Trapped (15 page)

Anya
nodded and then tapped her phone. "Josef, I've neglected
to think things through. Kristin is too tired to undertake a
sustained drive right now. Suggestions? I could send you or one of
the others with them."

"I
can go if you want, but that's going to leave us shorthanded
for the operation tonight."

Anya
muttered something that most definitely wasn't English and that
I suspected was a curse.

"Sorry,
I should maintain my temper better than that. I'd forgotten
that you were otherwise engaged tonight."

"I
won't tell Mom, she already thinks you're a bad influence
on me."

Josef's
smile was short-lived, but for a second I got a sense of the bonds
that tied the two of them together.

"Put
them on The Express."

Even
I knew that was a good idea. With the way that airport security had
continued to get worse and worse everyone had known that it was only
a matter of time before high-speed trains made a comeback. The
Express had been under construction for more than twelve months, but
it already showed incredible potential when it came to moving people
with a speed previously only seen by air travel.

Despite
my tiredness I found myself nodding. "If we rented an entire
car then we could change destinations as we went. The high-speed
couple and decouple feature would mean that we wouldn't really
have to worry about being intercepted anywhere."

Anya
smiled. "Exactly. Let's proceed. Dear Josef, you'll
need to help get them to the train station, grab enough from the
petty cash to get them a full car and then grab a half-dozen of the
prepaid credit cards."

Josef
nodded, and then picked Ash up and deposited him in the middle seat
of the SUV. I loaded the wheelchair into the back of the vehicle and
then accepted a pile of blankets from Anya.

"You'll
have to change cars at some point. Pick a city big enough to allow
you to switch trains and get back on your way with a minimum of
wait."

I
nodded, still a bit in shock at just how fast things were moving, and
then Josef was back and Anya clasped my hand with both of her hands.

"I
do wish you the best, dear Kristin. Josef will plan your exit from
the train with you on the way there."

Josef
didn't say anything until we'd been driving for nearly
ten minutes.

"Ash
isn't going to want to disembark too close to the southern
border. He's also not going to want to get too far east. You're
probably fine to actually head that way. It will give you the most
transfer options, but I'd recommend doing your actual physical
transfer between trains somewhere west of the Mississippi."

Josef
looked over just long enough to see me nod in understanding and then
continued.

"They've
got the process automated enough that it generally only takes about
five minutes for a car to be decoupled and recoupled onto a new
engine. If you can time things such that you change at a terminal
that doesn't have an airport nearby that would be the best, but
the key is to stay in motion and always change destinations while you
still have plenty of options."

I
nodded again. "Right. A plane is still faster, but he'd
have to charter one in order to have a hope of keeping up with how
much I'll change direction, so his top speed is probably not
going to be much more than five hundred miles per hour. As long as I
stay on the better parts of the track we should be doing
three-fourths of that."

Josef
seemed satisfied that I understood enough to give us a chance of
surviving, and probably would have been content to travel the rest of
the way in silence, but I had too many questions to let that happen.

I
started sliding bullets into one of the magazines that he'd
provided while I worked my courage back up to the point of actually
saying something.

"Are
you guys some kind of spy family or something?"

Josef
shook his head and slowed for a turn.

"We
simply do that which needs to be done. Ash may be currently estranged
from the family, but that doesn't change the fact that he's part of
the family. Modern people talk of loyalty but, in my experience, they
view it as a transitory kind of thing. True loyalty is a mutual bond
which lasts for centuries and requires a special kind of people on
both sides of the commitment."

"You've
been serving Ash's family for centuries?"

Josef
smiled slightly. "Like so many things, that all depends on your
point of view. I would say that we've been protecting that branch of
our family best able to serve the rest of the world at large."

I
didn't really know what to say to that, but Josef seemed
content to let his statement stand without further elaboration.
Instead he thought for several seconds and then broached the problem
of what Ash and I were going to do as far as an exit strategy.

"Ash
might have something else in mind when he finally wakes up, but my
recommendation would be Colorado. Some place close to Denver. There
are plenty of options as far as transfers, and it's far enough
away that this Anton that has been giving you guys so much problem
shouldn't be able to just jet over there quickly if he stayed
in this area for some reason."

"Alright,
that makes a lot of sense."

"Unless
I hear otherwise I'll make sure we've got a black SUV in
the long-term parking in Denver. Unlock code will be today's
date, you'll know it's the right vehicle because it will
have a cartoon wolf on the back window."

When
we finally arrived at the train terminal Josef brought the wheelchair
around, casually lifted Ash into it and then set a small case on
Ash's lap before covering him with a blanket.

I
grabbed the two small suitcases that held our clothes and suspended
them from the wheelchair's handles. It made for an unwieldy
mess, but it was better than trying to carry them somehow while
pushing Ash along ahead of me.

Josef
set off towards the ticket counter at a brisk pace while I made my
slower way along behind him. The Express knew it couldn't
compete with the airlines when it came to sheer speed. Even a train
that regularly broke three hundred miles per hour couldn't hope
to do that. Instead, the line had been built around the idea that you
could limit the invasiveness of the security and automate nearly
everything about the trip.

As
the list of things that you couldn't bring with you on
airplanes grew, there had been a larger and larger market for
transportation that was more flexible when it came to prohibited
substances. If you went coach then you still had to submit to x-rays
and metal detectors, but I'd heard that they were much less
fussy when it came to people who paid for a private car.

I
got Ash into the terminal and then only had to wait for a couple of
minutes before Josef returned with our tickets. He handed me a pair
of magnetic cards with numbers on them and pointed towards a doorway
that was flashing our number.

