Freddy Anderson’s Home: Book 1 (24 page)

“No one was seriously injured,” said Dr. Karen Jenson. “In fact, the news people let me know that they were all treated very nicely after they started cooperating. They were given plenty of rest periods, food, and water. The man who was knocked to the ground was very apologetic for attacking the ensign and was glad that she had only knocked him out. The man the ensign shot sustained only a flesh wound. These people attacked trained killers—navy SEALs, the best of the best. It’s good for everyone that Dr. Anderson does not wish to see anyone harmed, and his orders were to not use any more force than absolutely necessary. These young women were very capable of killing them all; that they held back is more than I would have done. The ensign has bruises on her breast that will take months to heal and could lead to cancer. If I were her, I’d press charges. You people are pathetic. I would suggest you don’t trespass on any of our properties. We’re just looking for an excuse to shoot you ourselves, and we don’t shoot as straight as the ensign does.”

The lieutenant said, “I love that woman.”

The reporter went on to say that the local court was just as hostile toward the media but that it had no authority in the matter, because Dr. Anderson’s home was private land that was controlled by the federal government. The local judge had said earlier that he wanted to ask the governor if he could reinstate hanging as capital punishment.

The federal judge in Sacramento had no comment, but a US attorney stated that he would prosecute all of the trespassers to the fullest extent of the law if Dr. Anderson requested it. He stated that it was apparent that the media was trespassing on Dr. Anderson’s land, which was forbidden due to national security issues, and they had used violence against a legal and authorized authority. Their crimes could put them away for a long time, and after viewing the TV broadcast, he would have to say that it was an open and shut case.

The news story was repeated all night long.

“Why is the media not following the laws and doing what the military and politicians are requesting? They should all be shot.”

Everything went black, but this time I let it.

Blue answered, “This species gives the report groups full rights to do as they want.”

Gray exclaimed, “That’s insane!”

Green smiled. “For once I agree with you.”

Blue said, “Continue.”

Chapter 41
Making War on the Media

W
hen we finally reached the ocean on the morning of our fifth day, there was no media to be seen, just two helicopters that Colleen called “gunboats.” They were painted dark gray and had wings that were loaded with all kinds of weapons. I couldn’t help but think it was a bad design. It had to cut down on maneuverability and left the weapons out in the open and unprotected. It looked heavy and probably could not travel fast.

I went back to work. I was trying to figure out a way to house the SEAL detachment. Around eleven in the morning, I made a call to the contractor we had left five days ago. I asked him how long it would take to design eight huts that were fully enclosed, just like my house. We talked about what they needed, and he told me he’d have a design ready in a couple of days. With that taken care of, I started working on finishing the plans for the new ship.

About noon I received a call from my lawyers that a federal judge had signed a restraining order, stating the media had to stay five miles away from my home and that any breach of that five-mile limit would constitute a violation of my rights and a be considered a national security issue. The judge ordered the coast guard to enforce the removal of media vessels from the surrounding waters. He also said that the ensign should be given a commendation for her actions. It played right into our hands and placed public sympathy on our side. The lawyers also said that the media had sent threats, which the lawyers had published.

“Freddy, we want to use some of your information now. Putting some of the media’s dealings in the limelight would send a message to the rest of them that this is a war they can’t win, and it will take some pressure off you by making you old news.”

I looked at the lieutenant, and she said, “Do it. Use all of it.”

“Great. We’ll get moving on it. Thanks.”

As soon as they hung up, the lieutenant called the White House and soon was talking to the president. “I’d like the media to see that the FBI and others are watching and looking into their dealings,” Lt. James said. “I want all possible pressure brought to bear, everything all at once. The point is, we want them to be afraid of touching Freddy in any way without permission.”

“Consider it done, Commander,” said the president.

When they hung up, I asked the lieutenant, “Aren’t we going just a little overboard?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Freddy. If you want them to stay away for good, then we need to make them aware that this is war. We make it very costly to them to upset you. When they realize they can’t beat us, then they may back off. If they do that, then we have a chance to control the situation; otherwise, it’ll be in the tabloids constantly.”

