Chapter 66: Penny’s Dilemma

The further east we traveled, the worse the weather seemed to get. It had been overcast and drizzly most of the day, and visibility had been limited. Now, as night time approached, there was no twilight, just a dreary darkness as the rain fell in sheets against the coach’s window, only to be whisked away by the wind rushing past the speeding train.

Catherine and John were in the lounge car as I came through the vestibule connecting it to the Dining Car. The door to Catherine’s custom stateroom popped open and Vickie stood there in a dress that touched below her knees.

“Oh, Michael. Is this okay?” she asked.

“Do I have any other choices?” I asked.

“You don’t like this one?” she asked, whining a little.

“I didn’t say that. I asked if you had any more, because I like to watch you model for me,” I said with a grin.

“Michael! Leave the poor girl be. She has enough going on without you teasing her,” Catherine fussed. Then to Vickie, “Go ahead dear, or you’ll be up all night.”

“I hope so!” she thought to herself dreamily. Of course, I was able to hear it as well.

“You heard her, get to it!” I thought to her. “And I’ll do my best to keep you busy all night.”

She giggled as she ran back into Catherine’s stateroom.

The train was slowing as we were shunted to a side track. We had just entered the large rail yard at Conway, Pennsylvania. Here the big diesel engines would be fueled for our continued journey to Newark.

I nodded to John as I bent to kiss Catherine on the cheek.

“You still mad at me?” I thought to her.

“Not now, Michael,” she said. “You know she’s not on the pill, don’t you?”

“Yes. Nicky gave her some rubbers last night, but they were never necessary. I’ll make sure she’s got them for later,” I thought back.

“Oh, I’ve got them alright. I’m just not sure three will be enough!” Vickie thought to me from inside Catherine’s stateroom, giggling.

Catherine looked up at me.

“This is going to take some getting used to,” she said to no one in particular.

“I know what you mean,” I replied.

John just looked at us with a puzzled look on his face.

“Vickie just spoke to us,” I told him.

“Well, let me know if three aren’t enough. I think I have a few more in the stateroom,” he said with a smile.

I started laughing, and soon he and Catherine were laughing as well.

“I guess I need to work with her a little more on her control,” I finally said.

“Is Kalani coming?” Catherine asked me.

I quickly scanned and found she was still eating dinner with the girls.

“She should be here soon. She’s finishing her dinner now,” I told Catherine and John. I continued to scan just to check on everyone else.

Helen was sitting with Debbie and Penny in the forward lounge of the Dining Car.

Most of the girls were still talking in the Diner. Except for Jennifer and Julie. They had Jason sandwiched between them in a back booth and were busy whispering and giggling with each other.

David was racked out in the security room in this car, and Peter was doing likewise in the far end of the Guest Wing. Probably getting ready to be up all night. Beth was also in her stateroom, but she was awake and lying there reading. Kip was in the galley cleaning up.

I almost missed it.

The two massive engines were stopped for refueling almost a mile ahead of us, at the front of the fifty-odd car consist. So when I sensed people moving outside our cars, I almost dismissed them for Penn Central yard employees.

But for some reason, I sensed something unusual, so I checked it out.

I guess I must have looked alarmed, because Catherine quickly asked, “What is it Michael?”

I ignored her as I scanned deeper.

“Damn! They’re foreign! I can’t understand them,” I thought.

I was aware that Vickie gasped. I think she sensed them too. Or maybe she just sensed me. But I had them.

“Penny! We’ve got company, and they’re armed to the teeth!” I thought to her excitedly.

“Everybody! Down on the floor. NOW!” Penny yelled as she ran for the observation car.

She crashed through the door and knocked quickly on David’s door.

“We have company,” she called through the door.

Then she turned and made her way back to the Guest Wing, pausing only a second to tell Kip, “Company.”

He dropped what he was doing and reached into the pantry and brought out a large duffle bag.

Penny looked cautiously as she crossed the vestibule, then went straight to her room, taking a moment to arm herself before she went to the end of the car to wake Peter.

Then kneeling beside the door, she took a look outside, but could see nothing in the dark.

“Michael? Can you tell how many?” Penny thought.

“There are five surrounding the train, and another beside a van parked about a half mile away. On Fifteenth Street near Second Avenue. They’re all neutralized now, but I’m worried the one next to the van may get run over if he fell in the street.”

“What!” Penny yelled her thought. “How can they be neutralized?” she began running towards the rear car. “What’s going on?” Penny asked. “How do you know...”

Penny came to an abrupt halt and looked at me as the pieces fell into place.

“Please! Say nothing else, Penny. The others have no idea of my talents,” I thought to her. She held her tongue, but her eyes never left me.

Beth had arrived, along with Kip.

“Kip, come with me,” I said. “David, you go with Penny. Let’s move!”

I felt Kip’s curiosity at a teenager giving instructions, and I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t taking this too seriously. After all, he hadn’t seen an enemy yet.

As we filed out onto the rear platform, Kip and I went to the right, David and Penny to the left. This was not going to be easy, directing Penny while I was trying to show Kip where they were. I think I was sweating, but no one spoke to me.

“Michael, I can see them. Let me help Penny, okay?” Vickie thought to me.

“Yeah! Thanks,” I thought back.

Vickie’s help made it much easier, so I concentrated on leading Kip. It was done in less than two minutes, with Kip dragging two back to where the third one lay outside the observation car vestibule. A minute later and David dragged in another bound captive. But quickly disappeared for the fifth.

“Should we go after the driver?” I asked Penny.

“No. We’re not equipped and the train may pull out any moment. How long will what you do hold them?”

“I don’t really know. I’ve only really done it a few times. None of them were serious, and I released them within minutes. I can tell you he is still alive and hasn’t been run over yet, but he’s scared he will be any minute,” I thought to her and Penny.

“Why not release him, and then when he’s out of the street, hit him again?” Penny suggested.

“Good idea!” I thought.

That’s exactly what I did. I let him make it back inside the van before I hit him again. Now he was slumped over on the floor of the cargo van.

“What’s wrong with them?” David asked.

“Strip ‘em and tie them in seats in the forward lounge in the Dining Car,” I told Penny.

She looked at me curiously as she relayed the order without answering David.

“It will make it easier for me to interrogate them,” I thought to her.

Kip and Peter dragged the five bound captives into the Dining Car and quickly stripped them. Kip disappeared back outside, and Penny looked at me.

“He’s retrieving their weapons. He sincerely doesn’t want them to fall into the hands of innocents, like children,” I told her.

“What next?” Penny asked me.

“Get everybody out but you and Kip and me. We can monitor them from a booth,” I told her.

“Why Kip?” she thought back. She knew I was running the risk of exposing myself.

I didn’t answer her because David was still standing there, watching closely.

She relayed my instructions to everyone. Beth and Peter headed back to their posts at opposite ends of the train. But David stood in the aisle staring at us.

Kip just looked at me. He suspected something, but his first inclination was a setup, because it had been just a tad too easy. Maybe some kind of test to see what he would do in a contrived situation.

I motioned David back towards the Observation car, out of earshot of the captured agents. I also tied in Catherine, so she would have a heads up on what I tell him.

“David, what you just witnessed is a weapon that Wagner Industries has been working on. The FBI and the CIA have each assigned an agent that we have been working with. The weapon is prototypical, with many problems still to be ironed out. It is also highly classified. Now you can push the issue, but you probably won’t like the consequences, or you can let it go for now. I promise that I will talk to Catherine and explain that you saw it, but it will be up to her whether she tells you anything.”

David wasn’t buying it, but fortunately, his mind went off on other tangents as he left the dining car.