B. E. V.

by Arthur Butt

  Their theory sorta put a damper on the rest of the night. Kat sat with her face in her hands, and I kept thinking about Morgan and his soldiers marching on the town with Grey spaceships flying overhead.

  The townspeople decided to have a bonfire and raced around gathering anything still burnable. Kat and I watched, but pretty well ignored everyone and everything else. After a while, Kat said to me, "Let's get back to the lab, I need to leave. It's getting late."

  "Are you feeling alright?" Her hand had mottled her checks from clutching her face so tight.

  "Yeah, sure," she replied with a tired sigh. "I just want to go."

  "Uh, okay, I'll tell Pop."

  I found him standing around with a group of other men by the barn fire, talking. "We gotta leave Pop, we'll be back tomorrow."

  Surprise passed over his face. "I thought you and Kat were staying here tonight."

  "No. I think Kat doesn't feel good, she wants to take Bev back to the lab."

  "Is there something the matter with her?" Pop asked with concern.

  "No, she's depressed and tired. She'll be better tomorrow."

  He nodded. "I understand. I will tell her dad. We'll be waiting."

  We left. To tell you the truth, I wanted to be alone, too.

  Chapter Thirteen

  With the threat of invasion hanging over our heads, being back with Pop and Mr. Brennan wasn't the reunion I thought it would be. Bev, Kat, and I continued to help in town as best we could. We even convinced Pop to let us use the antigravity cubes, once Doc assured us it would take a truck (or Bev) rolling over them to crush their casings. Pop and Mr. Brennan handled both, and we kept Bev as far away as possible.

  After the first day, Bev got the hang of moving junk, and we left her in automatic most of the time. Once she cleared the main roads, we started on the smaller side streets. Here Bev ran into trouble, she was too big to fit into small places.

  "Bev, you'd better let us handle this one," I told her as she tried scooping away a mangled front porch from a brick building which use to be a grain mill.

  "What? No way, I'm winning," she said as she wedged her blade in between the porch and the wall. "You're jealous because I'm doing the best job."

  Kat watched while biting her nails, as Bev's rear brushed against the brick facing of the building. The whole structure groaned. "I don't mean you have to stop, honey," she pleaded, "but, ah, it's time for lunch."

  "No it's not – you want the prize," Bev accused. "There's always a prize. Let me –" she nudged the porch again and swept it way from the building, her back-end swung, hit the front, and the whole facade of the mill crashed down.

  " – watch out –"

  " – duck –"

  It took Bev an hour to dig herself out, and she acted disorientated for another twenty minutes, kept asking if her hair was on straight. Afterward, her only comment was, "I'm bad." I guess it was well we kept her away from Doc's cubes.

  Another thing worrying me was Doc. He began to act crazier than ever. Every time we returned to the lab, his halographic images swirled faster, changing constantly. Wads of paper cluttered the floor and bags hung under his eyes from not sleeping. His face was blotched, his white hair hung in greasy strands, and a tick developed in his right cheek.

  When I tried to talk to him he ignored me, pointing back toward Bev's garage with a mumbled, "Go."

  In less than a week, the town was back to normal. Mr. Kernpecker, Bill, I mean, had the power up and running with Pop's help. People even talked about reopening the school for classes.

  One day we sauntered into Doc's lab and found him staring off into space, his newly created spider bots all apart scattered on the floor. He muttered to himself, equations frozen in the air and on the computer.

  When Kat offered our help, Doc roused himself.

  "Stupid computer!" he roared, cursing the figures on the screen and shaking his fist. He swung around and glared at the hologram over his head. "And you! You should know better. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? You no good bloody –" His chair whirled to us and he glared with bloodshot eyes, his mouth working noiselessly. We tiptoed away, afraid to say anything.

  "What's the matter with Doc?" I asked Bev. "Is he mad about something? He's been acting mighty strange since we got back."

  "The doctor behaves this way sometimes, when the numbers don't work right," she admitted. "He'll keep nibbling away at the figures until they do. He always does. Say – are we partying today? Im'a missing all the bright lights."

