Timmy was hard at work building what was at the time called the Harwick Line. Often, 98462 would come by and check up on the 498. One of those times, they accidentally eavesdropped into a conversation the mayor of Harwick was having with the builders.
"NO, NO, AND NO! I won't have a railway reach my town!"
"This isn't your decision," said the Admiral. "It's ours. We need the line to assist with our military operations in the nearby seas, and our base is in your town."
"I don't give a damn! Railways are nothing but trouble! They make too much smoke and ruin the beautiful countryside! Not to mention the people killed in crashes."
"Oh really? Then why are there so many railways around the world?" the Admiral asked.
"People fail to appreciate our beautiful nature and scenery! If you want to build a railway to Harwick, you'll have to shoot me!"
"Your choice," said the Admiral, pointing a gun at the Mayor. The latter panicked and ran away.
"What was that all about?" asked Timmy.
"Beats me," the Admiral admitted. "Can't remember the last time anybody showed such a big refusal to have a railway run through their town. I'll have to inform Lord Churchill of this."
"Definitely an overreaction," observed 98462. "Do you think he's hiding something?"
"Who's Lord Churchill?" interrupted Timmy.
"Sir Winston Churchill is the First Lord of the Admiralty," the Admiral answered. "Anyway, now onto your question, 98462: you're right, it is an overreaction. Perhaps Mayor Horstin IS hiding something."
"I'm sure he's a Jerry spy," muttered 98462. "He's giving Kaiser Kiss-butt secrets, I know it!""
"It's a bad idea to avoid jumping to conclusions," said the Admiral, "but nonetheless, it's very suspicious how he's acting. I'll ask somebody to look into him, maybe we can uncover something."
"Do you really think Horstin is betraying us?" Timmy asked the Caledonian 55. "I don't see why he'd want to do that: Sodor's a lovely place to live."
"Trust me, Timmy," said 98462. "The minds of some people are not easy to understand. I don't know for sure if Horstin is selling secrets to Kaiser, but it is possible."
Timmy wasn't sure what to think of this, so he said nothing and went back to work instead.
For the rest of the day, Timmy couldn't help but wonder why Horstin would want to betray his own country: surely, Britain hadn't done anything to upset him! He decided to ask the Coffee Pots what they thought.
"Well, I can't deny it's possible," admitted TKE #3. "Like you said, that was an overreaction. That said, people weren't very welcoming towards us trains when they first came into the world. Neil told me all about it. Perhaps Horstin had a bad experience with trains that now haunts him for the rest of his life."
"Like…been run over?"
"Doubt he'd have been there if that was the case," said TKE #3. "You have to be really lucky to survive getting run over by a train."
"Well, whatever it is," said Timmy, growing determined, "I'll just have to help him get over it." And he steamed off.
"Why didn't you remind him of the last person he tried to help?" asked TKE #2.
"The kid does NOT need to be reminded of that right now!" snapped TKE #3. "What he needs is confidence! Reminding him will not boost it!"
"Even so, he'll be going way in over his smokebox," TKE #2 warned.
"Better that then not having any confidence," said TKE #3. TKE #2 sighed: her brother could be very stubborn at times.
From then on, Timmy kept an eye out for Mayor Horstin each time he went to work on the extension. Horstin seemingly disappeared after that, and at first, everybody was relieved. Then things started to go wrong.
It started with little things like tools going missing, but it began to escalate: trucks would begin derailing without explanation overnight, rails would be damaged, and one morning, they found one of the nightshift workmen all beaten up!
"Sweet Jesus!" shouted the Foreman. "What the hell happened?!"
The workman tried to speak, but could only groan. The only word he could utter was, "Scorpion…" and he passed out.
"Wait a minute, scorpions don't live in Britain!" the Foreman realised. "There's definitely somebody behind this. But what could scorpion mean?"
The workman was taken to a hospital, while work was called out to discuss what to do. Timmy told the Coffee Pots and 98462 about it.
"Most likely Scorpion is a codename," said 98462. "Like the Foreman pointed out, scorpions don't live in Britain. Timmy, we're going up there: we need to look for anything such as footprints the culprit left behind."
"How do you know there are footprints?" asked TKE #3.
"Evidence always gets left behind by criminals, even if they're being careful," said 98462.
The two Caledonian Engines took the Admiral and some officers back up to the site so they could investigate for footprints. The investigation took a long time.
"98462, where did you used to work prior to coming to Sodor?" Timmy asked.
