GR2: Kidnapped

Grandpa Ramsbottom 2

Kidnapped

By Ron Crouch

ISBN: 978-1-9995073-6-7

Ron Crouch Copyright 2018

Cover art by Chris Salewski 2018

(Formerly – The Amazing Adventures of Grandpa Ramsbottom – Kidnapped)

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events in the story are either a product of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Dedication

To my granddaughter Ella. Welcome to the universe.

Acknowledgement

With grateful thanks to my friend Darrell LaFrance, Storyteller of the Algonquin First Nation Bear Clan for permission to include the beautiful story of how the bear lost his tail.

Prologue

In GR1 – The Flying Machine, Grandpa Ramsbottom, his ten-year old grandson Timothy and their beagle dog Max are on vacation, backpacking through Algonquin Provincial Park, a huge wilderness area in northern Ontario, Canada. Prior to their arrival in the park, they climb aboard a capsule built and designed by Timothy and his grandfather with the intention of catapulting themselves across the Atlantic Ocean all the way from England to Canada.

Grandpa Ramsbottom, a world-renowned scientist, specializing in nanotechnology, receives a high-level emergency signal on his wristwatch. They immediately rush to higher ground to meet the Black Hawk helicopter gunship with its team of Special Forces soldiers aboard. Within minutes they are whisked away to begin a new adventure.

Chapter One

Betrayal

The helicopter banked hard left and began to rise rapidly above the tree tops, its powerful rotors making that distinctive, wup, wup, wup sound as the chopper climbed quickly skywards. Grandpa Ramsbottom stared in disbelief at the sheet of classified paper clutched in his hands. He couldn’t believe what he was reading:

TOP SECRET: A mad computer genius in a far off land has finally made the most powerful computer-hacking system in the world. He has the ability to take over control of the Internet and the potential to control all electronic gadgetry. Anything operating with the use of an inbuilt computer chip: satellites, rockets, aircraft, ships, submarines, vehicles, cell phones, tablets etc; could be affected.

Timothy was still looking out of the open doorway in the side of the helicopter, admiring the view of endless trees and lakes growing smaller and smaller below him. A sense of real excitement began building up inside him as he wondered what this new adventure was going to be and when it was going to start. Little did he know it had already begun.

It wasn’t until Max, Timothy’s beagle, began growling that Grandpa Ramsbottom and Timothy turned their attention towards the dog, surprised by the dog’s behaviour. When they looked up they were shocked to see one of the special operations soldiers pointing a pistol directly at Grandpa Ramsbottom’s head. The man holding the pistol remained silent, the weapon steady in his hand. There was no doubt in Grandpa Ramsbottom’s mind, the man was a professional and knew how to use it. The other soldier pulled off the balaclava he was wearing, revealing his bald head.

Standbridge! shouted Grandpa Ramsbottom in surprise. What the heck is going on? I thought you were supposed to be in London working on the Middle East problem.

Let’s just say I’ve taken a leave of absence shall we Ramsbottom. His cold, mean eyes stared down at Grandpa Ramsbottom without a trace of kindness. I’ve decided to go into something far more financially rewarding than international security.

What do you want Standbridge? I always knew you were dirty. Speak up man and let’s get this over with, you’re cutting into my vacation time with my grandson.

The vacation is over Ramsbottom. Glad to see you want to get to the point and not waste any more time. That story about the mad computer genius armed with the most powerful computer-hacking system in the world, I made it up. I’ve got far worse in store I assure you. And that’s where you come in Ramsbottom. You are going to help me become the most powerful man on earth and the richest. Of course I’ll see to it afterwards that you get what you deserve, sneered Standbridge.

The only accolade you’ll ever get Standbridge, is being the first person to turn against the Society, and you’ll get that posthumously, bellowed Grandpa Ramsbottom, his temper rising.

Standbridge smiled wickedly. My body is failing me Ramsbottom, but my brain remains in excellent condition, as you can see, he chuckled. You are going to transplant my brain into a new body. I haven’t decided which one yet, but my selection has been narrowed down to three. Grandpa Ramsbottom stared back in complete surprise. Don’t look so shocked Ramsbottom, I know all about the top secret work you’ve been involved in.

Your information is out of date, the experiments are still in their infancy. It can’t be done and even if it could, I wouldn’t do it, especially for you, exclaimed Grandpa Ramsbottom.

Oh, I think you will Ramsbottom. It would be such a shame if anything happened to little Timothy here, wouldn’t it. Such a sweet, innocent boy too. You must be very proud of your grandson.

Grandpa Ramsbottom was weighing up his options. Losing his temper was only going to make him lose focus, something he couldn’t afford to do and at the moment his options weren’t looking very promising. Standbridge had become a traitor and had to be stopped. In his own right, Standbridge was a brilliant man, a genius in fact. Grandpa Ramsbottom always felt there was something evil about the man and never trusted him. He mentioned his suspicions to management, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Standbridge’s knowledge of military weapons was unequalled. He had been developing inter-galactic missiles, just in case the earth was ever invaded by aliens, particularly the green variety. It was suspected that much of the research money he received as a government grant, he funnelled into his own private off-shore bank account.

The two men stared at each other, all the time the helicopter climbed higher into the sky. Without knowing why he did it, Timothy cinched the belt strap of his backpack even tighter. Like his grandfather, he was waiting for an opportunity to present itself. This was definitely not the kind of adventure he had in mind and wished they were back aboard their capsule. Max continued to growl menacingly at Standbridge.

Well, we won’t be needing that mongrel on board anymore, his barking is really annoying me! Standbridge grabbed Max by the collar and tossed him straight out of the helicopter.

N-o-o-o-o! screamed Timothy, launching himself out through the open door and into thin air.

Ahhhhh! screamed Grandpa Ramsbottom, springing to his feet, full of rage and fury and now hate. He charged at Standbridge, hoping to launch him out of the helicopter as well. He didn’t reckon on being hit by a Taser, fired by the co-pilot and collapsed instantly to the floor of the helicopter, convulsing in spasms as the electrical energy coursed through his body, immobilizing his muscles. The men quickly bound his feet and hands together and then tied him to the metal bulkhead, placing a piece of duct tape across his mouth. Standbridge had grown tired of being called a succession of very rude names by Grandpa Ramsbottom as well as being told by the old man what he was going to do to him when he got free.

Darn it! We’ve lost the boy. Never mind, we’ll find another way to persuade Grandpa Ramsbottom to help us. Head back to base, full speed, shouted a very annoyed Standbridge.

Chapter Two

Alone in the Wilderness

Newton’s Law of Gravity states that two objects of different weight, released at the same height will hit the ground at the same time. This is true in a vacuum, but not strictly true near the surface of the earth, where other forces come into play. For instance, if you dropped a large and very heavy ball bearing out of your bedroom window on the second floor at