her teeth. She steeled her nerve. She hardened her heart. She- She- She-

Furious, she snapped. She screamed at him, "You miserable, low-life worm! You- You-" She grunted and threw the blaster- hard- at his head. Like he promised, he didn't duck. The blaster bounced off his forehead.

"Ouch."

"You- you made me betray my uncle! I- I hate you for that! But- I can't kill you! I hate you and I hate myself for that, for failing Uncle Xavier, for being weak when the future of Hope's well-being depends on me making my Uncle look strong! Oh, how can I ever face him again?!"

Osmo bent down and picked up the blaster. "Sheila, don't hate yourself for being human. When the Army arrives, I intend to join forces with them. Sheila, you can help. Your help will be invaluable. Maybe you can talk Gov. Bright into giving himself up, so there's no loss of life."

She considered it for a brief moment. Sheila then shook her head violently, emphatically. "No, no, no! Even though I failed him, my place is still by his side! I'm going back to Uncle Xavier!"

Osmo's face fell. "I... see..."

A loud rushing high overhead, very loud, very high overhead, automatically caused both to turn their gazes upward. Three giant rockets, large even from the perspecive down here, streaked across Sparkle City's otherwise clear sky, heading out to the rocketport for a place to land.

Osmo returned his gaze upon Sheila. "I guess this is it, then." He started off for the back parts of the Leader's Hill (formerly knows as the Governor's Hill). He intended to head down the side of the hill close to the cliffs overlooking the sea, and the steep side below the cliffs, which usually got the least amount of attention.

"I'll go sneak around the hill and catch up with Earth Army, Sheila. You take care."

She nodded. "Yes, Os. Likewise, you watch out, okay? Don't be giving anybody anymore free shots!"

He smiled. "Okay. I promise."

With that, he left, and she set off on the opposite way to rejoin her Uncle and Mita.

(c) drk 2012

00121





An hour earlier...

Hope Leader Xavier Bright and Security Leader Mita Morgan sat at the Hope Leader's desk in his inner office, inspecting a few random blasters taken from a very large box setting on the floor. Civilian Defense Group Leader Sheila Bright stood at ease, in her CDG uniform, by the box, waiting.

Ldr. Bright nodded approvingly. He turned to his niece. "And there are twelve more boxes at the Security Agency Building?"

"Yes, Sir," she answered formally.

"These look good. I want you to see that those CDG volunteers who are still unarmed receive a weapon."

"Okay, Uncle-" She forgot herself. When in uniform, she tried to be professional. "Yes, Sir." She put the blasters which had been checked back into the box and picked up the box of blasters. Despite its load, the box was not heavy; the blasters were lightweight for their appearance. "I will have Drummond distribute them."

"Very good," Ldr. Bright agreed.

After Sheila Bright exited with the box, Ldr. Bright let out a sigh. "I think we shall soon have more than enough trouble, and these blasters in the hands of the CDG may yet prove more useful than I actually expect."

"You mean as a contingency, in case the CDG Force will need to be more than just a distraction?"

"Since both I and the Leaders of Earth are jamming each others' interplanetary communications, and our spies cannot call us, there is therefore no need to keep up the charade of letting Earth think our CDG volunteers will be our main fighters to meet them, when Earth comes to invade us. But we must ready the CDG volunteers anyway, just in case we actually do need to use them in the war. And it may come to that, if Earth comes too early, before all is ready. I cannot expect that holding Osmo Martin hostage and threatening his life will be stall their inevitable attack forever."

"Ldr. Bright, we are far along with our preparations," Mita Morgan reminded him. "The rods are almost assembled and calibrated. They just need to be erected in their places. The new power fuel batteries which have been developed should give the rods enough energy to continue uninterrupted for days, if need be."

"Excellent. Our oxygen recycling program will allow us to continue for a long time once we turn them on, should we need a long time to keep the rods activated." Xavier Bright still did not smile or relax, despite their progress. He took new reports in hand and studied them.

Ldr. Bright's communicator device buzzed him urgently. He quickly answered. "Yes?" He kept a poker face, but his blazing eyes betrayed his emotions. "I see. I see. Yes." He put away the commications unit.

Now the Hope Leader frowned. "I am surprised that Gunther Martin's influence with the Committee and the Council has already worn to an end. The debating about sending the Earth military and endangering osmo is now over."

Surprised also, Mita Morgan asked, "They are here?"

"Beta Moonbase confirmed over the emergency channel that three military rockets just came out the wormhole. I expect the space mine field shall only stop one of the three rockets. After that, the other two will become aware of the danger, and the survivors will manage to open a way through my little greeting to our mine field in space."

Mrs. Kline buzzed the World of Hope Leader, to let him know his niece was back in the Leader's House, in the outer office. He had Mrs. Kline send her in.

Ldr. Bright told his niece, "It is now the time we have prepared for, Sheila. The war has started. Despite my threats against the life of Osmo Martin, Earth has now sent three Army rockets through the wormhole."

In her excitement and distress over the news, Sheila once more forgot formalities. "What shall we do, Uncle? We cannot let them take over our world, the world which you have made into what it is today."

"As you know, I do not intend to allow that, CDG Leader Bright. Contact all CDG Squad Heads and all Security Agent Team Heads, and tell them to spread the word immediately, as fast as they can, to be ready for a momentous message. I shall instruct the Administration News Department to do likewise over their network. In ten minutes, I shall speak to the public. My message shall be carried on every screen, public, private, and personal. It shall be a very important broadcast. The most important yet for the World of Hope. Sec. Ldr. Morgan, also contact the Warden at the mines. They, too, my loyal miners, should hear this. Warden Ung is to pipe my message through the miners' PA system. It is a rare day, when the miners' inspirational digging music is interrupted for more than a few short announcements. This is much bigger. Meet me at the flagpole in ten minutes."

"Yes, Sir." The two women turned and headed out the door at a trot.

Ldr. Bright called to Mita Morgan. "One moment, please."

She stopped to see what he wanted. "Yes, Ldr. Bright?"

"Sec. Ldr. Morgan, I want you to tell Struber and his gang of Hopers of the Earth military's arrival. He will understand. The time we discussed has come. Those tourists which he would not allow to leave the World of Hope have made an uneasy place for themselves in the rocketport lounge durfing their involuntary protracted stay at the port. Now Struber shall corral them like cattle onto the landing fields. Any Earth Army rockets that make it past our defenses in space will find there is no convenient place for them to set down on in Sparkle City. They will need to go elsewhere, probably to the wilds a few miles outside. The new rods' protection will not extend to the rocketport. Nevertheless, do not situate Struber and the tourists further back into the city. He must stay there right where he is, and do his part. I will not allow the invaders to make a base so close to our homes!"


Sec. Ldr. Morgan gave Struber his orders on her Security Agency comm-unit as she went out Ldr.Bright's office. Next, she called the Security Agents' Team Heads per orders and assigned them the task of alerting the people of Sparkle City to the upcoming broadcast in ten minutes.


At the prescribed time, Ldr. Bright took his position before the flagpole. The flag of Earth flew high upon the pole toward the back of the Leader's House, flapping over the Leader's Grounds. Against a white field, a blue circle symbolized their motherworld, and the encircling stars denoted the Earth Leaders.

Sec. Ldr. Morgan and CDG Leader Bright stood with Hope Ldr. Bright. The news agents aimed their focus upon him. Many citizens had been hastily rounded up to attend this most important announcement.

Ldr. Xavier Bright began by pointing to the flagpole behind him. "Watch. What you are about to see is a visual lesson you will remember and tell to your children and your grandchildren in years to come."

Former Security Agent Samm lowered the Earth flag down the pole. He took it off and handed it respectfully to Ldr. Bright.

"Thank you. Now pay attention, citizens of the World of Hope." So saying, he took the Earth flag and threw it onto the ground.

A few of the News people gasped in shock.

"Mr. Samm, if you would do the honors?"

"My pleasure, Ldr. Bright." Samm took out a lighter and lit the Earth flag. It caught fire and burned.

A murmur of amazement came from the gathered people.

The News cameras turned to the flag, and then from the burning flag to Xavier Bright, to see his reaction. He faced each lens, determination and defiance written all over his face.

"Citizens of the World of Hope, only ten minutes ago three Earth Space Army rockets emerged from the wormhole into our space. Earth sent their Army in order to continue to keep us in servitude to the them, and to keep our world under their jurisdiction- our world, which we have strived and labored and struggled over, to make it what it is. The World of Hope has its faults. No one ever denied that fact. Diamonds have flaws. But Earth's desire to exploit us and treat us as their lackeys aggravates our difficulties. Well, now you see, by what I did to their flag, what I think of their impending attempt to keep us under their thumb."

Xavier Bright glanced down to the burnt and still smoldering flag on the lawn.

"So much for Earth and its tyranny. Those days are over. This turn of events should come as no shock to anyone, for during the last few weeks, the planet Earth and the World of Hope have become quite estranged from each other. At last our disagreements come to a head.

"We do not have long before the Invaders set foot upon our ground. Some obstacles have been put in their way, but certainly at least one rocket will get past those obstacles. Therefore, I say, spread the news, as fast as you can, to all you know, to those who may have missed this announcement. I have a few things to say, and very little time to say them. However, this is what I must say, and what you must tell any who have not heard-

"First- I now declare the World of Hope free and independent of Earth. From this day forward, we shall be our own rulers. We refuse to recognize Earth as our master!

"Second- Earth has committed an act of war against us when they sent those rockets full of soldiers. I, therefore, declare war on Earth!

"Third- It is up to us, to me and you, people of the World of Hope, to fight off the oppressors when they come! Use everything you can! If you don't have a blaster, use a stick! If Earth wants a fight, we will oblige them! Victory belongs to us!!

"And fourth- fix your eyes on the flagpole behind me."

The people turned their attention to where Hope Leader Bright had indicated. He stood at attention, as did Sec. Ldr. Morgan and CDG Leader Sheila Bright, while Mr. Samm raised a new flag, a flag showing an orb with two satellite moons and a yellow sun in the distance on a purple field.

When the flag reached the zenith, Ldr. Bright saluted it. He turned back to face the News Agents and the small crowd of spectators. "Citizens, I present our new flag, symbol of our new, free World of Hope!"

Some Hopers, planted in with the citizen spectators, clapped and cheered for Ldr. Xavier Bright's message. Sec. Ldr. Morgan and CDG Ldr. Bright stood and saluted the flag. Soon, the other spectator citizens also applauded or saluted, and then the News folks joined in.

Xavier Bright stood there for a long minute, listening, smiling. Then, he raised his hands for quiet, because he wanted to speak again. "All able-bodied people, report immediately to your nearest CDG Center, to find where best you can be positioned so as to best be able to do your part to repel the Invaders. I have no more to say, for now is not the time to talk, but the time to act, to fight for the World of Hope! Fight for the future of your world- of our world! THE WORLD OF HOPE!!!You are dismissed!"

