All of the passengers disembarked single file in an orderly line. There was a restaurant open to take advantage of the flow of traffic from the ferry and most of the passengers took the opportunity to eat. A few people were already in the restaurant, waiting for somebody to arrive from Haldon. Lewis sat with Fink and Victor, while he watched the bustle in the dining room. Three waitresses hurried from table to table, filling hot drinks and taking orders. About thirty customers had walked in all at once and the kitchen was slow in catching up.

“The train leaves at nine, that gives us five hours to kill,’ Lewis mused. “Daylight starts a little after eight, so I reckon we should be at the station by the time it gets light so that reduces the time to four hours. I need to do some business here, but I think it will take a couple of days. We don’t have that kind of time, so it’ll just have to wait until the return trip.”

“Can you loan me some credits?” Fink asked. “I’ll meet you at the station.”

“I can give you a twenty note,” Lewis answered. “Will that do it?”

“I guess so,” Fink said, holding out his hand. “Thanks.”

They watched Fink leave, and Victor said. “Your friend is very strange.”

“I have a client in Ladzoo, Fink is her brother,” Lewis told him. “He seems a little off to me, but I’m told that he’s very good at what he does.”

“What does he do?” Victor asked.

“Apparently he hunts mutants and he knows the scavenging business,” Lewis replied. “I’ve been told that he’s one hell of a sniper.”

They finished their breakfast in silence and Lewis paid the bill, and then tipped the waitress with a silver coin from Ladzoo. Victor became confused by that and said so.

“I’m guessing that she doesn’t make much money,” Lewis explained. “I am able to afford it, and the service will be good the next time I come in here.”

Lewis and Victor walked to the heart of the city, looking in shop windows and chatting with the patrols that were roving the streets. They found the train station which had been built after the war from adobe blocks and wood beams. It stood in stark contrast to its neighboring buildings, which were tall, plastic and metal, reaching into the gloom of the night sky. Lewis purchased three tickets to Farside from the night clerk.

After that they made their way to the naval base store, which Lewis was surprised to find open at such an hour. Victor bought ammunition for his service pistol. He also picked up a small backpack and bed roll, along with other items for the trip. Lewis purchased a notebook and pen, some socks and a box containing ten canteens.

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By the time they reached the station the sky was beginning to show a little dirty gray color in the east. They sat on the long bench and waited, after ten minutes Fink appeared in a far door. He surged ahead of the other people who were coming in and came straight up to where they were sitting.

“Come on, boys! Let’s go for a train ride, I haven’t been on the train in years, have you ridden on the train?” Fink was talking fast, and Lewis could not decide if it was with a slur or a drawl. “Let’s go, the people are lining up already, their gonna get all the good seats.”

He picked up Victor’s pack and Lewis’ box from their feet and headed for the line that contained four other people. Lewis and Victor gathered up the remainder of their goods and made their way to the queue. A couple of people had lined up behind Fink, but he insisted that Lewis and Victor move up and stand by him.

The train was narrow, with a series of benches for only two people on either side of a small aisle. The seats were made of some type of leather, that was black and stiff. A small window was above every bench, with a curtain drawn across each one. A rail ran beneath the seats and luggage storage was behind it. There was also a rack above the seats for additional luggage. The porter walked down the aisle, checking tickets. The man was a uniformed soldier, with a pistol on his hip. Lewis asked Victor about his rank after the soldier had passed them by.

“He’s a specialist, he must be the lead man on his team,” Victor told Lewis.” There probably is a sergeant in the engine room.”

“Pretty low rank for the whole crew, huh?” Lewis asked.

“The driver is usually a student from the engineering school, in their last year. They have them work here to provide them with a feel for everyday engine work,” Victor said.” Most of the crew may have been ordered to spend some time manning the train because of some minor infraction during their training. A few end up making a career of it.”

“That would explain why they all seem so sour all the time,” Fink commented, and then he sat up real straight imitating an officer. He pointed his finger and looked stern. “You’ve been a baad boy and now you must ride the train until I say you can come back and live with civilized people again!”

They all laughed, and Lewis turned back to the window. The train was pointing west on a single set of tracks, behind the station and flanked on the other side by a tall building. The ten story building was adorned with a huge poster of a soldier in enhanced battle armor, on one knee with his helmet under his left arm. The man was handing his canteen to a ragged child with both arms outstretched, a smile on her dirty face. In bold letters it admonished the observer to’ thank those who make it possible for life to continue.’ Lewis studied the cracked and fading image until he heard the rumble of the engine increase. There was a long series of dull thuds as the cars started to move and the couplers tightened up.

In less than ten minutes they had cleared the city. Victor moved up one seat and removed his jacket, folding it into a bundle. He held it against the wall to lean his head on and was soon snoring quietly as the train rumbled along. Lewis tuned to talk to Fink and saw that he was engrossed in taking a small electronic device apart. Fink was wearing magnifying glasses and humming to himself while he worked with a small screwdriver and tweezers. Lewis turned back to his own window and watched the approaching mountains. An unbroken line of cliffs and clefts rose up and disappeared into the clouds.

A soldier walked down the aisle and hung two oil lanterns, and then with a cylindrical torch about the size of a pen he lit them through a hole in the bottom of each globe. The soldier moved on to the next car toward the rear. Rocks outside rushed towards them and engulfed the car Lewis was sitting in, as they entered a tunnel. Daylight turned to pitch blackness in a matter of seconds.