B. E. V.

by Arthur Butt

  "Hey, Greene, hurry up, will you!"

  Pop spun around to the school. People waved for him to hurry. He cupped his hands and called, "Okay, I'll be right there! Hold on."

  He swung back to us and ordered, "Now we do not have much time. I want both of you to go inside and wait. We have your things packed." He stared at Bev with regret. "You will have to leave this thing behind – there's no way of taking her with us."

  My mouth dropped. Abandon Bev? "Aw, no Pop, we can't duck out on her, she's the same as family," I protested.

  "Someone needs to warn Doctor Krumboton," Kat said, biting her lower lip. "If Morgan and his army return, they'll capture him – he's the one who built Bev. It will kill the old man."

  "Yeah, Pop," I pleaded. "We can't take off without telling Doc. He's an invalid. He wouldn't survive ten minutes if Morgan got a hold of him."

  "Hunter's right, Mr. Greene," Kat said. "The lab will be one of the first places they'll search. They missed Doc the first time because they were in a hurry, but if they start searching –" Kat sounded really upset, so was I. "We have to warn him, Mr. Greene, we just got to."

  "Well –" Someone called Pop's name. A bunch of people stood at the cafeteria door watching us, wondering what to do. Others grabbed their luggage and headed to the boats, not waiting for loading instructions.

  "Hey, Pop, I gotta idea," I said quickly. "We can take Bev, go find the doctor, and head downriver in her. It will only take a couple of hours and save room for someone else."

  Pop still acted undecided. Kat added, "We'll be as safe in Bev as we would in a boat, if Morgan's men chase you, maybe safer."

  A fight erupted at the dock, loud arguing emerged from the cafeteria – Pop caved in. "Okay," he said, breathing hard, "but make it quick – don't dawdle, and don't – I repeat – don't go searching for trouble; get the doctor if he wants to come and start following us, understand me? We'll wait for you as long as possible, but we have to move."

  "Sure, Pop," I agreed before he changed his mind, "we'll be right behind you. We won't be long, I promise."

  Kat and I hurried to Bev. "We're off to the lab, hon," Kat said, in a rush. "We're getting Doctor Krumboton."

  "Will you two make up your minds," Bev complained. "'Take me here, take me there'," she mimicked. "Then you desert me. Am I painted yellow? Do you think I'm a taxi?" A loud sniff echoed throughout the cabin. "Sometimes I believe you're just using me." She hiccupped.

  "Don't cry, honey." Kat patted the control board. "We love you. It's just so much is happening right now, and you're big and fast. You know we've been busy."

  "Yeah, Bev, you'll always be number one in our book," I chimed in, "you're the greatest and our bestest friend."

  "You mean it?" she replied in a tiny voice. "You're not just saying stuff to make me feel better?"

  "Of course."

  "Oh, I'm being silly!" She gave a nervous titter. "I think my mascara is running."

  "I'll fix it for you when we stop at the lab," Kat promised. "Let's hurry."

  We encountered a transformed Doctor Krumboton when we arrived at his workshop. He sat at his table resembling a pile of unwashed clothes with his head slumped on the top. His stubble of whiskers had sprouted into a patchy white mess, the tremble in his hands grew into a quake, and his cheeks were shrunken into a pucker; his spider bots, which we last saw laying in pieces all around him, were reassembled. Many scurried over the floor, walls, and ceiling, a few sat on Doc's head crawling aimlessly in circles and becoming tangled in his hair. Four plastic milk crates rested on the floor as if he'd been packing the bots away and stopped.

  His holograph, which danced around him, had disappeared, and the computer screen was black.

  Kat and I paused at the doorway of the lab, not sure if he was in the last stages of death or alive. Doc's head popped up and he glanced our way, waving us over, his eyes alive and sparkling.

  "You doing better, Doc?" I peered at him closely. "You seem better," I lied.

  "Oh, I am," he beamed, running his hand through his greasy hair and knocking the bots to the floor. He sat back and folded his arms across his stomach. "And yourselves? I have not seen you two in a while. How are you, how is B.E.V.?"

  "She's good," I assured him, "but we have trouble. Morgan is marching with two armies, my pop thinks. This time, the town is evacuating. You have to leave with us."

