Storming the Kingdom (9 page)

“You know, I was just thinking that,” Shep said, eyes riveted to the screen.

“Shh.” Juliette placed a finger to her lips without ever looking toward Shep.

“Hawk, you know I love to tell a story. But this time, the story you are living is far bigger than you understand. Each of our lives tells a story. Every day another paragraph, another page, and eventually another chapter is complete. Sometimes the story seems mundane and other times the story seems exciting. But your story, the story you are living right now, is one that can change the world. I can’t risk the secrets you are going to have to find being accidently uncovered by someone else. Walt chose you through me…and just like always, I know you won’t let us down and you will figure out what to do. Now don’t worry, I will help you all I can along the way.”

Hawk tightened his grip on the tablet just enough that it shook slightly. He realized that Rales had fully intended to help him on this quest. Now that was not possible. A gentle squeeze on his shoulder from Jonathan let him know that his friends were feeling the same sense of loss he was in that moment. However, Hawk knew they did not really understand, even though they wanted to.

“My advice is to delete the trail you take as you travel. That way, others will have a hard time stealing or intercepting what you are trying to do. Be safe, be cautious, and beware. What you are about to do and find is something…well, it goes beyond anything you could imagine. Take good care of this tablet. It will be essential for you to put all the pieces together. Listen carefully:
Find the train that doesn’t exist and see where you
go when Walt’s curiosity persists
.
”

With a smile, a nod, and a quick wink from Rales, the clip ended and an icon appeared that gave Hawk the choice to “play again” or “delete.” He paused slightly, the hesitation nearly undetectable, and then he tapped the “delete” tab. The video window closed and then the screen returned to its original look featuring the lone key icon.

“We need to go catch a train.” Hawk smiled as he looked up at his friends.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Five Days Ago
Midnight

T
heir footsteps echoed in the emptiness of the concrete caverns of the Utili-dor. This legendary location below the Magic Kingdom is an entire world in and of itself. Leaving the bunker, they had made their way back up into the Town Square Theater and then descended another set of stairs carrying them down to this basement-like level of the theme park. The guest portion of the Magic Kingdom is actually built on top of the Utilidor. Florida construction doesn’t lend itself to creating basements, and when the Seven Seas Lagoon was created, the dirt from it helped to create the foundation that what guests visit now was built on. This allowed the designers of the theme park to create an underground series of tunnels that help to keep the park efficiently operating. Although there was always something happening around the clock in operating the resort, at this time of the early morning, there were very few people moving through the tunnels.

“Hold on,” Shep whispered. His voice softly bounced off the concrete walls and floor. “The last time you jumped on a train, it ended horribly. That is exactly what we don’t want to happen again.”

“This time it will be different,” Hawk assured him.

Juliette leaned in. “But in case you have forgotten, you just can’t go running around. People are trying to kill you.”

Hawk kept his pace brisk and his head down, searching his thoughts for a plan of action. Pausing and waiting for them to do the same, he held up the electronic tablet in front of them.

“You all know that I have something else I have to find.” He lowered the pad. “And you already know I’m going to try. I just have to do it a little more creatively.”

“So, I’m a little fuzzy here.” Shep shook his head. “Are we just going to enter the Magic Kingdom and catch an imaginary train to find some kind of clue?”

“Of course not,” Hawk shrugged. “I have a security force that is trying to protect me and someone else out there trying to kill me. I can’t let either one of them follow me or know what I’m doing.”

“Well, if you’re going to get to the Main Street Train Station, I don’t see any way to get there without your personal guards seeing you,” Jonathan reminded him. “After all, you have at least one, if not more, standing sentry at the bottom of your Fire Station Apartment.”

Hawk ran his hand through his mop of hair. He sighed. “I didn’t say it was going to be easy.”

Juliette shook her head in resignation. “Alright, what do you want us to do?”

“Well . . .” Hawk started walking again. His friends quickly moved to match his pace. After they had caught up with him and were walking alongside, he continued, “We’re going to follow the Utilidor around into Adventureland and move back up topside there.”

“How are we going to catch the train there?” Shep pursed his lips.

“We’re not going to catch a train there, we’re going to leave the Magic Kingdom and go meet a train that doesn’t exist.”

