“The Mage Guild in Palandur—” Alain began.
“Is still trying to sort out what happened last night and whether or not that troll tore you into tiny pieces and stomped on them. You still haven’t sensed any other Mages nearby, right?”
“I did not last night, either,” Alain said, peering suspiciously out the window at a distant speck in the sky. “I do not think that is a Roc, but I will keep an eye on it.”
“Fine. Enjoy yourself.” Mari settled back, trying to relax. The city of Landfall was a long way off, but the train made excellent time over the even terrain. After the adventures of the previous night, Mari found herself dozing off, waking once after sleeping for some time, and then insisting that Alain get some rest while she stayed alert. “Yes, I promise to watch for Rocs.”
Mari glanced at the setting sun as the express train finally slowed again to pick up passengers and cargo at the big station where the roads from Centin in the north and Alfarin to the south joined with the road between Palandur and Landfall. Alain had awakened when the train stopped. She grinned at him. “I can’t help wishing I could see the expression on Professor T’mos’ face when he realizes I’m not going to show up in Empress Tesa Square. Though I think he’s going to be more disappointed at not getting his hands on you.”
Alain frowned at her. “You said something like that before. Why would this old teacher of yours have any feelings against me?”
“It’s a long story, and to be perfectly honest it sort of makes me sick to my stomach to think about it now, so if you don’t mind I’ll fill you in at some future time.”
The stop was long enough to make Mari have to fight off fidgeting. They were so close now to getting out of the Empire. So close to avoiding the death sentence mandated for anyone who entered the forbidden city of Marandur, and so close to embarking for Altis to search for the mysterious tower that might hold a lot of answers that she needed to have.
An alert would go out once she didn’t show up in Empress Tesa Square, transmitted through the big far-talkers in the Mechanics Guild Halls. But it would be a few more hours before that happened, and by then they should be much closer to Landfall. “We’ll have to figure out how to leave this train before it reaches the station in Landfall,” Mari murmured to Alain. “My Guild will have sent out word by then that I might be aboard. The train will have to slow down a lot when it reaches the outskirts of Landfall, though, so we should have plenty of chances to jump off.”
His gaze on her was intense. “Jump off? As we did last time?”
“Well, no,” Mari said. “That time the train was going a lot faster and we had to fall farther and we couldn’t see what we were jumping into. This time should be a lot easier.”
A few new passengers came into their carriage and took seats nearby as the train finally lurched back into motion, gathering speed slowly. “What were all those cops doing?” one asked another.
The question was met with a shrug. “Checking all the people getting off. Another security alert, I suppose. A lot of the police got on the train, too, did you see? In the first passenger carriage. I guess they’re looking for someone again. An escaped convict, maybe.”
The first man spoke in a lower voice. “I heard the police are looking for two people who left Marandur. There’s been legionaries and police all over the roads back east of here.”
“Really? Anyone fool enough to go to Marandur gets what they deserve.”
“Well, some folk say whoever came out originally went in a very long time ago.” The man lowered his voice as he whispered to the other.
Mari turned to Alain. “Imperial police are on the train. They’re in the front cars and moving back, looking for us.”
He nodded, looking out the window beside him. “I heard.”
“Any ideas?” she asked.
“Not at the moment.”
The train kept gathering speed. Mari gazed bleakly through the window at the landscape rushing by, then ahead to where the Imperial police were undoubtedly methodically checking every passenger before moving back to the next passenger carriage. She had seen Imperial officers conducting searches and knew just how efficient they could be. Their packs would be searched, and what was in them would ensure that she and Alain were recognized and arrested. “Hiding won’t work and fighting would be hopeless. We could overcome the cops on the train, maybe, but hundreds of others would converge on wherever the train stopped.”
“Yes,” Alain agreed.
“That only leaves one alternative.”
“I was afraid that you would say that.”
Chapter Six
Alain waited for Mari to explain exactly what she was going to do, thinking as he waited that it had indeed been a mistake to try traveling on a Mechanic train again. Night had fallen completely, so that once they had left the lights at the Mechanic train station the inside of this coach had become as dark as the outside.
Mari leaned back and whispered in Alain’s ear. “Time to go.”
That was a bit worrisome, given the speed with which the land outside was rolling by.
Straightening herself up, Mari spoke in a tired but nonchalant voice just loud enough to carry a bit. “I think there are more seats in the next carriage, so we can lie down to sleep. Do you mind moving?”
Alain stood, pulling Mari’s pack down from the shelves that ran over their heads, then his own pack as well. “We can attempt it.”
She led the way out the rear door of their car and onto a small platform that led to the similar platform on the front of the next car on the train. Walking across the small gap between the platforms would bring them to a door leading into the front of the next car. Instead of proceeding to the door, though, Mari went to the railings on the side and looked out and over, squinting her eyes against the wind created by the motion of the train. Leaning back again, she made a helpless gesture. “I can’t see far enough ahead in the dark to spot any good places to land, and we don’t dare wait to jump anyway.”
“Jump? You said when we next jumped from a train it would be moving slowly and we would be able to see where we would land.”
“Yes,” Mari said. “That was the plan, but we had to change the plan. We’re going to jump now. Why did you think we came out here?”
“I was following you.”
“Well, follow me when I jump.” With a worried expression now, Mari hooked her leg over the railing, then brought the other leg across, holding on with both hands, her back to the railing and her feet on the narrow edge of the platform beyond the railing.
Since there wasn’t enough room on this platform for him to join her, Alain stepped across to the next car’s platform, then also stepped over the railing and hung on, balancing on the edge as the metal lines that Mari called rails rushed by below them and the wind buffeted them. Even over the rush of the wind he could hear the chugging roar of the Mechanic creature called a locomotive which pulled this train.
Alain stared down at the ground, which was moving past as fast as a horse could run. “Is this safe?”
“No!” Mari said. “Of course it’s not safe! But we don’t have any other choice! After you hit the ground, don’t get up for a little while. We want to make sure no one from the train sees us.”
“What if I cannot get up at all?” Alain asked.
“Try to fall softly!” Mari ordered. He was still staring at her, trying to figure out if she was really serious, when Mari reached out and latched onto Alain’s hand. “We’ll jump on the count of three! One… two… three!” She jumped, pulling Alain along.