Nate stuck to his guns, and avoided Sandy. However, two nights later he was woken out of a sound sleep by a pounding on his door. What the hell? He turned on a light and glanced at his watch. It was three a.m. He decided to ignore the knocking. He wasn’t expecting anyone and whatever or whoever was out there must be up to no good. The pounding continued. Should he call 911? It would take the police some time to get here. Nate shrugged on a pair of pants and stumbled to the door.

      “Who is it?”

      “It’s Sandy. Please open the door. I need your help.The voice sounded like Sandy, but she was shouting. What was she doing here? At this hour? Was this part of a plot to enslave him?

       “Please! I’m desperate.”

       It was definitely Sandy’s voice, but something was different. Her monotone was gone. She was expressing her feelings in a big way. And she was using contractions. Nate unlocked the door and opened it. Sandy came bursting into the room, almost knocking Nate over. He closed and locked the door. She looked different. Her face was animated and her cheeks were red.

      She was also panting. Nate didn’t remember seeing her breathe. But then he didn’t go around watching people breathe. He didn’t know what to do. He’d offer her a drink, but she was a robot. Wait. She had drunk tea with him. But that could be faked. It probably went to a container inside her to be emptied later.

      Sandy calmed down a bit, but Nate was still leery. He didn’t know what to say.

      Sandy said, breathlessly, “I’ve gained control of myself. I’m no longer being controlled by them.”

      Who was them? Nate remembered a movie he had seen about a robot who had turned into a real woman. Was that what had happened here? He said, “Are you turning into a woman?”

      “No!” Sandy shook her head. “I am a woman. I always have been. They turned my mind into that of a robot, but they never got full control over me and I figured out how to reverse it. I disabled the chip just a few minutes ago. Now I have got to get away before they come after me.”

      Nate didn’t know whether to believe her or not. Perhaps it was part of the plot.

      Sandy said, “Touch me. Do I feel like a robot?”

      Nate hesitated, and then touched the hand she stuck out. It was warm and felt human. But still…

      “Do you want me to show you the rest?”

      She began to pull up her sweatshirt.

      “No. That won’t be necessary.”

      He immediately had second thoughts. Why was he such a prude? It might cost him his life.

      She said, “They’ll be coming after me. I have to get away from here, but I don’t have a car. Can you drive me?”

      “Won’t you be tracked?”

       Sandy shook her head. “I disabled my personal tracker. I was studying robotics when they captured me. It’s all done electronically”

      “My dog. I can’t leave my dog.”

      “Your dog has a tracker. I put it on him when he was outside in the yard that has a fence around it. That’s how I knew where you and the dog were headed when we met.”

      Nate thought quickly. “My landlady will take care of Pots. I’ll leave her a note. He’s in the main house with her now.”

      Matilda loved Pots and watched him when Nate was away or needed to sleep. This was the moment of decision. If he said yes to Sandy, it could completely change the direction of his life. Which might end badly.

      “I need to pack…”

      “No time. We have to leave now.”

      Nate hesitated, but then he made his decision. “I’ll get my car keys and cellphone.”

      “Don’t bring your cellphone. It’s too easy to track. But your car is clean. I didn’t touch it.”

      “Do you have a cellphone?”

      “They took it away when they captured me. They monitored me with a chip they put in my hand. I’ve turned it off. Of course, they knew that immediately.”

      Nate was amazed at how quickly Sandy had changed from a robot into a person of action. He wondered whether Sandy, or Sandra, was her real name. He wondered whether this was some kind of a trick. However, he had made a quick decision to go along with her. If she was telling the truth and he escaped with his life and brain intact, it would make a great story he could use in his job. And it would definitely alleviate his boredom.

      Before leaving his apartment and his cellphone, he texted his boss, saying he was taking a couple of days off that he had coming. He scribbled a note for Matilda and left it in an envelope at her back door. Then he and Sandy went to his Toyota Prius, which was parked in the garage. She gave him directions as he backed out onto the street.

