”We are not allowed to sit in the car the kids enter, in any case. It’s booked all the way to Earth.”
”They seem to be very happy about the prospect of being born again.”
”It’s the best start. Something special must happen for it to go wrong. They’ve prepared themselves for it during the last period before birth.”
”Do things go wrong often?”
”No, and even if it’s inconvenient, that must also be part of the great plan.”
”Do you know that ahead of time?”
”Not in detail. We can see a projection curve of the likely trends. But people have the freedom of choice, so development can sometimes surprise either way, both for the worse and for the better.”
”Is your planning worth anything, then?”
”You manage as well as you can. There’s usually considerable room for individual decisions. It's only along the main development lines that critical situations may occur where you want something specific to take place.”
”What do you do then?”
”You manipulate events in secret. If people have lived too long under harsh rule you influence development so a power-hungry leader can be overthrown. There are so many elements involved that it can easily be arranged without being noticed.”
”What about the opposite, where the forces of good meet defeat?”
”In that case, it can happen to remind people that things are not automatic. That we must continue to support the forces of good, because otherwise things can go wrong. People become complacent. They get used to the ups, being cocky and greedy, if they have it too easy. Then they lean back and do nothing. It’s at such times that negative forces can jump on the opportunity to turn development in the opposite direction.”
”So there are both good and evil forces?”
”Indeed, there are. Or, if there aren’t really evil forces, there are, at least, evil inclinations or options. It’s all a matter of everything being kept in balance. The higher guiding force, if we can call it that, is really a quest for some kind of balance and harmony on Earth, and all throughout The Universe. Don’t ask me how it all works in practical terms, as that is beyond my comprehension. Wiser people than I have told me that this is how things work.”
As he reserved train car connected to the back of the train, the door from the second-rear carriage closed, so the tiny souls would not have their singing disturbed. After some 'Mother Goose' songs, they turned to 'Old MacDonald'. Their shrill little voices came through the closed door and into the car where Paragon and Anders were trying to get some rest.
The whistle signaled departure, and the steam locomotive's wheels spun a few rounds before they pulled the cars over the dead point and the train started to move.
The conductor entered their wagon. He didn’t utter his usual question, ’New passengers?’, because here, at the end station, they were all new passengers.
”May I see your travel cards and tickets, please?”
Paragon handed the conductor the free pass he had due to his status as an officer from The Soul Service. There wasn’t anyone else in the compartment, so he had time for small talk.
”Are you on mission or is it a well-deserved vacation?”
Paragon knew the conductor.
”This is a purely professional matter. I am on a special mission to Limbo, and I’ll get help from my friend, Anders, here.”
”It's something of a jungle, the intermediate layer down there.”
”Precisely. It seems that the law of the jungle also rules there for the time being.”
”Is that so? I thought things went on in roughly tolerant ways?”
”We thought so, too. But we will probably have to hire a superintendent.”
”You’ve got that right. I didn’t believe it would come to that. The souls I bring from there to the afterlife seem to be quite decent.”
”They probably are. But some peculiar things seem to be happening just now, that need to looking into.”
Something made Anders wonder.
”How can it be that the tiny souls in the coach behind us are being carried to the ground this way when you claim it’s not necessary?”
The conductor answered willingly.
”Now it's not always, this way, I know. But in this case, I know that these souls are to be reborn in a place that has been completely destroyed after a protracted war. Then at Soul Administration top level, they believe there is a need for some souls with special conditions for rebirth in the hardest-hit place in this difficult phase of rebuilding. So they want to be sure they reach there safely by following them on their way.”
”Maybe it won’t work out?”
”As a rule it works according to normal procedures. But there have been examples of evil forces from the underworld having interfered in the process and thwarted The Soul Administration’s planning. It happens rarely, though. Well, I must continue to the other cars.”
The conductor continued further on through the train. The children having a group ticket, were checked in advance.
”I thought transferring souls was a simple matter. But there are still problems.”
”That’s how it is, Anders. Nothing’s perfect. Still, having these problems to deal with isn’t all bad. It forces people to be aware of the real values in life.”
”On the earthly level, I can understand it. But there should be no reason for you to have extra difficulty in carrying out the duties of your job.”
”As I said, it’s only in exceptional cases. Usually things work automatically. Considering the millions of soul switching instances taking place on a daily basis, the fact that we are only involved in a small number of cases isn’t too bad. I think things are working as well as possible.”
”It sounds like the kids have stopped singing.”
”They've probably sung all the songs they know.”
Anders, still curious, went to look out the window in the door at the back of the wagon, from where he could look into the last car.
”Paragon! Come here!”
Anders' voice sounded horrified; so Paragon rushed to him.
”Look out there!”