Shep stopped abruptly as the group continued walking. “Seriously?” He waited for an answer that did not come. As the group continued to put distance between itself and him, Hawk looked back over his shoulder and slightly jerked his head, signaling the need for Shep to keep up. He jogged to rejoin them. “Wait up, don’t leave me in these tunnels.”

Emerging from an unmarked door, the group stepped into an offstage area in the Magic Kingdom in Adventureland. Wordlessly, Hawk led them down a road that circled the park, used primarily by maintenance and service vehicles. Although they didn’t speak, each one was extremely anxious, and they constantly scanned their surroundings. It was understood how dangerous this new quest could be. The design of the Magic Kingdom kept the guests from seeing the necessary but unspectacular backstage areas of the theme park. The road they followed would take them into a parking area behind the City Hall on Main Street, U.S.A. and Hawk’s apartment in the Fire Station. This seemingly simple way of moving through and getting out of the area undetected was possible only because of Hawk’s familiarity with how the resort was put together. Once there, they silently climbed in Hawk’s Mustang. It wasn’t until he cranked the engine they finally spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about the clue,” Shep said as Hawk mashed the accelerator, driving them away from the Magic Kingdom and onto Disney roadway system.

“You’ve been thinking about the clue?” Juliette stopped him. “And you don’t have a clue, right?”

“I didn’t say that,” Shep huffed, then he hesitated. “But, no…I have no idea what it means.”

Hawk grinned as he listened to his friends. After the horror of the previous day, it felt good to smile; and now with a clue to hunt down, he felt he was being productive. Hopefully being productive was also proactive and could bring an end to the nefarious plot unfolding around him.

“We’re heading to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I’m not certain, but I think I understand the clue.” Hawk turned the car off the main road into the entrance of the Studios.

Normally, he would have used another road in and gone through the security checkpoint in the offstage area. At this early hour of the morning, he’d decided he would try to get in a more conventional way, like a guest might use, hoping their entrance would be undetected. He slowed at the normal guest entrance, where the barriers were up, signaling the theme park was closed. Once the car was stopped, Jonathan opened the door and quickly moved to remove the barricade. Hawk cautiously drove past, the barricade was replaced, and Jonathan climbed back in.

“We’re going in the main entrance?” Shep was trying to get on the same page as Hawk’s plan but was reading the wrong book.

“No, almost.” Hawk decided to let them know what he was thinking. “I’m going to roll into the main parking lot, and then we’ll walk over to the cast entrance area and go through there. I’m guessing we’ll create less of a distraction there.”

They understood that Hawk was attempting to keep their movements off the radar, and he was hoping to be more unpredictable if someone was trying to track them.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios was a place Hawk loved to visit for a number of reasons. One of them was because in it, he felt somehow better connected to Walt Disney himself. The One Man’s Dream attraction was a treasure trove of history detailing the life and times of Walt Disney. But beyond that, in a bigger sense, Hollywood Studios was built long after Walt was gone but tried to recreate the magical feel of a Hollywood that people always imagined but that never had really existed. In many ways, the vintage look of the theme park tried to capture the fun and magic of an era that Walt himself had helped to create in Hollywood. As they moved from the offstage area and through the Star Wars Land that Hawk had helped to design and create, he once again was trusting that the connection he felt to the life and times of Walt Disney would help him now.

In the early morning hours they had gathered very little attention from the night cast members as they went about their jobs. Hawk was a frequent visitor to the theme parks after hours. His reputation of dropping by, visiting with people working, checking on the progress of a project was expected. As a result, the odd hour of this visit was actually normal, if not expected. Most cast members had little factual details of the events of the previous day, so Hawk’s moving about the resort signaled business as usual for the night crew. The lighted pathways of the studios carried them to a corner of the park known as the Streets Of America. The hustle and bustle found in any large city in America is captured on these streets. In the darkness of the early morning, the lights in these recreated city sets were still blazing, and the sounds of traffic, streetcars, police whistles, and the routine of everyday life could be heard as the soundtrack of the city is pumped into the area. The ambient sounds were a detail most missed but Hawk always heard. He had discovered sometimes in the background noise you can hear some fascinating things. In life, things that most think are nothing but background noise can have a profound impact on you…Hawk’s ability to notice details was one of the skill sets that had made him so successful. Stepping off the curb and onto the street, the group was swallowed up in what sounded like an active cityscape, now was deserted except for them.