  "I think the party's about over," Kat answered. "Not much else to do –"

  "Oh, gee, and I was having fun. Did I win a prize? I never got a prize, you know. If it was a party I should –"

  "— but if you want we'll take a ride. How does a trip sound? We can have a party, the three of us."

  Bev said nothing, considering what Kat said.

  I said, "Sure, we haven't gone anywhere for fun in a long time. Bev, what do you say?"

  "Well –" I could almost see the electrons flowing. "Why not. I need the exercise – I'm getting chubby in the thighs. Bathing suit season is starting soon and I want to appear my best."

  We drove out into the country away from the lab and town. Bev surprised a pack of wolves tearing at the carcass of a dead calf, and had a ball chasing them across the grass, until they dashed off in different directions.

  "Aw shucks," she complained, "and I was having fun. Kat, Hunter, can we get a puppy? I want a puppy."

  She continued to bump along, each animal she scared up, whether it be, wild cattle, lion, or pronghorn, evoking an "I want." With most of the cities gone, and herds springing up everywhere, we acquired a lot of "I wants."

  A small group of elephants wandered into our path and Kat suggested, "Bev, how about checking those out? Let's take a closer peek."

  "Yes, ma'am." Bev switched directions and made a beeline for the herd, flattening grass and scaring birds in her path.

  We didn't realize this was a herd of young bulls. As Bev approached, one of the older males raised his trunk, trumpeted, and stared at us menacingly.

  "Uh, Bev, I think you'd better back off," I said, worried, as the elephant lowered its tusks and pawed the earth at our approach.

  "Nah, I think we may be related," Bev answered. She inched forward, a puppy playing. "I want to get closer and see if we have the same eyes."

  "Bev –"

  The bull charged.

  The elephant hit Bev head on at the run. She skidded backward. Before we could do anything, I heard a "Whoopee!" and she sped forward, returning the bull's butt with one of her own. The other elephants milled around, unsure whether to run or charge.

  "Gonna get you, sucka," Bev snarled. The bull and she locked head to head, each digging in their heels, pushing.

  The elephant backed off in confusion. Before he could send another rebuttal, a shot rang out and the bull dropped. The rest of the herd broke and scattered.

  "Bev, quick – stealth mode!"

  I knew the town had hunters out, both for themselves and the refugees. Winter was returning and supplies were short after the attack, but I didn't think they'd venture this far. As Bev vanished, I scanned the area as far as possible.

  Off to our right, a group of horsemen emerged from a thicket carrying rifles. They paused, the leader and the others scanning the area in confusion, wondering where we'd disappeared. He shrugged and swung his gun over his head. The party cantered down to the elephant, dismounted, and began butchering the animal.

  "Do you recognize any of them?" Kat asked. "They're not from town, and they aren't a party of refugees. The whole bunch dress – weird." The riders wore buckskins, their long black hair plaited in braids. "I think they're –"

  One of the teenage bull elephants charged out of the bush. Tusks down, trumpeting, it shook the earth, stomping straight for the party of men. Their heads jerked up, taken completely off guard by the sudden rush, and for a moment, stood frozen in shock. As if acting in slow motion, they flung
themselves aside.

  One of the men, more engrossed in his work, or slower than the rest, failed to leap in time; when he realized his danger, it was too late. The bull scooped him up in its tusks, and tossed the doomed man high into the air, trampling the stranger to pulp when he landed.

  The elephant didn't halt its rampage there. He spied another hunter racing across our path and charged him.

  "Bev, you gotta wedge yourself in between those two!" I shouted. "Hurry up before it's too late, and the elephant mashes him to jelly."

  We rocketed forward. The bull reached out its trunk to grasp the hunter, and Bev plunged into the gap. The elephant slammed into her side with an earsplitting crunch. She shook as if hit with a wrecking ball and tilted. For a moment I was afraid she'd flip over on her roof. The bull catapulted over Bev's top to crash in a heap on the other side.

  "Ouch! Why the little punk," Bev yipped, more miffed than in pain. "They should keep those things in zoos if they won't play nice."

  "You okay, Bev?" Kat checked wildly for cracks in Bev's hull.

  "Yeah, what now? Can I tromp 'em?"

