Colossus

by John Ricks

  “Ready.”

  I tripped the connection that removed the shielding. Water started pouring in, and Becky started to panic. I telekinetically pulled gently on all six shackles, and they snapped, cutting off the magnetic shielding. Then I teleported her into my arms. With tears, I held her to me. Susan brought a blanket and laid it on her.

  Becky leaned into me and sobbed with relief.

  After a short while, I pulled down her gag and kissed her. She kissed back willingly and with great happiness.

  Becky pulled back and said, “You can untie me now.”

  I looked at her and said, “I don’t know. This seems the only way I can sneak a kiss without getting slapped. I kind of like you this way.”

  “Freddy!”

  “Okay, okay.” I undid her bonds, and she threw her arms around me and kissed me again. I teleported everyone except six SEAL team members back aboard the Harm’s Way, and we headed home. The six SEALs turned the plane around and headed back with the evidence. At the Seaward Inn, Miss Crain, Johnny, Annabel, and Carroll were waiting with open arms. We all received hugs and thank-yous before returning to the base. The next day the fishing ship Daddy’s Dream made a visit.

  Black ordered, “Body Proper, they have and use the ability to teleport aboard ships! Search and protect!” Then he did something mental, and shortly afterward eight Blacks marched into the room. “The enemy has the ability to teleport into our ship and ranks. The creature in this tank is to be protected. I do not care if the others are destroyed. You will ensure that this one is kept here and unmolested.”

  This new Black said, “Understood.” He looked over at the Gray leader and said, “We do not need these Grays. They are in our way.”

  The Gray leader made a motion with his hand, and the other Grays eagerly left.

  The new Black glared at the others but bowed to the Red, and that bow was deep. The Red paid him no attention, as if the Black was far below him.

  The Red said, as if making a list, “Scanners that see through any metal, ships that take off and move through atmosphere at near light-speed, this ‘Shop’ that can scan the entire world and find a single person, people that teleport, ships that teleport, healing, changing molecular structure with their minds, clairvoyance, telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, and teddy.” He paused and then asked, “What is a teddy?”

  Green said, “I do not know, sire. I would expect it is something we have never heard about.”

  Yellows said, “The Body Proper said that we once had a little girl who had a ‘teddy’ with her. It was a toy, but she held on to it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. They believe it is some kind of creature that children keep as pets.”

  Red said, “That does not sound correct. Little Yellows, I see you are smiling. Do you know something?”

  Little Yellows said, “He just showed us with a picture in his mind what a teddy is. True, a stuffed toy animal is also called a teddy, but in this case, it is a type of nightclothes. A very sexy type of nightclothes.”

  Red said, “We have spent many years coming down to this planet and borrowing their people, and we know nothing about them. Perhaps the Red that I placed in charge of the expedition was not a good fit. I would look into it, but he is on the mother ship, along with eighteen other Reds. Green, please continue.”

  Chapter 23

  Reluctance

  I was working in my room. Sadly, Susan will not allow me in the shop until after we “have a talk.” Word came up that the Crain family was pulling in on their fishing boat, the Daddy’s Dream. I ran down the stairs and headed out to the docks. Susan caught me at the bottom of the stairs and accompanied me, along with five of the team.

  The Daddy’s Dream was just rounding the last corner, headed into the main waters of home base, when I reached the pier. The boat was flanked and dwarfed by two of our shuttles, which were scanning and ensuring that only approved personnel were aboard. They were still too far away to make out much detail.

  “I wonder why the visit,” Susan said. “For goodness’ sake, we just saw them last night. Something’s up. I can feel it.”

  I looked over at her and teasingly said, “I think you’re developing some talent.”

  She looked at me with a grin. “I don’t need talent to know that Captain Crain does not put off fishing at this time of year for anything short of funerals and weddings for close relatives. And then it depends on how close the relative is.”

  I mentally reached out toward the boat and felt the emotions. “He’s sad.”

  “What?”

  I looked up at Susan and repeated, “He’s sad. They’re all sad.”

  Georgia Peach walked up and said, “They have to do something they do not want to do, and it’s because of you, Freddy. Captain Crain does not blame you fully but does see you as the reason he has to do this and holds you responsible.”

  The boat was getting close enough that I could just make out Becky, Johnny, and Carroll standing in the forward section, waving. The waving was not enthusiastic.

  I turned to Georgia Peach and asked, “What does he hold me responsible for?”

  “Becky. That’s all I can see. It’s not polite to look closer.”

  Rodney gave Georgia a comforting hug and added, “I don’t need telepathy to see what’s going on.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Last night Becky was kidnapped. The entire family was placed in danger, and she wasn’t kidnapped because of you. She was taken because she is a special, slightly talented in empathy. For goodness’ sake, Freddy, stop working long enough to smell the roses or at least watch the news. There has been a rash of child kidnappings lately.”

  “There has?”

  Susan said, “Yes, there has. The president is working on the issue, and we believe the culprits died in that plane last night, but the kingpin is still out there. He is well funded and capable of doing anything. Why he wants the specials, we don’t know, but he is willing to go to long lengths to capture as many as he can get his hands on. It’s why you were attacked. They consider you the only one capable of stopping them.”

