Freddy Anderson’s Home: Book 1 (26 page)

Chapter 46
Press Conference

A
t exactly 12:30 p.m., we walked into the lumberyard and climbed back into the helicopter. The trip only took twenty-five minutes, but it was a wonderful trip. We stayed close to the shoreline, and I received a good look at all the wildlife that was starting to return to my land—seals and sea lions, fish, whales, and dolphins. Captain Crain pointed out sea birds, grasses, and different types of seaweed that were growing back rapidly. He also pointed out the areas that were going to take a lot longer to restart. He patted me on the back, saying, “I owe you a lot. The whole town owes you.”

In a humble voice, I answered, “Just doing what’s right, sir.”

The helicopter took a turn to the left and headed inland, just before an island with a lovely old lighthouse. The lieutenant set the helicopter down in the parking lot of the Elk Middle School. The parking lot was jammed with media and spectators. There was a sign that read, “The Cougars Welcome You, Freddy.” I smiled and waved to several young people who looked about my age. They smiled and waved and shouted greetings back. My mind was wide open, and I instantly took a liking to these people. Crescent City seemed very friendly, and the spectators seemed to be good, friendly, down-to-earth people. I couldn’t say the same for all the media. Most were good people, but some caused me to put my mental shields up.

We had a police escort. All looked like the kind of people you could trust and respect. In addition, several dozen people who looked like the president’s Secret Service were monitoring our progress. One of these walked up to the lieutenant and introduced himself by showing his badge.

“The president sends her greetings and wishes us to extend any help you deem necessary, Lieutenant.”

Without taking her eyes off the crowd, she said, “Thank you, Special Agent Howard. I would ask that you do your best to keep people away from Dr. Anderson. My team is getting nervous and may inadvertently kill someone. Understand that no one, including your men, is to come near him without my direct permission.”

The rest of the team met us there, except the two that the Lieutenant left on watch at home base. Three SEALs were stationed around the helicopter, and the rest stayed very close to me. I could hardly see past them to the throng of people pressing in. All of a sudden, we came to a stop, and then people backed up quickly. A few seconds later, I saw why, when we passed five media people who were on the ground, moaning. The lieutenant said, “They’ll be all right. Just a little warning. There’s been no real or permanent harm.” She’d hoped that use of force wouldn’t be necessary, but they simply wouldn’t get out of the way. She motioned to the police, and they took care of the five people on the ground. We were now in a roped-off area, so our progress toward the entrance was much better.

The school was small, but it had a big room that could seat over one thousand people. It had a stage that the SEAL team had checked thoroughly before we reached there, and I could see other people arranged around the room where they would be most useful. I looked up at the lieutenant and asked, “How many of these people are ours?”

“Temporarily, nearly thirty,” was her quick response.

I was taken to the stage, where I met the mayor of Crescent City, the governor of California, two congressmen, and a female senator, as well as several other people, including Mr. Zimmer. When I shook hands with the governor, I asked, “All this because we flew a house across the country?”

“Not exactly, Dr. Anderson, but that’s a part of it.”

I took the seat offered, and the mayor stood up to make the introductions. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you know the governor of the great state of California.” People applauded. I did too, out of politeness, even though I really hate politics. “And the distinguished senator from the county of Humboldt to our south.” More applause. “And our own congressmen from the great county of Del Norte.” More clapping.

I looked at the lieutenant and whispered, “What is this? I’m not into politics.”

“Patience, Freddy. They’ve got to get their introductions out of the way. You’re big news up here, and they want to be part of it.”

“Judge Francis Moyer and the chairwoman of our local wives club.” More clapping and a few cheers from a group of women on the left. “And last but not least, Dr. Freddy Anderson.” There was a lot of clapping and cheering, and most people stood up, I guess maybe to get a better look at me. I started feeling funny inside and hoped I could keep my lunch down. I was getting awfully nervous. The lieutenant saw this and took hold of my hand. I was trembling.

“I don’t think I can go through with this,” I said.

“Freddy, what you’re experiencing is stage fright. It’s natural. Just go with it.”

“You come with me.”

“I’ll be right next to you the whole time.”

I squeezed her hand and tried to calm myself down.

The governor got up and said a few words about this and that before I heard him say, “I’d like to introduce Dr. Freddy Anderson,” and he turned and motioned for me to come to the podium. I was scared to death. I was sure that my entire body was going to shake to pieces in front of everyone.

With the lieutenant’s help, I made it to the podium. Mr. Zimmer was right next to us. A three-foot stepladder was placed in front of it for me to stand on. I stepped up and looked out. There had to be twenty microphones on the podium. I said into them, “I’m sorry. I’m so scared right now that I can’t remember what I was going to say. Maybe we can start with some questions. Lt. James will select the people I’m to answer, if that’s okay.”

It became really quiet, and the lieutenant picked a man in the front, holding his hand up.

“Dr. Anderson, can you explain how you could fly a house across country?”

I repeated the question into the microphones, like I remembered seeing my father do. Then I answered, “I used several antigravity skids that I patented two years ago. I rigged up controls to gang them together for movement on the X, Y, and Z axis.” At this point, I became really technical and went into physics and chemical formulas. I ended about ten minutes later with, “It was simple, really. The lieutenant here has a license to fly experimental aircraft, and she was kind enough to obtain the necessary permission, file a flight plan, and fly my house home. All I did was use technology that’s out there, ready for you or anyone else to use when someone wants to buy the patent rights. Did you want me to go into more technical detail, sir?” We could be here for days, just on that one question.

There was general laughter from the crowd. “No, let’s keep this on a level we can all understand. So you used existing technology? How did you power the skids?”

“I developed a fuel that has limited applications at this time. I have to admit that the fuel worked well for its first try, but it has a long way to go before it can be used for anything commercial. Since it’s not patented yet, I don’t wish to go into any further detail about it.”

