Freddy is not GASSY

Helicopter Attack!

The president walked with Freddy towards the elevator.

     “This is a big, big deal, Freddy,” the man in black said.  You’re being promoted.”

     Freddy nodded.  He was smart, after all.  I mean, who doesn’t write a whole ton of code that quickly?  But that wasn’t the important thing.  The important thing was, who was this guy?

     The man in black pressed his pinky finger against the elevator door and it opened.  “My name is Mr. Black.  I am president of Gassy.”

     Freddy nodded, again, for the second time.  Mr. Black was talked about a lot.

     They entered the elevator.

     *****

     Johnson was riding his helicopter as fast as possible.  He really wished he could fly right now.  The problem was, he couldn’t.  And that was a shame.  Because this brand new helicopter was hard to steer.  It wavered in and out.  Suddenly he lost all control.

     It started to fly off the horizon, and into the gravel.  Then it picked up again, and into the cement.  It flew all over the place. 

     Johnson held on for dear life.  There wasn’t much he could do to hold on much longer.  He finally fell off.

     The helicopter froze there for a moment.  Johnson got scared.

     *****

     Black smiled as he talked.

     “So,” said Black, “What do you think I’m gonna talk to you about today?”

     “I don’t know.  A promotion, right?”

     “That’s what you think.”

     Freddy was concerned.

     “I’m just joking.  Well, kind of.  It’s the kind of promotion where you get paid the same but you have to work harder.”

     “Okay.  Gotcha.”

     “That’s’ why I’m bringing you here.  But since the work is more challenging,”

     “… it’s gonna be more fun,” said Freddy.

     “That’s true.  But this spaceship, this spaceship, is the real reason why I hired you.  The person who was going to plan it quit early.”

     And he had quit early for a reason.  A good reason, too.

     *****

     EARLIER IN THE DAY:

     Emily was now in jail.  But what the Sheriff didn’t know was that there was a secret passage from the Police Chief’s office to one of the cells, and it was this one.  Emily unlocked the tile flooring trapdoor and jumped inside the hole.  She fell, and then she walked up some stairs to the next floor.

     She opened the trapdoor into the hallway.  It worked.  Then, she snuck through the open door into Johnson’s quarters.

     She turned on the laptop.  There was a password she didn’t know.  Oh well.  But the helicopter driving system, that was not locked down, right?  Her’s wasn’t. 

     So she opened up the lid to the desk and saw a huge touchscreen device.  She started using it, and the next thing you know, she was controlling his helicopter.

     *****

     Freddy walked out of the elevator with Black.

     “So when am I gonna find out about the assignment?”

     “You’re gonna find out soon enough.  Some parts of it are still confidential though, bro.  You’re gonna have to get used to it.”

     Freddy nodded.  Confidential things were always super annoying in the police force, but they existed.

     “Oh, and by the way, Freddy, you have to stop showing up to work late.  I can see it on the left pinky scanner.”

     “I know,” said Freddy.  “Stuff gets in the way.”

     What he didn’t know:  A lot more stuff was about to get in the way tomorrow.

     *****

     The helicopter turned upside down.  It’s blades started chopping towards Johnson.  Johnson ran.

     *****

     Freddy stepped into the office.  He was about to learn what was up with the spaceship he was supposed to design.

     “What’s up with the ship I’m supposed to design?”

     “It’s a ship with a military mission,” said Black.

     “Why am I supposed to build this?  Are we gonna build a ship to meet certain specifications?  Which specifications are we gonna meet?  I need to know how many people will be on the ship, and what kinds of weapons and things they need.  I need to know what’s gonna happen on the ship that’s so confidential, so I can design the ship the way it’s supposed to be designed.”

     There were other things he was going to need to know, but he didn’t remember what they were.  These kinds of things were in the standard spaceship engineering handbook, called THE STANDRARD SPACESHIP ENGINEERING HANDBOOK.

     Black muttered softly to himself.  This was gonna be really hard to explain, that he couldn’t explain IT.   It wasn’t really confidential, but he knew that if he told Freddy about it, he would probably quit.  So he didn’t tell Freddy.

     *****

     The helicopter missed him as Johnson fell on the ground.  He ran.  Towards a telephone pole.  The helicopter charged towards him. 

     The telephone pole blocked the helicopter hitting Johnson.  Johnson knew he couldn’t stay here long.  Suddenly, he was right.  The helicopter started flying up towards the power lines.  Johnson ran. 

     A broken power line swung his way.  IT had electrical sparks coming out of IT.  The power line swung down and barely missed him. 

     The helicopter continued to chase after him.  This was gonna be very discouraging.  He was gonna die, right here.  Suddenly he saw a lake. 

     His pocket sized golf-cart had not been charged last night as he had been put under arrest.  But who knows how much further it would go?

     If he hit the lake, he could stay underwater for the longest time.  The golf cart started driving, but it wasn’t as fast as the helicopter.  The helicopter was catching up, gaining speed.  The helicopter reached him first.  It hit the roof of the golf cart and started grinding it down.  Johnson was scared.  He jumped out of the golf cart and into the lake. 

     The helicopter started grinding down into the lake.  Maybe the body of the helicopter wasn’t waterproof, but the blades were.  So they were cutting in.  Johnson’s heel was nicked by a blade.  He couldn’t hold his breath long enough, and he was too near the surface of the lake to go much deeper.  Finally, he gave up.

     He swam up to the surface of the water and was saved.