ICEBREAKER

Part XIX - Fire Storm

Layton watched as the engine came to a full stop just a few feet from the object blocking their escape route off the back track.

He finally fell back in his chair, exhaling a breath he wasn't even aware of or sure of why he was holding.

"What was that about!?" He practically yelled at the woman next to him.

"The obstruction." She stated quickly. "I just realized what it could be."

"Another train car?"

Melanie shook her head. "I told you, it wasn't solid. In fact, the object only has an outer structure. The rest of it is hollow."

"Meaning?"

"Back when we built the tracks, we knew most of what we would be using for fuel had to be electricity. It's easy to control and it doesn't freeze. But electricity doesn't just...for lack of a better term, come out of thin air."

"Lightening?" Layton offered with a small smile.

"Have you tried to harness the power in a lightening bolt lately?" Melanie replied. "The point is, electricity is a generated power source. Technically, the trains produce their own power. Icebreaker is a self-contained nuclear fusion reactor. Snowpiercer and Big Alice produce electricity by their own motion over the tracks. There were other prototypes, but I'm not aware any of them ever made it to the stage of being deployed. But we knew problems could arise in the three that were put into service. So when we constructed the tracks, we set up small stations where we could store fuel in case it was needed. The fuel was stored in tanks and placed far under ground so it didn't freeze."

"So this is like a gas station for the trains?"

"A last resort more like it. Every engine has the capability to run on diesel fuel as a last resource."

"So if this is one of those 'gas stations of last resort', and the tank is underground, why the emergency stop?"

Melanie pointed to the screen where the object lay across the tracks. "That is a storage tank cap, Layton. It stored a small amount of fuel in a specially constructed tank that could keep it from freezing above ground by converting it into a gel substance. It acted as a 'cap' for the lower tanks, to keep the cold from reaching it. That's why the Trak Scaler and Icebreaker had so much trouble identifying what it was. The material is wholly synthetic. So the Trak Scaler only registered something was there, but not what it was. It was like it was looking at something that to it, wasn't really there."

"So why can't we just...run it off the tracks?"

"If we had hit that tank at full speed, it would very likely have caused a lot of friction, possibly forming electrical sparks, which in turn could have started a fire. The fire would have followed the fuel line..."

"Right to the tanks below." Layton suddenly reasoned out. "How much fuel is in those tanks?" He asked her.

"If they were ignited, it would have been the equivalence of a volcano exploding right under us."

Layton gave a small laugh as he shook his head. "Finally, a fire on this frozen planet."

"One we would have stood a good chance of having been a part of." Melanie replied in a none to amused voice.

Layton turned to her. "So how do we get it off the tracks?"

Melanie held his stare for a moment before answering him. "Carefully."

Layton sat for the most part in absolute silence as he watched Melanie moving the engine forward slowly inch by inch. For his part he watched the cameras mounted on the sides of the engine for any sign of strong resistance from the tank as they pushed past it or the smallest sign of a spark from the friction. In the past half hour he doubted they had moved more than several yards down the track. He had asked once why they didn't use the Trak Scaler to move the tank structure off the tracks, but Melanie had simply stated it wasn't possible and they needed the force of Icebreaker's engine to move it.

Throughout the operation, Melanie hardly took her eyes off of the readings she constantly consulted on the screens in front of her. Several times they came to a complete stop once again as she stated the heat was building too high to risk continuing until it cooled off. But at the speed they were moving, Layton failed to see how they could possibly build up anything that even remotely registered as heat.

"I doubt this is how you envisioned your engine 'clearing the tracks', Ms. Cavill." Layton commented after about an hour of the slow going.

"'Full speed' or 'slow and steady'." Melanie replied in a stoic tone as she continued to monitor the engine's progress. "Whatever gets the job done."

"We're still supposed to be meeting up with Snowpiercer in Moscow." He reminded her.

"I already let Frank know what's going on." Melanie replied. "He said he would let Bennett know what was happening."