Out on the rear platform at the end of the last car, a few brutish creatures were standing. One leaned down and was in the process of uncoupling the wagon.
”Monsters like that capture the souls in Limbo!”
Paragon could not open the door to the rear platform of their own wagon, as it was locked.
”I'll call the conductor. He must have a key. Stay here, Anders, and keep an eye on what's going on!”
Paragon ran down through the wagons and balanced on the links of metal plates tilted down over the space with the wagons couplings, to be able to get from car to car. He reached the conductor two cars ahead.
”Come on! You’ve got to come quickly! Something has happened!”
The conductor could hear in Paragon’s voice that there was something seriously wrong. So he asked no questions, but rather hurried back along with Paragon.
”You came too late!”
Anders was quite beside himself. The conductor saw the wagon was missing.
”What happened? Did the clutch break?”
Anders shook his head.
”No, some creepy creatures uncoupled the wagon, and it’s already out of sight.”
The conductor rushed resolutely over to the emergency brake and pulled it. Paragon took off his shirt and his overalls to free his wings.
”I’ll fly back and see what I can do.”
”Well, you are a dragon, after all. I forgot about that.”
”Open the door.”
The conductor did so quickly.
”Take the main key with you. It allows you to open or block access to things that passengers are not allowed to touch.”
”Thank you! When you talk to the engineer, reverse back along the trail. Meanwhile I’ll see if I can stop the missing wagon.”
Paragon flew quickly back along the tra
ck, and before long caught up with the disconnected trailer. He could see that a small shunter had driven up behind the railway car at the other end, and that the two thugs were coupling the railway car to the small engine. Resolutely, he landed on the rear platform at the opposite end and turned on the horizontal wheel with a vertical rod connected with the car brake.
The scoundrels finished their job, and the locomotive tried to pull the wagon. But it could not do so because Paragon had blocked the brake.
The bullies had suspected that there might be something wrong, so they came running back through the carriage. But before getting out on the rear platform, Paragon had locked the door.
Paragon flew back to the Heavenly Express where the train engineer had been informed what had happened, and was already reversing the train. Paragon landed on the rear platform, where the conductor and Anders stood looking back along the tracks.
”I stopped the wagon, but the kidnappers were in the process of linking it to a small locomotive at the other end. So I braked the car and locked the door so they couldn’t get out and release the brake.”
”Well done, Paragon. We may be able to catch up with the last train car, if the kidnappers haven’t been able to move it.”
Soon after they saw the wagon in the distance. The train slowed down so the crash was not so hard.
When they caught up, the conductor and Paragon jumped onto the car and unlocked the door to the passengers’ wagon.
”Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”
The kids were wild with cheers, jumping and dancing and waving their banners and posters.
Paragon passed quickly through the vehicle to reach the rear platform at the opposite end. When he arrived, it was empty. There were no kidnappers, and the little engine had disappeared. Secnds later, the conductor came out and leaned against the grid.
”How did the engine look?”
”It was small and black, and there was a '4713' on the wheelhouse’s side windows.”
”Then it’s the switch engine from Asteroid HL23. There’s a side track to the place, which is used for a coal depot.”
”Shouldn’t we chase them?”
The conductor shook his head.
”It’s no use. They are probably gone by now, and we have a schedule, we must meet, already delayed. Of course we must report the incident. It’s very disturbing. No one before this has ever wanted to abduct passengers. I wonder what's wrong?”
”It’s undoubtedly a part of a larger pattern, and we must look into the situation, to find out.”
”We’ll continue to Limbo.”
”Maybe we’ll arrive at the solution when we get there.”
They got the car coupled onto the train, and were ready to continue their journey. The conductor chose to ride in the last car arriving at Earth, and keep an eye on more events coming up. He leaned out from the rear platform and signaled to the engineer. Then, the train again set in motion; and with some delay, the trip continued on to the next stations.
Chapter 15
TROLLEY
”Next stop, Limbo! Limbo Central Station next!”
The conductor came through the cars and repeated his message, so no one was in doubt as to where they were arriving.
”Is that where we should get off?”
Paragon had to ask Anders for advice. He was the one who knew best.
”Yes, I believe it was from there I took the dimensional elevator to the Seventh Sky.”
”There are also a few other local stations, but it’s best to use the station you already know.”
The steam locomotive drove in to the station, and a few people were waiting on the platform. Paragon and Anders were the only ones who went off together with a preacher with a black wide-brimmed hat.
”Greetings, fellow passengers. My name is Brother Holgersen.”
”Hello, Brother Holgersen.”
They walked down the platform. The missionary was in a merry mood, but he was also on his way to execute his blessed deed.
”Well, dear friends, are you also here to save poor wavering souls?”
”We hope to save some souls, but I don’t think it has anything to do with whether they are wavering more or less.”
