B. E. V. (10 page)

Hank nodded he understood and hurried back toward the other prisoners.

I waited another fifteen minutes and still no one replaced me. I figured this was a good a time as any to escape. I cautiously inched myself backward, pretending to act as if I was still watching the prisoners.

"Where you going, bud?"

I stiffened at the sound of the voice. It was another soldier, my replacement arriving, walking down the line toward me. He didn't act happy. "Can't wait to get relieved, huh?" He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. "Guard shack's back there."

"Oh, ah, thanks." The last thing I wanted was to walk into the camp. "But I gotta go," I whined.

The soldier shrugged and yawned. "So leave, I'm here."

"I mean,
go!
" I held myself. "I gotta go
bad!
"

His eyes widened and he broke out in guffaws. "Nearest latrines are off this way," He pointed toward the edge of the army by the trees. "Better hurry up, though. Sergeant Bixby is waiting for you to show up."

"Gee, thanks." I scurried off in the direction of the woods as fast as my good leg would carry me.

No one else bothered me as I made my way out of camp. I had to circle my way back through the trees to find the place I left Kat and Bev, and nearly broke my neck falling down a hole in the darkness. Every bush had its roots out to trip me, and vines kept catching my leg. By the time I got back, two hours nearly passed. I searched around for Bev, didn't find her, and became more frustrated as the minutes ticked by. I started doubting I was in the right place and was about to retrace my steps, hoping I still had enough time, when I halted and slapped myself in the face.

I remembered.

Bev was still in stealth mode. I couldn't see her.

"Bev?" I groped around in the darkness, hands out, whispering their names. "Kat? Come on guys, it's me, Hunter. Where are you?"

No answer.

I became frantic. I wore the tracker – Kat knew I was here. Why didn't they come and get me? I didn't want to yell in case Sergeant Bixby was searching for me, but I had no choice. I took a deep breath, and yelled,
"Bev."

"Halt! Who goes there?" Her voice came from a spot I'd walked through.

I jumped straight up and swung around. "Bev, cut it out! You scared me to death."

"I am on guard duty, sur!" she replied in a crisp military tone. Her voice moved as if she were marching around me. "Stand and present your orders of the day."

"I think you mean password," I replied.

"Oh, yeah." I heard her giggle. "You're right."

A light appeared in front of me. Kat hovered in the air framed by the hatchway. "Get in here Hunter, I want to close this door before someone spots us." She reached out a hand to help me up. "What did you learn?"

"What happened to you guys?" I scrambled into the cargo bay and Bev's door dilated shut. "I've been wandering around in circles searching for you."

"There was a problem," Kat retorted in exasperation. "Bev doesn't do well in trees, you know, she's, ah, big-boned. We had to take it slow. Every time we got a fix, you'd move. We've been chasing you for an hour."

I bit back a remark, and brushed myself off.

"Did you see anyone we know?" Kat said in a rush.

"Yeah, uh, well no, but I met Hank Jenkins and –"

"You found
Hank?
Of all the –" Her mouth hung open wordlessly.

"Hold on, will ya – Hank said he saw your dad. He's gonna find him and meet us." I jumped into my seat. "We'd better begin rolling, I said I'd meet Hank in three hours, and our time is about up. I became lost."

Kat hurried to her chair and strapped herself down. I said, "Bev, were you tracking me?"

"Sure 'nuff."

"Then let's go; we're short on minutes."

Bev took my circular route back to the edge of the camp. We halted out of sight and Kat and I started to argue about how we'd do this thing. Kat and Bev were all in favor of charging straight into the prison enclosure. I thought they were nuts.

"We march in, bust down the fence, and scoop up Dad," Kat protested when I frowned. "I don't know why you're being stupid about this." She shouted into the air in an encouraging tone, "You'll do it, can't you Bev?"

"Let me at 'em! I'll show those guys who's boss. Mess around with by BFFs' dads, will they? I'll murder the fence."

"Yeah, sounds fine in theory," I replied, "but even in stealth mode, they're gonna notice us, and somebody'll shoot back."

"The fence is going to shoot me?" gasped Bev in dismay.

"Cut it out Bev, you're not helping matters!" I yelled. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and said to Kat, "We know they have rockets. I think I saw artillery pieces over there too." I hurried on, "I know Bev can take a couple of hits, but do we want to take the chance?"

"Not on your life, handsome."

"Then what's your idea, hot shot?" Kat replied, waving her hands in frustration. "We sit here and do nothing?"

