B. E. V. (20 page)

 

 

"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 dangerous 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?"

I stayed on the ground to prevent them from rolling away. "What are you going to do with this?" I asked as they prepared to shove the first spool to me.

"Hook each up to the town's electrical supply," he replied. "Ever hear the warning, 'Don't touch a live wire'?" He smirked and made a shaking motion. "This is what we are going to hand Morgan when he hits the wall." He and Kat shoved the spool off the wagon. I braced myself to stop it from running down the street.

The cows bucked and the wire sprang off the lip into the air. The spool landed, bounced, knocking me on my backside, almost crushing my good leg before it rocked off. I picked myself up and limped back to catch the next one.

"I think you better scoot out of the way, Hunter," Bill advised. "I don't want you hurt if you can't move fast enough if need be." He pointed. "We're about finished here, anyway. Maybe your dad needs a hand."

Pop and Mr. Brennan had everything under control. They wheeled saws and drills building – something.

"Can I help?" I asked, wandering over and watching Pop cut through a beam.

"I do not think so, not right now, anyway," He replied. "This calls for a lot of hauling and dragging." He stood and brushed sawdust off his pants. "I'll need you later, though. Maybe Roy can use you. Go ask."

I had the feeling I was in everybody's way, and becoming miffed they thought I couldn't handle any hard jobs because of my leg, but nevertheless I limped over to Roy. He was in the process of pushing barrels to the end of the trailer.

"Ah, sir – Roy – do you need –"

"STAY BACK." He was wearing a gas mask and it muffled his voice. He took it off and said, "Don't come too near. This stuff is dangerous."

The back of the trailer had a lift. He slipped his mask back on, and lowered four barrels to the ground, removing the mask again.

"Chlorine from the town's water supply," he explained, slapping the barrels. "I'm going to see what I can do about making it deadlier for our friends out there."

It sounded cool. "Need help? I'm pretty good at chemistry and mixing stuff."

"Afraid not, son," he replied. He walked the barrels off the lift. "These things are heavy, and if I mess up you would have to scat fast. Besides, there's only one gas mask. Sorry."

"Oh."

I shoved my hands in my pockets and wandered off. If no one wanted my help, I wasn't about to run around begging them. I watched Kat and Bill struggle with a roll of wire as they pushed it out the town's gate and along the wall, unwinding it as they went, and returned to Bev.

"What's the matter, sailor, lonely?" she said as I sat on the edge of her hatch and watched everyone work. "Wanna have some fun?"

"Nah – mad. They think I can't do anything heavy because of my screwed up leg," I replied. I gave it a rub; it felt as if I touched a cut log. "If they'd only let me help! I get things done, in a different way, but I still do it."

Bev was silent for a few minutes, her electronic chips working. When she spoke, her voice shifted next to me and she acted chipper. "I know what you mean," she whispered, "I have no feet, I don't know if you noticed, but I get things accomplished too."

In spite of myself I laughed. "Yeah, but you were built this way, I wasn't. Sometimes I feel so useless."

"Well, we can't have you obsolete. What is it you want to do?"

I was still watching Kat and Roy. They'd stopped to take a breather, the first spool barely unrolled. "Well, I guess help those two," I gestured, "but they're right, I couldn't. I'm not too good at pushing with one leg."

"Nonsense," Bev replied primly, "I don't have any legs, and I'm great at pulling and pushing. Let's go and show everyone what two legless wonders can do."

Bev rumbled out the gate to Roy and Kat. "There's a storage compartment under my deck," she said to me. "There should be a pry bar and chain. Drag 'em outside, and I bet you'll figure out what to do from there."

I strode into her cargo bay and searched the floor. Sure enough, a small cutout with a ring for a trapdoor was nestled in the deck. Pulling it up, I dug around inside until I unearthed a steel bar and the rest of the gear. I struggled to haul the chain out – the bar came next. "Why are you carrying around all of this junk?" I asked, slamming the door shut.

"Doctor Krumboton tried to prepare me for every emergency. I'm a suspenders and belt girl."

I studied the bar and chain, and it dawned on me. I wondered why the thought hadn't occurred before.

"Uh, yeah. Okay." I yelled out the doorway, "Hey, Kat – Roy, wait up. There's a better way."

Between the three of us, we devised a harness for Bev and hooked her tail end up to the chain. When everything was ready, I crawled into the cargo bay with my head sticking out to watch and act as a go between. I shouted to Bev, "All right, slow and steady! Let's see what happens."

She inched forward, the spool rolling behind her, the wire unraveling as we drove.

"It's working!" Kat yelled to me. She waved her hand, "Keep going."

We made a wide, weaving pattern, back and forth and up and down, changing spools as we crawled along. Once we completed one circuit, Roy left Kat, Bev, and I in charge to unravel the wire, staying behind to splice each section together. Bev's only comment was, "You know, I feel ridiculous. People will think I'm a giant inchworm."

"You're doing fantastic," I assured her. "An inchworm would be envious of you, and Doctor Krumboton would be proud."

"Yeah," she replied, "but I don't think he designed me to shoot wire off my butt."

By the end of the day, we used up all the spools, and covered a wide section of earth in front of the main gate, extending left and right along the town's wall.

"All finished kids," Roy announced with satisfaction, as he wiped sweat off his nose with a dirty rag. He strolled over to Bev and patted her hull, and declared, "We couldn't have done it without you two. I should have figured this out for myself. Connect the city's electrical supply, and we're all set. Let Morgan and his men step on the wire and we'll have French fried soldiers."

Kat and I drove Bev into town to see what Pop and Mr. Brennan were building. To our surprise, they'd constructed a wooden edifice resembling a giant lacrosse stick, which reached up into the sky. Even stranger, they backed up their pickup truck to the frame, the rear end lifted off the pavement on blocks.

Besides all of this, they began work on a series of metal pipes. Mr. Brennan welded one end shut, while Pop drilled holes in the ends. They stopped working when they saw us approach.