Earth Ship Protectress: Book Two in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles (25 page)

Chapter 34
Maiden Flight of the Protectress

I
said, “The
Protectress
’s computer is named Gal.”

In a nice second soprano voice, Gal said, “
Good afternoon, Fr
eddy.”

“Good afternoon, Gal. How are you doing?”

“
I have run a class-one diagnostics, and I am working at 100 percent across the b
oard.”

“
Good, Gal. Please inform me if there is any change that will require my attention. As you can see, you now have a crew.”

“
Yes. Good afternoon, President Kabe. It’s nice to have you aboard. I will take good care of
you.”

“
Thank you, Gal.”

“
Good afternoon, Fleet Admiral Pinn. Welcome ab
oard.”

“
Hello, Gal. It’s nice to be here.”

“
Hi, Captain Rex. Nice to see you a
gain.”

“
Nice to be on board at last.”

“Gal, as set up before, I am turning over control to Captain Rex. Please give him all the information and control he needs to run the
Protect
ress
.”

“
Control exchange completed. Orders, Cap
tain?”

“
Gal, I know you can probably do this better than we can, and please keep training the crew, but I want the crew to have hands-on practice running your systems, so please give over control to the people on this list as stated.” He held up a crystal and put it in the slot in his chair-side console.

“
Information downloaded, and personnel recognized and confirmed in posi
tion.”

“
Gal, warn us if we’re making any mistakes in navigation or protocol.”

“
Confi
rmed.”

“
Good. Engineering?”

Over the speakers, we heard, “On line, Captain.”

“Power her up.”

“Coming up to full power in five, four, three, two
…
at full power, Captain. Everything’s green.”

“Navigator, take us out into the open.”

“Aye-aye, Captain. Shop, please open the bay doors.”

“
Bay doors op
ened.”

“
Science confirms the bay doors are open, Captain.”

“Navigation, shields up.”

“Shields up and working.”

“Captain, scans show eight ships waiting to accompany us.”

“Understood.”

I placed my ball next to me at just above head level. It floated there on its own power. I drifted off for a while, thinking of several improvements I could make.

“Take us out, Navigator.”

“Antigravity on. Bringing her up two feet and leveling off. Gal, report please.”

“
All systems normal. No abnormal structural stre
sses.”

I broke in. “Gal, please send all reports to my console. I would like to analyze them.”

“
Compliance, Fr
eddy.”

I studied the readouts while the rest of the crew flew the ship. Science was watching the reports too, but they had other jobs to do, and I wanted the reports closely watched. I hoped that there would be no major mistakes.

“Bring her up to forty feet and turn her over.”

We could watch what was happening on the screen, and we raised up and did a 360. The camera crew was astonished, saying things like, “I felt nothing, not even in my stomach,” and “The gravity stayed the same. This is amazing.” Susan told them to hold it down.

“
Maneuver compl
eted.”

“
Forward antigravity engaged at twenty feet per minute.”

We were moving forward slowly but still forward. One of the reporters asked the president, “Why are we moving so slowly?”

She whispered to him, “They’re testing out the controls and getting a feel for her. In addition, since she’s never been flown, they’re checking her out. Everything must work and work correctly before she can be used for FTL flight. Testing a new ship is probably more dangerous than anything you could ever imagine.”

I interjected, “Wanna bet?”

She frowned at me and continued. “Any one thing goes wrong, and this whole ship could smash us all to pulp.”

The reporter nervously asked, “Has Freddy been putting his life on the line like this a lot?”

“Every hour of every day. Gal, please contact Shop.”

“
Compl
eted.”

“
Shop?”

“
Yes, Madam Presi
dent.”

“
How many times has Freddy come close to death while working on this project?”

“
Eighteen thousand four hundred five times, not counting what he’s doing
now.”

“
Shop!” I said as a warning.

“My goodness!” exclaimed the reporter.

The president said, “You don’t think this kind of technology comes without risks, do you? Freddy loves people, and he hates to think of people being harmed. He wants to go to the moon and then Mars and build a home in outer space. He figures that he could safely have the first ship built in about five years, but the rock and our peril has been his first priority. He has spent the last few years building this ship, and it came with costs. For instance, no childhood, loss of his first love, continuous heartbreaking work, and nearly killing himself to complete every part of the project.”

“He’s a remarkable boy.”

I broke in and said, “Hey. You’re embarrassing me. Please stop. Besides, God helped.”

They stared at me for a minute, and then one reporter asked, “You talk to God?”

“No, I pray to God for guidance, and I get some remarkable ideas. I’m content with getting inspiration.”

They both relaxed a little.

“He has strong faith, as you can see,” said the president. She turned to the screen and said, “Time to watch.” We were just leaving the home base and going up through the shields.

“Home base cleared. We have confirmation and clearance to proceed, Captain.”

“How are you feeling, Gal?”

“
Fine, Captain. No issues except a crack in a weld in section 3.1
.2.5.”

I said, “That would be forward section, level one, at point two, and five feet in from starboard. Captain, please hold while I check that out.”

“Holding, Freddy.”

Patricia and I left the quarterdeck and headed forward and down to level one. On the way, she asked, “What’s the deal with the ball?”

“Tell no one, but it’s the answer.” She didn’t ask any more, but I could tell she now was really curious.