"No, of course not." I racked my brain trying to design a scheme, which wouldn't kill us, and searched the inside of Bev to come up with an idea. I spotted Doc Krumboton's bots scattered in the back of the bay, and decided on a plan – a stupid plan, but a plan, nevertheless.

"A suicide mission."

"What?"

"Not on your life, buddy," scolded Bev. "My name's Battle Evasive, not Battle
Dead."

I ignored her.

"Listen," I pointed to Doc's bots. "Let's release these guys and create a diversion. Bev," I said, "you're able to send them anywhere to do whatever we want, right? Doc said you control the whole bunch."

"I suppose I do," she admitted and then gasped, "but they're my brothers and sisters!"

"It will be their finest hour," I assured her. "Besides, there's plenty more back at the lab. Kat, we'll send them in first; let them bite, snarl, or gnaw on everything and everybody they find and create a diversion. While the soldiers are busy trying to corral them we dash in, grab Hank and your dad, and scoot. Sound good?"

"It might work," admitted Kat. "At least it'll slow them down while we rescue Dad. Anyway, we have to do something." She nodded her head. "Yeah, why not."

Ten minutes later a miniature army of small creatures flapped, slithered, and scurried out of Bev into the army camp. A few minutes after we heard yells and screams drifting up the hill.

"Now, Bev!" I shouted.
"Go!"

Bev stormed out of cover, and crashed through the trees, rocketing down the slope at breakneck speed. She was in stealth mode, but still left a clear path of destruction as she flattened tents and crushed fires, sending sparks leaping skyward with her passing. The prison fence loomed before us and on the other side stood Hank and Kat's dad. Other prisoners froze in panic, but as the fence collapsed, they scattered in terror. Hank and Mr. Brennen appeared ready to run too.

I saw no sign of Pop anywhere.

Bev sliced through the wood stockade as if it were made of soft cheese and slid to a stop. Her doors swung open and I ran to the hatch.

As the interior of Bev flicked into view, Hank and Mr. Brennen gasped in surprise. I realized with dismay Bev was still in stealth mode and I seemed to float in thin air.

"Oh, jeez," I groaned. I scrambled out the hatch. "Come on!" I grabbed Mr. Brennan's arm and dragged him toward the door. "We've gotta get out of here!" I pushed him forward with one hand while snatching at Hank's shirt with the other, jerking him along behind me. I shoved both toward Bev.

"Get in."

"Where did you come from?" gasped Mr. Brennan as he stumbled into Bev and collapsed on his face. Hank tripped over him in his rush to leap inside, and I tried desperately to push them farther into the cargo bay so I could scramble into Bev myself.

Two guards shot at us. Doc's flying ball zipped out of Bev and streaked at the soldiers. They switched their aim, fired at the orb, missed, and ran for cover as the sphere dived-bombed their heads.

Mr. Brennan rolled inside, Hank was still laying prostrate on the edge of the door. I crawled over Hank and hauled his legs in so the hatch would close.

At the last moment, the flying orb zoomed through the doorway. It smashed into the interior of Bev's cargo bay with a crash and clattered to the deck.

"Kat, what did –?"

"Dad!" Kat ran aft and threw herself on her father.

"Hunter." Hank was tugging my leg as I crawled back to my seat, "Where did you find –"

"No time,"
I yelped, trying to push Hank off me to get in my chair. "Bev, make us move, fast!" An armored car rumbled toward us. Men leaped out carrying assault rifles seeking something to shoot at.

Bev saw the same thing. She flew backward, not bothering to swing around and crushed more of the fence.

I changed directions, shoved Hank into a chair, and went aft to help Kat haul her father up. I tried pushing him into a chair, but he shook me off, hugging Kat with one arm. Hank shivered, Mr. Brennan's face was pale, and both appeared dazed as Bev picked up speed and bounced us around.

The soldiers saw the fence collapse and tried to level their guns at us, which was hard; one man had two mechanical snakes clamped onto his arms, while another had a rat hanging grimly onto the back of his pants.

I heard a roar and Bev shook. She yelped, "I'm getting out of here!" She let out a banshee scream, spun around, and zoomed faster.

Kat still clung onto her dad, crying. Hank staggered to his feet when Bev spoke, searching wildly for the origin of her voice. We all tumbled forward into the pilot's couches as Bev bucked and jumped, only to hurl into the rear bulkhead as Bev whipped around a tree. Mr. Brennan screamed when his shoulder slammed into the wall.

