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 and his friends fight a never
>ending battle against crime, injustice and danger.   This is yet another
>entry from Otto's 'personal' log.
>
>The Renegade Files -- "Legal Holiday"

Today promised to be a very wonderful day.  It was a legal Monday holiday,
 so the law office Wanna worked in was closed and there were no classes
held at the college my wife Samantha attended.  Unfornutely, Nathan did
have to go to the office, and our friend, the Computer Counsellor, went
out into the woods riding Starlight, so the three of us were all alone at
the house.  Wanna had a notion to visit her Aunt Catherine in the city, so
Samantha and I came along "for the ride."  Her aunt didn't know that Wanna
was the "Masked Mellita" or that my wife and I weren't just plain,
ordinary dogs.  When we arrived at her place, Wanna went inside while
Samantha and I wandered off into the backyard.   Wanna told us not to
leave the yard so we both laid down on the ground.  We had to whisper to
each other, didn't want to arouse any suspiction.

"Well, this isn't much of a way to spend your day off, honey," I whispered.

"It doesn't matter to me, my love," Samantha answered,"as long as I'm with
you!"

We quietly talked, observed the 'enviroment' around us, and even played a
little 'fetch' with one of the neighbor's kids.  All in all, it was fun to
be 'regular' dogs for an afternoon!

When Wanna was ready to leave, she whistled for us and we climbed into her
car.  Aunt Katherine complimented her niece on how well behaved her dogs
were!   As they were saying their goodbyes, I took a look around and
noticed something in the far distance.  There was a man who had a young
girl by the arm and was yelling at her to get into his car.  The child
kept crying and fighting him, perhaps it was a father and daughter who
didn't want to go home.  The more I taught about it, the more I wondered
if there wasn't something more going on there.  Samantha and I sat in the
back seat, but I couldn't stop thinking about what I had seen.  I just
refused to "let go" of this, so I took their scanned images and ran a
online background check on them in my systems.  

"Darling, what's the matter?" Samantha asked me as Wanna started the car
up.

"It may be nothing, honey," I replied,"I saw a family agrument a few
blocks away, but it's probably just nothing."

"What are you two talking about?" Wanna asked.

"Well," I explained,"there was this man who had this little girl by the
arm and ....."

I stopped in mid-sentence.  I had just downloaded an FBI identification on
the man, and I didn't like what it said!

"What's wrong, Otto?" Wanna asked.

"There's no time to explain, I have to stop him!" I said excitedly,"please
listen to me carefully.  Samantha, track me with your collar and zap
yourself to my location when I stop moving.  Wanna, you better get into
your costume, we have to hurry before it's too late!"

That said, I activated my black-box circuitry and BOOM!!  I was standing
four blocks down the road.  My motion detectors were tracking the man's
car, he was moving fast and was almost to the interstate off ramp!   I ran
with lightning speed to catch up, and noticing the intersection directly
ahead of the car, I transmitted a signal to it that made the 'red light'
come on.  Lucky for me, the man decided not to 'run the red light' and
came to a stop.  I was so upset, all I could think of to do to keep that
car from moving was to grab it's front bumper by my mouth and lift it off
the pavement!  The man 'floored' the car, but the front wheels continued
to spin and the car didn't move.  He kept honking the horn and yelling out
the window at me, but I refused to let go!

Wanna zapped herself on the scene and could hardly believe her eyes! 

"Darling, what are you doing?" Samantha shouted.  Good thing for me that I
have an independent sound system so I could 'talk' with my mouth full!

"Samantha, that human is kidnapping that little girl!" I explained,"lock
onto her and zap her out of there before he tries to hurt her!"

Samantha focused her thoughts quickly and in a matter of seconds, BOOM!!
The little girl was standing right beside my wife!  

"That's not my daddy!" the little girl shouted as she cried.

"We know that, dear!" Samantha answered,"that's why we rescued you ...."

"You can talk!" the little girl shouted and hugged Samantha tightly.  