Layton watched her for a few moments. "Did your enigmatic assistant happen to mention what was going on on Snowpiercer?" He asked.

Melanie shook her head. "He only said not to worry and everything was under control."

"That's it?"

"The code is very complicated, Layton. It's best to keep messages short to ensure they get translated accurately. And for your information, that particular message read 'All fine. Train safe.' He also mentioned Bennett has slowed the train down to a near full stop where they are relaying heavily on the batteries for light and heat. So it's more imperative than ever we get to Moscow. Snowpiercer will need Icebreaker's help to keep running at that point."

Layton turned back to the camera's. He was now on the last camera, watching carefully as it slowly rotated to follow the engine's passing by the tank. The longest and slowest work had been removing it from the track. Layton had suggested perhaps working on the tank directly might have been a better route. That hooking ropes to it and using a sled to drag it off the tracks would be faster. But Melanie had stated 'fast' wasn't the goal in the operation. That 'the slower the better' was in order to ensure safety, since they wouldn't get another chance if something went wrong this close to the underground storage tanks. She stated the same reason when indicating why they were not going to use the grappling apparatuses Icebreaker had at it's disposal for directly lifting objects off the track.

A large cattle catcher had been dropped into place on the back of the train much as the ramp had extended and had assisted in the initial removal of the tank from the track. Now it was the painfully slow procedure to get past the storage tank safely.

After over an hour of creeping past the tank like it was a sleeping watch dog, Melanie announced the all clear and they could resume their trip towards the switching juncture.

Layton breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to the Tomak fully power up again and the engine begin to gain speed.

Since the storage tank was the most interesting thing to look at currently on the flat plain, Layton watched it as it began to disappear into the distance. He tried to reason out whose idea the storage tanks were and eventually settled on Melanie, since they were a last ditch effort to make sure the trains would be able to continue running no matter what. It simply wasn't in Wilford's character, he decided, to care that much about the remnants of humanity. His likely last ditch effort in such a scenario to keep the train running would have been to cut loose the other train cars and take off in an engine stacked with supplies.

Lost in his thoughts for a few moments, a flare up in the distance suddenly caught his attention. Getting up from his chair to get a better look out the front window, Layton called back to his roommate.

"Melanie," he stated in a tone growing in concern as he watched the flare up, like a flame on top of a giant candle grow brighter with each passing second, "I think we may have an issue here."

Looking up from where she still sat at the back console, Melanie was suddenly running back to the helm chair.

"Fire!" Was her sole warning as she grabbed the control lever once again and jammed it all the way downward on the console.

Layton found himself this time thrown forward into the helm console as the train rapidly began it's acceleration. He turned an uncertain stare to the woman rapidly entering commands to the engine next to him.

"That's going to ignite the tanks underground." He said in a low, ominous voice that was almost more of a question than a statement.

Melanie only quickly nodded.

"What happened?"

"Likely the heat build up. Despite our efforts to control it, the friction was still enough to heat the gel to ignition." Melanie explained, pointing to the growing flame in the distance, getting larger despite their now speeding away from it. "The fire was sparked in the gel of the hose leading to the fueling tank. That buys us some time before it reaches the storage tanks underground."

"How much time?"

Melanie shook her head. "Not much. The gel doesn't burn as fast as the liquid diesel fuel will. Five...ten minute at most. We're on the plus side due to the fact we were already moving away from the tank. We need to make at least ten miles to withstand the explosion when it hits the underground tanks. They only extend out about a mile from the fueling tank, but the shock waves underground can go for miles and could damage the tracks. Plus there will be a fire blast from the tanks initial explosion. So be prepared for that."

Layton only managed a small nod as he watched the flame in the distance. For several minutes he watched it, a small hope taking hold as it grew smaller in the distance the further away from it they got. After a few minutes, he turned to the woman sitting next to him.

"Hey." He said, getting her attention.

Melanie briefly turned to him.

"No matter how this comes out, I just want you to know..." But any words suddenly failed him as he sat simply locking eyes with her.

