The mood of the group sobered. Caveman continued with his tale. "It's no exaggeration. It's a fact. The Overseers guarding us at the mine were the most brutal the Pure Bloods could find. And yet... and yet I survived."
From their expressions Olivia could tell the others hadn't heard his story before this moment. "You escaped?" she asked, breaking the silence.
His smile held a hint of gallows humor. "No one truly escaped those mines, but yes, I did. There was a revolt, led by a man recently taken from Earth. He was an engineer or some such, a person the Pure Bloods thought would be useful in the mine. Most of the miners took out the guards and escaped aboard an ore train, but they were later caught and imprisoned. However, I and a few others headed deeper into the mines." He grimaced. "Sometimes I think we should've taken the ore train. It would've been easier and more of us would've survived the ordeal to come, but I digress."
Caveman took a long breath and continued. "We headed deep, deeper than anyone had gone, and reached a series of natural caves. Some of us died because of rock falls or from slipping off the path into fast-flowing underground rivers or tumbling into abysses. Eventually we came to a place where a cavern wall had collapsed, exposing a tunnel. It led upwards, and that was where we desperately wanted to go. By then there were only three of us, and we were starving, having eaten nothing but a handful of mushrooms and blind fish we caught in the rivers and pools. We followed the tunnel into a place where a shallow underground river flowed through a worked stone channel. Beyond that we found a chamber full of sarcophagi. We were in the deepest and oldest cellars of the city."
Did he say sarcophagi? Dead Pure Bloods? Olivia shuddered. The vampires can die after all?
The quizzical looks of his comrades egged Caveman on. "After that, it wasn't too difficult for the few of us left to reach the surface. I smuggled myself aboard an outbound train and reached the farm and then came out here to the desert to explore, where I've been ever since."
Pablo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "That's quite a tale, Caveman. You really think you can follow that route from the mine back into the city again? With this many people?"
Caveman nodded. "If a handful of escaped prisoners can do it, a well-prepared band like ours shouldn't find it a problem."
Pablo shook his head as he studied the map. "There's no way we can maneuver a party this size through those narrow passages." He tapped an area of the map marked in blue. "This part takes us across water, right?"
Pablo's attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Caveman needed their support, not nay-saying. "But it can be done? You remember the route?" Olivia asked.
Caveman smiled. "That's right. I did it once, and I've spent many hours studying the caves of this world since then. I know the underground river that originates on this side of the planet eventually leads under the very foundations of BloodDark City."
Olivia stared at him. "You mean all this water travels through the caves from here to the city? This world is a bit smaller than Earth, but still, it must stretch for hundreds of miles!"
"It certainly does, but the mine is much closer to our objective. If we can get to the mine entrance, we can go underground and come up under the city without being seen."
Pablo frowned. "So, we'll need to go overland to reach the mine. Even if we manage that without getting caught, do we just walk up and expect the Overseers to let us in?"
"The mine's disused and has been for years." Caveman Charlie's lips twitched in a mirthless smile. "The Pure Bloods not only had to cope with our escape, they had to deal with the Mungenast, too."
"Him?" Hernando became a deer caught in the headlights and shook his head. The others murmured in disbelief. "I thought he was only a legend, a boogeyman to scare the children of BloodDark so they'd be good!"
"He was real, all right." Caveman shrugged. "He might still be real. No one knows for sure whatever happened to good ol' Mungey."
Olivia looked askance at the group of animated rebels telling each other tales of the local boogeyman. "Who or what is the Mungenast?" she finally cut in.
"He's a kind of prophet, or a revolutionary, or a madman—or a legend." Caveman chuckled. "Depends on who you ask. But don't worry about him. The Day of Two Suns will be upon us soon enough, and we must make it to the city by then with or without his blessing."
