Earth Ship Protectress: Book Two in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles (5 page)

“My grandmother and I wish to ask another favor of you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Please, Dr. Anderson, for Christmas we would like a proper burial—in hallowed ground so that we can finally rest.”

I must have turned white as a sheet because the commander took my right arm, and the mayor took my left. I never took my eyes off the women. Devin whispered to me, “This is the great-great-great-grandmother of Captain Crain. She has been haunting this town as long as people can remember. Find out where their bodies are.”

I asked, “Mrs. Crain, can you show me where your bodies are so that we can fulfill your wish?”

She raised her hand as if to motion me to follow and started to slowly walk outside. I moved down to her side. I could feel her touch, but it was not solid so I could not help her along. We talked about many things regarding the Crain family, and I noticed that Devin was taking notes on everything I repeated. As we walked, she told me about her father, who was also slightly telepathic. The reason that they had moved out here was to be away from everyone else. She told me that there had been a rockslide while she was out with her granddaughter and that they had been trapped in it. Everyone looked and looked, but they were never found.

As we walked into the woods, she related how others started moving into the area and how her husband had started the town with his own bare hands. She talked about how he’d go fishing and sell dried fish to other towns inland, and that was how he made a living as the first fisherman in the area. She smiled a tiny, tired smile when she told me how Mr. Crain didn’t even like the taste of fish. I listened and related her words. She talked about Mayor Miles’s great-great-grandfather and that he was a deckhand who was as clumsy as they come. “More into trouble than out, but his wife and I were the best of friends. She’s proud of her great-grandchildren, especially Devin; you tell him that.”

We came to a small canyon with berry bushes covering most of the area. It was very much impassable by human standards. She pointed. “We’re right up there, near the middle, right in the V of the gorge. We we’re picking berries when the rocks came down. I think there was a bear up there, and he accidentally shifted some rocks. Tell my children that it was a quick death.” She turned toward me and patted me on the hand. I could barely feel it.

The young girl said, “Forgive Becky; she’s young.”

I said, “I already did.”

She smiled and pointed to my heart. “You’re young too. It will mend.”

I started to cry, and suddenly, they were gone. I looked at Devin and asked, “Do you know this place?”

“Yes.”

“No chance of being unable to find it if we leave tonight and come back in the daylight?”

“No chance.”

“Then let’s go back to the courthouse.”

We walked back in silence. The captain’s wife, Mrs. Crain, was right there with us. I don’t know when she showed up, but I’ll bet it wasn’t long after leaving the town proper.

In the courthouse, I sat down and waited for silence. There was a lot of talk, but none of it was “he’s nuts” or “cuckoo” or anything like that. Several people were in the back, explaining everything to the media. Everyone was concerned only with exhuming the remains and burying them in a proper resting place. Things were yelled back and forth. “That’s a big area, and it could take months, and the rain and snow could stop us long before we get started.”

“Yeah, it’s a big project, but it’s got to be done!” yelled someone else.

“We need to put everything aside and start right now if we expect to have even a small chance of getting it done by Christmas,” said another.

Devin had been filling in Mrs. Crain on exactly what had happened and what they found out. She stood up, and it quickly became very quiet. Mrs. Crain said, “My entire family will be out there tomorrow. The inn is closed until I can fulfill my husband’s ancestors’ request. I’ll take all the help I can get. We’ll need it.”

I put my hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’ll be going back home tonight.” Before she could ask why, I put my hand in hers. “I’ll be back with flyers, scanners, and other equipment I have that can locate and remove Annabelle’s and Pamela’s bodies from that place. The SEALs and I will do this with help from the good Dr. Jenson. She’ll need to identify their bones.” I looked at the doctor, and she nodded her head. “They will not want to be mixed up. You can come or send others as you wish, but it will be dangerous, given the way the rocks are up there, so don’t bring any little ones. Someone needs to stay behind and prepare proper resting places for them, select caskets, and plan a memorial service. The recovery effort will not take long. Commander, what’s the weather report for the next two days?”

“We’re not looking at snow until Saturday.”

“Good. That gives us two days to get them out and one day for the ceremonies. Mrs. Crain, when is the captain due back?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Good. He’ll be able to preside over the ceremonies. I think he needs to be here. You radio him, and let him know. Commander, we have work to do. I want to be back here first thing tomorrow. Let’s go.”

I started to leave, but Mrs. Crain took me in her arms and hugged me, saying, “Thank you.”

She was crying, and I hugged her back. “That’s what friends are for, Mrs. Crain.” She kissed my forehead and let me go.

When we were in the helicopter, I looked at the commander and said, “Now, that was scary.”

