The ore train arrived in Abda on schedule, right at five o’clock. Tommy Adamic watched the empty cars roll by until the three-kilometer train came to a stop. He lifted his gPhone to his ear. “Ready in zone two.”
His colleague, the woman who was at the bar with him last night, replied, “Zone one ready.” The two other men from his table replied, as well, all four loading zones ready.
Adamic pocketed his gPhone and turned to the nearest power loader. “Chen, go ahead and get started.”
“Roger that, Tommy,” the man strapped into the power loader standing nearby said before turning and joining another lifter to heft a massive cargo module onto the heavy loading arm of a crane that straddled the tracks. The crane was able to roll along the length of track inside the stockyard, loading the heavy ore modules on to the waiting train car frames. Men and women in power loaders all along the line were preparing cargo modules, loaded with delibdomin ore worth millions in Imperial credits, for the crane as it made its way along the track.
* * *
“The train just left the station,” Rudy said, then added, “and it’s three klicks long.”
Jax swore under his breath, then nodded and tapped the intercom control. “Train is moving, so are we!” He closed the channel and pushed the grav-lift control forward, increasing power. The Osprey lifted off, its landing gear pulling out of the mud with a sucking sound. They had landed in a small clearing after Steve and Kori received their delivery of reinforced cable. Baxter had spent most of the morning braiding the thick cable to increase its strength.
Down in the cargo hold, Steve and Kori were checking each other’s safety straps. The cargo hold doors on both sides of the Osprey were open, and Steve’s reinforced cargo arms were fully extended. As the ground receded and the wind picked up, Kori shouted, “Ready?” She had pistols strapped to each of her legs. Despite Jax’s teasing that she had no value among the crew, her aim was top-notch and not limited to darts.
She tugged on her own harness and walked over to the portside cargo opening. The ground, now two kilometers below them, was passing by quickly as the Osprey moved to get into position to intercept the train.
From their headsets, Jax said, “Once we get going, we’ll have maybe an hour before the train is close enough to Salma for the local Imperials to engage.”
Steve tapped his earpiece. “Roger that. We’ll keep quiet. You sure your AI can fly this thing on its own?” He grinned.
Skip cut off Jax’s reply. “One, I’m right here, and two, I fly better than Jax.”
“Let’s not get crazy,” Jax cut in, then added, “but yeah, Skip has this.”
The Osprey banked, and from the starboard cargo door, the view of the train line came into view. In the distance, the bright blue painted main engine of the train came around a bend, the kilometers-long ore train behind it.
* * *
Jax pushed away from his flight console as the controls slid into their standby position. He turned to Rudy. “You two do got this , right?”
Rudy made his nodding gesture. “Yeah, we got this.”
Jax nodded and headed down the staircase. When he got to the common deck, he saw Baxter. “You ready?”
“Are you kidding? This has been the most boring job ever so far.” The droid pounded a fist into his open palm. He led Jax down the stairs to the cargo hold. When they arrived, Kori handed Jax his harness, helping him into it.
Naomi leaned out the open cargo door. “Ready?” Everyone nodded. She tapped her earpiece. “Okay, droids, bring us into position.”
“We have names,” Rudy said over comms.
“Moving into position now,” Skip interrupted. The Osprey dipped as she dived toward position over the tracks. Below them, the train’s engine approached, then whizzed past underneath. The Osprey accelerated and was over the train in seconds, maintaining position. The ship lowered until it was barely twenty meters over the train.
“Uh, I think we have a problem,” Skip said.
Everyone in the hold looked at each other. Jax said, “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a car in the middle of the train. It’s not an ore car, and sensors can’t penetrate it. It could be anything.”
Naomi looked at Jax. “Your boyfriend mention anything about special cargo?”
Jax held up a finger. “One, not my boyfriend. Two, no, he didn’t. I have to assume he didn’t know. The train was coming in from the town further down the line. Could be anything.” He looked around. “Rudy, can you pick up any chatter? I don’t like not knowing what’s in that thing.”
“Scanning, now,” the nav droid replied from his station on the flight deck. “Nothing. All comms on that train are hard-wired, and at least right now, they’re not talking to anyone over wireless,” the droid said.
“Damn.” Jax looked around. “Okay, well, we stick to the plan. We’ll drop on the last car and work our way forward. When we find the first car, Kori and Naomi will call down the Osprey . Baxter will get the car connected and they’ll take off. Steve and I will keep going and find the second car. Rinse and repeat.” He looked at Kori and Naomi. “You two ride out with the ore module. Baxter, you stay on the train in case we need you.” Everyone nodded.