Dopplegänger

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Awhile ago I started to imagine a 'what if' story dealing with Tobio. 'What if' he hadn't really died, and Tenma only thought he had. What if he was still alive somewhere, maybe outside of Japan.

This is the second time I had started to develop this idea, I did something similiar as the final chapter of my 'Prequel' story which was also in a one chapter BlackJack story 'Two sides of the same coin'. In that treatment, Tobio becoms Daichi (and hence Atlas) which would make Astro and Atlas not just brothers, but clones.

My other idea of how to develop a story around this idea is a much darker one. I'm going to try and finish my development of this story here on the forum. The first three chapters are already written, and I'll be posting more as I polish off this idea.

EDIT: OH BTW, this story is also a bit of a crossover with the "Diehard" movies, as I've used the title character of that movie in a role here.

Dopplegänger

I

It was the office of the principal in an expensive Manhattan private school for the students of well heeled parents. The parent of the boy who was being detained in the office of the school's headmaster had been through this ritual several times before, like many other parents of spoiled brats. The principal was all too familiar with this particular case. The mother was a divorcée, who had received quite a large settlement from her former husband. Her son had only recently been returned to her custody after having lived with her ex for sometime. The two of them had been living in New York City for only a few months, this was the child's first semester in the school.

The boy sat in the chair next to his mother, fidgeting. It was clear that he was annoyed to be there, but his mother wasn't happy about the situation either. The principal tried to avoid looking at the child, and directed his attention to the boy's mother instead.

She was a middle aged Asian woman, quite possibly Japanese, thought the head of the school, thought he wasn't certain of that, thinking that she might also be Korean. She was quite well dressed, in a snappy business suit, high healed shoes, and sported tastefully applied makeup. Her hair was dark, except for a few strands of gray hair. Her dark sunglasses were propped up above her forehead, ready to be dropped back into position as soon as she left the building into the bright sunlight outside.

The boy, was another matter. He wore designer jeans, with a brightly colored button up shirt not tucked under his belt, but hanging loosely over his waistline. His hair was well combed, except for two large cowlick tufts of hair sticking out at diagonal angles at either side of his head. He defiantly refused to remove the mirrored aviator styled mirrored sunglasses which hid his dark brown eyes from view.

“This is the third incident this month.” The principal began. “Your son was found in the bathroom smoking marijuana, I'm sure he was selling it to the other students as well.”

“That's not what he told me.” The woman quickly spoke back. “You do seem to have a problem in this school, and you also seem to be taking the easy way out by blaming my son! The older boys in this school are the problem.”

“If I had more proof than the word of the other hooligans he's been hanging with, I'd have called the police by now.” The principal responded. “However, that's not the only trouble your son has gotten himself into. He's become quite arrogant and rude, and is insisting on going by the name Tojo. Some of the younger students have identified him and the gang members he's been seen with as having held them up for their lunch money. Your son is a bully, and a thief. He's been hanging out with known juvenile delinquents. If you don't keep him in line, he's bound to find himself cooling his heels in a jail cell before long. By rights I should have him expelled.”

“But you won't.” The woman said in a threating voice. “I'm paying your school too much for his education, and your school board would have your job if you kicked my son out.”

With that final remark, the mother grabbed her son by the hand and yanked him from the chair.
“We're going home now,” she told the boy. “You're grounded for the rest of the day, until school tomorrow.”
As he watched them leave his office, the principal rested his face into his palms.



Astro dropped his suitcase, and those of the professor on the floor of their hotel room. They were staying in Manhattan for a week to visit a colleague of the professor's who was now teaching at Columbia university. Ochanomizu also wanted to visit many of the city's museums, especially the American museum of Natural History.

“We'll spend the day tomorrow with Doctor Hanamaru” Ochanomizu told Astro. “He's been dying to meet you, you know.”

“Yes Hakase,” Astro replied. “He worked at the Institute of Science before I was born, didn't he?”

“Yes he did.” the professor replied. “He left about the time that Dr. Tenma took over from Dr. Pavilion. The two of them didn't get along very well. I suspect he always wanted to work in New York City anyway.”



Tojo removed his sunglasses and breathed heavy on the lenses to fog them up and wiped the moisture off on the front of his shirt. He replaced the glasses on his head, and then pulled a comb from his shirt pocket. Tojo combed his hair, gathering each of his two cowlicks into neat bundles sticking back from his head. He looked around him, taking in the scene on the street. The traffic on Amsterdam avenue was light, and few pedestrians were on the street. It was an off hour, late in the afternoon, yet not quite quitting time. He looked across the street and saw the three older members of the tong waiting for his signal. The had their ski masks ready to slip over their heads to hide their identity. Tojo waited until the right customer rang the bell to the jewelry store's locked front door, and raised the signal to the three gang members that lay in waiting, leaning against two street light poles. His accomplishes rushed to the door of the store behind the customer just as the shop owner buzzed the door open. Tojo wrapped a silk scarf around his face hiding everything below his glasses.

Tojo walked through the door as the largest of his three cohorts smashed open a display case with a small sledge hammer that he had been holding under his belt. The other two gang members brandished knives, making threating gestures at the shop owner and the quivering woman who had been buzzed in. Tojo groaned at the mess the boy with the hammer had made. He'd managed to completely shatter the display case, sending all of it's contents to the floor. The diamond jewelry was now mixed up with all of the pulverized glass that had once been a display fixture. Tojo quickly scooped up a few of the larger rings and quickly pocketed them. Giving the shop owner a wave of his hand, he walked out onto Amsterdam Avenue, followed by the other three youths. They took off in a run, heading uptown on Amsterdam Avenue. Tojo veered off west onto toward the Colombia campus, while the while the other three turned toward the east.

Police inspector John McClane had been working the streets due to the mini crime wave that had hit the store fronts. It was the reported work of a gang of school age punks who had taken to crime. Most of the eye witnesses had described the ring leader of the gang as a well dressed 9 to 11 year old kid with a slight Asian accent. Nobody had gotten a good look at his face because he always wore mirrored sunglasses with large aviator style lenses, and a silk scarf below that. He did have one distinct feature though, his hair had two prominent cowlicks that stuck out at radial angles on either side of his head.

So far the problem had been limited to petty larceny and there hadn't been any violent attacks. He knew that could change in an instant however. So it wasn't unexpected when he received a call on his cellphone alerting him to the jewelry store robbery. McClane wasn't far from the scene, he ran quickly up Amsterdam Avenue and into the jewelry shop whose silent alarm had just gone off. He entered the establishment to find he'd arrived just a bit late to apprehend the perpetrators of the crime. Shards of glass littered the floor where a display case had been smashed open. Diamond jewelry lay on the floor, intermingled with the broken glass.

