Earth Ship Protectress: Book Two in the Freddy Anderson Chronicles Read Free Page A

lieutenant commander, but protocol, in less than formal circumstances, prescribed that I could call her “Commander” and leave off the “lieutenant” part.
    “What’s up, Freddy? You were only in there for one day.”
    “Susan, did you know it’s almost Christmas?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “Do we have a tree and decorations?”
    “No, we don’t.”
    “What fun is that? How are you keeping morale up?”
    “It’s not much fun, and, actually, morale is a problem that worries me.”
    “Don’t you believe in God and Jesus?”
    “Yes, I do, and so does the rest of the team, each in his or her own way.”
    “Well, then, we have some planning to do—a tree to buy, decorations, shopping for presents, special foods, and a party to plan. Are we having a New Year’s Eve party too?”
    “I wasn’t sure you’d go for something like that.”
    I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up at her. “Commander James, how are you going to keep the troops happy if we don’t celebrate sometimes? Birthdays, Christmas, and New Year’s are the perfect excuses to have some good fun, invite the families, or go see families, and watch movies like Miracle on 34 th Street . That’s one of my favorites. We need to watch friends open presents, bob for apples, make snow angels, string popcorn. There are so many things that we need to do! This isn’t a wish or something I just want to do. This is much more important. This is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ!” I put my hands on my hips and said, “I love Jesus and want to celebrate his birth, so are you going to help or not?”
    She smiled really big. “I would be glad to help, but my orders are to keep you working as much as possible.”
    “Bah, humbug! I’m going to party. Are you with me?”
    “You bet!”
    “Good, but don’t tell anyone yet. Let’s get cleaned up, have something to eat, and then during dinner, I’ll broach the subject with the others. I’ll bet we pull everyone into the fun.”
    She smiled. “They’re worried that because you’re a scientist, you don’t believe in God, so you wouldn’t do anything for Christmas. This will be a big help, Freddy.”
    “Didn’t Colleen tell them what my beliefs are?”
    “No. Why? Does she know?”
    “Yes, she does, but I asked her to keep it to herself, and she did. I like that I can trust her.”
    “You can trust all of us, Freddy.”
    “It’s good to know that, because just after the holidays I may need your help in the shop. I need to test some things.” I could feel her genuine relief, like drinking from a cool spring on a hot day. I turned back toward the house and secretly smiled.
    During dinner I assessed the emotions around the table. Almost to a person, the morale was low. Everyone wanted to address the thought that Christmas was coming soon, but no one said anything. Sometimes orders can be taken a little too literally, and that can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances. I thought about a good way to start the conversation.
    “I have a question.”
    Katie took the bait and asked, “What would that be, Freddy?”
    “Why don’t we have a Christmas tree?”
    That opened up the floodgates, and everything escalated from there. Plans were immediately made for getting a tree, decorations, shopping, bringing in loved ones, sending out gifts to their families, and a special dinner with all the trimmings. A New Year’s party was part of the plan, along with, of all things, a Super Bowl party. That was a tradition I’d never had.
    Everyone volunteered to handle different parts of the plan, and the commander assigned teams for the big stuff. The master chief was really happy that we were going to celebrate, but she reminded everyone that watches and protection were not to be compromised.
    I said to all that the watch on duty for Christmas and the one on New Year’s would be specially compensated. “The commander will decide what the compensation will be, and I will pay for it.” I turned to