"Bev, slow down, will ya?" I shouted, trying to stand. She bounced and I wacked my head on her ceiling. "You're going to kill us all! Go into passenger mode, now."

The deck below us stabilized enough so I was able to stagger to my feet and help Kat up. Between the two of us, we guided Kat's dad and Hank to the rear command couches and strapped both down. Mr. Brennan's face was ashen and a groan of pain escaped his lips as he sat.

"Mr. Brennan, are you okay?" I asked as we climbed into our own seats.

He waved me off. "What is this thing?" he demanded, struggling to peek over the top of my seat. Bev had split her screen so we could see what happened behind us.

A flattened ATV and two demolished tents disappeared in the distance. Someone's laundry was stuck to Bev's rear and fluttered.

"Me too!" squeaked Hank. "What is this?"

"Later," I said, "first let's escape." Rockets streaked toward us out of the dark with explosions popping along our back-trail.

We left the camp behind and slowed to a crawl as we climbed into the hills and weaved in and out of trees. Once we put a good ten miles between us and Morgan's men, Bev came to a complete halt behind an outcropping of rocks.

"Now tell me what this thing is," ordered Mr. Brennan.

"Hey, he's kinda cute." Bev's voice filled the cabin.

"Who else is here?" Both Mr. Brennan and Hank twisted in their seats to scan the cargo bay.

"Guys, I want you to meet Bev," I said with a wave of my hand. "Bev, these are friends of ours."

"Well, I'm collecting a harem, aren't I?" she exclaimed. "I feel a party coming on. Who brought the keg?"

 

 

Hank cringed back in his seat, his jaws clamped tight. Mr. Brennan appraised us as if we were crazy and asked, "What is a Bev and how did you get it?"

"She's our friend, a battle bot," replied Kat quickly.

"Humph, bot indeed!"

Hank buried himself deeper into his chair and crossed his arms and legs. Mr. Brennan opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Kat surveyed her father closely. "What's the matter with your arm?"

Mr. Brennan clutched his right arm close to his chest. In the light, the skin appeared all bruised and funny.

"Think I broke it during the battle at town," he admitted with a grimace, glancing down at his injured member. "Hurts, but I'll survive."

I couldn't hold back any longer. I blurted out, "Mr. Brennan? Have you seen my pop? Do you know what happened to him?"

He made a face. "Sorry Hunter, I can't tell you. Last time I saw him was when he went out to negotiate with Black Morgan's men. They must have grabbed the whole party. When the army marched to our gate, I didn't see any sign of our people, and then the attack started."

"Do you think he's dead?" I asked, a tight lump gripping at my throat.

Mr. Brennan gave a slight shrug. "I don't know. After the army arrived they opened fire on us, swarmed the wall, and I was captured when we were forced to retreat. Either he is dead, or we heard they sent people back west for reorientation. Maybe he was one of those groups. I hope so, anyway."

"Oh, maybe." I didn't know if I should be happy or cry. At least he might still be alive.

"Where are we going?" Hank asked. He'd relaxed enough to reach out, touch the inside of the cabin, and examine the control panel, but his voice still sounded scared out of its wits. His eyes rolled and he licked his lips. Shivers kept running through his body.

"Back to town?" Kat said to me. She swung around to her dad. "Someone should be there who can fix your shoulder."

"No," Mr. Brennan denied, "anyone who knew anything about medicine was taken in the attack. One of the first places they raided was the clinic."

"I want to return to town," stated Hank, a frantic haze in his eyes. "There's no place else to go, anyhow."

"Let's drive to the lab," I said, ignoring Hank, "Maybe Doc can do something with your dad's arm."

Hank leaned forward and put his hands on the back of my couch, "Hey, don't I get a say in this matter?" he bellowed. "I said I want to go hom –"

"Shut up Hank," I said. "Mr. Brennan is hurt and we need to find him medical attention. You can wait a couple of hours." I said to Bev, "Back to the barn, Bev, we've got a sick one here."

"Righty-o. I left a trail of bread crumbs, just in case." She started up, moving through the night, humming as she went:

 

"We'll take the sicko home!

And fix his broken bones!

I'll do it quick,

Let's use a pick!

In case he wants to moan!"

 

Bev giggled. "Say this is pretty good. I'm a poet." Her voice shifted next to Mr. Brennan. "What do you think, Dad, moan or groan? It is your operation, you know."

