by John Ricks
“I’ve already looked at the exteriors. I can see there’s a large difference, and many of my requests were unnecessary. When will I have the chance to inspect the interiors?”
“That’s a problem, Mr. Fly. Please don’t take offense, but I have yet to hear an explanation regarding why I need inspections or approval from the FAA to fly my shuttles over my own property. I suppose the commander has a good reason, possibly several, but she has yet to sell me on this idea.”
“It’s the law, sir. All equipment flying through United States airspace must meet certain regulations.”
I put my hand on his arm and led him into the living room. I offered him a seat and then sat down across from him. “It’s not your presence that I am against, sir. If I allow my ships to be inspected, then I am saying that I will allow this for all my ships, and that could be very dangerous.”
“Dangerous? In what way?”
“The regulations by which you must abide are dictated by politicians; even some of the laws are purely political. I know because I’ve read them. I can see a standard for navigation lights—that’s common sense—but there are also laws regarding what type of materials I can use. Mr. Fly, most of the materials I use are not on anyone’s list yet. You require that I have toilets and a waste-disposal system that meets specific standard regulations, but my disposal unit completely disintegrates the waste, leaving no residue. Most of your regulations govern planes and helicopters, not spacecraft. Those are just a few of the reasons why most of your regulations and laws do not apply to my ships.”
“I understand, Dr. Anderson, but my hands are tied on this.”
“I was afraid you’d say that, sir. I will allow you to inspect the craft, and I will make any modifications you suggest that make sense to me. You may have some very good ideas, and I will not turn down the opportunity to have access to your expertise; however, I will not make changes that I deem foolish or unnecessary. I am not going to build my craft to please some politician.”
“Even if this means that you will not be permitted to fly the craft?”
“I have every right to do what I wish over my own land. I can fly straight up or underwater. I don’t need any FAA regulations to do that. I’ll take it out underwater three miles and go up from there, or—if it really becomes necessary—I’ll buy an island and set up a base outside of the United States. I will not break the law. I will simply work my way around it, rather than allow my ships to be cluttered with junk, which would endanger the people in them. Let me be more positive, Mr. Fly. I think we can work with each other on this, but we both need to be open-minded and flexible. If you can explain to me why a regulation exists and how it pertains to my spacecraft, then I will try to accommodate you as much as possible.”
Mr. Fly was not happy, but what could he do? He knew I was right.
The commander then introduced me to four new navy additions. She had them stand in a row, like they were at inspection or something. The first one introduced was a seaman apprentice just out of boot camp. Her name was Julie Ann Weatherington. I touched her open mind and realized something was wrong.
“It’s nice to meet you, Julie. Exactly what relationship do you have with Admiral Bates?”
“None. Why, none at all.” Everyone could see the surprise and the blush on her face.
She lied to me. She lied! I was so upset I turned angry, and that means I went completely unemotional, monotone, and businesslike. “Commander, please remove her from my home this instant.”
Two SEALs took hold of either side of her and started to remove her.
“Please—don’t. Please,” she begged.
“Wait,” I said.
“The admiral is my great-grandfather. He has no idea that I’m here. I won’t tell him anything. I promise.”
I nodded. “I can see that you’re now telling the truth. Why are you here, and do you have any hidden agendas?”
“I’m here because I asked for this assignment,” she said, “and I have no hidden agendas.”
“You’re lying. That’s twice. Commander, please have her removed.”
Susan gestured with her hand, the team took the seaman apprentice away. She was crying.
I looked at the commander and said, “I think we need to revisit the questions we’re asking people.”
The commander asked, “Freddy, was the navy behind this?”
“No, I received the sense that she was hired by another military agency. It felt like the army.”
I checked the open mind of the next person, Yeoman First Class Henry Peters, who was about twenty-five years old and stood about five foot eight or nine. He was not a SEAL but had extensive experience in running remote bases, including the paperwork involved. I detected nothing wrong with him. “Hello, Petty Officer Peters.” I put my hand out.
“Hello, Dr. Anderson.” He had a good firm shake, “I do not have any hidden agendas. I am here because I was told there might be a chance that I could go into space, which is something I have always wanted to do.”
“Henry, that is up to the commander. She runs this base and determines who does and does not work with me on my projects. I just let her know what I’m doing and what I think I may need. She’s really good at figuring out the rest. I trust her completely. Welcome aboard.”
The next person was Lieutenant Robert Handelson. I looked at him and touched his open mind. I quickly stepped back behind the master chief. Three of the team members were on him in a second. He never moved a muscle, as I had him brain-tied, but his eyes followed me like I was some kind of devil. The master chief asked, “What’s up, Freddy?”
“Did you screen this person?”
“Yes. The lie detector gave no adverse indications.”
“It should have. He’s been hypnotized, but that would not fool my equipment. Bring me that lie detector, please.”
