Freedom Forged

by Alan Austin

  “NO!” Sam screamed.

  Boomer was ready to sacrifice himself so one of the others could pull the cable back up and try again. It would take some time to get word back to Grease to retract the cable, but it was the only way to try again if Boomer missed his chance. Sam recognized that he’d considered having to do the same thing, and would have if the need had arisen, but he still couldn’t bear to see his friend let go.

  Boomer likely never heard Sam as the noise of the engine, wind, and water were beyond overwhelming, but he did look back over as his body spun back in that direction and gave him a farewell look. He had his hands still behind him now and was clearly ready to pull the release. With what couldn’t have been more than a second to spare, his cable bounced him slightly and then pulled him back up a few feet. Grease was testing the slack on his side, just as she’d done to Sam a moment earlier.

  Boomer’s eyes went wide and he brought both hands out in front of him again for a final swing at the railing. Sam held his breath and the world seemed to freeze as Boomer spun the cable once, twice, and then released it on the third spin with his eyes closed. The hook sailed out, passed through two of the bars of the railing and then started to bounce around as it reached its length. It took everything Sam had not to close his eyes too, but he kept them open and watched as the hook was pulled back. It hadn’t wrapped around the pole like it should have and was about to fall back out. Sam was glad Boomer had his eyes closed, this second chance had been nothing more than false hope and he didn’t want to see the expression on his friend’s face when he realized it had failed. Sam braced himself for the moment the hook would fall, but suddenly, one of the prongs caught the bar and it stuck.

  It was hardly a solid connection, but it was something. Boomer opened his eyes with relief, but it was short lived when he saw what a poor grip he’d managed to achieve. Nevertheless, he pulled himself forward toward the railing, taking his time and being as smooth about it as he could. His cable was lowering him again slowly, but he was making enough progress to get there as long as the hook held. He was six feet away when the train felt like it adjusted course slightly. Sam was pressed back to the outside of his railing, but it swung Boomer forward and he was able to grab hard onto the railing. He’d made it.

  Boomer took just a minute to appreciate being alive and back on his feet before he set his loop and fastened the larger cable to make sure it wasn’t lost. It wouldn’t be long now.

  The spark of the bullet hitting the railing registered in Sam’s mind before the sound of the gunshot. A guard had made it past Mac on his side and come down below from the rear of the car. The fear of having lost another member of the crew – one who’d only just come back from the dead – gripped him, but his body reacted on muscle memory as he drew and fired his pistol without giving it any thought at all.

  Leaving his gun trained on the back of the walkway, he waited to see if more would follow, but none did. Perhaps it was just one who’d slipped past Mac and the man was still just fine and fending off the others.

  Sam watched as the cable slowly coiled at his feet, and once he had what he believed would be enough, he gathered it up and braced himself to try making the toss to the rudder. He swung it hard overhead and let it go, watching as it vanished into the churning water behind the engine and quickly swept back toward the large strut in the back. The cable was pulled straight back underneath him and he knew that it had not connected.

  He started pulling it back up by hand and found that it was much harder than he’d imagined it would be. The force of the water hitting the hook, as small as it was, was tugging at him and making him fight it all the way. Just as he finally retrieved it from the water below him and had it all coiled back on the platform, he looked over to see Boomer making his first attempt as well.

  It started the same as Sam’s, but it did not pull all the way back and looked like it was caught on the front of the rudder. The force of the water on the remaining cable seemed to have registered with Grease and the cable was retracted and pulled tight. Sam thought he felt a slight pull of the train when the cable reached full tension, but Grease did not force it too far over yet. They needed both cables connected for control before they risked snapping the steering rod or gears of the engine itself.

  Sam’s arms were already spent and he prayed that his second toss would connect. If it took too many tries, he’d have to go swap places with Mac. He couldn’t imagine pulling it back and tossing it again even one more time, let alone several. He mustered the last of his arms’ strength and heaved the hook as far across the span as he could before it was once again sucked back in the water. The cord pulled tight underneath the walkway again and Sam felt his body deflate at the failure.

  He grudgingly started to haul the cable back and found that it was exponentially harder the second time. After gathering a single loop of the metal cable on the walkway, Sam noticed that it was curving at the end and that he had managed to hook his target after all. He’d just gathered more cable than Boomer had. He released the cable and let it pull hard again, hoping that Grease would feel it and begin retracting, and sure enough, he heard the cable running along the metal loop as she did just that. He stood back and watched with great satisfaction as the cable pulled tight and was locked in.

  The carrier now had cables fixed tightly on the rudder from both sides and should be able to control it with adjustments to either side from the top of the engine. They were literally working around the internal mechanisms of the engine, but as long as they could cut off the control from inside, it should work. There were two ways to accomplish that. One was trying to force movement against the controls of the engine itself which should snap or disconnect their steering line. If that failed, Boomer was ready to blow the steering line, but it would require a very dangerous climb along the underside of the engine with nothing to keep him from falling.

