Chapter 9

Clara gasped in shock. Verne dropped his head to his knees. Jules blurted out, "I thought you ran exhaustive tests!"

"Yes, yes I did. There must be some other type of fault elsewhere in the system that is preventing displacement."

"Then why are there no warning lights?" Jules wondered.

Emmett snapped his fingers. "I didn't bother to connect them, that's why. That should teach me to cut corners. I'll need to calculate the error code manually. Pass me the screwdriver, will you?"

"Look out! Mountains ahead!" Clara suddenly warned.

Emmett did look, and saw a terrible sight. Massive tectonic activity had pushed up a huge line of earth and rock, and the train was hurtling towards it at over a hundred and thirty miles per hour. He quickly turned the train aside while reducing the speed as much as he could. After a tense minute of attempting to stabilise the train's position, he was ready to start tracking down the problem.

With the faceplate off, the inventor started probing a row of connection blocks with a multimeter. "The first two are high... the next four low, another high, and... a low. That's error sixty-seven. Great Scott! The flux-capacitor's fusion generator fuel tank is depleted!"

Jules instantly started looking for solutions. "Can we use the generator for the hover systems?"

"No, they aren't connected. I'd need to rewire the power circuitry, and that would require shutting down the hover system entirely, which in turn requires that we land. I would very much prefer to avoid landing." The inventor gestured to the world outside the window to illustrate his point.

"I figure we don't want to go down and collect plants for fuel either. Can we take some fuel from the full tank and put it in the empty tank?" Jules suggested after a moment's thought.

Emmett checked the levels. "No, there isn't enough fusionable matter to initiate displacement. Driving the flux capacitor is an extremely intensive process. And besides, the fuel consists largely of waste vegetable matter, which is not easy to transfer."

"Vegetable matter!" Clara exclaimed. "We have plenty of fruit scraps left over from our breakfast, and several pieces of uneaten fruit still in the basket."

"That's the answer! Quick, where's the basket?"

A quick search found the basket overturned in a corner, it's contents scattered. The boys eventually turned up three apples and an orange amongst various pieces of debris on the floor. They certainly didn't look edible, due to the number of bruises they had recently received, so no one minded giving them up for fuel.

"It's a good thing I installed the refuelling points to the inside of the cab. I wouldn't want to be climbing around the outside of the train in this sort of weather," Emmett observed while his wife chopped up the fruit.

"Whoa, that mountain is acting weird!" exclaimed Verne who was looking out the window.

His father turned to see what his son was talking about. Through the torrential rain, he could see the mountain they had come uncomfortably close to a little earlier. It had grown a lot larger in the elapsed time, and was shaking violently. "Great Scott! It appears to be developing towards a volcanic eruption. I've never actually witnessed a volcanic eruption. This is most interesting. From what I can tell..."

"Dad, we need to get out of here!" Verne protested.

"You are right, Verne: we must not waste valuable time in scientific observation when we should be saving our hides! "Clara, is the fruit ready yet?"

"I'm on the last piece, Emmett. There, it's ready. Should I just drop it in?"

"Yes. That's the way. I wish I'd used a system that could use unprocessed matter, but at least I thought to install the refuel points to the inside, not the outside," Emmett said aloud as he finished reinstalling the faceplate he had removed earlier. "I'm not eager to climb around on the outside of the train in these conditions. Is it all in? Good, let's get out of here!"

As everyone braced themselves for transit, Emmett started accelerating the train forwards. "It's no good," he said in frustration after half a minute. "I'll need to turn back around and go with the wind."

Verne gasped. "But that'll take us back to where you said there's gonna be a volcano!"

Emmett nodded seriously. "It's our only chance to get out of here. Everyone hold on tight!" He spun the flying train around, much too fast for the comfort of its passengers. The train burst forwards with maximum acceleration, helped along by the ferocious wind. As its speed passed sixty miles an hour, the rumbling sound from below became louder. It could be easily heard over the noise of the wind, rain, and hover thrusters.

Inside, the speed display topped seventy. Outside, the mountain quaked and bulged. Inside, the display passed eighty. Almost directly below, the mountain burst under the tectonic pressure. The display hit eighty-eight miles per hour. An electric blue flash passed through the train. With a sound that went unheard behind the volcanic eruption, it vanished from the rain-filled atmosphere. For a brief moment, a trail of fire stood in the sky, before a stream of flaming rock and lava eclipsed it.