      “We need to get onto the I-10 and head east toward the desert. Somebody is out there who can help us.”

      Nate knew the best route to get to the I-10. Being a hiker, he had climbed Mt. San Gorgonio and Mt. San Jacinto, the highest peaks in Southern California, which were both near that interstate highway. Fortunately, he had a full gas tank and the Prius got close to 50 miles to the gallon. But he still had questions.

      “How much does whoever is—was—controlling you, know about me?”

      Sandy was silent for a few seconds before she spoke. Then she said, “I know you have a million questions. To answer them all now would be very distracting to you. However, I want to ease your mind as much as I can. They know about you because of your job. There is information about you online, available to everybody.

      “When they found out where you live, they put me in the house near you and had me place the tracker on Pots when you were at work. Your landlady saw me and I fed her a story about how much I like dogs, but she didn’t see me put on the tracker. I was ordered to put a tracker on your car, but I couldn’t get into the garage because it was locked. They didn’t want me to break the lock, because that would have been suspicious.”

      “Why do they want me?”

      “You write and edit news articles for publication in many places, including television, newspapers, and social media. They want to use you to slant articles to say what they want said.”

      He had been right. “Censorship. How are you supposed to get me to help with these plans?”

      “The old-fashioned way. I’m supposed to seduce you. But you didn’t immediately fall for my charms.”

      She said it with a straight face. That didn’t sound very high-tech. But he had to admit that it might have worked. Maybe she was still trying to seduce him. The maid in peril. Perhaps her story of being in danger was part of the seduction technique.

 ***

“We’re being followed.”

“Huh?” Nate involuntarily jerked the steering and almost hit a car in the next lane. He regained control and glanced at Sandy. She was holding a small mirror in front of her face, enabling her to see the cars behind them. It must have been in pocket of her jeans, because she wasn’t carrying a purse. Nate had thought she was just doing female things such as checking her face, in spite of the fact that it was dark, and he had ignored it. They were heading in a northerly direction on California Route 91 toward the I-10.”

  “How do you know?”

 “I’ve been watching one car. It stayed two cars behind us for some time. When the car behind us changed lanes, the car I’m watching fell back and let another car in front of it.”

 “How can you tell one car from another?”

 “By their headlights. They’ll all a little different in size and shape.”

 Damn. “Is this a dangerous situation?”

 “I’m not sure. I’ve seen a car I didn’t recognize as belonging to the neighborhood parked on the street several nights. I think this might be the same car.”

 “Are you certain they’re actually following us?”

 “I’m…I don’t know.”

 “Let’s find out.” Nate make a quick lane change to the right lane and then took an exit ramp a few seconds later. His parents owned a cabin in the mountains and he was now on the easiest route to get there, which he could do blindfolded. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw a car exit the freeway behind him.

 “Same car?”

 “Yes.” Sandy was still looking in her mirror.

 Nate glanced at Sandy’s face as they stopped at an intersection with a streetlight. He had contemplated running the stop sign, but he couldn’t outrun the other car. She looked worried. He didn’t think she was faking it. The other car stopped fifty yards behind them until Nate started up again. There was no other traffic on this country road late at night. The other car ran the stop sign and closed to within fifty yards of them. Nate sped up and started pulling away. It sped up and maintained the fifty-yard distance. Nate then eased up on the gas pedal and the other car did the same. Cat and mouse.

 Sandy said, “They’re trying to find out where we’re going. They know by now that I’m not just a person who can be manipulated at will. They want to find out if I’m going to get help of some kind, other than the police, who wouldn’t believe my story.”

 “Where are we going?”

 Sandy hesitated for a few seconds, and then said, “The person I need to talk to is in Indio. But we can’t let them know where she is.

 Nate turned onto Route 74, which led up into the mountains in the direction of the cabin, but if followed all the way ended down in the desert at Indio. He drove at a steady speed, not attempting to lose the other car, which would be difficult and dangerous to do. The fact that it was still dark added to the danger and didn’t really increase the chances of success. He wanted the driver of the chase car to become complacent while he thought up a plan.