And so, the spectators and the News crews scrambled about. The News people rushed back to the city proper, to cover the reactions of the citizens, and the other spectators rushed back to town to find their places in the upcoming battle. And then there were some Newspeople who rushed back to town to quickly join the CDG force, to do their own part in the war.

Ldr. Bright checked his personal screen to read updates on how well his defenses in space worked. Sheila and Mita Morgan remained at his side, awaiting instructions. The Hope Leader's face darkened as he read.

"The laser cannon at Beta Moonbase blew up in their faces after their second shot. The cannon on Alpha Moonbase never fired. And somehow the minions of Earth learned of our hidden orbital mines, for the lead rocket stopped just before they reached the mines- And then, that is all the news I have. It seems that the moonbases are now under attack. I do not expect the soldiers and staff to be able to hold out very long against the larger numbers from Earth. A minor setback."

Clearly annoyed, he put away the small screen. He told Sheila, "Sec. Ldr. Morgan and I must oversee the final plans. We shall be very busy these next few hours. You are included in those plans, Sheila. You shall later meet us halfway down the hill, where I wish to oversee the progress of setting up an important part of our city's defenses. But first, before you join us, I have an assignment for you, my niece. A difficult one. A very difficult one."

She paled. "Yes, Uncle?"

"I think you already know what it is."

She looked down at the ground. "Yes, Uncle, I do know."

Xavier Bright continued. "I know it is much to ask of you. It is not something any of us wish to see done, but it is something that must be done. If I do not carry out my threat, no one will respect me after our victory. I will not respect me."

Sheila spoke in barely audible tones. "I understand, Uncle..."

"Sheila, look up. Look at me. Look in my eyes. I want to know, Can you do it? Can you carry out this assignment and kill our hostage?"

She stared up into his face. Trying to hide the lump in her throat, trying to fight tears that wanted to fall from her eyes, she nodded weakly. "I can do it!"

He smiled a pleasureless smile. "Yes, of course you can. You are my niece. I have instilled my values in you. You are a Bright. You have an inner strength just like Selina, my sister, your mother, to do what needs to be done."

Mita Morgan watched Sheila's quivering nod. Concerned, Mita asked Sheila, "Are you sure you can handle this, Sheila? Let me know if you are unable. If you cannot, I can send a Security Agent, or Mr. Samm, to do it."

Determination set into Sheila's face. She shook her head. "No, Sec. Ldr. Morgan, you will not! Ldr. Bright has assigned the task to me! It is my responsibility! All of us will have to be hard as rock to make hard choices before this day is over. I won't shirk my duty the minute the war begins. I will- execute Osmo Martin!"

Ldr. Xavier Bright studied her face. He squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Yes, I believe you, CDG Ldr. Bright. Go now, do as you are told, make your world proud of you and of your service."

Sheila Bright turned away from them. She unholstered her blaster, a coldness in her eyes,  and she marched resolutely across the lawn toward the Security Agency Building, where Osmo sat in a cell wondering when they were going to feed him.


Above the small world, on the command bridge of the Scorpion Leader, General Schnell was pleased to see the other two Scorpion rockets had joined him from their missions on the moons, and he was also pleased to see a wide enough path was almost cleared through the belt of the orbiting, hidden mines.

(c) drk 2012

00120





Several hours earlier... on planet Earth...

Three large military rockets rested on their launching platforms, upon their bellies, side-by-side-by-side, the largest of the rockets being the Space Army's Scorpion Leader. All hatches were shut. Systems checks verified mounted lasers and the other weapons systems were behind protective panels for travel through the atmosphere.

In the control tower, the countdown began. At zero, the rockets blasted off into the sky, pushing away from the Earth, toward the blinking beacons in a very distant orbit, beacons signaling the location of the entrance to the wormhole. Thanks to the gravity trick Dr. Hope Martin had performed to keep the wormhole in a safe place far away from Earth, the same trick also kept the wormhole positioned always near the planet as the world circled the sun each year.

The Scorpion flagship entered the wormhole first; Scorpion Two came next, and then Scorpion Three. The Army space rockets prudently flew through the strange cosmic tunnel single file.


Inside the Scorpion Leader, General Vernon Schnell unstrapped himself and smiled with satisfaction. He watched from the large captain's bridge the unbelievable sights presented to his eyes inside this weird tunnel in space.

Capt. Pike's stone face showed his seriousness about commanding this rocketship. The General looked a bit more relaxed, however. He turned to Leader Arthur Bigges and Gunther Martin, in their seats behind his. "We are hours ahead of schedule. I am very proud of our volunteer soldiers comprising this mission."

"As should you be," said Gunther Martin. "Eh, General, this affair should be done in a day or two, wouldn't you say?"

Earth Leader Bigges inquired, "Why, Gunther, what's your hurry?"

"You know I cannot let my business alone for too long without my hand to guide it, Arthur. Maybe it can run without me, but then again, maybe it will fall apart under someone else's watch. I am unwilling to chance it."

Ldr. Bigges kidded, "Or, maybe you are afraid you will find out it can run fine without you."

Gen. Schnell winked knowingly to Gunther. "Not to worry, Mr. Martin. Putting Gov. Bright in his place- the brig- should be a quick process. I, too, do not want to be away from Earth too long. I have an anniversary to celebrate, and we have special plans for a third honeymoon."

"Besides," Arthur Bigges added, "if you are so concerned, just remember- Nobody made you come along." Then, Arthur Bigges jokingly suggested, "We can stick you in a life pod and send you back home, if that works for you, Gunther."

Less jovial, the founder of Martinology shook his head at Bigges' foolishness. "No thanks. I think it best I come along. I want to find where Osmo went to hide from Gov. Bright, and I want to find him before Gov. Bright does, in case he wants to get revenge and carry out his threats against my son. And when we have Xavier Bright under lock and key, I want to talk with Osmo, face to face, about coming back to Earth. It's time for him to learn how to run the corporation. He has become a responsible person during his stay on Hope. His Mom'd be proud of him."

"No more burning down houses, eh, Gunther?" asked the Earth Leader.

Tactfully, Gunther Martin didn't answer.


In less than a half hour, the rockets reached the other end of the wormhole.

As soon as the Scorpion Leader emerged out the other side, the small, one-man patrol space ships, which were guarding the World of Hope's side of the space tunnel, sent the Scorpion Leader a stern message-  They were so close to the Earth rockets that their proximity bypassed Gov. Bright's communications jamming.

"Halt! Do not approach the World of Hope! Your flight has not been scheduled, and it is unauthorized. Proceed to Beta Moonbase upon our smaller moon. Land, and prepare to be boarded!"

Scorpion Two came next out the wormhole, then Scorpion Three. All three had been warned by the tiny guardships, and all three ignored the warning.

Gen. Schnell chuckled. "Like a sparrow threatening an eagle," he bragged to Gunther Martin and Ldr. Arthur Bigges.


The handful of small patrol rockets flitted about in front of the huge Earth Army rockets, trying to be a nuisance, which was about all they could do. Much more nimble and maneuverable, the sentry craft lacked any real firepower- not enough to contest a battle rocket. And yet, one brave- or stupid- patrol pilot dared to try. He came close to the starboard side of Scorpion Three and zapped the ship. Then it quickly scampered away.

"Okay, that does it," thundered Gen. Schnell. "We tried to be nice. Now let 'em have it- All of the patrol ships. You know what to do."

The Captain relayed the order.

The patrol ships danced here and there, close, distant, near again. They dashed as close as they could and blasted the big rockets, then soared away once again, inspired by the first little attacker. They did no damage except for one blaster shot that crippled a laser on Scorpion Three.

The Earth Space Army used a different weapon other than one based on blaster technology to answer the patrol ships' challenge. The choice of the moment was a disruptor beam. Zap! Zap! Zapzap!! In a few minutes, all of the space patrol vessels had been disabled by the beam. They had proved hard, elusive targets to hit, but patience won the game. Once the beam struck a patrol rocket, it scrambled its circuits, leaving the craft dead in space.

Gen. Schnell ordered Scorpion Two to send out its rescue "boats", to tow the inoperable mini-rockets back to safety and life support on the Alpha Moon. Furthermore, Scorpion Two was to follow the rescue boats, and to take over Alpha Moonbase. Likewise, Scorpion Three must take over Beta Moonbase. Once that objective had been achieved, the two Scorpions were then to leave behind some troops to keep the bases subdued, while the Scorpion rockets followed the Scorpion Leader- which was expected to be, by that time, on the World of Hope, setting up a base.

"Roger that," the Scorpions Two and Three rocket commanders responded.


As Scorpion Three approached the Beta Moon, a brilliant flash of intense energy burst forth from the moon itself, paining the eyes of any looking directly in that direction. The energy burst headed straight for the invading rocket. It hit like a comet, knocking Scorpion Three to the side. Hull fractures had to be quickly sealed. Some unfortunate soldiers, minus any space gear, flew out those hull breaches into the vacuum before the hulls were sealed again.

Gen. Schnell, livid over the loss of life of his troops, directed the Scorpion Leader to turn around. "Fire some splatter bombs at the base- That should knock them out of commission!"

Still furious over the surprise attack, he complained to Earth Leader Bigges and Gunther Martin, "So, Gov. Bright has even installed weapons on his moon which the Leaders of Earth had forbidden the World of Hope to do. Somehow, he improvised and made his own laser cannon! He has much to answer for-"

However, before any of the splatter bombs were launched, the moon laser cannon fired a second time, at the Scorpion Leader rocket now. The shot missed the flagship completely. And then the laser cannon fired no more.  A huge flare, coming from the spot where the laser cannon bursts originated, indicated trouble with the laser cannon. The bright flare suggested the cannon's demise.

"Ha! So much for Gov. Bright and his improvised weapons," gloated the General. "I'm guessing the cannon blew up, and our videos are showing the explosion took half of Beta Base with it. Oh, Gov. Bright may be able to sneakily put a laser cannon up there, but he does not have the ability to testfire it, to make sure all systems are running properly, without tipping his hand ahead of time. That'll teach them a lesson! Waylay that order for the splatter bombs, Captain."

"Aye, Sir."

Scorpion Three resumed its path to the Beta Moonbase, to land and take control of what was left of the World of Hope's outpost, and to make much needed repairs to its own hull.

Scorpion Two landed at Alpha Moonbase without incident.

Gen. Schnell checked the incoming reports. He nodded, watching the progress on different video screens that were showing the taking over of the bases. "We're not doing so badly. Gov. Bright gave us a little bit of a fight. He has some spunk, but not much brains. I think you shall be back in your big, soft executive chair on Earth sometime before Friday, Mr. Martin."

Gen. Schnell said to Captain Pike, "Now let's continue on to the World of Hope."


"Knock it off, X-9! Ice crystals aren't anything to be afraid of!" bellowed Clyden furiously. He tried to take the experimental aircar into outer space, despite the big flash they had just seen coming from the one moon. "What's the matter with you? Is your Seymour's Disease scrambling your electronic brain more than before?”

