Jake X (1) Multiverse Fugitive Read online

Dr Tung was considering a plan as he said:“Assuming they see this train leave will the soldiers simply give chase? Can the rail trolley then continue down the line without trouble?” He considered the matter.

  “No! This colonel is a careful man! Once the firing stops he will look into the shed, find nothing except the guns. He will then send troops to check this place! Therefore he must see the elves and the robot leave with the rest of us! He must see us all go! The railcar must leave with the steam train!. But how? We have no other transport….”

  “Sir!” piped CLEO. “There is a 280 h.p. Walker Railmotor at the back of this shed. It has travelled 400,000 miles but the log book, which is shown on a computer historical record, says it was retired intact and running on Fri 18th August 1951. It is fully fuelled with diesel oil. Would that surfice for future needs?”

  “It certainly will suffice! In fact, it must! Some oil, perhaps a tune up from FIDO….yes!! We must begin!You two.” he pointed at Alaric and Jake. “Transfer food and drink from the railcar and put it inside the rail motor. Get as much food and drink as you can move in 10 minutes! And take FIDO’s cooker as well. The food and drink may have to last you a while. Take all the Central Power stuff as well.”

  Jake and Alaric immediately began offloading cartons of food and drink from the railcar. CLEO was hidden and various items of Central Power gear were loaded onto the railmotor.

  Dr Tung continued: “Driver Garret. Remove that alien device from the firebasr and put it with the other gear in Walker Railmotor,”

  As Driver Garret hastened to comply Dr Tung continued: “CLEO! Radio the soldiers lifting the line at Cheviot. Use the Colonels voice. Tell them we have caught the aliens! They are to put the rails back. The squad will get 14 days leave to celebrate! They can depart as soon as the rails are back. Contact the soldiers working Yarck and give them the same message! Fourteen days special leave once they reconnect the the line! Finally, tell the soldiers at Yea to head back to barracks! In three minutes, tell FIDO to fire six morter rounds at 3 second intervals. The mortars should be aimed to fire into the gronnd in front of the soldiers. There are to be no casualties! I will have the I/I device. On my signal, FIDO is to fire all mortars. The train will appear and he is to run over and get on.” There was a sudden whistling noise in the distance.“Incoming!”A huge explosion followed. Small arms fire continued, now augmented by the incessant chatter of a machine gun. Three seconds later there was another massive bang. Dr Tung addressed Alaric and Jake;

  “Well, gentlemen, it is time to part. We will take the Army in the wrong direction and leave you two with a clear run east.I trust you will find this railway you are seeking. We will need the I/I device! I wish we had another! We will also have FIDO on board for a short time, so the Colonel gets a good look at all of us! You will jump off as we pass this site. Good luck! Driver Garret and I will now say goodbye!”

  The two men, followed by Jake and Alaric ran across the railyard and mounted the railcar. Engines at both ends of the vehicle started up with a deep, throaty roar. They rolled twards the sound of firing

  Some distance up the line two mortar rounds exploded and then the firing from the building slackened.

  “Keep at it lads!” cried the Colonel. “A months leave for anyone who bags an alien!”

  Suddenly, his radar operator shouted:

  “Sir! Train approaching on the line! Sounds like something heavy!”

  Mortars inside the shed then fired in sequence, within five seconds. The soldiers ducked involuntarily. The golden figure of FIDO suddenly appeared, weaving to avoid the stream of bullets and running towards the railway. The rail car pulling the steam engine and coach suddenly winked into existence.

  “Over here!” shouted Dr Tung, pushing his head out of the side window.

  The soldiers then had a clear view of Jake, Alaric, Driver Garret and Dr Tung through the uncovered side of the rail car, with the steam engine behind. FIDO jumped aboard as the soldiers recovered and started to pepper the rail car.Then both the rail car and the steam engine vanished.

  The radar operator shouted:

  “They are moving down the line towards Yea!”

  “After them!” shouted Col Viljoen. “Tally Ho!”