"That
door will lead you to your car. You shouldn't run into any
people between here and there, but if they stop you allow them to
x-ray your suitcases. You're allowed a limited allotment of
baggage that they don't screen, so you should be fine with the
box on Ash's lap. Likewise they shouldn't run you through
a metal detector."

I
nodded. "Thanks, Josef. I know that there is an element of risk
to you helping us."

"It's
been my pleasure. I wish you luck."

Josef
watched me wheel Ash over to our door and then wave my card at the
sensor. Once the door opened I found myself inside a surprisingly
long hallway. The automated systems detected that there were two of
us and demanded that I swipe Ash's card as well before it
allowed us past the next door, and then we went past half a dozen
cameras and a weight sensor before clearing what looked to be a final
automated checkpoint.

I
breathed a sigh of relief when our private car finally came into
view. Corridors on either side of us led to other cars, some with
lines of people leading to them, others that seemed to have already
been loaded up. Further back, almost hidden by the edge of the
terminal, I could see freight cars, identical to the modular
passenger cars but for their color.

The
interior of the car had what I could only call commercial elegance.
It was clean, with a couple of bunks on one side, a bathroom on the
other which actually included a shower, and several fairly
comfortable-looking chairs taking up the third side of the
rectangular cabin.

I
pushed the wheelchair over to the bunks and then pulled and pushed
until I got Ash into the bottom bunk. He seemed to be resting more or
less easily, so I stowed the wheelchair in a tiny, latching closet
before taking a seat in one of the chairs. A foldout, touch computer
screen eagerly offered up information about The Express, including
detailed route information and an explanation of some of the security
features that each car offered. I understood a little more after that
how it was that they'd so far gotten away with less security
screening than what the TSA demanded, but I still suspected that
there was some lobbying going on behind the scenes, both by the
people who wanted more security and the people who wanted less.

The
train kicked into motion while the screen finished up with the safety
briefing and moved on to explaining the amenities of the cabin. I saw
that there was a refrigerator and a microwave locked away behind one
of the small doors next to the bathroom and mentally noted that I'd
need to check how well-stocked it was before we got too far into our
journey. I started in on the route information next. The screen
helpfully showed me what was available as far as non-stop car
transfers and I began mapping out a route that would take us north
once we reached LA, and then back south before we hit the Canadian
border.

I
knew that Ash didn't particularly want to spend any time down
around the Mexican border, but it seemed like that was less dangerous
than continuing to go back and forth through California and give
Anton a shot at us each time we powered by.

I
managed to remain awake long enough to book the first destination
change. It was a sneaky one that would leave us taking a winding
route through a number of different terminals, and I spared a brief
moment to feel proud of myself before I stumbled over to the bunks
and pulled myself up into the top one.

The
next few hours were a nightmare of paranoia and exhaustion. I woke
after less than an hour of sleep in a cold sweat because I'd
realized that there wasn't any guarantee that Anton couldn't
find a way to get our route information. It seemed impossible to me,
but I had a sneaking suspicion that someone like Anya would have
contacts who could easily hack into almost any computer system
devised. If it was possible for Anya, then there wasn't any
guarantee that it wasn't possible for Anton.

I
logged back onto The Express's customer portal and revised our
destination, making sure that we wouldn't be going anywhere
within fifty miles of my original route, and then stumbled back to
bed.

I
slept fitfully, waking periodically to change our route and then
making my exhausted way back to bed. On the third or fourth iteration
I realized that I needed to see to Ash so I turned the cabin lights
on and checked to see how he was doing.

He
seemed to be running a fever, and I felt a surge of guilt that I
hadn't thought to check in on him before then. I pulled a
chilled bottle of water out of the tiny fridge and coaxed him into
drinking some of it. He never actually seemed to come to, but he did
respond a little to my voice, enough to swallow a few sips of water.

It
was more than I'd been afraid I'd manage, but I was still
worried about him. I cast about for something else I could do for
several seconds before remembering the case that Josef had sent with
us.

I
opened the case and felt my eyebrows try to crawl up to my hairline.
A heavy pistol sat nestled in the center of the case with a pair of
knives below it, a wad of cash off to one side and a miniature first
aid kit on the other.

I
pulled Ash's blankets off and re-bandaged his wounds. They were
already looking somewhat better, but the bare skin of his chest was
alarmingly hot. There was a small syringe of antibiotics in Josef's
case, underneath all of the gauze. I gritted my teeth and stuck him
in the shoulder.

It
seemed like I should be mostly recovered by now, but moving Ash
around so that I could tape him back up had taken more out of me than
I'd expected it to. I managed to change our route again, but
nodded off while still in the chair.

I
slept through the alarm on Ash's burner phone and next awoke to
the sound of Ash's teeth chattering. It took me several seconds
to figure out where I was this time. Ash was on his side, curled into
an involuntary ball as his body tried to warm itself back up. I put a
hand on his back and nearly swore at how cold to the touch he was. I
was pretty sure that a human wouldn't be able to get that cold
and come back from it.

I
hurried over to the thermostat and turned it all of the way up before
climbing into bed with Ash and covering the two of us with every
blanket in the cabin. It wasn't much better than curling up
with a block of ice, and after more than an hour had passed Ash
became delirious. Most of what he said was too quiet to make out, but
shortly after I got up to route us through Houston I heard him call
out my name.

He
didn't seem to really come to, but he got louder and louder
until I made it back to the bed and curled up around him. It was
hardly the time or place, but it felt nice to hear him say my name,
more and more softly until he finally seemed to lapse back into a
less troubled sleep.