Copywrite 1999 Robert Baer Jr

PROLOGUE

This is the story of a superhero, the Computer Renegade, as told through
the eyes of his faithful bionic German Shepard Otto.   Disguised as
Accountant Nathan Lovejoy, the Renegade fights a never ending battle
against crime, injustice and danger.   He and his friends keep a watchful
eye, ready to help those in need.   This is another entry from Otto's
internal 'personal' log.

The Renegade Files - "Starlight's Revenge"

It was two in the morning, and everyone in the house was asleep.   Nathan
and Wanna were sleeping peacefully in their room, while I was curled up by
the sofa beside my lovely collie bride.  Normally, I sleep very well since
my internal systems can be switched to 'power saver' mode, which enables
me to relax quite comfortably.   This night, I was awaked by one of my
internal scanning devices.   I detected a sudden power surge from the area
of the stable.   My first fear was that something terrible had happened to
Starlight, Wanna's horse who was 'rebuilt' just like I was over a year
ago.   I quietly stood up and slowly walked out the front door (I didn't
want to disturb Samantha, she's so cute when she's sleeping!).   When I
got to the stable, I saw that Starlight was gone!    I scanned the
surrounding area for several miles but I couldn't read her signal beacon. 
I had what humans call a 'gut feeling' that something was terribly wrong. 
 I reset my sensors for long range scan, and that's when I pinpointed her
exact location.  She was in the countryside of Kentucky, on a horse ranch
near Lexington.  It was when I cross-referenced her personal history that
I discovered the true reason for her flight.   I quickly locked on to her
location and BOOM!!!   I was standing in front of a large ranch-style
house.

My research had told me that this was the home of Wellington Farnsworth
the Third, owner of a number of horse breeding farms in the Kentucky area.
 He was Starlight's former owner, in those days she was known as 'April
Rain' a thoughbred race horse with a proud pedigree.   It was on this
night a year ago that she was nearly burned to death in a stable fire.   I
had another"gut feeling" that Starlight was set on taking revenge on
Wellington, the man who was going to have her destroyed before Uncle
Buford and Maxx showed up and begged him to let them have her.   She was
inside the house, I could sense it, so I quickly 'zapped' myself to the
room where she was.

Starlight was standing over Wellington's bed, I could see the anger in her
eyes as she yelled out,"WELLINGTON FARNSWORTH!    WAKE UP!"    The man
beneath the covers simply grunted and mumbled,'honey, let me sleep in
today, one more hour, OK?"

Starlight grew even more angrier, she shot an anit-gravity ray out of her
eyes and made the bedcovers instantly fly up and 'stick' to the ceiling. 
"WELLINGTON FARNSWORTH!!" Starlight screamed again,"WAKE UP AND FACE ME!"

This action finally woke the sleepy horse racing tycoon.   He turned
around, but couldn't quite see who was doing all the yelling in his dimly
lit room.   "WHO ARE YOU?   SPEAK UP!   WHO'S HERE!"  Wellington yelled
out as he reached for a golf club laying beside his bed.    As he used his
other hand to feel the wall trying in vain to find the silent alarm
button, Starlight shot a laser beam out of her eyes and exploded the
alarm's control console.   Wellington sprang out of his bed and ran
downstairs screaming "HELP, POLICE!  WHERE IS EVERYONE!"  He turned on his
living room lights only to discover a large, white horse standing in front
of him!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE, YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" Wellington
bellowed,"HOW DID YOU GET LOOSE FROM YOUR STABLE?"   As he swung his golf
club in the air to strike her, Starlight fired another laser beam out of
her eyes and cut his club in two instantly.   This scared Wellington so
much that he froze, unable to move or run away.

"Now that I have your full attention," Starlight began.

"You can talk?"  Wellington said slyly.

"Oh yes, I can!"  Starlight exclaimed,"I can do much, much more!   You
don't remember me, do you Wellington Farnsworth the Third?   You don't
remember what happened out there, in the stables exactly one year ago
today, do you?"

Wellington stared at Starlight, thoughts running through his mind, and
then he spoke,"it can't be, you look like April Rain, but that's
impossible, I gave her to a old man after the fire......"

"Yes, you did!"  Starlight agreed,"but not before you pointed a loaded
shotgun at me and wanted to put me out of my misery!"

"How could you possibly know about that?"   Wellington asked,"unless......
 oh no!   It can't be!   You can't be April Rain!  She was so badly burned
that there's no way that ....."

"WRONG, CREEP!!!!"  Starlight thundered,"I used to be known as April Rain,
and I DIDN'T DIE!    That old man you gave me to saved my life, and now,
I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me!"

"NO!!!!   Stay away from me!!"  Wellington screamed as he ran outside, but
everywhere he turned, the super speedy Starlight would be standing right
in front of him.   Starlight was enjoying all this, but I realized that
she meant to hurt Wellington, perhaps fatally.