When we reached the forward deck, Gal led us to the issue. Sure enough, one of the welds on the forward laser cannon was weak and cracked. “Okay, Patricia. You know the drill. This is only the first.” She smiled, and we worked together using a tractor beam to pull the cannon back into place and then using a die-breaker to remove and remake the seam completely. When we were finished, we scanned it to ensure its completeness. Everything was good to go, and Gal reported that to the bridge. When we returned, they were already at twenty-five miles straight up and getting ready to test the impulse engines. We took our seats. I checked the ship’s systems, and I checked the ball. Everything was green.

“Gal,” said Captain Rex, “status, please.”

“
All is working at optimum, Cap
tain.”

“
Navigator, plot a course that will take us out of this solar system with no obstacles.”

“Scanning. Plotting. Laid in, Captain.”

“Start at one hundred miles per hour. Engage.”

The screen showed forward, aft, and eight other positions. We could clearly see Earth, and at this range, we could hardly tell we were moving.

“Scan reports one hundred miles per hour, Captain.”

Captain Rex said, “Didn’t feel a thing. Navigator, go to five hundred miles per hour. Engage.”

“Scan reports five hundred miles per hour, Captain.”

“Navigator, one-quarter impulse. Engage.”

“
Structural shift in sections 2.2.6 through 2
.2.9.”

“
Captain,” I said, “please hold at one-quarter impulse while I check this out.”

“Will do, Freddy.”

“Gal, show reports of structures surrounding sections 2.2.5 through 2.2.10.” The reports came up on the screen. There was no damage. “Good. Now give me a report on the balance of the dampeners and gravity-field calibrations, both before and after the last change in speed.”

Two lists came up on the board. A lot of adjustments were out of place on the first section labeled “before” but only two in red on the one labeled “after.” I smiled. My automatic adjustments were working. The ship had corrected over eight hundred minor adjustments. Two were out of adjustment too far to be automatically corrected.

I left the quarterdeck with Patricia, saying, “This will only take a minute
…
”
By the time I made it to Engineering, though, Ensign Jason Tam had already completed the adjustments. Patricia was ecstatic that her friend, a brilliant engineer from MIT, had been remotely watching my console and saw the problems I saw and adjusted them out. As we headed back to the bridge. I gave her a pat on the back for her good choice of personnel.

“Captain, please cut speed to five hundred miles per hour or less, and then increase to one-quarter impulse again.”

“Navigator, engage.”

“Scan shows five hundred miles per hour. Scan now shows one-quarter impulse at twenty-five million miles per hour.”

The captain said, “I didn’t feel a thing, Freddy. Good job!”

“Not me, Captain. Ensign Tam had it adjusted before we got there. He’s a good man. Patricia and I may steal him from you if you’re not careful.”

He smiled and mumbled, “Over my dead body. Navigator, one-half impulse. Engage.”

One of the reporters asked, “Freddy, what would have happened if we had tried to go faster before realizing that things were out of adjustment?”

I answered with a smile and said as politely as I could, “The
things
, ma’am, were gravity-field balancing units. If we had tried warp speed with them out of balance, then you would be asking this question of God. Going from any speed into warp speed is about the most dangerous thing you will ever experience. Any one of a million little things can go wrong and leave you like mush on the wall. I really should show everyone my experiments with fruit. It’s a good way to make applesauce.”

The president said, “Freddy, don’t be morbid.” She took over the conversation, saying, “Actually, he’s telling the truth. It is extremely dangerous, but then, so was sailing to the New World. Let’s look at facts. If you count all the small ships, this is the fortieth ship Freddy has put up so far, and not one has been less than perfect.”

“Navigator,” said the captain, “full impulse. Engage.”

“Scan shows full impulse at 382.5 million miles per hour, Captain.”

“Captain,” said Communications. “
America’s Pride
confirms 382.5.”

“Very well. Log it in.” He turned to me and said, “Slightly bigger, Freddy. That’s a good hundred million faster than any other ship in the fleet.”

I blushed and shrugged. “There’s a lot more room on this ship, Captain. Therefore, I gave you some slightly oversized engines.”

“Okay, Freddy. Any surprises with the FTL drive?”

“Oh yes. Just wait and see. You’re going to like this.”

He turned back around. “Here we go, folks. Navigator, give me warp one. Engage.”

My stomach felt like it was going to turn inside out, and then everything settled. Ball looked upset too, so I picked it out of the air and whispered to it that everything was okay. It calmed down. The president saw me talking to the ball, so I asked her to hold it for me. “It gets nervous,” I explained.

She smiled and said, “Gladly.” She took the ball and started tossing it up about a foot and catching it.

I immediately turned to my console and started working on the problem. Nothing was wrong. There was no problem with the ship. “Gal, play back a scan of the navigational controls during that last move, include heading, expected position, and actual position.” It came up on my screen. I studied it for a good minute before I saw the problem. “Captain, all stop, please.”

“Navigator, engage.” We came to a dead stop.

“Captain Rex, this is
America’s D
ream
.”

The captain said, “Put them on screen, Lieutenant Williams.”

I waved hello to Lieutenant Morgan, as she was commanding
America’s D
ream
.

“Hi, Freddy. Captain Rex, that was a unique maneuver. Spinning faster than the speed of light. Add a little soap and water, and you’d be squeaky clean.”

I went to the navigation station with Patricia and started pulling off a panel. Patricia asked, “What did you find, Freddy?”

“The navigational controls are off by nearly one-half of a percent on the Z-axis and over two percent on the Y-axis.”