The commander went to the office and returned with the lie detector. I used my powers to look inside and saw that someone had tampered with it. “Interesting. Who transferred here first—Seaman Apprentice Weatherington or Lieutenant Handelson?”
“Weatherington transferred in first. Why?”
“She may have messed with this device.”
The commander ordered, “Bring her back here, and kill him if he moves.”
Everyone moved back even farther than they had already.
I moved to the next new member. “What is your name?” I asked.
Trembling, she said, “I’m Dorothy … Personnelman third class (PN3) Dorothy Pendelson.”
“Interesting. Any relation to Professor Jim Pendelson at MIT?”
“He’s my father,” she said with a smile.
“Great man. I’ve read most of his books. May I look deep into your thoughts? I’m sorry, but Lieutenant Handelson has made it necessary.”
“My father said you’d want to do that. Yes, you may, and thank you for asking first.”
I took a good look. She had an interesting mind, but there was no hidden agenda except to try to talk me into letting her father come for a visit. She was here because her father asked her if she would like to make her dreams come true, and she had said yes. Since childhood, she had wanted to be part of something great, something having to do with space exploration. This was her chance, and she’d be faithful and true. Apparently, her father was very interested in what I was doing and how he and his colleagues could help.
I opened my eyes and smiled at her. “I like you. You’re honest, and I think you’ll make a great addition to the team. I have no problem with the professor coming to visit me, as long as I’m made aware of it in advance. I think a great man like your father deserves the courtesy of my being present when he arrives. Don’t you?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Seaman Apprentice Weatherington was brought back in.
“I have only one question for you,”
I said. “Did you tamper with this lie detector?”
“No!”
“Remove her. She’s lying again. Commander, apparently she was paid to tamper with this unit so that the next person would not be detected, and then she reconnected the equipment after his interview. I can see how she tampered with it. She’s very lucky that I removed the explosives, as otherwise, she and half this building would be missing right now. Now I need to find out why.” I stayed way back from him as I looked up at Mr. Handelson and said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.”
He bit down hard on his teeth.
I held out my hand to reveal a tooth. “Looking for this?”
He glared at me.
The commander took the tooth. She glared at the man but directed her comments to me. “Freddy, any chance you might see fit to let us have him? I’d like to have the girls play with him for a few days.”
That request scared even me. I put my hand on her arm and said, “After I finish with him, we can talk about it.” For just a second I could see fear in his eyes, and then it was gone.
I raised my hand, closed my eyes, and entered his mind. Shortly, I knew all I needed to know. I looked at him and said, “Thank you for the information.” I looked at the commander and said, “He’s an army spy. He’s working for a general in the Pentagon. His name is really Robert Handelson, and his rank is the equivalent of a lieutenant in the navy. Captain, I think the army generals kept everything as near to the same as possible. He was hypnotized only to get past the lie detector. He had a tiny piece of equipment that made it jump up only when he wanted. Home?”
“Yes, Freddy?”
“Access memory for the time when Mr. Handelson was being interviewed.”
“Researching. Completed.”
“Were there any jumps in static or magnetic interference?”
“There were eighteen spikes in static electricity during the interview. None before or after.”
“Home, if this or anything like it happens again, please report any anomalies right away. Thank you.”
“Compliance.”
“Why was he sent here?” asked the master chief.
“His job was to report on what he observed here, undermine the leadership of this command, and attempt to get me involved with other army personnel. Apparently, there is a young girl they think would interest me. Home?”
“Yes, Freddy?”
“Please contact the president of the United States.”
“Working.”
“Freddy, what are you going to do?” asked the commander.
“I’m going to give the president a big headache.”
The commander said, “Home?”
“Yes, Commander?”
“Cancel that call!”
“Call canceled.”
“Thank you.”
I raised my eyebrows in question. She looked at me and said, “Freddy, I know you can override that, but you put me in charge. I messed up by letting that unit out of my control. It won’t happen again. I can assure you that new personnel will be screened a lot more carefully.”
“I expected that, Susan. You’re not one to make the same mistake twice, but I’m not calling about you or your ability to run this base. I will correct the unit so that tampering is not possible. It’s partly my fault that it happened. It was a test model anyway.” I shrugged. “We tested it and found a defect, thanks to the army. I’m calling to chew out the president for letting the army interfere again.”
“Freddy, chewing out the president is stepping over the line.”
“Is it really?” I said with a little sarcasm. “Don’t you think not keeping her promise to me is stepping over my line?”
“Freddy, if you were the president, think how you would feel if you thought that someone like you was running out of control, calling high-ranking people, and being generally mad at her?”
“Interesting. Not too happy, I suppose. So what do you suggest? I can’t just let it go.”
“You put me in charge, so I’ll take care of this. But it has to be me who does it. I can’t promise that I can stop the army, but I sure will send an extremely strong message.”