“What did they get?” McClane asked.

“Not much,” the shop owner told him. “Stupid punks. They followed a customer into the shop, smashed the display case and grabbed one or two of the larger settings. They left behind stuff much more valuable.”

“Can you describe them?” the inspector asked.

“Punks!” the shop owner said. “Asian teenagers. They were led by a younger kid. Well dressed, wearing mirrored sunglasses. He had this crazy hair.”

“Two large cowlicks sticking out?” McClane asked, showing the shop owner a police artist drawing put together by earlier witnesses.

“Yeah, that's him.” The shop owner said. “If you hurry you might catch them. I think they were running uptown in the direction of Columbia University.


Astro and Professor Ochanomizu sat on a bench with Doctor Hanamaru. The three of them had spent the day together touring the university and Astro and the professor had sat in on one of the Doctor's classes.

“I'm really impressed by your lectures, Dr. Hanamaru,” Ochanomizu said. “You really manage to keep your students interested in what can be a very difficult subject to comprehend.”

“Why thank you, Hakase,” Hanamaru replied. “All the time that I worked at the Institute, I always had wanted to teach others. I'm actually grateful to Dr. Tenma for giving me the spark I needed to leave.”

“If I ever see, Umataro again, I'll tell him you said that.” Ochanomizu laughed.

Just as they were about to get up from the bench, a boy just about Astro's size cut though the campus from Amsterdam Avenue, running quickly and nearly bowling over several older men. He ran quickly by and disappeared around the corner of the building behind them.

Several moments later, John McClane turned the same corner, and ran into campus area. He was rotating his head as he ran, grabbing a glance at every person in his path. He spotted Astro and the professor and skidded to a halt. McClane quickly walked up to the three subjects on the bench, and flashed his badge.

“Can I help you, Inspector?” Dr. Hanamaru asked, before McClane could open his mouth.
John took a deep breath to restore his equilibrium. “You!” he said pointing to Astro and reaching into his pocket for a pair of handcuffs.

“Now what do you think you are doing?” Hanamaru said, stepping between the policeman and Astro.

“I'm arresting this kid for felony robbery.”

“Really? When did this crime take place.”

“About ten minutes ago. An eye witness saw him running in this direction.”

“That's hardly likely, since the boy has been here with us all day!” Hanamaru told the policeman.

“And I can vouch for that as well!” Ochanomizu said.

McClane stared at Astro and pulled out police sketch drawing. He held the artwork at arm's length, and compared the boy with the drawing. Except for the glasses, they looked almost identical.

“Well either you two are lying, or the kid has a twin brother.” the inspector said, presenting the two men with the police sketch.

Professor Ochanomizu examined the drawing and scratched his head.
“It does bear an uncanny resemblance to Astro here, but I can assure you that this boy isn't the criminal you've been chasing.” the professor answered. “We've both arrived from Japan just yesterday to visit your city.”

“In that case, I suppose he can't be the one I'm after.” McClane sighed. “This person of interest has been identified in several other crimes extending back a few weeks now. I'm sorry to have troubled you.” McClane started to walk away, but turned around.
“Listen, I need to know where you are staying.”

“Still don't really believe us do you?” Ochanomizu replied. He pulled a business card from his wallet and wrote on the back. “Here is my card, and where the boy and I are staying, as well as contact information for the Japanese Science Ministry where I work. You can contact them if you like, they will vouch for me. We'll be here for the rest of the week. Is that OK with you?”

McClane took the card from the professor, quickly looked at it and pocketed it. “Yes, thank you.”

The policeman walked away, talking to HQ on his cellphone.
Astro turned to the professor.

“Hakase, you look worried.” Astro said.

“More like confused and puzzled, actually, Atom” the professor replied. “That police drawing looked very familiar. I almost feel like I've seen a ghost.” He turned to his friend and said “I'm sorry that our visit ended on such a weird note my dear Hanamaru. Atom and I will be taking in the city for the next few days. We'll stop by again before we leave.”

“Enjoy your stay, Ochanomizu.” the Doctor replied. “And I'm very glad to have finally met you, Astro!”

“I'm happy to have met you, Hanamaru Sensei” Astro said.


Tojo entered the pawn shop on 11th Avenue and waited for the shop owner to recognize him. Jörg Lampe finished counting some loose change and slammed the cash register closed. He looked up at the Asian boy in the mirrored sunglasses and curtly asked, “What do you have for me today?”

Tojo, removed the diamond rings from his pocket and laid them out on the table. “Must be at least 20 carats” Tojo said hopefully.

“We'll see.” the shop owner said placing the items on a scale. He picked each one up and held them up the magnifying loupe clamped to his right eye.

“Not bad quality, but only about maybe 5 carats total. Cheap gold, only 10 or 12 carat” he said. “I'll give you $500 for the lot.”

“Cheap bastard!” Tojo said to the fence.

“Take it or leave it.” Lampe offered.

“I'll take it.” Tojo hissed. “Next time I come here, I'll have something that will make your eyes pop out!”

“Fine.” Jörg replied. “If you bring me really good quality stuff, I will pay you better.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Dopplegänger

II

In another life the boy who now called himself Tojo had been the proud son of a well know scientist and engineer. He had dreamed of becoming a famous inventor of robots, and a scientist. All that had ended because of marital difficulties between his parents, and a near fatal accident that left his father locked up in a mental hospital. Leaving home to live in another country with his mother had been difficult, and starting over in a new school with unfriendly fellow students had only made things worse. He started going by another name, and hung out with an Asian tong that existed among the worst of the schools student population. But the boy was still a genius in his own right, and he hadn't lost his creative talents in technology. He had however turned to the dark side.

Tojo had been working on several inventions, and he was nearly finished with two of them, which he hoped to make good use of as early as the next day. His bedroom in the high rise apartment building in Manhattan's more expensive neighborhoods over had a clear view of the Hudson river and the Palisades over in New Jersey. He could see the lights of the George Washington bridge in the distance. He knew that his mother had been raking his old man over the coals with the new divorce settlement after she had regained custody of him. He also knew his old man had little say in the matter, the courts had been in control of his finances after he'd been committed to the loony bin. That's why she had the money to rent the fancy flat.

Tojo unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk and removed the nearly completed circuit board. He connected it to the power supply on his work bench and started probing around the circuity with the digital oscilloscope he'd gotten for his last birthday. He connected a programming cable to the board and plugged the other end into a USB socket on his computer. Tojo opened the diagnostic program he'd written and began to adjust the parameters in the non-volatile memory storage of the device. The display on the oscilloscope slowly stabilized and an LED indicator on the circuit board lit solidly to indicate a lock condition. There, he thought, I've finished it. Tojo disconnected the board from the test setup and proceeded t mount it inside the metal box that he'd already drilled to fit it. He installed the rechargeable batteries and plugged a charger into the completed device. Perfect.