"Those aren't ice crystals, Mr. Clyden," X-9 replied, stubbornly refusing to let go of the control of the vehicle. His hook-up to the prototype skycar's computer overrode Clyden's manual control.

X-9 kept the aircar in a sub-orbit altitude, just inside the atmosphere. He told Clyden, "While the flash may have startled your eyes, and all of you momentarily blinked your eyes, only to see the residual twinkling reflection once you again looked, I, on the other hand, had no need to blink my eyes."

Clyden said to the robot head. "So, what did you see? If those twinkles aren't ice crystals, what are they?"

"Those are space mines in orbit, just above the air envelope- hundreds, probably thousands, floating there unseen, somehow cloaked from view. The aircar's sensors barely shows anything. It looks like just a smudgy cloud, and anyone would easily mistake it for a sensor anomaly. But when the flash's light hit them, it was so bright, I suspect the space mines could not absorb the light all at once, and for a brief moment they became visible. Too fast for the human eye to see, but not theeyes of a robot, I could see theiroutline. I am certain they are space mines- What else could it be, hidden in orbit?"

Tretl Clyden looked at the radar. "Yer right, it doesn't show much. But if you are correct, that means that weasel Gov. Xavier has laid a trap, presumably because he is expecting Earth any day now to send the military here to remove him from his office. He put mines here, wrapped in camo-wrap. Hey, look over that way, to the south, but up above, in space- I see some rockets- big rockets, and with Earth Space Army insignias! Already they have come! We don't gotta go to Earth to talk to them after all, guys, about what they did to George!"

"It's about time they sent somebody," fumed Nina. "They should have come here as soon as I had told them my suspicions of my husband's kidnapping on the secret commmunicator device that I found in George's things."

"You found it?" asked George McCleer, surprised.

Concerned for his friend, Albert Zoeniga, still holding X=9 on his lap, said, "If Earth sent the Army to take Gov. Bright out of power, then what will happen to Osmo, since he is a Security Agent? He may find himself on the wrong side of a battle-"

Clyden cut them short. "Look, that's not important right now! We gotta let the Army know about the mines, or that lead rocket is going to head right into the mine field! X-9, radio them for me-"

X-9 replied, "Mr. Clyden, something is jamming communications. There must be some radio jamming satellite in the vicinity, and while it may not stop the Earth ships from talking to each other, this vehicle lacks the power to broadcast over the jamming of our signal."

Now all of them could make out the large Army rocket as it rapidly neared the atmosphere- and the invisible mines!

"Oh no, we must do something to alert them-" said Nina McCleer.

"Like what, though?" asked Clyden. "We must help them, so that they can land in one piece and do their duty to get rid of that scum Gov. Xavier!"

Billy Boy had an idea. "If we cannot talk to them to tell them of the danger, then we must make them aware of it some other way. If this aircar has weapons, which I think it does, because it sure looked like it had openings for zapping with blaster fire, then we just fire away at the disguised mines floating in the rocket's pathway. You're bound to hit a space mine, even firing blindly and just randomly shooting, so that it explodes and they can see what they are about to run into!"

"Good idea, Billy Boob," Clyden agreed. "X-9, help me find out how to fire our blasters- We do have blasters like he said, right?"


Meanwhile, Captain Pike watched the viewscreen. He suddenly called to Gen. Schnell. "I see, in the distance, some kind of strange aircar- like none I have ever seen before-"

Gen. Schnell asked, "Only one?"

"Coming right toward us," replied the Captain. "Hey- the aircar's firing at us- But whoever it is blasting away, he is a terrible aim-"

Gen. Schnell frowned. “Okay, we will just turn the disruptor beam on it, then.”

Capt. Pike replied, “No time, General. The beam has cooled since we last used it, and must again be warmed before it has a decent charge, Sir.”

"Well, then, we must use blasters and lasers. I cannot imagine why there is only one of them attacking us, but let's shoot first and ask questions later. Perhaps it is unmanned. Just in case it is not, fire a warning shout," Gen. Schnell told Capt. Pike.

"Yes, sir."

As the Captain saw to it that the order was carried out, the wild blaster fire from the aircar finally hit a hidden mine. It blew up with a gigantic explosion, a half=mile away from the amazing skycar.

Gen. Schnell wondered, "What was that? An explosion in space, when there is nothing there? I see just ice crystals-"

Capt. Pike suggested, "Let us check a replay on the viewing monitor."

Immediately, the General and the Captain saw, when the replay froze just to the point as the space mine blew up, that a whole field of space mines lay in their way.

While they made that discovery, the warning shot which they had fired at the aircar, aimed to miss them by only a few feet, managed to also strike a mine as the zipping aircar passed by directly beneath the invisible mine.

The huge eruption of that mine sent a force of plasma and shrapnel hard into the stratosphere, and into the aircar, hitting it with much more force than the gale force winds of the blizzard had been able to produce. The assault on the craft knocked it out of its flight. It spun wildly across the sky and then fell down into the dark clouds on the night side of the planet.

The Captain called for the immediate halt of the Earth Space Army rocket.

Gen. Schnell said, "There's a mine field ahead of us! Look how powerful are the blasts! Probably power fuel mines- Illegal, no matter what kind, that's for sure. So, that brave aircar pilot was trying to warn us- And we misunderstood- Oh, I pray for the souls of the brave men and women in that aircar, whoever they might be-"

Gunther Martin acknowledged, "Gov. Bright is a crafty one, he is!"

"No matter, he's still a wanna-be who we'll cut down to size," promised Gen. Schnell.

Leader Bigges told Gunther Martin, "Do you see now why I thought Earth should act in haste against Xavier Bright, before he could strengthen his defenses- and his offenses!" And he warned the General, "Take care, Gen. Schnell. Gov. Bright has more surprises in store for us- of that I am certain."

Gen. Schnell grumbled, “Blast us a pathway through the orbiting space mines- from a safe distance, of course! That will take a bit of time! Perhaps the other Scorpions will have finished their assignments and will join us when we go downstairs."

"He knows we are coming," said Gunther Martin. "I am glad to know that, at least Osmo has escaped from being his hostage, so that he cannot harm Osmo now that we are here!"

(c) drk 2012

00119





"Yeah, listen to the robot head," Clyden advised everybody. "We can't stop for a social!" He nodded over his shoulder, back to the hallway. "We gotta get that long metal sheet that fell from the roof. Billy Boob, give me a hand."

Billy Boy stepped back out into the hallway with Clyden.

The robot's head called, "Mr. Clyden, why do you want that? And do we really have time to grab it, anyway?"

As Clyden and Billy Boy struggled to maneuver the heavy metal sheeting through the doorway and into the foyer, Clyden explained how they would use it to hide under from the acid spray. As Clyden and Billy Boy came back into the foyer, Clyden looked hard at the robot head in Albert Zoeniga's arms. "Is that you, X-9? You just up and left Gov. Xavier one day, awhile ago. We never knew what happened to you. Seymour's Disease, I take it?"

"I suspect as much," admitted the metal head.

As Clyden and Billy Boy lugged the sheeting across the short foyer, Clyden gave a cocky laugh. "Well, you seem to be doing all right for yourself, since you struck out on your own. Ya look great, X-9."

Meanwhile, George and Nina McCleer held each other in a tight embrace. They had been this way since they first recognized each other. George had to stoop down to even reach his wife very well to hug her, since the miner transformation had increased his height as drastically as his frame.

Nina told George, "X-9 protected me from the blast. That's why I'm still alive, George."

"What blast?" a stunned George McCleer asked. "This blast- Is that why your face is scarred?"

Nina touched her face self-consciously. "Oh, you noticed."

He hugged her harder, taking care not to crush her with his transformed body's strength. "Yeah, a little, but you're still my beautiful Nina. And did you notice I, too, am different?"

She glanced at his miner's body. "Yeah, Hon, you do seem a bit... different, truth to tell."

George chuckled at this.

Clyden interrupted. "Okay, time to go. The acid's starting to nibble away this foyer, and we better get moving."

George McCleer glared at Tretl Clyden. "What's this about a blast that Nina says? What haven't you told me? You obviously knew about it, because you were surprised to see my wife still alive!"

Nina side-tracked George's anger with another squeeze and a kiss. "George, I'm so glad you're back! I always suspected you were alive and had been made a miner! We have stories to tell- but now's not the time! We have to go, and right now!"

The acid burned a hole completely through one of the walls. Acid splashed in, carried by the wind.

Albert Zoeniga and the others noticed it. Albert told the escaped miners, "There's an aircar out in the building in the back. We planned to use that to get back to Sparkle City, by hooking up X-9 to the control console computer inside the aircar. But that blue creature out there has been waiting for us, to make a meal of us-"

"Not anymore," replied Clyden, "so let's get out to that aircar. It is, after all, why we came here in the first place."

Albert puzzled about that. "You escaped the mines and came all the way up here, for an aircar? You could've gotten one in Sparkle-"

"It's a long story," said Billy Boy, "and no time to tell it at the moment."

"Okay. But we also have another problem," Albert said. "The back door is jammed shut and we can't open it."

Clyden snorted. "No trouble for a miner, Zoeniga." Obviously, Clyden remembered Albert. "McCleer, Billy Boob and I got this here metal sheet. You go get the door- and hurry!"

George nodded. He went to the door and seized the lock wheel in his grip. His muscles bulged as he pulled hard to open the hatch. The door squealed at him in pain. Nina watched her husband, amazed and impressed with his strength.

As George did this, Clyden, while waiting and holding onto the sheeting, chortled. "Now let me get this right," he said to Nina McCleer and Albert Zoeniga. "You guys were gonna let X-9 fly ya outta here? I don't think the robot's ever had any flying experience. And in this blizzard, you were going to let him fly you?? No way!"

"We didn't have a choice," Albert reasoned. "None of us know how to fly. At least X-9 read the manual. And there's another problem. We found out, when we accidentally set off the self-destruct system, that someone put a secret code in the aircar, and that we can't activate the engines unless we know it. We hope X-9 can override it. I have a uni-link wire to connect him to the aircar computer. It's still in my pocket from earlier use."

George at last forced open the door. "Okay, we're ready! Quick, hide under the metal sheet and run for your lives to the hangar!"

Clyden took the front end of the sheeting, and Billy Boy took the rear end. They held it over their heads and darted through the snow, with everybody else ducked under the shielding in between them. Acid geysers sprayed on both sides of their path, the ring of death drawing still closer and closer.

Albert stole a look behind them. One whole wall of the R and D Lab had melted into the green, steaming, slushy snow, and now the deadly fountains worked on a second wall. And the acid's onslaught pressed on, chasing them even as they raced across the ground!

Inside the garage's hangar, Clyden smiled when he saw the aircar. They didn't need to use a flashligh, because much sunlight came in through large holes eaten into the wall.

"Ah, the new skycar! It looks great! I'm an expert pilot, and with this miner's body, I can fly it on manual and I can even fly it in this miserable weather without crashing it." In a moment they loped into the aircraft.

