“Outside Novosibirsk, on the other side of it, at the end of this railway track, is a massive mountainous structure Wolf’s associates have constructed,” Tuft explained in a most patronizing manner, since the mayor of Oban was a complete layman. “It is made of stone and ice, but inside it is an enormous pod that will harness and contain the immeasurable atomic energy created by the rip in the barrier. That capacitor will hold the generated energy.”
“Like a reactor,” McFadden guessed.
Tuft sighed. “Yes, like that. We have established pods like that in several countries all over the world. All we need is an extremely heavy object hurtling at an astounding speed to tear that barrier. Once we see what atomic power this train crash causes, we will know where and how to adjust the next fleet of vessels accordingly, for optimal efficiency.”
“Will they have passengers too?” McFadden asked curiously.
Wolf came up behind him and smirked, “No, only this one.”
In the back of the second carriage, the three stowaways waited for after dinner, so that they could start looking for Olga. It was very late already, but the overindulged guests were spending extra time drinking after dinner.
“I am freezing,” Nina complained in a quivering whisper. “Do you think we can get something warm to drink?”
Kasper was peeking around the door every few minutes. He was so focused on finding Olga that he felt no cold or hunger, but he could understand that the pretty historian was beginning to get chilly. Sam rubbed his hands together. “I have to find Dima, our Bratva man. I am sure he can get us something.”
“I will go get him,” Kasper offered.
“No!” Sam exclaimed, holding his hand out. “They know your face, Kasper. Are you insane? I will go.”
Sam left to find Dima, the fake conductor infiltrating the train with them. He found him in the second galley, sticking his finger in the Stroganoff behind the chef’s back. The entire staff were unaware of what was planned for the train. They assumed Sam was a very dressed-down guest.
“Hey man, can we get a flask of coffee?” Sam asked Dima.
The Bratva foot soldier scoffed. “This is Russia. Vodka makes warmer than coffee.”
An eruption of laughter among the chefs and waiters made Sam smile. “Aye, but coffee keeps you awake.”
“That is what woman is for,” Dima winked. Again, the staff howled in laughter and agreement. From nowhere, Wolf Kretchoff appeared through the opposing door, sending everyone into silence as they returned to their chores. It was too quick for Sam to escape out the other side, and he noticed that Wolf had seen him. In all his years as investigative journalism, he had learned not to panic before the first bullet flew. Sam watched the monstrous thug walk toward him with his crewcut and icy eyes.
“Who are you?” he asked Sam.
“Press,” Sam answered quickly.
“Where is your pass?” Wolf wanted to know.
“In our delegate’s room,” Sam replied, making it look as if Wolf was supposed to know the protocol.
“Which country?”
“United Kingdom,” Sam said with confidence, while his eyes pierced through the brute he could not wait to meet alone somewhere on the train. His heart jumped as he and Wolf stared each other down, but Sam felt not an iota of fear, only hate. “Why is your galley not equipped to serve coffee readily, Mr. Kretchoff? This is supposed to be a luxury train.”
“You work for media or do you work for a woman’s magazine, rating service?” Wolf ridiculed Sam, while only the clatter of knives and pots could be heard around the two men.
“If I did, you would not get a good review,” Sam snapped plainly.
Dima stood at the stove, arms folded, watching the scenario. He was ordered to usher Sam and his friends safely along the Siberian landscape, but not to interfere and blow his cover. Still, he despised Wolf Kretchoff, as they all did in his chapter. Finally, Wolf just turned and walked toward the door where Dima was standing. Once he was out, and everyone relaxed, Dima looked at Sam, exhaling in great relief. “Now you want vodka?”
After everyone had retired, only the narrow corridor lights illuminated the train. Kasper was rearing to go and Sam was strapping on one of his new favorites – a rubber collar with a mounted camera he used for diving, but Purdue had improved it for him. It would stream whatever footage it recorded to an independent server Purdue had set up just for this purpose. At the same time, it saved recorded footage on a miniscule memory card. This avoided Sam getting caught filming where he should not.
