Colossus

by John Ricks

  Colossus

  Freddy Anderson Chronicles

  Book 3

  by

  John Ricks

  Colossus

  Freddy Anderson Chronicles Book 3

  Copyright © 2016 John Ricks.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  iUniverse

  1663 Liberty Drive

  Bloomington, IN 47403

  www.iuniverse.com

  1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

  ISBN: 978-1-5320-0705-7 (sc)

  ISBN: 978-1-5320-0706-4 (e)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917298

  iUniverse rev. date: 11/14/2016

  Contents

  Introduction

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 Beguiled

  Chapter 2 Explosion

  Chapter 3 Teasing

  Chapter 4 AD

  Chapter 5 Sloppy Work

  Chapter 6 Doing the Impossible

  Chapter 7 Bringing It Home

  Chapter 8 Under Way

  Chapter 9 Battle

  Chapter 10 Heroes

  Chapter 11 Change of Plan

  Chapter 12 Ambushed

  Chapter 13 Sacrifices

  Chapter 14 Losses

  Chapter 15 Protecting Home

  Chapter 16 Rumors

  Chapter 17 Prank

  Chapter 18 Overhearing

  Chapter 19 Safety

  Chapter 20 Assassins

  Chapter 21 Preparations

  Chapter 22 Rescue

  Chapter 23 Reluctance

  Chapter 24 Bets

  Chapter 25 Murder

  Chapter 26 Vacation

  Chapter 27 Tampering

  Chapter 28 Testing

  Chapter 29 Tools

  Chapter 30 Empathy

  Chapter 31 Attacked

  Chapter 32 Understanding

  Also by John Ricks

  Freddy Anderson’s Home:

  Book 1 in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles

  Protectress: Book 2 in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles

  Sword and Sorcery: Short Stories Book 1

  To veterans. Thank you so very, very much for your service.

  Introduction

  Freddy is still in the clutches of the alien kidnappers, and things are heating up. The human race goes to war to help a benevolent race that has been helping them since before written knowledge. Humans are now at war with a race that is looking to destroy everything in its path—and Earth is directly in the way. Freddy helps in every way he can but at a cost that nearly drives him insane. Then his love gets kidnapped and viciously taken away. She is in a deadly trap, and only a miracle can save her.

  Prologue

  I was still on the alien ship, in a tank designed to hamper my mental abilities, being cerebrally scanned by the green creature. The green alien was sending everything from my past to a big monitor directly above my head and to several other monitors attached to strange-looking equipment for observing vital statistics and other medical purposes. The ship was moving through space at top speed, heading toward their planet. Several other creatures surrounded the tank I was in. A big Gray stood there, loaded down with blasters and a wicked-looking long blade. His eight arms were crossed, as if he were upset, and his facial expression—pursed lips and squinted eyes—was one of irritation. I read his emotions as great concern tinged with excitement and a little fear. A Blue stood to my left. His head was raised, with chin up, as if to show he was above the rest; his eyes, however, moved too much, quickly darting here and there, showing he was fearful about something. His eight hands were clasped together as if to keep them from giving away that he was deeply afraid. Twin little yellow aliens were using their arms together to hold me up in the tank. They acted as one in all their movements, and they spoke the same words together when they talked, as if they were one creature. Other green and purple aliens were scattered around the room, keeping busy at the equipment.

  Two big yellow aliens walked into the room and, in one mixed, harmonic voice, asked Gray, “How is the battle going?”

  Gray furiously answered, “They know our strengths and weaknesses now. Tapping into our computer gave them enough information to be nearly our equals in battle. They are an angry race, and they want their hero back immediately. They are using weapons that we did not know they had. Half our fleet was destroyed in minutes. We have asked for a momentary truce. We have found out that they are not worried about winning or losing. Five other races are giving them support and mobilizing for battle. Soon, the sky will be filled with their ships. We are, for the first time, in trouble.”

  Little Yellows added, “They have only one demand of us. ‘Give us back our Freddy.’ It is their only request. We have told them why we attacked and what we found out, but they know we have been stealing their people for many years and gathering information. They are sorry for mistakenly destroying our ship, but they believed we were going to attack anyway. They asked what type of ‘mother ship’ they destroyed. Their ‘specials’ are very talented and knew before we answered.”

  In a panic, Green asked, “They know it was an invasion?”

  Little Yellows said, “Yes, and now Freddy knows. Thank you.” They moved their tentacles tighter around my head before saying to me, “It is our race’s belief that we should dominate the universe.”

  I said, “Then you will fail, for it is built into our race not to be dominated.” I shut my mind down.

  Blue said, “We have little time before they restart their attack. Green, please continue.”

  Green said, “I cannot. He has found a way to close his mind completely to me.”

  Little Yellows said to me, “Open your mind, little one, or be tickled.”

