by Arthur Butt
A soft squeak came from the floor and Hank's eyes narrowed. The duckling was back, quaking around his legs. He kicked at it, sending the bot across the room. "But I still have to ditch this place."
Kat walked out of the garage, calmer, and sat next to me, saying nothing. "How's Bev?" I asked to break the silence.
"Oh, she's okay. Worried the doctor will scold her for losing all his bots, silly girl," she replied. "I told her Krumboton didn't mind and she perked right up." She peered anxiously at the closed door and lowered her voice. "Did my dad come out yet?"
"Not a peep," I replied, glancing toward the other room, "which is probably –"
Just then, Doctor Krumboton drifted back in, pulling off surgical gloves and humming a happy tune. He announced, "Mr. Brennan is sleeping – I applied a sedative. Shoulder back in place and arm set. He will be fine."
"Thank goodness," breathed Kat.
"Now I suggest you all try to get some rest," he went on. "You are growing boys and girls and need your sleep." He chuckled to himself and drifted to his workbench. "Besides, I cannot get any work accomplished with you three cluttering up the place."
We walked back to Bev and sacked out. I thought I'd drop right off, as tired as I was, but every time I entered the state between half-awake and half-asleep, I saw my pop strapped to a chair, guards standing over him. I'd bolt awake, my body feeling clammy, and drift off again. This went on all night. I woke in the morning with a headache.
I was the last one up. As I wandered into the lab searching for everyone, Kat, Hank and Mr. Brennan sat at Doc's workbench eating cold cereal. They glanced up when I entered. Doctor Krumboton continued to shovel down his cornflakes.
"The zombie walks!" boomed Mr. Brennan. He wore a neat cast on his right forearm, the color was back in his face, and he acted as his old self. "Maybe now I can have some answers." He pointed at Kat and gave her a sorta frustrated nod. "This one keeps telling me to wait for you."
I scowled at Kat. My head hurt, I felt groggy, and didn't know what to say. Kat knew she was better at this thing than I was. She just didn't want to take the heat alone. I grabbed a coffee cup, stirred in some crystals, and flooded the whole thing with hot water, sugar and powdered creamer.
"Uh, well, it's this way, sir," I stammered as I stirred my coffee, "we kinda snuck up here one night –"
"I thought as much!"
"– and we met Doctor Krumboton –"
"I'm still trying to figure out who he is."
"—and the town was attacked," I finished. I took a sip of my coffee. "The rest you know."
Mr. Brennan appeared ready to explode. "I thought you kids understood you were not supposed to come up here by yourselves. This place is dangerous. Why you could have –" He stopped, his face purple, and exhaled deeply. "Teenagers!"
Kat and Hank were busy examining their cereal bowels. The doctor poked his head up at the mention of his name, confused by the ruckus, and returned to slurping his breakfast, dripping a glob on his chin. Mr. Brennan said to him, "You have been down here since the Greys attacked?"
The doctor glanced up, nodded politely, and wiped his mouth.
"Krumboton," Mr. Brennan repeated the name. "The only Krumboton I recall is a Russian Physicist who defected about twenty years ago. He was accused of –"
The doc picked up a glass of water, stirred some powdered orange juice into it and replied, "Oh, no – must be a different Krumboton. I'm a government employee —always have been." He took a long gulp of juice and returned to his bowl.
"Mr. Brennan, you said they might have my pop captive?" I asked. "Where would they take him for reorientation?"
He rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Black Morgan's main base is way west of here." He waved his hand. "Morgan City it's called. If your dad was not killed, and he wasn't at the prison camp with the rest of us, they would have brought him there." He sighed and said softly, "I know how you feel, Hunter, but there is nothing we can do for him now. He is lost."
I stared straight ahead and said nothing.
Kat reached out a hand and placed it on my forearm. "You'll live with us. We'll rebuild the farmhouse and everything. It'll be okay, you'll see."
I sat and thought about my pop, how he was always there for me, and what he'd do if things were reversed.
"NO!" I slammed my fist on the table and choked out, "He's my pop and I'm gonna find him." Tears ran down my cheeks, but I didn't care.
