To The Stars

There was a burial. Brief, but still a burial, with the few men in coldsuits the only witnesses. Then right back to work. The cab was drained and Jan examined the damage. Jury controls could be rigged and improved later. He supervised the job himself although he was swaying with exhaustion. A small replacement port was set into the center of a heavy steel plate, and the whole thing crudely but carefully welded over the smashed front port. The driver would not be able to see much — but at least he could see. The air conditioning came back on and the compartment began to cool down and dry out. New controls replaced the damaged ones and were wired into position. As this was being done the tanks had carefully straightened out the jackknifed train and all of the couplings were examined carefully for damage. It seemed all right. It had to be all right.

Hours later the trains started forward again. At a much reduced speed until the final repairs could be made, but they were moving. Jan was not aware of it. He had collapsed on the bunk in the engine room, unconscious before his head touched the pillow.

It was dark when he awoke, hours later, and climbed wearily back into the driving compartment. Otakar was at the wheel, his face gray with fatigue.

“Otakar, go below and get some sleep,” Jan ordered.

“I’m fine…

“He is not,” Alzbeta said, most emphatically. “He made me rest, and the others, but has had none himself”

“You hear the lady,” Jan said. “Move.”

Otakar was too tired to argue. He nodded and did as he had been told. Jan slipped into the empty seat and checked the controls and automatic log.

“We’re coming to the bad part now,” he said, soaked in gloom.

“Coming to it!” Alzbeta was shocked. “What would you call that part we have just finished?”

“Normally it would have been one of the easy stretches. The normal life forms there are usually no trouble. It is the ones we are starting through now that are the worst. Residents of eternal summer. All the energy they need from that white hot sun up there, all the food they can consume from the other life forms around them. It’s kill and be killed and it never stops.”

Alzbeta looked out at the jungle beyond the burned edges of the Road and shivered. “I’ve never seen it like this,” she said in a hushed voice. “It all looks so terrible from up here in the engine with the unknown always sweeping toward us. When you look out of a car window it’s so different.”

Jan nodded. “I’m sorry to say it, but there’s far worse out there that we can’t see. Animal life forms never noticed or catalogued. One time I put out nets, just for a few hours when we were going through here, and I caught at least a thousand different kinds of insects. There must be thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands more. The animals are harder to see — but they are there as well. They are voracious and will attack anything. That’s why we never stop out here until we’re out on the islands”

“The insects — why did you want to catch them? Are they good for anything?”

He did not laugh, or even smile, at her simple question. How could she know any better, having been raised on this deadened world? “The answer is yes and no. No, they are good for nothing in the way we usually think of things. We can’t eat them, or use them in any other way. But, yes, the search for knowledge is an end in itself. We are here on this planet because of the pure search for knowledge and the discoveries made thereby. Though perhaps that is not the best example I could have used. Think of it this way…”

“Malfunction reports from train eight,” Ryzo called through from the communication board. “I’m putting you through.”

“Report,” Jan said.

“We seem to have some air intakes that are clogging up.”

“You know the orders. Seal them and recycle the air.”

“We’ve done that on one car, but there are complaints that the air is hard to breathe.”

“There always are. These cars aren’t airtight — enough oxygen is getting in. No matter how bad the air smells it’s still all right. Do not, repeat do not, allow any windows to be opened;” Jan closed the connection and called out to Ryzo, “Can you put me through to Lajos with the tanks.”

The connection was made quickly enough; Lajos sounded exhausted.

“Some of these trees have trunks ten meters thick; takes time to burn through.”

“Narrow the track then. We can’t be more than five hours behind you.”

“The regulations say…”

“The hell with regulations. We’re in a hurry. We’ll be back soon enough and we can widen then.”

While he talked, Jan reset the autopilot, adding ten KPH to their speed. Alzbeta looked at the speedometer, but said nothing.

“I know,” Jan said, “we’re going faster than we should. But we have people jammed in back there, crowded like they have never been before. It’s going to start stinking like a zoo soon…”