by John Ricks
“Good for you, Freddy. You always need to take time for exercise.”
“I expect to do just that. Besides, you girls promised to teach me self-defense.”
“That’s right, and we will, as soon as you’re ready.”
“I can defeat any one of the team right now, but I would like to be better.”
Betsy looked at me and said, “Really? Try to hit me.”
“What?”
“Try to hit me. You said you could defeat me right now, so prove it.”
I raised my hand, walked up to her, and gently slapped her. Then I went back to Colleen, and we headed back toward the house. Colleen was looking over her shoulder all the time. When we were a few feet away, I raised my hand, and let her loose.
Betsy immediately took a side step, saying, “That’s not fair.”
When she caught up, I said, “The master chief—oops, I mean, the lieutenant—says that all’s fair in hate and war. Has she ever been in love? She seems to have a bad attitude about the subject.”
“Freddy,” said Colleen, “the lieutenant is, well … uh … she doesn’t like men.” She said it like I would get really mad or something.
“I know. She’s very professional about it, but you’d think she could find someone with the same feelings that she has who might calm her down a little.”
They looked at each other and stopped. I took a step before I realized they had stopped, and I had to turn around to talk to them. They both kneeled down to my level, like they do when they want my full attention.
Colleen asked, “You don’t mind, Freddy? I mean … well, I thought that you would be very upset when you found out.”
“Why?”
“You’re very close to God, and I would think that he has a thing against that kind of behavior.”
“If he does, then that’s his thing.” I looked at her with a frown and said, “I was not put on this earth to judge someone else. Being gay is not for me, as I am totally heterosexual, but it is also not for me to say how someone else should live. If the lieutenant wants to be homosexual, that’s between her and God. If she wants to ask me if I think it’s proper, then I’ll tell her I don’t know. The Bible is ambiguous on the subject, and I am not a prophet. God does not give me directions on how to run others’ lives.” I leaned in and quietly said in a secretive manner, “He does give me some directions on my projects, but I hope he never wants me to tell someone she’s living her life wrong. Goodness, I’d feel so bad. I love the lieutenant, and I will support her as best as I can.” I leaned back and asked in a normal tone, “Why do people judge me on how they think I will react? It’s really not fair. I don’t do that to other people.”
Betsy reached out and pulled me to her, hugging me. “It just comes naturally for some people. You’re one of the few who has this great ability to take people as they are, and that’s very rare.”
“Well, I’m not going to change just to be like everyone else. I like the way I am, and I don’t like making anyone unhappy”—I thought for a second—“except the army generals. You know what?”
“What, dear?”
“Sometimes I’m wrong, and sometimes I’m right. I never know when I will be one or the other, and I have no idea if I’m right on this subject or not, and I don’t really care, as it doesn’t affect me or my projects. I do know that being wrong sometimes makes being right much better. It sure would be boring if I was wrong all the time or right all the time. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, I do,” Betsy agreed. She kissed me on the forehead and turned me around. We continued heading to the house.
I jumped around, yelling, “They’re here!” Then I made a turn and ran off so suddenly that both were taken by surprise. They ran after me.
I said to the little Yellows, “I was wrong and got that Green killed.” I turned sad, and Green had to stop.
Little Yellows said, “Do not worry so much, creature. You do not understand what happens when we die. It is not so bad, and it was a quick death.”
Blue asked Green, “Why did you stop?”
Green said, “The creature just started going into depression and was pulled out.”
Little Yellows said out loud, “He—and it is a ‘he’—is very sad that a Green died because of him.”
Green said, “A Red would be.”
Gray said, “So they have field promotions, just like we do. Interesting.”
Green looked at Gray and said, “You are an unfeeling snobtherger.”
Gray started to physically reach out, but Blue said, “Don’t start, you two. Green, continue when you can.”
Chapter 24
More to Train On
I stopped at the four big boxes that were sitting on the dock. Lieutenant Daphne Morgan was looking at them too. She said, “They came in about two hours ago. Admiral Briggs said that you’d been waiting for them but wouldn’t tell us what they are. We scanned them, and they look like some sort of boats.”
“Commander, please unpack these, but don’t put them into the water yet. I’ll be right back. You think we can get some of the girls to help us?”
Betsy said, “I’ll get them.”
“Great.” I ran off toward the workshop. When I came back, the crates were completely removed, and my four boats were there on the skids that I had provided to the company to build them on. Behind me, on four more antigravity skids, were the parts to finish building them.
“Here you go, girls.” I smiled and left to go back to the house.
“Freddy?”
I turned around and asked, “Yes?”
“What is all this?”