"Hunter, you will never forget him but –"
I didn't stay to hear more. I stood and walked into Bev's garage. Her hatch was still open. I sat in the opening and thought.
"What's the matter, soldier, lonely?" Bev's voice hovered by my ear.
"No, thinking."
"About what?"
"My pop," I said. Talking to her made me feel better somehow and I wanted to tell someone how I felt without being a baby. "He was taken by Black Morgan, and I want to rescue him. Everyone says it's impossible, I should forget about him, but I can't. He'd move Heaven and Earth if I was captured – I won't leave him to whatever Morgan's planning to do."
"Hey, you're my BFF right? Any pop of yours is a pop of mine," she replied stoutly, "and I won't let anyone take my pop! Let's go. I've wanted to try soda for a long time."
"Soda?" I said, confused. "What soda?"
"Your soda pop, aren't we talking about soft drinks? I've always wanted to taste one. Let's go – I'm ready."
"BEV!" I twisted around and shouted into the cabin, "I'm talking about my father, not some dumb drink!" She was so aggravating. "I want to rescue him."
"Oh – I thought you meant – well, yeah, let's do it, too. Maybe we'll find a soda on the way. I don't see what the problem is."
The more I sat and thought about saving Pop, the more reasonable it appeared. Bev and I would just leave and get him. I didn't need anyone else, and no one was around to tell me I couldn't.
I rushed back into the lab and said to Doctor Krumboton, "May I borrow Bev again, sir?"
He surfaced from his cereal and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Of course, but you have to ask her, remember?"
"It's settled," I said firmly to Kat and Mr. Brennan. "Bev and I will head west and find Pop."
"I'm leaving with you, then." Kat leaned over to me said, "You helped me rescue my dad; I'll help you find your pop."
"Now wait a minute, young lady," Mr. Brennan shouted. He rose from his chair and shook a finger at her. "I may not be able to stop Hunter, but I can certainly forbid you from running off on a suicide mission and getting yourself killed. You stay here!" He slammed his cereal spoon down for emphasis.
Kat swung to face her father. I've seen Kat become angry, but this time her face clouded up and she slammed her spoon down also. "I'm going, and you can't stop me!" she yelled back. "You can't watch me every minute of the day. If I have to, I'll sneak off and follow him!"
Mr. Brennan's face mirrored his shock. Before he could reply, Kat softened her tone and said, "Don't you see, Dad, I've got to do this – for Hunter, for us. If people don't start sticking together, the skels, scavengers, and Morgan have won, and Hunter is my friend, maybe more. I won't let him down."
I stared at her with amazement. What did she mean "maybe more?" We were friends, always had been, always would be.
Mr. Brennan's face burnt red, but you could tell he was thinking about what Kat said, because he drummed his fingers. At last, he exclaimed, "Okay, but I am going with you. End of argument."
Kat shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, but do you think it's a good idea?" She pointed to his arm. "You're kind of banged up, you might be more of a hindrance than a help."
"Kathleen," Mr. Brennan said quietly. "If you think I will allow you go running around the countryside with some boy in a crazy machine, you are sadly mistaken."
I bit back a remark about how she'd been running around with a boy for the last week, and the boy and crazy machine saved him, but I kept my mouth shut.
During this conversation, Hank was str
angely silent, his eyes bugging out of his head, face chalky white. I followed his gaze, which locked on Doctor Krumboton's white skull. Two botic snakes had crawled up on top of the doc and curled around each other into a double halo. They stared across the table at Hank, their forked tongues flashing in and out reminding me of little flames.
"Hank? Hank! Are you coming with us?"
His eyes flickered to me. "I don't think so. If you don't mind, I'll stay in Paradise Cove and try to help out." His eyes drifted back to Doc's head in fascinated horror.
"It's okay," I assured him. I was being polite anyway, and didn't want him along, but I figured I'd ask. The way he was acting, he wouldn't be much help. I'd never realized he was the nervous type.
I began plotting in my mind what we'd need. I didn't have a clue. "Doctor Krumboton? Do you have anything such as guns or bombs we could borrow?"
Doc had listened with polite interest to our discussion, his eyes darting from face to face as we argued.
"Weapons?" His eyebrows rose in surprise. He reached up, took the two snakes off his head, and cuddled both in his lap. "Heaven's no! What would I do with weapons?"