Clyden instructed Albert Zoeniga to take the co-pilot's seat, and to hold onto X-9's head. "Hold onto X-9 tightly, and strap yourself in snugly. Get that uni-link hooked up, pronto, Zoeniga!"

As before, Albert hooked one end into X-9's port, usually reserved for the tracking device of a robot, and the other end he linked to a connection port on the aircar's control console. "Okay, X-9, do your stuff."

"Ya got the code, X-9?" asked Clyden immpatiently.

"Give me a moment, Mr. Clyden."

Clyden and the others watched through the view window as the acid worked on the roof in front of the sky vehicle. If it ate much more of the roof before X-9 found the secret code, the ceiling would fall in on them. Clyden sarcastically said, "No hurry, robot. Take yer time." He lamented to the others, "It's a shame we had no time to get some of those wonderful prototype gadgets that the technicians had been working on up here at the lab for a long time, before Fuzzy killed them. A shame to let them go to waste."

"That's what's in those boxes on the floor in the corner," said Nina McCleer. "We were not sure what we should need to help free George. We came here to ask Dr.
Kitchen's help, and since she was no longer here, Albert and X-9 took what they found that looked like it might be useful for our mission. We were determined to rescue him, if he were at the mines, as I suspected!"

They all strapped into seats. George, of course, sat next to Nina. He held her hand. "I can't believe you risked coming here in this blizzard to help me."

"Believe it, Hon- I got the frostbite to prove it!"

Albert Zoeniga said, while they waited for the robot head to extract the code, "X-9 had found some kind of cube which could get a PIN code from locks and such. Maybe we could have used it on the aircar's computer, if only we could find it. We lost it while running from Fuzzy, I think."

X-9 informed Albert, "No, I am certain the cube would not work with this tricky code. I cannot pull it out, either. The best I can do is to suppress the program's sub-routine that makes the code necessary before the aircar will start. But, as it is, I must stay tethered to the computer, to continuously suppress the program, so that the engines will then continue to operate. Should the connection break for more than a moment-"

"Well then do it," snapped Clyden, "and let me know when to start up!"

"Sir, you could have started a minute ago."

Clyden's eyes blazed. "Then why didn't you tell me!" He hastily turned on the engines and the engines began to warm them up.

X-9 told them, "I think Dr. Kitchen planned to remove this program once she delivered the prototype aircar. She had mentioned in her message that she always liked to keep a fast vehicle on hand."

A viewscreen showed what was going on overhead. The ceiling almost directly above them rapidly disintegrated from the acid. Acid dripped down onto the floor, creating huge potholes where it fell. At this rate, the roof would surely cave in upon them any moment-

"Hang on," Clyden told them. "I am sure this baby's hull is made strong enough for us to smash through the roof, but this is sure to be bumpy from the get-go. Besides that, the acid's pretty much weakened the roof! With luck, the acid won't do too much damage to our ride, though!"

Billy Boy responded, "I don't depend on luck. I count on the Lord."

"Well, ya better pray, then," advised Clyden, "'cause we sure need good luck!"

Clyden hastily worked the controls. With quietly humming engines, with everybody "hanging on", he raised the aircar off the floor. The vehicle lurched slightly. Then, the skycar shot vertically into the air- CRASH!- punching its way through the hangar roof and soaring high above the reach of the acid spray.

They reached the cloud level and Clyden continued the climb straight upward. While they were ascending out of danger, a viewscreen displayed what transpired below them. The screen showed both buildings turning into sludge. After that, the blowing snow and increasing clouds obscured the scene beneath. Clyden leveled off the craft.

"Oh no!" Nina gasped. "I don't have Dr. Kitchen's personal screen device! I forgot it somewhere down there- Too bad. Now her memoirs will have dissolved into nothingness!"

At that altitude, the winds whipped mercilessly about. It seemed the clouds continued on upward forever, and they could not rise above the cloud cover. Everybody expected a terrifying ride. On the contrary, the vehicle weathered the flight rather well. Surprisingly well.

Clyden said, "On second thought, despite his not having had any experience, I do believe X-9 could've handled flying this thing himself, even in this weather. It flies like a dream."

Finally, they all slightly relaxed, knowing they were no longer imperiled by the acid bath. Billy Boy took advantage of the lull to introduce himself to the humans "since everybody else knows everybody else."

Albert Zoeniga and Nina McCleer told him who they were. Albert added, "We thought we recognized you from your photos. We saw some old pictures of you from some members of the illegal house church we used to attend, until..."

George interrupted the conversation to demand from Clyden,"Okay, we're out of trouble. Now tell me the story about the blast, whatever it was, and how it involved my wife!"

Clyden continued the flying. "You can be mad, if you want. I don't care. I just did my job at the time. We were raiding the illegal house church, me and the Security Agents, and we accidentally blew it up. I'm not happy about it, but I sleep at night. Mrs. McCleer was there with them. She shoulda known better. Anyway, I didn't tell you earlier, for your own good. I know you'd be too hot under the collar to work with me. But see, now here we are, free- You're free, McCleer. Not only that, it turns out Mrs. McCleer is alive, too, so it works out okay because I didn't tell you, and so you were able to force yourself to work with me. A happy ending, after all."

"But.. what about the others who were also caught in the blast?" asked George McCleer.

Clyden shrugged indifferently, keeping his eyes on the view window.

Disgusted, George growled, "You're an evil man, Clyden! If you weren't flying-"

Clyden looked over and smiled to George. "Well, when this is all said and done, if you want, we can have a real gladiator match."

Nina seethed inside over Clyden's callousness, but she knew not to expect anything dfferent from the former Security Leader. He had helped turn her husband into  a miner, after all...

Albert Zoeniga also listened to the pompous baboon and he kept his peace. Of course he did not approve what Clyden had done, but he realized Clyden, like Albert's friend Osmo, didn't know any better. Clyden, like Osmo Martin, thought he had been doing his duty by obeying Gov. Bright and attacking the underground church... Poor Jane. Albert supposed he would always miss his newlywed wife for the rest of his life...

But arguing with Clyden wasn't going to bring her back. Maybe, when this was over, he could talk to Clyden, try to reason with him, show him why he needed to repent. Not just because of the incinerated church incident, but repent of his whole life- as must any man or woman, any son or daughter of Adam and Eve.

Albert stayed sitting in the co-pilot's chair, holding X-9's head on his lap. X-9, via the connecting uni-link wire, continued to bypass Dr. Kitchen's secret activation code program.

Nina asked the miners, "How do you three guys know who you are?  I thought, according to X-9, miners' ID's were wiped clean during the transformation."

"Clyden had some pill to counteract that effect," said George. "He didn't have an extra one for Billy Boy, though. But he gave me one. He needed my help to escape. That's why he looked out for my welfare."

"Oh." Nina held onto George, a little disappointed. She had hoped  against hope that Clyden had had more altruistic motives. "Well, whatever reason for Clyden rescuing you, I'm glad to have you back with his help- although he and Xavier were the ones responsible for putting you in the mines in the first place..."

George sighed. "I have some sad news for you, hon, about what happens to a miner." He sheepishly whispered in her ear one of the side-effects of the transformation.

Nina paled. "Oh, my!"

Albert Zoeniga changed the subject. "Okay, now would be a good time for someone to tell us what makes this aircar so special. I know it's a prototype, and it flies nice, but why do you want it so badly, Mr. Clyden? What does it do? Travel in time or something? What do you want it for?"

"It's like this, Zoeniga," Clyden began, and he proceeded to explain what it was all about- getting past the wormhole guards and reaching Earth via this vehicle with George McCleer along, proving what the Governor had done to him.

"That was also a plan we considered," Nina said, "to get proof to the Earth Leaders that George was still alive and held at the mines. Enough proof so that Earth could not rationalize it away and avoid confronting Xavier Bright, even if Xavier does keep them happy with his fuel ore output."

X-9 said, "If you want to go to the wormhole, which is situated in space above Hope, over the zone between day and night on the World of Hope, you are going in the wrong direction. You are going north, where it seems, as we travel on this path, that the blizzard is worse this way. Or do you only want to test this aircar, to see how much bad weather it can take?"

"Yeah, that'd make sense," said Clyden. "No, X-9's head, we are making a detour, it so happens, if you must know. See that down there?"

"I can, since I can see it through the aircar's cameras, while hooked up to the computer console, Mr. Clyden."

"I don't mean you, I mean the others. Can they see it?" said Clyden, irritated with X=9.

Curious, the others checked out the window. "It's an Enviro-Gen," said George. "Oh, I remember. You said you used an Enviro-Gen to make this blizzard even worse than it should be."

"That's right, McCleer. That Tech who works there all by hisself is the same one that Gov. Xavier sent there to try and keep the environment in this geo-section Earth-friendly. The tech you tricked into being indiscrete when you got that tour of the Enviro-Gen back when you first arrived on Hope. Gov. Xavier became so mad at the Tech that he stationed him at that Enviro-Gen by himself as punishment. Anyway, well, I sorta also tricked him. I made him think his Highness wanted to keep this blizzard going, the more extreme the better. This way, it kept folks away from the R and D Lab for me. I expected to return there and gather up the fancy doo-dads they were developing. Well, for except present company, the plan worked. In keeping away nosey folks, I mean, but with the R and D Lab gone, I couldn't get all that I wanted. So, anyway, now there's no need for the poor sap to stay stuck there alone in the Enviro-Gen. His job's done. The dope- he really believed me that Govenor Xavier wanted him to keep the blizzard howling like this!"

As Clyden brought the aircar down for a landing somewhere in the drifts near the Enviro-Gen  structure, George McCleer asked, shocked, "Clyden, do you mean, you actually care about the Tech- You have a conscience?"

"Ha ha, you're so funny, McCleer. Come with me, if ya wanna see something really funny- When I come to get him, the Tech'll be so spooked to see a miner at his front door, he might freak out. No matter. If he gets goofy, I'm just gonna knock him on the head and drag him onboard. I don't want to waste a lot of time yakking with him."

True to his word, he went to the door of the environment factory, and, a short time later, he came back carrying the limp Tech's body over his shoulder. Clyden dumped him in an empty chair. A goose egg bulged prominently on the Tech's forehead.

"Hey, somebody strap him in," ordered the aircar captain. "Next stop, Earth!" To the unconscious man, he mumbled, "Sorry, Wally, you're coming with. I got no time to take you back to Sparkle City."

The speedy sky vehicle veered toward the west and began to gain altitude.

George McCleer held onto his wife's hand. He smiled to her. "Look out the window, Hon. I think I can see the blinking blue beacons out there in space, marking the place of the wormhole, and our way back to Earth. After all you've been through, I don't suppose you still get the willies from traveling in the wormhole, do you, Dear?"

She chuckled. "Not so much anymore, Hon."

The air grew thinner outside their aircar, and the stormy day became a sunny noon above the clouds now that they were out of the zone of the blizzard. Just as quickly, further westward and higher yet into the sky, the noon greyed into gloomy twilight. They neared the edge of the atmosphere. The stars came out crystal clear.