By this time most of the team was out there. I answered, “Two twenty-foot antigravity short boats, one thirty-foot long boat, and one hundred foot by fifty foot cargo boat. I designed them myself. The hulls are impermeable. They run on energy packs that will allow you to run for years. They can float up to about one thousand feet above any surface, and the engines on those skids are fast enough to allow you to get from here to town in just minutes. You should have the docking stations in town by now, so you have a place to pick up equipment or just to park and visit.” I smiled a mischievous smile and said, “I don’t have time to play around putting them together now, so it’s up to you. Good luck!” I turned around, nearly bursting with laughter. They had wanted local transportation for a long time, and now they had it. The only thing was, they had to put it together. The key thing I wanted out of this was for them to see how I build things and how they can work on my equipment. I turned back to them again and said, “By the way, the tool box is in the first skid, and the instructions are with each unit.”
I turned back around and headed to the house. It was dinnertime, and I was getting hungry. As I entered, the captain said, “Have something new for the girls to work on, do you?”
“Yes, ma’am. I need them to learn to build things using my tools and working with my techniques. I figure that after four boats like those”—I crooked a thumb, pointing outside—“they should have a good handle on the basics.”
“I was wondering when you’d get around to that. Nice job,” she said.
“Captain, I need them to finish the scenarios soon. I’ll be ready to go in about two weeks. We can do a shakedown cruise around Pluto or something, but I need those crews.”
The admiral came up and said, “I have one hundred and eighty top pilots and engineers coming to the navy base tomorrow for screening. We’ll have those pilots and crews within two weeks and have them trained also. In addition, I have SEAL Team Five coming in to help guard this base while the captain and her team are guarding you out in space. I have over eight thousand volunteers from NASA wanting to work on the projects as soon as you’re ready, and I have all the required cargo ordered and lined up for delivery. The cook has twenty-five new recipes loaded into that module you gave her, including meatloaf s
andwiches, which I understand is your favorite.”
“Yes!” I said with great enthusiasm. I could feel the cook’s love for my appreciation of her work. I looked at the captain and said, “Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you, screening all those people.”
“Not really, Freddy. I’m going to screen the five psychiatrists, and they will screen the rest using your lie detectors. They will do a much better job than I ever could. Katie will talk with each one who passes the test.”
I frowned. “That will be hard on Katie. If she starts having headaches, you stop her. I don’t want her to burn out.”
She looked at me with concern and said, “Katie said she could talk to you all day and not feel tired.”
I smiled up at her and said, “She’s talking to someone who’s a telepath.” Then I said directly into the captain’s mind, “Talking to and reading someone who is not telepathic is much harder and can really hurt.” I said aloud, “I have more power than she does, so I can do it all day if I really need to, but I wouldn’t, as I’d develop a headache that would be a killer all night. Don’t let her work more than one hour in two. Ten minutes on and ten off would be best, with a thirty-minute break every two hours. In addition, ensure that she has plenty of nuts and some kind of carbohydrate snack on hand.”
“That’s right; I forgot.”
The admiral asked, “Nuts and carbohydrates?”
The captain said, “Freddy let us know that telepaths use up fat and carbohydrates very quickly when utilizing their abilities. It’s one of their limiting factors. Katie is going to use it up very quickly. I’ll talk to Cooky. Colleen cooked pasta for Freddy when we were moving his home, and it helped a lot.”
“Interesting! Did anyone think to tell the president so that she could pass this information on to the children she’s finding?”
I looked at the captain and she said, “I don’t think we did, but I’ll take care of it. When this project is over, I’d like to take a trip to see this school for the telepathically talented. I think Freddy can help them in a lot of ways. It won’t take long.”
Cooky came in and told us that dinner was ready. The captain sent one of the girls out to summon the rest.
Gray said, “Did you catch that? They are limited in their powers by food intake.”
Green said, “I will adjust the liquid to exclude fats and carbohydrates.”
Yellows said, “No, you won’t. If you take away his food, he will become sick and have a headache. Will you be able to pass through the headache and obtain information?”
Green said, “No. It would become very difficult.”
Blue was watching and said, “Then continue.”
Chapter 25
ES Protectress
The talk around the table was about the boats. All of the manuals I had printed were at the table being studied. The ones reading them paid no attention to any of the conversations. I started giggling.
“What’s up, Freddy?” asked the lieutenant. She was the last one inside, and both of the new team members were still upstairs, trying to dry off. For some unknown reason, each had fallen in the river several times.
I said, “It’s just that these four have teased me constantly about my concentrating on my work during meals, and now they’re doing the same thing. Watch this. Patty,” Then, a little louder, I said again, “Patty.” No response. “Patricia.” Still no response. Nearly yelling, I said, “Chief Patricia Henderson.” No response whatsoever. I nearly fell out of my chair, laughing.
The admiral said, “Yes, but they’re trained SEALs. Watch this.” He whispered so low that I could hardly hear him. “Freddy’s in …” I raised my hand in fear and stopped his breath so he could not say the last word.
