Part 20 (1/2)

Pete went into the living room and sat on the couch. ”Oliver, are you claiming that Ringo left Topeka at the same time as you and followed you all the way here?”

”That's right.”

”I see. Do his owners mistreat him?”

”I have no idea,” I said, ”but I don't see how they could.Look at him!”

Pete did. ”He's big, but that doesn't mean much. I know dogs, and I wouldn't have let this one into my home if he hadn't given me good vibes.”

”Good vibes?From a Doberman that bites through-” ”Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Gretchen said. She was still petting Ringo. ”You know, Vale, you're a real eighties kind of guy-a complete p.u.s.s.y.”

”Can we keep him, Dad?” Mike asked. ”The dog, I mean.”

”I knew who you meant,” Pete said.

”Well, can we?” Laura asked. ”You've been saying ever since Puck died that we ought to have another dog.”

Pete leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. ”If Ringo has run this far from home since Thursday night, he either really hates his owners or really loves Oliver. And since he and Oliver don't seem to be pals, I guess it's the former. If he wants to stick around here, he's welcome.”

Mike and Laura made various noises of thanks while Gretchen went to sit beside Pete. ”Good decision,”

she said, patting his knee.

”Look at his eyes!” I cried.

Laura took Ringo's ma.s.sive head in her hands. ”Come on, boy,” she said. ”Let's rea.s.sure Mr. Vale.

Open your eyes. Mike, stop petting him or he'll keep them closed.”

Mike stopped petting, and Ringo opened his eyes. He looked at me, and I saw that his left eye was as I remembered-black, with a blue spark in its center. The right eye, though, had changed. It was blue, and almost human-looking.

”Dad, did you notice these before?” Laura asked. She turned Ringo's head so that he was facing Pete.

Pete frowned. ”Didn't look straight at them until now.”

”Me either,” Gretchen said. She sounded less brash than usual.

Laura held Ringo's eyelids open with her thumbs. ”There, boy, it's all right, I just want to look closer.

That's a good- Oh!”

Ringo's right eye had popped out and was rolling across the carpet.

Mike picked it up. ”Hey, it isn't slimy.”

”And Ringo doesn't seem to mind that it's gone,” Laura said. The Doberman was licking her hands and wagging his stump so hard that he swayed back and forth. ”In fact, he seems glad about it.”

Gretchen shuddered. ”G.o.d, how gross!”

”Spoken like an eighties woman,” Mike said dryly.

I relaxed a little. ”Laura, you're the scientist,” I said. ”Is the mutt a robot?”

She was probing gingerly around Ginger's remaining eye. ”Well, that might explain how he was able to bite through metal, if in fact he did....” I remembered that I still had Ringo's missing tooth in a Moonsuit pocket, so I ran back to the utility room to retrieve it. When I returned, Mike was s.h.i.+ning a penlight into Ringo's eye socket, and Laura was peering inside.

”It's pink,” she said. ”But there's a Crosshatch of fine silver wires set into the flesh.”

”And the rear half of the eyeball has a silvery coating,” Mike said.

Ringo was standing stock-still. ”That's one patient dog,” Pete said. ”Hard to believe he attacked you, Oliver.”

”I have evidence,” I said, holding up the tooth.

Laura took it from me, examined it, and then pushed her fingers in between Ringo's lips.

I started toward her, intending to pull her away from those Doberman jaws, but Mike pointed the penlight at my face, stopping me. ”She knows what she's doing, Mr. Vale,” he said. ”She knows animals, like Dad. Besides which, she's a genius.”

”That's the first compliment you've ever given me,” Laura said as she pried Ringo's mouth open.

”It wasn't a compliment,” Mike said. ”Both of the traits I mentioned are inherited, so you aren't responsible for them. In all things for which youare responsible, such as social duty and political awareness, you're a miserable failure.”

”Uh-huh,” Laura said. ”Look, there's the same silver Crosshatch on the roof of his mouth. And the upper right canine is missing.” She began s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the tooth back into place. ”Some of the socket threads are stripped, but it's going in. It'll be a little crooked, but I don't think it'll jab his lip.”

”If he's a robot, what would it matter?” Mike asked.

Laura stood and patted Ringo, who nuzzled her hand.

”He's not a robot,” Laura said. ”He acts like a dog, smells like a dog, and s...o...b..rs like a dog.” She wiped her hand on Mike's s.h.i.+rtsleeve, and he pretended to ignore it. ”Dad, I'd like to take him to my room and try a few experiments. Nothing physical, just radio-frequency stuff. I want to see if that Crosshatch is an antenna. Also, I should try to reinsert his eye.”

”Be sure you don't hurt him,” Pete said. ”He's got a sweet disposition, but that doesn't mean he won't get mad.”

Laura nodded. ”C'mon, Ringo, let's see what makes you tick.” She started for the bas.e.m.e.nt door, and Ringo followed.

”I'd better go along to keep her humane,” Mike said. ”She might cut his skull open just out of curiosity.

Besides, I have the eye.” He went into the stairwell after Laura and Ringo, shutting the door behind him.

Pete stood and started for the kitchen. ”He's probably hungry and thirsty. I'll see what I can find.” As he pa.s.sed me, he said, ”Oh, yeah-I got your spark plugs.” Gretchen followed him. ”Need a hand, Mr. Holden?” she asked.

”Sure, if you like,” he answered. ”When we're done with this, I'll call the Lawton depot for tomorrow's bus schedule. I thought about driving you in when I made my trip this afternoon, but I didn't want to wake you.”

”There's no hurry,” Gretchen said, sounding bizarrely sweet.

I went to the couch and sat down, picking up the remote control for Pete's TV from an end table. As long as I had to wait a bit longer for Peggy Sue to be repaired, I wanted to see what Buddy was up to.

He might even take my mind off the fact that I was in the same house with Ringo. Vibes or no vibes, I still didn't trust the beast.

The Sony wouldn't come to life when I punched the b.u.t.ton on the remote, and when I went to the set to investigate, I discovered that it was unplugged. I remembered then that my own remote-controlled Sony had refused to stay off for more than several seconds, while both of the nonremote-controlled motel televisions I had seen since leaving home had turned on and off with no trouble. Whoever or whatever had taken over video broadcasts had also managed to take over remote controls, perhaps by periodically zapping the planet with split-second bursts of infrared radiation. Except that infrared radiation couldn't go through walls....