Nina was designated to guard the nest, communicating with Sam via a tablet linked to his watch. Kasper watched all the synching and linking, fitting and preparation while the train hummed softly along. He shook his head. “Geez, you two are like MI6 characters.”
Sam and Nina chuckled and looked at each other with a naughty amusement. Nina whispered, “That remark is more uncanny than you think, Kasper.”
“Alright, I will search the engine room and front and you do the carriages and galleys, Kasper,” Sam delegated. Kasper did not care what side of the train he had to start searching, as long as they found Olga. With Nina guarding their makeshift base, Sam and Kasper proceeded forward until they reached the first carriage, from where they split up.
Sam crept past the compartments in the hum of the gliding train. He did not like the idea of tracks not clacking to that hypnotic rhythm of old when the steel wheels still caught the joints in tracks. When he reached the dining room he noticed that, two sections up, a faint light was coming from the double doors.
‘The engine room. Could she be there?’ he wondered as he proceeded. His skin was ice cold even under his clothing, which was strange, since the entire train had climate control in place. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep or maybe it was the prospect of finding Olga dead that gave Sam chills.
With great stealth, Sam unlocked and passed the first door, entering the Staff Only section just before the engine. It puffed like an old steamer and Sam found it oddly soothing. He heard voices in the engine room, which stimulated his natural instinct to investigate.
“Please, Zelda, you cannot be so negative,” Tuft told the woman in the control room. Sam set his camera to another capture setting to optimize visibility and sound.
“She is taking too long,” Bessler complained. “Hurst is supposed to be one of our best, and here we are, onboard, and she still has to send the last few digits.”
“Remember, she told us that Purdue was completing it as we speak,” Tuft said. “We are almost at Tyumen. Then we can get off and watch from a distance. As long as you set the acceleration to hypersonic after the group gets back on, we can manipulate the rest.”
“No, we cannot, Clifton!” she hissed. “That is precisely the point. Until Hurst sends me the last variable solution, I cannot program the speed. What happens if we cannot set the acceleration before they all get back on for the bad stretch? Do we just give them a nice train ride to Novosibirsk? Don’t be a fucking idiot.”
Sam caught his breath in the dark. ‘Acceleration to hypersonic speed? Jesus Christ, that will kill everyone, not to mention the nature of the impact once we run out of tracks!’ his inner voice warned. Masters was right after all, Sam thought. He hurried back to the back of the train, speaking on the com device. “Nina. Kasper,” he whispered. “We have to find Olga now! If we are still on this train after Tyumen, we are fucked.”
29
The Break Up
Glasses and bottles exploded above Purdue’s head as Lilith opened fire. He had to take a long dive in behind the bar counter near the hearth, because he was too far from Lilith to subdue her before she got to squeeze the trigger. Now he was cornered. He grabbed a bottle of tequila and swung the open bottle so that the contents splattered all over the counter. From his pocket, he pulled the lighter he had used to start the fire in the hearth and set the alcohol on fire to distract Lilith.
The moment the flames ignited along the bar he leapt up and came at her. P
urdue was not as fast as always, with the impairment caused by his fairly new operation cuts. Fortunately for him she was a bad shot when skulls were not a few inches from her and he heard her clap off three more. Smoke billowed from the counter as Purdue tackled Lilith, trying to pry the gun from her.
“And I was trying to help you regain some interest in science!” he growled under the pressure of the struggle. “Now you have just proven that you are a cold blooded killer, just as this man said you were!”
She struck Purdue with her elbow. Blood coursed through his sinuses and spilled from his nose, blending with that of Masters on the floor. She hissed, “All you had to do was to complete the equation again, but you had to betray me for the trust of a stranger! You are as bad as Phillip said you were when he died! He knew you were just a selfish bastard that placed more value in relics and extorting foreign countries’ treasures than giving a shit for the people who admire you.”