“Is the shield around your home existing technology?”

I wanted to say, “
If it exists, then it’s existing technology,”
but instead, I said, “It’s not patented technology. I expect to patent it as soon as it’s been tested more thoroughly.”

“There’s a rumor that you have a good lie detection device. Is this true?”

“Yes, but again, it is not patented yet, so I cannot talk about its workings.”

“What about a working laser that can shoot holes through mountains?”

“If you’re referring to the incident on the army base earlier this year, then yes, that was my laser. It was not supposed to be where it was, and it was not supposed to be activated by the person who activated it.”

Mr. Zimmer touched my shoulder and whispered to me.

I said out loud, “The government is investigating that incident and has made sure it will not happen again. I can’t say any more than that until the investigation is complete.”

The lieutenant pointed to a woman.

“Dr. Anderson, are you responsible for the cleanup of the shoreline across your property, as well as the general wellness that we are experiencing, now that the mess is cleaned up? If so, how did you manage it?”

I explained exactly how I did it and the tools I used and let them know that I would be happy to teach others how to handle the equipment when necessary, after I had everything patented, of course. When I was finished, I got a standing ovation.

When things quieted down, the lieutenant pointed to another man.

“Dr. Anderson, you seem to be quite open about your discoveries. Why did you have the media arrested at your home? Why have you declared war on the media?”

Mr. Zimmer gave me a brief warning that this could be a setup to trip me.

I looked sadly at the person who asked the question. “I really hated to have them arrested. We tried to warn them. We told them several times that they were trespassing and interfering in national security issues, but they refused to listen. My home is a testing ground for my inventions. I have many experiments that the pressure of being watched would cause me either to not develop the product or not test it completely. No, I definitely cannot have people watching me, and I cannot have them giving away my secrets before I get them patented. I could lose billions. I love my privacy and will guard it jealously. I don’t mind holding press conferences once in a while with select media groups, thereby letting the press in on what I’m doing or inviting some to come along with me when we do something new, but only when I’m ready to do that. Until then, I cannot and will not allow anyone to invade my privacy.”

“You cannot stop the media. You have to invite us all.”

Mr. Zimmer stood up and said, “Wrong! Dr. Anderson can give exclusives. And in so doing, he can legally exclude all others. It’s done all the time. Of course, you could try to sue us over this issue. I would love the chance to either win outright or remove the possibility of exclusives from all media.” His tone emphasized that the big media players would not like that idea.

Someone yelled out, “But you’re a celebrity now. Everyone has the right to know everything about you.”

“Please do not take offense, but that is the silliest statement I have ever heard in my entire life. I am sure that someone in the media coined that phrase and pushed it through the courts, but I doubt that it was a celebrity. I do not wish to be a celebrity, and I assure you that if this is really the case in this country, then I will move to a country that will protect my God-given right to privacy. I don’t believe this is the case, though. I believe you have the right to know what others are doing if it affects you or the populace but not the right to know information that would be damaging to my ability to complete my work, would give away my work before I have it patented, or would cause national security issues. Check the laws. I don’t have to tell you anything, and I don’t have to show you anything. Sure, you may find out some things through spies or disgruntled people, like you do in Washington, but the information will be sketchy at best.”

That statement started a roar of protests and arguments. I held up my hand, and it became quiet again. “Next question.”

The same person asked, “Would you really leave the United States over something so elementary?”

I answered, “Do you know the meaning of the word ‘oppression’? Would you live in a country where you experience fear and oppression? I find it oppressive that there is constant slamming by the media, lies, exaggerations, and things taken out of context or worded to have multiple meanings and then taken completely wrong by the masses. When I was younger, I was a victim of the media, with headlines about me like ‘Super Boy—Human or Alien?’ and ‘Alien born of human mom has super intelligence,’ which I’m sure sold lots of newspapers, but they also caused many of my friends to not play with me anymore. Kids at the playground would throw rocks at me, tease me, and beat me up. It ruined my outlook on life at a time when I was just developing the ability to play and communicate appropriately with others. I cannot block the media entirely, but I can invite only reporting groups that I trust, and give them an exclusive. I have that right. Actually, I think I am being very generous by allowing select media to hear about my inventions and possibly attend the testing of some of them, but unless the media starts policing its own, or the courts start slamming the media hard and putting some completely out of business, I don’t think I will be in a trusting mood. Don’t get me wrong; I strongly believe in the constitutional right to freedom of the press and therefore free speech, but lying, misleading, and telling half truths in a story in order to sway public opinion is not free speech. It’s using the pen to destroy lives and ruin the integrity of this country. It’s not done for the love of this country or the higher standards for which our country should be known; it’s done for the almighty dollar. So please forgive me when I don’t see the media as the country’s pulse on life. I see reporters as employees of a business, a reporting firm that has not proven to me that I can trust it to be honest and aboveboard in its dealings. If I were going to build something, I would not choose a company that I cannot trust. No successful manufacturing company in the world would. So here’s a question for all of you. What makes you think that I should select your reporting firm as the one to whom I should give my exclusives? Base your answer on proven integrity, honesty, and unbiased opinion in reporting, and send it to the lieutenant here. She is the person who will select the firms who will represent me. I would also ask the general public to do one thing too, but only if they want to.”

“What’s that, Dr. Anderson?”

“Boycott the media until they stop lying about people. Next question, please.”

It was quiet for a second, but then a hand went up in the back. The lieutenant pointed and said, “Your question?”

A little girl asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

I must have turned three shades of red, and the laughter was uproarious.

“That’s hard to answer, young lady. I would have to say no, as I have not asked anyone to be my girlfriend, but there is a girl who I am extremely interested in.” I wondered what Becky was thinking or if she was watching.