“Gorgeous, Mr. Trent,” the big dog said. “Simply gorgeous. You're ready for the catwalk. Now can we get going, please?” Genghis started walking toward the stairs. As Trent followed he reached into his trench coat pocket and retrieved a small lint brush and started brushing lint from his lapel.
As Genghis walked in front he asked, “Does this Immobilizer make my neck look fat?”
“Ah, no.” Trent said, more concerned with a rogue piece of fiber, “Not at all.”
The replicated human automobile with its convertible top down was gently being warmed by the morning sun that was now higher in the sky. A crow had landed on the top of the windshield for a brief respite after a long morning flight. And when the back cushion started to move and then flopped down, he flew off in a frenzy.
Genghis emerged, followed by Trent with the duffle bag. He placed the duffle bag on the back floor of the car and stepped out onto the pavement. Genghis hopped between the two front-bucket seats and took his place in the passenger seat. Front paws on the floor, back legs and hindquarters lying on the seat. Trent slid behind the wheel and started the engine, put the car in gear, and proceeded down the road.
Genghis brought up his holographic computer console and accessed several screens. The computer started to beep in five second intervals indicating that they were traveling in the direction of Interstellar Police Prison Transfer vehicle 964. As they went down the deserted road, Genghis looked up from the computer. His nose twitched. He stuck his head out to the right, past the windshield and into the blast of wind. His ears flopped in the wind while he pointed his nose into the air stream and started a series of short, deep sniffs. He pulled back in and turned to look at Trent.
“Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?
Genghis stuck his head out again. “I’m smelling things in the air.”
“Like what?”
“Everything! I can smell the trees. I can smell the dust being kicked up by our tires. I can smell the pollen from that fruit grove over there.”
Trent looked at the fruit grove over to their left. “That’s almost a quarter mile away.”
“I know. But I can smell them!”
Trent stuck his head out his window into the wind, just as Genghis did. The car slightly wavered, but Trent kept control. He started quickly sniffing the air. Nostrils flaring, head bobbing back and forth like a meerkat. He pulled his head back in and said, “I can’t smell a thing!”
Genghis pointed his nose out the window again, sniffed the air, and calmly announced, “I can even smell the plasma leaking from the breach!”
“Oh, you can not!”
“I can too!” Genghis protested. “I don’t know,” he pondered for a moment. “I guess these human canines have incredible olfactory systems. Not like Codas canines, with their genetically inherited Deviated Septum.”
“And the snorting and sniffling,” Trent added.
“And let's not forget the post nasal drip.”
“Yes . . . wretched creatures. ” Trent paused for a second then said, “Maybe it’s because your proboscis is so . . . ”
“Watchit.” Genghis warned.
“Well it is pretty big!”
Chapter Seven
They proceeded down the long stretch of roadway. The computer continued beeping.
In the distance on their left, two and a half miles away, was a major highway congested with cars. The road that they were traveling on was once the major roadway for the area traveled by many. But when the interstate came through, it created a death knell for this little roadway. Unused and forgotten for so many years, the roadway fell into disrepair. The asphalt became potholed, weather beaten, and cracked. Long blades of grass were able to protrude through the breaks like fingers, stretching outward toward the sky as if trying to touch the sun.
Genghis was watching the dots of cars going back and forth on the interstate. Sunlight sparkled, reflecting off windshields. Curiosity got the best of him and he reached into the backseat. He retrieved a pair of IPF issued binoculars from the duffle bag by hooking his paw around the strap. Then, held it tightly between both paws and started to scan the vehicles. When set properly, the binoculars were capable of reading the individual numbers on the license plates.
Genghis concentrated on the cars as they traversed the highway. He made an adjustment to the glasses which brought the vehicles closer into view. He could see the details of the interiors. He could see the occupants. He studied the exteriors of as many cars as he could. Lowering the glasses he started to inspect their own replicated human automobile. Glancing through the windshield, he looked at the front of the cruiser, then brought the binoculars back up to his eyes and studied the cars on the interstate once again. He lowered the glasses, and looked toward the back of the cruiser.
With the top down he could clearly see the curvature of the trunk, the slight slope to the rear, and the small tail fins on top of the outer edge of each fender running the length of the back. He looked at the interstate again and said, “Why does our auto-mo-bile look so different from the others?”
“Different? How do you mean.?”
He lowered the glasses, “I mean, ours looks different. Our auto-mo-bile is longer. And we have these little fins running along the sides of our aft section. And on the top of the bow, we have these tiny round ornamental do-hickeys on each side.” He motioned with his nose, “See ‘em?” He again looked through the binoculars. “And we have a lot more shiny metal. I’m not seeing anything that comes even close to what we're operating.”
“Well,” Trent surmised, “perhaps, the Replicator replicated the cruiser into the latest model of auto-mo-bile. We’ll be the envy of all the other humans.”
While still looking through the binoculars, Genghis said, “Well, the whole idea is to blend in and