  Chuck Stewart added, “Why do you think we have so many specials showing up at this base? Every special is being shipped here or to the ranch.”

  Susan said, “Actually, they’re all being sent here. They’re going to be dispersed into the fleet and Luna City, and many will be coming to Mars with us, and that includes some of the families. The specials need protection until they are old enough to protect themselves.”

  “How many specials?”

  “Five hundred for the fleet, one hundred for Luna City, and 280 will be going to Mars. Counting family, Mars will have a group of about eight hundred.”

  “Eight hundred!”

  Susan smiled and said, “Now don’t get upset, Freddy. Almost all of the ones we are taking are farmers. We have a need for them anyway. By the time we return home from vacation, all will be on Mars in the main dome.

  I looked somewhat skeptically at Susan. “You going to try to run Mars with all those specials aboard?”

  She smiled at me. “No. We have someone else in mind for commander of Mars, and he is a special.”

  I was shocked and full of a thousand questions. Where would they all live? What about food and water? How could we handle all the safety problems? However, the Daddy’s Dream was now pulling up to the dock, and Becky was looking at me in a strange way. As soon as the boat moored and the plank let down, the captain walked off, looking red-eyed and very upset. For some reason everyone else stayed aboard. I saw Susan’s stance change just the tiniest bit, and I quickly stepped between the two captains. I put out my hand. “Hello, Captain Crain. To what do I owe this visit?” I looked past him and waved to Becky, but she did not wave back.

  “Freddy, again I will thank you for saving my Becky.” He did not take my hand.

&
nbsp; “You’re welcome, sir.”

  “I hear that all specials are transferring out for their own protection. Is this correct?”

  I gave a quick look at Susan and then addressed Captain Crain. “I was just informed of that myself.”

  “Freddy, Becky explained to us this morning that she wasn’t kidnapped because of you, though I find that hard to believe. She explained that she heard her kidnappers say that they need several more for some experiment.”

  “Did she tell this to the FBI?”

  “Yes. Everyone knows that you take in specials like my Becky and that you’re going away to Mars with them. Is that true?”

  “Yes.”

  Captain Crain turned around and motioned to Becky, and then he turned back to me. “I will not have my Becky in constant danger.”

  Becky was helped down the plank, and two of the boat’s crew brought her baggage. As soon as she was down, Captain Crain gave her one last hug. With sadness in his voice, he said to me, “I hold you fully responsible for my daughter’s welfare, Freddy.” He turned away and ordered, “Plank in. Lines away,” as he boarded the Daddy’s Dream.

  Becky watched as he pulled out. She turned to me and kissed me on the cheek, and then she slapped me hard and asked, “Who is Julia?”

  Green said, “That’s interesting. Why slap him if she loves him?”

  Red said, “A long time ago, before the time of the Mad Change, there was a time when our people were not telepathic. Females would torment the males something horrible when they wanted attention. If another female tried to steal that attention, there would be a fight. After the fight, to bring the attention back into focus for the males, the females would beat them until they passed out. I think this slapping is a mild form of the same type of ritual. Notice she mentioned another female.”

  Green said, “But they are telepathic. This would not work.”

  Red said, “He is. Is she? They are new at being telepathic. They have not developed the culture for it. They are just starting the Mad Change.”

  Everyone looked at me as if I had the black plague. The Black said, “That fits. They are kidnapping the ones with special abilities for experiments. Did we not do the same?”

  Red answered, “Yes, and that started the Great War. Our Blues did nothing and our—what did he call them? ‘Specials?’—our specials fought back. The specials killed all of the others. It was a long, dark time in our history.”

  Green said, “Their Blues are fighting for them. They want the specials. They are protecting them.”

  Blue said, “Perhaps their Blues are smarter than ours were.”

  The others looked downcast. Green said, “Perhaps I should continue.”

  I said, “Good idea.”

  They all looked at me as if to yell, “Quiet!”

  Chapter 24

  Bets

  “Becky! What was that slap for?”

  Becky pulled a newspaper clipping from her pocket and handed it to me. “So you’re taking some girl on vacation with you? Just you and her, alone in the woods for two months. Then you’re going to take her to Mars with you. How could you?”

  At first I was shocked, but one of the problems with being empathic is that I can tell when someone is trying to pull something. Becky did not really believe the newspaper. She wanted to set controls, right from the start. I had been around the team and a lot of females for too long to fall for that, and I wasn’t about to allow my life to be run by another female—not even if I truly loved her.

  I turned to Susan and said, “If Becky is going to be foolish enough to believe what she reads in the newspaper, then fine.” I turned toward home, pretending to be in a temper, and started walking. I sent a telepathic message to all the empaths and telepaths who were watching. Leaving Becky out, I said, “Don’t let on.” I tried to sound disappointed when I said, “I’m going to my room to work on what needs to happen on Mars. Please have Miss Crain housed in the dormitory with the other specials. See to her needs but nothing special.”

