ICEBREAKER
Part II - Course Correction
The moment the trains decrease in speed could be felt, Melanie already had her hand poised over the phone.
She picked up on the first ring.
"Yes, Joseph?"
Although she could hear the agitation underneath, to the unobservant the man's voice sounded calm and just slightly pressed as he spoke.
"Melanie, my Second Engineer just informed me the trains have slowed."
"That is correct." Melanie answered succinctly with a private smile.
"What would be the reason for this correction?" Came the stilted question.
"We're moving the trains to track 485..." Melanie answered, checking the clock, "...in about 27 minutes."
She could practically hear the man come out of his chair. "You're changing...? That is totally irresponsible, Melanie! I forbid it!"
"You were outvoted." She replied in the same calm voice she had used since picking up the phone. "Bennett and I made the decision based on the available information. Switching to the side track was deemed the safer route."
From the pause on the phone, Melanie could just imagine how furious the man was, standing in his cabin right now, knowing he could do nothing to stop the action without seriously damaging both trains.
"I am strongly advising against this!" He fumed over the line.
"Dually noted." Came the same calm, succinct reply before the line disconnected.
Standing to the side in Wilford's cabin, his Second Engineer stood silently waiting to see what he wanted her to do now. But the man all but ignored her as he got up and went to his cabinet and pulled out a bottle of amber liquor.
Eliah knew delivering the message about the trains slowing was not going to go over well with the man. What she did not understand, was why. And to her it was simply an interesting puzzle to try to figure out. A habit she had developed over the past several years since she had come to work as one of the man's engineers. She had relished the opportunity, since for all his other odd quirks, Wilford was a very brilliant man. But she was no fool, and knew the man's genius bordered on insanity. But she had learned a great deal from him over the past few years and was grateful for that knowledge. It had served her well in helping her people more than it had served Wilford.
Picking up a glass, Wilford suddenly seemed to remember she was standing there.
"Don't you have duties to attend to, Ms. Elson?!" He stated in a low, threatening tone.
Eliah took the hint and a quick step back. "Of course, sir." She stated, and hurried out of the cabin.
Melanie knew Wilford wasn't the only one who would come questioning the sudden change.
"Why is the train slowing?" Layton stated as he came into the engine room in a less than calm manner. The only reason he ever knew the trains to slow was due to something that usually verged on a near disaster.
Melanie quickly turned the helm chair to face him. "Keep your thermals on. It's nothing too serious."
"Define 'nothing too serious'."
Melanie gave him an exasperated sigh. Why could her roommate never learn to reign in his emotions even a little bit?
"Track Scalers are working on the line up ahead. It's too dangerous to continue on the main line without knowing the extent of the repairs. However," Melanie quickly stepped back to where Javi was working and turned the screen so Layton could see it. "...there's a side track here," she pointed to the screen, "that will take us off the main line for a few days. We should be able to pick up the main line somewhere around Moscow."
Layton fixed a hard stare on her.
She knew he didn't like that she had made the decision without even letting him know about it, but there had been good reason.
"We needed to make the decision quickly, Layton. We going to come up on the Scalers in less than an hour. And there is a lot of preparation that goes into switching tracks. Especially with a switch we haven't used before."
Layton walked up to the helm and looked out the window. "How safe is the new track?"
When neither one of the two engineers answered, it was to Melanie he turned his attention.
"Why is it when you don't say anything, that's the worst answer I could get?"
Melanie gave a small sigh. "It's safer than if we go forward. We have no way of knowing how far along the repairs are. If their not completed to a point the track can support the train, we could derail."
"Can we stop and wait for them to complete the repairs?"
Melanie shook her head. "The batteries are too low. We won't be able to start again." She said as she returned to her helm chair and typed over her own keyboard. "They need...at least 24 hours to recharge completely."
"Did you talk to Wilford about this?" Layton asked. "He may know the tracks around here, Be able to offer some insig..."
"Wilford claims the track is untested." Bennett quickly cut him off, knowing already the train's leader wasn't going to like the answer.
Layton quickly turned back to Melanie with a questioning look.
"Wilford's lying." She answered. "All the tracks were tested. Including the side tracks. I was on that crew."
Layton turned his attention back to the window.
"Either route has some element of danger, Layton." Melanie explained in a calm, reasoning voice. "We had to choose the least dangerous. And this is it."
For several moments the train's chancellor stood staring out the front window.
"How far are we from the side track?" Layton finally asked.
Bennett quickly checked the readings. "Twenty four minutes."
"And how far are we from the Scalers?"
Bennett typed out the new request for information. "Forty eight minutes."
Layton turned to Melanie. "If we're not entirely sure of the track, could we get one of the Scalers in place in time to put it on the track in front of Snowpiercer? Let it check the track ahead of us?"
Melanie gave him a worried stare. "It's a one way journey no matter what, Layton. We don't have the power yet to stop the train if something shows on the tracks, or to back up."
"But if the track remains clear for at least a day, then we could, correct?"