“So, why are we here?” Shep asked as he looked around at the buildings surrounding them.

Hawk slowly began making his way down the city block as his friends moved with him.

“You already know,” Hawk stopped and faced them. “We’re here to find the train that doesn’t exist.”

“But we’re in the middle of Big City America here.” Shep moved his arm in a sweeping motion toward the buildings around them.

“There isn’t a train here, is there?” Jonathan asked.

“Not really.” Hawk smiled.

“But you are saying there is a train here.” Juliette struggled to make the words make sense. “It just isn’t really here…right?”

“Exactly.” Hawk nodded, knowing they didn’t understand. “Where we’re standing are all sorts of tributes to New York City. Originally the entire area was called New York Street.” Hawk allowed his gaze to move across the buildings of the city. “So what do you expect to find everywhere in New York City that relates to trains?”

“A subway.” Juliette turned her head to look farther down the block.

“There’s a subway train under the Streets of America?” Shep followed Juliette’s gaze down the street.

“No,” Jonathan helped him. “But there is a subway station.”

“Right.” Hawk was pleased they were understanding him. “And if you’re going to catch a train in New York, the best place is in a subway station.”

Hawk now moved in the direction Juliette was looking. In front of him was an entrance to an underground subway station. Opening up onto the sidewalk was a gaping hole surrounded by black iron fencing. Fastened to the fencing was a sign indicating the subway station below.

18
TH
S
TREET
S
TATION

D
OWNTOWN AND
B
ROOKLYN

U
NDERPASS TO
U
PTOWN AND
Q
UEENS

“There it is.” Hawk pointed to the sign as they arrived at the stairs leading down. “But there is no Eighteenth Street station on any of the subway lines in New York City. Years ago, in the late 1940s, there used to be an Eighteenth Street station on the East Side line, but it was closed. When the Imagineers built this, they wanted to make sure it was specific for this recreation of New York Street. The Studios were created to have a vintage classic look, so perhaps they added this station back into the set to remember a bygone era.” Hawk opened the electronic tablet and hit the power button. “But if you’re going to catch a train that doesn’t exist, you might as well try to do so at a station that doesn’t exist.”

Shep looked down into the entrance of the subway station and discovered what the rest of the group already knew. Like everything else in this area, this was merely a prop. It had a set of steps that went downward but stopped as soon as you would disappear below the sight line of people on the street.

“What about the line?” Juliette asked, pointing at the subway station sign.

The black sign featured two yellow circles, one filled with a bold, black capital
W
and the other with a
D
, indicating the subway lines that could be picked up at the station.

“Ah, you noticed.” Hawk tilted his head. “I did too, the first time I ever remember seeing this location. There are no W or D subway lines in New York City. So again, something else that doesn’t exist except right here. The
W
and
D
are a tribute to Walt Disney—and for trivia fans are a reminder of the man who started all of this. To me, it is never a surprise when Farren includes a clue that occasionally pays homage to his friend Walt.”

“The clue said, ‘Find the train that doesn’t exist and see where you go when Walt’s curiosity persists.’” Jonathan recalled the clue verbatim.

“Yes, so this is the only place I know to meet a train that doesn’t exist. There is no W or D subway line, no Eighteenth Street Station, and not a real place to catch a subway train except in your imagination because the train does not exist.” Hawk smiled as his own train of thought chugged into the station.

A soft, melodious ding rang out from the tablet, and once again a small red dot appeared on the lone icon on the screen. The golden key had a new update. Hawk glanced around and then nodded toward the entrance to the subway station. They descended the short flight of steps until they disappeared from view along the street, and then they sat down to study the tablet. When they were all gathered close enough to have a view of the screen, Hawk aligned the real key with the electronic key, which began to flash. The screen once again went to black, flickered, and a video window opened up in front of them. Hawk reached down and tapped the “play” arrow, and the video came to life.