The boy spend the rest of the evening working on his second project. This contraction looked like a cross between a plumber's helper and an electric drill. Tojo put on a pair of thick rubber gloves and then opened the bottom drawer again, this time removing a thick plastic jar with a strong stopper. He placed the jar on top of a thick piece of plastic sitting on the work bench. Now he reached under his bed and pulled out a heavy apron, which he then donned. He also put on a face shield. It resembled the kind that welders use to protect their eyes, but without the dark glass. Tojo removed the stopper from the jar and poured a measured amount of the liquid it contained into the tank inside of his second invention. As he poured the liquid, a thin cloud of vapor hovered above his work, and then drifted out the open window of the bedroom. He put a cap on the filler opening of the device, and then re-stoppered the jar. After putting the container back into the drawer and locking it, Tojo removed his protective gear and replaced them back under his bed.
The boy opened his camera bag and removed the expensive Nikon digital SLR to access the hidden compartment beneath where the camera had sat, and put both of the devices into it. He replaced the camera in the bag and then put that back in the closet. Tomorrow he'd put the fruits of his labor to work. He wouldn't need any help from the teenage tong gang, and this crime wouldn't be any small potatoes. This would be the big time.


Astro wasn't as excited as the professor was about the museum.
“Why is this museum so famous, Hakase?” Astro asked.

“The American Museum of Natural History is one of the oldest museum of its kind in the world, Astro.” Ochanomizu explained. “They have one of the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in existence, a wonderful collection of rare gems, and a truly amazing anthropology department. You can learn quite a bit of the history of this planet from the exhibits in this place. Visiting this museum was one of the reasons I was looking forward to this trip.”

They got off the 8th Avenue subway at the 81 Street station, and took advantage of the exit that led directly into the lower level of the museum. The professor paid for their admissions and stopped to look at the map to get his directions.
“I think our first stop will be the Morgan Memorial hall of gems.” he professor said. “I've always had a fascination for how gemstones are formed over millions of years. This collection is amazing, I hope you will enjoy it as well. After that we'll go to see the dinosaur fossils, I'm sure you'll enjoy that, Astro.”


Tojo had his camera bag with the secret compartment with him. The upper part of the bag contained his Nikon D5 camera, which the museum guard admired briefly before letting him pass. He'd ducked out of school after he'd been seen in his first class, and with any luck he'd be able to sneak back into the school without being noticed as missing. The museum wasn't crowded, he had picked the right time of day for his caper.
The boy entered the Morgan Memorial hall and blended in with the crowd. The exhibit hall was dimly lit to allow one's eyes to get accustomed to the dark, the better to see the fine contrast in the exhibits which were perfectly lit by well placed and well chosen lighting. The part of the exhibit that he was interested in was located in a particularly dark part of the hallway. The valuable gemstones were placed behind thick glass walls, and ultrasonic alarm motion detectors protected the exhibits. Tojo reached into the camera bag and felt under the camera compartment for the switch to his jamming device. The computer controlled sonic disrupter locked onto the alarm frequencies and emitted an equally large, out of phase signal which would cancel out any detection of tampering with the exhibits.

Tojo waited for the few people standing in front of his target to move on, and then when he saw he was alone and in the shadow, he removed the other device from his bag. He placed the suction cup like end of the tool against the glass, and pulled the trigger on the gun like handle. Silently the device quickly dissolved the glass wall of the display case using the highly concentrated acid he'd filled it with. Tojo put his gloved hand into the display case and removed a handful of the largest gems and slipped them into his pockets. He then put the tool against the hole in the display case and pulled the trigger a second time. The disk of glass that had been removed was re-welded into position by a second application of the acid mixed with a bonding agent. If one looked very carefully the outline of the disk of glass that had been removed and replaced could be seen, but in the darkened exhibit hall the discovery would probably not be made until Tojo was long gone. At least that is what he was hoping for.


Jay Rafferty had worked in the museum as a security guard for several years. The security systems installed in most of the more valuable exhibits were quite well known, and few could remember the last time a theft had been attempted in the museum. Jay walked through the Morgan Hall keeping an eye on the patrons of the museum, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The well dressed Asian boy who walked past him with an expensive Nikon camera slung over his neck briefly registered, it was the boy's hair with its two distinctive cowlicks that made an impression in his mind. Rafferty watched the boy walk toward the end of the hall and forgot about him, until the boy brushed past him again exiting the exhibit. He hadn't stayed very long, Rafferty figured he was simply bored and wanted to get over to the dinosaurs, or the planetarium.


Professor Ochanomizu and Astro entered the Morgan Hall exhibit and slowly made their way through it. They stood in front of one of the exhibits, the professor taking his time to look at the collection of rubies. Astro stood next to him, trying to look interested.
Tojo retraced his way through the Morgan Hall toward the exit. He noticed the old man and the kid standing next to him. From the back, the boy looked a bit like himself with two similar star shaped cowlicks standing at the back of his head. Tojo suddenly got an idea, he reached into his own pocket and extracted one of the smaller gems he'd just removed from the exhibit case. Using his considerable skills as a pick pocket, Tojo dropped the gem into the boys jacket pocket without him noticing the act. Tojo then left the exhibit and headed for the museum exit.

Rafferty reached the back of the exhibit hall and was about to turn around and head back to the front when he noticed a strange glint in the light shining on the large exhibit case in the back. He got closer and stared at the contents. After months of working in the Morgan Hall, Jay had become familiar with each of the collections and this one was one of his favorites. He quickly noticed that several of the larger gems were missing from the display. At first he figured that the museum curator must have removed them for study, for no alarm had gone off. He then noticed the barely visible outline of a neat round hole in the glass. Rafferty used his cell phone to call the hot line number that activated a silent alarm. In minutes the police would arrive, along with other members of the museum security. He remembered the boy who had brushed along side of him, the lad had been one of the few people in that part of the exhibit. Rafferty spoke to the security desk, verbally giving them the boys description.

Astro and the professor were now heading for the dinosaur fossils. Several museum security guards ran past them heading toward the Morgan Hall where they had just left.
“I wonder what's going on Hakase?” Astro asked.

“I don't know, Atom.” Ochanomizu replied. “They seem to be heading for the Morgan Hall, but we didn't see anything unusual happening there.”


The police and the museum security force put the museum on lock down, sealing all of the exits. They were just a few minutes late with that order as Tojo had already left the museum through the subway exit on the lower level. By the time the theft had been noticed, the boy was already heading uptown on the “C” train.