"On the Caledonian's Callander and Odan Line, the first railway line through the West Highlands of Scotland," 98462 answered. "All my class worked there. And trust me, climbing those hills is no easy feat. Takes a lot of steam and strength, it does. Why do you ask?"
"Did I work there before awakening?" asked Timmy.
"I'm afraid not: your class was built for dockyard operations, not mountainous terrain. Don't feel too bad: no need to worry about where you worked before you awoke: just focus on where you work now."
"Alright, I will," said Timmy. The Admiral returned a few minutes later. "Did you find anything?" asked Timmy.
"We found footprints," said the Admiral, "but there were so many we couldn't tell which ones were the freshest. Besides, they didn't really lead anywhere."
"Well that's a real bummer," huffed 98462. "Now how will we catch these vandals?"
"I'll have some militiamen patrol the area tonight. That should be enough to deter the vandals."
The five militias chosen to patrol the area were given the standard infantry rifle and 5 magazines with 7 rounds each. That should have been enough to deter vandals, but the ones responsible were not common thugs.
Late at night, a gunshot rang out from afar. It was followed seconds later by the sound of lead impacting flesh: The bullet had hit one of the militias in the forehead, completely obliterating the back of his head, and sending bits of brain flying in every direction.
"Sweet Jesus! This man's dead!"
"No shit, Sherlock!"
"I knew this man…" another said. "Had a wife and kids…No doubt a German saboteur is behind this."
"Comb the area," ordered the leader, Patrick Lowsky. "And capture the saboteur alive."
Another gunshot rang out, and another man was hit in the chest.
"Leave me! Save yourselves!"
The three remaining Militiamen did so, and made a run for it. Two more would fall before reaching the safety of a stack of rails.
There would Patrick lay, fearing for his life, and hearing the agonizing screams of those he'd been forced to leave behind.
Finally, morning would break, and Patrick would dare peak out of his cover. It seemed like the sniper had gone.
However, the saboteurs had done their job: many rails, either laid down or still in the flatbeds, were made useless.
The Admiral was displeased when he learned this, and so was the Fat Director.
"This won't do at all," he said sternly. "The Harwick Line is way too important to be subjugated to vandalism. How can people trust us if we're being targeted?"
"In all due fairness," said Patrick, "everything is being targeted right now."
"That's not what I need right now!" snapped the Fat Director.
"Alright, alright, settle down," said the Admiral. "This is indeed a difficult situation: if they have a sniper, that means they're trained professionals. What we need to do is figure out a way to catch them."
"The question is how."
Some hours later, 98462 arrived with the workmen train. He was greeted by the Fat Director and the Admiral.
"This vandalism clearly isn't being done by amateurs," said the Fat Director. "Last night, the guards were all sniped, save for one. It's now clear: these are professional saboteurs."
"Germans no doubt," said 98462. "And I suspect they're being led by Mayor Horstin."
"What makes you say that?" asked the Fat Director.
"He had a rather odd reaction to having a railway run to Harwick," said 98462.
"Yes, he was completely against it," said the Admiral. "Overreacted to it, he did. That said, 98462, while your reason to suspect him is reasonable, we can't directly confirm it's him until we have ample proof."
"Regardless of who it is, they must be stopped," said the Fat Director. "If you have an idea on how we can do so, please let me know."
98462 thought about this all day. His mind was nearly fully on how to catch the saboteurs. That nearly caused an accident when he ended up running into the Express when it arrived at Tidmouth. Fortunately, he managed to stop just in time.
"Watch where you're going!" snorted Olive.
98462 said nothing, and waited for the express to pass. He then continued on his way, his near miss getting him thinking.
"Indeed, we need to catch them by surprise. Question is how? Maybe we could…" He then smiled. "Yes, that will work. I'll speak to the Fat Director and the Admiral, I'll get Timmy to help too."
The Fat Director and Admiral agreed to the plan, and began to make arrangements. Timmy, on the other hand, felt nervous.
"You sure this is a good idea, 98462?" Timmy asked.
"It's the best chance we got, Timmy," said 98462. "And I know you can do it: I wouldn't have enlisted you to help if I had doubts."
"But what if they come after me?" Timmy asked.
"I'm not saying they won't," said 98462. "However, they mainly seem to be after railway equipment. And you won't be alone: militiamen will be accompanying you, ready to defend you from attack. Besides, they'd have to go forward to escape with you, and there's no track there: not easy to push a train going backwards, especially when you don't have a guard."
"Alright, I'll give it my best shot," said Timmy.
"Glad you said that Timmy," said 98462 with a smile. "And don't worry: if they do decide to drive you backwards, there will be a big surprise in store for them."