Hernando leaned over and studied the map, his forehead creased in thought. "So, this tunnel here comes up to the surface in a basement somewhere or—"
"Or in a crypt?" Annara interjected. All eyes turned to stare at her. "I've seen this chamber and underground stream Caveman speaks of. It flows through the resting areas of the old Pure Bloods. It's dark, dank, and deep under the city proper."
The assembled fighters began to argue. It seemed Annara had not shared this information before, either. Olivia frowned. Do any of these fighters truly trust the others? No wonder they haven't risen up against their oppressors before now.
Caveman nodded. "I bow to your wisdom, Annara. My gang didn't stick around to map the area. We just wanted to get out and find food."
"Did you hide in the crypt?" Olivia gave her friend an encouraging look. Annara nodded. "Do the Pure Bloods frequent it often?"
"Not anymore as far as I could tell." Annara's eyes held a far-off remembrance. "Others told me of a Pure Blood ceremony that happens every so often. They need complete darkness to regenerate. I wondered if this crypt played an important role in their ancient ritual."
"Could that ritual be happening soon, now that the suns are coming together?" Hernando reminded them. A group groan reverberated in the cavern. Caveman appeared stunned by the news.
Olivia sighed. Great! We've found a secret entrance into the city, and the vampires are going to be hanging out where we enter. Back to square one?
"Now is the perfect time to go for it," Olivia blurted out loud. Everyone stopped moaning and stared at her. Even she was surprised at what she said next. "Don't you get it? The bloodsuckers won't be expecting us to take such a risky route. If they think we're coming for them at all, they'll be expecting us to enter the city by an easier path. They'll divert their resources to protect the surface, not their underground regions. What better way to sneak into the city than to come in from underneath them?"
"Why would they be expecting an attempt to enter the city by another route?" Hernando asked her. The others vocalized their agreement with him.
"Because we'll do what every group does in the movies—we'll split up."
Olivia knew she was on to something as their disbelief transitioned to rapt attention. "One group will divert the Pure Bloods' attention by attempting to breach the city defenses from where we all left the city at the transport hub. At the same time, another group will enter from underneath through the crypt. We more than outnumber them, what with all the farm workers and city servants on our side. The Pure Bloods won't be able to effectively fight on both fronts since they will be split as well. There's not many of them altogether, are there?"
Caveman nodded slowly as he considered her point. "No, they're few in number, but they have many Overseers and a few Quadsangs on their side. With the suns both shining at once, these crypts might be filled with more than just dead Pure Bloods."
Olivia gulped. "Yeah, that's a risk we gotta take. We've got to enter stealthily and then drive the vampires up to the surface. In the confusion our other forces will be helping to create, the disorientation the sunlight will cause might just do the trick and put the Pure Bloods out of commission once and for all."
Caveman laughed and patted Hernando on the back. "Your friend is either insane or she's a military genius!"
"She's great, isn't she?" Hernando winked and smiled at her. Olivia blushed.
"Either way, I think this plan has got something that all of us can agree upon," Caveman said. "Am I right?" He looked at the assembly and gained a nod, shrug, or a grin from each in turn. "All right then. Let's start choosing our teams and planning our assault tactics."
Pablo
held up a hand. "Wait a minute! We're forgetting something. How are we going to get all the farm workers to the city in order to distract the enemy? You don't expect them to hike there, do you?"
Every eye focused upon her for an answer. Olivia bit her lip. Think, think! Get creative and come up with a solution. Act smart! Don't act like you've been run over by a...
The image in her mind gave her the answer. "I know how," she said. "Jace, a friend of mine, has a grandpa who loves old movies—especially silent movies by this actor called Buster Keaton—and they watch them together and eat popcorn. He streamed an online video for me once called The General." She scanned their faces for any hints they understood what she was implying. No response. "Okay. Let me rephrase this. Do any of you guys know how to drive a train?"
