“Just tell me what I have to do.”
Keller was silent for a few seconds.
“Tell you what,” he finally said. “Take some time to think it over. Give it another day – maybe something will turn up. Let me know by tomorrow afternoon if you still want to go, and I’ll set it up.”
The next afternoon between classes, Richard knocked on the wooden door marked ‘Mohinder Bains – Department Head’, and was invited in.
Bains was a short stout man with a plump face and an obvious comb-over. His office was tinged with the scent of a men’s cologne Richard didn’t recognize. Richard had always found him affable and well-meaning, but a born bureaucrat with little tolerance for bending the rules. On the wall above Bains’ head was a larger version of the ‘Innovation Day’ poster Richard had seen in Ms. Kingsley’s office. He took a seat in front of Bains’ desk.
“Richard - what can I do for you,” said Bains, smiling.
“I need to take a leave of absence.”
Bains stiffened and stared at him.
“My brother’s been missing for three days now,” said Richard. “I’ve looked everywhere, but there’s no sign of him.”
Bains tried to maintain his smile. “What are we talking about – one or two days?”
“I hope about a week. It depends on what happens – whether I find anything.”
Bains’ smile finally disappeared. “Richard, I understand how you feel, but you should let the police handle it.”
“I’ve gone to the police. They say they’re swamped.”
“My concern is your contribution to Innovation Day,” said Bains, gesturing up at the poster on the wall behind him. “I’m expecting our ‘Innovation in Agriculture’ pavilion to be the highlight of the entire celebration.”
He stood up and gazed dreamily out the office window for a few seconds. “What better way to celebrate Man’s dominance over his environment than to showcase his mastery of farming – the domestication of plants and animals to suit his own great purpose…”
“We’ve been working flat out for the past few weeks,” said Richard. “The pavilion is almost complete. I’ll sit down with the students before I leave and make sure they have everything they need to continue the work while I’m gone.”
“If it were anyone else, I’d probably say no,” Bains said, turning back. “The celebration will be upon us in fewer than three weeks. But I’ve always been able to depend on you.”
“Hey, I’m as excited about Innovation Day as anyone,” said Richard. “We could use a positive celebration for a change. I’ll try to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
Bains sat down and rolled in his chair over to a filing cabinet in the corner. He opened a drawer – with difficulty since it was stuffed with paperwork, and thumbed through the files.
“Just fill out a Request for Leave of Absence.” He located the form, rolled back, and handed it to Richard. “I’ll speak to Mr. Morrison about taking over your class and let you know later today. You could start your leave tomorrow.”
Richard returned to his own office and left a message on Detective Leung’s voice mail. About ten minutes later Leung returned his call.
Richard confirmed that Danny was still missing. “Are you finally going to take his disappearance seriously?” he said.
“We’ll open a case,” Leung said. “I should advise you – as I told you, we’re stretched thin here. I can only spare one officer, and he’ll also be pursuing several other cases.”
“So you’ll have one part-time person looking for Danny.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do. There’s still the possibility that he’s run away, and will return at…”
“My brother did not run away!” Richard shouted into the phone.
“Please calm down,” said Leung. “I promise you that we’ll do everything we possibly can to locate Danny.”
“Fine,” said Richard. He slammed down the phone, and knew at that moment what his answer to Keller would be.
The Food Train
“Okay,” said Keller, as they sat in the nook of the RV, “let’s get down to business. Jumping the train isn't as easy as it was even when I used to do it. I’ve still got a lot of contacts from my days on the road. They've beefed up security now – most of the time it’s next to impossible.
“There's only one exception. Every Saturday, the Specialty Train comes up from California. It brings in all the fancy fruits and vegetables we can't grow up here. Security for that train is always super-tight – the cargo's a hell of a lot more valuable on the black market than anything you find on the regular Food Train. So when the Specialty Train’s in town, a lot of the guards are siphoned off to guard it. That just leaves a skeleton crew guarding the regular Food Train, and that's the only time we'd have a hope in hell of jumping and getting away with it. Saturday is tomorrow – that’s when we’ll have to go.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” said Richard. “No offense, but you’re not getting any younger.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Keller. “Jumping that train’s like rolling out of bed for me. I’ll be fine.”
Keller talked for an hour about the jump and about survival in Surrey. When he was finished, he rose from his seat and climbed up to the overhead bunk, emerging with something wrapped in a rag. He unfolded the rag to reveal a small gun.
“You better take this,” he said, setting the gun on the table. He opened a cupboard and rummaged around until he found a timeworn box, which he set beside the gun.
“And this,” he said.
Richard swallowed. “I’ve never fired a gun before.”
“Nothing to it,” said Keller. “Just release the safety here…” He pointed to a tiny lever on the side, “aim, and fire. You’ll need it. I told you. Don’t worry, I’ll have one too.”
Richard wrapped the gun and ammunition in the rag and placed the bundle in his backpack.
The next day he dragged himself out of bed at four-thirty AM.
“The Food Train leaves every hour, on the hour,” Keller had told him. “But it's too dangerous to jump in broad daylight. The best time of day is when there’s not too much light – either at dawn or at dusk. You don't want to be stuck in Surrey at dusk, so the best bet is at dawn.”
