Copyright 1999 -- Robert Baer Jr The Renegade Files - "The Search for Ithica Stone - Part 1" 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 -- "The Search for Ithica Stone -- Part 1" It was Saturday, and the Lovejoy household was 'buzzing' with activity. Starlight had already 'zapped' herself to the Computer Counsellor's house. Starlight loved to be ridden by the Counsellor, an activity they often did together this time of the week. Nathan and Wanna wanted to go to the nearby state park for some 'quiet time' together. That sounded like a good idea, so the four of us were getting ready to get into the car when all of a sudden, I received an urgent transmission on the emergency police frequency. "Wait, everyone!" I said,"I'm picking up a urgent message on the FBI channell, they're calling specifically for the Computer Renegade!" "For me?" Nathan wondered outloud,"what do they want?" "They want you and members of your group to meet with an agent Delnas in Dallas," I answered back,"they say it's a top secret mission, cannot be discussed on the air. Agent Delnas is waitng there now, we have permission to 'zap' ourselves directly to her office." "There goes our outing in the woods," Wanna said sadly. "But this must be important," Samantha said as she looked up at Wanna,"duty calls, we must answer that call, ma'am." "Ok, let's get into our costumes and go there!" Nathan said as he ran toward the house. "What about Starlight?" I asked,"shouldn't we call her and have her meet us there?" "Starlight and the Counsellor are out on their weekly ride," Wanna said as she ran toward the house,"we can handle this one ourselves, and we can always call her later if we need her." "I don't know, Wanna, ma'am," Samantha said politely,"she's part of our team, she might be upset if we don't contact her." "Samantha," I interrupted,"Starlight probably picked up the same message that I did, she's probably waiting for us there now!" "Maybe," Samantha said with doubt in her voice,"I hope so." We all gathered together and in a matter of seconds, we were all standing in the office of Agent Delnas, a special FBI officer in charge of investigations. "I'm glad that you responded to our message, Mr Renegade," Agent Delnas said with a smile,"we need your legendary abilities to help us track down someone who is in grave danger." "Grave danger?" the Renegade questioned,"you better start from the beginning, ma'am." "Ok, here's the story," Agent Delnas explained,"Five years ago, a mobster named Hands Gallagher was sentence to two life terms in prison for drug smuggling, murder and racketeering. The trial was intense, Gallagher's attorneys put on a good 'show.' The trial turned when three witnesses came forward and testified against him. One was named Jack Cradlebum, Gallagher's most trusted associate. Another was Herman Shotz, his former bookkeeper. The third was a young lady named Ithica Stone, she was the ex-wife of one of Gallagher's men." "Yes, and four days ago, Hands escaped from the maximum penetenary in California, right?" I added. "I can see that that computer mind of yours is working overtime, Otto!" Agent Delnas said with a smile,"Yes, he did escape and no one knows where he is. We do know what he's up to, though. Both Jack Cradlebum and Herman Shotz are now missing, they were under our witness protection program." "What about Miss Stone?" the Masked Melitta asked. "That's why I asked you all to come here," Agent Delnas said sadly,"Ithica Stone chose not to particapate in our witness protection program, in fact, she 'went into hiding' on her own shortly after the trial. Our crime computers and personal databases can't find her, we've even cross-referenced several Federal data banks, our best agents can't find her. Wiil you and your team help us find her, Computer Renegade?" "Of course we will help!" the Renegade said with a smile,"what information can you give us on her?" "Well," Agent Delnas said as she sat down at her desk and started to type on her laptop computer,"I'll read you her last known profile. Here's her file..... Ithica Marie Stone.... Born 9-3-55 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Has no known living relatives. Last worked as a secretary at the KLIM Company in 1994, one of Gallagher's dummy corporations. Divorced from Malcolm McCaines in 1995, resigned from KLIM the same day. Was under FBI protective custody a short time after that, we had contacted her and asked her to testify. After the trial, she ran from the courthouse and was never seen or heard from again. She eluded the agents assigned to her, and the final sentence on her file: Whereabouts Unknown." "Do you have any photos of her?" I asked. "We have this one," Agent Delnas said as she pulled it out of his center desk drawer,"it was taken while she was in our custody five years ago. Don't know if it'll do much good, she probably looks a lot different now." "Let's see," I said as I scanned the picture with my eyes,"I'm running an 'aging' program in my internal systems, may I link to your laptop so I can show all of you the results?" "Be my guest, Otto," Agent Delnas said,"but we've already done this on our systems, and we could still find no matching photos of her." "Ok, the link is establish," I said,"here is the photo you just handed me, now, I'll add five years of aging, and take into consideration composite changes in hairstyle, culture, weather conditions ...." "Honey, please just do it," Samantha said excitedly,"I think you're losing all of us trying to explain it." "Alright, my dear," I answered sweetly,"well, here's the end result of my analysis. Hmmmmm, this enhanced photo looks familiar, let me do some more background editing." "Hey, I can see what you mean, Otto!" Melitta added. "There, displaying the results now!" I said as I sent the output to her laptop screen. What we saw shocked all of us, even me! "It can't be her, Otto!" the Renegade said in disbelief. "This can't be the right picture, Otto," Melitta said as she looked as me,"are you certain?" "Yes, ma'am," I answered her,"I've just double checked the program, the resulting photo is confirmed." "OH NO!!!" Samantha shouted in panic,"WE HAVE TO FIND HER AND WARN HER!" "Warn who?" Agent Delnas said,"you four KNOW who she is?" "No time to explain, ma'am," the Renegade said,"Otto, can you pick up Starlight's signal? We'll need her help." "Just barely," I said,"something's not right here, her signal is very weak." "Can you pinpoint the location?" the Renegade asked me. "No, it's too weak to get a exact fix on it," I answered. "What are you two whipsering about?" Agent Delnas said angerly,"are you withholding information from us?" "You have to trust us, ma'am," Samantha told her,"we may know where she is, we're not sure yet." Meanwhile, in the countryside near her home, the Computer Counsellor is enjoying her horseback ride with Starlight. They stop at a stream to rest, the Consellor dismounts and looks around. "You know, Starlight," the Counsellor said happily,"this is my favorite part of the forest, look around! So much peace and tranquillity as far as the eye can see!" "I've noticed that, ma'am!" Starlight said,"kinda takes one's mind off of the hussle and bussle of modern life, doesn't it?" "Yes, " the Counsellor added,"let's ride on, there's so much more to see!" As the Consellor mounts Starlight, a gun shot rings out. The bullet hits Starlight near her right shoulder, causing her to fall over. One of the Counsellor's legs is caught underneath the fallen horse, causing her great pain. She manages to squirm free, but as she looks up, she's grabbed by two tall and very angry looking men, one holding a rifle. Starlight tried to move, but the bullet had damaged her central control unit, knocking nearly all of her systems offline, including motion, weapons and commnications. She was also unable to talk, all she could do was neigh repeatedly as she watched the two men take the Counsellor away. "Well, looks like we have you at last!" one of the men said with a smile,"too bad about your leg, oh well, at least you won't be escaping from us! Too bad about the horse, but the boss wants you alive, at least for the moment." "That's right, Computer Counsellor," the other man said with a laugh,"or should I say, Ithica Stone!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ to be continued.......