The man was getting frustrated and tried to open his car door.  Good thing
I took the precaution of tapping into the car's electrical system and
locked them all!   Then the man attempted to crawl out his open window,
but I stopped him in a hurry by dropping the car bumper out of my mouth. 
The instant 'bounce' that produced threw the man back into his seat.  Good
thing I signaled the police, I could hear the siren in the background
coming closer!  The squad car came to a screeching halt directly in the
intersection, and two uniformed officers approached us.

"Ok, what's going on here?" one of the officers asked.

"We got a radio call about a kidnapping taking place here," the other
added.

"I sent you that message, officers, and I stopped this vehicle!' I
answered.

"You.... you........ your talking!" the one officer stuttered.

"Don't you recognize him?" the other commented,"that's Otto, the Computer
Renegade's dog!"

As we were taking, the man finally crawled out the open window and began
running in the opposite direction.  "Excuse me, gentlemen," I told the
officers,"I have to fetch a suspect!"

Using my super speed, I was soon standing in front of the fleeing man,
growling loudly and showing my teeth!  The man turned and ran in another
direction, but I was quickly standing in front of him again!  

"Get away from me, Rover!" the man screamed as he attempted to escape
again.  This time I zapped both of us back to the intersection.   He
reached for a baseball bat that was lying in a nearby front yard and ran
at me.  I stood still, turned on my force field and watched with glee as
he swung, his bat bouncing off the force field, striking him squarely
between his eyes!  That's when the Masked Mellita arrived, and I turned to
her quickly and said,"Mellita, the little girl here was kidnapped by this
man, her mother must be very worried, her name is Amber Sanchez and her
mom's name is Juanita.  I am sending the coordinates directly to your
black box, go there and bring her here please."

"Will do, Otto!" Mellita said just before she pushed the button on her
box.   When she arrived, she saw Mrs Sanchez in a state of panic, yelling
out her daughter's name and running down the street.

"Juanita Sanchez!" Mellita called out.

Juanita turned and shouted back,"yes, how do you know my name?   Who are
you?"

"There's no time to explain," Mellita told her,"your daughter Amber is
safe, let me take you to her!"

"But how do you know this?" Juanita questioned,"I've been searching the
entire block and I .."

Mellita pressed the button again and they were both standing in front of
young Amber.

"MOMMY!" she shouted as the two shared a warm enbrace.  I explained to the
two cops that the man who I had apprehended was Harry L Snowzall, who
according to the FBI computer was wanted on several warrants and had a
prior arrest for kidnapping.

"How on earth do you know all this, you're just a dog!" the one officer
asked.

"Frank, this is Otto!   He's a walking computer database!" the other
officer told him as he handcuffed the unconscience suspect,"don't you
watch the news on TV?"

"Mommy," Amber told her mom,"that man over there grabbed me, and these two
doggies saved me!"

"Mrs Sanchez," Mellita said happily,"may I introduce my canine friends
Otto and Samantha!"

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Sanchez, ma'am" Samantha said.

"You......you....... you can talk!" Juanita shouted.

"We've been getting this reaction all day today!" I said with a chuckle. 

Harry finally 'woke up' to discover that he was on the street, and
handcuffed!

"You stupid mutts ruined everything!" Harry sneared,"and you even left
teeth marks on my front bumper!"

"Shut up, Harry, or I'll let them leave teeth marks all over YOU!" one of
the officers said.

As the officers read Harry his rights, Mellita walked over to Samantha and
I and said,"I think it's time for us to leave."

"I can't thank you all enough!" Juanita said through tears of gratitude.

"It was our pleasure, Mrs Sanchez!" Mellita said.

Amber was still hugging both me and my wife.  "Thank you brave doggies!"
she said.

"We had better go now, before the press gets here!" I insisted.

Amber and her mom waved goodbye to us, and with a loud BOOM!!   we were
gone.

Not a typical way for a 'family' to spend a holiday, but then again, we're
not exactly a 'typical' family!

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