Saturday
Jefferson
knocked a seventh time and then put his hands on his hips. His black Crown
Victoria idled at the curbside.
“We going to
do this the hard way, eh?”
Jefferson
made his way to the side of the house and after three attempts scaled the
fence. Once around the back he instantly spotted the closed curtains and the
note taped on the inside of the sliding door.
Go away.
This means you, Jefferson.
“I see how
it is.”
Jefferson
went back to his car, dug around the glove box, and revaulted the fence after
two tries. He wrote something on a piece of paper he’d found in his car and
then looked at the door and then back at the note.
“How I’m
gonna…” he muttered and then he smiled. He brought the note up to his mouth and
then licked it. Jefferson then smacked the now moist note against the glass and
then stood back to marvel over his ingenuity.
“How ‘bout
them apples.”
Jefferson
then left, speeding down the highway but not being pulled over and running into
a certain patrolwoman like he’d hoped. Meanwhile, Albro waited until he was
good and sure Jefferson was gone before he pulled the curtains aside.
360-527-1…
The rest of
the numbers were smudged beyond recognition. Albro shook his head and then let
the curtains swing back into place.
Sunday
Nothing
happened on Sunday.
Monday
Albro looked
up once he realized it wasn’t Jefferson knocking on his door. The EyeSpy was
just deploying when he saw it was a police officer and he killed the program. A
moment later he opened the door with just the faintest thought it might be some
trick of Jefferson’s to get him to open the door.
“Mr. Swift?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Chief
Vanderpolitie, Eldon Vanderpolitie.” He held out his hand for Albro to shake,
which Albro took hesitantly. “Could I have a word with you inside? It’s about
your robots.”
“Uh… of
course.” Albro stepped aside and let the policeman in.
The man was
instantly uncomfortable in the dark house, filled with strange electronics and
toys. Albro led him into the kitchen, turning the light on, and then indicated
an open chair.
“This conversation
is probably long overdue.” Vanderpolitie said with a small smile. “I understand
my predecessor had a talk with you when you first moved to town and your… your
robots started to… to come out. Things seemed to be going well and any problems
there have been you’ve handled, so it was a case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind.
“There was
the Milking incident last year, but Ed never pressed charges and I’m told the
cow recovered just fine. I’m sure this situation would probably resolve itself
in much the same way, but there are some extenuating circumstances that make
both of our lives… difficult.” He chuckled and gave Albro a bigger smile this
time. “Before last week’s incident every member of the city council, the mayor
and his staff, and my own department received letters from a group of concerned
citizens about your…”
“Automatons,”
Albro offered.
“Automatons.
I’m also told a lengthy opinion piece is going to be printed in the Tribune
this Wednesday, directed at you and your… automatons. There is suddenly a great
deal of pressure for the city to pass laws limited – if not outright outlawing
robots and their ilk.” Vanderpolitie eyed the man across from him who had
seemed to shrink into himself. “Now, I have no bone in this fight and like I
said, things have been smooth on my side of things beside the two incidents
which have probably been the most excitement we’ve had since that lady remotely
‘saw’ a bomb in the bank last year.
“But I have
to take public opinion into account and I know there are three council members
looking to get reelected this fall who hold public opinion in even more regard
than I do. So I’m going to have to make it very clear that until the council
decides what to do about robots in general and yours in specific, yours aren’t
allowed off of your property and probably should be seen outside if you want it
all to blow over.”
“I
understand. When could I expect to have them returned to me?” After Ito had
been deactivated, the three automatons were impounded by the police.
“Well the
one with all the arms has been running a cup across the bars ever since he
turned back on and the little trash can has been saying gronk in the most mournfully way possible, so I’d be real happy to
have them back in your custody as soon as possible. If it hadn’t happened over
the weekend you would have had them returned the next day. All that to say,
you’re welcome to come collect them as soon as we’re done here.”
“Thank you.”
Albro briefly met the officer’s eyes an d then dropped them again.
“I thank you
for your time, Mr. Swift.” Vanderpolitie began to leave and then stopped. “I
hope you don’t mind me asking, but you’ve created something out of the sci-fi
books, so what are you doing hiding here and not working for NASA or
something?”
“Oh don’t
know… never crossed my mind I guess.”
A crooked
smile came on Vanderpolitie and he again held out his hand for Albro to shake. “You
take care Mr. Swift.”
“You won’t
have to worry about us much longer Mr. Vanderpolitie, I think it might be time
to move on.”
Chief
Vanderpolitie’s eyes got real thoughtful and mouth turned down as he gave Albro
a final look. “Good luck to you then, Mr. Swift.”
I enjoy names and making up or devising character names is especially joyful for me. Our story's hero is named after a road sign on I-5 in Seattle just past the exit for Safeco and the Clink - Albro St. and Swift Ave. The bad guy, Calvin Reuben Hanson, is an old pen name of mine who turned into the bad guy of the long running "Time Cop Cruisers" weeks at FirCreek Day Camp. T1N, pronounced "tin", is 1337 speak. Gronk is named/modeled after a Star Wars droid who says "Gronk", while Ito just came out onto the keyboard and it stuck. This newest character Chief Vanderpolitie makes me giggle and probably a little too much (I believe firmly in the Jason T. Kendall Rule - "Program is for the staff"). Bing or Google Translate "Politie" if you want with the added knowledge that Vander means "of the". I'm such a nerd.
What to you makes a great name? What are your favorite name(s) and why?
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