"Let me outta here!" Hank clawed at his seat harness, terror written on his face. "This place is haunted. We're all going to die."

When Bev started singing, Mr. Brennan broke out in a faint smirk, which grew into a laugh. He glared at Hank and laid his good hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy, son. No one is about to hurt you here. I
hope,"
he spoke into the air, "Bev was only kidding, right?"

"Oh, yeah Dad," Bev assured him, "I never use a pick when I operate – use a hammer. Painless Annie, I am. After I knock you out, you'd never feel a thing."

While Bev spoke, Hank startled, more afraid than ever. He leaned back, drew his knees up to his stomach and wrapped his arms around himself, muttering under his breath. He kept glancing left and right.

"You are not talking about our lab, are you?" Mr. Brennan asked me, puzzled. He cradled his arm and tried to make himself more comfortable. "There's no one there. Besides, I heard it was destroyed after the fight."

"Only the top levels," I said.

"There can't be much left, anyhow. Maybe Hank is right, better go to Paradise Cove," Mr. Brennan decided. "Even if Morgan snatched all the clinic personnel, someone must have medical training. I'll find somebody. "Who is this Doc you keep talking about? Where did he come from?"

"He lives at the lab. The soldiers missed the best part," Kat assured him.

"A secret lab was under the buildings no one knew about," I put in.

"Secret lab?" said Mr. Brennan, "you're kidding." He gazed from Kat to me in astonishment. "Hmm . . . explains a lot; and you say there's a person living down there after all these years? I always thought more went on in the place than they let on, all those strangers coming and going. What type of lab?"

Kat laughed. "Wait. You think Bev is neat, you haven't seen nothing yet."

Hank groaned.

As we traveled down the freight elevator, he roused himself long enough to exclaim, "Wow, how did you guys ever find this place?"

"Uh, I guess we got lucky," I said. Mr. Brennan kept his eye on me, and I knew we'd have a lot of explaining to do later on. Neither Kat nor I were allowed up here alone, and we'd be in for it.

Doctor Krumboton was waiting for us when we settled in Bev's garage and the doors opened. His floating chair zipped over to the hatch and he said eagerly, "How did it go? Did they work?" He peered over my shoulder as I stepped out, searching for his bots.

"Worked great, sir." I gestured to Mr. Brennan and Hank as they exited behind me. "This is Kat's father and our friend."

"Yes, yes, of course. You said you left to rescue people," the doc replied impatiently. He kept scanning the empty cargo bay. "Where are they? B.E.V., send out my children, I want to assess how they performed."

I heard a muted "Uh-oh" from somewhere inside the cabin.

"They were destroyed –" Kat said.

"What?"

"– but they worked great until they did," she added quickly. "You would have been proud of the whole bunch."

The doctor's lips compressed and then he brightened. "Oh, well, I was not going to be paid for them anyway."

A loud bang echoed from inside Bev's cargo bay and a moment later Doc's flying ball soared out of the hold. It circled Krumboton's head twice and dashed off into his lab.

"Oh, yeah," I said brightly, "not all of your bots were destroyed."

"I knew she would survive," commented the doctor. I couldn't tell if he was happy about the fact or not.

He extended his hand to Mr. Brennan and Hank. "I am Doctor Krumboton. You are –?"

"Hank." He sorta waved, and scooted behind me, not approaching Doc to shake his hand.

"John Brennan." Kat's father reached out his left arm awkwardly.

"Hmm . . ." Doc didn't take it. Instead, he studied Mr. Brennan's injuries with professional interest. "Dislocated shoulder and fractured forearm, I would say," he muttered. "Well, come along. It has been a while since I practiced medicine, but we will see what we can do." He dusted off his hands and his chair swung into his workshop. He said with a chuckle, "I usually only practice on myself. You three may wait here, or in my lab," he told us. "This will take some time." He waved Mr. Brennan on. "Do not dawdle. I have not lost a patient in ten years." He laughed to himself. "Ten years! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Mr. Brennan trailed Doc nervously.

We tailed more slowly, Hank halted at the lab entrance and hung back as Kat and I made ourselves comfortable. Doc and Mr. Brennan entered another room and the door banged shut.

Hank got his courage up and made a slow circle around the room, an occasional snake or rat running up to inspect him. Each time he'd jump in panic and finally exclaimed, "This place gives me the willies! Who is the crazy old man anyway?"