  I kept my mind closed but lost concentration when the tickling started. “Darn.”

  Green smiled. “Shall we continue, then? Thank you, Yellows.”

  Chapter 1

  Beguiled

  I awoke from a sound sleep, remembering all the wonderful things I had seen while on vacation. Disney World and the Smithsonian were great. I could have done without the press conferences, and the politicians actually made me ride in a ticker-tape parade. That was horrible, wet, and cold, and thousands of bits of paper stuck to my hair. I received lots of presents and things that I had to return. What would I do with a luxury BMW? I won’t be of legal driving age for three more years. I must admit that I was treated really nice, but underlying thoughts were He could make me rich and What if he’s reading my mind? It was really good to get back home and away from all the wide-open minds. I wonder how Tammy’s handling the move to home.

  I bounced up and out of bed to get dressed. All this work crafting ships to save the world created a lot of muscle—my body is a fully toned and chiseled tool—so I bounced too far. My now very long blond hair caught on the bedpost, and I fell to the floor. Ouch! I stood up and untangled my hair. This was not a good way to start the day; perhaps I need another vacation. It’s been a year since that last vacation. This was going to be a big day for me. I was finished with my second building-moving ship and the new moon dome. Preparations were completed at the sight on t
he moon, and I was really happy that all my plans were coming together. Today, the moon; tomorrow, Mars—and then the stars. Tammy—the prettiest, sweetest, most perfect girl—might want to come along today. I’ll ask her. Tammy stands about five foot two, skinny, with long stringy brown hair and matching beady eyes. From the tip of her crooked nose to the bottom of her lovely callous feet, she is the epitome of frilly and beautiful.

  After winning custody over my life nearly three years ago, everything changed but not the way I expected. First, I was sent away to a wilderness to make my home, though I can’t blame that on anyone but myself. I befriended a town. I made friends with the president of the United States. I have my own naval base that I call home. Most of all, I saved the world from a giant rock by creating a ship to catch it and a ball missile to destroy it. It’s enough to make me sick.

  By this point, I was supposed to be finishing my home on Mars. No military influence, no government, just me living alone on Mars, doing and building whatever I wanted. Then I was going to go to another planet. Instead, I’m helping the “Earth Force”—a nice way to say the military—set up a city and base on my moon. Then the plan is for me to help put a city and base on my Mars. I was going to be blissfully alone, but now I have 138 guards. Might as well call them babysitters, as they watch me even when I sleep. “I’m thirteen years old now, and I don’t need babysitters!” I announced.

  In my mind, I heard Katie, one of the SEAL team members assigned to protect me. She’s telepathic like me. “Freddy, you say that, but just the other day you almost fell off the pier again. If it wasn’t for little Timmy’s quick thinking and levitation, you’d have broken both of your legs—or worse.”

  I telepathed back. “I know, Katie. Sometimes I feel that stupid rock we destroyed last year ruined my entire life.”

  “I know, dear. Why don’t you go back to bed. It’s just after two o’clock in the morning.”

  “I’m not tired. I’m going out to work in my shop for a while.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. Be good.”

  “No. It’s no fun to be good!” I was laughing inside, and Katie could hear it, so she knew I was kidding. Besides, someone would follow me and be with me anyway. I have no privacy at all except in the shop’s special rooms.

  I put my mental shields up so I wouldn’t bother Katie. When my shields were up, she couldn’t listen to my thoughts.

  Katie Swanson is one of my best friends and is very intense. She’s also a very beautiful African American woman, with eyes that look right through you. She’s a minor telepath, with enhanced hearing and sensing. She came with the SEAL team that babysits me and has been by my side since the first week here. Her telepathic ability has grown, but she still has a hard time dealing with it because her natural shields are really weak, causing her not to be able to sleep with everyone virtually talking into her mind. I’ve developed a personal shield for her to wear so she can concentrate during the day and sleep at night, but she’s on watch right now, so it’s off.

  I headed downstairs, where Katie was waiting for me.

  She asked, “Want something to eat first? When you came out yesterday, you went right to bed.”

  “Sure. Thanks.” I headed for the kitchen, and of course there was a sandwich waiting for me. Katie must have told the night cook I was coming down. I thanked him and took a bite. Pure heaven. Roasted honey ham, sliced so thin I could see through it, with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, egg, and American cheese. Tammy would love this.

  “One of the little benefits of being guarded,” Katie said as she sat down across from me.

  “I know, Katie. There are a lot of benefits. Like not getting shot by that nut last month, not breaking my neck, and not blowing myself up, but I would still like to be alone sometimes.”

  “I know. So would I.”

  “I have a great idea. Why don’t we take a ship and leave? We could go hide somewhere and play pirates.”

  She laughed. “That would be a great idea, but where could we go and be hidden? Now that the world has your scanners there is no place to hide.”

  “Oh, I can fix that. Besides, the scanners have a limited range.”

