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Eno shook his head. “Don’t know. Rayne has gone to speak to the engineer.”
“I—”
The door at the other end of the car was thrown open and both of the engineers from the caboose hustled through, also heading toward the engine. One paused long enough to call at them, “Rockslide on the tracks.”
“Whoa!” Drayce exhaled. They both started to follow, but Eno jumped in front of them.
“We wait here for the full story from Rayne. Get dressed and make sure all your gear is pulled together, especially weapons,” Eno ordered.
“You think we’re going to be attacked?” Caelan’s heart picked up its pace from the initial surprise of their stop, but his brain finally tossed aside its useless list of worries in the face of a potential threat against him and his companions.
“I don’t know what’s going on. That’s why we’re waiting for more information and making sure we’re prepared for anything.”
Eno was right. They needed to be ready for anything. He couldn’t imagine how the Empire could have discovered that he was on the train, but they were all safer if they assumed that the Empire was one step ahead of them at all times.
He and Drayce hurried to the bedroom and turned up the small glass light. In relative silence, they quickly packed the bags with the few things they’d pulled out to make their sleep a little more comfortable. Not that either of them had gotten any sleep.
Normal trips would have necessitated piles of luggage for all the various official functions and events he would have been forced to attend. But for this trip, it had been agreed they would travel light. If it couldn’t be carried on their backs, it didn’t go. Drayce and Eno even carried tents, while he and Rayne had divvied up some cooking gear and supplies—though he wasn’t entirely sure which one of them possessed anything that resembled cooking skills. Caelan was still praying none of them turned to him for cooking advice.
It didn’t take them long to repack and gather all their things together in the main area of the private car. Unfortunately, it was still another twenty minutes before Rayne appeared, looking as turbulent as a storm cloud.
“Rockslide on the tracks?” Eno said as soon as the other man returned.
Rayne nodded as he closed the door and immediately headed over to his bag. “I walked out with the engineers to inspect it. The tracks are covered, and the rocks are sufficiently large enough that we can’t even dream of moving them. There’s also the question of whether the tracks might have been damaged by the falling rocks even if we managed to move them.”
“Are rockslides common here?”
Rayne paused in his search and looked up at Eno. “Jake, the engineer who has done this run the longest, said they aren’t common. Happens maybe once a year, and it’s been a while since they’ve suffered one this big.”
“Do you think this is natural?” Caelan said.
“What do you mean? What’s an unnatural rockslide?” Drayce interjected, his eyebrows inching toward his hairline.
“One caused by the Empire,” Eno answered before Caelan could.
“Shit,” Drayce swore.
Rayne resumed his search, making a soft “aha!” noise when he located what he was searching for. He stood, a thickly folded piece of paper in his hand. “Unfortunately, in the darkness, there weren’t many details that I could make out. There was no lingering smell of powders or chemicals that would have been used in the explosion needed to free the rocks. But…I’m not ruling it out entirely.”
“Fantastic,” Eno muttered. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “So, what’s the plan?”
Rayne moved over to the table and opened up his paper to reveal a map of Erya, the Ordas, and part of Caspagir. With one long finger, he pointed at a spot along the train line. “We’re about here. Jake has explained that they will need to reverse the train to a side track and the last one is about halfway to the Erya border. They say the interference from the Ordas is thin enough there that they might be able to radio to the border town of Redgate. If they can get through, they will send out a crew to remove the rocks and potentially repair the rails. At a minimum, Jake estimates it will be at least three to four days before the train can continue on its journey, and that’s assuming the radio signal gets through. If not, they will have to go all the way to Redgate to get help.”
Caelan swore and paced away from the map, shoving his hands through his hair. The urgency of this diplomatic mission had been clearly impressed upon him. He needed to get to Caspagir quickly and secretly.
“What are our options?” he demanded.
“Jake is willing to reverse the train all the way to Redgate tonight. We’d arrive late morning. From there, we would travel north to one of the towns on the shore and charter a boat to Caspagir. Our best bets would likely be Driftwood Point or Wyndeen. Depending on the size of the boat we can get our hands on, we would likely arrive at Sirelis two to three days later than we had planned.”