  Both men moved forward, giving a safe space in case something snapped and sent any projectiles out to the side. Grease didn’t force anything for a moment, but when she did, it was quite apparent. The rudder turned slowly, but the telltale sign that it was under her control was in the screaming sound of the gears being driven back against their input. Grease slowly turned the rudder a few degrees back and forth as the train rocked from side to side until a loud snapping sound followed by a storm of sparks told the men that they had full control. The sparking gears would likely continue as long as the engineers were trying to fight control, but it was doing nothing to resist the control from above at this point.

  Sam looked to Boomer and both men nodded before running back to the rear of the engine to ascend and join their friends once more. Both groups came together on the bottom level where the cars met and made their quick decision. Navada was already on the engine car and Sam would join her to help protect the carrier until the train arrived at their destination. With Ticks down, Mac would be able to take his diver back up to the airship with the others. The plan had been to leave two single divers, but it had worked out that they had just enough for the job.

  Sam bid his friends a farewell and started up the semi-protected stairs at the back of the engine. He met three guards along the way, but they were so perplexed by the spreading news that the entire train had been hijacked that he caught them by surprise. He was soon back on top and found that Navada had already taken up her position in the newly installed gunner placement on one side of the carrier. It wasn’t a full station, but two large, belt fed guns were lowered from the rear section to help defend the position.

  Navada’s face was twisted in pain and anger, but Sam figured that getting to mow down whatever British forces tried to take on the carrier would help her deal with her emotions as well as anything. He pulled his gun into position and waited for whoever or whatever might come against them. It would be hours before they arrived and it was going to be a long day.

  With a nod back over his shoulder to Grease, Sam heard the gears turning inside the carrier and felt the tilt of the
engine as it was pulled to the left. They had the train under their control and were headed south to the river’s mouth to take the train inland. They had done the impossible and captured an Empire trans-Atlantic train in its entirety. If the last operation got them on the Brit’s radar, this one would fix them firmly at the top of their most wanted list.

  Two heads appeared at the back of the engine, but before Sam could get his gun on target, Navada had taken both out with a stream of fire from one ladder all the way across to the other side. Three waves tried to get over the edge before the guards stopped trying.

  It wasn’t long after they’d dealt with those first attempts that they saw their friends on the trailing cars. One by one, they all climbed the ladder to the roof and then departed in short order. They departed in order of distance, with the exception of the third diver, which remained even as the last one took off from behind it. That was Ticks’ diver and Rosalyn was supposed to have taken it up. Navada shot Sam a look, letting him know what she suspected. Sam wasn’t sure whether he hoped she was right, so that Rosalyn was safe, or wrong, so that she was no longer an issue. Despite all the anger he felt toward her, there was still something deep inside that didn’t want to see her hurt.

  A few minutes after the last of the other divers took off, Navada finally appeared, scrambling as quickly as she could manage. The timing hadn’t been very forgiving and she was certainly at risk to not make it back. Sam wasn’t sure how much time had passed exactly. Ticks would have known. That was a hard thought.

  A short while after Rosalyn’s departure, some guards appeared atop the fifth car in the train. They had rifles and were going to try taking a shot from a distance. Sam and Navada unleashed hell and were able to take them out, even at that greater distance, before they could set up their shot. That was the last attempt made. The three remained on guard for hours, staving off the exhaustion that threatened to overtake them.

  It hadn’t been intentional, but Sam recognized not too long after the action died down that the three who’d remained were the three most impacted by the death of Ticks. That loss, bottled up and still trapped inside for the time being, was desperate to get out. The last two hours before arriving at the river were a constant ride for Sam between a desire to lose himself in tears, and an equally powerful desire to lie down right there on the train and succumb to sleep. He was sure Navada felt the same way.

  None of them faded, and eventually Grease shouted back that she could see the mouth of the river. They were almost there.

  Chapter 11

  Prize Captured

  Rosalyn let the others run out in front as they made their way around the first car, heading back to their divers. She’d hoped to get away at some point sooner, but the situation had never presented itself. She’d have a good opportunity now, but Boomer had said that they had to be off in ten minutes, and she was going to be cutting it close.

  Once there was enough distance between her and the others, she ducked into the first car’s lower cabin. There was no one on the first floor, but she did come across Ticks’ body. Sam had mentioned his death when he instructed her to find his diver, but to see him lying there was shocking and she gasped. She’d always liked Ticks and it hurt to see his lifeless body, especially knowing how hard it must be for Sam. Her heart was already in a million pieces knowing what she was going to end up doing to the man she loved so much, and this was too much.

  All her life, Rosalyn had learned over and over to suppress her feelings, and she employed that skill in the moment to keep going and not fall apart. There was too much riding on this. She ran past Ticks’ body and up to the fourth level where she was supposed to meet her contact. Running back into the cabin area, she was met by two armed guards who nearly shot her as she entered. She dropped her gun and surrendered to them, but a commanding voice from behind them ordered the guards to stand down and Rosalyn watched as a well-dressed man extended his hand to help her up. He handed her loaded gun back and escorted her into a small room to talk.