  "Let's grab this guy and vamoose out of here!" I yelped. More tusks poked out of the brush, and trunks waved preparing to strike. "The elephant's buddies are coming back."

  The hunter slid to a stop when the bull did its acrobatic act, and was gaping in amazement as the elephant struggled to his feet. In a daze, the animal bounced off Bev's invisible hull, staggered, and landed back on its knees, shaking its massive head.

  The man's eyes widened in fright as Bev's interior materialized when our hatch opened and I dashed to the door. "Move it!" I yelled, extending my hand, "hop in – company's coming."

  The blare of angry bulls trumpeting echoed all over the place, the earth rumbled with their approach. The stranger gawked at the charging herd in terror, threw a grunt of assent to me, and took a flying dive inside Bev's cargo bay.

  "Go, Bev, go! I've got him."

  "Can do, handsome," returned her cheery voice. She sped up and we tumbled backward. Two more bulls stumbled over us, sending Bev lunging out of control. She skidded in a circle before straightening herself out and moving again.

  This time, our passenger and I bounced off either side of the hull before slamming into the back bulkhead. My head spun and my stomach told me it was not going to take much more of this abuse. The hunter, knocked out cold, slid across the deck. I dragged my good leg under me, and heaved myself on top of him, as Bev dug in her heels for a quick stop and dashed off around a boulder.

  Bev hit clear air and left a cloud of dust trailing behind her as she sped away from the raging elephants. When they were dots in the distance, she slowed. "How you guys doing?" she called out. "Some fun, huh? Want to do it again?"

  Kat tried to unbuckle her harness and tuck her shirt in at the same time. She twisted in her seat and gasped, "Hunter, are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I think so," I called back, rolling off the hunter. I checked the man to make sure he was still alive. "This one doesn't seem too good. He's still breathing, but unconscious." Close up he didn't appear much older than Kat or me, maybe eighteen or nineteen.

  Kat put herself back together enough about the same time the hunter's eyes flickered open. At first, he squinted up at us in panic and then the events of the last few minutes swept over him. He released a low moan.

  "I guess I owe you my life," he muttered with a shake of his head. He tried to rise, teetered, and slumped. I snatched him before he fell, and eased him into a sitting position. He grimaced. "Who are you?" he asked, scrutinizing the bay. "Where are we?" His voice tinged with fright.

  "I'm Hunter," I said. "This is Kat. We're inside Bev –"

  "Hi, ya'll!"

  The hunter jerked back, and let out a short gasp, his eyes darting from us to scan the interior of the hold.

  His attention returned to Kat and me. "I'm John Whitehorse." He shifted uneasily on the hard deck.

  "Whitehorse?" Kat chuckled. "Sounds the same as an Amerijun name."

  "I am Amerijun," the other replied with a tinge of ire creeping into his voice.

  "Oh! I'm sorry," Kat sputtered, embarrassed. "I didn't mean –"

  John Whitehorse saw the expression on Kat's face and broke into a laugh. "Oh, I'm Irish, Scottish, German, and a little bit of Nigerian too," he admitted, "but I think of myself as Shawnee. Don't worry, I know what you meant."

  "Where'd you come from?" I asked. "There aren't any Amerijuns around here, not people who call themselves Amerijun, anyway."

  "Well, you never know," John said. "My name's not really Whitehorse either."

  "Huh?"

  "Well, it is," he explained, "but it was originally Johnson. My dad and his buddies went on a genealogy kick. He discovered one of his great-great-something ancestors was called Whitehorse, so he changed our name – said it was more dramatic."

  The fear in John's face had vanished and he was eager to talk. "We're from up north – too much fighting there. The elders decided to come south. They said no one lived down here after the Greys' attack and we wouldn't be bothered."

  "Mistake," I put in. "Some of us are still around, right Kat?"

  Kat ignored what I'd said, and asked, "Everybody? I can't picture a nation picking up and moving."

  John hugged his knees with a smirk. "It was no big deal, I guess. After the Greys attacked we didn't have much anyway, and the old ways were never far from our minds. Most of us were ranchers and farmers, except for the ones who ran the resorts. Anyway, we packed up and left."

  "Gee," Kat breathed, sitting down on the other side of him, "Still, it must have been something. Leaving your homes and schools, never knowing where you'll be the next day. Are there a lot of you?"