A small smile formed on her lips as she gave him a brief nod. "Yeah." She replied. "Me, too."

Just as the last word left her lips, the window in front of them lit up with a flare of light.

"Get ready!" Melanie called out, hitting a switch in the control panel that quickly lowered a shield over the front helm window. "We'll first be hit by a sound wave from the explosion, then the fire storm."

"Can Icebreaker survive that?"

Melanie nodded. "Thankfully we're facing the explosion. That will help."

As Layton listened, a sudden wall of sound rolled over the train, shaking it so violently he thought it would surely come off the tracks as items all around them fell off shelves and counters onto the floor.

Without a warning, Melanie suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the chair and under the console panel with her.

"Cover your eyes!" She shouted over the roar of the explosion. "The light from the fire storm even coming in through a side window could still blind you for several seconds."

Rather than using his hands to cover his eyes, Layton found himself instead grabbing the woman next to him and pulling her as tightly as he could to him, burying his face in her neck as he tucked her protectively against his chest.

Despite his eyes being closed and Icebreaker's protective shields on the front of the engine, Layton was sure he felt the area around them suddenly rise dramatically in temperature. Remembering the explosives Wilford had planted just behind the engine's emblem, he was grateful now he had had the foresight to remove them, unsure if the heat from the explosion would have been enough to set them off.

But just after a few seconds, Melanie was pulling herself out of his hold on her and struggling back to her helm chair, immediately hitting the switch to raise the protective shield over the window again.

Pulling himself after her as he struggled back into his own helm chair, Layton suddenly froze as he stared in awe at the sight that greeting him.

In the distance a plume of smoke had already risen high into the air. But below it Layton swore was the largest bonfire he had ever seen. Most of the plain behind them was now nothing more than a sea of fire, burning hot and fast against the freezing temperatures that fought against it.

But what caught his attention the most was what lay on the ground no more than a few hundred yards behind them now.

Blown towards them in a twisted, mangled heap of nearly unrecognizable metal, was all that remained of the track they had just sped over in their desperate hope for escape.

As though answering his silent stare at the sheer force of the destruction, a large piece of metal suddenly fell directly in front of them, hitting the track as they continue to run full speed in reverse. As soon as it hit, another falling piece, though not as large, caught his attention off to the right. But the front shield coming down again quickly cut off any further view he might have had.

"The explosion threw debris fairly high up into the air. She answered his questioning look as he turned to her. "We''ll have to keep the shield closed for several minutes until we fairly sure all the debris has fallen."

Just as she stopped in her explanation, a solid thump could be heard above them.

Both caught the others stare at the same time.

"I guess that's a good decision." Layton replied, still in a bit of shock over the sudden change in their circumstances. He was grateful his roommate didn't look anymore settled than he felt even as she tried to turn a calm expression back to the helm controls.

"Do you think that last hit damaged any of the solar panels?" He asked.

Melanie shook her head again. "I initiated the closure of the steel canopy we installed on the roof to protect the solar panels when they weren't being used. They should be fine."

"What about the track behind us?" Layton asked, suddenly reasoning what was falling out of the sky could just as easily land on the track.

Melanie quickly activated the rear cameras and scanned the area ahead of them.

"It shouldn't pose any immediate issues for Icebreaker. But we'll keep watch just in case." She replied even as she reached for the lever and began to slow the engine.

"How far did we travel?" Layton asked.

"Thankfully, far enough it seems. The blast from the explosion and the fire storm both helped the engine's acceleration and gave us addition thrust further down the track, getting us out of harms way."

Layton breathed a sigh of relief, that was just a quickly cut off as a sound echoed through the engine from the back of it striking something hard.

"It was likely a piece of metal on the tracks." Melanie quickly answered his worried stare.

Layton laid his head against his hand as he shook his head with a slight laugh of relief. "I never have been able to say time spent with you is ever boring, Ms. Cavill."

Her own laugh echoed his as Melanie continued guiding the engine down the tracks towards Moscow.