Oil, Be Damned

I.

“I’m not sure, sir. I’ve already asked three times. He doesn’t know.”

“That’s impossible. How does he not know?”

“Unknown, sir. But all I can tell you is his response has been ‘I don’t know’ three times.”

“And you made it adamantly clear that no one is to ride this train without a ticket?”

“Adamantly.”

The engineer sighed, deep in thought. Finally, a response: “Well, it’s too late now to remove him. It is strictly against policy to remove a passenger from a moving train. And we are certainly not going to stop to let him off. When we reach Chicago I want him tossed immediately.”

“Understood, sir,” the attendant nodded his assent and left the engine room, closing the door behind him.

Before long, he arrived at car 7. As he approached, he saw the man perk up. Probably awakening from one of his naps again. He hesitated just once more for a brief moment to gather his thoughts. Here goes nothing.

He cleared his throat.

“The engineer has informed me that you are not to complete the journey on this train. Once we reach Chicago, you will be asked to leave and forcibly removed if you do not comply.”

II.

“No one’s going to know.”

This was the third time that his supervisor McKerrick had said this, so he was obviously trying to drive the point home.

“I don’t know, McKerrick. It’s just not right.” That was Germin, one of the project managers at the plant.

“Look, I’ll show you the numbers once again,” McKerrick indicated the chart projected on the wall as he spoke. “Here’s where we are now. This line – the one that continues to go up, up, up – is where we will be next year. It’s just a minor adjustment. Barely perceptible by the user. It will not decrease functionality at all. Cars will still run as normal and no one will be for the worse. I’m telling you, if we do this right the profits will be through the roof. And people will be just as satisfied as ever. No one’s going to know.”

A man named Redford spoke up. “To confirm, where is this supplement shipping from?”

McKerrick answered, “I found a dealer in Zimbabwe. Way off the written map. Under the radar. He has a mine that he operates that exports anthracite coal as a cover, but he is going to provide me a portion of his sample at a quality price.”

“Has this been tested? Do we know the side effects?” another man asked.

“Not extensively. But, we have run a few clinical trials with overwhelmingly positive results. Engines are firing more efficiently then before with very little increase in exhaust. There is some, naturally, but it’s nearly immeasurable and will amount to little more than an asterisk on the data.”

The men and women all grumbled to themselves trying to take in the information. McKerrick continued.

“I’ve already cleared it with Mr. Sandoval and he gave me the stamp of approval. We are going to do a local test run starting in two weeks and then if all goes well, we will rollout to the full market next quarter.”

Fitful murmurs came from the assembled crowd and occasional words could be heard as they discussed it with each other.

McKerrick continued, “Now, I expect all of you to do your duty during this time as expected. No one outside of this room needs to know the details. We will debrief the employees that there will be a new chemical additive added to the motor oil, but we will not go into details. There will also be no marketing changes, so the customer’s will not know this is happening. Down the line once we prove this is an effective change, we will likely rebrand or at least update the customers. Detweiler, I want a report on this meeting on my desk by end of day. Guarjin, I want to see you after this to go over that cap design flaw. And Kower, I’ll need your signature on that once we are done. This concludes our meeting.”

At the mention of his name, Kower sat up in his seat. He nodded to McKerrick who shuffled quickly out of the room. Guarjin followed close behind, already chattering away. His gaze followed them down the hall where McKerrick’s arm made its way around Guarjin’s shoulder. She subtly brushed it off.

“I don’t know how I feel about all this. It’s all too early, and seems very sketchy,” Germin said to Kower.

“Yeah, well, we’ve certainly known Boss Man to be shady in the past. Who’s surprised?”

“Yeah, but this is different. This is bigger than anything he’s done in the past. And I’m not sure I like it.”

They left the conference room and began making their way back to their offices.

“Well, it got Sandoval’s approval, so I guess it can’t be too bad,” Kower said.

“I suppose, but maybe he didn’t tell him the whole truth. I don’t know, I just don’t like it.”

“Don’t worry. Sandoval’s Motor Oil has been through worse. We’ll be fine. Just keep your head down and keep doing your job.”

At this, they parted ways and each entered their respective offices. Well, “offices” was a generous word. Glorified supply closet was a more apt description. The company grew faster on paper then it did in tangible square footage and they began converting every inch they could into office space to compensate. They were promised upgrades and new construction, but that got lost in the futile corporate void.

Kower broke for lunch and when he returned he caught Guarjin leaving his room. The tail of her lime green blazer fluttered behind her.

