Freddy Anderson’s Home: Book 1 (18 page)

Chapter 29
Planning

L
ieutenant James sat back and said out loud, “My God!”

Ensign Morgan could see that the lieutenant was very concerned. “What’s up, Susan? Was that Freddy on the phone?”

“Ensign, call assembly. Everyone’s going to go running. I need to talk with them, and I don’t want unauthorized ears listening. Leave the spy here to watch the building.”

The group was assembled in less than five minutes. When they were far enough out, Lieutenant James explained that Freddy was just about to make the news. “He’s going to fly a house from South Carolina to California at low altitude and slow speed.”

“You mean he’s going to pick a house up with a helicopter and then fly the helo here?”

“No, Petty Officer Summer. He’s going to fly the house here, just like in
The Wizard o
f Oz
.”

That started a lot of chatter: “You’ve got to be kidding”; “I’ve got to see this”; “This is going to make guarding him a lot harder.” The lieutenant had the master chief call for attention, and then she dropped the bomb—she wanted volunteers. When she asked for three volunteers, everyone raised their hands instantly.

PO1 Colleen McMasters stepped forward. “Permission to speak for the group, ma’am.”

“Go ahead, Colleen.”

“If we’re going to be in the news, then we need to make it known that anyone coming near Freddy is looking for trouble. I would suggest that you take an extra pilot so that you can run shifts and stay off the ground. I also recommend you take the meanest-looking people we have, and if you can fit more people into that house, do so. The rest of us need to be at Freddy’s home to protect it.”

Before she could respond, the lieutenant’s phone rang. It was Freddy, informing her of the time for departure. Lt. James made note of the time, but then said, “Freddy, we’re going to have a lot of problems. When everyone sees the house flying overhead, the media will have a lot of questions.”

“I hate the media,” Freddy said petulantly. “Most are nice people, but some are real butt-wipes, and they ruin it for the rest.”

“I would like to take five people—seven total, including you and me—and I think it would be helpful if we knew we were coming home to a clean place.”

“Clean?”

“Free of unnecessary or unwanted personnel.”

“I’ll arrange for seven to travel, but extra security here is not required at this time, as I have my passive protection working, Lieutenant. See you tomorrow at noon.”

“One more question. Is the house powered and ready to be used, or do we need to bring a portable latrine and field rations?”

“The house is fully powered, including the kitchen, and we’ll have a limited amount of onboard water storage. With seven of us, there should be enough to supply us with fresh water for eight days—longer if we watch the length of our showers.”

When the Lieutenant hit “end” on her cell phone, she paused to think.

“What’s up, Lieutenant?” asked the ensign.

“Freddy agreed to take five others and me with no problem, but he still won’t let us guard his house. He says that his passive protective system is up, whatever that is, and he thinks that’s enough. I’m sure that if he could get away with flying the house without us, he’d try. Damned independent child! That’s exactly what he is—a child who assumes he knows it all. The bad thing is, he mostly does, but the good thing is, he’s open to learning when he realizes that he doesn’t. We’re going to take advantage of that. The personnel I need for volunteers are as follows: Master Chief, you’re coming, and you’re in charge of security. No one comes near Freddy or the house. Make an example of anyone who tries.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Master Chief, I’m talking ‘handle with extreme hatred.’ I want a scare put into anyone who wants to get close to him. Only people with direct permission will get through, and they only get through after submitting to a complete search.”

Master Chief smiled and said, “Not a problem, Lieutenant, but searches won’t be necessary if Freddy lets us use his scanner.”

“Good idea. We’ll ask him tomorrow.”

“Machinist Mate First Class Swanson, I need your ears on this one. And McMasters, I need you to mother us all, especially Freddy. Meals, bedtime—you know the routine. Don’t overdo it; just get him to like having you around. Find out what his favorite foods are and anything else he may like.”

“Sweet,” McMasters responded. “I have KP duty.”

Smith said, “We’ll help, and so will Freddy. Reports say he likes to help in the kitchen.”

“Smith, I want you to interest his mind while you’re not on security watch,” Lt. James said. “Half the time we have no idea what you’re saying, Smith. You are way over our heads, so let’s see if you can keep up with him.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Potter, I want you to come along as security also. If anyone comes near Freddy, I want them physically removed, and that’s your job. I want you to be as mean as possible. Get real nasty if the media tries to come close. I want people to understand that this child is untouchable. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Ensign, your job is not going to be easy. I want you to check out his passive security system and see how good it is. Wait until we’re on the plane out of here, and then take the rest of the team and check things out.”

“Freddy won’t like it if we snoop around while he’s gone,” Ensign Morgan said. “You know he’ll be recording it.”

“I’ll clear it with Freddy. Moreover, Ensign, it is time we cut the strings to Sgt. Davies. Send her back and make it look like someone turned her in. I don’t want her to be held at fault with the general. It would be good if he thought he had his own personnel leak.”

“I have just the ploy, Lieutenant,” Ensign Morgan replied.

“Good. I’m going to make flight plans. Master Chief, you and the volunteers make plans for a six-day stay in a house, including food and toilet paper—everything. Ensign, do the same for your assignment. We leave in thirty minutes. No one talks about this conversation after we leave this place. We gather up what we need and we pack, but we say nothing. I don’t want to know what you plan, Ensign, and I don’t want you to know what the master chief plans, and no one will know the flight plan except me.”

