Story #217 - Stubby Two

Stubby Two

Stubby Reiner goosed the throttle hard, and was glad to hear the engine of the X-1 roar in response. Doc and his team had made him sit through meeting after meeting about the damn car before they'd let him anywhere near the inside, and had handed out sixteen or so manuals that he was supposed to read so he didn't foul things up inside their precious project.

Fifteen of those manuals were scattered around his house, propping up various chairs and tables, and the last one he'd been tearing pages out of and setting them on fire on his balcony. The high-gloss paper Landsbury and his science-pals had used burned brightly.

He wasn't trying to be contrary – it was just that he knew more about cars than Doc and his team ever could. Sure, they had all the technical specs about the X-1, but not one of them had the guts to drive the thing. Why? Because they didn't really understand the car. Stubby did.

Stubby let up on the throttle and let the engine settle back down, then made a quick survey of the other instruments in the car. Most of it was familiar stuff, but there was a control panel behind him where the gap to the back seat should have been that featured a number of dials and buttons he had no idea about. As soon as Doc saw him looking at the panel, the older man came swooping in to the driver's side window and motioned for stubby to roll it down.

“Don't touch those, Mr. Reiner.,” Doc said quietly.

He gave the other man a hard look. They had talked about this, and Doc was in his territory, now.

“Stubby.” He could hear the irritation in the other man's voice, but at least Doc could remember the simple things.

“No worries, Doc – all those fancy buttons ain't my thing anyways. I just like to drive cars.”

“I'm sure you do. Now, do you mind telling me what you're doing in here? I wanted you to have a chance to 'get to know your new girl', as you put it, but is this really of any benefit?” Landsbury's face was earnest, and his tone was curious – the man really didn't get it.

“Look, Doc,” he said, shutting off the X-1, “you came down here because you need a driver, and not just any driver, one that can handle big cars and high speed without batting an eye.” Stubby pulled out the single key from the ignition and handed it back to Landsbury. “Well, part of that is because I get along with my cars, I know them inside and out. Tech manuals and specs are great, but they don't tell you what a car needs, how she's going to react under pressure and what it feels like when you stomp down hard and push her as far as she can go. You want me to go some speed nobody's ever gone? Sure, I can do that – but you've got to let me do it my way.”

Doc nodded as he stepped away from the door, and Stubby hopped out.

“When do you think you'll know our girl well enough to get started?” Doc asked, and Stubby could see the two suits in the corner smirking at him. He hadn't liked Ray or Jay from the moment they walked into his garage, and time hadn't improved his feelings about them. Landsbury was smarter than he was, no question, but didn't rub it in his face. The rhyming twins the older man had brought with him, however, had no problem telling Stubby just how dumb they thought he was whenever Doc wasn't around to hear it.

“Tomorrow, Doc, and I'll be as ready as ever.”

Landsbury smiled, and then motioned to Lana, who was working quietly on a laptop. She didn't seem to like Ray or Jay either, and had kept her distance from everyone except the good Doctor for the two weeks she had been in the South.

“I take that to mean that you've had a chance to review all of the technical documentation that we gave you? That you know the X-1 in and out?”

Stubby hesitated. “I...maybe not all of them.” Or maybe one page of the first one before he'd fallen asleep.

Doc smiled. “I thought as much. Lana wrote most of those manuals, Stubby, and we didn't really think you'd read them, but for insurance purposes we had to give you a chance. Now that we've done that, it's only fair to tell you that Lana will be coming along on the testing run.”

Stubby could feel his jaw drop open, though the beautiful dark-haired woman next to Landsbury didn't react – impressive, considering the speed they'd be going once Stubby got the X-1 on the road.

“That's a bad idea, Doc,” Stubby said once he got some of his voice back. “No offense, ma'am,” he said politely to Lana, “but I drive a car with one man in it – me. Another body will throw off the weight balance, and the last thing you want me to do is make a mistake with this X-1 of yours. Sorry, but the answer is no.”

Landsbury didn't speak, but Lana held his gaze, her blue eyes deep and crystalline. “I know it won't be easy, Mr. Reiner, but I'd love to see your work. You're the best of the best, and one rarely gets the chance to see such skill close up.”

Stubby felt his face flush. Flattery from Lana was the last thing he needed – and about the only thing that might convince him to change his mind. He glared at Doc, and then at the two idiots in the corner. He could fight the man on this, but it would delay the whole experiment, and Doc might just pack up and leave. After getting a taste of X-1, he didn't want that to happen.

“Fine. She comes along,” Stubby said shortly, “but to be clear, when we're in that car, I'm the one in charge. You get me?”

“Of course, Mr. Reiner,” Lana said sweetly, “whatever you say.”

Cursing under his breath, Stubby stalked off. Damn Yankees.