“Oh, hey,” she said as she saw him approaching. “I left the report on your desk. We just need you to sign off and we are good to go.”

“Can you run through it with me real quick?”

She followed him into the room.

“There was a minor flaw where the caps were not sitting right when closed and leakage was happening. It was isolated incidents and only happening when the bottle was knocked over or left in a horizontal position. But, Boss Man wanted it fixed. I reshaped the inner tubes just slightly, so that should hopefully stop the problem. People not being stupid and knocking over bottles would really solve the problem, but I’m not a miracle worker.”

“Sounds great. I’ll have this to McKerrick by the end of the day. Thanks, Marie.”

She saluted him with an unspoken You got it and darted out. Then she popped back in again.

“Hey, um, so how do you feel about that meeting? Any thoughts?” she sat down on his desk.

“Nope. Just doing my job.”

“Really? It doesn’t seem weird to you?”

“It is weird I suppose, but as I told Germin, this is certainly not unprecedented behavior by Boss Man.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t bother you at all that this is going out basically untested? And he is being so sketch about the whole Zimbabwe thing.”

“I suppose. But, that’s above my pay grade. And we all know it doesn’t matter if we say anything because he’s going to do it anyway.”

“I don’t understand you sometimes,” She sighed and lifted herself off the desk. “I just feel weird is all. Anyway, back to the grind.”

After she left, he briefly eyed the report on his desk and seeing that everything was as Guarjin described, signed his John Hancock at the bottom, and added it to the pile of finished paperwork.

At the end of the day, he stacked up his pile of papers, grabbed his coat and headed towards McKerrick’s office. He knocked when he arrived and was greeted by a muffled Come in from the inside. He opened the door and McKerrick was furiously typing on his keyboard. No doubt trying to finish up last minute paperwork so he could rush home to whichever employee he was bedding tonight.

“Hey sir, here is the paperwork I owe you. On top is Guarjin’s cap report she gave to me earlier. Looks great.”

“Thanks, pal,” He said without looking up. “Hey, you were present for the presentation earlier right? What do you think?”

“I - uh – think it’s a great idea, sir.”

“Right? That’s what I’m saying. Everyone will come around in time. Once they see an extra zero on their checks, they’ll be singing a different song.”

A few seconds went by. More violent typing.

Kower turned to leave.

“Hold up a second there, buster,” McKerrick finished up his writing and turned to Kower. “You’ve been with the company how long now?”

“14 years, sir.”

“14 years, wow. Time flies,” He leaned back in his chair. “Look, Kower. This project is controversial, no doubt. You’ve been here a long time and are a loyal employee. I’m going to need a team to help with this. Would you be willing to help me out? In fact, I have an assignment for you, and if you’re willing, you can start tomorrow.”

III.

He awoke again. Rumbling. Was it his stomach? His head?

Someone grabbed him. A figure. He blinked his eyes a few times.

“…you okay?” the figure seemed to say.

He stared blankly at the figure, not understanding. The figure helped him to sit back up. He stared at the floor, blinking his eyes back into focus. Finally, he was able to make it out. White, with a slight sheen. Dirtied - probably from years of overuse and under cleaning.

He was nauseous. He swallowed.

“Sir! Sir! Are you okay?” the voice began to break through the fog. “Sir! I need you to answer me. Are you okay?” the voice was clear now. The figure was immediately to his right, holding him up. His voice was loud in his ear. You’re right here, no need to shout.

His eyes closed again.

More hours. Or minutes? Time was relative after all.

He sat up. He was curled on a seat with his head leaning against a window. He pulled himself up. Dropped his feet to the ground. He winced with pain. They were asleep. He shuffled himself around and settled comfortably into the seat. He tousled his hair and wiped the drool off the corner of his mouth. As he did so, he turned to his right.

Sitting in the seat across the aisle was a man. Dark complexion at odds with his bright white shirt. A badge on his arm. He stared intently as if expecting something out of him. Finally, the man in the white uniform broke the stalemate.

“You’re awake, again,” he said. “How ya’ feeling?”

“I, um –” he mumbled. “I’m not sure. Very confused.”

“Understandable.”

The uniformed man pulled out a clipboard from behind his back and wrote some notes down on it. After which, he stood up and waved someone over. A figure appeared. The same one before that the passenger had encountered and helped him up during one of his earlier episodes.

“He’s stable for now,” the man in white said. “I’ll be back to check on him periodically. The first time will be in the next half hour. But you can probably talk to him for now.” He got up and awkwardly slid past the figure, who took the uniformed man’s seat. He had taken up the staring as if there was no break.