Chapter Ten
They infiltrated the rail yard before the shift change. Caveman reckoned the crew would be in their barracks and the guards bored and inattentive as they waited to be relieved. The huge locomotive had been turned around, refueled, watered, and connected to boxcars carrying produce destined for the BloodDark city. The engine rumbled quietly. An occasional splutter of steam jetted from valves to fill the air around the mechanical beast with a peppery-smelling mist. A long cylinder, the thickness of a tree trunk, had been attached to its middle. The other end ran into a long, low brown brick building with a smoke stack rising from the center of the roof. A wisp of smoke streamed from it. Olivia couldn't figure out what the purpose of the rod could be.
Hernando came up and knelt beside Olivia in the shadow of a coal cart. "That's a stroke of luck," he said, pointing. "They connected a car directly behind the engine for the folks returning to the city."
She nodded, eying what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun in the holster on his back. He and a few others had been armed from a stock of weapons created by the Resistance. She didn't know what the firearms would do against a vampire, but the others seemed confident in their choice of weaponry. She dragged her mind back to the present and pointed to the building. "What's that thing attached to the engine?"
Hernando glanced at it. "Sidi told me it drives a flywheel aboard the engine. It makes it easier to get the thing up to speed or something. There's a steam engine in the building that powers the rod."
Olivia frowned, thinking back to the rush of planning and proposals they'd gone through just days before. "Did we assign anyone to take care of it?"
"Yes. Sidi's over there. He said there'll only be one or two people running it, and he'll deal with them."
She nodded. "We'll need to change the switches so the train will run on the main line."
"The others are dealing with that."
Hernando touched her hand. Olivia looked into his big brown eyes, feeling a thrill at the contact. He seemed to sense it, too, and smiled. She wished the moment would last forever. Will he ever say those three little words?
A noise from the flywheel house startled them. Hernando jerked his hand back. "I don't think that's our cue yet. Relax, Olivia. Let them do their job. Ours is to get aboard when they signal."
Their romantic mood evaporated. "I know! I was there when we all made the plan, remember?"
That sounded harsh. What does grandma say? You catch more flies with honey? Olivia bit her tongue. "Sorry. I'm nervous."
"It's okay. So am I."
She looked askance at him. "Sure you are. You don't look it."
He flashed a lopsided smile. "Appearances can be deceiving."
He looked calm and in control to her. Olivia breathed deeper to settle her fluttering nerves. Some commando leader I make. I'm more worried about impressing a boy and keeping my skin intact than I am about liberating these people from oppression. Grow up!
Two men from their party wandered across the yard from the direction of the rail workers' quarters and strode with confidence toward the switch lever, acting as if they had every right to be there. Olivia divided her attention between them and the distant figures of two Overseers talking near the barracks. The guards didn't pay any attention to the activity on the line. A clank of metal-on-metal announced the switch had been changed. Now the two rebels walked back up the line to the rear of the passenger car where they uncoupled it from the following box cars. One of them waved to Olivia and her waiting group.
"Come on!" Hernando took the lead.
They stood and walked to the carriage. Those with weapons concealed them under cloaks and blankets. It took every effort she possessed for Olivia not to break into a run. Caveman had cautioned them against haste.
"The running thief is always caught," he'd said the night before, "because a running thief always draws attention."
The quarter mile to the carriage seemed to take forever to cross. Olivia watched the distant Overseers out of the corner of her eye, but they still didn't react. Reaching the steps up to the nearest carriage door, she climbed them quickly, scuttling out of sight with pure relief. The others followed, fifty in number, the final ones closing the door behind them.
Hernando moved to a window on the station side and peered out. "Uh oh."
Olivia joined him, her anxiety rising again. "What's up?"
He pointed. "I think we've attracted their attention."
The two Overseers were coming toward the train. They didn't appear to be in any hurry, but Olivia guessed the large number of people moving to the train had attracted attention after all. Hernando's hand touched hers briefly and then he was away, moving to the rear of the carriage.
The Overseers reached them within minutes. Olivia eavesdropped on the conversation between them and Hernando but they spoke the aliens' language not English. Annara crouched near the door, translating in a low whisper.
