Read Online Earth Ship Protectress: Book Two in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles by John Ricks - Free Book Online Page B

with standard trailers. I can easily interchange the trailers. The reason for the two long wings going down both sides of the truck—or in this case, the shuttle—is that at the end of each wing is a small tractor beam to hold the cargo in place and take some of the weight off the connection. That way, I can use a long trailer without having the end weight pull the truck apart. So to answer your question, these two shuttles can carry anything that we can attach to the rear docking connection and that will fit between the two wings. Once in space, you could connect multiples. So this request to have my connection changed to a standard connection is not needed. If I need to dock with the space station, then I would simply ensure that the trailer has that type of connection on the other end. The connections that you use for the space station are not strong enough for my purposes. I can entertain changing them if the need arises but not on these two; the material I used to form them will not permit changes.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The material is new, something that I still need to patent, so I won’t go into detail, but you cannot cut, drill, scrape, scratch, or mar that hull, not with a laser, a diamond drill, or even other equipment I have that we won’t talk about yet. I can dissolve the hull under certain precise conditions and reuse the material, but that would mean scrapping the entire hull. The hull was formed around the connection, so removing it would be impossible at this time. I could try to change the molecular structure by … ”
    I got up and walked off, talking to myself. I was thinking about ways to change out the connections when the commander must have taken my face in both hands and turned me around. Her face was only inches from mine when she yelled, “ Freddy!” This brought me back to my surroundings.
    “Are you with us again?” she asked.
    “Yes. What do you want?”
    “You have a guest, and it’s not polite to drift off right now.” She turned to Dr. Landers. “See what I mean by ‘drifty’?”
    I turned red and went back to sit down.
    Mike said, “Your amount of total concentration could be dangerous in space or on the moon, Freddy.”
    The commander added, “Or here. He has walked off the terraces twice, and once he fell into the water. We’ve had to ensure he has someone with him at all times when he’s outside of his shop. I worry a lot about him being in his shop alone.”
    I turned even redder. The master chief came in and said with a laugh, “He’ll break his neck some day and won’t even realize it until someone sees his head flopping around.”
    Everyone laughed except me.
    “Dr. Landers,” I said, “this is Master Chief Jacquelyn Uniceson.”
    “We’ve met, Freddy. After all, I’ve been here for two days.”
    The rest of the team was coming in, and the commander made introductions. She was right; it was a good group.
    “Freddy, this is Captain Mark Twain Williams. He’s the astronaut with all the experience I was telling you about.”
    “Nice to have you visit, Captain.”
    “I’m hoping for more than a visit.”
    I tilted my head, looking concerned.
    The commander asked, “What’s wrong, Freddy?”
    I directed my comments to the NASA captain. “Please understand that I am highly empathic.” I paused for this to sink in. “I cannot help but feel what you’re feeling, so I know that this”—I held both braids and flipped one earring up about an inch to show that I was talking about my choice of adornment, and I squinted my eyes in distaste—“disturbs you very much.”
    “Well, sir, I’m just not used to it.”
    “Be that as it may, please understand that I’m not likely to change. If you wish to remain at my residence or work with me for any length of time, please get used to seeing things that you may not understand or approve. I am open-minded enough to discuss this or any other issue with you, but I cannot and will not put up with someone