98462 then steamed off, leaving Timmy wondering what this "big surprise" was.
That night, the plan was put into action: Timmy waited patiently with another works train at the site, keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious, while some of the militiamen patrolled. It wasn't long before Timmy got bored and, consequently, ended up falling asleep.
He awoke to the sound of footsteps. Peeking through his left eye, he saw men with large hammers and what seemed to be Dynamite. Deciding it was too soon to act, he closed his eyes, pretending to still be asleep.
"What do we blow up first? This engine?"
"No, we could damage the rails. We won't blow anything up: the dynamite is a distraction. We use it to lure the guards away so our leader can come with the others and steal the rails. Now hush, let's get this dynamite set up."
They walked away. Timmy waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, then opened his eyes.
"Did you hear that?" he asked his driver.
"I did," the driver replied. "I'll speak to Captain Lowsky."
The driver got out and told Captain Lowsky what they had overheard, and through their discussion, a plan was formed. It was right after the other officers were told the plan that an explosion was heard in the distance. The officers wasted no time and got into position.
A large gang ran towards the seemingly-unguarded train and began grabbing whatever they could. Some loaded the rails into a lorry they brought with them. A man opened the tool van and he and seven others got inside, only to be taken by surprise when the door was slammed shut and locked.
"FREEZE!" shouted Captain Lowsky, as he and some other men surrounded those near the lorry. "You're surrounded, there's no escape!"
One of these men wasn't going down: he quickly hopped into the back of the lorry.
"Step on it!" he shouted to the driver. But there was no response. And he soon saw why: the driver had bailed!
"Coward! Traitor to the German army!"
"Stop the dramatics," said Captain Lowsky. "Get down from there."
Seeing he had no choice, the man reluctantly did so, holding his arms up. To make sure they didn't try anything else, all the men were marched into another empty van that had been brought over. Afterwards, the train was brought back to Tidmouth, where more militias waited. The vandals were arrested and taken to the Police Station, where they were all interrogated intensely.
"Now, Fritz," said the Chief to their leader, "tell us: who were you working for?"
"I have strict orders not to reveal who that is," the leader replied. "I'd rather die than talk." One of the other gang members, on the other hand, wasn't so hardcore.
"Your leader talked," said the guard overlooking him. "Unless you tell us who you were working for, you'll be facing some hard time."
"We were paid to do so by Mayor Ralph Horstin!" the man wailed. "Please, don't send me to jail, I have a family!"
"You should've thought of that before committing the crime," said the Policeman. "You're lucky: I'll ask the judge to give you a reduced sentence."
The other members of the gang weren't pleased about being ratted out.
"Did my lessons about loyalty not get through to you, Jim?!" the leader snapped.
"You ratted me out first, you hypocrite!" Jim snapped back. "They told me you did, Ben! The cops told me!"
"I did no such thing!"
"Liar!"
"Liar yourself, Jim!"
"Cool it, both of you!" shouted the sub-boss. "It's too late to do anything about it now. We'll just have to live out whatever sentence they give us. And I have a feeling they won't be so lenient if we keep fighting. We'll discuss this after the trial."
"Very well," sighed Ben, before turning back to Jim. "But know this: I have nothing to gain from ratting out my own gang. That was a mistake I made years ago and I dare not repeat it."
As it turned out, there was no trial: they were immediately sent to prison as a result of performing an act of espionage. Jim, on the other hand, only had to spend a month in jail, as the police had promised him.
Timmy was greatly praised for his part in the plan.
"I didn't really do much though," he said.
"But you did overhear those two men talking about the diversion and alerted us to it," said Captain Lowsky. "For that, we're proud of you."
Timmy said nothing: he just allowed himself to bask in the praise. 98462 was also thanked. Even so, he declined being rewarded.
"I only did it to help my country," he said modestly. "And Timmy, I told you everything would be alright."
"Thanks for believing in me," said Timmy with a smile.
So what about Mayor Horstin? Well, he managed to bribe his way out of prison time, but still lost the favour of the public after they learned what he had done. The backlash was so severe he had no choice but to step down. Horstin ended up going into agriculture, and spent the rest of his life farming. Some people say he was planning revenge right up to his deathbed, but considering he managed to make a better farmer than politician, I don't think that's very likely. What do you think?
(Author's notes: The militia had been around since the war began, but only now did they need to act. The Admiral is a Sudrian and permanently assigned to Sodor. The integration technique used on Jim is a real for reading!) )