  Chapter

  Aboriginal machanic

  Jake,Alaric, FIDO and CLEO were now all inside the Walker railcar. They had broken several international sprint records to reach the shed after jumping off the slowing train. They had not heard the steam train and its cargo leave due to the effect of the I/I device. They had heard Con Viljoen and his crew roar past in hot pursuit,

  It had rapidly become quiet. Now they could only hear the wind rattling against the corrugated iron of their shed, CLEO’s hardware was placed on a side shelf. The computer sat surveying events. FIDO then activated an extremely powerful vacumn and the vehicle rapidly became pristine.

  FIDO continued installing the nuclear cooking stove. Jake and Alaric were stowing away plates,knives,spoons and cups on a makeshift counter on one of the seats. Containers of food and drink occupied another of the traverse seats. Once the chores were finished, Jake attemptied to connect the motor which had been idle for some sixty years.

  The enginel failed to fire.

  Then the aboriginal tracker suddenly arrived at the entrance to the wooden building. He was now dressed in a loin cloth. He approached silently and stood looking at them.

  “G’Day, spirit people!” said the tracker.“Don’t worry! I’m no longer with the army, I’ve deserted and I’m going walkabout. I don’t like that fat faced colonel! I just dropped in to say hello!”

  CLEO squawked from the bench. “FIDO! Get him!”

  Before the robot could move Jake made a decision.

  “Don’t attack him,FIDO,”he said. ‘He’s on the run like we are.”

  The tracker spoke again.

  “Your engine don’t sound happy,” he said, “Needs bush mechanic!”

  He walked into the hut, grabbed a set of rusted tools from a table and vanished under the Railmotor, There were several metallic sound effects and a string of what might be Mujambi curses.

  The ex soldier then reappeared.

  “Now you try again,” he said.

  Jake tried the starter again and the motor roared into life, filling the shed with smoke.

  “Turn it off and we’ll all have a cuppa,” shouted the ex soldier.

  He climbed aboard the vehicle. FIDO used his nuclear cooker and they all sat perched sideways on the long seats as the robot served tea.

  “Good stuff this,” said the soldier, sipping the brew and then nursing his cup.

  “Spirit tea! Where you spirit people headin?”

  “Down the line,” said Jake. “We looking for a … a sort of special railway..”

  “A proper spirit railway,” said the tracker with satisfaction. “We seen spirit people before, long time back. This give me something to talk about when I get back.Can I cadge a ride down the line? Then I go long walkabout/”

  The railcar was already loaded. Jake started the engine and they pulled out onto the main line. The railcar clattered on into the night. Once the engine warmed it was giving stirling service, Alaric sat on the front seat with the tracker and FIDO sat at the back of the bus. CLEO had already protested that Jake was still totally banned from driving any motor vehicle, Alaric had intervened and persuaded the computer that the ban did not apply to a retired rail car. He explained that a rail car was a motorized railway vehicle rather than a road vehicle.

  It did not travel on a road. Thus Jake was allowed to drive.

  CLEO was currently: “Considering Lord Alarics’s analysis.”

  In the meantime Jake was driving at a reasonable speed. He was currently staring intently at the track ahead. A wandering moon, which kept vanishing behind clouds, gave some light. The railcar clattered through the deserted stations of Yark, Kanumbra.
Merton and then Woodfield and Bonnie Doom without stopping.

  They were now heading towards Maindample when a lbright light from directly above shone down on the railcar. A metallic voice ordered them to stop. Jake cut off the engine and braked. The Aboriginal soldier said: “Get you head down,spirit man! They probably after me for desertin”.

  “Are you giving up?” asked Jake.

  “Naw! Just pullin’ them away from you spirit men. They won’t catch me!”

  He climbed out of the railcar and stood with his hands up.

  The voice of Colonel Viljoen boomed out: “Improperly dressed, AWOL and deserting! I’m going to throw the book at you, darkie!”

  “You’ll have to catch me first, Ding Dong!” shouted the tracker, using a derisive title used by the Colonels troops. The ex-tracker dashed across the track and vanished into thick bush. The helicopter sped after him, shining a light into the thick bush. Gradually, the light vanished in a series of stacatto hops towards the north,..

  The railcar stood silent for a long period.

  “They seem to have gone,” said Jake. “I think we should carry on.