I called out to her,"Starlight, end this now, this isn't right!"

"Otto?"  she questioned,"what are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!" I answered.

"But you don't understand!" Starlight pleaded,"this man wanted to kill me!"

"I know all about this," I said,"I can download information files too, you
know."

"Then you also know that this evil human wanted that stable to burn down! 
  He took out a large insurance policy on me, and when he had me declared
'dead' he pocketed 1.4 million dollars, didn't you, Wellington Farnsworth?"

"IT'S A LIE!"  Wellington yelled in desparation,"I would never ...."

"SHUT UP YOU TWERP!"  Starlight screamed,"I know all about it!   You even
had the money transferred to a Swiss Bank Account, and I know you hired
someone to burn down my stable, with me securely locked up in it!   Didn't
you?"

"No, NO, it's not true!"  Wellington stammered.

"TELL US THE TRUTH, WELLINGTON, OR ELSE I'LL DO THIS TO YOU!"   Saying
this, Starlight fired a laser beam at a nearby tree and burned it to ashes
in a matter of seconds.   

Wellington fell to his knees and begged,"ALRIGHT, I DID IT, IT'S TRUE,
PLEASE SPARE ME!"

"STOP, I CAN'T LET YOU DO THIS!"  I yelled as I moved in between
Wellington and Starlight.

"Otto, he wanted to burn me alive!"  Starlight said through screaming
tears,"so I just want to return the favor!"

"You can't do this," I said sternly,"this isn't you.   You're a kind,
gentle soul, you're never harmed a human in your life."

"There's a first time for everything!"  Starlight cried," and this moron
deserves it!   Stand aside so I can do what I came here to do!"

Wellington was still on his knees, tembling, crying, then finally passing
out in fright.

"No Starlight!"  I yelled,"this is wrong, I won't let you do this!"

"Don't make me fight you, Otto," Starlight said in a rage,"I don't want to
hurt you."

"If you do this, you'll be hurting yourself more than you will me or even
him!"  I explained,"you were programmed with the same moral codes that I
was, think of your programming!"

"It's not that easy, Otto!"  Starlight said with anger,"you have NO idea
what it's like to be me!'

"Starlight," I said calmly,"download my biographical file."

Starlight spoke while she was computing,"Ok, you were a trained guard dog,
you guarded your former master's mansion grounds for seven months, then
you were hit with a car and then......... "

"Then, what, Starlight?" I asked.

"Then your former master wanted YOU killed,"  Starlight admitted,"that's
when Uncle Buford stepped in."

"Exactly!" I shouted with a smile,"you and I have experienced the same
type of rejection."

"But how did you handle it?"  Starlight asked, almost in tears,"didn't you
want revenge on that terrible man?"

"I must admit at first that the thought did cross my mind!"  Otto
confessed,"but then, I also thought to myself that if I did take vengence
on this man, I would become exactly like him, I be acting no better than
he did."

Starlight started crying again as I continued,"what Wellington did to you
was a horrible injustice, but can't you see that harming him would make
you just as terrible as he is?   Besides, look at all that you and I have
gained!   We are alive!   You and I have been given fantastic high-tech
abilities to help mankind, not harm it, right?"

"You're correct!" Starlight said with tears falling from her eyes,"I'm so
sorry, Otto.   I'm so glad you came and talked some sense into me!"

"That's what friends are for!"  I said with a smile.

"But what about Wellington?" Starlight asked.

"Let's just return home," Otto whispered,"his vital signs are fine, he
only fainted.   When he comes to, I'll bet he'll just think he had a bad
dream.   Why don't you just quietly zap him back into his bed, OK?"

"Ok," Starlight answered in a hushed tone, she turned to her former owner,
and in an instant, he vanished.  "but what about that tree I fried, or
that security panel, or the golf club...."

"Perhaps those things will remind him of what happened here tonight, and
maybe he'll think twice before ever mistreating a horse like that again!" 
I said. "Now, let's go back home!"   With that, we were instantly standing
outside of Starlight's stable.   "Sleep well, my friend!" I said as I ran
back to the house.   Talk about a sound sleeper, Samantha hadn't even
moved an inch!  

The next morning, I took a walk outside to the stable.   

"Well, Starlight?"  I asked,"how do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful, my canine friend!" she beamed.

"Doesn't it feel great to do the right thing?"  I asked.

"It sure does!"  Starlight agreed as we both listened to the radio which
was playing nearby: "In other financial news, IRS agents seized the
records of the Farnsworth Stables of Lexington, Kentucky early this
morning, as well as freezing all the assets of owner Wellington Farnsworth
the Third.   He is currently under investigation for tax fraud and
embezzlement, Mr Farnsworth had no comment on the charges..."

"I wonder WHO tipped them off about him?" I asked giggling.

Starlight simply stood there and whistled.    Looks like she got her
'revenge' after all!


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