 Sandy said, “Are you still awake?”

 “Yes. I’m thinking. Why did they want to capture you in particular?”

 “Good question. Perhaps because since I’ve been studying artificial intelligence, I’m already in tune with using it for good purposes. I’ve been taking classes in AI and robotics at the community college in the Coachella Valley. I have a feeling they knew this.”

 “I assume you used AI to write the limerick?”

 Sandy laughed. “I must have since I’ve never written a limerick before in my life.”

 Sandy rubbed the back of Nate’s neck. It was the first time she had touched him and it felt good. It also helped him stay awake. Her hand was warm; she was definitely not a robot.

 Route 74 began to climb. It became curvy and Nate had to slow down. The chase car-maintained distance, but some of the time it was out of sight around a curve behind them. Nate briefly considered speeding up when this happened and trying to lose their pursuers. But there were two reasons that was a bad idea. First, there were no other options than 74 for some time. Second, although the Prius was a good car, he suspected that from what he had seen of the chase car, it probably had more power and better handling. It looked like a sports car.

 Since Nate had traveled this route many times, going to the cabin of his parents, he knew when they were approaching Mountain Center, which was essentially an intersection. Going left led to Idyllwild where the cabin was located. Going right led eventually downhill to the desert and Indio. Nated slowed down, knowing that the other car would also slow.

 Nate said, “Do you know how to get this person’s house?”

 Sandy said, “Yes, but we can’t go directly there. She’s living a secret life and doesn’t want people, especially governmental organizations, to know where she is. I have a vague memory of my handlers attempting to get me to tell who my mentor is, but I’m sure I didn’t blab. I remember screaming when they interrogated me. I think they had to give up. At least, they didn’t hurt me.”

 Nate stopped at the three-way intersection called Mountain Center, keeping his wheels pointed straight ahead instead of toward one of the two turn options. The chase car stopped also, maintaining its fifty-yard distance. He needed a plan.

 He said, “I assume I’m included in the people who aren’t supposed to know where this person lives. So, the question is, where should I take you?”

 Sandy was quiet for what seemed an eternity. Then she spoke in an uncertain voice. “I have an apartment in Indio, but I’m sure they know where it is. I really need to get to this person to be safe. Perhaps you can drop me off nearby. Do you think you can lose our followers?”

 It had come to this. Nate, the pacifist, was hoping for a nice safe ending to the night, but that wasn’t going to happen. He had the glimmerings of a plan, but he needed daylight to make it work. He glanced at his watch. It was a few minutes after five a.m. It would be a while before the sun would reach this mountain ridge, but he figured there would be enough daylight for his purposes in about five minutes.

 “I’d like to try and fool them. You said you weren’t able to put a tracker on my car.”

 “You keep your car in the garage, and it’s locked. They wouldn’t have to follow us so closely if it had a tracker.”

 Nate made a decision. “I’m not going to do anything for a few minutes. I need more daylight. Then we’ll try something.”

 “We can’t just sit here.”

 “Maybe we can. There’s no traffic and they’re keeping their distance.”

 Sitting at an intersection and doing nothing wasn’t easy. Nate kept his eyes glued to his rearview mirror and Sandy watched the other car using her mirror. They didn’t speak. The second-hand on Nate’s watch took forever to circle the dial.  Perhaps their pursuers would think he didn’t know where he was going. He hoped this was the case. Could he convince them that the pursuit was useless?

 Apparently not. The minutes inevitably went by and the chase car didn’t move. The amount of daylight had improved. The large Ponderosa pine trees lining the road became visible. It was time for action.

 Nate said, “Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened. We’re going on a roller coaster ride.”