  Once again the engine roared into life. Jake pushed in the worn gears and once again they were on the move. The ancient railcar was now rolling on towards Maindample. The station was shown on CLEO's map as being located 122.5 miles from Melbourne on the line to Mansfield. As they pulled into the station, which was overgrown with weeds, Jake suddenly decided to stop. He would consult the computer in respect to planning the next section of the journey.

  He might also get a snack.

  As they drew to a halt, FIDO brought out cups of Elvish tea.. Jake moved back from the drivers seat and they all sat together in the middle of the vehicle. Alaric held up CLEO’s rail map. They could see the markings of a path. It started at Old Maindimple station and lead up to a mountain carrying the legend St Bernards Peak (8,650 ft.) On the map, a red light flickered on and off at the summit of the mountain.

  “The light shows the possible location of Gateway Four.” said CLEO. “Gateway Central's Notes on Gateways states that this Gateway is a One Way Request Stop. However, my Schedule states that the gate will be operative in 5 hours, local time.”

  “Well, there is no point in travelling further along the railway,” said Alaric. “The Prince did well to stop here! He must have had a feeling that we were close to a Gateway.”

  Jake protested that the only feeling he had was hunger.

  FIDO then produced a plate of sandwiches!!!

  Jake began eating rapidly.

  CLEO suddenly made an announcement: “As a safety measure, in case the Gateway is not fully operative I have broken out two sleighs from stores. FIDO has expanded the sleighs which may be strapped over your backpacks and used to slide back to this train if necessary. Each sleigh is the latest Super Zooper. These sleighs can attain very high speeds without the use of ski wax! They will not require waxing! Before you depart, would anyone care to hear a lecture on how to avoid hidden obstacles while sleighing downhill at high speed?”

  Jake: “What I really need is a snowmobile to take me up to the peak. Do you have a snowmobile in your inventory, Miss Fusspot?”

  “No, I do not have a snowmobile.” said CLEO.

  Jake climbed down from the carriage on to the dark platform. Alaric, similarly equipped, descended from the train. They left the station and began following a meandering muddy track towards the foothills of the mountain.

  As they left, FIDO powered himself down. He stood motionless, next to his nuclear stove. In the carriage, only CLEO was still fully awake. The computer, powered by her internal battery, continued her task of scanning all frequencies while amusing herself by playing chess on the Internet (under the code name Jolly Molly.)

  Away from the rail trolley, the party struggled upwards over a muddy track apparently made by mountain goats. The foothills suddenly became a steep, rocky incline. Under the weight of heavy packs and sleighs. They struggled upward, Even Alaric, who normally seemed to dance around, was obliged to simply plod on. Jake kept asking them to stop for a quick snack. Jake suggested they could return to the train, have a good meal and a long snooze. They could try again the following night. Alaric ruined this idea by reminding him that transport would appear that very night.

  It might not then return for some very considerable time.

  They must press on.

  Jake now regretted the fact that he had not demanded a proper hot meal before leaving the carriage. Six sandwiches were hardly enough. He was even more regretful that he had stopped the railcar at all. It would have been far easier driving on than trudging up the side of a mountain.

  However, Alaric would not agree to his frequent request for a rest and merely said they must press on. Shortly, the few stunted trees growing on the rock strewn hill gave way to a snowfield. It stretched upward, glistening in the moonlight. They crunched through the snow. Suddenly Jake's weariness vanished. He had an inspiring vision of himself as a member of the first party to ascend St Bernard's Peak! He was a member of The First Ascent! He would get a special badge and probably be featured on the news! He rehearsed a modest smile for TV. It would be important to look modest and unassuming. As they trudged forward, Jake planned his victory speech. He would ignore the popping lights of the cameramen. He would gaze at some unseen inner vision. “It was just another peak.” he would say, slowly, after apparently thinking hard. “It is my aim, my unshakeable aim to climb all the worlds great peaks including this one.” He would then mention the fact that this peak had probably beaten off hundreds of prior attempts. Even for an expert like himself the mountain had proved a challenge. There were difficult pitches up to and including Grade 1. This grade was regarded by many climbers as impossible! But he had prevailed!”

  This imaginery scenario cheered him up immensely.

  He plodded on quite cheerfully.

  The peak was now visible a short distance ahead.

  Chapter 14

  Interdimensional Bus Stop