“Very well, Lieutenant.”

“I’m starting to like this Red better.”

Everything went black.

Blue asked, “And why would a Gray like a Red?”

“This Red actually listens to the Gray and does what she says. He also looks up to her as if she were smarter than he is. No Green or Red I have ever met looked to a Gray for information.”

Green said, “None of our Grays are that intelli—”

A Gray tentacle with some kind of weapon pointed at the Green, and Blue quickly took it away from the Gray. Blue said, “Green, you go too far. Be careful. Continue.”

Chapter 42
Home

W
e continued up the coast, well out of sight of land. At the appropriate point, we moved inward toward where the scanners showed my home site. We passed over a coast guard cutter, and the captain gave us a call. I pulled out several items and mounted them on the porch to enable me to see better. I was just outside the flight office, and the window was open so that I could communicate with the lieutenant. The ensign was on a portable communicator, talking directly to the lieutenant from home base.

As we pulled up to my home site, I had the lieutenant stop just short of the shield. We scanned the area; everything was “green light” to let the shield down. I communicated with the computer and had it lower the shields. As soon as the shields were dropped, we moved in and settled over the indentation I had made for the house. It had leaves and other debris in it—I hadn’t anticipated that. I used my own telekinesis to levitate down to the surface and after shaking hands with the ensign, I took care of the first priority. I went right to the tent and healed Maggie’s broken leg. As we walked out together, I told her to be careful on that leg for the next week. “Give the bone time to harden some, and then you can use it normally.”

The lieutenant and the master chief noted how quickly I tossed all other things out of my mind to help Maggie. The master chief said, “Note, Lieutenant, that he needed no help dropping down over forty feet to the ground. He knew exactly where Maggie was and went directly to her before worrying about this multimillion-dollar house that he painstakingly planned out and had built. I wonder just how much of that was his empathic abilities and how much was just plain old-fashioned concern for a friend.”

“I’ll bet he cares much more for Maggie and any of the rest of us than all the money or inventions he has.”

“No bet, Lieutenant. I think you’re right.”

I walked around with Maggie, watching to be sure that she wasn’t in pain and that I had healed her leg correctly. Then it hit me that I had a house hovering and people waiting. I looked up and said, “Sorry, I’ll be right there. Have to go Maggie. Take it easy.”

“Thanks, Freddy. I will.”

I took the tractor beam gun over to the hole. I put it on wide beam, very low power, and raised everything in the hole up and moved it out. It was autumn, and winter was coming fast. There were a lot of leaves. Then, to the lieutenant’s horror, I jumped down into the hole under the house and checked for any other problems.

“Freddy, what are you doing? Get out of there now!”

“Lieutenant, I need to clean the hole before I set the house into it. Also, I need to set up the connections. If they’re not clean, then we could leak, and that would be a bad thing.”

Dirt had gotten into the quick connects for the water and the main power. I had a bag over the special power source, and it came off with the leaves. The big black disk did not miss the lieutenant’s attention.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Backup power, enough to run everything for two years if someone cuts off my main power. Lieutenant, please drop down my pocket scanner.” I levitated out of the hole. She dropped the scanner down to my hand, and I said, “Okay, ready.” I set the scanner for matching the hole to the base of the house, and it was a perfect match.
So far, so good
. Now I had to orient the house so that it would drop directly down on the connectors and automatically hook itself up. I was using a new material that I had developed for both connectors that was totally impervious to weather. “Ensign, please stand back and tell the lieutenant to let go of the controls.” I levitated up and turned on my other equipment. Four lasers shot down, looking for their match. I moved the house over the holes until I got the first one to match up and locked it in. Then I simply told the computer to match up the rest. The computer took over and moved slowly until all at once, all four lasers’ green lights lit up. I then used the scanner to ensure that I had good alignment. It was within one two-thousandths of an inch. I told the computer to lower until it connected. The house started dropping slowly down. Just at the point where the porch touched the ground, I heard several connectors lock into place, and the green lights for all of them came on. The house was finally in place, so I turned the equipment off.

