00112




The citizens of the World of Hope worried about the proverbial dam about to burst. Surely it must be soon- very, very soon. Nobody seemed to know what was actually happening, but everybody knew something was about to happen. The facts of the situation proved hard to come by these days, but tension and stress electrified the air.

Commerce between the planet Earth and the World of Hope came to a halt. The lines of communication between the two were down, possibly being jammed from both sides. As a result, nobody had any news from the other world. In this case, no news definitely was not good news.

Struber's gang of Hopers kept things hot at the rocketport as they held onto control of the place. Here, too, the facts seemed sparse about what truly went on in that situation. The rabble-rousing band demanded the World of Hope be its own boss. No more bowing and cowtowing to Earth! No more suffering disrespect! No more accepting exploitation! The Hopers made new demands every hour for the mother world if Earth ever expected to see another shipment of fuel ore- despite the fact that the interworldly communications were not even functioning at this point.

Sparkle City's people argued amongst themselves, whether Struber was a good guy or a bad guy. At first, most people viewed him as just a trouble-maker, but then, as they listened, more and more of the citizens of Hope joined his ranks, at least mentally. He made people think about their plight- Who didn't know that Earth treated them like dirt, to keep them under the thumbs of the authorities on their native world? When Struber listed all the faults in how Earth treated the citizens of Hope, he seemed to awaken the people to the realization of what that treatment actually meant, and he seemed to invigorate a desire in the common man or woman to have a better type of freedom independent of the “good graces” of the Earth Leaders. As Struber pointed out: Xavier Bright might not be perfect, despite his best intentions, but he was one of them! One of them! A citizen of Hope!

When did Struber become so smart? asked those who knew him from his days of causing trouble in the Tourist Trap nightclub. Maybe somebody coached him on what to say, suggested others. Whatever, it did not matter. What mattered was what Struber said, and it made sense!


"I think before we go to the factory, we should stop by the rocketport and see how things stand with Struber today," Hope Leader Bright said. He sat back in his parked limo, watching the streets. His young Security Leader sat to his left, looking at a few papers.

His chauffeur started the engine and carefully pulled out of the parking spot onto the street.

Some Security Agents were on patrol, and so were many of the volunteers of the Civilian Defense Group. These people kept their eyes on things, they listened to things, they kept the order.

Hope Leader Bright turned to Security Leader Morgan. "I see more citizens in uniform than I do civilians these days."

Mita Morgan said, "I think most of the civilians are keeping to their houses, unless they have a reason to be out on the streets. They know trouble's coming."

Ldr. Bright nodded. "Good, good. It is best if they keep out of the way."

The traffic of vehicles seldom became heavy on the narrower streets of Hope. Most of the citizens could not afford cars and so relied on public transportation or on the pair of legs God gave them. The tourists were the ones who used cabs, but these days, the wise tourist stayed out of the public light. And  then, since cabs were idle anyway, the CDG took them over- Besides, the cab drivers were not able to keep up with their business privilege taxes at any rate.

The vehicles today consisted of almost all CDG and Security Agency cars and trucks.

Ldr. Bright leaned front and told the chauffeur, "It's good to have you back with us, Mr. Samm. It's like the good ol' days, eh?"

"Yes, Sir, Ldr. Bright. It's, uhm, good to be back, Sir... I guess." Samm kept his eyes on the road as he drove.

"I understand your uncertainty, Mr. Samm," the Hope Leader sympathized. "You cannot speak with much conviction about the past due to ex-Security Leader Clyden's mischief which resulted in your amnesia. You may not remember, but I do. I have always valued loyalty, and you have never been anything but loyal and good."

"Thank you, Sir."

Ldr. Bright returned to his conversation with Security Leader Mita Morgan. "I cannot believe Clyden managed to outsmart me. He outwitted all of us, and he escaped with those other two miners besides that yet. The gladiator match turned out to be a ruse. But- how? How did he know how close the fight recovery room was to the exhaust shaft of our power fuel ore processor? How was he able to remember? Did he find a way to beat the ID Wipe? Of course, whatever method he used to do it, he got the help from the same place where he got that ID Wipe device that he tried to use on me... Maybe it was that pill he had taken when captured. If so, it might work on Mr. Samm- Hmm, had I known Clyden was so smart to pull that off, I might have reconsidered making him my Lt. Governor after all."

"No offense, Sir, but no you wouldn't. It would be a terrible move. Tretl Clyden was obviously a dangerous man to have hanging around you."

"True, Sec. Ldr. Morgan. Have any of your Agents found clues suggesting where Mr. Clyden may have gone?"

"My best people are on it, Sir. I had hoped the Eaters had gotten the whole lot of them, but then Agent Paul discovered two used rolls of camo wrap."

"Hm. I see."

When Samm brought them to the rocketport, Struber's Hopers were swarming in packs about the rocketport. Those posted at the recently-erected gate of the new fence peeked inside the limo and then waved them through.

A few of the Hopers shouted the familiar slogan, "Hope for Hopers! Hope for Hopers!"

The driver parked in the middle of a landing field where Struber, with several of his aides, waited for the limo's arrival.

Samm opened the doors for Hope Ldr. Bright and Sec. Ldr. Morgan.

"Good morning, Ldr. Bright. Nice to see you again, Sec. Ldr. Morgan."

"Likewise, Mr. Struber," Ldr. Xavier Bright returned the greeting. "Please update me on any new developments here."

