‘The engine room. Could she be there?’ he wondered as he proceeded. His skin was ice cold even under his clothing, which was strange, since the entire train had climate control in place. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep or maybe it was the prospect of finding Olga dead that gave Sam chills.
With great stealth, Sam unlocked and passed the first door, entering the Staff Only section just before the engine. It puffed like an old steamer and Sam found it oddly soothing. He heard voices in the engine room, which stimulated his natural instinct to investigate.
“Please, Zelda, you cannot be so negative,” Tuft told the woman in the control room. Sam set his camera to another capture setting to optimize visibility and sound.
“She is taking too long,” Bessler complained. “Hurst is supposed to be one of our best, and here we are, onboard, and she still has to send the last few digits.”
“Remember, she told us that Purdue was completing it as we speak,” Tuft said. “We are almost at Tyumen. Then we can get off and watch from a distance. As long as you set the acceleration to hypersonic after the group gets back on, we can manipulate the rest.”
“No, we cannot, Clifton!” she hissed. “That is precisely the point. Until Hurst sends me the last variable solution, I cannot program the speed. What happens if we cannot set the acceleration before they all get back on for the bad stretch? Do we just give them a nice train ride to Novosibirsk? Don’t be a fucking idiot.”
Sam caught his breath in the dark. ‘Acceleration to hypersonic speed? Jesus Christ, that will kill everyone, not to mention the nature of the impact once we run out of tracks!’ his inner voice warned. Masters was right after all, Sam thought. He hurried back to the back of the train, speaking on the com device. “Nina. Kasper,” he whispered. “We have to find Olga now! If we are still on this train after Tyumen, we are fucked.”
29
The Break Up
Glasses and bottles exploded above Purdue’s head as Lilith opened fire. He had to take a long dive in behind the bar counter near the hearth, because he was too far from Lilith to subdue her before she got to squeeze the trigger. Now he was cornered. He grabbed a bottle of tequila and swung the open bottle so that the contents splattered all over the counter. From his pocket, he pulled the lighter he had used to start the fire in the hearth and set the alcohol on fire to distract Lilith.
The moment the flames ignited along the bar he leapt up and came at her. Purdue was not as fast as always, with the impairment caused by his fairly new operation cuts. Fortunately for him she was a bad shot when skulls were not a few inches from her and he heard her clap off three more. Smoke billowed from the counter as Purdue tackled Lilith, trying to pry the gun from her.
“And I was trying to help you regain some interest in science!” he growled under the pressure of the struggle. “Now you have just proven that you are a cold blooded killer, just as this man said you were!”
She struck Purdue with her elbow. Blood coursed through his sinuses and spilled from his nose, blending with that of Masters on the floor. She hissed, “All you had to do was to complete the equation again, but you had to betray me for the trust of a stranger! You are as bad as Phillip said you were when he died! He knew you were just a selfish bastard that placed more value in relics and extorting foreign countries’ treasures than giving a shit for the people who admire you.”
Purdue decided not to feel guilty about that anymore.
“Look what caring about people brought me, Lilith!” he countered, throwing her down on the ground. Masters’ blood clung to her clothing and legs as if it was possessing his killer and she screamed at the thought. “You are a nurse,” Purdue huffed, trying to slam her gun hand on the floor. “It is only blood, is it not? Take your goddamn medicine!”
Lilith played dirty. With all her power, she gouged at Purdue’s fresh scars, evoking a cry of agony from him. At the door she could hear the security trying to get it, calling Purdue’s name while the smoke alarm went haywire. Lilith abandoned the idea of killing Purdue, opting for escape. But not before she rushed down the stairs to the server room to retrieve the last part of the data that was static on the old machine once again. She jotted them down with Purdue’s pen and raced upstairs to his bedroom to collect her bag and communication devices.
Downstairs, security slammed on the door, but Purdue wanted to catch her while she was near. If he opened the door for them, Lilith would have time to flee. With his entire body aching and burning from her onslaught, he hastened up the stairs to intercept her.
Purdue ran right into her at the entrance to the dark hallway. Looking like she had been in a fight with a lawnmower, Lilith aimed the Glock straight at him. “Too late, David. I just transmitted the last part of the Einstein Equation to my associates in Russia.”
Her finger started squeezing, leaving him no escape this time. He had counted her rounds, and she still had half a clip left. Purdue did not want to spend his last moments chastising himself for his terrible weaknesses. He had nowhere to dart to with both corridor walls flanking him, and security men were still storming the doors. Downstairs, a window broke and they heard the unit finally breach the house.
“Sounds like it is time for me to go,” she smiled through broken teeth.
From behind her, a tall figure appeared in shadow, his jab landing firmly at the base of her skull. Lilith collapsed instantly, revealing her assailant to Purdue. “Yes, madam, I venture to say it is high fucking time you do,” the rigid butler said.
Purdue screeched in delight and relief. His knees buckled, but Charles caught him just in time. “Charles, are you a sight for sore eyes,” Purdue mumbled as his butler switched on the light to help him to his bed. “What are you doing here?”
He sat Purdue down and looked at him as if he was crazy. “Well, sir, I live here.”
Purdue was exhausted and in pain, his house smelled like a furnace and a dead man decorated his dining room floor, yet he was laughing with joy.
“We heard the gunshots,” Charles explained. “I came to collect my things from my apartment. Since the security detail could not get in, I entered via the kitchen as I always do. I still have my key, see?”
Purdue was deliriously happy, but he had to get Lilith’s transmission device before he passed out. “Charles, can you get her bag and bring it in here? I do not want the police to give it back to her once they arrive.”
“Of course, sir,” the butler replied, as if he had never left.
30
Chaos, Part I
The Siberian early morning cold was a special sort of hell. Where Nina, Sam and Kasper hid, the heating was not a feature. It was more like a small storeroom for tools and extra linen, even though the Valkyrie was heading for disaster, and hardly needed to store comfort items. Nina was shivering profusely, rubbing her gloved hands together. Hoping they have found Olga, she waited for Sam and Kasper to return. On second thought, she knew that, had they discovered her, it would have caused some sort of commotion.
The information Sam conveyed scared Nina to death. After all the danger she had faced on Purdue’s expeditions, she did not want to think about meeting her end in an atomic explosion in Russia. He was on his way back, searching the dining car and galleys. Kasper was checking the empty compartments, but he had a strong suspicion that Olga would be held by one of the main villains on the train.
Right at the back of the first carriage, he stopped in front of Tuft’s compartment. Sam had reported seeing Tuft with Bessler in the engine room, which struck Kasper as the perfect moment to investigate Tuft’s vacant room. With his ear to the door, he listened. There was no sound other than the train’s creaks and heaters. Of course, the compartment was locked when he tried the door. Kasper examined the panels next to the door in order to find a way into the room. He pried the steel coating sheet from the edge of the doorway, but it proved too strong.