Astro and the professor were stopped as they neared the museum exit. “I'm sorry,” the museum security guard told Ochanomizu, “But there has been a theft and we've locked down the museum. No one can leave until the police give the all clear.” Jay Rafferty entered area and looked around at the growing crowd of people near the museum exit. He spotted Astro from behind and noticed how his hair resembled the kid who had quickly exited the exhibit. Rafferty spoke with the guards at the exit and pointed Astro out to them. Two of the then approached the professor. “Sir, would you please come with us?”

Astro and the professor were led to a small room and were told to sit down. Two armed guards sat, one on either side of them.

“What's going on, Hakase” Astro asked.

“I really don't know, Atom.” Ochanomizu said. “It seems they suspect us in the theft. We were in the exhibit that was broken into after all.”


Inspector John McClane answered the call to the theft at the museum. He hadn't yet been briefed on what was going on, and was quite surprised when the guards explained that their suspect was a ten year old boy. The head of museum security played back video from a security camera for McClane. The camera had caught the same view of the suspect that that Rafferty had seen leaving the hall of Gems. McClane was then led to the room where Ochanomizu and Astro were being held and was taken back to see them sitting there.

“You again?” McClane said, turning to the professor.

“I'm afraid so.” Ochanomizu said. “We see to have this knack at being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Have they been searched?” McClane asked the guards.

“No, we were waiting for the police to show up.” the head of museum security told him.

“Very well.” McClane said. “OK you two, turn out your pockets and dump the contents on the bench where you are sitting.”

The professor sighed, and got up off of the bench. He emptied his pants pockets of his wallet, loose coins, keys, and his cell phone. He then turned out his jacket pockets removing the museum map, packet of chewing gum, and a pack of cough drops.

“OK, now you kid” McClane said.

Atom had nothing in his pants pockets, he turned them inside out to reveal just some lint. He then stuck his hands into his jacket pockets. The left one was also empty, but a large star sapphire fell from the right pocket.

“That's one of the missing items from the display case!” the head of security cried.

“Please put your hands up both of you, and stand still!” McClane demanded. He carefully patted down the professor, and then repeated the exercise on Astro, but he discovered nothing else.

“Well it seems we might have ourselves two accomplishes in the crime at least.” the inspector said. He removed two pairs of handcuffs from his jacket pocket, and slapped the first pair on the professor, and the second he used to cuff Astro. “I'm taking you two down to the police station. We'll talk some more there.”

“Can we remove the lock down now?” the Museum head of security asked.

“Might as well.” McClane said. “ I have a feeling that the rest of the missing gems are already on the street. What we just found was probably only a diversion.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

This is the last chapter that I had blocked out when I last worked on the story. I'm currently working on the next chapters and will post them as they become available.

Dopplegänger

III

Astro and Professor Ochanomizu sat handcuffed in an interrogation room at the police precinct not far from the Museum of Natural History. The room had a small table in the middle, and several hard, un-cushioned chairs, two of which Astro and the professor now occupied. A slightly better chair with some cushioning was on the other side of the table, where Inspector McClane sat down. The policeman dropped a laptop computer onto the table and turned it own.

“I really must protest this treatment.” Ochanomizu told the inspector. “I have no idea how that gem made its way into Astro's pocket, but he certainly did not break into that display case. The two of us were together the whole time.”

“How do I know you're not the master mind behind this caper?” McClane asked. “This could be a copy cat crime based on the crime wave I was investigating that involved that teenage gang. Perfect alibi because those crimes took place before you were even in the country.”

“I already gave you my business card.” Ochanomizu told the inspector. “Why don't you contact the Japanese embassy and get my dossier.” He told the inspector. “They will give you enough character reference information on me to shed quite a bit of reasonable doubt that I would perpetrate such a crime.”

McClane extracted the card from his wallet to show that he still had it. “I'll do that, of course.” He then opened a browser on the computer and navigated to the video from the museum security camera. “Take a look at this.” he said turning the computer screen around to face Astro and Ochanomizu. The two of them watched as the suspect hastily walked past the exit of the exhibit. It was only a view of the back of the boy's head, but the two cowlicks he sported were almost a dead match for Astro's.
“I don't think I'd find two kid's his age sporting the same hair in the museum on the same day.” McClane said. “Unless your son has an identical twin.”

A queer look crossed Ochanomizu's face as he watched the feed from the security camera. Astro read the look on his guardian's face. “What's the mater Hakase?” He asked.

The police inspector was also able to tell that the professor was keeping something to himself.
“You know something.” he said. “Tell me about it.”

“I'm afraid I can't do that.” The professor said. “Not without revealing some government secrets that I'm not allowed to divulge to you, without your word that they be kept off the record.”

“You know I can't do that.” McClane told him. “Until my investigation is complete I can make you no promises that would interfere with it.”

“Once I prove to you that we are not involved with this crime would you forget what I would tell you?” Ochanomizu asked.

“I can't promise that at this point either.” the inspector said. “But yes, if you are not involved and whatever you tell me proves your innocence, I can keep that off the record.”

“Very well then.” the professor said. “I guess I'll have to trust you. But first, turn off any recording devices. For now, you'll just have to keep this in your head.”

“Very well.” McClane said. He removed a pocket audio recorder from his jacket and placed it on the table and turned it off. He then shut down his cell phone and his laptop computer.
“OK, then spill the beans,” the inspector said.

“Is this room bugged?” Ochanomizu asked.

Astro looked at the professor and shook his head in the negative. McClane stared at the boy for a moment.

“Very well.” Ochanomizu fidgeted for a few seconds before he started speaking.
“First of all, Atom isn't my son.” the professor said. “He's not even the ten year old boy that he appears to be.”

“What is he a midget?” McClane broke in.

“He's not even a human being.” Ochanomizu answered. “He's a highly advanced humanoid android in the form of a male child.”
The professor nodded to Astro. The boy unbuttoned his shirt and opened a panel in his chest to reveal the inner workings inside him. McClane's jaw dropped, and the cardboard cup of coffee he was holding hit the floor, spilling what was left of the java.

“He's a robot?” McClane gasped. “I'll be a monkey's uncle!”

“So you see, Astro couldn't have committed those crimes, it would be against his programming.”

“Like Asimov's three laws of robotics?” McClane said.

“Actually,” Astro interrupted, “Asimov added a fourth law in his later novels.”

“Astro was designed and built by the former head of the Japanese Institute of Science.” Ochanomizu continued. “Dr. Tenma built him in the image of his nine year old son after the boy lay in a coma after a fatal accident. I always thought it strange that Tenma never really grieved for the loss of his son after the first few days, but then again, he was too occupied with the creation of a robotic replacement for the boy. Unfortunately Astro wasn't a perfect duplicate of his son, something I warned Dr. Tenma would be the case. Tenma rejected his creation, set fire to his laboratory, and trashed his house. He locked Astro up in cold storage in the sub basement of the Institute. Tenma was eventually caught by the police and put into a mental hospital, where he is still being treated. I found Astro years later buried in a storage locker and brought him back on line and adopted him.”

