She watched as the doors cranked down slowly, sealing once more, blending in with the desolate terrain. She checked her PRD. The intact railway track was close, only two miles away, but the going would be very slow. She started out, knowing the others would easily catch up to her. She’d only gone a hundred feet when they emerged from the museum entrance and walked over to her.
“How’s it going up there?” Raven called up to her.
“I might break a land speed record here for slowest vehicle ever.”
He chuckled and walked alongside her, the others joining him.
Above her the heat beat down, so she fished her sun goggles out of her toolbag and slipped them on. Better. Already sweat trickled down her back and her feet were starting to overheat in her boots.
Dust devils swirled by as she maneuvered around a stand of long dead trees. Just as she had outside New Atlantic, she spotted strange objects among the barren trunks. Large metal cylinders, hollow and riddled with rusted holes, lay scattered, some still upright. Metal benches, leaning and falling apart, had been situated throughout the trees. A small, crumbling footbridge spanned what was now a dry creek bed filled with sediment and dust.
They passed a dilapidated structure with the faded word “Café” barely visible above doors open to the elements.
A collapsing knee-high black fence encircled a large depression in the center of the trees. A worn metal sign read “Paddle bo…rent.” A plastic contraption with a steering wheel and foot pedals, sun-damaged almost to white, sat cockeyed in the middle of the dry depression.
They passed a few more dilapidated structures. Dirk walked out front by himself, his expression distant. Below her, Raven and Gordon chatted companionably about the experimental forests the Rovers had been planting.
When the tracks came into view ahead, H124 mentally urged the Crawler to go faster. She checked her PRD. The Big Worm would be here in just a few minutes. She edged up to the tracks, the glare of the sun still dazzling even with her goggles on.
To the west, the tracks bent away out of sight, angling gently northwest. She heard the train before she saw it, a metallic singing in the tracks. Dirk bent down and touched one of rails, feeling the vibration. “Right on time.”
Then she saw a column of white steam in the distance and the train came into sight, the sun glinting off its black metal sides. As it powered down the tracks toward them, she could hear the steam engine pumping away, the rhythmic chuffing as it moved the wheels.
It slowed, chugging to a hissing stop in front of them. She could see now that it was completely shielded in armor, thick iron plates covering all areas of ingress. With a clang and a hiss, a metal door covering the engine jutted out and slid upward. Inside she saw a few steps leading up to the engine compartment.
Byron appeared in the doorway, gripping a handle and leaning out. “Halo!” he called, jumping off the train. He waved up at her on top of the Crawler, and she waved back, her stomach once more doing acrobatics.
He greeted the others, then turned back to the train. The engineer stepped out, a bearded, heavy-set man with tousled brownish-black hair framing a tanned face. His brown eyes twinkled as he took them all in.
“This is Grant,” Byron said. He introduced the others.
“Make no mistake,” Grant said, eyeing them each in turn. “This is a crazy mission, and if my train gets messed up, I’m hunting you all to your graves.”
They stood in silence for a moment, and then Grant burst out laughing, holding his generous belly and shaking with laughter.
Raven gave an uneasy chuckle.
“I have a few ground rules for riding in my train,” Grant went on. “First, don’t spill coffee on the control board. Second, you go to the bathroom on your own time.” He scowled at them each in turn, and they all exchanged confused glances. “And lastly, and most importantly, don’t go drinking so much liquor that you shoot up the place, thinking it’s infested with opossums.”
They glanced at each other, then nodded hesitantly.
“All right. Let’s get this show on the road. Don’t like to stop too long in one place.” He returned to the engine and threw a few levers. In the middle of the train, one of the cars hissed. The top of it moved, parting at the top and splitting in half. It opened up and outward, unfolding into a huge metal platform.
“Load ’er up!” Grant called.
Raven checked the charging level of the maglevs. They were ready to go. He assembled them together and programmed them to work in tandem. Their power cells beeped in unison, indicating they were full.
He flew them up to the A14, angling them beneath the fuselage and wings. They lifted, their rotors working furiously, finally managing to get it aloft. He steered them over to the train’s platform, the rotors starting to whir erratically, the power cells already depleting. He barely got the A14 positioned over the platform when they gave out, slamming the A14 down onto the train.
“Hey!” shouted Grant. “You be careful up there. Not a scratch, remember? Not a scratch!” He rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “Forgot to mention that rule. Rule #4: Not a scratch!” He emerged from the engine compartment and climbed up onto the platform, bringing out tow ropes with hooks. Dirk helped him fasten these around the A14, securing it to the train.
In the cargo car, they loaded up the remaining explosives.
Then Grant hopped down to the ground, moving back toward the engine. “Let’s get movin’! There’s a turn around a few miles ahead. Hop aboard.”
Gordon stepped back. “I’ll leave you to your journey. I’m going to fly the plane back. I can help Rivet set up for converting the A14.”
Raven approached Gordon, then typed into the pilot’s PRD. “Here are the coordinates for the satellite location. I’ll tell her to meet you there.”
H124 started to climb down from the Crawler, then thought better of it. It was an amazing piece of engineering. She didn’t want it sitting out like this. It had helped them, and could be useful in the future, if not for her, then maybe someone else on a future mission. She remained in the control booth. “You guys go on ahead. I’m going to drive this back and stash it. Then I’ll meet you along the track after you turn around.”
Gordon looked up at her. “I’ll ride with you.” He grabbed a handle on the lower side of the Crawler and hopped up onto a small ledge.
“Here, you’ll need this,” Raven said, handing over the portable UV charger. Gordon grabbed it and hauled it up onto the Crawler.
Raven said goodbye to Gordon, shaking his hand, then looked up to H124. “See you in a few,” he called up. He climbed the stairs into the engine room. Byron joined him, leaning out again, hanging onto the handle. He gave her a small wave as the shielded doors came down. The train began to pull out, steam billowing from the chimney mounted on front of the engine.
H124 turned the Crawler around, and they made the creeping journey back to the museum. Gordon hopped off as they got close, carrying the portable UV charger. He made his way to the main museum entrance, where he disappeared. Moments later, the huge loading door screeched open. H124 drove the Crawler down the ramp into the welcoming cool and dark. She parked it back at its original display, then climbed down. They shut the loading doors again and made their way through the dark museum to the main entrance.
“This was an amazing place,” Gordon said as they paused at the door. “Must have been incredible to live back then. So much innovation. Exploration.”
She nodded. “To have been to the moon!”
“I know! Can you imagine?”
H124 could.
Outside, she accompanied