  Doc fixed us with his bloodshot eyes. "Me? Leave?" He surveyed his lab, and then his chair. "I have much too much equipment to take; besides I do not travel well." He wagged his head. "No, I do not think so, young man. This has been by home for too many years."

  "You must," Kat pleaded. She took his hand and made as if to guide him toward the garage. "You can leave in Bev, and you know there is plenty of room, you built her yourself. Hunter and I will load whatever you want to take. When Morgan gets here, he's going to rip everything apart searching for Bev or the people who built her. This means you. He won't stop until he does. You'll be discovered."

  Doctor Krumboton's lips formed a silent "O." "Is this what is fretting you." He gently withdrew his hand from Kat's. "Do not worry about me, you two. I can seal this place so tight, if I desire to, it could withstand a nuclear blast. It will take more than anything Morgan possesses to dig me out of this hole." He paused, considering. "You are welcome to stay here with me if you wish."

  His offer was tempting, certainly more appealing than fleeing down river or roaming all over the countryside hunted just as a wild animal by Morgan and his soldiers.

  Kat hesitated as she thought the same thing, but I said, "Ah, thanks, Doc, but we promised our dads we'd follow them along the river and evacuate with the rest of the town. Uh, it's okay if we take Bev with us, isn't it?" I was suddenly afraid he might say no, he needed her here for his own protection.

  Doctor Krumboton's eyes opened wide, as if the thought of keeping Bev never occurred to him. "Of course she may go with you. I reprogrammed her to take your commands, right? Besides, I am not a good conversationalist. She would become lonely without you now."

  "Thanks, Doc," I said. "I guess we'll be shoving off then."

  He frowned. "You are not staying to fight Morgan?"

  "What do you mean?" Kat said, with a nervous twitch. "The town tried fighting last time. We lost. Now there's twice as many of Morgan's men and half of us."

  "Tut-tut," he chided, "not the town, you two and B.E.V."

  "Huh?" I said brilliantly. "You're not making sense. How could Kat and I stop Morgan?"

  "You did not have B.E.V. then." Doctor Krumboton dropped his hands on his table and leaned forward, frowning and said seriously, "B.E.V. does stand for Battle Evasive Vehicle, you know. This is what she was built for, this is her destiny."

  "Well, yeah," I conceded, "but still, the three of us against all those soldiers?"

  Doctor Krumboton considered what I'd said for a long time. He reached a decision with a sigh. "If you insist, I could provide you more help." He put his fingers to his lips and gave a piercing whistle. "Everybody in the boxes!" he announced.

  His little spider machines, which crawled aimlessly on the floor, dutifully lined up at the milk crates and hopped in, single file. Each retracted their legs, nestled down in a row, and piled on top of one another until the boxes filled to the top.

  "There, is this better?" the doctor asked, dusting off his hands in satisfaction after his bots finished packing themselves. "All done."

  Kat squinted her eyes at the boxes and shook her head in bewilderment. I shrugged and said to Doc, "Uh, this is nice. Thanks. What do they do?"

  Doctor Krumboton floated over to a crate and withdrew one of the creatures. He rocked it gently in his hand and the bot unfolded its legs, standing ready for a command. "These little beasties," he said with pride, "explode."

  "What?" I edged away from him. I had complete trust in Doc, but –

  "Actually, what they accomplish is," he continued, making the bomb run back and forth as he wiggled his arm up and down
, "to disturb the magnetic field of the surrounding earth in one quick burst, releasing the stored energy of the ground underneath." He tossed the spider back into the crate with its brothers. "Ka-boom!"

  I believed Doc had gone off his rocker for the last time, but I couldn't help asking, "What are we supposed to do with these?" I peered into the crate trying to estimate how many climbed inside. I quit with numbers in the hundreds swirling in my mind.

  "Same thing you did with my other pets – instruct B.E.V. what you want them to do, and release the little beasties." He floated back to his computer and punched in a long string of numbers and symbols.

  "There, all done," Doc exclaimed. "It would not be a good idea to stand too close when they detonate, though," he said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Shame, I never gave each individual a name. They will have to go down in the annals of history forever as Dumaflickies, but the problem of Morgan and his army is solved."

