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 - "Rescue in the Atlantic"

It was a sunny Saturday morning, Nathan and Wanna were entertaining
guests.  The Computer Gila Monster came over along with his human friend
Xeren ZZoom.  We were all in the back yard relaxing, Xeren was riding
Starlight, Samantha and I were laying down on the soft grass while the
others were seated in lawn chairs sipping lemonade.  Xeren rode over to us
and dismounted.  

"Hey, let me see if I get this straight," Xeren asked the group,"Samantha,
you're attending the same college that your dad and sisters attended and
you, Gila, are working there as a security guard?"

"Wait a minute, kido!" the Gila Monster retorted,"I am the Chief of
Security, show a little respect!"

"Yes, Xeren, sir," Samantha answered timidly,"I am going to college, how
are you doing at the University?"

"Well," Xeren said with a grin,"all my freshman classes aren't very
challenging, wish they were harder."

"Then perhaps you can help me, sir!" Samantha replied,"I am having some
problems with algebra..."

"But Sam!" Xeren interrupted,"your husband is a walking, talking
computer..."

"who doesn't help my wife cheat!" I said gruffly.

"And I wouldn't ask him to!" Samantha added.

"Ok, ok!"  Xeren said, waving his hands,"I believe you!   Well, Gila, how
was your first week on the job?"

"Well," the Gila answered,"I didn't get to beat up anyone, but at least I
got paid and got free food!"

"You can't beat that, can you?" Xeren said sarcasticly.

"Hey, everyone!"  I shouted,"I'm getting a low frequency distress
signal...."

"Me too!" Starlight added,"sounds like a ship's S.O.S."

"A ship?" Nathan asked,"can you locate the source of the transmission?"

"Yes!" Starlight exclaimed,"it's coming from a cruise vessel that's 500
miles due east of Newfoundland island."

"Any further details?" Wanna asked.

"No, " I said sadly,"this is only morse code, and it keeps repeating!"

"No time to lose!" Nathan shouted,"let's get in our costumes and go there!"

"What about me?" Xeren asked,"can I come along, too?"

"Let's put a mask on him and go!" the Gila said with a grin,"or are you
already wearing one?"

"Very funny, lizard face!" Xeren snapped.

"Of course you can come, Xeren!" Wanna said,"we'll get you something to
wear!"

As Nathan, Wanna and Xeren got into their costumes, Starlight and I
continued to monitor the ship's condition.  It turns out that the ship was
almost in the center of a strong ocean storm.   After a few minutes, we
all assembled together and Nathan -- the Computer Renegade -- zapped us
into the 'wheel house' of the cruise liner, and nearly scared the Captain
out of his wits!

"What in the blue blazes?" the Captain screamed as we BOOMED in front of
him.

"We came in response to your S.O.S., sir!"  the Masked Melitta said.

"What have we here?" the Captain said sarcasticly,"two mutts, a nag, a man
in a Zorro suit, his female sidekick, their son and a guy in a monster
outfit!   This is supposed to help me?"

"You big doofus!" the Gila snarled, "I oughta ram this 2 x 4 right up your
...."

"GILA!" the Renegade yelled,"now be nice.  Captain, I and my friends are
here to help you!"

"How can you help?" the Captain sadly stated,"I was hoping for the Coast
Guard.  As you can see, we have no electrical power!   Our generators are
out!   The ship's hull has been breeched, we're taking on water below.  My
crew iis working desparately, but the vessel is starting to list to port,
if we can't right the ship soon, we'll have to abanden her"  

"Relax, Captain, we're here!"  the Renegade said,"Melitta, you take Otto,
Samantha and Starlight and take care of the hull breech.   Gila, you, Mr X
and I will get the ship's power restored!"

"Alright, let's go!"  I said as I activated my 'black box' circuitry.

"Let's do it!" the Gila Monster shouted.

"Mr X?" Xeren said in shock, "I'm Mr X?"

BOOM!!!    We were all gone.

Melitta, Samantha, Starlight and I were instantly standing on a rail
"bridge" overlooking the area of the hull breech.  It was dimly lit, only
the emergency lights were on.  Water had filled nearly half the chamber
up, and it was still pouring in through the fifty foot long rupture in the
hull.   Several crew members were manning the pumps, but in vain.  