"What's that bright flash coming from one of the moons?" wondered Albert Zoeniga from the co-pilot's chair.

And being so close to the atmospheric edge, the mysterious bright, very bright flash made them blink for a moment. When they opened their eyes, they noticed momentary, strange twinklings in the orbit just above and beyond their aircar. Their trajectory headed right toward the twinklings, which disappeared again in only a fraction of a second.

"Ice crystals in the statosphere, reflecting the flash from the moon," Clyden explained the phenomena dismissively. He maintained his course. "Nothing to fret about, McCleer."

"I wasn't fretting about ice crystals," George shot back, annoyed.

"Yeah, right. Maybe not out loud..." mumbled Clyden.

Suddenly, the aircar took a tangent from the course Clyden tried to fly it on. Clyden tried to bring it back to his chosen path, but the controls seemed to be fighting him. Somehow the aircar no longer flew on manual. He could not get the aircar to return to its previous trajectory.

"Hey, X-9, is that you doing that??" protested Clyden. "Quit overriding me!"

The artificial gravity compensators tried to keep things from turning topsy-turvy, but everything, including those boxes parked in a corner, taken from the R and D Lab, spun about. Fortunately, all the people, including the unconscious technician, were strapped in.

George McCleer murmured, "I hope these seat belts are stronger than those on the Security Agency aircar we used when we flew to the R and D Lab."

Albert Zoeniga held tightly onto X-9, whose robot brain via the uni-link kept control of the aircar's rapidly veering flight.

"Knock it off, X-9! Ice crystals aren't anything to be afraid of!" bellowed Clyden furiously. "What's the matter with you? Is your Seymour's Disease scrambling your electronic brain more than before?"

"Those aren't ice crystals, Mr. Clyden," X-9 replied, stubbornly refusing to let go of the control of the vehicle.

(c) drk 2012

00118





"We made it! See? There's the R and D Lab facility beneath us- And look, our aircar's still in one piece," Clyden cheerily announced. "Oh, great, and look, there's Fuzzy down below, too!"

If  Clyden didn't like the scene below him now, he surely would not like it in a few minutes, once the acid spray started!

As they neared the R and D Lab, George McCleer looked out the viewport window. He struggled to see what Clyden saw through the swirlilng flakes. A dome-like structure resisted the blizzard's furious attempts to push it into oblivion or to bury it in snow. A smaller building sat behind it. The gale winds had no effect on that one, either. No lights shone from the buildings into the gloomy snowstorm which obscured the sunhine of noon time.

And, yes, George, too, saw the blue creature, a tiny dot from up here, positioned between the two buildings.

Billy Boy said, "Mr. Clyden, you saw this place from way far back and called it out to us. You must have amazing vision!"

"You bet I do. I always did, even before I got this great, enhanced body.” It was not the first time they complimented his superior vision, but he never got tired of listening to how impressed people were. Why, he could spot those sky vehicles hunting for him before either of the other two miners. “Now hang tight, I gotta fly in low, to look for a good landing place. I used to have a nice landing spot in a nearby hollow, when I came to see Dr. Kitchen, but this skycar's too big to fit in there. With this snow it's a challenge to land an aircar this big decently anywhere."

When Clyden swooped down to scout for a place, George noted, "The windows at the R and D Lab are boarded up."

"Now who did that?" wondered Clyden. "Nobody was there when I last visited, at least no one left alive, but the windows were not covered like that. -Hey! What the-"

From their bird's eye view, they observed the whole building- both buildings- suddenly shaking wildly. The snow that had accumulated on their roofs slid off from the violent rattling. The ex-miners could almost hear the accompanying rumble, too.

"It's some kind of quake! Look, it's got Fuzzy all freaked out!" He pointed to how Fuzzy could be seen darting back and forth between the two buildings and running around and around in the gap between the main structure and the garage. "Maybe I should just land on Fuzzy and get rid of that nuisance, so we can work in peace on gathering up the doodads that the scientists had developed here. It'd serve him right, anyway, for what he did to - Whoa! Now lookit that!"

Toward the back of the R and D building, a portion of the roof collapsed inward, falling down into the facility itself.

"Whew, at least the garage hangar didn't get damaged. I don't want to see that new-fangled aircar in there get messed up!" Clyden guided their gliding vehicle to the front of the R and D Lab, to the more level land before the main entrance. He neen not worry anymore about parking out in the open where nosy guards would question him.

Clyden advised, "You guys, go get some of those blasters and have them ready so we can properly greet Fuzzy when he comes to eat, I mean meet us."

However, before the pilot had a chance to make a suitable landing, suddenly geysers spurted up all about grounds surrounding the R and D Lab and its adjacent garage. The eruptions sprayed high into the air. Several of the streams hit the descending aircar all at once with the force of the high pressure water canon Clyden had at one time used for crowd control. The spray knocked the aircar about.

"What th-" Clyden yanked the controls back and forth, trying to keep the aircar's flight stable. "Listen, we're heading back up again, out of range of those, um, whatever they are-"

A hissing sizzle sounded inside the cabin. Hungry holes devoured their way through the metal flooring.

"That spray must be some kind of acid!" George McCleer realized.

"Aw, for crying out loud-" grumbled Clyden. "The acid's eaten through something important! I can't get the aircar to do anything I want it to do now!" Clyden thumped the controls in frustration. The sky vehicle began to plummet like a stone buffeted by strong winds on its way down.

"Well, like you no doubt guessed, we're gonna crash!" said Clyden.

Billy Boy braced himself. "Yoww! Looks like this vehicle is destined to always keep crashlanding whenever it goes flying!"

Clyden grit his teeth. "This might hurt, we're still pretty high up- But hold onto those blasters best you can- Herrre weee goooo-!"

WHUuuMP!!! The impact jarred them to the bone.

The aircar skidded into the snow, inside the ring of geysers, and its momentum carried it far along the area, toward the wall of acid showers.

George's seat belt snapped under the stress of holding secure such a large body. He tumbled out of his chair. George tried to stand up and escape as the downed aircar careened across the snow toward the acid wall. He snatched up a blaster and shouted, "Hey, we gotta get out of this aircar before we slide into the geysers!"

Holding onto the control panel to pull himself up from his seat, Clyden shouted back, "We're with ya, McCleer! Move it, Billy Boob!"

Billy Boy exclaimed, "I can't believe we're still in one piece after that crash!" He also clutched a blaster, like his compatriots.

"Yeah, the snow cushioned our crash and our miner bodies probably saved our lives from the shock of impact," Clyden said. Being right in front of the window, he dove out first headlong through the viewport above the control panel. The shatter proof pane smashed out of the frame.

George McCleer and Billy Boy scrambled right after him, jumping into the deep green snow. The sliding aircar continued on its path to doom. It stopped just short of the wall of spurting acid. But the geysers were moving inward, changing their positons, getting closer, and in seconds they reached the aircar and it began to evaporate.

Clyden's eyes widened. "Great. We're trapped inside the circle of death, and the circle's closing in on us!"

"So much for a proper burial for those Security Agents inside the bin," said Billy Boy. "Too bad for their families..."

Clyden replied, "We're in the same boat as them. If we don't do something, the acid'll eat us, too, despite our fantastic miners' bodies."

George rubbed a sore shin. He looked up and saw a new arrival. "Here comes Fuzzy to investigate the crash! He's all frenetic, and he looks a lot meaner than the way you describe him!"

The running lion/dog growled and snarled like he had rabies. He bounded over the deep snow toward the three escaped ex-miners.

"Uh oh! I lost my blaster when we jumped," Billy Bob realized.

"Me, too," George echoed.

"Figgers," mocked Clyden. Fuzzy lunged at the three of them as they stood together in a group. Clyden's boot caught the animal, sending it to the side. "So, ya wanna go another round, eh, Fuzzy!" He still held onto his blaster and he fired it several times at the blue blur, but the weapon shot wildly off-target. "Mm, must have bent the blaster during the jump from the aircar-"

Fuzzy evaded further blasts without even trying. He landed on top of Clyden and knocked him down, his teeth bared. The snow cushioned Clyden's fall, but it also made it hard for Clyden in the deep fluff to twist away from the brutal animal. Fuzzy's mighty jaws dove for Clyden's throat, but all he got was a punch in the nose that veered his lunge's trajectory, and in the end, Fuzzy only got an ear.

ZAP!

Suddenly, Fuzzy had no head. Clyden pushed the body with a toasted stump for a neck from off himself. "No way I could miss you this close, eh, Fuzzy, even with a bent blaster. That's for Dr. Kitchen!"

Clyden stood up, holding the bent blaster in one hand, and his other hand cupped over the bleeding place where his ear used to be. "Now that stings! It'll take a couple of hours, maybe days, for my ear to grow back."

"What's your Plan C?" asked George. "How do we get past the acid?"

"And, why is there an acid death-trap, anyway?" Billy Boy wanted to know.

"Let's not try to figure that out right now, Billy Boob," said Clyden. "Rather, let's figure out what McCleer said, How to get out this acid ring. It's eating away at the outside walls of the front of the R and D building! We better get inside for shelter, before we catch the geyser spray. But we obviously won't have shelter in there for long, either, if the acid will continue on its path. I say we race through the lab building to the back side of the place. The acid's not yet there. We find something to use for cover, to hide under from the spreading spray while we run outside again from the back of this dome to get to the garage building. We gotta run fast, because whatever we use for a shield, the acid'll eat through it in seconds. We won't have long, either, until the acid gets to the new aircar I told ya about that's in the hangar, and if we don't get there in time, there goes Plan B, Plan C, and all the rest of the plans all the way to Z!"

"Okay, your Plan C is as good a plan as I can see," agreed George McCleer. "No way we can jump through the wall of acid itself, if we get to the aircar too late and it's already gone- The acid's spray is so wide, that if we had to go through the acid wall whatever we could use as a covering would melt before we got all the way through! Look how that acid eats so quickly!"

Clyden ushered them through the front door. "Let's go, let's go! Follow that main hall. Yeah, it's dark, but it's pretty much a straight stretch, so try not to bump into the walls too much and just keep moving!  Lots of junk cluttering the way, but don't let that stop ya! When we reach the part where the roof had caved in and blocked the path to the foyer and the exit door on the other side, we gotta hustle to clear that mess outta our way- We can do it; we're ex-miners! We can just push it aside!"

They made so much noise as they dashed through the dark hallway, tripping over clutter left from Fuzzy's rampage before, or banging into the walls (despite Clyden's advice), that even a deaf person could've hear them.

The nearer they got to the opposite end of the building, they heard shouting- voices shouting for help.

The three miners got to the fallen roof blocking their way.

"Who's out there?" a male voice called to them from the other side.

"Help us!" called a female voice. "We're trapped! Help!!"

"We're digging through this mess from the fallen roof, don't worry- We're coming," Billy Boy called back to them, whoever they were. He and the other two miners grabbed debris and heaved it aside, working at top speed, faster than any of them had ever done while digging fuel ore.

Clyden remarked to George McCleer and Billy Boy, "I can't believe any people are in here!!"