"Well, you made Bev. I thought –"
"Oh, her." He laughed. "Yes, as you probably know by now, she is fully equipped. I thought you meant sitting around in my shop."
"She has lasers," Kat said, puzzled, "and machine guns, but we didn't see –"
"Did you ask?" the doctor countered. "If you do not ask, you will never know." He nodded to himself as if he'd settled some point and picked up the snakes. "We always follow this rule," he cooed to the two serpents. "Ask and it shall be given."
The snakes stared back and bobbed their heads.
Mr. Brennan asked, "What other weapons? I don't recall any turrets onboard."
"Oh, the usual kind," replied Doctor Krumboton with a flick of his hand. "Long range Tasers, high intensity lasers, rockets, artillery – those things. All the standard military gear, but you cannot see anything on the outside," he added proudly, "I designed her to be inconspicuous." He appeared smug. "I was a pacifist, you know, I did not believe in fighting when I built Bev. Besides, the government never included inventing new weapons in my job classification. They hired me for surveillance equipment and a battle evasive vehicle."
Kat was beaming. I said, "We'd better hurry if we're tracking down Pop. Doctor Krumboton, thanks for all your help."
Mr. Brennan said seriously, "I want to thank you for all you have done, too, Doctor. I don't know how we will ever repay you."
"Think nothing of it," the doctor replied with a flick of his wrist and a modest smile. "Glad to help out when I am needed."
"Well kids," said Mr. Brennan, "I guess we'll be on our way. He stood and shot a laugh at the doctor. "If your 'Bev' allows."
We drifted back into the hanger – Bev was as we'd left her. As we approached, she said, "Well, looky-looky who's coming. Remembered old friends, did we?"
"Sorry Bev, we stopped to eat, we're humans, you know. We feed ourselves sometimes." I glanced at Mr. Brennan, "The three of us had some things to work out too."
"I suppose so, you high maintenance types always need something or another," Bev grumped. "Probably be obsolete in a few years when the new models arrive." She sighed. "Oh, well, I deal with what I have. Did we make plans for today?"
"How about a ride," I said. "We found Kat's dad, but we still need to locate mine. Wanna lend us a hand? Might take a couple of days."
Bev didn't answer at once. I could see the little electrons zipping through her computer brain as she thought. "ROAD TRIP!" she shouted. "I've got snacks all packed. Let's go. We'll find our pop on the way, too, while we search for your dad."
"I take this to be a yes," Mr. Brennan beamed, "but what's this about pop?" He regarded me with raised eyebrows.
"Don't ask," I groaned. I said to Kat, "Anything here we need to take?"
She shook her head. "No. Everything we brought is still –"
"Wait." Doc Krumboton floated in, leading a troop of more bots. His flying ball circled his head as busy as a fly. "You still have to field test these." Just as some mad Pied Piper might do, he waved his creatures into Bev. "You too," he ordered the orb sternly. "If you survived last time you must have been slacking."
The globe shot forward, paused at Bev's hatch, and rushed back to him. Doc shooed it on as if herding a frightened chicken. "Oh, no you don't. Go, GO." He said in a whisper to us, "Actually, I am glad to get rid of the lot. They were creating such havoc in here I could not accomplish any work."
"Uh, thanks, Doc." I asked Hank, "We'll drop you off in town, okay?"
Hank shot a dubious glance inside the cargo bay — the bots marched around in circles causing a racket.
"Bev, settle them down," I ordered. The bots lined up in rows and fell silent. "Better?" I asked Hank.
"Uh, yeah, thanks," he replied, sliding in and strapping himself into one of the rear pilot couches. "Save me a walk, I'm glad for the ride." He peeked behind him at the mechanical animals glaring back. "I think."
The rest of us took our seats. "Okay, Bev. First stop is town."
"Can do, handsome," she sang back. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"
Chapter Nine
The town hadn't changed much. The gate was still broken and unmanned, but the bodies had disappeared. Most of the fires were out, replaced by the smell of smoke, and the stench of rotting garbage filling the air. As we rolled in, Mr. Brennan and Hank surveyed the destruction in dismay.