"Hey, who are they?" asked one of the crewmen.

"We're here to help, sir!" Samantha shouted back.

"Samantha, concentrate on creating a force field on the other side of the
breech," I suggested,"when the water stops, Starlight, you and I can use
our lasers to weld the breech shut!"

"And I'd better get all of these crewmen to safety" Melitta shouted,
producing a black box and adjusting it's settings.

"But, there's so much water pouring in, honey!" Samantha said sadly to me.

"Don't think about that now," I said calmly,"we need for you to set up the
force field, Starlight and I need to focus on the welding job, you can do
it, Sam, target and activate!"

Samantha closed her eyes, in a matter of seconds the flow of water stopped!

"That's it, Sam!"  I said excitely,"now, Starlight, you start on the right
end, I'll begin on the left!"

Startlight and I fired our lasers, slowly welding the hull breech together
while Melitta began 'zapping' the waterlogged crewmen onto the walkway. 
All the stunned crewmen could do is stare in amasement as they watched
Starlight and I seal the breech.

"That's the last of the crew down there!" Melitta shouted,"what should I
do now?"

"Use your black box to transport the water out of this chamber!" I shouted
back.

"Will do, Otto!" Melitta yelled as she continued to press buttons on her
black box, making the backed-up water instantly vanish. 

"The weld is complete!" Starlight said happily as the crew cheered us!

Meanwhile, in the generator room, the Renegade, the Gila and "Mr X"
suddenly appeared with a loud BOOM!!   The crew stationed there were all
surprised by our sudden appearance.  

"Who are you people and how did you get here?" the Chief Engineer yelled,
I'm Greg, the Chief Engineer on this vessel!" 

"We're here to help you get power restored to the ship!" the Renegade
answered.

Greg sneered at them and grumbled  "How in the world are you guys going to
......"

"We need to get this smaller generator started first," Mr X said
calmly,"it will serve to prime the others into action."

"I know that you masked child!" Greg growled,"how can we do that with only
auxillary power?"

"We can start the dynamo manually, with this huge hand crank!" Mr X said
as he pointed at it lying on the floor.

"You're crazy, kid!" Greg laughed,"there's no one here strong enough to
turn this thing by ...."

Greg stopped talking as he saw the Gila Monster easily lift the huge hand
crack off the floor and place it's shaft into the end of the generator.  

"No human alive can turn the dynamo fast enough to generate a charge!"
Greg shouted as his crewmates gathered around the Gila Monster.

"Well, I reckon it's a good thing I ain't human!" the Gila Monster yelled
as he began turning the huge crank.

The Renegade and Mr X ran back to the main control panel as Greg was
frozen, startled beyond belief as he and his fellow crewmates watched the
Gila Monster turn the dynamo faster and faster.  A green light began
flashing on the control panel.

"He's done it!   There's the charge we need!" Mr X shouted,"switch the
other generators on, they'll start up now!"

The Renegade pressed many buttons on the panel, and to everyone's
amazement, the other generators came on line!

"Ok, Gila, you can stop cranking now!"  the Renegade shouted,"and don't
forget to remove the crank!"

"I was just gittin warmed up!" the Gila Monster moaned as he pulled out
the crank with one huge jerk!   The smaller generator 'took off' on it's
own and as Mr X and the Renegade flipped all the control panel switches
on, full power was restored all over the ship.   The happy engine crew
shouted and tossed their hats in the air!   

"This thing isn't over yet!" the Renegade warned,"we have to get this ship
out of the storm.

"The breech has been sealed and the water removed!" I shouted over the
Renegade's radio.

"Alright, let's all return to the wheel house, this isn't over yet!"  the
Renegade said as he reached for his black box.

BOOM!!!!   We were all back in the wheelhouse and once again, scared the
poor Captain!

"Will you creatures PLEASE stop doing that?" the Captain said as he
staggered out of his seat,"you're going to give me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, sir!"  Samantha apologized,"but we did repair the ship!"

"I can see that, girly dog!" the Captain grumbled,"the power is back on,
and I heard the report from below decks that you dogs and the horse there
soldered the hole shut!   That's fine, but we're still in for a rough ride
from this bloody storm!"

"According to this navigational chart, this ship's destination is the port
of St. John's in Newfoundland," Mr X commented.

