"Before we do anything." I said, surprising myself by speaking up. "Did we catch the saboteurs?"

Jesseme gasped in surprise "You can't possibly believe this was sabotage?"

That she wasn't considering sabotage at this point only made her look guilty, but I still felt it was that girl in the wheel chair. Why hadn't she toppled out? Sus. "One thing going wrong is a tragedy. Two things is an awful consequence. But three or more?"

Hawthorne made eye contact with me, and subtly shook his head. "There's no time. The train must start."

"Even if they act again?" asked Lt. Brumdrumdee. (I really couldn't remember his name well. Sus...)

The tall Hawthorn looked at the train, scanning for some unknown thing. He didn't seem to pay attention to the Foresters fighting, as though his eyes saw something further in. He muttered inaudibly another curse word, or a prayer, I couldn't tell except the word was raw and emotional. "Start the train, Miss Rogers."

So she carefully took a piece she had wrapped in lavender cloth, one of the rods I had retrieved. Except now it glowed with warm ethereal light with unimaginable depth beneath it. This was something I didn't understand. I knew the old quote about sufficiently advanced technology would be no different from magic, but that...looked like magic. Almost the same kind of magic as the universe sea that I had previously swam through. I check my bag, quickly, but the spare parts with me were still mostly normal pipe looking rods.

Jesseme swallowed dryly, and leaned forward and inserted the glowing rod into a small piece and...

There was a small, soft hiss. A gentle gurgle. The large engine beneath us did a delicate, gentle rattle, and then...

The train started moving forward, slowly. Right now I could walk faster than the train. The last few people on the side rail, probably those with high brit ratings who were not turned into zombies, cheered and jumped into the last train car. I saw Mrs. Lee amongst them, and I was glad she made it out all right.

The foresters continued fighting, but I felt like they were paying attention as the train was moving.

"Shouldn't we...get off the top of the train?" I asked. I had seen that old uncanny valley Christmas movie Polar Express, and I was especially remembering the part where the main character had to jump into a pile of coal to escape getting mushed between the top of a tunnel and the roof of the train. Also, I didn't know if I could hold on if the train went faster than the speed sound. (that was too fast. How fast was the speed of sound here?).

"We need to end several conflicts, Ward of mine." he said.

So he did believe that this was a set up too. Good. Now, who was set up...

The train was going a little faster now. We were getting closer to where Rock Lee was fighting. He was not only holding his own, but had clearly beaten several of the Foresters.

Jesseme turned another dial, and the train started moving faster. "I think I can regulate our speed from a more safe vantage point." she said.

"Not yet." countered the Deputy.

The ninja foresters around us were keeping pace with the train. How would we know who was a good forester and who was a bad forester? Did we arrest them all? Could Deputy Constable Hawthorne deputize me?

What. I probably should tell him about the ilk thing.

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So while Lt. Burdeom went and helped Jesseme start to seal close the exposed panels, I went to talk to Hawthorn. I know I had spent a lot of time with James and Mr Prattalike, but I still felt like Deputy Constable Hawthorn was my best protection.

"Someone apparently lured many dinosaurs here too." I informed him. "One of the foresters I met said that it was suspicious how many were nearby. Apparently they would have been a real problem if we didn't distract them. Um...I may have been part of an action that lured several large herds into a...broken shelter...and then blew it up."

He made a very British noise. "That explains that explosion." it was a bad day that there had been apparently multiple explosions. "I saw the large one, and that it was lured away also."

"But there is more." I wanted to tell him everything about the Ilk queen. "I ran into some trouble on my way out..."

Those dark eyes of his. And I felt in my very soul that he already knew about it. "Don't worry. I will handle that ilk as well. Well done."

He was proud of me.

I shouldn't have been so pleased with myself, but I was.

I turned and looked at the unremarkable section of elevated track that this train had lingered on for such a long time, beginning to fade away. I looked for blood, or bodies, but for the most part the forest we were leaving looked exactly like the forest ahead.

The forest ahead had a still raging battle of Rock Lee and whatever enemy ninja clan though. James was winning, but the train was getting closer.

"Rock, hurry up and get on the train!" I yelled. "We have stuff to do! Play with your little friends later!"

The enemy foresters made a gesture that some might have interpreted as rude to me at me calling them his little friends, but I chose to interpret it that they were disappointed their play session was over.

During that moment of unsightly behavior, James kicked one and swept another one's legs, as well punching the third in the jaw. Those foresters fell to the ground below, but it looked more like they just didn't want to be there anymore.

James took that moment to jump cleanly onto the moving train. He looked cool for about two seconds, until his eyes grew big and he looked to me, desperately.

Oh. My. Gosh.

This wasn't a one time event.

Rock Lee was shy!

This wasn't some formal party. We were riding the top of a huge long steam engine, full of both zombies and survivors, surrounded by ninjas and being chased by dinosaurs. "Um...Deputy Hawthorn, this is..." I was going to call him his given name of James, but with the ilk thing running around I thought better of it. We could straighten out this later. "This is my friend, and I call him Rock Lee."

My posse looked over James for a moment, like he was rather unremarkable. Everyone here was so judgy. Look at him do back flips and kicks, I bet that country bumpkin doesn't know which spoon to use for soup!

"Do you trust him?" Asked Lt. Bilirubin.

I made a cuffing sound, I could sound British too. "He's saved my life." I said.

Hawthorn put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, then reached out his right hand towards Rock Lee. "I am Deputy Constable Hawthorn, of Special Yard. I take it you do not object to the name of Rock Lee?"

James shrugged, indicating that he didn't care, as he wordlessly and stiffly reached out and shook the good Constable's hand. Then he woodenly wobbled next to me, looking pale. My gosh, he was so cute! How could a scary fighter be so shy?

The eyes of the foresters around us was unnerving. The train was accelerating, but they still had no problems keeping pace with us.

I really wanted to go back inside the carriage. Wait. I wanted to appear magically back in my dorm room. But I got neither of my wishes.

"Deputy Constable," said Jesseme, closing the last panels around her, awkwardly kneeling with her injured ankle. "This is as steady as I can keep it. We will only reach half speed, at best. We will continue to accelerate, but the next time we slow down the train will break again. I maligned so many pieces just to give us this chance. Perhaps, as laughable as it sounds, someone really did sabotage us. So we must make it to the city."

"What is your plan, sir?" asked Lt. Bundree.

Hawthorn took another moment to survey the forest, paying attention to movement along the trees. Then he nodded to himself and started speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen," Hawthorn said to us alone atop the roof. "We have to resolve several issues before we arrive to the City. If we do not, we may not be allowed inside the city walls."

"The zombies." said Lt. Burndree.

"The Saboteur." said Jesseme.

"Foresters." murmured James, quietly. He could talk! Good job! "And...dinosaurs, a lot of them are here that shouldn't be."

Jesseme made an unhappy noise. "And since I cannot fully accelerate the train, this may be a continuing problem."

And there was one thing they had not named. "The Ilk Queen, the name stealer. She's here too."

And they all looked at me.

"She's right behind me, isn't she?" I asked.