 Sandy complied, but didn’t say anything. Nate could tell she was tense. Well, he was scared too. He took a deep breath and then punched the gas pedal, making the left turn toward Idyllwild amid a squealing of tires. He had heard that a Prius could go from zero to sixty miles-per-hour in about seven seconds. He hadn’t tested that, and he couldn’t maintain that kind of speed on the curvy road, anyway, but the element of surprise was such that the other car was temporarily out of sight in the trees.

 He went around several curves, being glad he had a map of the road in his head, until he saw what he was looking for: a certain pattern of pine trees he recognized from having gone this route so often. A quick glance in the rearview mirror told him that the other car was still out of sight. He slammed on the brakes, wrenched the steering wheel to the left, and turned off the road into the trees, skidding and missing a couple of them by not much more than a foot. When he came to a small clearing, he skidded through a 180 turn and came to a stop between two of the giants, facing the road. He turned off the car’s lights.

 He could just make out where the road was through gaps in the trees. The people in the other car wouldn’t be admiring the offroad view, and would never spot his car. Nate couldn’t afford to look at Sandy, who had gasped a few times, but had apparently survived. He had to keep his eyes on the road.

 A few seconds later the other car came roaring past. Nate saw the headlights and caught a glimpse of the car, itself. In addition, its speed convinced him that it was their chase car. He let out a lot of air and realized he had been holding his breath.

  Sandy said, “Wow!”

 They weren’t out of danger. Nate was certain it would take the men in the chase car not more than five minutes to figure out that they had been fooled. They would turn around and come roaring back. Or would they slow down and check to see if his car had turned off the road? Nate broached the question to Sandy.

 She said, in a voice that told Nate she had been shaken up by his driving, “They’ve seen how fast you can drive. If they don’t go fast, there’s the danger that we’ll get to our destination before they can catch us.”

 That made sense. She had a good head on her shoulders.

 Nate said, “I have one more trick up my sleeve. But first, I’m going to hide the car better.”

 He maneuvered the Prius until it was behind a large bush and completely hidden from the road. Then he opened the windows.

 “We’ll have to listen for it to go by.”

 “How will we know whether it’s the right car.”

 “By its speed.”

 Sandy said, “I’ll get out and peek around the bush so I can see it and make sure it’s the right car.”

 “No.” Too dangerous. After a moment Nate said, “I’ll get out. You stay in the car.”

 When he was looking around the bush it occurred to Nate that the danger was the same regardless of which one of them was outside the car. But for some reason he felt better being the outside person, even though they were both at risk.

 Five minutes passed on Nate’s watch. He was restless. Maybe they should be hightailing it toward the desert. Then another minute went by. And another. He was about to get in the car when he heard the roar of an engine of a vehicle, moving fast. Nate pulled his head back behind the bush and placed just one eye in position to see anything on the road. The car flashed by, on the way to the desert. No question that it was the right car. Its speed gave it away.

 Nate climbed into the Prius, backed up from the bush, and headed toward the road.

 Sandy said, “What are we going to do now?”

 “Turn left and drive toward Idyllwild. This is Route 243 and it goes all the way down to I-10. It’ll take us longer to get to Indio, but we’ll make it.”

***

Sandy became very nervous as they arrived in Indio. They must be getting close to the house of the person she wanted to see. There had been no sign of their chase car.

 Finally, she said, “Stop.”

 Nate parked beside an undeveloped field near an intersection. Nate could see newish houses a short distance along the cross street.

 Sandy said, “Wait here.”

 “For how long?”

 “If I don’t return in ten minutes you can leave. Thank you so much for helping me.”

 She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and got out of the car. Nate watched her walk to the intersection and turn left. She disappeared as she walked in front of the first houses. He felt empty. Is this all there was? Did his first adventure in he couldn’t remember how long end with a sigh? He was suddenly hungry, tired and grouchy. This time the second-hand on his watch moved too fast. The ten minutes went by in about ten breaths. He decided to wait another five minutes. Then two more. Then enough was enough. He started the car and made a U-turn toward a main road.

 As he approached the next intersection, he looked in his rearview mirror. He saw Sandy chasing him, frantically waving her arms.