  She frowned at me, and I could tell she was upset by the tone of her voice. “Freddy, don’t you dare. Besides,” she said accusingly, “I thought you said the scanners could not be fooled?”

  I laughed. “I said you could not fool them. I didn’t say I couldn’t.”

  “Leading us to believe something that’s not true is still lying. You knew that when you said it. So stop.” More gently, which put me on guard, she asked, “Does this have anything to do with your secret project? When can we see it?”

  I quickly tightened my shields, as I don’t like giving my secrets away early. “This is a very good sandwich. Want a bite?” I held it out to her with an innocent look.

  “You’ve got something big back there,” she said with a grin. “How long will it be before you bring it out?”

  I smiled at her. “Remember who taught you the trick of getting people to think about something for which you want information. Please don’t think it’s going to be that easy with me, Katie.”

  “Very well. You win—for now—but you’re making Captain James extremely nervous.”

  I was supposed to be a super-genius, but Captain Susan James could talk me into anything. She convinced me to accept her help—and therefore, the help of the entire world—and then had me willingly turn my home into a naval base. She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. She’s kind to a fault, unless you make her mad. She’s tall, muscular, and a born leader. She keeps her blonde hair in short, tight curls—it makes her look more male than female—and I love her like a mother. I said, “Katie, Susan can wait until I’m ready.”

  “Very well, but she’s planning to talk to you about it soon.”

  “Thanks for the warning.” I said, smiling and planning to avoid Susan at all costs. “Time to go to work.”

  “Don’t stay in there long, Freddy. You have a lot to do today.”

  “I won’t.” I headed toward the shop. It used to be easy. Just go outside and walk unobstructed to the entrance. Now I have to go around several rows of houses and at least three guards, and I get challenged at the door. I’d skip all that by teleporting inside the shop, but with all the new specials at the base I had to make that impossible, even for me. “Specials” are a nice way to refer to kids with mental talent. Then again, I could use the new teleportation device in my room, as it’s connected directly to the shop, but I don’t want to give that away yet. I shielded all the walls in the mountain in a way that made them completely impregnable to all forms of mental dabbling, unless I approved it. As I finally was walking up to the entrance—what do you know?—Tammy was there, just checking out with the guard. “Good morning,” I said to the guard.

  “Good morning, Dr. Anderson.” The guard had already scanned me as I approached, so the guard knew it was me.

  I turned to Tammy and lovingly said, “Good morning, Tammy. How was your night?”

  “It was fine, sweet cakes.” She walked closer to me, and I swear my knees went weak. As she walked past, I turned to follow her in a daze, but the guard got my attention by grabbing my arm and forcing me to focus on her. I swear, for a moment I’d forgotten everything I was doing.

  “How many people in the shop this morning, Sue?” I asked the guard.

  “About eighty, sir. It’s the graveyard shift. You need to stay away from Tammy, sir! That girl is not good for you.”

  Interestingly, when she made the comment about Tammy, something in her voice seemed to border on hatred.

  She asked, “Are you going in?”

  “Yes.”

  She touched a button that allowed two-way communications with the inside. “Dr. Anderson is coming in. Open, please.”

  The shield covering the entrance dropped. They had taken
out my switch and added a computerized and highly protected software so that no one with telekinetic abilities could trip it and walk in—another required change. I walked in through the front offices and into the open building room and paused to look over the gigantic space. Then I took the lift down to the main floor and went right past all the ships, robots, and people, saying hi and good morning to them all. Some I recognized, but many I did not. Where had all my plans gone? I was supposed to approve each person working here. Oh yes. I remember. Susan talked me out of that, saying that it was a waste of my time, now that they had the right checks in place. We also have a staff of over twenty specials on the base. The oldest is twenty, and the youngest is four, and I am still, by far, the strongest. That rankles me to no end. There should be others who have much more power than I have. It just isn’t fair, as everyone looks up to me, and that causes Susan to be harder on me—she says I’m their idol, so I should “be good.” I don’t want to be anyone’s idol. I just want to invent and build. For some reason, I’ve been upset a lot lately.

  I went back to my secret rooms and thought about why I was feeling so bad about things. I approved most of them. I had control to a very large extent. “Shop?”

  “Hi, Freddy. What can I do for you?”

  “How many items do I still need to patent?”

  “Only 523. They’re all in this section of the shop. You haven’t told anyone about them, so the paperwork has not been started.”

  “Really. What’s my gross income looking like?”

  “You’re taking in over one billion dollars a week and spending only 123 million.”

  I’m in the black. Cool. “How much on my to-do list?”

  “Eighty-one items.”

  “Thank you.”

  That is a big change from the millions of to-do items I had just one year ago. I should be elated. So why am I upset over my situation? I like the people I am working with. I like the specials. Most have good personalities, except Tammy.