The train sat silently defying every attempt to breach its defenses. Warrior stared at Jack-T in frustration while Zilinth security stood across the walk-way watching. The Zilinth had said they wouldn’t interfere with the Aeden’s claim that they were attempting to retrieve stolen property, unless it turned to violence. But, the Ravens were still at Tiger River and, as far as Warrior knew, still unaware of the attempt to steal the train. Jack-T stood at the door to the train trying to figure out how the lock worked. Jack-T had begun with the name, Jack-Technology, and later had been shortened to Jack-Techno, and later to Jack-T. The man was big, even for a Jack, with arms and shoulders built working countless hours at his forge. Jack-T was the camp’s blacksmith; a skill that had taken years to re-invent. Jack-T maintained the wagons, forged weapons, tools, cutlery, mugs, horse shoes, and a plethora of other useful items the Jacks needed. Jack-T was also one of two primary income sources for the Jacks, often selling weapons to other villages and camps. The second primary source of income was Jack-Engineer, though he also had shortened his name and was now usually known as Enge. Enge was a master at building bridges that could withstand spring flooding and the weight of supply-laden trader wagons. Enge had built many bridges commissioned by the Trader Guild. Enge came around the front of the train from his second walk-around inspection. “Anything?” asked Warrior. “The cars are actually a single-hull spacecraft jointed at each section to mimic a train,” said Enge. “All the extra trim to make it look like a train is superfluous aesthetics to the spacecraft itself. There’s damage to the sixth car’s coupling that indicates there was a seventh car that was ripped away, and I think that seventh car was the train’s defense platform.” “It happened when the last living Aeden, Lord Sethan, first arrived here in the Crystal Universe,” said Toran’Sar. “Do you have any clue how to get inside?” asked Warrior. Toran’Sar gave a short shake of his head. “All I know is that Taren Aestar built the train at the Kelsing Facility located at the core of the planet Aeden. He knew the end was coming and built this train as an escape ship for his family. Taren hid his son, Sethan, at the facility before the attack, but then went back to the surface to get his wife. Sethan never saw his parents again. The boy launched the train and escaped as the Destroyers broke into the laboratory. Sethan became the Lord of the Crystal Universe and has ruled with an iron fist since. The train was later given to the Ravens by Lord Sethan.” Warrior shook his head. “Nope, the Ravens messed up when they brought the train here into the past. Lord Sethan doesn’t exist yet, and by current Aeden law, no Aeden technology may be given to another species. The train is ours.” “Wait…” Enge glanced at Toran’Sar. “The train was built at the core of Aeden?” “That’s what Colt told me.” Enge grinned. “It can’t be that simple.” Enge called out to Jack-T still trying to find a way to get into the train. “Try quantum locking.” Jack-T grabbed the door handle, paused for a moment, and then pulled the door open. “Well, there you go, we’re in,” said Enge. “What is quantum locking?” asked Toran’Sar. “I’m not a physicist.” “The purpose of a core facility would be to study the planet’s magnetic field, which would lead to experiments in quantum locking in which two atoms are locked together by sharing electrons, which is done by equalizing the magnetic fields with a superconductor. The Ravens probably have a key that activates a superconductor in the door mechanism, but we’re Gate Keepers, we are a superconductor, so it was just a matter of using our augments to align the magnetic fields holding the door shut.” “Ah, and in Taren Aestar’s time, the Gate Keepers had been gone for almost four billion years, he would never have thought of adding a security feature to keep a Gate Keeper out,” said Toran’Sar. “This train is a very advanced piece of technology, but it’s still based on the fundamental principles of physics we’ve already discovered,” said Enge. “We just need to keep that in mind.” “Okay, less talk and more getting the choo choo started,” said Warrior. Enge and Jack-T headed inside the train and to the engine. Warrior scanned the train station for any sign of Ravens before turning to Toran’Sar. Warrior noticed the man was looking up and carefully scanning the sky instead of the ground. “How did the Ravens figure out how to operate this thing?” asked Warrior “They didn’t, Zil did. Zil is one of the rebel Zilinth and fell in love with Jasai,” said Toran’Sar. “I didn’t know there were rebel Zilinth?” “You would never have met one, the rebels cherish humility and