A flashlight from  the other side of the pile of junk from the caved sectiion of roof- the light shined from inside the foyer, shining out of the dark through a small gap in the rubble. In its light, Clyden saw a large section of thick metal roof, still intact, off to the side of where they had been digging. He pointed to it and said, "Let's try not to damage that- We can use it to duck under, once we're back outside. The roof materials have to be thick, you know, to keep from buckling under the weight of the snow. It should give us a few seconds before the acid eats it away."

Finally, the desperate Diggers reached the anxious, trapped people on the other side. They saw a young man holding a robot head, and a woman with him. Dim light entered the foyer through a small peep hole in the metal exit hatch situated behind these people. Not much light, but enough to see who they were--

George McCleer gasped, He immediately recognized the woman, of course. "Nina!"

She turned the flashlight onto his miner's face. With the adequate light which came in from the hole in the roof, she really did not need the flashlight, but she had been holding onto it since they had run from the electric distribution room. And immediately she recognized his face. "Goerge!"

Clyden murmured, shocked, "Mrs. McCleer- You're alive!"

She, in turn, more in shock than Clyden, realized, "Security Leader Clyden? With my George??" What a partnership!

X-9, from his place in Albert Zoeniga's arms, reminded them, "It is nice that we all know each other, and that everyone is alive, but if you don't move it, soon none of you will be alive. The acid will reach our place here in about fifty seconds."

(c) drk 2012

00117





The camo-wrap hung on the ex-miners' limbs in tatters. They had been running almost nonstop since their escape. At first it was disconcerting to not have that miners' digging "music" noise constantly bombarding their eardrums. Now the harsh, howling wind replaced it. A welcome relief.

The injuries suffered during the gladiator match had healed within the first few hours. None of them complained about those aches and pains anymore, or even the cold. The three had run long and hard and covered much distance. The only times they stopped was to take a two hour rest period- thrice only since they started running. Also, the trio paused to eat from the bag of rations Clyden had brought with him. And also, when the hunting aircars would pass overhead, they became motionless, like rocks on the landscape. But since the time they had reached the polar zone, with its constant blizzard, no more skycars flew by.

What was left of the camo-wrap on each of them turned greenish to reflect the snowy background. The snow reached their hips but still they pushed on as fast as they could. The deepening snow, however, bogged them down. But they forced themselves onward. Ice clung to them.

"Amazing!" Tretl Clyden marveled. "It's gotta be sub-zero, and I can see it's cold, but I hardly mind the temperature! These bodies we got, they're great!"

"Yeah, sure, if you say so," George McCleer replied, raising his voice to be heard over the gale. “I feel so lucky!”

"Yeah, boy," agreed Billy Boy, "you sure did us a favor sending us to the mines so we can get these outstanding new bodies!- Hmph, mine makes me feel like an ape!"

Clyden shook his head."Ah, shut up. I think I like it better when you guys stay silent and we just concentrate on our running!"

But George McCleer ignored his wishes. "Okay, we've been jogging for two whole days now. Are you ever going to tell us where we are heading, or what we are going to do? It would be nice to know, you know."

"I guess it won't hurt to let you two in on it now. I know the way, and you don't, and I am the one who can pilot an aircar, and I doubt either of you can, so I don't have to worry you guys are gonna run off on me and leave me behind."

They jogged along in silence.

"Well?" pressed Billy Boy. "So, tell us already, Mr. Clyden."

"We're heading to the Research and Development Lab up here in the middle of nowhere. There's something I want there," Clyden told them.

"What?" asked George. "Some new weapon or something?"

"Well, yeah, whatever we can find in that category, sure. But I am going up there to snag that new prototype aircar that is up there, just waiting for someone to take it out for a spin. It's very fast. I want it. We can, if it lives up to my expectations and the rumors, outrace the sentries Gov. Xavier has posted at the wormhole. We're going to Earth in it, boys."

"Why?" wondered Billy Boy.

"I want to show the Leaders what Gov. Xavier is up to, Billy Boob. I want them to see firsthand how he took McCleer and made him a miner. They sent McCleer here as a representative. It should bother them to know the contempt Gov. Xavier showed them by the way he treated McCleer. And then they will have no face-saving excuse for not stopping him. The Leaders then can no longer rationalize and say it must not be true about Gov. Xavier putting McCleer in the mines- not once they see the proof of George right before their eyes, now made into a miner!"

"Then what?" George inquired.

"Well, then, while the Earth Leaders sit on their buns for a few weeks wringing their hands and trying to decide what to do, I intend to return to Hope, and, if I  find any good gadgets at the Lab, to use those to try and take down Gov. Xavier on my own. I know the last time I tried, I got stuck in the mines. But this time, if I fail, at least I am pretty sure that sooner or later Earth will decide to kick Gov. Xavier out of his post because of seeing you, McCleer."

"What if the people at the Lab don't let you just take what you want?" Billy Boy wanted to know. "The Lab people might not be so friendly to escaped miners that the Governor wants brought back to the mines."

George said, “I know for a fact that my old college prof, Dr. Kitchen, is there. Do you really think she will give a hoot about helping us dethrone the king? Ha! Not her."

Clyden smiled condescendingly at them. "First off, we are miners, like you said. Even if they were to refuse us, we are miners, and we will just take what we want. Sure, if they were able, they could try and take us with their blasters, but there's at least three of us, and we are hard to stop. Secondly, nobody's gonna do anything to stop us. You see, everybody up there is dead. Even Dr. Ktichen is gone, McCleer."

"What?? Dr. Kitchen? But how?" asked George McCleer. "And, how do you know this?"

The three proceeded through a bank of drifted snow.

Clyden said, "Trust me, McCleer, they're all gone. Dr. Kitchen had some stupid big dog-lion thing called Fuzzy and he killed them all. All of them. I saw it. I had gone to the R and D to get some things from the Doctor to use against Gov. Xavier, to take him down. A good idea of mine, but you can see how it turned out."

Billy Boy asked, "But then, if that is so, that they are all dead, would not Gov. Xavier know and have already sent somebody there to take care of all that top secret stuff? He won't simply leave his research stuff lying about for anyone to take."

"I hope he didn't send a team there. In fact, I rather doubt it. Ya see, I have devised a scheme to keep him away from being able to reach the Lab," Clyden proudly answered. "This is it, this perpetual bad weather. I made sure this weather stays in place, and nobody can get through this storm- except for miners, of course."

"I guess that's impressive," said Billy Boy. "You seem to plan for everything."

"Ya got that right!"

"So tell me, Mr. Clyden, have you also planned for your death? And for what comes next?" asked Billy Boy matter-of-factly.

Clyden scowled. "Oh no, here we go again! No wonder I happily tossed you into the mines, Billy Boob."

George McCleer told Clyden, "I think Billy Boy makes sense. You should give it some thought. No one lives forever. Hey, in the mines you could have easily been tossed to the Eaters. Or blown up from accidentally hitting pure fuel while you were digging. And then what? What would you tell God when you stood before Him and He reviewed your life?"

Clyden guffawed and waved aside Billy Boy's and George's concerns. "Ha ha ha, don't worry about that. I am not there in the mines now, am I? And I have a miner body. I think I don't have to worry about dying for a good, long time! Besides, I don't have time to think about all that stuff until after I see Gov. Xavier get his!"

Billy Boy the former preacher tried to tell Clyden about Jesus, and how the Bible says everyone must one day meet Him, whether he wants to or not. Those who have not accepted His sacrifice for forgiveness of sins, then must face Jesus not as Savior, but as Judge. If such a person had neglected the salvation offered to him from the penalty of his sins, it would not be good for that person to face Him as Judge..

Clyden grumbled and put his fingers in his ears. He picked up his pace, trying to outrun Billy Boy and his message.

Billy Boy called to him, earnest for his spiritual welfare, but when Clyden kept going on with his fingers still plugging his ears, acting as if he could not hear Billy Boy (and maybe he could not hear him over the howling of the wind), Billy Boy sighed and shook his head in exasperation. He looked over to George McCleer, who merely shrugged.

Billy Boy talked with George about how much he appreciated God's protection of him in the mines, and said he wondered if that church that he used to pastor was still going or not.

"Billy Boy, I was never at your house church- but I think I heard about it while I was human, that it was still going on illegally in the city after you were taken to the mines. Anyway, I can certainly understand why your people felt the need to go to a state-unapproved church. Once I attended services at the state church. The Religion Board's approved church- HA! It's nothing but a feelgood motivational lecture to inspire you to obey Gov. Bright!"

Billy Boy nodded. "Yes, I went to that church a few times. Not so good. -George, it does my heart, and my mind, good to talk about these spiritual things. The ID Wipe may have caused me to forget myself, who I am, but it could not keep me from remembering about God. That's the most important thing for a person to remember, after all."

By now Clyden had taken his fingers back out his ears, and George and Billy Boy had caught up to him. Clyden could not help but overhear them, despite the whining wind. Clyden snickered. "Okay, c'mon, we don't have time to stop for church services on the way, folks."

"Besides that, our type of church service is not state-approved," George pointed out. "You might not like that. Maybe you'll try to toss us in the mines again. Then again, you might learn from a church service with us, how to have eternal life, if you would only listen! You might even like the sermon."

Clyden shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. As if your church service is anything special compared to the state church. Big deal. What's the difference, really? What's the point? One's as good as another. It boils down to do good, obey the rules. Who cares, anyway? Do you honestly think God does?"

"I should say it matters," answered Billy Boy. "He wants sincere seekers and sincere worshipers."

"Oh, please! If it's so important to God for us to worship Him a certain way, to believe a certain way, to live a certain way, then why didn't He tell us?"

George took this one. "He did. In the Bible."

George McCleer wiped snow from his face and eyes and saw Clyden snickering. "McCleer, the Bible's written by men. A bunch of 'em!"

"Yes, and God guided them. Some parts are directly from God, with directions to the prophets to record His words."

"Mm-hmm. Sure. That's what they all say," Clyden smugly said.

Billy Boy agreed with Clyden. "Right, they do. But how many religions have their founder rise from the dead? And how many have so many prophecies fulfilled- with more to be fulfilled, I guarantee it. And not only do the gospel accounts in the Bible show Jesus rose from the dead, but there is also indirect historic evidence, too, not just in the Bible. Not only that, look how some miners didn't fall under the spell of suddenly loving the Governor, even though we did not have memory pills to take, like you did, to protect our identities. We may have amnesia, but we still did not suddenly become loyal sychophants of Gov. Bright. As the former Security Leader, you know that there were a handful of us which the brainwashing did not work on."

"Bah. All that probably means is that you guys had such a strong commitment that the brainwashing could not override it and make you abandon some deeply held beliefs. It'd probably be the same if you were an intent car salesman."

"Or," George interjected, "it could mean the Bible is true, where it says God will keep your mind for you. How many of the miners who had attended the illegal house church were able to resist the mind control?"

"Well, McCleer, I never did a survey on it. Shall we go back and take a show of hands?"