I thought about that for a minute, and then I smiled and looked at Mr. Handelson. “Sorry. I tried to make it easy on you by just having you court-martialed, but the commander is right. I did put her in charge of these things.” I turned to the commander and said, “Susan, please do me a favor.”
“What’s that, Freddy?”
“I don’t want to know, and I don’t think our friends here should know what you do about this situation. I don’t want to have nightmares, and I’m sure they don’t either.”
The man started struggling. She looked at him and said, “We’ll keep it quiet, won’t we, girls?”
She received several “You bet we will, ma’am”s from the team, and he was taken away.
“Black.”
Nothing went black. I could still see right through the tentacles, and during that session, I turned down the knob on the machine that ran the tank. It was very difficult, but it turned.
Green said, “I must agree, sire. This Susan did seem to be more Black than most others we captured. Still, she had a lot of Blue in her and some Yellow, I think. I had not thought to look at them this way.”
Yellows said, “Order the others to look at the past memories we have taken and see what they think, if categorized into colors.”
Green turned to the other Greens and said, “Do it.” Then it turned back to me.
Chapter 11
Sometimes Things Affect Us a Lot
Everything was quiet after that. I headed back into the kitchen to get something to drink. Behind me, I heard Mike asking, “He doesn’t stay upset very long, does he?”
Susan took a second to answer. “You have no idea. He’s thinking right now, letting it set in, and figuring out the ramifications of what this means. Thank God he trusts us enough to know we’ll handle it, but God forgive the army if I can’t get them to stop.”
I turned around and said sadly, “Susan, I’m tired. I think I need to sleep on this. I can’t work right now anyway, as I’m too worried that the evil army people will harm you and me. I can’t go into my shop right now. Please, could you keep one of my protectors near me? Mr. Fly, I’m sorry, but I can’t let anyone into the shuttles right now. Please be aware that they’re locked down tight with orders to self-destruct if anyone breaches the shields, so please stay away.”
I walked over to Colleen and took her hand. I looked up at her and said, “I don’t want to go to my room alone, but I’m very tired. Would you please come and stay with me for a while?”
Colleen looked at the commander, and the commander motioned for her to go ahead.
When I reached my bedroom, I said to Colleen, “This scares me, and I really don’t want to be left alone right now.”
“I understand, Freddy.”
I heard the commander downstairs, asking Katie, “Could you read him on that last?”
“I received several impressions, Commander. First, he’s really scared. He was not kidding about being worried, and all of a sudden, he’s very tired, so I think he’s going to do exactly what he said. He’s not playing some child’s game. You know him better than that. He is really upset about this. I received the strong feeling that he trusts us, but he doesn’t trust that someone won’t find a way into his shop and gas him or something. He’s thinking up ways right now to make his shop more secure against intruders. He’s also thinking that going to the stars is a folly because when he gets there, the army will just take it away from him, and he won’t be able to”—she stopped and stared at the commander—“save the planet from disaster!”
Betsy, one of the SEAL team, said, “Oh God, save us!”
“Commander, he is really upset,” said Katie.
“Remember the last time he was like this?”
“Yes. He didn’t eat for a week, and he did nothing but sleep. We thought he was trying to kill himself. Then it was weeks before he went back to work, and that was piecemeal. He had to redo everything he’d done for a month.”
Katie turned to the others and explained, “When he gets worried, he thinks too much and reads too much into everything. He loses his appetite completely, and he gets paranoid and depressed. He can’t work like this because he makes too many mistakes, and that causes him to worry even more. Commander, those ships are set to disintegrate if anything happens to them, and so is the shop. I received that very clearly.”
“I need to think this through,” said the commander. “Please keep up with the training. He has to be present for scenario number fifty-one, and it’s just possible that we can pull him out of it then.”
Susan went to her office. I watched her thoughts for a few minutes until I fell asleep. I was so tired.
Gray said, “Weakling.”
God! I wished they would stop talking and probe me some more. I was tapping into Yellows’ energies, and I turned that knob off. I couldn’t do any more while Yellows were not occupied with helping the probe.
Yellows asked, “Weakling?”
Gray said, “He has a mental breakdown over some little problem like a spy. How cute. He belongs in the Purple child pens.”
Green said, “How dare you say that about a Red of any species!”
Green was so angry that he let go of me and looked around for something to bash the Gray. Blue saw me falling and panicked. A Yellows’ tentacle reached out and gently tapped Green and Blue. They became totally emotionless and immediately stopped. Green turned around and came back to the tank. He placed his tentacles under me again and held me up. I touched the sides three times while falling. Green said in an unemotional tone, “The creature is not harmed.”
Yellows touched them again, and emotion returned, but they were calm. “How can this be? It should be dead. We saw it touch the side.”
I said, “Seems to me that Green had a little Gray in him for a minute. Perhaps you are not as different as you think.”