“Admiral!” said the lieutenant as she motioned for me to let him go. “Don’t ever do that. They may kill someone.” Everyone was glaring at him except those four. Then the lieutenant made a tiny motion with her hand, and all four pulled weapons that I had no idea they had and looked at the lieutenant for orders. She made another movement, and they went back to reading. “Yes, they’re trained, but what you were about to say could have gotten everyone in this room killed if they were not on the team. I don’t want to have to send letters to all these nice civilians’ relatives.” She turned to me and said, “Thanks, Freddy.”
I looked at her with wide eyes. “Remember when I said something like that? I’ll never forget it, and I’ll never do it again. I had nightmares for a week.”
“What happened?” asked Dr. Landers.
“Let’s just say that if I had pulled that stunt in the middle of town, there would be no town.”
“I’ve always thought that the military is too zealous, and that just proves it,” the doctor said.
“I disagree,” I said. “At first I thought they were … what’s a good phrase? Oh yes, let’s say extremely closed-minded. I thought that they would run my life and give me no choices in what I do.”
He said, “Seems to me they’re doing just that.”
I could feel the girls getting mad. I knew that was a bad thing. “I think you’re assessing them wrong, sir. Yes, they take their jobs very seriously, and that has saved my life several times. Yes, they seem fanatical about doing their jobs. In this situation, that is exactly what I need, but they also protect me from me. They teach me, watch over me, and make sure I have manners and that I don’t use my abilities to the detriment of others. By the way, Admiral, I’m sorry for taking your breath away, even for a few seconds.”
“It’s all right, Freddy. You had a very good reason.”
“Thanks. The girls never tell me what I can or can’t do as far as work is concerned, and they would never even try to teach me about life if I didn’t allow it. Earlier today, I received a good lesson from the lieutenant. There was a good reason for it, but if I told her not to touch me, she wouldn’t. I own this base and can kick them all off in an instant.”
“You really believe that?”
The captain said, “Freddy made an agreement with me that we can raise him properly so that he does not turn out spoiled, and we help him stay alive, for which he allows us to stay here. If he said, ‘Team, pack up and leave,’ then we would go. The president would be very upset with our team and would come here begging Freddy to allow us to come back, but we would do whatever he tells us to do. If he had said, ‘Kill those generals and the president,’ we would have done so instantly. Zealousness? It may seem to be, but those are our orders. If our orders were to be wishy-washy in our duties, we would be like civilians until our orders changed.”
I think she said that as a slam to Dr. Landers. I continued. “So far, the team has treated me just like one of their own. They protect me, teach me, and help me, and I do the same for them. Can you imagine, Dr. Landers, what I would be like if I was allowed to become spoiled?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Yes. I think I can.”
“Let me make sure. The army has really upset me. Some townspeople beat me up and almost killed me. The president disappointed me greatly. Congress has its moments that really get on my nerves. Some suppliers are not worth keeping alive, some of their workers included. I completely hate the taste of garbanzo beans and think the people who sell them as food should be prosecuted, at a minimum. Some people are bigoted against me simply because I have long hair and wear earrings, and I don’t like anyone trashing my family.” I gestured to show I was talking about the girls. “How would I handle those things if I didn’t have these people to support me and teach me? How would a spoiled brat handle those things if he had the power to destroy anything and anybody he wanted, and no one would ever know? I’m personally glad that they’re here, that they do a great job, and that they’re zealous enough to be able to stop me if I go too far. It keeps me in check. So far, because of them, no one has been harmed, except maybe one army spy and fortunately, he didn’t die.”
“Putting it that way, I can see where they have their uses.”
“One more thing,” I said with a loving smile. “They love me, and they give great hugs.”
He smiled. The rest of the girls were looking fondly at me. I had just stood up for them, and that meant a lot to each and every one.
The conversation changed to what was expected of everyone tomorrow. I started to volunteer for some things, but the captain said, “Freddy, you have the biggest job. Get that destroyer ready. I’m going to give you a choice. Which girl do you want to help you?”
I looked at her in puzzlement for a second and then said, “Excuse me?”
“I want one of the girls to help you with the mechanics and generally be with you. That will be her only duty. You want us to learn how to fix that ship in an emergency? Don’t you think it would be good to have someone with you that you trained yourself?”
“Of course it would.”
“Then choose.”
Everyone looked at Marian, even the four who were reading the manuals. With a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Washington State and a doctorate in physics from Berkeley, she was the obvious first choice, but I could feel her emotions. She knew she was not the right one. Yes, she had degrees. But she was so far behind me that she couldn’t keep up. We both discovered that while moving my home here. Her training from those two top institutions was the best but not in the right fields for this project. Besides, her degrees were useful in other requirements. I looked at her and said, “Marian, you’re probably the most intelligent person here, but I need you to complete those scenarios and be the lead navigator on our destroyer. I’m sorry.” I could feel her relief. This she could do well and would love it.
Marian said, “I understand. I’ll get through those scenarios as quickly as possible, and I’ll train the rest. Thank you, Freddy.”
“Good, that’s where you’re needed the most … and you’re welcome.”
