They walked to a tight antechamber illuminated by a solitary lantern and sat down at a desk. Bartz collected some papers and stuffed them into a folder. He smiled, “railroad business, you see.”
He tapped his fingers on his knee. “You should know Lord Henneson has informed me of what happened, what really happened. Such a shame. You’ve been keeping this quiet, yes?”
“Yes, sir. Lord Henneson’s orders.”
“Of course you have. And remind me—your father, he does what again?”
“He… passed away a few years ago. An accident.”
“Ahh, and your mother?”
“She does what she can, working for the Hall of Records.”
Bartz frowned momentarily and then looked away, jaw clenching. “Yes. A noble profession.” He stood up and said, “Let me collect Preston for you. If you don’t mind waiting here?”
Did Owen say something wrong? Perhaps Bartz was just tiring of the discussion. He was a very busy man.
Bartz walked around the corner and knocked on the door. The door opened, and Bartz entered.
Lord Bartz was one of the most prominent businessmen in Seeville. He was originally a magnate of the trade businesses of the region, but more recently was a driving force behind the S&R Railroad expansion. Under his leadership, the railroad operations had expanded northward to Kingston and southward all the way to Jacksonville, uniting many divisions of the Spoke people.
It was odd that such an important man was here, alone, in a Faraday-protected enclosure of the Barnyard, and also odd he knew so much about what had happened. It was stranger still he would spend time sitting down with Owen.
Several minutes went by. Owen began to regret his boldness in coming all the way to the Barnyard. His mom had once told him, “stay out of the way of the movers and shakers unless you want to get moved and shaken.” It seemed like wise enough counsel. At the same time his mom often cited vague Adherent gospel like, “beware the three fears.” So her warnings were to be taken with a grain of salt.
Bartz seemed to be taking quite some time. There would be procedures with the Faraday cage, but it shouldn’t take this long. Perhaps he was sidetracked by some other business inquiry.
Finally, Bartz and Preston exited the bunker. Preston looked pale, with his hair unusually unkempt. He hung back while Bartz spoke, “Well I’m off then. I don’t have to tell you again how important secrecy is. Listen to Preston here, he will explain.” He winked at Owen as he finished speaking. Then he tilted his head to the side a little too much, scrutinizing Owen’s reaction.
“You have my word, sir,” Owen said. Owen could feel Bartz’s eyes crawling on him, and he knew it would make him blush. Blushing would make his spots stand out more, which he hated.
“Good-bye then,” Bartz said with a smile. He whisked by Owen and went out the exterior door.
Preston stood aloofly, looking irritated.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Owen said. “I was going crazy at home and we still haven’t really spoken about the valley. I didn’t know Bartz would be here.”
Preston looked down as he spoke. “I’m working with Bartz now, for the railroad. There’s a lot they want me to do.”
“You’ve dropped out of school?”
“Well, yeah. As of Monday, anyway.”
People who didn’t finish trade school rarely amounted to anything. You couldn’t even be a blacksmith or carpenter without a trade school degree.
“Why would you do that?” But as soon as Owen asked the question, he knew the answer. Preston always wanted to be where the action was. And here he was, working with Quenton Bartz, of all people.
“You’d be surprised the resources the railroad has. I get to work on things you couldn’t imagine,” Preston said.
Owen frowned skeptically. “Like what? And for how long until you get put into some menial position shoveling coal or checking valves?”
Preston crossed his arms. “Well, they’re working on an electric drive for trains—one that will get around the retcher problem.”
Owen was shocked into silence for a moment. Not only would he be working on electrical systems, but ones that would be unleashed beyond the Faraday cage. If true, it would have profound consequences for Seeville, maybe for all Spokes.
“But… how do you get around the emissions problem? Do you think it will work?”
Preston continued to focus his gaze away from Owen. “We’re trying some shortwave means that may be out of the retcher’s range, for one. I don’t know if it’ll work, but the point is why not do something substantial rather than tinker on something they may never let you use? Bartz and the railroad folks, they understand this is the way of the future. They don’t let the silly superstitions get in their way. They’re all about progress. The train has left the station.” Preston smirked with the delivery of his last sentence.
Owen didn’t think the double entendre sounded funny. Nor did it sound like something Preston would say. He must have picked it up from the railroad folks, maybe even Bartz himself.
“I still think this could be a mistake, Preston. I mean, you can always join the railroad after trade school”
Preston shook his head and looked at him in a way that made him know the matter was closed. “Why did you come here, Owen?” he asked sternly.
It seemed more trivial now, after seeing Bartz and learning about Preston leaving trade school. “Well, I wanted to talk about what happened in the valley. Also about some of the work you were doing… I can see that’s probably not going to happen.”
“Uh huh,” Preston said.
“Aren’t you curious, Preston? Aren’t you frustrated we can’t talk about this? That the lords haven’t told us what’s going to happen next?”
Preston just shrugged and stood there with his arms crossed. It was strange. Preston was usually more curious than Owen, sometimes to a fault.
“Is there something you’re not telling me? We’re friends, right?”
Preston looked up at Owen, annoyed. “Wait just a minute, you can’t hang that we’re friends shit on me. I have responsibilities now. I can’t tell you everything. Railroad business is railroad business.”
“That’s not what I meant. What about the valley? The phone?”
Preston just shook his head.
“And what about the talisman Noke gave us? When are we going to find this Duncan Jones person?”
This unhinged Preston somewhat. “Oh that. Sorry… I forgot. Actually, I don’t think I can. They have me working all hours of the day here. Would you mind taking care of it?”
Preston did look pretty roughshod. “Yeah, I guess so. I can handle it.” It still seemed strange that Preston wouldn’t help. It was Noke’s last wish.
“Thanks. Is there anything else?” Preston said with a hint of impatience.
Owen couldn’t believe Preston didn’t want to talk more about the expedition. Owen waved his hands emphatically, as if it might conjure a more meaningful response from his friend. “Don’t you see we have to go back to the satellite, Preston? Maybe there’s some other tech we could take from it—something important we could learn. And we need to find out what happened to Cecile!”
Preston shook his head again, more slowly and deliberately this time.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Hey, just calm down, Owen. I was there just like you were, okay?”
Preston finally pulled himself away from the wall and started pacing. “Let me think for a minute.”
Owen realized he might be pushing too far. He was just venting his own frustration. It wasn’t Preston’s fault they didn’t have answers—that they were forced to keep everything secret. Realistically, what could Preston do?
After some thought, Preston seemed to come to some kind of internal conclusion. He sighed in resignation. “There will be another expedition in a couple weeks, I’m pretty sure of it. The railroad folks will be involved.” Preston looked down, brushed some lint off his trousers and looked up again. “Bartz wasn’t so sure about you. Something about your mother, not sure why, but I might be able to vouch for you, to get you included, if that’s what you want.”