”No? It seems otherwise in those cases that we reap many souls in remembrance of the Lord.”
”Our mission is wider than that. In our case, we simply try to save as many as we can, no matter what.”
The missionary frowned.
”It's obviously a laudable initiative, but there must, nevertheless, be some substance behind the confession to the true faith.”
”So you don’t go after just anybody?”
”Uh, I don’t quite...”
”Your mission requires certain conditions met?”
”Yes, indeed. We hesitate to deal with apostates from other faiths. It serves no purpose to waste time on the perfect disbelievers. They are lost forever, in any case. It would be blasphemy to bring them to the Almighty Saviour's countenance. I don’t understand why you are less critical about the confessional basis.”
”It’s probably because we don’t have any special spiritual mission in that matter. We are here to save souls reportedly being led away from here by force, regardless of their spiritual path, as far as we understand.”
”I see. Has there been a massive loss of souls in this sector? That would be extremely disturbing.”
”Truer words, have never been spoken, Brother Holgersen. That is indeed, so.”
As the two travel companions had taken leave of the unctuous missionary, Paragon came up with a pertinent comment.
”Since we are here, we’d better talk to the staff about the dimensional lift.”
”The stationmaster was at home last time.”
Anders pointed to the office where he had spoken with Elmer. They knocked.
”Come in.”
Elmer was about to water some potted plants on the windowsill. Anders greeted him.
”Hello again. I was here some time ago along with a companion. We were going to the Seventh Sky.”
”Oh yes, now I remember. Hello again, Anton.”
”Anders.”
”Anders, of course.”
The stationmaster looked at the potted plants.
”It's a mess. Potted plants will not thrive, regardless of how much plant food they get. But those are the conditions all God’s creatures and living things here in Limbo face. Over in the town where I live, it’s the same.
Nothing will grow except weeds. This is a sad place; but I really should have contented myself with it by now.”
He looked over at Anders.
”You were together with someone?”
”Yes, Dagmar. She stayed up there, in Soul Services.”
”Naturally, that’s the last stop.”
”She started feeling bad during transport.”
”Motion sickness. Some are affected by that.”
Paragon interrupted.
”It wasn’t motion sickness, it was frequency sickness. The souls were stuck for long in zero-dimension because I was about to dismantle the elevator. It must be moved to the new headquarters.”
”Well, I read something about it somewhere.”
”Apparently not enough.”
Annoyed, Paragon took last month's issue of 'Notices to serving staff' at the corner of the desk.
”It states clearly, bold as brass, here on page three, that the dimensional elevator between Limbo and the Seventh Sky is closed for the time being, and must not be used again until it's time for renewed deployment.”
Elmer grabbed the magazine and found his reading glasses.
”Indeed, that’s true. I must have overlooked that note. Not satisfactory! Certainly not at all. I do hope Dagny escapes without injury.”
”Dagmar.”
”Dagmar, yes.”
”She will perhaps. But the lift cannot be used any time soon.”
”Good that you’ve pointed that out. We’d better get to that ta
sk immediately, to ensure that it gets done.”
The stationmaster rummaged through the desk drawers and found a sign with 'Out of Order’. He took it out immediately, and stuck on the middle rung in the door with the yellow pin.
”Now that should work.”
”Or rather not work.”
”Precisely. Is there more I can do for you?”
”Is there a railroad line leading to a camp nearby?”
”There is a side track which terminates at old army barracks from the War. There were, of course, some questionable not-so-worthy souls out there for years. But now I believe the last War victims have passed on to repositioning. Sometimes people get some bad wounds in those situations. I’m talking about a beating in the personal credits towards soul worthiness. The results of those assaults are not so easy to shake off. I haven’t followed up on matters since that track closed. So we are not required to maintain the line. Nor do I know if the track still leads all the way out there.”
”We are currently investigating that.”
”Then you’d better follow this way.”
They went outside where Larry was loading some ties.
”Larry can help you. He knows everything about this line. I must go back tending to my duties.”
Larry greeted them when he saw Anders.
”So, you’re here again? It’s not often, immigrated souls come back here that soon. Was it a birth gone wrong?”
Paragon interfered.
”No, but Anders has seen something that we have to handle really quickly. My name is Paragon, and I come from the security department of the Soul Service.”
Anders wiped the sweat from his brow.
”Welcome to Limbo. It's not often we see someone from headquarters who is high ranking.”
They shook hands. Paragon agreed.
”I am also the first to regret that I needed to come here. Evidence suggests that they have missed the requirement of that oversight; and for too long they have allowed Limbo to work on its own. But now things may change.”
Larry seemed happy.
”We would like that. We have often felt we were an outlying area, forgotten by authorities from central administration.”
Paragon- Ghost Hunters Page 12