"They say we're not supposed to board for three periods," Annara began. "Hernando says we were ordered aboard now." Annara continued to listen, biting her lower lip and clenching her fists. Olivia could sense her nervousness. "They demand to see the movement orders. He says they'll have to come aboard to speak to our Overseer. They're coming!"
Footsteps sounded and the car vibrated as the Overseers climbed the steps. Annara shifted her bulk from the door. Two burly rebels took her place, one standing on either side of the entrance. They hefted heavy shunting-poles, yard-long baulks of timber shaped like a thick baseball bat.
The first Overseer entered the car. He walked a short way up the aisle and glared at the rebels on either side. The fighters sat pretending to be meek and peaceful, but Olivia knew any second they'd act. As the second Overseer entered the carriage the two burly rebels struck, bringing their poles down on his head and shoulders. The guard roared and shook them off but fell under repeated blows. His comrade came to his aid, but the Resistance fighters sprang into action, swamping both by sheer weight of numbers. Swift blows to their heads silenced the Overseers without killing them, much to Olivia's relief.
"What shall we do with them?" someone asked as Hernando reappeared.
"Dump them in a box car?" Annara suggested.
Hernando shook his head. "We can't. There's still loading taking place as the crops come in from the barns. They'll warn the other Overseers who will contact the authorities."
"Tie them up," Olivia recommended. "Put them off the train when we're well clear of the farm."
Annara nodded. "That gets my vote."
Agreement became universal. After a brief search of the unconscious Overseers, Annara took the two silvery soda can weapons from their belts, handling them gingerly. Olivia shuddered when she recognized the devices and looked away. Two rebels shackled the Overseers with their own handcuffs and deposited them in the baggage area to the rear of the car. Caveman appeared through the door leading to the locomotive. He sized up the situation at a glance and nodded.
"It'll do." He wiped coal dust from his face with a faded red cloth. "Now, everybody sit down and hold tight. We're leaving shortly, and we aim to do it quickly."
As he turned to go, Olivia reached out to stop him. "Can we sit with you up front?" She
gestured to Hernando.
Caveman shrugged. "It won't bother anyone if you do."
They followed him through the door then across the flexible joint into a metal-lined corridor. She guessed it must run through the engine's mammoth coal bunkers. It opened onto a ladder that led up to the footplate. Olivia found herself four stories above ground with a view across the rail yard to the plantation and beyond. The footplate itself measured several yards across and consisted of an enclosed room with surrounding windows. Dials, pipes, and levers of every kind filled a console across the front wall. Two women fighters, Nina and Rika, and a man, Hemi, worked on the controls with near-frenetic energy and within minutes the steady rumble of the engine rose in pitch. Caveman went to stand by the window overlooking the station. Unsure of what to do, Olivia and Hernando joined him.
"Flywheel running up to speed!" Nina called out. Standing above it, Olivia could see the purpose of the shaft connected to the engine. A cam-shaft rotated rapidly inside it. She watched a figure emerge from the brick building, followed by a gust of smoke cut off when he slammed the door shut. She heard his violent coughing from her lofty perch as he waved an arm and staggered toward the passenger car.
"Sidi hasn't disengaged the shaft!" Nina cried.
"I can't blame him." Caveman shook his head. "The engine down there had to run up to speed to power the loco's flywheel ready for departure. Sidi had to punch holes in the smokestack inside the engine house so the extra smoke wouldn't give us away. Sweet mercy, he must've near poisoned himself."
"I'll go down and disengage the shaft," Hemi said, but Caveman held up a hand.
"No. It'll take too long. Let's just go."
The rebel crew looked at one another then shrugged. Rika pushed a lever and with a long drawn out groan the locomotive began to move. Olivia watched with her heart in her mouth as the cam shaft shuddered under the strain.
Olivia's Escape Page 10