McClane drummed his fingers on the table. “There is more to this isn't there? …..”

“Yes, indeed.” Ochanomizu said. “This is where it gets tricky. I was Tobio Tenma's God father. Tobio was of course, Tenma's nine year old son who died in that horrible traffic accident, or at least I thought he had died. Dr. Tenma had told me he had donated his son's body to medical science, which explained why there wasn't a funeral for the boy, only a memorial service. And then, there was the matter of the boy's mother.”

“I was going to ask you about that.” McClane said.

“Hoshie Tenma divorced Umatara about a year before the boy's accident. Dr. Tenma accepted some draconian financial arrangements in exchange for custody of his son. After the divorce, Hoshie left Japan. I heard some rumors about her moving to America, but for all intents and purposes she had vanished into thin air. After Tobio's death, and Dr. Tenma's commitment to the mental institution, Hoshie briefly returned to claim the assets of his estate. It seems there was a provision in his divorce settlement that if anything happened to the boy, her alimony payments would increase ten fold. With the doctor now mentally incompetent, the courts had no choice but to comply with the deal.”

The inspector absorbed the professor's story and thought. He reached into his pocket and removed a key, and then unlocked the handcuffs on the professor, and then handed him the key. “You can release the boy from his.” he said.

“What's going on?” Ochanomizu asked.

“You're free to go.” McClane told him. “Just don't leave the city, you're still a person of interest. I'm going to check some parts of your story.”

Ochanomizu looked concerned until McClane replied “Don't worry, Astro's secret is safe with me. I'll make my replies discretely though the Japanese government. I'm more interested in getting details on this Dr. Tenma, Hosie, and of course, Tobio.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Dopplegänger

IV

Jörg Lampe stared Tojo in the face and demanded, “Where did you get these?”

“I told you I'd bring you something that would make your eyes pop out of their sockets.” Tojo said. “Where I got them is none of your concern.”

“You stupid kid!” The shop owner yelled, slapping the boy hard enough across his face to leave a mark, “This stuff is so hot that no fence in the city in his right mind would touch it. Who ever broke the museum probably has the feds after them by now. Just how did you think you'd get away with ripping them off, are you crazy? You life won't be worth a plugged nickel!”

“I didn't rip off anybody,” Tojo smiled, “That was my heist all by myself.”

Lampe's jaw fell open for a moment in disbelief. “You're the museum thief?”
Tojo just nodded his head. Lampe scratched his head. “I can't help you myself, but I do have some connections. I might be able to get you in contact with some, foreign collectors that might be interested in this stuff, for a referral fee of course. Meanwhile, you'd better lay low till this blows over.”

“How long?” Tojo asked.

“At least a month.” Lampe said.


Inspector McClane spent the bulk of the morning on the phone, and his computer trying to piece together the details of the Professor's story. He'd managed to come up with a detailed dossier for Doctor Umataro Tenma that mostly collaborated the Professor's story. The man had been quite a well respected scientist in the field of robotics, but he had been such a workaholic that he'd allowed his marriage to fall apart. The doctor had managed to retain custody of his only son Tobio after his wife Hoshie had sued for divorce. A year later, the boy was critically injured in a traffic accident. The child lay in a coma for many months and had been transferred to a research hospital, Tenma having signed documents that would allow his son's body to be given to science research. About a year and a half later, Tenma set fire to his laboratory at the ministry of science and trashed his house. He was committed to a mental hospital, and his wife was awarded possession of his estate. Shortly after that Hoshie left the country. McClane could not find any trace of Tenma's ex wife after that. It was like she had just vanished from the face of the earth.

As for the boy, he could find no death certificate, nor any record of his treatment following several months of his being in the hospital in a coma. He did find records of Tenma's consent for Tobio's body to be donated for research in the event of his death. The signature of a doctor Hazama Kuro appeared on one of the documents, but he was not able to find any information about this person. There the record trail on Tobio Tenma ended. There were no hospital discharge records, no morgue records, nothing. It was as if the boy also had vanished from existence. The paper trail on Tobio dried up just about the same date as it did for his mother. That fact, and a photograph of the boy bothered McClane. Tobio's photograph as a nine year old resembled his teenage robbery suspects description to a 'T'.


Tojo walked into his bedroom to find the secret compartment in the floor open and its contents missing.

“Looking for these?” Hoshie asked.

The boy turned about to see his mother standing in corner of the room.

“I know what you've been up to.” She said. “I defended you at school but I knew the truth. I know who you've been hanging out with, and what you've been spending your money on. That lowlife Lampe spilled his guts when I threatened to turn him over to the police. My son the jewel thief. Has a nice ring to it.”

“I don't understand.” Tojo said.

“It's rather simple actually.” Hoshie laughed. “We've burned though your father's money living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in New York. While you've been hanging out with the youth tong gangs I've made a few connections of my own. I think I can put your talents to good use but you'll need to take your directions from me from now on.”

“I still don't get it” Tojo stuttered.

“What's the matter son, have I surprised you?” Hoshie asked. “After your near fatal accident your father gave you up for dead. He even donated your body to a science research laboratory. I didn't find out about that until our divorce was finally settled. Your father's lawyers did their best to hold up that settlement for as long as they could, and for a while I was in pretty bad financial shape. That's when I hooked up with Kin Sankaku. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse moving some of his goods between Japan and America. He's one of the largest dealers in gems, both legitimate and otherwise. He used his influence to locate you, and he also had a connection with a high priced doctor that brought you out of the coma. It was easy to convince you change your identity, and in a way your father actually did us a favor by signing those medical documents. The two of us have effectively vanished from the world's eyes without a trace.”

The look of astonishment on the boy's face didn't go unnoticed by his mother.

“That's right son, It seems that we are in this together now.” She laughed. “Kin Sankaku needs to talk to you, and you need to listen to him. Perhaps your talents are what will get me out of the little bind I'm it. Things may yet work out just fine for the two of us.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Kin Sankaku's office was located in the middle of some very expensive prime real estate on 5th Avenue just to the west of the diamond district on 47th street. Tojo fidgeted nervously in the elevator which made its way rapidly from the street level to the top of the building.

“Don't say anything except to answer the man's questions.” Hoshie snarled at Tojo. “Above all, be polite. This man us well connected with the mob, you don't want to cross him.”

“You're afraid of him, aren't you?” Tojo asked his mother.

