Episode One of the Laura Kraft, Android Hunter Series
The impossible has happened. An android has been accused of helping thieves raid a collector’s vault of priceless coins. L.A.’s oldest VIP, Mrs. Fishbein, is certain her companion android, Spaulding, couldn’t have been part of the heist. Ace android hunter Laura Kraft is brought in to find the real culprits and save Mrs. Fishbein’s android from the ultimate penalty.
Can Laura clear the android and discover how the real thieves framed him? Or will Laura find herself in a locked vault with no way out?
The Android Who Cracked the Code is a short story available at Amazon Kindle.
I sat on my office balcony with my old friend, Johnny Red, and his buddy, On the Rocks, when I saw my first partner on the Force, Det. Lt. Michael Pedersen, pull into a parking space across the street. Mikey always would be my friend in a fatherly sort of way. He didn’t blame me for the screw-up with the sentient android Titan (part of the reason I have so much time to slack on the balcony) and he didn’t blame me for The Accident that killed Ray Salazar and left me in rehab for two years.
I buzzed Pedersen up and showed him to the comfy red leather wingback chair in my office. He declined to talk to Johnny Red but accepted a cup of organic Arabica coffee.
“You get a line on who helped Titan?” I asked just for something to say.
“A gang of hackers out of San Jose, we think,” he replied. “They get their giggles untethering random robots. We’re pretty sure they’re the ones that sabotaged the Pacific Coast bullet train.”
“Cute,” I said. “No wise guys involved?”
“Haven’t heard anything yet but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
We stared at one another in the semi-darkness.
“What is it, Mikey?”
“How you holding up, Laura?” he asked. “The prosthetics working okay?”
“They work fine,” I said. “I’m not strong enough to work them, that’s all. They were designed for troops.”
“I heard yours were better.”
“Different,” I said, “not better.”
“You need something to do,” Mikey said. “Something to build up those weak muscles.”
“But I’m having so much fun dying of boredom.”
“I might have another case for you.”
“Not if it’s much like the last one.”
He smiled apologetically. “Let’s hope not,” he began. “An old lady friend of the family has lost her robot. I thought maybe you could get it back for her.”
“Really? Because that’s what I do for a living — find little lost robots.”
“It’s not that kind of lost,” Pedersen said. “The woman’s Sarah Fishbein. She’s last of the Boomers, maybe a hundred years old, give or take. She’s still living on her own up in the Hills. The android she called Spaulding was impounded for allegedly taking part in a home burglary next door–”
I started to object but he held up his hand to stop me.
“I know,” he said, “no andy can commit a burglary. The thing is, the guy next door has the whole incident on video. Forensics is going over the andy’s logs as we speak.”
“If they’ve impounded the android, she’ll never get it back,” I said. “Either the state will melt it down or the manufacturer will tear it apart looking for the defect.”
Pedersen nodded. “There’s two problems with that. One, her late husband was a big shot on the City Council in the way back, so she has plenty of powerful friends, including the Commissioner. Mrs. Fishbein wants her Spaulding back and they’re making sure that happens.”
“She has money?”
“She’s loaded and she’ll pay beaucoup bucks for the return of her playmate.”
I couldn’t help myself; I had to ask. “Her android was a sexbot?”
Pedersen laughed. “Nope, just a companion. The kind that calls you ‘Sweetie’ and brings you a glass of milk at bedtime.”
I took a sip from my glass of help-me-forget.
“So why do you need me?” I asked.
“I need you to find out who committed this crime and how. I need you to prove the problem’s not with the android, it’s with the Guides.”
I shook my head. “That’s a bit of a stretch, Mikey. How can three independent supercomputers make a mistake?”
“If it was easy, Laura, I would’ve figured it out myself.” The detective pushed himself out of the chair and handed me a thumb drive.
“Here’s the info I have so far. Don’t ask how I know so much. It’s a family matter.”
“Not much of a case, is it?”
“Give it a chance,” Pedersen said. “Oh, and number two — I gotta warn you about something.”
“That’s okay, Mikey, I’m used to being warned.”
“The old lady, Mrs. Fishbein, her battery is not fully charged.” He tapped an index finger on the side of his head above the temple. “Hasn’t been for a long time. She thinks the robot is human.”
People become attached to their androids and I don’t mean that as a good thing. It’s like having a mini-tiger or a genetically-enhanced chimpanzee as a pet. One day people discover that the robot is running their lives — especially the companion androids.
Granted, when you’re pushing 100 years of age you might need a bossy, know-it-all companion to plan your every waking moment.
Otherwise, not so much.
