Cooper tapped his headset to re-activate the visor’s computerized components. He walked to the door and made sure no sound of passengers was outside.
“Murphy, remain here with the bodies and find how these people met with their unfortunate end.” Cooper slid out the door as swiftly as he could.
Murphy sighed and looked at the three frozen people.
“That was harsh,” Emma said with a bit of static in her voice, a sign she was on a private channel with Murphy.
Murphy rotated his finger along a sensory dial on the control chip and a channel indicator in his field of view shifted to show he spoke only to her.
“I should’ve turned off my visor, as well,” Murphy said. He placed the stool upright and sat on it in the middle of the small suite.
“That would’ve been better,” Emma said. “Victoria was laughing the whole time. I just cringed.”
“Thanks for the support, I guess.” Murphy scanned the room.
A large bed was at one side of the room, only a few feet from the dead trio and Murphy on the stool. A few bags of luggage were placed on the bed and around the nightstands. A door to a bathroom stall was the only other feature along the same wall. On the opposite side, a miniature kitchen area held a coffee maker, a microwave, and a fridge, all placed next to a large desk under the ominous presence of a massive wall-mounted television screen.
“Television, on,” Murphy commanded.
The electronic device flickered and a newscaster came into view with a screen-in-screen of a blazing wildfire.
“Murphy, can I tell you something?” Emma’s voice softened almost to a whisper. “I’m glad you’re on the team. And I’m glad I get to work with you three. I’ve been assigned to other reserve deputy teams and they’re either salty jerks or complete lunatics.”
“I’m not sure how much I can actually contribute here.” Murphy lowered the volume with a gesture toward the screen as the news dwelled on the devastation of a local wildfire. “I’m not ex-military like Vic or ex-police like Cooper.”
“You saved Jordan.” Emma’s voice rang with a hint of congratulations. “You’re good with kids. And smart, too. We need someone other than me with an encyclopedia in their head. Victoria was trying to distract Jordan by talking about school. As strong as she is, she didn’t know how many planets there are in the solar system, can you believe it?”
“Wow, it’s so easy to remember five,” Murphy said. “And their names are simple. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Charon. It’s not like listing all 102 states.”
“I’ll bet you can name all the capitals,” Emma said.
“Correct,” Murphy said. “But I bet you can spell Chilpancingo and Fredericton without a dictionary.”
“Bingo.”Emma chuckled.
Murphy scanned the room and dwelled on the televised news story for a moment.
“Attention passengers,” said the metallic voice of a cybernetic conductor over the loudspeaker. “Federal Rails Line 595, Platinum Hawk, now departing Santa Cruz for Sacramento and Salt Lake City.”
The whirs and whistles of the distant engine grew louder and the room lurched as the train began to move.
“We should probably go back to the main channel,” Emma said. “Cooper is questioning some conductors and might issue orders.”
Murphy changed his channel with a finger swipe to his temple and continued to watch the news.
“Looks like the wildfire is threatening to consume Davis,” Murphy said. “And we might have to cross through the blaze before we make it to Sacramento.”
“That is troubling,” Victoria said. “A wildfire makes a great opportunity for someone to dispose of evidence.”
Murphy glanced between the metal bottle behind him and the frozen people in front of him. No gunshots or sign of weaponry. He pulled out a pair of pumpkin seeds and nibbled them before he huffed and rubbed his head.
“Nothing about their deaths makes sense,” Emma said.
“Exactly, why kill a city official?” Murphy leaned back. “And what did they use to kill him that could spread to others with a mere touch? Victoria, did you see enemy soldiers put anything strange in those canisters?”
“Just non-food-grade chemicals,” the former soldier said. “It’s a basic container. They use it for small amounts of cleaners, solvents, engine oil, maybe paint sometimes, and it’s almost too small for fuel.”
Murphy kicked his head back in frustration and paused at a glimmer of light.
A pool of silvery liquid metal pooled on the room’s ceiling and rolled around with the vibrations of the train into the crevices between panels.
“Murphy, you’re still in the room?” Cooper’s voice was concerned.
“Yes, boss,” Murphy said. “I’m looking up at the ceiling.”
“It’s like you’re looking down at a sloshing puddle,” Emma said.
“A puddle on the ceiling?” Murphy craned his neck to get a better view. “If it’s up there, it fell upward.” He spun around to the rattling metal bottle near the wall. “That would explain why the bottle stood when it first fell. The contents poured up and lifted it to a stand rather than roll.”
“That’s impossible for a dense liquid to fall upward,” Emma said. “Only a gas could float up through air. But you wouldn’t see a big puddle of it.”
“If that is connected to the deaths, we have a serious issue,” Victoria said.
“Contact with skin was deadly, but clothes were fine. I’ve got an experiment.” Murphy rushed to the sink and poured a small amount of water into a cup. He walked close enough to toss the water upward onto the ceiling.
A large arc of water curved up and toward the metallic liquid. The end of the arc touched the sliver puddle with a loud hiss and instantly crystalized. A solid half-loop of water floated downward like a drifting balloon onto the carpet next to stray droplets that disconnected early from the arc and landed full seconds earlier. Tiny hisses followed as the frozen arc made contact with some of the wet carpet where droplets had just before absorbed into the fibers, freezing them as well.
“It turns water into a light solid and floats upward in its raw form.” Emma hummed in frustration. “What could it be?”
“Whatever it is, it seems like a good weapon.” Murphy shifted his gaze to the frozen people.
“I agree,” Victoria said. “That substance is dangerous, and we can assume someone intends to use more on this ride.”
“Hey team, I think we know what you’re in for,” Emma said. “There are more trains of political outcasts fleeing to Salt Lake City, and a few of them pass through the same corridor as your Line 595. Turns out Line 882 from San Francisco suffered an unknown attack and lost thirteen cars. Line 117 from San Jose derailed. So did Line 93 from Petaluma. Line 26 from Monterey has vanished, presumed derailed. All of them outside Davis as they approached the wildfire.”
Murphy gulped and the seconds-long radio silence caused him to consider how everyone else had to be weighing the danger.
“Victoria, Murphy, let’s assemble in the dining car at once,” ordered Cooper.
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