I went inside and disconnected the flying equipment and then went to the operator’s room, which had been inspected very closely by the SEALs beforehand. From there, I powered up the house, turned on the water and the continuous-loop water heating system. I also turned on the climate control and set the computer for protection and continuous monitoring. Next, I connected this computer into the existing temporary computer and set the controls for setup.

“Everyone here, Lieutenant?”

“No, we have two girls watching the town.”

“Computer on.”

“Welcome, Freddy. I see you are not alone. Please enter the proper code w
ords.”

I said the correct words and the computer said,
“Accepted. Continue with s
etup?”

“Yes. Please scan all personnel and show them on the screen, one at a time.”

I had previously trained the computer and set it up so that it recognized each member of the SEAL team. I had it scan the town, find the two there, and add them. I then set security levels.

I gave the lieutenant a level 1-B and told her that she could set the levels for the rest of her people. I showed her how to do that and what the other levels meant.

“Freddy, what is level 1-A? It’s a menu choice on the screen that’s blanked out for me.”

“That’s the owner’s security level. Don’t worry; if you don’t have access to something, the computer will let you know. Level 1-B gives you ‘near owner’ access. The differences are very minor.” I left it at that. “Computer?”

“Yes?”

“Lt. Susan James needs to spend time learning your software, and then she needs to learn the abilities that I built into you. She will need to train all her people also. Please bring up a list of all the things that the lieutenant will need to know, according to her access level.” A long list appeared on the screen. “Make the list into a check-off table, and do the same for each person who is given access to you. Keep this list as a training matrix for everyone to access but that only you and the lieutenant can change. As each person completes a level of training, please check the person off on the list so that we can see who is qualified to do what. Understood?”

“Understood
 
… Working
 
… Compl
eted.”

The list changed to an Excel file that had check-offs.

“It’s all yours, Lieutenant. Have fun! Computer, please restore the shield to full operation and warn us if any human approaches within two miles.”

“Compli
ance.”

“If you need any help, Lieutenant, I’ll be checking the working functions of the rest of the house. I need to run the water for a few hours to clean out the system. We already know that the electricity works, and the inside water is fine, but the pipes leading to the house have had water sitting in them for weeks, so they need bleeding. I also need to set the anchors—little things that can really bite us if we forget.”

“Very well, Freddy. Petty Officer Donet, please go with Freddy and learn all you can. Petty Officer Parks, you’re with me.”

I looked at Maggie Parks. “Computer expert?”

“That’s right, Freddy.”

“Please don’t try to break into my computer programming. It’s physically protected. You’ll get a warning if you do. Heed it!” I turned and left for the kitchen, with Betsy Donet right behind me.

Setting the anchors took a long time. The house missed aligning with the anchor holes by about three inches.
Can’t do everything perfect!
I thought.

Betsy thought it was funny and said so. I had to drill new holes and plug the old ones. Then I had to set the locking pins and plug the new hole. Each one took twenty minutes when it should have taken only one or two minutes. I had finished eight of the anchors but had twelve to go. It was getting late, and although I had no problem working until the job was done, Colleen called from the house, saying that dinner was ready and that I was to get myself to the table right away.

Dinner was great, and I felt sleepy afterward, so I told Betsy we could finish the job tomorrow, as I was going to bed early.

The Blue used a tentacle to motion for the Green to stop.

Everything went black for only a second and then became crystal clear.

Blue said, “Well, other than this Oz house from some place called Kansas, this is a first for this species.”

Green said, “It is interesting. Several things to note: the power units that flew the house are more powerful than ours, his use of telekinesis is far greater than our best Yellow, and though he is a pacifist, like most Greens and Reds, he is willing to use his ability for protection.”

Gray said, “I see no conflict in that attitude. Protection from others is the number one reason we developed space travel and hundreds of other technologies.”

Blue said, “True. Continue.”