Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Fiction; Police -- Fiction; Science fiction, American
"With his car," said the salesman. "My car ... with his car ... he hit
my car with his car."
The sergeant raised his hand. "Simmer down, young feller. Let me see
your driver's license." He reached over the desk for the man's cards
with one hand, and with the other he sorted out an accident form. "Just
give it to me slowly." He started filling out the form.
The deAngelis operator leaned back in his chair and winked at the
controller. "I'm a whiz," he said to the young reporter, "I'm a pheenom.
I never miss." The reporter smiled and walked back to his colleague who
was playing gin with the book ... businessman.
The lights glowed on and off all evening, but only once had they called
for action. At 10:34 two sharp readings of 92.2 and 94 even, had sent
Blaney back to his dials and screen. He'd narrowed it down to a
four-block area when the telephone rang to report a fight at the Red
Antler Grill. The controller dispatched a beat cop already in the area.
Twenty minutes later, two very large--and very obedient young toughs
stumbled in, followed by an angry officer. In addition to the marks of
the fight, both had a lumbering, off-balance walk that showed that the
policeman had been prodding them with his riot club. It was called an
"electronic persuader"; it also doubled as a carbine. Police no longer
carried sidearms.
He pointed to the one on the left, "This one hit me." He pointed to the
one on the right, "This one kicked me."
The one on the left was certain he would never hit another cop. The one
on the right knew he would never kick another cop.
"Book 'em," the sergeant said. He looked at the two youths. "You're
going in the can ... you want to argue." The youths looked down. No one
else said anything. The younger reporter came over and took down the
information as the cop and the two toughs gave it to the sergeant. Then
he went back to his seat at the card table and took a minityper from his
pocket. He started sending to the paper.
"You ought to send that stuff direct," the card player said.
"I scribble too bad," the reporter answered.
"Bat crap," said the older man, "that little jewel can transcribe
chicken scratches."
The cub scrunched over his minityper. A few minutes later he looked up
at his partner, "What's a good word for hoodlum?"
The other reporter was irritated. He was also losing at gin. "What are
you, a Steinbeck?" He laid down his cards. "Look kid, just send it, just
the way you get it. That's why they pay re-write men. We're reporters.
We report. O.K.?" He went back to his cards.
At 11:40 a light at the end of the second row turned pinkish but no
reading showed on the dial below. It was only one of a dozen bulbs
showing red. It was still pinkish when the watch was changed. Blaney
was replaced by King.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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