The passenger could now make out a uniform on this man as well. All blue save for the periodic ornaments of white around the edges. And a word he couldn’t make out. The man had a name-tag he couldn’t read, but there was no need, for the man spoke:

“My name is Donald. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better. What’s going on?”

“Well, I was hoping you’d tell me that.”

The passenger swallowed, waiting for an explanation to come but none did. So, Donald continued.

“We took off not too long ago and within the first few minutes of travel, you had a fit and passed out in this seat. We have a strict policy to not stop unless it is an absolute emergency, so we weren’t sure how to handle you. But since you are conscious, we are all set and continued to travel as normal. We had our medic give you a once over and you seem to be all set for now. I will be keeping an eye on you in the meantime, so let me know if you will need anything.”

Donald stood up and walked away to the man’s left. He disappeared through a door at the front of the room. The man could see multiple pairs of eyes looking over the seats back at him. They quickly darted away like insects discovered by a light. All except a small boy in the front seat. He was too preoccupied with the fist-sized, smooth, shiny, black rock he held in his hand to care about him. It’s just refined anthracite coal. I hope someone tells him; it’s not worth anything.

His gaze continued up until he read the big letters printed on the wall at the front of the room: RAILITON.

He swallowed again and sat back in his chair. He turned to look behind him and saw a few more rows of seats, and a door leading to another car. Again, he was greeted by several pairs of eyes and again they darted away like bugs. Murmurs began as people resumed their previously scheduled conversations.

He looked out the window for a few seconds at the trees going blindly by. Then he stared at the dull, white ground.

Ok, so I’m on a train.

IV.

The cafeteria was particularly buzzy that afternoon. The room was not often a place of excitement. But today was different because Mr. Sandoval himself was coming to pay a visit and speak with everyone. Generally, he only showed up for really good things or really bad things. Kower couldn’t tell which this was but regardless, the curiosity amongst the crowd created a slight buzz of energy.

At a quarter past 1, Mr. Sandoval walked into the room followed by his posse of executives-turned-provisional-secret-service. The makeshift dais made of a foldable faux wood podium and microphone was arranged at the center of the back wall. Some tables had been rearranged to make space and with everyone squeezed in the room, it was a little beyond capacity. Most likely an OSHA violation, but who was going to say anything?

The murmurs died down as he stood behind the podium and tapped on the microphone.

“Good afternoon, my friends,” he said. “I just wanted to pop in to today to update you on some major changes happening at Sandoval Motor Oil. Historically, as you all know, we have operated specifically in the automobile market. However, today we are announcing our newest endeavor: the locomotive industry! The board has just approved expansion into this market and we have already lined up some preliminary partners. For now we will be exclusively working with 3 major companies: TrakStarz, Freight and Barrel, and Railiton. We have assembled a special team to focus on the production of this new oil and those of you involved would have been notified by now. Everyone else will continue as normal and your jobs will not be affected. We are very excited for the possibilities this new market will bring us, and thank you in advance for your patience. I want to thank you all for your dedication to the company and for all of the hard work you have put in over the years. In celebration of this new endeavor, we will be catering lunch for the next week, so you can look forward to some new treats on your breaks. Thank you again. Sandoval out.”

A small obligatory applause came from the crowd.

“Trains, eh? That’s new,” said Redford.

“Sure is,” said Germin.

“Add that to the list of changes,” Kower said.

V.

A knock came from his door. He turned to look and saw Guarjin standing there with an urgent look on her face.

“Come in,” Kower said. She stepped forward into his office. “What’s the matter?”

She paced slowly back and forth biting her lip and staring at the floor for a few seconds before speaking. Finally she said, “Umm, Kower? I have some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“ I just received data from some of the early reports of the new fuel.”

“And?”

“And…not good.”

“Not good, how?”

“There have been reactions in nearly 35% of cases. They have been isolated and dispersed far enough that it hasn’t created too much of a panic among the customers, but that is still not good.”

“Define ‘reactions’.”

“Violent exothermic reactions. Some resulting in explosion but most in rapid overheating and minor combustibility. Almost all have ended in engine failure. They reach a certain speed and its game over. If it stays below a certain threshold it's fine, but if they go too fast, it ends badly. It seems to be causing spontaneous combustion at excess of 65mph.”

“That’s not good.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Have you told McKerrick?”

“Yes, he’s aware. He’s trying to do damage control. That seems to be his specialty. But I came to you specifically.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I know you’re one of his guys. I know you are working with him on this project and are on the inside.”

