Earth Ship Protectress: Book Two in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles (11 page)

Chapter 15
Dinner

T
he commander quickly finished her statement. “Remember at all times that this ‘child’ is the smartest person on the planet. He is highly empathic, and if you lie, or tell half-truths, or try to deceive him in any way, he will know it before you finish the sentence.” She turned to the admiral. “He trusts you enough to show you his ‘toys,’ and that’s amazing. Believe me when I say this: it has nothing to do with his needing us because I can assure you that he doesn’t. At least, not for running his toys.”

“Why does he let you stay here and guard him, then?” asked the general.

“At first, he allowed us to stay so that he could test us and gain more time in his shop. He’s very worried about that meteor. Now, he keeps us here because he loves us.” She smiled. “And that comes with trust. We happen to love him too, and we’d follow him anywhere.” Standing straighter and in a louder voice, she said proudly, “We’re going to the stars with him.”

“Any idea how many people he needs?”

“No, but I know we’re not enough. I don’t know what kinds of expertise he needs either. You’ll have to talk to him about that.”

The admiral asked, “What does this destroyer look like? How big is it?”

“I don’t know, sir. He lets me into the front section of the shop but not deep into his work area. He says that it’s dangerous. I don’t even know how big his work area is. The scanners can’t penetrate it, for some reason. We do know this: there is a section under the mountain that is five miles long and three miles wide that we can’t see, and when I’m in the front of the shop, I can hear a tremendous amount of work going on through what must be hundreds of feet of solid rock.”

The conversation stopped. Everyone looked up, as Colleen was bringing me down the stairs. Just about that time, Cooky came out and said, “Dinnertime.”

We filed into the dining room. All of the leaves were in the table so there was plenty of room, but most of the SEAL team stayed around the edges, watching. The commander had several of the team sit down and join us. I was sandwiched between Maggie and Betsy, and it was made very clear why they sat next to me. The commander was taking no chances. All the aerospace personnel and the FAA inspector were introduced. The president sat at one end of the table, and the commander sat at the other.

Mr. Fly, the inspector, cut right through the small talk. “What was all that about earlier? I nearly messed my pants.”

The commander answered, “We were not expecting the army or the navy to be included on this trip. We don’t like surprises.”

The president said, “That was my fault. I was supposed to come alone but decided to bring these gentlemen and my young friend along as a pleasant surprise. I won’t do that again.”

Everyone laughed when Mr. Fly said, “I certainly hope not, Madam President. These ladies frisked me and interrogated me pretty heavily when I came here, but at least I didn’t almost get my backside shot off.”

Dinner looked good, and my appetite was coming back, so I ate quite a bit. When I realized that almost everyone was watching me, I whispered to Maggie, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, dear. We’re just glad your appetite’s back.”

I blushed and slowed down after that and joined the conversation. Petty Officer Henry Peters was sitting across from me. “Henry, what do you think of my home so far?”

He smiled. “Scary”—and then, after a second of thought—“and exciting.” Henry wasn’t much for talk. I had the feeling that he considered anything except organizational paperwork a total waste of time.

I looked over at PN3 Dorothy Pendelson and asked her the same thing.

She answered enthusiastically, “Freddy, I’ve never had so much excitement. I am totally enjoying myself. I’ve seen espionage, worked with people who have been to the moon, studied sciences and math that I had no idea were possible, met the president of the United States, and almost saw her get shot—legally, of course. Generally, I’d say I’ve had the time of my life, but the worst part is that I can’t tell anyone! Darn.”

Everyone laughed except the president. She was very serious. I looked at her and asked, “Madam President, you want me to help with a mutual problem we seem to have—a big rock that we can’t duck.”

She said yes on a whisper of air, as if saying it out loud would cause the meteor to hit sooner.

“I’ve worked all my life on this project. I’ve known about that rock for years, but no one would believe me.”

“We believe you now,” she said.

“Thank you. The bad thing is, I only have six months to stop it. After that, I will not be able to stop it. The good thing is, I should be able to handle that if I’m allowed to do things in my own way.”

“We’re doomed,” said the admiral. “Nothing exists that could reach that meteor within eighteen months, and that’s if we launch now.”

I looked at the admiral and said, “Nothing that you have, but the longer we wait, the closer the meteor gets. Even I can’t stop the problems its gravity will create after a certain point. The issue now is to get to it within the next six months.”

He looked at me and said, “With all due respect, I don’t see how those two shuttles can do enough harm to stop that thing.”

I thought for a minute. “That’s an idea, I suppose. I could send them up to destroy it. They have the ability, but that would be a waste of two perfectly good shuttles and their crews.”

He leaned in, looking upset, and said, “You’re joking.”

Susan said, “Admiral, he never jokes about his work—never. If Freddy says that the two shuttles out there can destroy that meteor, then believe me, they can.”

The president asked, “If the shuttles can do the job, please let’s use them—now.”

“I will keep them as an emergency backup if needed, but it’s a suicide mission for two brave crews. I would do that to save the world, of course, but I don’t see the need. Even if I could not get my project finished in time, those two shuttles have the ability to reach that rock in a matter of a few hours.”

General Tankman asked, “Even if they can reach it, how can two little ships destroy that thing when five hundred nuclear multitipped missiles would hardly scratch it? That’s enough to destroy this planet several times over.”

I looked at him and replied, “Sir, I can destroy this planet completely using only one of those ships and the cargo I can place on it for delivery. The only reason I would need two ships for this job is that one has to slow it down enough for the second one to destroy it.”

