The tube train stuttered to a halt and the power flickered once, twice, before failing altogether and plunging them into darkness. He caught himself quickly on the pole beside his seat as the inertia rocked him, instinctively pressing his legs against the shopping bag that was resting on the floor between his feet. He looked up – this was a bit useless, since it was completely dark – trying to figure out what had happened.
There was an immediate clamour of voices, most of them mirroring his own thoughts, demanding out loud to know what had happened, as though any of them had the answers. He waited for the lights and power to come back, almost certain this was a fleeting interruption, but the moment dragged on and the darkness stayed resolute.
There were people pulling out phones now, and he did so himself, cursing quietly as his mobile refused to pick up any service. Not surprising – although there were plans in place to make all the tubes accessible to cellular signals before the Winter Games, they were not yet a reality, and his phone stared back at him, showing no bars whatsoever. Around him in the sparsely populated car, people were trying to make calls anyway, as if hope could replace actual phone signals.
He glanced up again, able to see outlines of the car in the blue glow of mobile phones. John picked up his shopping bag, putting it on the seat beside him, and stood, making sure to keep a hand on the pole for balance. The sound of people talking and wanting answers was growing louder now, and he could hear a note of panic here and there as the power stubbornly refused to return, leaving them underground in the darkness.
"Everyone stop!" he said, raising his voice, casting it over the mild din, using his army training to get what he wanted. "Stop!"
There were murmurs, which died away almost one at a time, and John waited them out, focusing on his breathing, keeping it steady. He was not above feeling agitated himself, but it wouldn't help, and wouldn't bring back the power they'd so obviously lost.
"Everyone stay where you are," he said, keeping the command in his voice, but softening his tone somewhat. "I'm going to move through the car and count how many people we are, all right?"
"Who put you in charge?" someone demanded. From the sound of it, a young man, probably in his late teens, bristling with indignation to cover the fear.
"I did," John said calmly. "I'm a doctor and I used to be a soldier. I know what I'm doing. Listen, we've lost power, that's all. Not really surprising, given the weather."
As soon as he'd said it, he realized it was true. Rain- and sleet-storms had been hounding the city for the past three days, complimented by the occasional unseasonal thunderstorm, one of which had been flashing through the sky when John had headed for the tube, heading home from work after having picked up some much needed groceries on the way. His trouser cuffs were still wet, and now he was beginning to wish he'd taken a cab instead of his normal tube ride.
"How long will we be stuck down here?" someone muttered.
"Hopefully not long," John said. "But we're all safe, and it's fairly warm, even if we're underground." The heat from the car would dissipate eventually, but they'd have bigger problems if they were stuck down there that long. He wondered how much the Underground system was affected, and how long it would take to get the trains back up and running.
He counted five people in the car to his right and had them follow him back to the middle of the car to take up seats there. There were four more people in the back of the car, for a total of ten, including himself. John herded them up as well, getting them to sit down, then took names and ages.
There was no one younger than sixteen and this was the young man who had challenged him and a friend of his. John was relieved that the friend was female, because she'd already told her mate to hush once, and he was glad not to have to deal with two teenage boys and the testosterone-fuelled resentment of authority they could breed together.
He held up his phone, moving it slowly over each face, finding that some of them were doing to the same to one another and to him.
"My name is John Watson," he told them. "Does anyone have any medical conditions I should know about? Any diabetics? Asthmatics?"
"Yeah," the teenage girl said. "I am. Diabetic, I mean. But I'm cool – I have my insulin and I've eaten."
"All right," John said. "I've got food shopping if you need it. You need to let me know, okay? Don't try and just ignore it. We've already been stuck here almost ten minutes, so whatever's going on, it's probably not going to be a quick fix."
"I will," the girl assured him, and John saw a grin defined by shadows and the pale blue light from his phone. "I'm not a total nutter."
He smiled back.
"Anyone else? I really do need to know," he said.
There was a chorus of murmured 'no's, but one woman volunteered that she had a cold. John laughed, and it sounded strange in the unnatural stillness and darkness.
"I think you'll be all right, but thanks," he said. His eyes picked up the bobbing of a light from outside the train car suddenly and the doors nearest the front were forced open slowly. The torch beam, which seemed too bright and made him wince, cut into the car and someone stepped inside.
"Conductor," a male voice said. "Who's in here?"
"There are ten of us," John replied.
"Come with me," the man said. "Single-file. I'm moving everyone to the front two cars."
"What's going on?" someone asked.
"I don't know," the conductor replied. "Power failure. I can't raise anyone on my radio. Everything's down."
"How far are we from the next station?" John asked.
"Too far to walk us all safely, especially if the power comes back up suddenly. We're staying put until I hear otherwise."
"Um, what about the loo?" someone asked. That was one of the things John had considered would become complicated if they were stuck down there for any length of time.
"There's one in the my control room," the conductor replied and John was surprised, then realized he shouldn't be. It wasn't as though the trains stopped very long at stations. "Come on, one at a time. I'm going to go down first and help you all down. You need to be careful, watch your step. Use your phones as torches if you can."
John had everyone go ahead of him and stepped out last, very carefully, the conductor shining his torch on the steps for him, offering a hand that John didn't need.
"I'm a doctor," he said as he stepped onto the uneven concrete next to the track. It was damp out here, and slightly chilly.
"Good to know," the conductor said. "We have another one up in the front car, so I'll put you in the second car. I've got the doors unlocked between cars, so people can move back and forth, but only if there's more of an emergency, or they need the loo. Everyone stay where you are, I'm going to move past all of you and lead the way."
The other passengers shifted slightly as the conductor passed by them and then followed slowly until they reached the second car.
"Ten more people," he announced. "And this is Doctor –"
"Watson."
"Doctor Watson. He's in charge in this car, so please listen to him. I'm going to shift the rest of the passengers. If I get any news whatsoever, I'll let you know."
John wondered how this would be possible if the radios were down and there was no phone reception, but understood it was said in part to make people feel better. He set himself up acquainting himself with his new carmates as the conductor step out again, his torchlight bobbing gently in the darkness along side the train.