“Don’t get any wrong ideas. I’m not doing anything. I’m just reviewing some paperwork and signing my name. Hardly questionable things.”

“Call it what you want. But if shit goes south you’ll still be guilty by association. I’m not asking you to stop. We all have to do what we gotta do, but I want you to get in front of this. See if you can stop it. Jam the system, so to speak. This has potential to be really bad for lots of people, so we need to stop it before it gets too big. I also know that you have common sense and a conscience. Going to McKerrick would solve nothing because his hands are too deep into his own pockets to care.”

“How much time do we have?”

“None. We’re already out of time. The latest shipment just went out 2 days ago and the rest have been going out for weeks before that. Even though the rollout is small that’s still thousands of customers.”

“Goddamn.”

“Yeah. I tried to tell him about this after our meeting, but he was too obsessed with the stupid caps and trying to get in my pants that he wasn’t having it. I don’t have the authority that you do and he won’t listen to me. I know you are on this project, so hopefully you can reason with him.”

“I’m not sure that will be the case. But, I will see what I can do.”

“Appreciated,” Guarjin ducked out.

Kower turned back to his desk and leaned his head into his palms. Goddamnit, what have I gotten myself into?

VI.

“Is there anyone that we can ask? Maybe your friend? What happened to him anyway?”

Donald had come back and had been asking him questions for a long time. Some he knew the answers to, some he didn’t. He was feeling better but was still a little queasy. Having Donald’s incessant talking in his ear certainly wasn’t helping anything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said.

Donald sighed and then said, “The man that came on with you. He helped you to your seat. You seemed to be half awake. He dropped you off then exited out the back of the car before the train took off. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that all of this just happened I was wondering if we could talk to him. What’s his name?”

“I don’t have a friend. I’m here alone. Aren’t I?”

“Sir, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. I am trying to get information to assist you, but you don’t know a lot of it. You came onto the train with another man. I don’t know the situation, but I was hoping that if you could tell us his name, perhaps we can find him and get some more information.”

“Whoever it was, it certainly wasn’t my friend.”

“Was it a Good Samaritan, maybe? Someone who saw you inebriated and assisted you to a seat?”

“I guess so, but – inebriated? I don’t drink.”

“Sir, I beg your pardon, but you are most certainly under the influence of some sort of substance,” Donald looked down at the clipboard resting on his thighs and scribbled some words on it. He looked up and sighed again. “Ok, let’s try this once more. Let’s see if you can give me any of this information. What is your name?”

“Kower. Oscar Kower.”

“Ok, we covered that already. But good, you are showing consistency. Age?”

“48.”

“Station of departure?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, you entered this car at Hartford, so we’ll say that. Reason for travel?”

“I – I don’t know. I don’t remember ever getting on this train.”

Donald let out a long frustrated sigh. “Sir, please don’t make this harder than it has to be. I have to file this incident report. I don’t like this any more than you do, but please just cooperate and we can be done.”

“I don’t remember, I’m telling you.”

“Ok, well can I at least see your ticket. Maybe I can straighten this out.”

Kower patted his pockets. “I don’t have one.”

“Ok, that’s what you said before. And I’ll repeat what I said to you. ‘No passenger is allowed on this train without a ticket.’ As I also said before: Is there anyone we can ask? Anyone – other than the man who helped you – that you are travelling with? Anyone that can give us information?”

“No. I didn’t even know I was here.”

“This is going to be difficult. Ok, sir – Mr….Kower. Look. I’m trying to help you and be nice here, but we have a strict policy that says no passenger is allowed to ride this train without a ticket. I need you to help me help you.”

“I don’t know, I swear. If I knew anything I would tell you. I promise.”

“Ok. I’m going to go talk to the engineer. I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.” Donald stood up and made his way to the front of the car. He exited into the next one and was gone from Kower’s sight.

Kower sat back and blew out a huge breath. His mind raced as he tried to piece everything together. So I am on a train somehow. A train that I don’t remember ever getting onto. How could I have no recollection? I don’t normally drink. How did I end up like this?

The eyes from earlier began to peek back over the seats and he could hear the accompanying murmurs as everyone else came up with their own theories as to his mysterious existence.

He said there was a man. Who could that have been? Some random guy that saw me and assisted me to my seat? Was he still on the train? Did he even get on at all?

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember something, anything. His mind took him back to the party. It was starting to come back to him. Lights. Music. Guarjin wearing that dress he liked....

His dance off with Redmond on the dance floor….

