Copyright 1999 --  Robert Baer Jr. 

The Renegade Files - "The Sting"

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 Sting" 

It started out as a typical Tuesday evening, my master and his wife had
returned from their jobs, and we were all ready to sit down to dinner. 
Nathan had swung by a fast food restraunt and got us all a bucket of fried
chicken with all the trimming.  As we prepared to 'chow down' a loud
BOOM!!!  shook the dining room and instantly the Computer Gila Monster
appeared.

"Hi there, everyone!" the Gila Monster shouted,"looks like I caught y'all
having dinner!"

"You may join us if you like, Gila," Wanna said merrily,"we're having
fried chicken and ...."

"No thank you, ma'am," the Gila said with a smile,"I've already eaten.  I
was hoping that you guys could help coach me for my dinner at the
McCandles on Friday."

"What do you need to know, Mr Gila, sir," Samantha asked.

"Well, for one thing I needs to brush up on my table manners," the Gila
admitted,"I've been told by some of my friends that I'm a slob.  Is they
right?"

"Truthfully, Gila," Nathan said as he turned to his leather jacketed
friend,"you do need to learn some fine points of formal dining.  First of
all, slurping your soup and smacking your mouth is definately rude!"

"As well as betching and making those funny noises with your armpits while
you eat," Wanna added.

"It is also polite to ask for food to be passed to you as opposed to
reaching across the table for it," I said.

"And no offense, Mr Gila, sir, but it is always a good idea to take a bath
and wear clean clothes to a formal dinner," Samantha barked shyly.

"TAKE A BATH?" the Gila complained,"well.... alright, I'll do it for
Jessica and her family!"

"That's a healthy attitude, Gila," Nathan said,"I'm sure the McCandles
will appreciate that!"

"I have a book on ettique you may borrow," Wanna said as she reached above
her head on a low shelf,"here it is, this should help cover more of the
things you'll need to know."

"Wow, thanks Wanna!" the Gila Monster said with a huge grin,"I sure hope
it ain't got no foot long words in it.  I gotta make a good impression on
Friday!"

"Wait everyone!" I said to everyone,"I'm receiving a signal from a silent
alarm at the First National Bank in Wellsburg, just fifty miles from here!"

"Are you sure, dear?"  Samantha asked.

"Yes, darling," I answered,"apparently someone has broken into the bank
using high explosives!"

"How could you possibly know that?" Wanna asked.

"I heard the explosion with my enhanced hearing," I answered,"so did
Starlight, she's waiting for us in the front yard!"

"Well, it's time to get into our costumes!" Nathan suggested as he got up
from the table,"we better hurry if we want to catch the theives!"

"We'll meet you in the front yard!" I said as I turned to my wife and the
Gila,"c'mon you two, let's see if Starlight has any additional data for
us!"

"Oh goody!" the Gila Monster said as he grabbed his 2 x 4,"I loves to
clobber bad guys!"

In a matter of minutes, Nathan and Wanna ran out into the front yard and
with a loud BOOM!!!!  all of us were standing in front of the First
National Bank.  The bank was surrounded by local and state police units. 
One of the officers, Trooper James Downing, came running towards us when
we arrived.

"WOW!!!" he shouted,"the Computer Renegade is here with his team!   Can
you help us track down the bank robbers?"

"We'll do what we can, sir!" the Renegade answered,"Otto, you, Melitta and
Sam go inside the bank and see if you can find any clues.  In the
meantime, Gila, Starlight and I will check the outer perimeter for
anything unusual ."

"Yes sir, Renegade!" I said respectfully as the Masked Melitta and
Samantha ran with me into the bank.   Starlight made a quick lap around
the building and gave us some disturbing news.

"Gentlemen," she said to the Renegade and the Gila,"there is a faint trail
to follow, but it appears that our bank robbers were quite intelligent. 
I've detected trace amounts of a compound used in the military's stealth
technology.  It's the same kind of chemical residue that is left behind by
my invisibility shield."

"So, our suspects may be invisible?" Trooper Downing exclaimed,"how can we
catch someone we can't see?"

"Relax, Trooper Downing," Starlight said with a smile,"we'll think of
something."

"And when we do, we'll clobber them!" the Gila Monster added.

Samantha, Melitta and I returned to the others, and we also had
distressing news.

"The bank's been robbed, and whoever did it sabotaged the security
system," I said sadly,"there's no survallience tape to examine."

"Did you find any clues, Mr Renegade, sir?" Samantha asked.

"Starlight found a faint trail to follow," the Renegade answered.

"We have to follow it NOW!" Starlight insisted,"the chemical compound is
breaking up fast!"

"Lead the way, Starlight!" Melitta shouted,"we'll follow!"

With lightning speed, Starlight followed the 'trail' until she was
standing in front of a small house in the country almost thirteen miles
away from the bank.  I tracked Starlight and then 'zapped' all of us to
where she was standing.

"Some of those dollar bills were electronically marked," Starlight
said,"but I can't pick up a trace of them in the area."

"Neither can I," I added,"but if the trail ends here, then the bank
robbers must be inside!"

"Let's go clobber them!" the Gila said as he swung his 2 x 4 over his head.

"Without any hard evidence, we can't have them arrested," the Renegade
said sternly,"if we could only somehow catch them with the money...."

Meanwhile, inside the house, the four bank robbers were celebrating their
success.   The leader of the four, Michael Dresden, is watching TV while
the other members of his gang (Mic Diller, Fred Willow and Zac McDow) 
play cards at the kitchen table and having fun.