He met Keller at a prearranged spot and they began their ride to the outskirts of the city. Richard had never been out this early in the morning. He was a creature of habit. For years he’d risen at 7 a.m., taken an hour to get ready, and left for work just after 8, by which time the city was already in full swing.
They rode silently and without lights to avoid attracting attention. He was shocked at what he saw. Every traffic island, every sheltered space, was crammed with the bodies of people sleeping.
There must be thousands! He thought. It was common knowledge that the homeless were everywhere in the city, but the numbers he was witnessing now were staggering.
“What the hell is happening here?” he actually said out loud. So loudly, in fact, that a couple of sleepers on the sidewalk lifted their heads and stared in his direction.
“Shhhh…” said Keller. Richard could just make out his companion holding a finger to his lips.
They rode on in silence for half an hour. As they reached an open stretch of road near the edge of town, Keller finally spoke.
“You know I used to live in Surrey?” he said as they rode.
“No I didn’t.”
“It was a lot of years ago now. Those days a few of the well-heeled still drove to town. ‘Course I was never one of them. Back then the Sky-Train ran out there, so it wasn't too hard to get around.
“When fuel prices went stratospheric the value of everybody’s property went into the toilet. There wasn't any reason to stick around. Then the infrastructure started to fall apart – Police, Fire, Ambulance – it got to be downright dangerous to live there. With the power shortages being so bad, Energy Triage decided it wasn't worth running Sky-train out th
ere anymore, and that put the last nail in the coffin of that place. Not long after that I started riding the rails.” Keller shook his head slowly, “You wonder where all the people back there came from? That’s your answer.”
After another hour of cycling and walking they reached an open area not far from the track for the Food Train. They stashed their bikes in a grove of thick brush.
“Okay,” Keller said, “let's go. We’ve got to walk a ways to get to a good jumping point. Follow me.”
They walked half a mile parallel to the track, through short scrub and an occasional stand of trees. Finally they reached a section of open ground on a gentle up-slope surrounded by rolling hills. Keller headed to a clump of brush, stopped, and motioned for Richard to sit down.
“The train will be here in about half an hour,” Keller said. “Before we make the jump, there‘s some things you need to know.”
“Okay,” said Richard.
Keller sat crossed-legged on the ground and eyed Richard intently. “Like I said before, every Food Train is heavily guarded. The guards've got guns, and they'll use them. They don't usually shoot to kill, but it happens. Don't forget – they're not just trying to keep people from hitching a ride. The cargo on that train is precious. People would kill for it, believe me. When you consider that it costs the average Joe the better part of an hours’ pay to buy one tomato…you do the math. There's a lot of starving people out there, not to mention the black market. You sure you want to do this? There’s still time to back out.”
Richard nodded.
“Okay – the most important thing about jumping a train is where you get on and off. Stand up and take a look.”
Richard stood up and peered into the rising light. He could make out the curve of the track about two hundred feet away.
“Notice anything about the track here?”
“Not really. It runs straight for a while along a plain, then curves into a series of hills.”
“That's right. It curves. That and the hills are what make this a good place to jump. When the train goes around the curve, the guard that just passed won't see us because the curve will put us behind a hill – same with the next guard along. The train will also slow down, because the grade here’s steeper than usual. That and the fact that most of the guards are off guarding the Specialty Train, are what we're counting on.”
Keller paused for a minute, presumably to allow the information to sink in.
He continued, “The important thing is – we have to find a section of the train where the guards won't see us – where neither one has a view of our jump. You don't have to worry about that. I just want you to know why I picked this spot.”
“Sure.”
“When we actually do the jump, it's best to pick a car that’s empty,” continued Keller. “The guards pay less attention to those ones. There's another reason, but I'll leave that until we get aboard. Once I pick a car, we’ve got to get inside and out of sight. That's another reason to go for an empty car – you don't have to worry about anything falling out when you open the door.”
“How do you know when a car is empty?”
“The sound,” answered Keller, pointing at his left ear. “An empty car makes a sort of hollow echo sound. The full ones are more muffled and solid sounding. It's easy to tell once you've done it a few times.”
Richard nodded. Somehow he hadn't expected jumping the train to be this complicated.
Keller continued, “Once I pick out a car, I'll look at you and point to it. We won't be able to talk, ‘cause that train is loud! Once I'm sure you've gotten my signal, we'll both run flat out for that car. Now, this is the tricky part. You listening?”
Richard nodded, more nervous with each new instruction.
“We're going to run for the BACK of the car I point out. At the back of each car is a ladder they use to get onto the roof. You'll go first.”
Richard swallowed.
“You'll run ahead of me,” continued Keller, “and you'll grab onto that ladder. As soon as you've got a proper grip, you'll climb up as fast as you can until your feet are on the FOURTH rung from the top. Got that?”
Richard nodded.