privacy, two things the Jacks barely understand the definition of.” Warrior laughed. “That’s true, but the Ravens don’t strike me as humble.” “Never underestimate the power of love to make a man compromise his ethics.” “What are they rebelling over?” asked Warrior. “The rebels believe all knowledge should be free, not turned into a commercial enterprise of selling access to information, which is basically what the mainstream Zilinth are doing with The Great Library.” “The ancient library ruins we live in… was that their library?” “Yes, they live in the deep desert now.” “Okay, I think all this means that Zil is conflicted between his love for that scraggly feathered Raven woman and his morals. We can use that against him if it comes down to a fight,” said Warrior. “Possibly. Zil is how I was able to free five of the Jacks, but don’t underestimate Zil. He does possess all the technology of the Zilinth, and if Jasai gives him a direct order, he will obey her.” Warrior turned his head toward the train as it rumbled to life. “That was quick, let’s get moving.” Toran’Sar ran a hand along the side of the emerald green train with gold trim. This train was the last thing the Aeden’s had built before their civilization collapsed and faded out of the Universe. It was a fitting memorial to a species that had achieved absolute dominance in science. This train shouldn’t be in the hands of the Ravens, it belonged to the Aedens. Toran’Sar grabbed a silver handle mounted next to the door and heaved himself up the stairs and into the train. If the exterior had been a superior achievement in merging science with art, the interior was the crowning masterpiece. The floor was covered with a red and gold checkered carpet, the wood paneling a Merlot cherry, and the leather upholstered furniture a deep autumn orange. There were two couches that ran the length of the front section of the car. An arched doorway of translucent stained-glass with the image of an elk to each side separated the car into two sections. The rear section of the car looked like a reading room with tables set between chairs that one would only imagine finding in a mansion library and surrounded by shelves filled with ancient weathered books, and on each table between the chairs was a crystal reading lamp. Warrior stood at the entrance, staring at the interior. “I didn’t think it would look like this. It looks brand new.” “Maintenance nanobots are probably continuously repairing damage and wear,” said Toran’Sar. “Look at the dirt you tracked in from your boots.” Warrior looked back at the dirt his boots had tracked in, the dirt was already fading away. “It sickens me to think the Ravens were ever in here.” Jack-T came through the passage way from the engine. “Hey, look at this.” Jack-T held up an antique skeleton key and a notebook. “These were laid out on the control panel. It’s the key to the doors and written instructions on how the train works, and it’s written in Ruk.” “Why would the Ravens leave the key inside the train?” asked Warrior. “The Ravens didn’t, it was Zil,” said Toran’Sar. “He can say he forgot the key inside the train and we broke in on our own and stole the train. He’s blameless. And the Ravens have never encountered the Ruk, so they wouldn’t have been able to read what Zil was writing in the notebook. Zil has returned the train to its rightful owners without actually betraying the Ravens. He’s a very conflicted man.” Warrior took the key and slipped it into his pocket. “Go ahead and back the train out of here.” Jack-T flipped through the notebook. “The train acts as its own World Bridge and forms a portal in front of it.” “Forward then, just get us moving.” “The notes say we need a destination, and it has to be somewhere we know, we can’t safely random jump.” “Take us out next to the desert road, that’s a good long flat stretch to get used to how this thing works.” The train began moving forward. Warrior leaned out the door and saw the portal form in front of the train. He quickly pulled the door shut as the train left The Great Library and reappeared next to the desert road like a snake emerging from its burrow in the desert. Warrior re-opened the door and leaned out again. “The train is making its own tracks under it,” said Warrior. “Matter conversion, I’d think,” said Toran’Sar. “I’m really surprised we pulled this off so easily.” “I’m not,” said Warrior. “We didn’t steal the train for us, we stole it for Dreamer. Wherever he is, he needs this train to find him. Dreamer magic is involved.” Toran’Sar watched Warrior from the corner of his eye. He’d heard the rumors about Jack-Dreamer that were starting to circulate among the Jacks, and he wasn’t going to argue the matter. There were some mysteries in the universe too big to question.