He was not normally a drinker, but in the spirit of camaraderie - and in hopes of winning a few brownie points - took a few shots with McKerrick….

Germin was talking to him. He couldn’t remember the whole conversation. Something about how he totaled his car. “…And so it turns out that it was just a little rock. One little pebble got into the system, jammed the gears, and the whole thing shut down. Slowed and powered down in a manner of minutes...”

Guarjin killed it on karaoke…

After his turn to sing, he remembered feeling groggy. He stepped outside to catch some fresh air. He teetered for a few seconds then collapsed. He saw a shadowy figure approaching him. He passed out and that’s where his memory began to fade. The next thing he knew he woke up on the train.

The effort was making him tired and he felt himself falling back asleep. He tried to resist the urge, but it proved too much.

Several minutes later, he was awakened by the sound of the car door opening and slamming shut. Donald emerged and made his way over to him again. He stopped a few seats away and cleared his throat. He then stepped forward saying, “The engineer has informed me that you are not to complete the journey on this train. Once we reach Chicago, you will be asked to leave and forcibly removed if you do not comply.”

VII.

“I think I know who it is, sir.”

McKerrick glared at the roster in front of him, seeming as if he was trying to look through the photographs of the people’s faces directly into their souls. Several of the 20 people listed had big red Xs across their faces. Suspects that had been eliminated.

“And who might that be?" McKerrick asked without looking up.

“Peterson, sir.”

“And why do you think that?”

“He has been suspicious of this project the whole time. He has been outspoken about it and we have had to continuously prod him to keep him on course.”

“Peterson is a naysayer, but too dim-witted to be the one. Besides, it would be too obvious. He’s a complainer for sure, but not someone who would expose this whole plan. It’s got to be someone else.” He uncapped his fat red marker and drew a large X across Peterson’s face. Another one down. “That leaves 10.”

The man spoke again. “Do you want me to do more investigating, sir?”

“No, Derwin, that’s ok. We need to keep this on the low. We need to stake this person out as quietly as possible. We can’t allow this to become a problem and we don’t want to draw any more attention to it.”

A knock.

“Come in,” McKerrick said.

Guarjin’s face appeared at the door. She scuttled in, her bright yellow pant suit reflecting the late afternoon sun.

“Hi, sir. Just wanted to drop this off before I head out for the day,” she crossed the room and threw down a diagram onto his desk. “Kower signed off on it, so it’s good to go.”

“Thanks, hotcakes. You do good work.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“You do. How about you come over later and I’ll do some good work on you?”

“Ooh, hard pass. Maybe next time, though.”

“We’ll see.”

She began to make her way out of the room. McKerrick eyed Kower’s signature on the diagram. Something lit up in his eyes. “Marie?”

She stepped back into the room. “Yes?”

“You’re friend’s with Kower, are you not?”

“We’re ‘tight,’ as the kids would say.”

“And you frequent his office, do you not?"

“For strictly business reasons, if that’s what you're insinuating.”

“It was not, but duly noted. And you’re fully aware of the special project we are running here, are you not?”

“I am. We have been through this.”

“And in your frequent visits with Mr. Kower has he ever discussed this project with you?”

“Other than the necessary approvals and business jargon? No.”

“Miss Guarjin, you have been a critic of this plan since its onset.”

“A very adamant one, yes.”

“So I am to believe that at no point in your meetings with Mr. Kower did your disapproval come up?”

“I’m sure it may have. Our opinions do surface in casual conversation from time to time.”

“I see,” he paused for a few seconds and clicked the cap of the marker in his hands a few times. He continued. “Mr. Kower has made repeated requests to speak with me about this project. He has told me that there are numbers indicating this project is potentially dangerous and lethal. These numbers are false, Marie, and regardless, Kower does not have any access to these reports on his own. Do you have any idea where he could have found out this information?”

“Ooh, that’s a tough one. He probably dug his way down to the crypt of hidden scrolls, deciphered the code, and then wired them to his friend for translation.”

“Funny. And attractive too, a double whammy.”

“Ugh, gag,” Guarjin responded, then continued. “I don’t know, he probably got it from literally anyone in this stupid place. It’s not like we’re the FBI with high level security and it’s not like people here are any good at keeping secrets.”

“So, you don’t think there’s a chance that you gave him this information?”

“I already told you, we only discuss business on a need-to-know. I wouldn’t have given him any of the reports. It’s not his department. And let’s be honest, he probably wouldn’t understand it anyway.”

He paused for a moment in thought then said, ‘Thank you, you’re dismissed.”