“People are going to find out quickly, Lieutenant,” Ensign Morgan said. “How long do you expect to keep it a secret? They’ll look up the flight plan as soon as they know they can.”

“Leave that to me, Ensign.”

“Is everything the military does public knowledge with this species?”

Everything went black after the Green reached down and adjusted something at the bottom of the tank.
Darn
. However, I could still sense everything.

A thick blue tentacle quickly wrapped around the Gray’s neck and lifted it off the floor.

Green replied. “No, master. It seems that flying over civilian airspace requires the civilians to know so that they can stay out of the way of the military.”

Blue said, “Pay no attention to this fool. Continue.”

The Green was looking just a little afraid but smug. And Gray was turning blue from lack of air.

Chapter 30
Change of Plans

T
he next morning, the master chief and the five volunteers took off for the airport. The lieutenant and the ensign took a small helicopter to pick up Freddy. When the lieutenant was close to home, she pulled up and hovered. A light blue bubble covered the entire canyon. The ensign asked, “What’s that?”

“I expect it is Freddy’s passive security system,” Lt. James answered.

Freddy called the lieutenant then to let her know he was opening a door in his shield. “Can you see it?” he asked.

An area about halfway up the bubble became clear.

“Yes, I see it,” Lt. James said.

“Come on in then.”

The lieutenant moved the craft toward the opening, which was three or four times the size of her helicopter. She flew right in and landed on the closest platform. When she looked up, she realized that the shield had disappeared.

Freddy walked up to the helicopter with only one bag. The ensign and the lieutenant climbed out and greeted him, and Freddy hugged the lieutenant. Lt. James couldn’t help thinking that Freddy was a very affectionate little boy.

“Where did the shield go?” Lt. James asked. “Did you turn it off?”

“No, ma’am. I set the modulation so that it’s invisible. I had the idea of a shield a few months ago, and after the army did their little thing, I decided to upgrade its priority. It’s now in place, but I still have some improvements to make.”

“Freddy, will this keep out the riff-raff?” Lt. James asked.

“I think so, Lieutenant, but I’m not completely sure without tests.”

“Tell you what …” she said, narrowing her eyes in concentration. “The ensign is staying behind. How about if she brings a crew out here and tries to defeat your security system? That should test it fairly well, don’t you think?”

“Sure, and if she gets through, she can let me know so that I can plug the gap when I get back. That’s a great idea. Ensign, be really careful, please. I don’t want any of you to get hurt, okay?”

“Okay, Freddy,” Ensign Morgan agreed. “We’ll be careful.”

“Thanks. Lieutenant,” Freddy said, “I thought about what you said about flying over people and the media, so I brought five portable scanners for your use, if you wish. Will that help?”

Lt. James nodded. “That will help a lot, Freddy.”

“What about the media?” he asked.

“Freddy, we don’t want to talk to them unless it’s absolutely necessary, but if we do, then we need to be polite, if possible. The media can cause you a lot of problems.”

“I know they can. Lieutenant, we have another problem. Washington needs me to do something for them, so the trip has been extended for two days. They already changed the flights for us. I just found out, or I would have let you know sooner. I hope this doesn’t cause too many problems.”

“I will need to change the flight plan, but I don’t think it will be a problem. Ensign, contact the master chief and let her know.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you ready to go Freddy?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

Freddy climbed in, and Lt. James strapped him into the backseat. She took off as Freddy remodulated and opened the security door. Then he closed the door and modulated it to “clear.”

The ensign finished talking to the master chief and then took over flying while the lieutenant called several people and made changes to their flight plan. Once at the airport, Freddy saw a sleek black Lear jet on the runway, and the master chief was waiting. She gave a snappy salute to the lieutenant and then said, “Hi, Freddy. Nice day for flying. Looks like someone chartered a plane for us.”

“Actually the government canceled all my flight reservations and made their own,” Freddy responded. “We fly military, all the way. Could you please have everyone line up right here, including the pilots?” He turned to the lieutenant. “I updated the lie detector,” he said, handing it to her. He showed her how to use it, and she held it while Freddy asked everyone on the flight crew his or her plans. The crew was okay.

He then gave Lt. James four of the five scanners. “Lieutenant, I expect to have all this equipment returned to me without tampering.”

“Yes, sir. This will make our job much easier.” She handed out the scanners to the master chief, who kept one and gave one to each of the others, except MM1 Katie Swanson. “Katie, I don’t want you to depend on these gadgets. I trust your ears much more than I trust any scanning device.”

Katie smiled and said, “Understood, sir.”

Freddy could feel the way the master chief felt about being called “sir,” and it was very positive.
Seems she is butch in more ways than one
. “Now I’m ready,” Freddy said. “Ladies, please don’t play with your new toys during takeoff and landing, and keep your seats and tray tables in their upright position.”

The next day, Freddy worked for the Supreme Court, using his mind-reading ability instead of the lie detector, not remembering that Lt. James and Katie Swanson were unaware of this gift. He also healed three people, one who had third-degree burns over half her body. He was very tired afterward, as healing required a lot of his energy.

Blue interjected, “Healing?”

Everything went black.

“Sire?”

“We cannot heal with a touch. This creature is powerful indeed. It seems this species has a redeeming quality that we could use.”

The Gray added, “We have been hearing about his healing this entire time, and I have given it some thought. Having instant healing in war would be helpful, but it seems that he is very limited.”

The Blue said, “True. Continue.”