“You're damned right I am.” she replied. “So far our relationship has been mutually beneficial to both of us, and he has treated us with respect. We want to keep it that way. You will enter behind me, and avoid making direct eye contact with him. Look down on the floor if you have to.”

Hoshie knocked on the door and waited. “Come in, I've been waiting for you.” the voice inside announced. She slowly pushed the door open and entered, Tojo followed slowly behind his mother. The plush penthouse suite was decorated with some expensive taxidermy heads, all of which were trophies that Kin had brought back with him from various safari trips he'd been on. It was obvious that the man prided himself as a big game hunter, he wore a pith hat and dressed in shorts as if he expected to find himself out on the Savannah upon leaving the building.

The man behind the desk smiled with a mouth full of perfect white teeth. “So I finally get to meet this genius son of yours.” He announced. “I hope he is as smart as you bragged.”

“What is it you want from him?” Hoshie asked in a soft voice.

“For now, I just want to get to know him, and see what he is capable of.” Kin Sankaku replied. “Come here son. I want to talk to you.”

Tojo walked confidently up to the desk and leaned against it, resting the palms of both hands on the edge of the ebony top. Hoshie glared at the boy, the expression on her face screamed “show respect!”

Sankaku didn't seem to take any notice of the boy's physical attitude. “Come over to my side of the desk, I want your attention over here,” he demanded.

Tojo straightened up and complied. He stood behind Kin Sankaku as the man rotated the computer monitor on his desk toward the boy. “How good are you with on line security systems?” He asked.

“I've hacked my way into a few,” the boy said deadpan.

“Steal anything?” Sankaku asked.

“Only information,” the boy said. “Though if I had an off shore account to transfer funds into that might have been different.”

“Smart.” the man said as he started typing on his keyboard. “What do you make of this?” he asked pushing the keyboard and mouse towards where the boy was standing.
Tojo moved closer to the desk and studied the computer monitor screen. He reached for the mouse, and noticed Sankaku motion for him to take it. The boy continued where the man had left off, and quickly had a terminal screen open that scrolled quickly through page after page of encrypted text. He opened another window and began to enter code, creating a small script that he launched. The program immediately bombed and left him with a blank screen. He closed the window opened a new one. He quickly rewrote his hack. This time, the script replicated itself, launching multiple copies faster than the system on the other side could shut them down. While the task he created ran in the background he typed away in another foreground window, and was rewarded with a document that displayed on the screen. Sankaku pushed the boy away from the computer and examined what was now on the screen.

“Good work.” He said. “It took me several hours to get this far.”

“What am I looking at?” Tojo asked.

“You've hacked into the first layer of a bank security system.” Kin Sankaku told him. “Ever hear of Fort Knox?”

“Sure, who hasn't?” the boy smirked. “The US governments legendary gold repository.”

“Legendary is probably the right word.” the man replied. “These days gold is traded electronically without changing hands, at least most of the time. There are secondary storage caches of the metal all over the country. What most people don't realize is that there is very little of the stuff in Fort Knox these days, its been transferred out to many smaller repositories. One of the largest is right here in NYC, in the main branch of a major bank. We just hacked into their computer system. That document you managed to decrypt has the details of the next transfer of gold between the US and a foreign power. What you are going to do is to gain control of their security systems and make it possible for us to enter the vault and take possession of some of the bullion.”

Tojo laughed. “You do realize that gold is heavy.”

“We won't have to move it very far.” Sankaku said. “Besides, we will have some unwilling help. You will be making sure of that.”

“I don't understand.” the boy replied.

“Don't worry, you will.” Sankaku told him.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Dopplegänger

V

Inspector McClane didn't like special assignments. He preferred to handle cases of his own choosing rather than being told what to investigate. The assignment at the Chase bank was demeaning to him because he saw it as a baby sitting job. The Manhattan district supervisor had met with his precinct head and then he had been called into his supervisor's office.

“Sit down McClane,” the precinct commander told him, pointing to an empty chair.

McClane saw that he wasn't the only investigator from the precinct that had been called in. John grumbled to himself, but he sat down and tried to put on a look of respect for authority, which for him was a bit of an acting job.

“Now that McClane has honored us with his presence we can begin,” the commander said. “It seems that the Feds are in the middle of a sizable transfer of gold bullion between the US and some unnamed power in the middle east. Normally this kind of thing takes place on paper and the physical bullion stays put in some third party location. Most of you probably think that the US gold reserve lies in Fort Knox, but these days the stuff is scattered about and kept in several smaller locations. You could say the Feds are no longer keeping all their golden eggs in one basket anymore. The transfer will take place sometime next week, the exact time is being kept secret until the last minute. The location has been revealed to only a few trusted officials, and since the NYCPD has been requested to assist with security a few members of the force, myself included, know the location. I'm putting Inspector McClane in charge of this operation, the rest of you will be taking orders from him. Congratulations John, your reputation for getting things done has earned you this assignment.”

“Great!” McClane muttered aloud.

“Show some enthusiasm McClane,” The command replied, “It will come in handy working with the Feds. OK, everyone but McClane is dismissed. John stick around for a few more minutes, someone from the bureau wants to meet with us.”

The rest of the investigators left the room, leaving McClane and the commander alone. About thirty seconds after the group had departed the door opened again and a tall man in a dark suit entered. He flashed a badge as he introduced himself.

“I'm special agent Lewis Erskine,” he announced, “and this must be the infamous John McClane.”

“At your service.” McClane grumbled offering a handshake.

“Why don't we get down to business?” The commander offered, “I'm sure McClane would rather be out on the street doing his job as soon as possible.”

“Got that right.” McClane smiled.

Agent Erskine opened the thin attache case he'd been carrying and withdrew a small folder from it. He set that on the desk and opened it, revealing a black and white 8x10 photograph. “Ever seen this character?” he asked handing McClane the picture.
John McClane starred at the photograph for a few seconds. It was short Asian man wearing glasses and a pith hat, with a cigarette holder clenched between his teeth.

“No, can't say that I've ever run into this guy,” the inspector finally announced, handing the photo back to the FBI agent. “Who is he?”

“His name is Kin Sankaku. We've suspected for some time that he is involved in the Korean Mafia, but we've never proven that. We do know that he is an art dealer with a shady past, we've almost nailed him multiple times on dealing with stolen art, he has an Interpol file a mile long.”

“So what does he have to do with this gold shipment this precinct has been volunteered to baby sit?” McClane questioned.

“Homeland Security has picked up some internet traffic out of Korea suggesting that a sleeper cell may be involved in trying to intercept the gold transfer,” Erskine answered. “Sankaku's name was found in several of the messages.”

“What, in the clear?”

“No, we've managed to partially crack their code.”