Guarjin nodded her head and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. When she was outside of earshot McKerrick said, “It wasn’t her.”

“But sir, she…”

"Oh, she gave the report to Kower, no doubt. He would not have gotten this information on his own, so she must have told him. That bumbling idiot has been in here 3 times trying to scare me into closing the project. I’ve known the risks from the beginning. But this is too valuable. We are not going to shut it down.”

“So he was the leak?”

“I think so. He has been working on the inside and has been the supervisor I have been using to get everything approved. He doesn’t see anything I don’t want him to see. But Gaurjin is a dark horse; I bet you she has been feeding him information and trying to get him to shut it down for her. She’s brought it up to me a few times, but I don’t care what she thinks. Especially since the board likes it. She’s probably trying a different approach. She’s probably scared of me. Must be my manly charm.”

Derwin rolled his eyes. “So, let me get this straight,” he began. “Guarjin feeds the info to Kower, convinces him to tell you to shut down the project, you say no, and he blasts it to the whole company?”

“Sounds right.”

He opened up his drawer and took out a fat green marker identical to the red one already in his hand. He uncapped it and drew a big green circle around Kower’s face. “I think we found our man.”

He leaned back in his chair then said, “Mr Derwin, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Getting the message, Derwin quickly picked up his things, threw them in his briefcase and shuffled out. He gave a quick wave, McKerrick returned the gesture, and Derwin closed the door. When he had gone, McKerrick picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Hey Olatunji, how are you, pal? . . . Haha, well the last shipment was late, so you’re paying for the next round . . . Ok, so listen I’m going to need someone taken care of. He’s been opening his mouth and this is the last thing we need . . . Do you think we could arrange that? . . . I know the timing of this is perfect . . . Lots of failures happen early, it will barely be reported . . . Trust me Olatunji, if we do this right, no one’s going to know...”

VIII.

An alarm rang out.

The two security guards who had been occupying the seat adjacent from him stood up in confusion and began eyeing the doors. As they shuffled out of the seat, the first spoke into his walkie-talkie, “Johnson, this is Suarez. What’s going on?”

A fuzzy voice spoke from the other side in an indecipherable tongue.

“Negative. We’ve been with him the whole time. He hasn’t gotten up. He did use the restroom, but we accompanied him.”

More static-filled gibberish.

“On it. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He turned to security guard number 2 saying, “Stay here, Linwood. I have to go see what’s going on.”

Linwood shrugged her shoulders and sat back down in the seat, defeated.

Murmurs began from the other passengers as the alarms continued to blare. When it became obvious that people were getting restless, Linwood stood up on her seat and shouted, “Ladies and gentleman, please remain calm. There has just been a minor disturbance, but we will be continuing on schedule. Our security team is working on it and we should have the situation under control in just a few moments. We will not be stopping the train, so please try to relax in the meantime. We thank you for your cooperation.”

This settled the crowd temporarily but as time dragged on and the alarms did not stop, the mutters began to rise again, like indigestion after too low a dose of antacid.

After several minutes, Suarez returned followed by Donald.

When they reached his seat, Suarez said, “Mr. Kower, we are going to have to ask you to come with us.”

“We’ve reached Chicago already?”

“Negative. There is something we need you to do.”

They pulled him up from his seat and led him to the front of the car. He could feel the eyes of the other passengers as he passed them. The boy with the rock met his gaze, then immediately looked away. Kower was followed immediately by Suarez, who led him on with a tight grip on his triceps. Donald followed him, with Linwood bringing up the rear.

They led him through car after car until they came to the front of the train and a door marked “Engine Room.” Suarez knocked and a few seconds later they were greeted by the engineer on the other side. He ushered Kower into the cramped space.

The room was tight with a board of knobs and buttons and a large window that looked out to the front of the train and to the tracks beyond. A red light was flashing on the top right above the man’s head.

The engineer spoke, “I’ll be brief. There is a problem and you are going to help me fix it. We are running out of time, so we need to act fast, understand?”

Kower stuttered a response, “But, sir. I don’t know anything about trains. How am I going to help you?”

“True, I don’t expect you to. But you are riding my train illegally with no ticket. And I need help. If you help me out I will overlook this unfortunate mishap and grant you full passage.”

Kower nodded his understanding before his brain actually had time to discern what was happening.