Purdue decided not to feel guilty about that anymore.
“Look what caring about people brought me, Lilith!” he countered, throwing her down on the ground. Masters’ blood clung to her clothing and legs as if it was possessing his killer and she screamed at the thought. “You are a nurse,” Purdue huffed, trying to slam her gun hand on the floor. “It is only blood, is it not? Take your goddamn medicine!”
Lilith played dirty. With all her power, she gouged at Purdue’s fresh scars, evoking a cry of agony from him. At the door she could hear the security trying to get it, calling Purdue’s name while the smoke alarm went haywire. Lilith abandoned the idea of killing Purdue, opting for escape. But not before she rushed down the stairs to the server room to retrieve the last part of the data that was static on the old machine once again. She jotted them down with Purdue’s pen and raced upstairs to his bedroom to collect her bag and communication devices.
Downstairs, security slammed on the door, but Purdue wanted to catch her while she was near. If he opened the door for them, Lilith would have time to flee. With his entire body aching and burning from her onslaught, he hastened up the stairs to intercept her.
Purdue ran right into her at the entrance to the dark hallway. Looking like she had been in a fight with a lawnmower, Lilith aimed the Glock straight at him. “Too late, David. I just transmitted the last part of the Einstein Equation to my associates in Russia.”
Her finger started squeezing, leaving him no escape this time. He had counted her rounds, and she still had half a clip left. Purdue did not want to spend his last moments chastising himself for his terrible weaknesses. He had nowhere to dart to with both corridor walls flanking him, and security men were still storming the doors. Downstairs, a window broke and they heard the unit finally breach the house.
“Sounds like it is time for me to go,” she smiled through broken teeth.
From behind her, a tall figure appeared in shadow, his jab landing firmly at the base of her skull. Lilith collapsed instantly, revealing her assailant to Purdue. “Yes, madam, I venture to say it is high fucking time you do,” the rigid butler said.
Purdue screeched in delight and relief. His knees buckled, but Charles caught him just in time. “Charles, are you a sight for sore eyes,” Purdue mumbled as his butler switched on the light to help him to his bed. “What are you doing here?”
He sat Purdue down and looked at him as if he was crazy. “Well, sir, I live here.”
Purdue was exhausted and in pain, his house smelled like a furnace and a dead man decorated his dining room floor, yet he was laughing with joy.
“We heard the gunshots,” Charles explained. “I came to collect my things from my apartment. Since the security detail could not get in, I entered via the kitchen as I always do. I still have my key, see?”
Purdue was deliriously happy, but he had to get Lilith’s transmission device before he passed out. “Charles, can you get her bag and bring it in here? I do not want the police to give it back to her once they arrive.”
“Of course, sir,” the butler replied, as if he had never left.
30
Chaos, Part I
The Siberian early morning cold was a special sort of hell. Where Nina, Sam and Kasper hid, the heating was not a feature. It was more like a small storeroom for tools and extra linen, even though the Valkyrie was heading for disaster, and hardly needed to store comfort items. Nina was shivering profusely, rubbing her gloved hands together. Hoping they have found Olga, she waited for Sam and Kasper to return. On second thought, she knew that, had they discovered her, it would have caused some sort of commotion.
The information Sam conveyed scared Nina to death. After all the danger she had faced on Purdue’s expeditions, she did not want to think about meeting her end in an atomic explosion in Russia. He was on his way back, searching the dining car and galleys. Kasper was checking the empty compartments, but he had a strong suspicion that Olga would be held by one of the main villains on the train.
Right at the back of the first carriage, he stopped in front of Tuft’s compartment. Sam had reported seeing Tuft with Bessler in the engine room, which struck Kasper as the perfect moment to investigate Tuft’s vacant room. With his ear to the door, he listened. There was no sound other than the train’s creaks and heaters. Of course, the compartment was locked when he tried the door. Kasper examined the panels next to the door in order to find a way into the room. He pried the steel coating sheet from the edge of the doorway, but it proved too strong.