She smiled and said, “Yes, it was.” She thought for a second, and then, with an abrupt change of subject, said, “Freddy, the project you’re working on is God’s project, isn’t it?”

I looked at her and said very seriously, “Let’s not go there. I don’t need the president thinking I’m nuts.”

“This is off the books, Freddy. I need to know. I have my reasons.”

I looked at her quizzically and asked, “May I read them?”

She whispered, “Yes.”

I reached up and touched her head, letting her know that the world was coming to an end and that I was trying to stop it. I did not let her know why or how. In exchange, she let me know why this knowledge was important to her. When I let go, I put my arms around her and stayed that way until we were home. She’s Christian, and her love for God and Jesus are very strong, and now she knows why I’m so driven.

All she said was, “You’re not alone, Freddy. I—no,
we
—will help you. We won’t let the human race die. You have my word on that.”

Yellows asked, “Have you reported this pending disaster?”

Everything started to go black, but I fought it and kept a way to see.

Blue answered, “Yes, Truth Taker. However, we believe that the creature has already taken care of the problem. That is why we could not detect the issue.”

“Yes, this is possible. Did you note he can see into the ethereal?”

A wicked look crossed Blue’s face. “Yes, he would be able to see our sovereigns if we allowed him his abilities.”

“Yes, he would. Do not report this to anyone, especially Gray.”

“As you wish, Truth Taker.”

Yellows turned to Green. “Please continue.”

Chapter 7
Digging Up the Dead

T
he next day we took off with all the equipment we would need aboard two new-style flyers. It was hard, trying to fly around on a skid with just six disks for control, so I made two large boat-style flyers like I’d seen in cartoons. The controls were easy, but I tried to make them look a little less “juvenile” this time. Every SEAL except two were with us. Katie was one of the two who stayed behind. Being telepathic, she didn’t want to meet our friendly ghosts.

We reached town at about a quarter after seven in the morning and picked up the mayor. He showed us exactly where the canyon was and watched with interest while we used our scanning equipment.

The media was there in helicopters but stayed away. Susan talked to them and let them know that the pressure from their props could cause an avalanche, and they moved back a little further. They were being very nice. Susan had also shown me several newspapers that morning with photographs of me walking with the dead. The articles told the exact truth of what happened. I was very happy, so I waved and smiled to the media.

There were a lot of bones in the canyon, mostly those of small animals. I set the scanners to look for calcium, and they found quite a bit. It was easy to pick out the twisted forms of two humans. Their bodies were not that far down, and I used the tractor beam on its lowest setting to lift off one layer at a time. We placed the layers gently down the slope, only a few yards away from the dig. I could have sent them miles away, but I did not want to take the chance of tossing out one of the human bones by accident. It took all day to get to the buried bodies, and now it was getting dark. Not everything could be done with my equipment, at least not without causing more rocks to fall. The sides of the dig had to be shored up and braced while I watched to pull people out of harm’s way. Twice we had problems with rocks sliding down, and twice I had to pull people back to the skids. We covered the ground with a tarp, anchored it, and then went home. When we dropped Devin off, I asked him to let the doctor know that we would need her first thing the next morning. We went home, tired and dirty.

The next morning, our prior day’s activity was all over the news. Videos showed the SEAL team using the tractor beam, scanning to find the right spot, and people miraculously moved out of harm’s way. But it was all positive news about the help the navy, with my assistance, was giving the town.

We headed for town very early. The doctor was waiting for us and so was Captain Crain. “Good morning, Freddy,” said Captain Crain as he put his big callused hand out for a shake. “Hope you don’t mind, but when I heard that you were digging up my ancestors, I decided to come along for the ride.”

The commander answered, “Good morning. Glad to have you aboard. Welcome, Dr. Jenson.”

“Call me Karen, please.”

The captain helped Karen board my little flyer, and we headed up into the woods, with the media following.

“Say, Freddy, what do you call this skiff?” the captain asked.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“What did you name her? Seems to me that the boat is built to weather land or water. You put sides on her, so she should float if she’s not too heavy. You have a definite bow bent back to handle the waves, and the stern is nice and wide. I see tie-downs to moor her to the docks on both sides, and I think I see”—he fingered the rails—“what most of us would call a good line to allow her straight movement through the water. When you were coming down, I saw a V hull with a small pad and four strikes. Put a proper motor in her, and she’d make a nice dinghy—a little larger and wider than most, but the lines are right. You’ve got to name a boat or ship, boy. It’s bad luck not to!” He looked at me with a critical eye and a smile on his face that he was trying to hide.

“Interesting idea, sir. I personally never thought of that. Commander, we need a name for our toys. How about you get the team to name them for me? They can paint the name on when we get back.”

The commander said, “Freddy, you need to register them too.”