Billy Boy asked Clyden, "Who came up with this idea, brainwashing the miners to love the Governor so much? It shamefully borders on idol worship."

The ex-Security Leader chuckled. "Heh heh, it's not worship. It's merely that the miners deeply appreciate him very much. And it works, too. They're so motivated- Look at their production! They don't realize what a weasel Gov. Xavier is!" He spat in the snow.

"So, then, this brainwashing thing was your idea?" guessed George.

"Kinda. When I applied for the job as his Security Leader, he mentioned the problem of getting the miners to want to work hard. Since I knew the process pretty much destroyed their minds and identities, but usually only temporarily, I suggested the ID Wipe. That way, they wouldn't be going back to their old, criminal ways. I had heard of the ID Wipe before. My mother used to work for some secret government agency, so I heard about it. I researched it for Gov. Xavier and helped him to get the stuff. He took all the credit for it, but I figured, So what? He's the boss. A lot of this happened even before I actually got here on the World of Hope- we managed to do a few face-to-face calls from Earth to Hope- but that's what clinched the deal for me, that he picked me as his Security Leader."

The ex-Diggers' path took them toward a snow-covered hill ahead of them. George and Billy Boy turned to jog around it, but Clyden stuck his hand out, signaling for the other two to slow down or stop. "Whoa, hold on there. What's this?"

"What's what?" George asked, puzzled. All he saw was that snow-covered hill in front of them.

Clyden stared at the oddly shaped snowed-over "hill" before them. His face brightened. "I don't believe this! Very interesting..." He moved closer to the hill. The hill's slope ascended sharply to the zenith , and then the hill flattened to a summit about fifteen or so feet off the ground. Clyden wiped some of the snow from the mysterious bluff, revealing a metal surface beneath the jade flakes.

"Well, what do you know..." Billy Boy dashed to Clyden's side and wiped off more snow.

"Look at the shape, Billy Boob. You recognize it, right?" asked Clyden. "A large Security Agency aircar!"

George joined them in removing the snow. "It crashed here, eh?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't look too damaged, not so far. The snow cushioned its crashlanding. Still in one piece. The hatch should be over this way. Clear off the snow in that section. Yeah, like that."

"Were they hunting us when they crashed?" worried Billy Boy. He felt a twinge of concern, in case he was partly responsible for their accident.

"I doubt that Gov. Xavier would risk sending Security Agents here in this storm to catch us. But he would send them to the R and D Lab, to see what was going on, since he could not contact the technicians on the comm-unit. The blizzard I helped aggravate killed these poor saps in this skycar. If the fall didn't, then if they went through the snow for help, the cold did. Too bad. But, wow, when you think about it, it's kinda great to know that my plan to keep Gov. Xavier away from the R and D Lab by means of this blizzard, which, like I said, I helped aggravate, worked so well!"

George McCleer made a face. "You're a sick man, Clyden. I think of all the dead inside there, but it makes you proud of yourself for making the bad weather that killed them."

Clyden ignored him. He cleared ice off the keypad aside the door and punched in the security code. "Let's see if the ice gummed up the works or not." The hatch slid open. "I still remember the shortcut, even if the codes are changed or not," he bragged.

Inside, they found that the lights on the instrument panels still blinked, and the cockpit lights still shined. "Good, it still has power," Clyden observed. "But look at these dopes. How stupid. They should've turned back! Of course, they were going there in this mess for their beloved Gov. Xavier, so no wonder they risked their lives. Jerks. What a waste of lives."

Billy Boy looked at the crew. Bodies of Security Agents lay here and there in the cabin.

"This aircar, if it still goes, will make our trip a lot shorter," Clyden promised. "I can fly it. But why didn't they use the radio? At least, from what I can see, the vehicle is in pretty good shape."

Clyden hoisted a cadaver and took it to a corner storage bin. He put the body inside. "C'mon, guys, give me a hand. Get the others. We'll leave them in here after we reach the R and D and we'll take that faster aircar in the garage. We'll be sure to lock this skycar up so Fuzzy can't get them for a snack, and after we are done with our business on Earth, we can eventually see they get a proper burial for Security Agents dying in the line of duty. They won't be going anywhere if we leave them at the Lab for awhile."

George McCleer and Billy Boy followed his example of gathering the dead. Billy Boy inquired, "If you say this blizzard is so dangerous to fly in, and if it made them crash, then why are we taking this aircar?"

"Because I am a miner, and a lot stronger than they were. I will fly on manual. It's been awhile, but I am sure I can still fly a craft this big. Hey, don't put their blasters in there with the bodies. We might need all the blasters we got for Fuzzy!"

Billy Boy grimaced. "Yikes. The more I hear about this Fuzzy, the more I don't want to meet him."

When the bodies were stored, Clyden plopped down in the pilot's seat. He glanced at the radio. "Figgers. Looks like the crash knocked it out of commission. See how it wiggles in its place? That's a serious loose connection."

George harbored some skepticism. "I hope you can handle this aircar like you say. You know it's so windy. A lot of turbulence."

"Bah, don't be a wimp," Clyden scolded. "Are you game or not?"

While George considered the choices, Billy Boy said, without hesitation, "I went with you this far, I may as well see it through to the end."

Clyden didn't wait for George's answer. "Okay, then, it's all set. Find a seat and strap in. Don't be like those guys in the storage bin. Here we go!" He fired up the engines.

At first it appeared Clyden's optimism might stall out before it got off the ground. The heavy snow kept the skycar stuck down on the ground. Clyden gave the engine full power, and suddenly, the aircar shot up into the clouds above, wobbling and swaying from the fierce crosscurrents.

"This bird don't go high enough to soar over the clouds." Clyden struggled to keep the flying vehicle under control, and when he finally gained mastery of it, he grinned, proud of himself. "Okay, next stop- the R and D Lab, or die trying!'

George McCleer muttered, "Now I know what Nina felt, when she worried about going through the wormhole."

Clyden laughed. "Hahaha, where's your faith, McCleer? Maybe you and Billy Boob can hold a prayer meeting for us while we zoom off. I just hope I don't accidentally snap these controls on manual, since I don't yet know my own strength! Or, worse, that the winds don't tear us apart in midair! Oh, McCleer, don't look like that. Sit back and enjoy the ride!"

(c) drk 2012

00116






"There, that should do it," said Nina McCleer, setting aside the screwdriver. "Ooo! I hate this! That portable heater sure comes in handy, but even with it on full blast, this screwdriver's awfully cold without my gloves!"

"But it's hard to manipulate the tools with gloves on," the mangled robot told her.

"Al," began Nina, a bit anxious, "if you would do the honors- This phase is yours to complete, and then we are finished." She tried to mask the fear she felt for her friend. X-9 might only be a robot, but she regarded him as a friend indeed.

"The honors? Or," Albert Zoeniga suggested, "the dirty work." He, too, valued their companion who was made of metal and plastic. And why not?

While it may be a robot's duty to do all the things which X-9 had done, still, X-9 had done quite a lot. He had shielded Nina McCleer from the blast that destroyed the whole building where the illegal church had been holed up. He had hunted throughout Sparkle City, looking for Albert Zoeniga, another survivor of the blast, like Nina, to get his help to nurse Mrs. McCleer back to health because her injuries had been severe. X-9 also accompanied them both up north here through the terrible blizzard to the secret Research and Development Laboratory, where Nina had planned to ask Dr. Kitchen's help. Dr. Kitchen had been one of the developers at work in the R and D Lab. She had been Nina's college professor years before, and she owed Nina a big favor. NIna had planned to ask her to pay it back. Nina intended to ask for help in finding out if her husband George McCleer was stuck secretly in the fuel ore mines or not. Nina refused to accept the official story that he had been killed in a cave-in.

Unfortunately, Dr. Kitchen was no longer there at the R and D Lab to aid Nina in any way. Nor was anyone else. The whole staff had been killed by Dr. Kitchen's shaggy blue hybrid pet- half doberman, half lion. Fuzzy.

X-9 had protected them from Fuzzy and had helped them get to safety back inside the R and D Lab building, locking the wild creature outside in the green snow. But he had paid a price- Fuzzy had damaged him far beyound the recycle-threshold.

Fuzzy had also wrecked the power distributor box in the electrical power relay room- that was way before Nina McCleer and Albert Zoeniga and the robot had reached this Research and Development Laboratory. So now the only working lights the R and D Lab were their flashlights. And the only heat came from the portable heater Nina had mentioned earlier. At least they had enough food supplies for  a few weeks. Maybe they could outlive that hungry beast outside the door waiting for them, blocking their way to the outbuilding beyond, in which sat a prototype for a new kind of aircar.

However, Fuzzy had torn X-9's robot body to ribbons. X-9 did not have two of his four limbs anymore. Wires hung out from all over. And his main battery, cracked open and ready to split in two, leaked battery fluids. The battery would not last for much longer. Once the battery completely failed- unless the two humans had managed to perform this delicate operation correctly, X-9's mind would vanish when the current from the fractured battery keeping the artificial brain still functional was gone.

X-9 encouraged them. "Come now, Mrs. McCleer, Mr. Zoeniga, I am sure you have done the procedure correctly so far. You two have done enough practice exercises to improve your dexterity to be able to accomplish this. I trust you have connected my auxiliary battery to my brain just the way I described it to you. I know you took it from my body with ease. It is a back up battery to keep my brain alive if the main battery goes out. Since the main battery is shot, and the leads from the spare battery to my brain have been damaged, that's why I asked you to install the spare in my head, connected directly to my brain. How long could the auxiliary battery last, if we left it remain in my body, even if its circuits to my brain were okay? Look at me- My body's so full of short circuits and damaged wiring. yhe auxiliary battery would drain very quickly. But now, since you have done this operation, you can safely take my head off my dying body."

"Unless we accidentally crossed circuits connecting it, and the spare blows out once we remove your head," murmured Nina. "There are so many circuits, you know, and so tiny- Can you be sure we did the job right, X-9?"

"Well, technically, I cannot be sure, not until you pull off my head. It could be that you didn't securely fasten the connections, or that you-"

"Okay," protested Albert, "stop! Don't tell us all the things that we may have done wrong!"

"But, I am sure you both did everything the right way," X-9 insisted. "And even if you did not, I will never know-"

"Stop," Albert shushed the robot. He screwed the panel back in place on the posterior of X-9's head. Then, gritting his teeth, he took the robot's head in his hands and- he felt squeamish about this part more than anything else.

"Mr. Zoeniga, pull my head off. We don't have all day. Relax, it'll be fine. Trust me."

Albert still hesitated. "X-9, is it possible for a robot with Seymour's Syndrome to lie? Are you truly so certain we are not killing you?"

"Mr. Zoeniga, if you think a robot with Seymour's Syndrome can lie, and yet you are asking me if we can, how can you be sure, if I tell you we cannot lie, that I am not lying to you when I answer you, if you think maybe we can lie?"