"I'll raise you forty dollars!" Mic said to Zac,"wait... I'll raise you
forty THOUSAND!   We all have that kind of money now!"

"We sure do!" Zac laughed,"thanks to all that hi-tech junk that Mikey made
for us!"

"The name is Michael, not Mikey!" Michael yells out as he sits on the
couch and watches TV,"and that 'junk' you're refering to will make us the
richest men in all of America!"

"That's for me!" Fred chortles,"imagine, machines that make us all
invisible, sonic lock pickers that can even open bank safes, and an
electronic scrambler that will even keep the Computer Renegade's gang from
finding the money!"

:"WILL YOU BE QUIET!" Michael roars,"I'm watching the news, they say that
the police are baffled by our crime!"

"That means they don't know we did it!" Zac said with a big grin.

"Precisely, you moron!" Michael shouted,"and no one will be able to find
us here, either!"

"No one but us!" a voice from above bellows.

"Did you say something, Mic?" Zac asked.

"Nope, that wasn't me," Mic answered,"did you say something, Fred?"

"Weren't me!" Fred said in confusion,"was that you, Mike?"

"THE NAME IS MICHAEL!" Michael growled,"AND I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"

"Look behind you!" the voice bellowed.

In an instant, the Computer Renegade, Otto, Samantha, the Computer Gila
Monster and the Masked Melitta appeared before the startled group of bank
robbers.

"Well, well!" Michael said in sarcastic jest,"we have visitors!   The
famous Computer Renegade and his gang!   Looking for something?"

"We're looking for stolen cash!" the Melitta shouted,"now, where did you
four stooges hide it!"

"Temper, temper, Masked Melitta!" Michael said with a smile,"I know my
rights, and you can't just barge in here and make accusations!  Now leave,
or I'll phone the police and have all of us arrested for trespassing!"

"We know you and your men robbed the bank!" the Renegade yelled,"now you
can tell us where you hid the money, or my green friend here will
rearrange your facial features!"

"Sounds good to me!" the Gila Monster said with a smile.

"If any of you as much as breathe on me too hard, you'll be arrested!"
Michael bragged,"now I will ask you one more time to leave!"

"I won't leave!  I want the money!" I said with a loud growl.

"Take it easy, Otto," the Renegade said softly,"he has defeated us, we
must do what he says ...."

"NO, I WANT THAT MONEY!  I WANT TO BE RICH!" I barked with fury in my
voice.

"What are you saying, darling?" Samantha said in complete suprise.

"I'm sick and tired of fighting crime, I want to be the richest dog on
earth!" I shouted,"these four men will either give it to me, or perish!"

"Otto's gone mad!" the Masked Melitta shouted.

"I can't let you do this, Otto!" the Gila Monster said as he raised his 2
x 4,"you ain't acting like yourself, don't make me clobber you!"

In a split second, I turned my head and fired laser beams out of my eyes,
instantly burning the Gila Monster's 2 x 4 into ashes.

"Obey me, Otto!" the Renegade yelled,"I'm your master!  I order you to
stop ...."

"You're not my master anymore!" I roared as I fired bright red beams out
of my eyes, making the Renegade appear to disintergrate right before
everyone's eyes.

"ALL OF YOU STAY BACK!" I screamed as I turned to Michael's gang,"NOW,
TELL ME WHERE THE MONEY IS OR YOU'RE NEXT!!!"

"It's under the floor!" Zac cried out as he fell to his knees.

"That device over there kept it hid from your scanners!" Fred
pleaded,"please don't kill us Mister Dog!"

"Have mercy!" Mic begged on his hands and knees,"you can have it all, just
let us live!"

"YOU FOOLS!" Michael shouted as he kicked Mic and Zac,"Can't you see that
this was all a trick!"

"A trick?" Fred said in wonderment.

"It's a trick that worked!" I said with a smile,"I've just shorted out
your cloaking device, the stolen money is underneath these floor boards."

"YOU IDIOTS!" Michael screamed as he slaps Fred,"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

"That's enough out of you!" I growled as I fired an anti-gravity beam from
my eyes and made Michael float towards the ceiling.

"But we all saw you kill your master!" Zac said as he trembled.

"Not really," I giggled,"you can come out of hiding now, Renegade!"

In a matter of seconds, the Computer Renegade reappears with a smile on
his face.

"You're plan worked perfectly, Otto!" the Renegade said as he turned to
Michael,"I think we have sufficent evidence now, haven't we?"

"Yes, you do," Michael grumbled,"my plan was so perfect, what went wrong?"

"We went wrong, you big brainy doofus!" the Gila Monster shouted,"we is
just too smart fer ya!"

"I have summoned the police, Trooper Downing and his patrol will be here
in minutes!" I barked happily.

"Outwitted by a dog!" Michael mumbled,"how humiliating!"

"Watch that bad talk about dogs, Mr Dresden, sir!" Samantha shouted,"or
I'll bite your leg off!"

"That's telling him, ma'am!" the Gila Monster said with a huge grin.

Within minutes, the four bank robbers were in the hands of the
authorities.  All of us returned home, happy in the knowledge that our
little 'Sting' operation was successful.  Although acting like a 'bad dog'
was a little fun, I must say that I am content with my life just the way
it is.  I have a wonderful master, a lovely wife, great friends, what more
could a dog possibly want?
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