"Theoretically, yes." Melanie answered as she turned back to her keyboard. "But first we have to get one of the Scalers to answer us."
Layton watched for several tense moments as the two engineers worked to try and get in touch with one of the Scalers.
After several minutes, Bennett gave a quick "Got it!" as he turned to Melanie. "Number four responded and it pulling away from the others. It should proceed us to the side track by three minutes."
"Will we be able to maintain contact with it?" Layton asked.
Bennett was once gain typing over the keyboard. "All the signals are strong, and it is responding to commands. Once it's in front of us the signal should stay in place."
Layton gave the man's shoulder a quick pat. "All right." He stated, turning a less worried look to his First Engineer. "Then lets get ready to switch tracks."
Within a few minutes, Layton's voice rolled through the train from the communication booth, letting the other passengers know what was happening and that the ride might get a little rough for several minutes. As was always recommended at these times, everyone was advised to immediately head for their cabins and prepare to brace.
Ten minutes to the switch, with Layton back in the engine room, Javi was already checking the circuit, making sure the switch mechanism was operating successfully and reporting back to Melanie and Bennett. The final test was pulling the Scaler back past the side track, engaging the switch, and sending the Scaler down the new track.
Layton scanned the horizon as hard as he could ahead of them as Bennett reported to Javi the Scaler had passed the switch and was ready to reverse course, trying to see the smaller car on the tracks. But all he could see still was the miles of endless snow drifts in front of them.
"Signaling the switch." Javi called out, then looking up announced, "The track is open."
Bennett quickly typed out the commands and watched the screen on his console answering from the track Scaler. But the man suddenly began typing furiously over the keyboard.
Melanie quickly picked up something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?"
"It's not answering." Bennett replied.
"How close are we?"
"Four minutes." Bennett answered, typing out the command again on the keyboard.
Melanie turned an anxious, worried stare to the front window, scanning the tracks for any sign of the now stationary Scaler blocking the track. It wasn't the matter of their hitting the Scaler that had her on edge. It would likely barely even be felt through the train as Snowpiercer cleared the track in front of it. That was what the reinforced steel shield on the front of the train was made to do.
It was losing the Scaler that worried her. Not just as their guide down the unfamiliar track, but in and of itself.
Every piece of workable equipment still left on the planet was vital to them now. Losing even one was cause for concern.
Plus, she felt a connection to the Scalers. She had advocated for their creation while Wilford saw them as a waste of resources and time. But she had presented enough of a strong argument to get him to agree to allow her to start their production and put them into service before the train even left the station. She had overseen the operation of their design and production. Putting in a lot of extra late hours to work on the project. Had numbered each one and personally seen it deployed. Though less then her originally requested number, in all several hundred Scalers had been sent out to monitor the tracks for the main train.
Melanie watched nervously as Bennett tried to reestablish his connection with the small Scaler, getting more agitated by the second when it failed to respond.
Suddenly turning to her own keyboard again, Melanie quickly began running a diagnostic check on the unresponsive number four Scaler.
"Something is blocking the signal." She suddenly announced. "We need to up the output to try and break thorough." She quickly turned to Bennett. "Type out the command, and we'll send it simultaneously. That should be enough signal strength to reach the Scaler's circuits and get it back online."
When both commands were ready to be sent, Melanie gave a quick countdown and the two engineers sent the signal to the small Scaler together.
Looking up, Layton could now see the small black lump sitting on the track directly ahead of them. But at the same moment, it seemed as though the Scaler recognized the same thing. A large black behemoth on the horizon, heading straight for it. Layton swore he saw the small Scaler give a slight jump, then suddenly come to life and take off down the track.
"It's back online." Bennett announced even as Layton watched the tiny dot disappear from view again.
"It's coming up on the switch." Javi called out from his own station, then began a short countdown as the Scaler got closer to making the move to the new track.
Layton doubted a soul in the engine room even breathed as they listened to Javi calling out the Scaler's progress. But a near audible sigh of relief also went through the engine room as the small Scaler was reported as successfully making the switch to the new track and was heading down the rail as it gained speed.
"We won't have much time between us and the Scaler if it finds a problem." Melanie warned. "At least not for the first few hours. But it can travel a lot faster than the train and should be able to put considerable distance between itself and Snowpiercer in just a few hours."
"We still need a clear track for at least 24 hours." Layton reminded everyone in the engine room.
"There shouldn't be anything on this track, Layton." Melanie pointed out. "Nothing has run on it since the freeze."
"Unless Wilford used it with Big Alice." Layton answered her. "Didn't he object to taking this track?"
"That was what he said." Bennett replied.
Layton turned to him. "Any reason?"
Bennett shook his head. "Just warned us away from it."
Layton turned back to Melanie. "You're sure about this?"
A firm nod answered him.
Turning back to the front of the train, Layton stood watching with the other two engineers as the track ahead quickly disappeared under the train. After several long minutes passed, a large red pole could suddenly be seen in the distance, and within a short time the train was within a few hundred yards of it.
"All right, Mr. de La Torre," Layton gave the order, "switch tracks."