Albert Zoeniga sighed, resigned. "I guess you're right. Let's get this over with." So saying, he yanked with all his strength on the robot's head. It required much strength to pull it free. But X-9's head came off without a hitch.

"See, Mr. Zoeniga? See, Mrs. McCleer? I told you, nothing to worry about," X-9's head spoke to them.

Albert let out a breath. "Whew! You're still with us, X-9. Praise the Lord!" He set the head down on the floor.

Nina McCleer nodded. "I am glad you are not gone, X-9, but I must tell you- watching your head talking without a body- It's just.. weird!" She rubbed her cold hands in front of the portable heater.

"A job well done, Mrs. McCleer," X-9 congratulated her. "And you also did well, Mr. Zoeniga. Now, what you shall do next will be easy, compared to what you have just done. You already should know your way fairly well around my body, since you had taken the auxiliary battery from it. Now you must go and get my robot interface unit. We are going to fit it into that distribution box Fuzzy smashed and I will reboot it. This should get the power in this building working again."

"I sure hope so," said Nina.

"I second that," added Albert.

"Now for the bad news," said X-9. "Before you do any of that, you must push the distribution box back upright. I know it is very dented, and it can run lying down. But let's stand it up so we can get everything positioned correctly. Unfortunately, I suspect the box will be rather heavy for a human, and, with my body smashed and useless, I cannot help you. If it is too heavy, remember what you learned in school regarding fulcrums and levers."

Albert Zoeniga agreed. "Well, okay, X-9." He went over to the distribution box, lying upon its side. Nina McCleer joined him. They both reached down for the smashed metaL box. With some groaning and moaning, they managed to stand it back on its base. Albert observed, "Well, after that work-out, we don't need the heater to keep us warm."

Nina said, "But let's not shut it off, anyway."

The robot head said, "Now you must find and remove from my discarded body the interface unit. I will direct you to it. Once you find it and we ascertain it is still undamaged despite Fuzzy's beating, then you will take it to replace the shorted unit in the distributor box. Once I reboot it to make it a useful integrator, this distributor box should work very efficiently. Then, we restart the power fuel generator and you should be able to finally get warm and comfortable in here while you wait for Fuzzy to die of starvation or cold."

Nina shook her head. "I know Fuzzy is a fierce killer, X-9, but do you have to be so matter of fact about what's going to happen to him? I mean, he can't help himself. He's just a dumb, wild animal. I don't like the idea of him suffering."

Albert patted her shoulder affectionately in a brotherly sort of way. "Sis Nina, let's focus on the task at hand. It will help keep our minds off Fuzzy."

And so they did. In less than an hour, Nina and Albert had the integrator unit hooked up inside the distribution box and almost ready to go.

Still setting on the floor, X-9's head said, "Okay, one of you must hoist me closer to the box, so that you can link my head up to the integrator unit with a uni-link wire through my port formerly used for my tracker. You can cannibalize a clip and wire from my body parts and make one, if you can't find any in the maintenance supplies. I tell you, the uni-link is a lot handier than the alligator clips I used before. Once you connect it to the proper place on the new interface unit you placed inside the distribution box, I can link with it and interface with the distribution circuit patterns. My robot brain will adapt it to the proper ranges. See how simple it all is?"

"Eh, yeah," Albert lied.

Once the connections were set up, X-9, his head in Albert's arms, announced to them when he had successfully taken control of the distribution box. "There. Done. I have, via the integrator interface, restarted the power generator. Hear it kicking over? Just give it a few minutes to get warm in here."

Shortly, the lights inside the room- and probably all over the R and D facility blinked on. The heating units around the building commenced operating. The box began to hum. In mere moments they could feel the air slowly start to warm.

"Yay!" both Albert and Nina cheered.

Albert reached for the uni-link wire, about to unclip it from X-9. "Wait, please," the robot said.

Albert stopped and shrugged. "Okay. Why?"

"There is a strange circuit pathway program in there that I do not understand. I do not know what purpose it serves or why it seems to be hidden. Since this is the Research and Development Lab, perhaps it is wise if I learn its reason. It might be important to know what it is, if we shall be stuck inside the Lab for perhaps several weeks."

Nina thought about that. "Maybe we shouldn't meddle with it, and for the same reason you gave- This is the R and D Lab. Who knows what it could be?"

"Yes, I see your point," X-9 agreed. "Okay, Mr. Zoeniga, disconnect me, then."

Albert did, but then the shaking started. The whole building trembled, as if caught in a violent quake. It became so severe that parts of the building shook loose and fell here and there.

"What's going on??" a bewildered Nina wanted to know, trying to keep on her feet through the shaking.

X-9 said, "Just focusing my attention on that circuit must have triggered something, but I do not know what. I suggest you take me and we go to the exit and race to the aircar in the hangar to escape before this shaking gets any worse."

"Good idea, except you forgot about Fuzzy out there, waiting for us," Albert reminded, scooping up the robot head as he and Nina dashed through the rumbling hallway, heading toward the nearby back exit.

The lights winked out. "Drat! Nice while they lasted," said Nina. "At least I still have this flashlight in my back pocket." She led the way.

X-9 told them, as they ran, "I assure you, I did not forget about Fuzzy. I expect the rattling will so rattle him, he shall take flight from his position in panic."

They reached the foyer and the back exit beyond. A shrill siren sounded inside the place for a moment, hurting their ears and getting their attention. Next, an aged voice from seemingly nowhere spoke- "Oops, now you did it!"

"That's Dr. Kitchen's voice," exclaimed Nina.

The late doctor's voice suggested, "I bet you electricians set this off this shaking, didn't your? Well, whatever, better hurry and join me in whatever is our latest highspeed vehicle parked in the garage. Not much room, but I will take whoever gets there in time to escape. You see, I always make sure we have some prototype parked out there for just such a kind of emergency as this. What you did is, you have activated Gov. Bright's self-destruct mechanism for the R and D facility. Now don't try leaving in the vehicle before I get there, because the skycar can't start without my secret code. I made it a point, so that I cannot be left behind, to be the only one who knows the code. As you can surmise, I put that secret code program into our current prototype's programing on the hush-hush. No one knows the code is embedded in there, and no one knows what the code is, either, but me."

The voice faded . And the shaking mellowed and finally halted. Just before the last spasm, however, a section of the roof collapsed right outside the foyer in which they stood, blocking their way back into the main hallway. Green snow blasted in from the hole in the ceiling created by the falling roof section.

Nina gasped, "This is bad- This place is going to self-destruct! I guess we have to risk Fuzzy and do it the way X-9 said!"

"We can't head out the front way, that's for sure. We won't get past that fallen ceiling section to go back into the hallway. I hope X-9's right about Fuzzy being upset from the quake!" Albert said.

“Before we head out, let me peek and see if Fuzzy ran away!" Nina McCleer went to the solid, locked metal exit hatch and peered out the peephole. Its small glass pane had shattered from the quake. All the abuse Fuzzy had given the door previously, and the peep window's pane had not been damaged- but the quake was the last straw. Cold wind blew in through there and from the opened roof, too, making the foyer brutally cold.

Nina saw that Fuzzy did not give up as quickly as X-9 had expected. The shaggy blue creature ran about in circles in the high snow, growling and screeching in fright, very scared and bewildered, and yet he never moved far from his spot nearby the door. His actions wore a path into the deep snow.

Albert Zoeniga once more set down X-9's head on the floor. He took the door's wheel, about to attempt to turn it and retract the crossbar lock. "We can still try running for the hangar, Sis. Nina. Maybe the quake confused Fuzzy and he won't notice us-"

X-9, from where he "sat" on the floor, said, "Surely the strong quaking is not the self-destruct. It already stopped shaking. Except for the portion of the fallen roof, the Lab building is hardly harmed. Either way, I still suggest we get out of here, while we can."

Nina helped Albert twist the locking wheel. “Oh, we intend to, X-9!” With much grunting, they managed to move the crossbar and unlock the hatch. But when they tried to pull it open, it refused to budge. The two humans tugged and tugged, to no success.

And, worse yet, their struggles caught the attention of Fuzzy, who ran to the door and eagerly waited for them to emerge.

Albert stared at the door. "No wonder it won't open! Between Fuzzy banging into it before, and the quake, the door is warped out of shape. And its frame is bulging here and there in the wrong places, too. The door is now jammed and stuck too tight to open! We're trapped here in the foyer!"

X-9 said, "If only I still had my robot body- Maybe I would be able to force the door open!"

Before anyone could fret anymore about the matter, a loud hissing from outside filled their ears. Hiiiisssssss!

"Now what?" asked Nina, not really wanting to know.

She and Albert tried to see out the peep window both at the same time. They saw grey, smoking geysers shooting from the ground. And not one or two of them, but scores of the geysers popped out the snow, in a pattern, one right next to another, encircling the Lab and the nearby garage building in a ring of  grey spraying liquid.

Fuzzy wailed in fright. He now ran wildly in all directions, trying to find a way of escape through the barrier of the geysers. Whatever they were, they looked menacing-

Wherever the grey liquid touched- mostly only snow for the moment- the touched object sizzled, smoked, and dissolved away. The ring of geysers surrounded the whole perimeter of the R and D Lab and the garage. And it soon became obvious that the ring was shrinking, contracting, tightening like a noose around the buildings- and those inside the buildings! The geysers moved nearer, nearer! And the nearer they got, the faster the geyser sprays seemed to be coming toward them!

The spitting fluid neared the garage building first- Only a small stream brushed against a corner of the structure, and that corner quickly bubbled and dissolved into a puddle in the snow.

X-9 could hear the sizzling spray. He inquired, "What is happening? I cannot see from here." When Albert described the scene, X-9 explained, "I think there were tanks underground, filled with at least two different chemicals, separated from each other. When the self-destruct activated, the two chemicals mixed. I am guessing the new compound created a highly deadly acid. How else should one destroy a place that does secret research? The subsequent chemical reaction of the mixture, under tremendous pressure now in the reservoir tanks buried underneath the ground, exerted unbearable force inside the tanks, trying to escape. That must be what caused the shaking. Finally, the acid forced its way out the ground, probably along a predetermined, engineered pathway which would guarantee that both buildings are completely surrounded. With the acid's release, the quaking had stopped, of course. As the acid continues to push up, the ground is melted and it creates a larger opening for even more acid to spurt up. The mixture is very energized, and, while the pressure inside the tanks is perhaps lessened, the fluid is still bubbling up with enormous force. Soon it shall cover all, and melt all. Including us."

Outside, Fuzzy screeched and roared, keeping his distance from the smoking, gushing liquids.

Albert shook his head in dismay. "I... think this is it, Nina! I am glad to have had the pleasure of knowing you and being your friend..."

Nina smiled and shook his hand. "Likewise." She tried not to think how it would feel when the acid reached them. "See you soon, then, Bro. Albert, in Paradise." She told the robot, "I hope we see you there, too, X-9. I know you are a robot, but maybe you will also have an afterlife with us..."

She and Albert discussed which hymn to sing, and they sang, bracing for the soon to come painful end.

(c) 2012 drk