  As soon as the door to what looked like a tiny conference room was closed, he asked, “How did they do this?”

  There was no panic in his voice and he was speaking as though his life didn’t depend on everything that was going on.

  “They took control of the steering from the outside of the engine. It’s rather ingenious.”

  “How do we undo it?” he asked. “How do I get my train back?”

  “You don’t,” Rosalyn said fearfully.

  “I don’t think you understand just how much you need to reconsider that answer,” the man said gruffly.

  Rosalyn knew exactly what was at stake. Her handlers never let her forget exactly what a mistake would cost her.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. Rosecrans is working with the Resistance Army now and their set up is pretty much foolproof.”

  “That’s what we thought about our engine security,” the man said coldly. He took a deep breath and continued, “What do you have for me then?”

  “I know where they are going next and it’s a prime target to be hit if you want to stop the resistance dead in their tracks.”

  The man smiled. “Perhaps this news isn’t as bad as it seemed. Tell me where.”

  Rosalyn took a deep breath of her own. She was afraid of pushing the man too far, given that he still had all the cards in his hand, but she had to try. “I need to know that this will be enough. You’ll let us go after this.”

  “We have one more job for you, but if you give me the location and do this one more thing, then yes – you will both be free.”

  “What?” Rosalyn asked, afraid to hear his answer.

  “As soon as you reunite with Sam Rosecrans, you bring him to me. We’ll hit their base too, but I want him alive and that won’t be likely if he is among his men when that happens. Drug him, knock him out, trick him… I don’t care how you do it, but bring him to me alive in Boston if you want your freedom.”

  Rosalyn’s heart dropped right out of her chest. She felt her body cave forward as her lungs emptied and the sting of his words left her winded and deflated. How? How could she get him away from the others? How could she possibly get him all the way to Boston?

  “It’s time for you to go now,” the man said, standing and gesturing toward the door. “Need to keep up appearances. You know what needs to be done. You have five days.”

  There were still no words. She wanted to rip this man’s throat out. It was bad enough that she was being forced to serve the British Empire to begin with, but to have to betray Sam in this way was going to kill a part of her she could never get back.

  Checking her watch, she found that more time had passed than she’d realized and getting up to her diver quickly wasn’t just going to be about avoiding suspicion; if she didn’t hurry, it would be a matter of life and death. Without another word, she rushed out the door and the two guards who’d stopped her were ordered to escort her back to her diver. With their help, she ran straight through the cars and made much better time than she would have otherwise.

  Rosalyn was soon climbing the ladder to the diver and getting in, looking toward to the carrier in front of her where she could see Sam positioned at his gun. He was too far to make out clearly, but she imagined the pain he must be feeling and had to wipe tears from her eyes knowing that she was going to be bringing more pain upon him all too soon.

  She sealed the canopy as quickly as she could; running through the instructions in her head as she released the landing struts and pulled the charge handle. The diver shot up into the sky like an arrow, and she wrestled the controls to turn it toward the west where the airship would be waiting. Straight toward the sun – that was her guide. She’d have to spot the airship on her own since the others had gone so much earlier than her and were completely out of sight. If she failed to spot it, her only chance would be a far-too-risky return to the train without landing struts.

  She let the charged propeller take her high into the sky until she was
sure she was above the airship and could glide, saving the charge in case she needed more. Knowing it would be some time before she reached her destination, Rosalyn let her mind wander back to her predicament.

  She’d considered telling Sam the truth from the beginning. There was no doubt that he’d understand, but the risk of them finding out she’d told him was too high. That’s what she’d told herself at least. Giving them some information to make him less successful had been the obvious choice, but what about now? Could they do something about it if she told him? If they found out, how could she ever live with herself? No – Rosalyn resolved to trust that Sam could take care of himself; she would do whatever it took to protect what mattered most. He might hate her, but once it was all said and done, he’d understand. There was no other choice.

  Some movement out in front of her caught Rosalyn’s attention and she realized that she was approaching the airship, but she had glided down too low and needed to gain some more altitude. She pulled the charge knob back again and heard the whiz of the mechanics behind her driving the propeller and shooting her forward. She pulled up and realized how incredibly nervous she was to try and dock with the airship. She had no experience or training with this in the past. Understanding the mechanics was one thing, but feeling the speed of the ship and eyeballing her approach was something else altogether.

  As the distance closed between her and the massive ship, she noticed that Mac and Boomer were both visible on the outside of the ship. Mac was actually standing on top of his diver, which was right in front of the spot she was aiming for; Boomer was on the rear platform, in front of the space that the carrier would normally occupy. Both men were waving and trying to send her signals. She chose to focus on Mac, knowing that he was the pilot of the two. He was telling her to rise higher and then cut the charge. Rosalyn did just as he instructed and nearly lost sight of him, but pulled to the side so she could see him through the glass beside her. He had her climb until she was matching the speed of the airship and then begin descending to control her approach. It was much smoother than it had been trying to use the charge release on her first approach. As she neared the height she needed to dock, he had her drop more quickly and use the burst of speed to line up and drift right into position.