"Give me that map!" the Captain roared as he grabbed the map out of his
hands.  

"We're still about 450 miles east from Newfoundland!" Starlight said,"and
the storm is getting stronger!"

"First, the collie talks, and now the horse!" the Captain said in
wonderment,"well, what does the German Shepard have to say?"

"I say we need to set up a portal, like we did for that forest fire a few
months ago!"  I shouted with a smile, watching the Captain's eyes get
bigger as I spoke.

"Yes!" Starlight shouted," that will work but we'll have to make the
portal large enough for the cruise ship to pass through it!"

"Portal?" the Captain asked,"what are you animals talking about?"

"We're talking about a way to save this ship!" the Gila Monster
growled,"and you just sit there and do what we tell you without any
further mumbling, understand me, Captain Crunch?"

"Whatever you say, green man!" the Captain said in fright.

"OK, let's set up our six points of contact to open the portal," I
said,"Starlight, you, Renegade and Melitta set up the opening on the other
side of the storm while Samantha, Gila and I set up this end, OK?"

"I have the coordinates we need!" Starlight said,"I'm setting your boxes
up now, Renegade and Melitta!"

"Ok, hand the Gila a box and I'll set it for him!" I shouted,"Samantha,
I'll tell you where to set your collar for!"

"What's going on here, lad?" the Captain whispered to Mr X.

"My friends are opening a gateway to get this ship safely out of the
storm," Mr X whispered back,"it will be a triangular doorway, and when you
see it forming, have your crew steer this ship towards it, OK?"

"Aye, aye, sir!" the Captain said with enthusiasm,"what do we have to
lose?"

"Ok, we must activate the portal together,"  Starlight shouted,"get ready,
counting down, three .... two ..... one..... NOW!"

Instantly, a triangular portal formed in front of the ship.   "Take her
through the portal, full speed!" the Captain shouted to his crew.   The
strucken cruise ship moves safely into the portal and out the other side. 
 

"OK, we're clear!" I shouted,"shut off the portal!"

The captain, his crew and the passengers who were all shut in their
quarters all looked outside and were amazed to see the sun shining, the
calm water and, in the distance, the port of St John's directly in front
of them!    

"All hands, this is the Captain speaking!" blared on the ships PA
system,"we are out of danger, and headed for port!"

"I can't believe me eyes!" the Captain said joyfully,"you and your animal
friends did it!   On behalf of my crew and passengers, I thank you all!"

"It was our pleasure, sir!" Samantha said.

"All in the line of duty, Captain!" the Renegade added.

"Hey Captain, can I have one of them there Captain's hats?" the Gila
Monster asked.

"Gila!" Mr X scolded.

"That's alright, lad," the Captain said with a smile,"here, take me hat,
it's the least I can do for you.   I was rather rude with all of you
earlier, and I'm sorry for ....."

"Apology accepted!" Melitta interrupted.

"and once you get to St John's, better get her into drydock and have that
weld looked at carefully," Mr X suggested," We did the best we could, but
you better be sure that the weld is inspected to be certain that it'll
hold in the future."

"You have my word on it, Mr X!" the Captain said with a smile.

"We have to be going now, Captain!" Starlight said,"I'm already receiving
radio and TV signals commenting on the 'sudden appearance' of a cruise
ship near St John's Bay!"

"Won't you stay for dinner?" the Captain asked,"I insist that you all stay
and be our guests!   I want to show you our gratitude, what do you say?"

"Well, at this rate of speed, we'll be in port in one hour and thirty
minutes," I stated.

"Need to change that," the Captain said as he winked at us,"take us down
to half speed!   Now, we'll have plenty of time for a celebration feast!  
 Let's go to the dining room, you'll all eat at my table!"

"That's the best offer I've had all day!" the Gila Monster said with a
huge grin.

So, we all stayed and dined with the Captain.   The head chef fixed
Starlight something he called gourmet 'oats' while the rest of us had
steaks and seafood.   The Captain didn't even complain about the Gila
Monster's terrible table manners!    Crew and passengers alike came to our
table to personally thank us for all we'd done!   I have to admit, it's
rare that we get an opportunity like this, so we all savored the moment!  
We really hated to leave, it's nice to be appreciated!

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End of entry