“The FOURTH rung. That's important. You’ve got to be high enough that I can climb up after you. Once you’re up there, just hold on for dear life until I tell you different. Remember, all this is going to happen real fast, so make sure you memorize what you have to do. When we're running I'll be right behind you. Once you're in position, I'll climb the ladder and open the door for us.”
“Open the door? How?”
“With my handy-dandy 'universal persuader', that's how,” laughed Keller, and he brought a small crowbar from his pack.
They went over the jumping procedure several times, then relaxed and waited. Within minutes they felt the vibration and then heard the rumble of the Food Train approaching. Richard peered through a gap in the branches and caught his first glimpse. It was ironic that, as important as the Food Train loomed in his and everybody else’s lives, he’d never actually seen it. The blotch in the distance grew in size, and its shadow swept across the plain in front of them, tracking over their position long before the train itself and colouring the landscape a shade darker. They crouched behind the stand of brush, ready to run.
The huge, slab-like engine finally loomed into view, clawing its way uphill against the steel rails below, straining under the weight of the hundred or so cars it towed behind. The train pushed a column of air ahead of it stinking of diesel, dust, and rotting vegetables. The roar was deafening as the engine passed them by, and the earth shook under their feet.
One or two cars behind the engine, a grim-faced guard, holding an automatic rifle at the ready against his chest, stood in a caged metal pedestal welded to the frame. The guard scanned the area intently, but didn’t see them. The gun-metal gray engine, then the guard, shrank into the distance, curving around and behind one of the surrounding hills.
When Keller first began talking about the jump, Richard was confident, but with each new instruction and warning his confidence ratcheted down a notch.
Now, with the monstrous steel behemoth thundering along the track in front of them, a wave of panic washed over him. He wasn't prepared for the size, the noise, the bone shaking vibration, the grinding of the massive steel wheels on the tracks. He fought to keep his attention on Keller and forget the train. Finally, at a moment that only he somehow knew, Keller threw his arm forward and pointed to a boxcar, motioning for Richard to start his run.
Richard straightened up and started running. He pushed with every iota of his strength, producing explosions of rising dust with each footfall. He gasped frantically for air. His heart pounded until he thought it would burst. After what seemed an eternity he was a couple of yards from the precious ladder.
He was so fixated on the ladder that just as he got close enough to touch it, his foot caught a clump of grass and he stumbled forward. He staggered, half-falling, half-running, plunging headfirst toward the razor-sharp rims of the closest wheels.
Suddenly his body lifted up as he was grabbed by the collar from behind and held steady for a fraction of a second, just long enough to regain his balance. He glanced behind him.
“Do it!” Keller yelled.
Richard was now less than a yard from the ladder. After one last stride he sprang with both feet. He caught hold and his chest slammed against the metal rungs. He battled for a foothold and lost, his feet dragging in the dust, inches from the spinning blade-like wheels. With a frantic kick at the ground he finally caught a rung, hauled himself up, and began to climb.
“The FOURTH rung!” He shouted over the deafening roar of the train. He made it to the next level. “The FOURTH rung!” He repeated, climbing arm over arm, one rung at a time, to the final position.
Keller grabbed the ladder as soon as he was out of the way. Though he was an old man, Keller seemed to possess almost super-human abilities. He propelled himself effortlessly up the ladder with one hand
, leaned out toward the sliding door of the rail-car, again on one arm, and pulled out his 'persuader'.
Hanging by his right arm, Keller jammed the persuader into the lock on the door, and with a mighty sweep of his left arm swiftly and silently broke the lock and slid the door open. With a practiced movement he swung himself into the opening.
Richard glanced down the track and saw a man stagger toward the ladder two cars away. The man was middle aged. His clothes were worn and his face unshaven. He had waited too long – or run too slowly. Now he was struggling to overtake the accelerating train. His stumbling gait revealed his exhaustion.
He jumped for the ladder much as Richard had done and caught hold, though his grip looked shaky. He began to climb, apparently headed for the roof. At first it looked like he was going to make it; he reached the roof and grabbed for the thin gutter around the edge. He strained to haul his body up and over.
Richard couldn't tell exactly what went wrong, but he suspected that the man's strength simply gave out. He lost his hold on the gutter and plummeted toward the ground. His left foot somehow caught in the bottom rung of the ladder and his body swung under the wheels of the train. The poor soul was cut almost exactly in half, his legs crumpling on the ground beside the tracks, the rest disappearing under the grinding wheels.
What was left of the mutilated corpse shrank into the distance. Richard felt faint and his knuckles whitened on the rung of the ladder. He desperately fought the urge to vomit. Shouts from below distracted him from the horror. Keller was gesturing nervously for Richard to climb down and join him.
“Hurry!” Keller mouthed the words.
Again Richard was terrified. The train had accelerated since they first climbed on. He peered down at the rail ties swiftly flying away below, knowing that a fall from the ladder now would mean almost certain death, the image of the mutilated jumper seared into his brain.
Somehow he found the strength to climb back down, and prepared to copy Keller's swinging motion into the open door. Somewhere in mid-swing, his right arm gave way. He plunged toward the steel rails below. Again a miraculous force caught him by the collar and hauled him into the opening. The door slid shut and he collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.
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