His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open in astonishment. “You can do that?”

“Why do you think I don’t want people spying on me? As soon as that thing is destroyed, so will be the knowledge of how I can do this. The ships will remain for my projects, but the missiles I have built will be gone—and all the knowledge with it. If this happens again, then I can always reinvent them but not unless something extremely drastic like this happens.”

“Why don’t you just give us the equipment and let us do the job?” asked the admiral.

“Because you have all kinds of security problems—and you don’t have a clue about many of your problems. If I let you in on my missile-building knowledge, then in a year, every major power on this planet will have the ability to win in a first strike. Do you want that?”

He sat back and thought for a second. “No, I don’t. And you’re right. It would leak, and then we’d all be speaking another language.”

“No, Admiral, we wouldn’t exist. Someone else would have to move in after they replanted and rebuilt, but it would not harm the rest of the planet, so what do they have to lose? A terrorist group could sit back and hit every major power and be the only ones left on the planet. I think they’d like that. We, on the other hand, are not the kind of people to use it first. However, others would love to get rid of us ‘immoral Westerners.’ No. I will keep the knowledge to myself. Not even the commander has any idea, and I trust her and this team with my life. No telepath on the planet has the ability to take it from me.” I pointed to my head. “It’s locked up so well that it takes hours for me to access it from my own mind. They could rape my mind until I was just a vegetable and still not get a clue. My shop is shielded, so they can’t get it that way either.”

“And if you die before the job is completed?” asked the president.

I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders.

“Oh God,” said Colleen. “I think our job just became considerably more important. It’s not just protecting the kid we all love so much. Now it’s protecting everyone we love. It’s saving the whole planet.”

I looked at her and said, “It’s not just a job; it’s an adventure, isn’t it?”

Betsy quickly became upset. “No! This is not funny, Freddy. This isn’t a comic book. This is our lives we’re talking about, and I don’t think I’ll sleep again until that thing is blown to bits.”

I looked at her. “I’m going to have to start reading comic books. They sound interesting.”

The president asked, “Freddy, what are you going to do?”

“If I can get the correct help, I fully plan to rip it apart and either disintegrate it entirely or push the rest toward the sun. Then I’ll return here and continue with my other projects.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“With the destroyer I’ve almost finished building, a select crew, and my teammates. The destroyer is very capable of stopping that tiny little rock. After it’s destroyed, I will stay around long enough to get what I need from the rock and then send the large debris, if any, on another path into the sun or someplace where it won’t cause issues. There may be a mess to clean up so no chunks hit the earth.”

The admiral asked, “When can we see this destroyer? What is it?”

“It’s a medium-sized ship about the size of two of your aircraft carriers. It’s built specifically as an escort for other ships that are taking long voyages. I hadn’t planned on building any protection ships until I had some working ships first, but the requirements have changed. You have to be flexible when working on a long-term project.”

“You have a ship that big inside that mountain?”

“Actually, I’m working on a much bigger ship right next to it. It’s my newest toy. A ship big enough to take buildings to the moon and Mars. You can’t build everything out in space or in a hostile environment, you know—far too expensive. I figure that we can build houses, offices, and factories here on platforms. Then we just pick them up and take them wherever we want them.”

The admiral asked, “How many people do you need to run this ‘destroyer’?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it much. I was hoping to finish all the essential stuff, and then bring it out and have people tell me what I missed in the way of comforts and necessities, and then we could find out how many people we need.”

“You were asking about pilots?”

“Yes.” I turned a little red. “I was trying to invent robots to run most of the stuff, but I failed.”

“Freddy! I don’t believe it!” exclaimed Marian. “You failed at something?”

Colleen gave her a dirty look and said to me, “We’re all human, sweetheart.”

I smiled up at Colleen and looked at Marian. “The only reason I failed is because I cannot get the materials I need to build them. Platinum is expensive, and to make them would take me four months. That is far too much time for the current project. Also, I don’t like the idea of building artificial intelligence, and that’s what it would take.”

The admiral cleared his throat. I looked over at him and said, “I’m sorry, Admiral, back to your question. The answer isn’t simple, but I do know that we need twenty pilots to fly the Stingers, six three-person teams with pilots for the six Sting Rays, four eight-person teams for the four shuttles, and about four ten-person teams to run the bridge of the destroyer. Then there’s the engineering section, the medical section, the weapons section, the science areas, the cargo bay and hangar bay crews, a maintenance crew, and communications and personnel support people. I think we could run it effectively with a minimal crew of about three hundred. It needs to be run twenty-four/seven, so that includes three separate crews, with eight hours on and sixteen off. I would really suggest eight to nine hundred people. The reason I say I can’t estimate how many are required is because I’m not an expert on manpower, but the commander is.” I looked over at her and smiled. “I trust her to figure it out or to find someone who can.”

“Thank you, Freddy,” said Susan.

“I know my limitations, Admiral. I don’t run this household; the commander does, because she’s much better at it than I am. I can’t run everything and get anything done on my projects, so she handles everything except the inventing and building, which includes determining the required manpower, getting them here, and training them. I wouldn’t even be going on this trip if I had the time to train people in everything and could trust them as much as I trust the commander. But I can’t, so I have to go. This is going to take more time away from my other projects, but that can’t be helped. I can’t trust others at this time, so I’m taking my bodyguards with me, and I will train them to run things, if it becomes necessary. They can teach others.”