  "Doctor Krumboton, didn't you say you don't make weapons," Kat said. She pointed to the crates. "Explosives are weapons, and you've constructed an awful lot of those bombs there."

  "Well, yes, I did say something," admitted the doctor with a bashful wave of his hand, "but it does not imply I could not. This is why the task took me so long. Now go, defeat Morgan." He made as if to herd us back to Bev as he'd done with his mechanical animals.

  When we still acted doubtful, he added, "You are not about to let him run you off, are you?" A dark cloud of aggravation crossed his face, and he spoke in a low voice, "I have tried fleeing when I was young. It did not work. Run once and you will be running all your life. I am surprised your fathers are leaving without a fight, I thought they were made of better stuff."

  "Okay, Doctor Krumboton," Kat said, "we'll take the bombs and think about it, all right? They'll come in handy no matter what happens." Her pleading expression told me she wanted to leave fast. "We'd better hurry." She nodded toward Bev's garage. "Give me a hand with these crates." She stooped and grabbed one end of a box and I snagged the other. Between the two of us, we lugged it to Bev's hold and made three more trips.

  After we finished, Doc floated to the door and shouted, "After you leave, I am shutting this place down tight. If you want to return, you will have to ask B.E.V. She knows the codes; your key will not work. Remember what I said – running is not the answer!"

  As Bev's door dilated closed, he waved and said, "Good luck!" and disappeared from view.

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Back so soon?" Bev inquired sweetly as we secured the milk crates in her cargo hold. "What did you bring me, a present? I don't remember it being my birthday."

  "Doctor Krumboton said he would program these to your orders, you have their codes inside you somewhere?" Kat asked as we settled into our chairs.

  Bev was silent as she checked her programing. "Why yes," she exclaimed, "I see the rascals now. It's the same as a blink, it happens and you never notice. I was hoping for something better, though, a mink coat, diamonds, not more little bothers." She sounded disappointed.

  "Do you know how they work, if we need to use them?" I asked.

  "Of course!" she sniffed. "They are part of me now, not a part I want, but they are me."

  Once we were outside, I asked Kat, "What do you think about what Doc said?"

  "You mean taking on Morgan's army all by ourselves with Bev?" she scoffed. "Ridiculous, of course. We would never stand a chance." Her eyebrows netted and she appeared serious. "Something must have happened when he was young to make him think about staying. Of course we have to leave – it would be crazy to stay."

  "I guess you're right," I replied slowly, "stupid idea. We'd get ourselves killed in a second if we tried."

  As we drove back to Paradise Cove, I couldn't help but believe how right Doctor Krumboton was. An uneasy feeling grew in the pit of my stomach just as if I was disobeying a direct order from Pop I knew was right. The rising oceans pushed my parents out of Florida. Aliens destroyed Earth's cities, and Morgan wrecked our town. The kids at school made fun of me. No one ever fought back – we ran. Someone should fight back.

  I was being a coward.

  The empty windows of the town glared down at us when we entered Paradise Cove. I expected to see tumble weeds bouncing along the main street, and the skulls of steers on the sidewalks. We rode to the river; one boat remained, and found Pop, Mr. Brennan, Bill, and Roy, waiting.

  "I'm glad you two made it back," Pop said with relief as we climbed out of Bev. "We were starting to get worried." He took a quick peek inside the cargo bay. "Where is Doctor Krumboton, I thought you were bringing him with you?"

  "Doc said he wouldn't leave," I replied. "He wants to stay at the lab and take his chances, said he was tired of running."

  "His decision," Pop replied, "it's too late to wait around for him now anyway. We will be traveling in the boat. You two follow along the shore road, we can keep each other in sight most of the way. Ready?"

  I came to a decision. "I'm not going." Before Pop could reply, I added, "I'm tired of running."

  No one uttered a word, then, "Now see here, Hunter, we do not have time –"

  "Kid, don't be ridiculous –"

  "Hunter, are you out of your –"

  "I don't care!" I screamed back, feeling tears at the corners of my eyes. "If this is what I'm gonna have to do for the rest of my life, it's not worth it." I said to Kat, "Go with Pop and your dad. I'm taking Bev." I spun around and stalked away.