“That creates a dilemma, Commander. Do I go for a license plate, flying numbers, or a boat registration? I won’t do it through the state, but if the federal government wants me to number them for identification, then it’s not a problem. Can you handle that, Commander?”

“I’ll take care of it, Freddy.”

“Thanks. Doctor, you doing all right?”

“I’m fine, Freddy, but do me a favor. Keep a steady hand, and keep us closer to land.”

Captain Crain laughed. “The doctor gets motion sick, Freddy.”

“Sorry, Doctor. I’ll bring her down. We’re almost there anyway.”

When we reached the site, I used telekinesis to lower all of them to the ground, and they uncovered the dig. The captain looked at all the preparations and bracing and said, “There’s been a lot of hard, dangerous work going on here.”

“We’re trying to make it as safe as possible,” said the commander. “That’s why Freddy is still up in the flyer. He’ll pull us out if there’s a problem. He has the ability and did so several times yesterday. With him up there, it’s very safe. Without him, we’d be weeks just getting here.”

“Just between you and me, why is he working so hard on this?” the captain asked. “Why is your team out here helping him? I know it’s my ancestors and all, and I’m very grateful—the whole darn town is grateful. My ancestors have been haunting this town for ages, and it tends to scare the holy bejesus out of people, but why is he so interested in getting this done? He’s exposing himself and some of his inventions to the media, and I thought he didn’t want to do that.”

The commander looked back up my way. “Captain, if Freddy says he’ll do something, then he will. He is the most tenacious person I have ever known. He told that woman that he would do his best to give them their Christmas wish, and he will. If he had to dig it out all by himself by hand, he would. So if he wants to help dead people today, then today we help dead people. As far as the media goes, everything he is using is patented.”

“You people are not at all what I was led to believe.”

“What’s that, Captain?”

“Trained killers.”

She looked at the captain, and, without any hint of remorse or emotion, said in an even voice, “Yes, we are, Captain. Don’t ever forget it. That would be a very bad mistake.”

He stopped and watched as she went to the doctor and bent down to help her uncover some of the bones.

After several hours, I yelled down, “Hey, Commander. Would it be helpful if we just take this entire section back to town? I could lift the whole section three feet deep and carry it over to town, if that would give the doctor more time.”

The doctor stood up. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

“I just thought of it. Sorry, Doctor!”

Everyone climbed back aboard, and I set the tractor beam for a specific area and gently pulled that area away from the site. When we had gained sufficient altitude, I hit the hillside with a blast of energy, causing a rockslide that filled up the digs.

“Don’t want anyone falling into that hole.”

We took the dig back to town and placed it in the doctor’s backyard. She went to work right away, moving bone fragments into two coffins that had been delivered the day before. Captain Crain stayed with her, and we returned home.

“Purple.”

Everything went black, except I found a way around Yellows’ hold.

“Sire?”

Blue looked thoughtful. “This creature is a mix of everything. He is a great scientist and, therefore, Red. He also contains some Blue—note the helpful and political way he handled the meeting. He has a lot of Purple, in that he does the work. He is a doer. How many Green actually use the things they invent?”

Green thought about that while Yellows answered, “They use their inventions constantly. It is just that many of their inventions are not for scientific research.”

Blue smiled. “Exactly. Most are for getting tasks completed quickly and efficiently. Workers use most of the inventions. This creature uses the inventions himself and does not mind getting a little dirty in the doing.”

Yellows said, “We see your point. It does seem that most of this species are a mix. Few can afford to be otherwise, with their antiquated monetary system.”

Blue continued. “Purple are the most versatile. They work in every place, doing nearly everything, being soldiers, pilots, technicians, builders, and even in this lab, they help out. Without Purple, the elite colors would be lost. This one is an elite Purple.”

Green cringed. “There is no such thing as ‘an elite Purple,’ sire.”

Yellows said, “Not so. This is a new species. They are not tested for position at birth. They blindly find their place in their civilization. What if they all started out Purple and worked their way up to the correct color?”

I said, “It’s kind of that way.”

Yellows quickly clamped down on my thinking.

Green said in revulsion, with a grimace on his face even a mother would hate, “He is learning our language!”

Yellows quieted Green. “As expected.”

Green yelled, “Expected! No other has done so in ten thousand years. In known history!”

Yellows set two tentacles on Green and said, “Calm.” Green became calm and returned to his scientific clear thought.

Green said, “Blindly finding their place in life would be complete chaos. How would they know if they chose the correct color? If left to the individuals, they could get it all wrong. Greed and corruption would make some choose the wrong path. And look at the time that would be lost in not knowing what they should do or be.”

Yellows said, “Perhaps thousands of years ago, we were the same way. We are wasting time, and he is learning through us. Please continue.”