  John shrugged. "I don't know, a couple thousand started off, I guess. We kept picking up smaller tribes and individuals along the way who wanted to join us. We're not all Amerijuns now. I'd call us a traveling mob."

  "Well, if you guys were moving south to escape fighting, you've come to the wrong place," I said, standing. I told him about Morgan and his army. "My Pop says there's a chance he'll be returning this way, too," I finished. "If he does, and he spots your people, you'll be as many more new recruits for his army or labor gangs."

  John's lips compressed into a thin line as he considered what I'd said. "I have to find the others and warn my people," he said, worried. "You'll help me locate them?" He got the courage to study Bev's hold and asked, "What is this thing, anyway? A truck? Why couldn't I see it?"

  "This is Bev," Kat said. "She's sorta a tank –"

  "Humph!"

  "– or rather, a sleek, mean, fighting machine," Kat added. "She becomes invisible."

  "Yeah? What's the strange sound it keeps making?"

  "Oh, she talks, too," Kat said sternly. "Politely."

  "Hmmm."

  We drove in the direction where we'd last seen John's party. The elephants had disappeared, the carcass of the bull already attacked by wild dogs, with vultures making circles in the sky awaiting their chance. The others in his party had vanished.

  We climbed out of Bev and walked around the area. "Their horses are gone," John declared, "even mine. I know they wouldn't leave me behind. Something must have happened to scare them off, and not a bunch of elephants, either."

  "Might be Morgan's men," I said. "After they attacked our town, we saw patrols going north, I guess searching for more prisoners. Bev, let's climb some high ground. We'll have a better idea at what's around here."

  We clambered into Bev and found a rise, with a good view devoid of trees, and rumbled up to the top. In the distance, a ground truck bumped away through the grass, five ponies trotting behind, tied with a rope to the rear bumper.

  "Those are Morgan's men, I bet," I exclaimed. "They've captured your friends."

  "We've got to save my people," grunted John. "If what you've told me is true, we'll never see them again. My brother was in the party."

  "I know what you're feeling," Kat sai
d. "We felt the same way when our dads were captured, but I don't see how we can free them. I think they're lost for now."

  John swung around to her and said, "I don't expect you to risk your lives. You've done enough for me, but I have to rescue those people. I couldn't live with myself unless I tried."

  "If we could figure out some way to help, we would," I began, "but it's too dangerous to go down and try to grab your friends. If we attack the truck with Bev, there's too much chance we'd wind up killing everyone inside." I broke off talking while I thought. "I don't see a way."

  John was silent. I wracked my brain for a plan to help. Kat had her eyes shut in concentration, face crinkled as she thought also.

  Bev, who listened quietly to this conversation, said, "Well, if you're all done thinking, someone say the magic word and I'll supply you an answer."

  "Huh? What are you talking about, Bev?" I said, annoyed. She was always coming up with these crazy statements. "What magic word?"

  "Please."

  "If you have something to say, Bev, say it," Kat snapped. When she made no reply, Kat added, "Please."

  "Well, since you asked – we still have my bratty little sister and her brothers. Why don't we send the whole mess in and see if we can lure Morgan's soldiers away? Might as well make some use out of those critters. Besides, I'm tired of lugging their nasty hinnies around."

  "How can you say –" I stopped speaking as her suggestion sank in. "It might work," I said slowly, "but we can't do it now. We'll have to follow and wait until they stop for the night." I asked the others, "What do you think, guys?"

  "I leave the details up to my staff," Bev said with a lofty sniff. "I'm an idea person – my work here is done."

  Kat's eyebrows went up and she nodded.

  John shuffled uneasily and said, "I agree with your – Bev? If you guys have more bots, send them in by all means. It's a plan at least."

  We waited until it was early evening, trailing the soldiers until they called a halt. Two men emerged from the cab, more piled out of the rear, herding three figures with their hands tied – John's brother and his friends. Their guards forced the prisoners to sit in a line while their captors built a fire and cooked dinner. Bev crept as close to the camp as she dared, without disturbing the soldiers, and settled down to wait while we plotted our next move.