  Becky watched in shock as I left. She did not know I would watch telepathically so I could see the outcome.

  Susan smiled as she turned to Becky and said, “I know what you just tried to pull. Every woman here has tried that kind of stuff or used their feminine wiles on Freddy at one point or another. It doesn’t work. He sees right through it. You keep trying that kind of foolishness on the strongest special known, and your life is going to be full of heartache, child.”

  Georgia Peach took Becky by the arm and started walking with her to the dorm. “You’ve been pulling that crap on boys that are not special and it works real well,” she told Becky. “Believe me when I say that I know. But now you’re with people who can instantly see exactly what you’re trying to do. Follow my lead, and I’ll teach you how to own Freddy, and he won’t even know what happened.”

  Becky was in tears as she turned and said, “My luggage.”

  Georgia said, “Don’t worry, Becky.” Then she turned to Rodney and said, “Rodney will bring Becky’s luggage. Won’t you, dear?”

  Rodney smiled big, saying, “Sure, baby doll.”

  Becky watched and nearly tripped as her luggage lifted off the ground and started following them.

  Georgia reached up and kissed Rodney on the cheek fondly, saying, “Showoff.”

  Susan smiled, thinking, Oh yes. Freddy is going to be way too busy to go into space.

  The specials watched Freddy leave the area while telepathically laying bets.

  Johnny said, “Two dollars says he doesn’t make it.”

  Trisha said, “You’re on.”

  Chuck added, “I’ll take that bet also.”

  Johnny said, “Got ya. Anyone else want in on this?” No one else bet, but they were all watching.

  Freddy entered the house before he nearly busted a gut with laughing so hard.

  “All right, pay up, Johnny.”

  “Darn. I was sure he couldn’t hold it that long. All right, here.” He took four dollars from his wallet and passed it out.

  Joe Crysem said, “I think most of his happiness was relief that Becky is now well protected and safe.”

  Susan followed me into the house and waited for me to calm down before nonchalantly saying, “Georgia Peach just took Becky away to teach her how to handle men that are specials.” That put a quick stop to my laughter.

  “Susan, that’s not a good thing. She and Lisa Ann will gang up on Becky and teach her all kinds of bad habits. I won’t stand a chance!”

  “You set it up so she’s in the dorms with them.”

  “Maybe we should bring her into the house.”

  “No. She’s not properly trained yet. She stays in the dorms for now.”

  “But Susan—”

  “No! Perhaps if you are good between now and the move to Mars, I may allow her to live in the same Mars dome.”

  Skeptically, I asked, “Any chance you’ll house the other two in a different dome?”

  “Not likely.”

  “That’s what I thought.” I left for my room, with plans of becoming a hermit running through my head.

  Little Yellows laughed, “He is funny. If his entire race is like this, we should keep them around for the entertainment.”

  Big Yellows said, “We would like that also. No wonder Green and Red have spent so many years watching them.”

  Red said, “I have seen the reports, and they have people just for making you laugh. They are called comedians. Better than that, they have something called rednecks. I am told that they are the funniest of all the comedians. We concentrated on capturing rednecks just for the laugh. Being comedians, they are born and raised to tell tall tales. It is so funny. When we let them lose, no one believed them. They were perfect for research. We would sometimes make designs in their fields, just to mess with them. They showed everyone
, and no one believed a thing they said. It was hilarious.”

  Gray said, “It’s not hilarious now. Many have died, and now we find he has another ship. What is a K1?”

  Black said, “Gray is correct. This is not funny. Green, continue, and let’s hope we find out about more technology.”

  Chapter 25

  Murder

  I had other plans I needed to make. With Becky along, I needed to ensure that Mars would be very safe. I set up a decoy, and then I used the transmitter in my bedroom to teleport to my retreat, and I started working on plans for Mars housing, shops, and farming. We were going to need a lot of food, and growing it ourselves would be best. No toxins and no hormone additives in the food I will grow or the cows that eat it. It was two days later that Susan called me down for dinner. Home informed Shop, and I teleported to my bedroom and cleaned up. Colleen came up and ensured that I wore the proper attire. Apparently, we had guests.

  “Who’s here, Colleen?”

  “It’s summer break, so Julia and her mother, Aggie, are here. So is Congressman Styles and Senator McConner. And, just for your information, the moment you teleported into your special area, Susan contacted Shop and found out what you were doing. The specials saw right through the decoy.”

  “I’ll have to work on that.” Changing the subject quickly before I received a lecture, I asked, “Congressman Styles? Didn’t he run against President Kabe four years ago?”

  “Yes, and he almost won.”

  I pulled on one of my best jumpers. “What’s he doing here?”

  “It’s an election year, and President Kabe cannot run again. She’s already had two terms.”

  “Oh, darn. What’s he want?”

  “He probably wants your support. Not having it last time lost him the election.”

  “Have any of the specials checked him out?”

  “They can’t, and they were not too happy about it. He wears a helmet that clouds his thoughts. He says that he is on the armed services committee and has top-secret information he has to protect. You need to be polite. He is a powerful person.”