The engineer continued to speak, “Ok, here’s the situation. This alarm has been blaring for a long time now. That typically indicates an issue with the engine. We are already delayed in our arrival to Chicago so I do not want to waste any more time and want to solve this problem on the move, if possible. This meter here shows our engine temperature,” He indicated the meter. He paused to pull out a handkerchief and wipe his forehead. Kower noticed the man’s hand trembling. The engineer continued speaking, “The engine is overheating! Normally, that’s something I could handle. But, that is not our biggest issue. I tried to slow us down to a reasonable speed in order to better diagnose the problem, but when I went to pull the brakes, they snapped.” Kower remained silent, expressionless. “Sir, in case I was not clear, this train is running at nearly full speed with no way of slowing down!”

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

“I’m not sure yet. I have to finish running through the troubleshooting guides. But I need someone to assist me. Someone to stick his hand into the circuits while I read the manuals. That’ll be you. As I mentioned, since you are interloping on this ride, I feel it is the least you can do.”

“Ok, well I can try my best, but isn’t there any alternative or backup braking system?”

“No, this is an older model of train. It’s a design flaw, there’s no auxiliary or backup brake.”

“Well, sir, I am familiar with cars - as I work in the industry - but have no experience with trains, so I’m not sure I’m the man for the job. Can you ease off the gas and slowly roll to a stop? "

“Negative. For long trips we set the train to a basic form of cruise control. The controls are linked with the brakes and when they fried, it disabled the cruise control as well. Another design flaw. So, we are speeding forward with no way to slow down or stop the train!” He pulled out his handkerchief again, removed his cap, and wiped his head. His hands were still trembling and his breathing was starting to increase. He returned his hat and handkerchief then continued with a new thought, “You mentioned you work in the automotive industry. That actually might be helpful. What do you think we could do?”

“I’m a pencil pusher for an oil company. I don’t actually work with the cars, just the juice. But I guess I have a little ground floor knowledge.”

“Anything would be helpful, sir, but in the meantime, I will begin to open panels and see if we can get to some wires and try to short out the system. I ask for your full cooperation on this.”

“Ok, let’s see what we can do.”

The engineer turned back to the front of the train. He opened a small compartment and pulled out a small toolbox. He took out a pair of pliers and made his way over to one of the panels on the side of the car. He began to pry it open. Meanwhile, Kower looked all around the cabin for something that would be helpful. He was greeted by all kinds of knobs and valves with letters and numbers that might as well have been hieroglyphics. There were posters and warnings everywhere, but he couldn’t seem to find one that listed what to do in an emergency with no brakes. He kept scanning. He came across a poster that read “Railiton Train Corporation Safety System Check” and began eyeing it for something useful. He couldn’t find anything. If only –

Wait.

His eyes returned to the top of the poster. Railiton. He was hit with a sudden series of flashbacks. He was sitting in his seat on the train. He looked up at the front of the car and read the big letters printed there. Railiton.

He was back at the cafeteria during Mr. Sandoval’s speech…

“…we have already lined up some preliminary partners. For now we will be exclusively working with 3 major companies: TrakStarz, Freight and Barrel, and Railiton…”

“Wait!” he shouted.

That seemed to startle the engineer as he jumped and turned around quickly, dropping the pliers. “What?” he asked, as he bent over to pick them up.

“This is a Railiton train, right?”

The engineer pointed to the logo printed on his right breast pocket and said, “Yes. Why?”

“Where do you get your fuel and oil supplied?”

“I’m not sure. I know the kind, but I don’t know what company, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s what I’m asking. I need to find out what brand of oil you use in your engine.”

“I’ll have to radio the shop, but I don’t know if I can get a signal out.”

“You have to try and do it quick. How fast are we going?”

“55 mph.”

“And it’s going to stay that way?”

“With the cruise control function broken, we should slowly accelerate over time, but it will be unnoticeable for the passengers. We might go up a few mph in about an hour or so.”

“We need to make that call now. And slow this train down as quickly as possible!”

The engineer picked up his radio and tried a few different channels. Kower watched him, his mind racing. His own hands were trembling now too, he noticed.

“Ok,” the engineer said after what felt like hours, but was likely minutes, “I got the answer. The shop said we have historically used Rydol Oil, but just recently transferred to Sandoval Oil. This is the first run with this new stuff. Does that answer your question, sir?”