"I did not realize it was this bad," Mr. Brennan breathed. "I only saw what happened in the dark."
Hank commented, "Jeez, they wrecked this joint."
Bev stopped and we piled out on the edge of what had been the business district in front of the bank. No one was around. I left her in stealth mode. "Don't go killing anyone, okay?" I added. "We'll be right back."
"Love me and leave me, huh?" she complained. "Is this the bad part of town? What if someone tries to abduct me? I'm quite a catch, you know."
"No one is gonna steal you." I checked the street. "Do you see anyone here? You'll be fine."
"Aw shucks," she replied in a melodramatic voice, "I was hoping to battle robbers, one against ten, my virtue and honor at stake."
"Yeah, right, Bev. Keep dreaming. If bandits come along and try to steal your virtue, go right ahead and defend yourself."
"Well, maybe I won't kill anyone, but if someone bothers me can I tickle them a little?" she said, trying to sound reasonable. "You know, an electric shock if they get too close – Buzzzz, in their rear?"
I thought about it. "Yeah, but only to keep people away, understand?" I hurried off to the others before she started in on me again.
Mr. Brennan, Hank, and Kat waited, staring up at the bombed-out buildings. We wandered along the street, peering into the broken store windows; broken glass was everywhere, making crunching noises beneath our feet.
A man in a soiled, grey business suit trudged up the road walking our way. As he grew closer, I recognized the mayor. When he saw who we were, he began a waddling run, his mouth arching up on his unshaven face.
"John, glad to see you've returned!" The mayor skidded to a stop out of breath and grabbed Mr. Brennan's hand. He pumped it vigorously while mopping the sweat off his face with a rag. "You've brought the children, too." He beamed at us as if we were three-year-olds. "It's coming together," he huffed, still wheezing. "Now we can start to rebuild." He measured the crumbled buildings with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Glad to see you, too, Mr. Mayor," replied Kat's dad, snatching his hand away and wiping it on his shirt, "but we're not staying, only Hank."
"Wa-wa-what?" The mayor flinched and his lips drooped. "You can't leave now. We need you – the town needs you. Who will start the machines working again?"
"What's not working?" Mr. Brennen pivoted in a slow circle, gesturing vaguely around him. "I know the buildings but –"
"The stores aren't it." The mayor rubbed his forehead
and wiped his face again. "The electrical grid is down – no steam, water's not running. No sewage," he listed the broken utilities. "I cannot send messengers down river asking our people to return because nothing works. I tell you, John, the place is a mess – you can't leave," he blubbered. "What people remain are becoming ill and dying!"
"Who's sick?" Kat asked.
The mayor bowed his head solemnly. "Everyone, little girl – the water is polluted. Soon I'm afraid a typhoid epidemic will break out, and we will have real trouble."
Kat's face blanched. "People will die then, won't they?"
"Yes, they will," replied the mayor. He said to Mr. Brennan, "More of our noble citizens are deserting every day. I hear rumors they say the town is dead," he stopped and sniffled, "and if we do not act soon, it will be." The mayor studied us sadly, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes, trickling down his dirty cheeks, making tiny rivulets.
"Might get the water and sewage systems up and running," mused Mr. Brennen scratching his chin. "They have backup power packs," he touched his arm, "need someone to aid me with the bull work, though." He glanced at Kat and me, indecision written on his face.
"Dad, stay here," Kat said. "We can't help the town, but you can. These people need you." She said to Hank, "You'll lend my dad a hand, right? You'll be doing the city a favor, too."
"Yeah, sure." Hank said to Mr. Brennan, "If it's all right with you, sir."
For a moment, Mr. Brennan's face brightened. "Of course – we all must work together to solve this mess." He said to Kat and me with a deep sigh. "I can't convince you two to remain for a while?"
"I want to, Mr. Brennen," I said, "but I gotta learn what's happening to my pop. It might be too late as it is. Kat can stay if she—"
"I'm going with you."
I took a step closer to her, reached out, and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, Mr. Brennan, I won't let anything happen to Kat, I promise. Bev and I will make sure she's safe."
Kat threw her arms around her father in a tight hug. "It will be okay, Daddy. We'll be back soon." She spun and strode back up the street. I hurried after her.