As the elevator doors open and the two men make their way over to the train across the blindingly white floor, Vikta turns his head to Echo and says, “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed yourself, but we need to get home before the worst part of the storm gets in our way. If the wind picks up to hurricane force winds and hits the train at the wrong angle, it could end up derailing us since we are driving with no load in the containers. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a problem if the containers were weighted down with crops.”

Echo and Vikta stroll over to the train and climb up into the cabin. They both take their seats next to each other and Vikta gets to work turning on the train engine. As Vikta gets up from his chair, he says, “Hang tight for a minute. I’m going to go make sure the rear facing camera and the new empty containers are properly secured before we take off.”

For a few moments, Echo is left alone in the quiet train cabin as Vikta is checking the connections between the train carts. When Vikta returns, he hastily flips on the radio as he sits down. Reaching down to click on the microphone, Vikta says, “Tower, this is Vikta here in the train station. We’re good to go. Would you mind opening the door for us?”

The radio crackles for a few moments before Jacob’s voice comes through, “The way is clear. We’ll have to lock the door behind you due to the storm. See you later, Vikta.”

Vikta gives Echo a quick wink and a smile before pulling back on the acceleration handle, sending the train into reverse to head directly back to the farm. The train is now traveling in reverse with eight empty shipment containers, ready to be filled full of new crops.

Once the train had exited the station through the tunnel and reached ground level once again, a massive steel blast door could be seen closing over the entrance to the station. This blast shield was intended to be used during launches or when there was an attack. However, these blast doors also worked well in protecting against the raging storms of Keto. Since the two of them had arrived, the wind and rain had gotten much worse. The wind was whipping the crops back and forth as the rains saturated the soil, turning it into the kind of sloshy mud that sticks to everything. The clouds had completely blocked out the sun, making it almost impossible to see through the dark downpour of heavy rain.

Upon exiting Launch Central, Vikta reached down to a spot near the acceleration handle and flipped a small switch. Bright fog lights illuminated everything around the train. Flipping another switch, a monitor turned on in the cabin on the back wall. Vikta looked over at Echo and said, “Keep an eye on where we’re going. I don’t want to hit anything that might be crossing the tracks, especially a harvester. It would be horrible to derail in the middle of a hurricane and have to walk back in the darkness.”

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Echo got up from his chair and walked over to the back wall. He was looking at a camera feed of everything behind the train. From Echo’s perspective on the monitor, they were going forward. The view on the small screen indicated that the camera had been attached to the container at the back of the train.

As Echo stood in silence, watching the small screen, Vikta picks up the radio once more but switches it to a new channel. Speaking with a cheery voice, Vikta says, “Hey, hun. You there?”

Vikta clicks the microphone on once more after waiting through a few moments of silence, “Hey Andrea? Are you near a radio?”

The radio is silent, and nothing happens.

No answer. Just static.

The rain begins to whip violently against the windshield as the silence increases in weight. Flashes of lightning temporarily bathed the interior of the train in the bright blue light from the overhead clouds releasing their powerful strikes of electricity. Vikta’s face twitches and a worried expression spreads across his face as the wait becomes increasingly unbearable.

Vikta yells out, “Andrea!? Is everything alright at home!?”

Andrea finally responds with a bothered sigh, “Yes, yes. I’m busy if you don’t mind. How’d it go at Launch Central? Did you two get to see Felix?”

Vikta smiles and lets out a sigh of relief, “It went fine. Felix is also doing great. His ship apparently took a beating going through the Osiris wormhole though. We’ve finished up here, and now we’re on our way back.”

Andrea scoffs, “Felix should think about getting another ship. That damn rust box that my brother holds onto so tightly is going to get him killed one of these days.”

Vikta nearly chokes on a laugh, “That’ll never happen. What’s going on with the storm sensors? Anything new?”

Andrea’s side of the radio signal goes silent for a few moments again before she responds, “It’s not looking good. The storm is already showing a high frequency of hail and the potential for tornados. You need to get back here as soon as possible. We’re going to get hit head-on by the eye wall of the hurricane… Please be safe out there Vikta. I love you.”

Vikta nods his head, “I love you too, sweetie. Just stay in the house until we get there. It’s dangerous outside.” Vikta let’s go of the microphone button before turning to Echo and asking, “How’s it going back there? See anything yet?”

Echo gives a sly smile as he sarcastically answers, “Yep, a lot of rain, wind, and train tracks.”

Vikta chuckles, “Alright, smartass... Let’s get these containers back home.”