"Doctor Krumboton," Kat replied with annoyance, "and he's not crazy. I guess he's smart if he invented all this stuff." She gestured around the lab. "He sort of became lost down here, but it wasn't his fault."

"Lost is right." Hank kicked at a duckling circling his feet, quacking. "I gotta escape this loony bin." He stormed into Bev's garage.

"Hank, come back, you're being a jerk." I leaped up and stalked after him.

"Not on your life, Greene," he shouted, throwing his hand in the air. He stopped, stood next to Bev, and banged on the elevator doors with his clenched fists. "I want out!"

"Knock, knock."

Hank swung around, his eyes wild. "What did you say, Greene? You think this is funny?" His fists balled up ready to hit me.

"It was me, boyfriend," Bev said, "You banged on the doors. Aren't we playing knock, knock? You're supposed to say, 'Who's there'."

Hank backed away from Bev in horror and ran to me. "Hunter, you've gotta get me out of here," he pleaded, "otherwise I'll become as crazy as the rest of you and this
thing
." He threw a glance over his shoulder, put his hands on his hips, and took a deep breath.

I almost laughed. Hank outweighed me by fifty pounds and was a head taller. Worse yet, we had shop together and next year we
build
a bot.

I draped an arm around his shoulder. "C'mon back to the lab and relax. Don't worry, we'll return to town, we need to have Mr. Brennan fixed up first." I steered him inside to Kat and sat him down.

Hank wasn't finished. He kept licking his lips and fidgeting. "When are we leaving?" he finally blurted out. "Sitting here is a waste of time."

Kat clouded up. She'd heard him whine in the garage and her teeth were grinding, trying to bite back a remark I knew she wanted to make.

I was becoming annoyed with Hank myself – enough was enough already. He should'a been kissing everyone's feet for rescuing him, especially the doc for inventing the machines which did it, not to mention Bev, me and Kat for sticking our necks out. Instead, he was complaining as if he were a kid who couldn't have his way.

Finally, I could take no more. "Hey, you're here and what are you going to do?" I said. "You want to run back to Paradise Cove? Good. When we finish here, we'll take you there. You can sit in the rubble. Remember there's nothing much left – or become a skel?" He ticked me off so much I wanted to punch him, but I knew if I did, he'd flatten me.

Hank was shaking, but not with fear; shock, anger, and some of the old Hank arrogance crept back into his voice. "Listen, Greene, I bet I'd do all right as a skel," he sneered, "or a scavenger."

"You wouldn't last ten minutes," I shot back, leaping to my feet.

He gave me a curt nod and bolted up. "I might even take off and join Black Morgan's army. If you volunteer, they don't place you through reorientation, you know. In a year I could be a sergeant."

"You wouldn't dare!" gasped Kat, putting her hand to her mouth. "It would be terrible."

Hank shouted back, "Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?" He glanced down at his feet. A rat replaced the duckling and sat on his foot, staring up at him. Hank quick-stepped backward, shaking his shoe. "I ain't sticking around this place any longer than I have to," he said.

"Ooooh!" Kat stamped her foot and crossed her arms. "I'm going to talk with Bev," she declared, bolting out of her chair. She stomped off into the garage without a backward glance at Hank or me.

I took a deep breath, pulled a stool over, and sat. I had a suspicion Hank was confused, and more scared about the future than anything else; the town destroyed, him captured, everything screwed up. Once he got used to the new situation, he'd simmer down.

"You know it wouldn't be right to join Black Morgan," I said in a quiet voice. "They'll try to rebuild the town. Think about it, they'll have to. We gotta live somewhere, right? Would you really attack your own home?"

Hanks eyes clouded over and he refused to answer me at first. "I suppose not," he mumbled finally.

"Kat and I rode into Paradise Cove," I continued. "People are still there, not many, but they haven't left yet. It was an awful mess, but who knows."

"Did you see my parents?" he asked. "They weren't in the prison camp."

I rubbed my forehead, I was getting sleepy; it had been a long night. "No, but we saw Sonja sitting in the street. She asked about you."

"Yeah, she did?" He walked over and sat beside me. "Well, what do you know. I always thought she stayed with me because I was on the football team." He drummed his fingers on his knee. "Maybe I should go back to town," he admitted. "I don't think I'd enjoy sleeping on the ground all the time." He said awkwardly, "Hey, Hunter, sorry for blowing off steam. I guess I'm tired. I haven't had much sleep in the past few days."

"It's okay, I don't blame you, I feel the same way too," I sighed. "I can't believe all this happened."

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.