- D

Story #214 - Stubby's Run

Stubby's Run

“So you're saying that if I go fast enough in this thing, I'll go into another dimension?” Stubby Reiner looked over the car the egg-heads had brought in for him to look at. It wasn't much on the eyes, nothing like his Mark II or the Sweeper he had out back, but it had a certain charm to it, a sleekness he found appealing. Of course, the fact that it ran on dark matter just upped the ante.

“Not quite,” there was an amused quality to the voice of Doctor Pip Landsbury, one that Stubby had been hearing clearly since the Doc and his team walked into the shop. Fact was, he knew they'd been sent to him because he was the best driver in country, something that did no small thing for his ego. They could look down their noses at him all they wanted – he'd gotten the fighting bug out of his system long ago – since when they were gone, he'd still be rich, famous and fast.

“What then, Doc?” Landsbury's brows creased. It was obvious he didn't like the shortening of his title, which meant Stubby would use it more often. His mama had always told him he was a trying child on the best of days, and maybe that's why he wanted to go so fast. People didn't mind talking to him for a few minutes, but after that they wished he'd go away, and as quickly as possible.

Stubby knew his appearance didn't do him any favors when combined with his manners. Big ears, a big nose and small eyes gave him the look of a rat dressed in plaid, and he couldn't help but feel like he'd missed the invitation to the fancy-clothes party, looking at the team Doc had brought with him. Landsbury himself was tall and iron-haired, with a slightly hooked nose and a cast to his face that brooked no nonsense. He alone out of the four scientists in Stubby's garage was wearing a lab coat, probably to convince Stubby that he meant business.

The other two men in the group were dressed in dark business suits, and looked similar enough to be brothers. Both had red hair and freckles, and had to be at least five years younger than Stubby. Ray and Jay, Doc had called them, and though they hadn't spoken, their looks of disdain said it all. They weren't southern boys, that was for sure.

It was the woman who really held his attention, though he tried not to let it show. Long, dark hair framed a porcelain face, and the blue eyes staring out over high cheekbones seemed to see right through him. Lana Rathbone was her name, and after a brief introduction, Stubby had all but ignored her. Doc wanted to ask him something important, or so he'd been told, and he didn't need a woman fouling it all up.

Now that he'd heard what Doc wanted, he wasn't so sure what was so damned important it had brought the man all the way from his lab in New York.

“What, then?” Stubby asked again, moving forward to touch the sloping hood of the car, his irritation rising. One of the red-hairs – Jay, he thought – moved to stop him, but Doc shook his head. They didn't understand, of course. They'd built the car, but that wasn't the same as loving her. Touch and feel were the first warning signs any driver had that something was wrong with his vehicle, and meeting a new car meant shaking hands, getting to know what made it tick. He smiled. It was forward, but he really wanted to see under her hood.

“As I told you, Mr. Reiner,” Doc said in a not-so-patient tone.

“Stubby,” he cut in abruptly. This was his home and his garage, and Mr. Reiner was his father.

“Stubby.” He could hear the strain in Doc's voice, and had to hide a smile. It wasn't that he went out of his way to anger Yankees, just that they seemed to take offense so easily.

“The X-1 won't take you to another dimension, just move you more rapidly through ours. The idea is that at high speeds, the machine can generate enough energy to open a portal, one that's tied to a beacon we've set up in New York. Once it passes through the portal, it should instantly appear in our lab – at a far more reasonable velocity – and we'll be able to assess how well the process works.”

Stubby nodded, not really listening as he made his way around the car. He'd heard enough to understand, but was more focused on the beauty they'd crafted – she was appealing to him more and more as he got a better look. Even egg-heads could get some things right, it seemed.

“First off,” he said shortly, “she's a car, not a machine.” Doc opened his mouth to say something more, but Stubby kept talking. “Second, why do you need me? You could've taken this thing to New Jersey or one of them other northern states to test this out. What the hell are you doing this far south?”

Doc shifted uncomfortably, and then glanced at the woman beside him.

“The truth is, Stubby,” Lana said softly, taking a step toward him. “that none of our team was willing to pilot the car that fast. Combine that with the fact that we haven't done a long distance test and well,” she smiled and gestured in his direction, “that led us to you.”

“Ok,” he heard himself saying, “I'll do it.” He cursed inside his head. He shouldn't have looked right at her – damn blue eyes had caught him off guard. “How damn fast do you need me to go, anyway?”

Doc checked his notes, and a grin spread across his face. “Five hundred and seventeen miles an hour, Stubby, and that's just for the warm-up.”

Fear wasn't something Stubby was used to feeling, so he decided to label it as caution. Severe, heart-pounding caution. This was going to be fun – or deadly. Or both.

- D