Something caught his eye under the wedged sheet, something that sent a chill through him. Kasper gasped as he recognized the titanium under-panel and the construction of it. Something thumped inside the room, compelling him to find a way in.
‘Use your head. You are an engineer,’ he told himself.
If this was what he thought it was, he knew how to open the door. Briskly, he stole back to the back room where Nina was, hoping to find what he needed among the tools.
“Oh, Kasper, you will give me a heart attack!” Nina whispered when he rounded the door. “Where is Sam?”
“Don’t know,” he replied hastily, looking totally preoccupied. “Nina, please find me anything in the way of a magnet. Quickly, please.”
She could see by his urgency that there was no time to enquire, so she started rummaging through the panel boxes and shelves to look for a magnet. “Are you sure they would have magnets on the train?” she asked him.
His breathing accelerated as he searched. “This train runs on a magnetic field, emitted by the tracks. They are bound to have loose pieces of cobalt or iron in here.”
“What does it look like?” she wanted to know, holding something in her hand.
“No, that is just an angle cock,” he remarked. “Look for something more dull. You know what a magnet looks like. That kind of material, but just bigger.”
“Like this one?” she asked, provoking his impatience, but she was only trying to help. With a sigh, Kasper humored her and took a look at what she had. In her hands, she had lifted up a gray disc.
“Nina!” he exclaimed. “Yes! That is perfect!”
A peck on her cheek rewarded Nina for finding a way into Tuft’s room and before she knew it, Kasper was out the door. He ran right into Sam in the dark, both men crying out at the sudden start.
“What are you doing?” Sam asked in an urgent tone.
“I am going to use this to get into Tuft’s room, Sam. I am almost certain he had Olga in there,” Kasper rushed, trying to push past Sam, but Sam blocked him off.
“You cannot go there now. He just came back to his compartment, Kasper. That is what drove me back here. Get back inside with Nina,” he commanded, checking the corridor behind them. Another figure was coming, a large and imposing figure.
“Sam, I need to get her,” Kasper moaned.
“Aye, and you will, but use your head, man,” Sam replied, pushing Kasper unceremoniously into the storeroom. “You cannot get in there while he is there.”
“I can. I will just kill him and take her,”
the distraught physicist whined, grasping at reckless possibilities.
“Just sit down and relax. She is not going anywhere until tomorrow. At least we have an idea where she is, but for now, we need to shut the hell up. Wolf is coming,” Sam said sternly. Again, the mention of his name made Nina feel sick. The three cowered down and sat dead still in the darkness, listening to Wolf marching past, checking the corridor. Shuffling his feet, he stopped in front of their door. Sam, Kasper and Nina held their breath. Wolf fiddled with the door handle of their hiding place and they braced themselves for discovery, but instead, he locked the door firmly and walked away.
“How are we going to get out?” Nina wheezed. “This is not a compartment that can unlock from the inside! It has no lock!”
“Don’t worry,” Kasper said. “We can open this door like I was going to open Tuft’s.”
“With a magnet,” Nina replied.
Sam was confused. “Do tell.”
“I think you are right that we have to get off this train the first chance we get, Sam,” Kasper said. “You see, this is not really a train. I recognize its construction, because…I built it. This is the vessel I have been working on for the Order! This is the experimental vessel they planned to use, to rip the barrier by speed, weight and velocity. When I tried to get into Tuft’s room I found the underlying panels, magnetic sheets I arranged on the vessel at the construction site at Meerdaalwoud. This is the big brother of an experiment that went horribly wrong a few years ago, the reason I deserted the project and Tuft’s employ.”
“Oh my God!” Nina gasped. “This is an experiment?”
“Aye,” Sam agreed. It all made sense now. “What Masters explained was that they will use the Einstein Equation Purdue found in the Lost City to accelerate this train – this vessel – to hypersonic speed to enable a punch in dimensions?”
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 8 Page 18