Kower took a few deep breaths in and out of his nose. When he had settled his thoughts, he began to speak, “Here’s the situation: I am an employee of a motor oil company, as I mentioned. Specifically, Sandoval Motor Oil. For weeks, we have been infusing our motor oil with a trace amount of ammonium nitrate. Our executives claimed it would increase efficiency. They are getting it smuggled in illegally from a dealer out in Africa. The thing is, they are releasing it out to the market with very little clinical testing. The little bit that has been done came back fine, but we are seeing major issues on the live market. Cars have run the gambit from minor stall outs to full-on explosions. I have tried to stop it, but the corporate machine is too powerful. Add to that, Sandoval has begun to produce oil for locomotives as well, no doubt loaded with this same chemical substance,” Kower wiped sweat from his brow. “Sir, you are driving a train loaded with tainted oil likely to explode at high speeds!”

The engineer swallowed hard and took a staggering step back. "What do we – How do we fix this?”

“It is imperative that we slow this train down. We cannot let it hit 65 mph! That is the speed that we have seen full combustion take place!”

The engineer stepped back in shock. “I can’t cut the wires now! I can’t risk it! One small spark could ignite it all and then we are really screwed! What do we do now?”

Kower’s mind wandered. Good question. He thought back to the conversation he had with Germin at the party…And so it turns out that it was just a little rock. One little pebble got into the system, jammed the gears, and the whole thing shut down. Slowed and powered down in a manner of minutes!

“We need to jam the system!” Kower shouted.

“How do we do that?”

“Someone once told me it’s an easy job. You just get a rock into the gears, they get jammed, and the whole thing shuts down.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“It’s the only chance we’ve got. He wasn’t talking about trains specifically, but we gotta try.”

“But how are we going to find a rock? Especially one big enough? We can’t stop or reach out the window and grab one?”

“Leave that to me,” Kower said. He pushed his way back through the tiny door and a few moments later returned saying, “There’s a very upset boy back there.”

The engineer had successfully ripped open one of the side panels and was elbow deep in the compartment. He turned to look over his buried left arm and shoulder when Kower reentered.

“Hey, partner, just getting the final pieces in place,” he said emphasizing the last word as he ripped out a small piece of metal.

Kower walked over to the now opened panel and peered inside. As he looked, he could see a faint light seeping through and what appeared to be a bunch of moving parts. He turned to look back at the engineer and said, “You sure this will work?”

“I’m not sure of anything. But you had the rock idea. We only have one shot at this, so be careful.”

Kower nodded his agreement. He removed his coat and rolled up his sleeve. He weaved his arm through the jumble of now exposed wires, metal plating, and sharp edges. He positioned his hand for the optimal drop angle. He took a deep breath. His palms and forehead were beaded with sweat. He looked over at the engineer who gave him an encouraging nod.

He dropped it.

At first, there was nothing. His heart sank. That was it. I blew it. He removed his hand from the hole and sullenly looked at the engineer. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m sorry. I guess that’s - ”

There was a deafening screech followed by a series of impacts. Kower hit something hard and blacked out.

After what seemed like hours, Kower awoke, dragged himself to his feet, and pulled himself out of the door. Sprawled in a heap of twisted limbs lay Suarez, Donald, Linwood, and the assistant engineer. Noticing that they were all okay, save for a few lesions and scratches, he stepped over them and into the following train cars. He passed several people lying on the ground, many of whom were bleeding. Many lay motionless and in his mind he knew there was a likelihood some of them were dead. He put that aside and kept going. Several windows were cracked, seats were bent or altogether broken, and various belongings were thrown around the cars.

A call was made and after several minutes, the medics and authorities showed up at the scene. Hours went by of recovery efforts as they made their way through the entirety of the train. After receiving medical attention, Kower, Donald, the engineer, Suarez, Linwood, and several other passengers were questioned by the police. As dawn approached, Kower sat on a large rock nearby the wreck and watched a pickup truck pull up with Railroad Safety Inspector printed on the side. A man emerged and quickly retrieved a container from the back. Kower followed the man with his gaze as he headed over to a group of police officers nearby. Though he couldn’t hear what the man was saying, through his years in the industry, Kower could tell that the box held several containers of motor oil. No doubt the oil used on the train, he recognized the red caps and bright yellow bottles, though a much bigger and rounder version than the usual branding he was familiar with. Sure enough, it was Sandoval Oil. In his mind, Kower replayed the message McKerrick had drilled into their heads during the business meeting. No one’s going to know...

The officers concluded their meeting with the inspector; keeping several of the bottles he gave them. He shook their hands, threw the remaining bottles into the container, and turned to leave. Kower watched him as he returned to the truck and placed the carton back onto the bed. There was only a brief amount of time where it was visible before he closed the tailgate, but it was enough for Kower to make it out. Printed on the side of the carton in big, bold letters were the words: Olatunji Imports.