  A hand snatched my sleeve. "If you're staying, so am I." It was Kat, an expression of terror in her eyes. "You know you're being a jerk, don't you?"

  "Probably," I agreed feeling a cold lump in my throat.

  "Hunter, we don't have time for your –" Pop was shouting.

  "Kat, get over here, now!" Mr. Brenan yelled.

  Bill said, "You know, I think the kid has something. I'm staying too."

  "WHAT?" Both Pop and Mr. Brennan gaped at him in disbelief. "What are talking about?" Pop demanded.

  "Me, too," Roy said. "Bill and I have been discussing this. We have lived in so many places, moved so many times; we're tired of being run off. We want to make someone pay." He sauntered over to Kat and me, Bill following, and slapped me on the back. "We're with you kid, if you'll have us."

  "Sure!"

  Mr. Brennan ground his teeth in rage. "You three remain here if you want, but if you think I will permit my daughter to stay with a bunch of fools and get killed –"

  "Hold on." Pop said, thoughtful. "You know we could build a defense and slow Morgan down, might give him second thoughts about trying to follow the town downriver."

  Pop raised his eyebrows sheepishly at Mr. Brennan, as if trying to apologize for his statement. Mr. Brennan shook his head in disbelief. "We have time to knock a few traps together," Pop continued, "and Hunter is right. I want to give Morgan some payback, too." He paused and I remembered what Doctor Krumboton said. "We still have a means of escape if need be," he gestured to the boat. "As long as Morgan does not encircle us, we can clear out with no one being the wiser."

  Mr. Brennan let out a groan so loud it startled me. He muttered at last, as if talking to himself, "If you can't beat them, shoot 'em with a gun. Okay," he said, "I'm in. What do you have planned?"

  The four men huddled together, starting a rapid fired discussion of weapons with Kat and me forgotten for the moment. Mr. Brennan and Pop listed materials available and what they could use.

  Pop waved us over. "This will work," he said to me, "but I need Bev to lure the soldiers into a trap. Do you think you can manage it without putting you and Kat into danger?"

  "Sure, Pop, but Doc gave us some –"

  "Good," he said quickly, already focusing on the future battle. "All you need to do is make Morgan's army chase you to the gate and run back inside. I don't want you to attempt enticing them if you're unsure, but it would make things easier." He watched us, dubious of our answer.

  "No problem, Mr. Greene," Kat began, "we've done a lot more d
angerous stuff in the last few weeks, but you didn't let –"

  "Good, but we don't have time for a lot of discussion," Pop said, cutting Kat off. "I know you two want to defend the town, and this will help."

  "Hey, Greene," Bill called. "If we're going to do this we have to make it march."

  Pop nodded. "Leave it to us, kids, and everything will work out fine, you'll see. I promise – we will get out of this."

  Pop cuffed me playfully on the neck and walked away. "Let's start moving then," he said to the others. "We don't have all day." He called to me over his shoulder, "Take Bev and wait at the main gate."

  The men hustled off in different directions, leaving us standing alone.

  Kat watched them hurry away with her lips moving wordlessly. "Am I dreaming?" she asked as if she couldn't believe what occurred.

  "I think we started a war," I replied, not sure if I was asleep myself. "I wish Pop let me finish my sentence and tell him about Doc's bombs."

  "I guess it'll have to wait," she replied. Kat shrugged and saluted. "Shall we go and receive our orders, sir?"

  I saluted back. "As you say, m'lady; we are pawns in the greater game."

  I escorted Kat back to Bev. "Where to, bub?" she announced. "Lab? River? Prison camp? I've got my meter running, this is gonna cost you a bundle." She was mad.

  "To the main gate, and step on it, Mac!"

  "Slave driver," she mumbled, but started through town, complaining about traffic (of which there was none), and began a long story about the weather.

  We arrived at the gate the same time Pop and Mr. Brennan drove up in trucks filled with lumber and piping. Bill and Roy pulled in shortly afterward, one with a ground car converted into a wagon, drawn by two old cows, loaded with wheel-sized rolls of wire. The other driving a tractor, barrels and boxes tossed on the back of a trailer.

  Bill waved us over. "You two can lend a hand hauling this wire off the wagon," he shouted.

  Kat hopped up on the bed and helped push the reels to the edge. "Ready?"