To The Stars

It would not be easy to pull that dead weight from the muck of the swamp. That would come later. Vilho had to be taken to safety first. Jan stopped behind the engine, then climbed carefully up the cables with the coldsuit bundled under his arm. He could feel the burn of the metal even through his thick gloves and wondered if the engineer was still alive inside. It was time to find out. He flipped up the lid of the phone next to the rear entrance and shouted into it.

“Vilho, can you hear me? Vilho, come in.

He had to do this twice before a weak voice rustled back.

“Hot… burning… can’t breathe.”

“It’s going to get a lot hotter if you don’t do as I say. I can’t open this door so you must have sealed it from the inside. Vilho, you have to unlock it. It’s out of water. Let me know when that’s done.”

There was slow scraping inside and an endless time seemed to pass before the trapped engineer spoke again.

“It’s open… Jan.”

“Then you’re almost out of this. Get as far from the door as you can. I’m going to come through fast and close it behind me. I have a coldsuit for you. Once you get into it you’ll be okay. I’m going to count five, then I’m coming in.

As he said five, Jan kicked the door open and dropped through it, throwing the coldsuit before him. It was much harder to close the heavy metal door because of the angle, but he managed to brace his feet against the engine mount and heave with his shoulders. It thudded shut. Vilho was huddled against the far wall, unmoving. His eyes opened when Jan pulled at him and he made feeble movements to help as Jan slid the thick suit up over his legs. Arms in, helmet on, front sealed, full cooling strength on. As the cool air poured over him the engineer smiled up at Jan through the faceplate and raised a weak thumb.

“Thought I was cooked for sure. Thanks…”

“Thanks to you, everyone on the train is still alive. Will the engine keep supplying them with current?”

“No problem there. I checked it out and set it on automatic before the heat got me. It’s a rugged beast.”

“Then we may get out of this in one piece yet. The tanks are on their way now. Let’s find the car with Lee Ciou in it and see what is happening. He’s in radio contact with my engine.”

“That’ll be number six in line.”

They walked back down the train, stepping over the rapidly decomposing corpses of the beasts that had caused the trouble. Although the cars were across the Road at all angles the couplings and connections still seemed sound; tribute to the long-dead engineers who had designed them. The people inside waved excitedly when they saw them and they smiled and waved back. The angry face of Chun Taekeng appeared in one of the windows, mouth working with unheard curses. He shook his fist at them and grew even more infuriated when Jan waved back and smiled at him. Vilho switched on the outside phone when they reached the door and they buzzed and shouted into it for a number of minutes before someone inside went to fetch Lee Ciou.

“Jan here. Can you hear me, Lee?”

“Is that Vilho with you? Then the drivers… ?”

“Dead. Probably instantly. How are the people in the train?”

“Better than we thought at first. A couple of broken bones the worst that happened. The damaged car has been evacuated and sealed off. Chun Taekeng has some strong complaints to make.”

“I can imagine. He waved to us on the way back here. What about the tanks?”

“Due any minute now, I think.”

Then we may still get out of this, get these people out of here alive, Jan thought to himself. Though it wouldn’t be easy. Two dead. The drivers would have to be replaced. How could the front port be mended? There was so much to do. And fatigue was grabbing at him again, fighting to pull him down.

Nine

By the time the two tanks came rumbling up, Jan had his salvage plan made and the preparations begun. He waved them to a stop, leaned his almost discharged cycle against the scarred metal treads of the first one, then climbed slowly and wearily up into the cab. For the first time in hours he opened the helmet of his coldsuit and breathed deeply of the cool air.

“A real mess,” Lajos said, looking out at the crippled train.

“Cold water, a bucketful,” Jan said, and didn’t speak again until he had drained over a liter of the lifesaving fluid. “It could have been a lot worse. Two dead, that’s all. Now let’s see that the living stay that way. Give me that pad and I’ll show you what we’re going to do.”

He quickly sketched out the foundered tank and the first cars of the train, then tapped the car with his stylo.