“You got any more intel on this guy?” John asked.

Erskine opened his case and extracted a thin portfolio. “Here study this,” He said. “This file contains all the background info we've got on Sankaku, and some photographs taken during recent surveillance stakeouts on him by HLS and the bureau.”

McClane took the folder back to his office and opened up his laptop computer. He started a search of various national and international police databases for Sankaku, and while his inquires were running he flipped though the dossier portfolio that the FBI agent had given him. He didn't recognize anyone that appeared with Sankaku in first dozen photographs and was nearly to the bottom of the pile when his jaw dropped. In the last two photos Sankaku was caught talking to a petite Asian woman dressed in black. McClane opened up another window on the Macbook and recalled the search he'd done a few days ago on Dr. Tenma and his estranged wife Hoshie. He compared the slightly blurry face in the photograph with that of Hoshie's image in the Tokyo police database. There was no doubt in his mind, she was the woman in the photograph with Sankaku.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Professor Ochanomizu felt the cellphone in his pocket buzzing and he fished it out from beneath the contents of the pocket. Looking at the screen, he sighed, but pressed the icon to answer the phone.
“Yes Inspector, what can I do for you now?” Ochanomizu asked.

From across the hotel room, Astro noticed his guardian with the phone held against his ear and a sour look on his face. He increased the amplification on his ears so he could overhear both sides of the conversation, which didn't last very long.

“Come on Astro,” the Professor said with a sorry voice. “It seems we are wanted down at the police station, that Inspector McClane has some more questions for us.”

“I suspect he wants to talk to you more than me.” Astro said reaching for his jacket.

“You heard what he was saying.”

Astro just nodded his head with a sly smile.

They took a cab in the downtown direction towards the police precinct. Getting out of the cab, the professor walked slowly up the steps from the sidewalk to the entrance of the building with Astro following closely behind him. They walked up a desk in the front lobby of the building and a woman desk Sargent looked down at them.

“We're here to meet with an Inspector McClane.” Ochanomizu told her.

She flipped though a pile of papers on the desk before responding. “He's waiting for you,” She said pointing towards a hallway, “Third door on the left. Just knock and walk in.”

They did as they were instructed. McClane was sitting at a desk, his face hidden behind the screen of a 17” Macbook. “Take a seat.” he told them, pushing the laptop to the side.

“We caught a cab as soon as I got off the phone with you, inspector.” Ochanomizu said. “What was so important?”

“Since we last met I was doing some research on this Dr. Tenma and his wife.” McClane said. “I didn't manage to turn up anything on her whereabouts, at least not until this morning.”

He pulled the last two photographs from the FBI folder and handed them to the professor. “These two photos were taken a few days ago by a surveillance team from the HLS department,” he said.

Ochanomizu looked at the two images quickly and handed them back. “Where were those taken?”

“In this city.” McClane replied. “I assume that is Hoshie Tenma.”

“Yes, that is her.” Ochanomizu said, “But she certainly has aged since I last saw her. Why would your HLS people be trailing her?”

“They weren't.” McClane answered. “The man in the photo was their subject of interest. He is suspected of being tied in with the Korean Mafia, and for that reason HLS was keeping track of his whereabouts. The man is a known dealer in stolen artwork. It shouldn't take you very long to put two and two together and figure out what seems to be going on.”

“You think that her son is alive and living here in NYC?” Ochanomizu asked.

“That would explain Astro's Dopplegänger wouldn't it?” McClane answered.

Astro's face took on a look of surprise. “What is he talking about Hakase?” he asked.

The professor got up from his chair and walked over to the door of the office. He closed it, and flipped the lock on the doorknob.

“Is this room bugged?” he asked.

Astro swiveled his head from side to side. “No Hakase, it isn't” he announced.

The inspector leaned closer to his two guests. “OK, what's going on?” he asked.

“This is for Astro's ears, and to confirm your suspicions.” Ochanomizu said.
“Astro, you do know that doctor Tenma built you to replace his son Tobio after the boy suffered a fatal accident. I was Tobio's godfather, and I knew Umataro and Hoshie Tenma for a long time, I met them before they were married when he and I first started working at the science ministry.”

Astro nodded his head and looked into the professors eyes.

“Umataro and Hoshie separated and were divorced when Tobio was maybe seven years old.” Ochanomizu continued. “I never saw Hoshie after that, except when I was called in as a character witness during a settlement hearing. Tobio's body was donated to the ministry's science lab, but I never did find out what happened to him. In fact, I wasn't actually sure that the boy had ever been declared legally dead. Inspector Towashi once told me he'd uncovered some evidence that Hoshie had left Japan with a child in her custody. I always wondered about that.”

“You mean that Tobio is alive?” Astro asked.

“That seems to be what is going on here,” McClane said. “This Tobio, who seems to be now going by the name Tojo, must be the juvenile thief I've been after that you were mistaken for. The only thing is, that museum heist was the work of a genius mind. The way that alarm system was countermanded, and the display case broken into, that was no amateur job.”

“Dr. Tenma was a genius,” the professor said. “and his son was a chip off the old block. The boy used to take robots apart and put them back together better than new. I hate to say this, but he would have been perfectly capable of masterminding that museum job. I just can't see him turning to crime though.”

“Maybe he changed as a result of that accident?” Astro asked.

“That is possible.” the professor agreed.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Dopplegänger

VI.

Kin Sankaku took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke towards Tojo and Hoshie. “One of the secrets to my success is being one step ahead of the law.” He explained, tapping the ashes from his fag into an ashtray. “I have a few well placed members of the NYCPD in my employ, shall we say, and they let me know what's going on before it actually happens. Information of this kind doesn't come cheaply, but it would be far more expensive to me if I did NOT have it.”

“So that's how you knew about the gold shipment?” Tojo asked, coughing from the cigarette smoke.

“Yes, my connections tipped me off as to what was going to happen, but not how.” Sankaku replied, “but once I knew what I needed to look for it was easy enough to hack into the various computer systems to get that information, as you yourself already discovered.”

“There's still no way we are going to empty that vault.” Tojo replied, “even if I can disable the security systems. You're talking about several tons of material.”

“Yes, but it seems that you've brought us a little luck in that regard.” Sankaku laughed.

“I don't understand.” the boy replied.

“Your little museum caper made the news big time.” Sankaku explained. “The police have had a vague description of you from your foolish strong arm robberies with that tong gang you've been hanging with. Only they seem to have mistaken someone else for you. My police informant let me know who they had called in for questioning, someone well know in our native land.”

“Who?”

“A professor Ochanomizu of the Ministry of Science.”

“What does he have to do with this?” Tojo asked.