"Not so much to tell, Mr. Bright. We still have the Earth tourists and business travellers holed up in the lounge. I see no reason to release them so they can go into town to better accommodations, and probably try to take advantage of a poor hotel owner's current situation of not having many tourists renting rooms there these days, and then insisting on the hotel manager giving them rooms at an unfair hotel rate. Oh, and we got a couple more Hopers to join us- those who were too old and decrepit to join the CDG, although some are actually CDG volunteers who moonlight here as some of my Hopers."

"Good, good. I did not expect anything new out here, but I like to see personally how things are going. Keep up the good work, Mr. Struber," said the Hope Leader.

"You got it," smiled Struber. "I bet Earth won't be so quick to send the Army. Our tourist guests in the lounge might get hurt in the crossfire."

"Do you really think it is wise to keep them in the lounge?" asked Sec. Ldr. Mita Morgan. "Might it not be better to keep them in a more confined area, for better control over the group of them?"

"Okay, Sec. Ldr. Morgan," agreed Struber. "I'll figger a better way to contain them, for in case we get any pushy, hostile visitors from Earth. As leverage, you know."

Ldr. Bright and Sec. Ldr. Morgan returned to the limousine. Samm drove them from the rocketport and over the small rickety bridge across Abyss Gorge to the nearby farms- and to the secret production factory.

Samm waited outside the factory by the limousine while Ldr. Bright and Sec. Ldr. Morgan entered the building that appeared to be a barn, but inside it was a factory humming with activity, operated by robots.

Conveyor systems moved machinery parts down assembly lines and these parts were put together piece by peice along the way. Then the finished products were taken to the staging area, to be shipped out to a certain warehouse in Sparkle City.

A robot hurried over to meet the humans. "Greetings, Ldr. Bright, Sec. Ldr. Morgan."

Xavier Bright asked, "How is production, T4111? Did you get over that glitch?"

"Yes, Sir. One of the assembly robots had a defective chip and could not use its right arm properly, so it has been replaced. The defective robot has been recycled."

The Hope Leader slightly frowned. "Oh. We could have kept it and simply stored it with the rest of the robot army. After all, eventually all of you robots will be needed in the battle I am expecting. It's only a matter of time. I hope by then we have all our blasters and our robots already made."

"Yes, Sir."

Ldr. Bright walked about the place, observing, taking mental notes on things that could be changed to facilitate better output, studying the robot workers. He nodded in satisfaction. "I am well pleased. And I am delighted to think what use and refinement we can make of the resin from processing our fuel ore. It has become a suitable metal substitute, and we even find that it helps to make the robot brains smarter than the previous generation, with less risk of Seymour's Disease."

Mita Morgan smiled. "I am glad you have confidence in this whole operation, Sir. I think our surprise will completely take the forces of Earth off-guard, once they arrive. I am fairly certain no one on Earth expects you to count on robots for a large part of your war machine, since the conventional robot is, for the most part, rather stupid."

"Indeed, Sec. Ldr. Morgan. The robot army shall be unbeatable. Each day, as Gunther Martin delays Earth from taking any decisive action against us, we build up our strength more and more."

"I wonder, how long does it take to train one of these robots how to fight, Sir?"

"When they are activated, they can be trained in only a few hours' time. Some of the training is already hardwired into the new robot brains. And now, I have another task for you to oversee. Because these new robot brains are so far advanced, I want you to confiscate and gather all the old robots around the city. Their old, out-of-date heads with their inferior, stupid brains shall be replaced with these new head models. Even our old rickety robots, before useless in such an endeavor, shall become soldiers in the war with their brand new heads."

The Security Leader nodded. "Yes, Sir. I shall assign that task to CDG Squad Leader Bright. She and her squadron can locate and round up all the expendable robots throughout the city. I assume you do not want to take those robots used in the Enviro-Gens, Ldr. Bright."

"Correct. And I approve the selection of my niece for the task."

Having concluded his inspection of the facility, Ldr. Bright went to the exit. He asked, "How is Sheila doing in her position as Squadron Leader?"

"Very well, Ldr. Bright. She is training them for hand-to-hand combat. I expect it may come to that at some point."

"Of course. I am glad to see the lessons of physical war I taught her in her childhood are paying off. And what about regarding the hostage, Osmo Martin? Is that situation a problem for her?"

They headed back toward the car.

"She never mentions him."

"Good. It's best for her not to think about it."

As Samm took them back over the rickety bridge, Ldr. Bright peered out the window. "This bridge... Do you think we should work on widening it and reinforcing it?"

"If you wish, it can be done. However, it will take away time and energy from other important tasks that need to be done before Earth sends their troops."

"I think you are right. But have an inspector check the bridge, see if it is still structurally sound. We will be using it a lot more in the coming days, transporting heavy loads of robots."

Mita Morgan noticed that, for the first time in long time, Ldr. Bright's face seemed to relax, just a bit, to the point of actaully seeming a bit at ease, no doubt from seeing how smoothly things ran at the factory. Suddenly, then, his face fell. Once more he looked too preoccupied by his thoughts.

Scowling, Ldr. Bright said, "I do hope you soon locate Clyden. I do not know what he is planning, but I am concerned. I did not expect him to be able to pull off such an escape. I have underestimated him, and I do not want him to turn out the be the fly in the ointment."

(c) drk 2012