“It means that Astro Boy is in NYC with him.” Sankaku replied. “We are going to lay a little trap for the pompous professor. Once we have him as our guest we will be able to convince Astro to help us move that gold. There is an abandoned subway tunnel under the bank that leads to the river. Many years ago a project to tunnel from Manhattan to Staten Island was abandoned as being too expensive, but a subway line that would have linked up to that tunnel had already been partially bored. That subway tunnel was sealed up when the crossing under the river was abandoned, but we can break into it and use it to transport the gold out of there. I've already got trucks waiting in the tunnel, we only need to break through into the bank and carry out the gold. That's something that Astro would have no difficulty doing for us. He will be more than happy to help us, in order to insure the safety of his guardian.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Tojo waited outside of the hotel standing by the entrance to the IRT subway. He took another drag on the cigarette that he had secreted from Sankaku's silver box from his desk. Coughing a bit from the tobacco smoke which he wasn't quite used to yet, he dropped the half burned fag onto the street, and extinguished it with the sole of his shoe. He checked his watch again to make sure of the time. The old professor had made a ritual of leaving the hotel every morning to grab breakfast at the Japanese restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was fairly obvious that the reason this Ochanomizu had chosen this particular hotel was because of that restaurant which was just across the narrow street to the north of it. He'd never seen the robot kid accompany the old man into the eatery, which made some sense, robots don't need to eat. Finally, after he'd been standing next to the subway kiosk for nearly a half hour he spotted his prey crossing the street. Tojo pressed the call button on his cell phone. He'd done his part of the job for now.

The Professor opened the door and walked in. As usual, Higeoyaji ushered him over to a table near the window right away. “Good morning Mustachio,” Ochanomizu replied.

“The usual coming right up,” the short, nearly bald headed man joked, setting a cup of steaming green tea on the table in front of the professor. “So how much longer are you going to be in NYC?” he asked.

“Astro and I were going to leave tomorrow, but somethings come up.” The professor replied. “What about you?”

“My brother was released from the hospital yesterday.” Higeoyaji replied. “He expects to come back to work in two weeks. I'll stick around until he can handle the place full time, then I'll return to Tokyo.”

“He's lucky to have such a good sibling.” Ochanomizu replied. “How did he come to America anyway?”

“That's a long story that I'll have to tell you sometime.” Mustachio laughed. “The short version is simple, he fell in love with an American tourist and the two of them agreed to live together in New York. He always wanted to operate a restaurant, and it was actually easier to start a successful Japanese style one in New York than Tokyo. So he stayed, even after he split up with her.”

“Yeah, it's easier to immigrate to America than it is to Japan.” Ochanomizu laughed.

“Well my brother never really gave up his Japanese citizenship.” Higeoyaji said, handing the professor a large bag. “Here's your order, take out as usual.”

“I'd eat it here, but I feel guilty leaving Astro by himself for that long.” the professor said.

“He doesn't mind and you know that.” Mustachio replied. “I bet he's busy playing some video game on the cable TV.”

“That he is.” Ochanomizu laughed, as he headed for the door. “I'll be back later.”

The professor exited the restaurant and started walking toward the cross walk. He pressed the button for the walk signal, even as many of the native New Yorkers simply J-walked across the red signal. Ochanomizu laughed, he couldn't get over how different this city was from Tokyo where the locals usually obeyed the traffic signals religiously.
The walk signal turned green just as a large stretched Cadillac limo stopped just in front of the crosswalk. The right front doors of the automobile quickly opened and two burly men in perfectly fitted and pressed suits jumped out and grabbed the professor, pulling him into the car. The automobile quickly ran through the red signal, making a right turn heading in the uptown direction.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Higeoyaji just happened to notice the professor's abduction out of the corner of his eye thought window of the restaurant. He ran out into the street and ran after the automobile. Traffic was just heavy enough to allow him to catch up to it long enough to read the vehicle's tag numbers, and he quickly dialed the police and reported the incident. He then remembered Astro was alone up in the hotel. Mustachio then called the hotel and asked for the professor's room. The phone rang twice before the boy robot answered it.

“Hakase?” Astro asked, picking up the phone.

“No Astro it's me, Mustachio”

“Hi teacher! I didn't know you were in New York.”

“That's another story, Astro.” Higeoyaji replied. “Ochanomizu Hakase was just here picking up his breakfast when several men in a black limo grabbed him and forced him in their car. I've already called the police and given them the plate number, 773-ART”.

“Thank's Teacher, I'll ought to go out and look for him.” Astro replied.

“I don't know if it would be a good idea for you to go flying around NYC, Astro. You're kind of a big secret you know.”

“Yeah, that's true.” There was a clicking on the line and then a buzz. “I think I've got another call coming in.” Astro said. “Hold on.”
Astro clicked the switch hook on the phone and the call waiting replaced Higeoyaji with someone else.

“Hello Astro,” a strange voice greeted him. “I've got a friend of yours with me who'd like to talk to you.” A few seconds later, Professor Ochanomizu's voice came on the line.

“Astro it's me.”

“Where are you Hakase, are you alright.”

“It seems I'm being taken for a ride by a bunch of goons. They haven't told me what they want from me, but I suspect they want something from you.”

“That's enough” a voice in the background said as the phone was grabbed away from the professor.

“OK Astro now you know that I have the professor in my company. He'll be treated with respect for now, but if you don't agree to help me you won't see him again.”

“You better not hurt him or I'll hunt you down!” Astro snarled.

“Now, now, there's no need for that.” the voice on the phone answered. “Please be at Grand Central Station in an hour. Just walk into the large open common area and stand there. Someone will contact you. Oh, and please do not tell anyone where you are going, especially the police. This little business is just between the two of us.” Click. The phone went dead. Astro clicked on the switch hook several times.

“Astro?” Mustachio's voice came back.

“You're still there, teacher?” Astro asked.

“Yes, the line never hung up.” he said. “Did the kidnappers call you?”

“Yes teacher, they want to meet with me or they won't let Hakase go! They told me not to tell anybody where I was going, especially the police!”

“Astro, kidnappers always say that!” Mustachio replied. “You know I was a detective. I can help.”

“I guess so.” Astro sobbed. “If I tell you please don't call the police!”

“I'm not sure that's the best idea, but I agree. Tell me where you have to meet them.”

“They said to be in the large common area at Grand Central Station in an hour and they would find me.” Astro replied.

“Very cagey of them.” Mustachio answered, “Meeting in a large crowded place. I'll get there before you do and stake the place out. Do you know how to get there?”

“I'm not too sure.”

“Just take the subway to 42 street. You can get into the station from the subway exit underground.”

“OK teacher thanks!”

“Don't worry Astro. Everything will be just fine. We'll get Hakase back.”