Railway to disaster

The train rumbled on the tracks, sparks emanating, the collision of metal making a screeching noise through the tranquility of the surrounding landscape. Hundreds of tonnes of metal were effortlessly being pulled by a single locomotive as it inched closer to its inevitable destruction. The retainment of such a catastrophe was in the hands of one person...

Nausea had taken over Paul's body, and feelings of weightlessness and drowsiness attenuated as the drug keeping him unconscious left his body. He found himself sprawled on a bed, in a room with minimalistic details, and a window with blinds to conceal the brightness of the outside world from the eyes used to the Stygian room. Getting up, he battled through the input from his five senses to bring a full retrospect of the events that brought him here.

He couldn't recall anything that would connect him and a train.

Getting in a car that would allegedly take him to a job interview was the last thing fed into Paul's brain database. With the last of the drug's side effects receding, his brain entered full power and his conscience came rolling back. Military training had taught him to investigate his surroundings, and upon doing so, he found a label on the side of the room he was in that read: Smith and Wade Locomotives Inc.

That's the name of the company I was interviewing for, thought Paul. Upon further research of the alien environment, he found a brochure that read: World Express: The first ever trans-planetary luxury train, service from New York to London.

After reading that, the realization struck...

Paul Hansen wasn't in a room, he was in a cabin, on a train, traveling head-on towards utter disaster.

The train he was on was the most notorious vehicle ever made. It ran across the US, and Canada, through Anchorage, towards Russia, and to Europe. The track, the money, and the sheer size of the beast used to make such a trip possible was entirely incomprehensible by the average human brain. "A marvel of engineering that exceeds the safety and efficieny of any known train.", the creators said.

But so did they say the same things about the Titanic...

Paul somehow knew all of this after reading the brochure, and the precise reason for that was because the phenomenon of the World Express train had happened 4 decades before he was even born.

He remembered studying it in school.

He also remembered how it had derailed due to an unforced error...

And how no one had survived the calamity...

And that he was sitting on the same train.

An ocean of panic gushed into every vein in Paul's body. He couldn't grasp the fact that he was back in time, sitting in the embodiment of the single worst event in vehicular history. Nor did he understand why and how he was put there. But he was an army veteran and a man that would need more than a train from the past to frighten him.

So he got to work.

Paul first noted his surroundings. A single bed with a chair by its side, a pullout table, a closet that wouldn't even fit a coat, and a bunch of buttons that controlled room temperature and called the attendants were all the necessities in his cabin. Running through the entire side of the room was a glass window covered with blinds that Paul opened, and instantly regretted as the sun bathed him and his dormant with light. The blinds were soundproof, confirmed by the fact that the steady crunching of the train's wheel over the metal tracks filled the room with noise after their lifting.

Paul took all this in and decided to examine his purpose of unwanted transtemporal travel. Underneath the drawer that contained the brochure, was a card that had nothing but two words: Stop WExp.

WExp stood for "World Express", and the instructions were simple. Paul had to stop the train before it derailed. Easier said than done he thought and formed a quick plan in his head:

Find the carriage I'm in, make my way through the others and reach the engine, and convince the driver to stop the train before it crashes. Easy!!

Famous last words.

As soon as Paul left his cabin, he was instantly faced by a very nice attendant who confronted him for not having breakfast.

"Hello sir, how are you doing today? Would you like me to bring your breakfast to your room or are you heading to the buffet?", she asked politely, "If so, you better hurry, it is about to be lunchtime."

"Thanks, but I don't really have an appetite", responded Paul, who surprisingly wasn't hungry despite traveling 70 years back in time. "But could you please tell me what number of carriage this is?", asked Paul.

"Sir, that would be written on your ticket as you entered the train. I can show it to you if you pull out your ticket."

"No it is fine, I will locate it myself. Thanks. Also besides that, can you tell me where we are right now?", replied Paul. He didn't have a ticket, the brochure and the card were the only things given to him by whoever put him there. Or so he thought.

"Oh, that can be seen on the screen in your room.", the attendant said. She was beginning to get suspicious of Paul, as all his questions were already talked about in the intro video before the train's departure.

"Thank you so much that's all I need."

Without waiting for a reply, Paul turned around and entered his cabin. He looked at the roof of the train and pulled out the screen from a compartment. It slid out and on the screen were the displayed times for the multiple destinations around the world. They had just left Alaska and the next stop was Magadan, Russia which was only 4 hours away. Upon seeing that, Paul swore, because that mean he had less than sufficient time to save the train.

The World Express train was indeed the safest vehicle on the planet at the time. However, an inconveniently timed departure, and weak communication between staff led to disaster. The World Express train was traveling towards the fault line that was the border between the Eurasian, and North American Plates. The tension between the two plates would cause a 5.7 magnitude earthquake precisely when the train would pass that border, causing enough unwanted movement to derail the vehicle. And it would happen just before reaching Magadan.

Therefore Paul had to stop the train within the next few hours, for long enough to avoid the earthquake.

He exited his cabin, and made his way towards the front of the train. As soon as he passed two similar carriages, he came to the buffet area. 4 of the carriages were dedicated to the dining section of the train. Paul quickly walked past them and came to the kitchen. All the chefs and attendants their gave him the look as he ignored them and kept making his way past.

The remaining ten carriages were dedicated to first class, as he left the kitchen. He entered the doors and was awed by what he saw. It was an entirely different world. Lavish flooring, antique furniture, fur mats, and heavy air conditioning filled the air around Paul. No wonder only the richest traveled on this part of the train. He was getting mesmerized by the money put into the cabin when an attendant requested his ticket.

"Oh, I forgot mine in my bedroom, lemme just go grab it", said Paul hastily. He broke out of the attendant's gaze and continued making his way towards the heart of the train. The operation was going smoothly, Paul even talked to a few people along the way. But it tumbled quicker than the stock market in 1929.

The last carriage before the locomotive pulling it all didn't have a direct entrance to the control room. This meant Paul had to climb outside and enter from the emergency hatch on top of the locomotive engine. He swore again. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

Paul gathered all his strength and went to the end of the carriage. All the eyes in the room were on him. He took out a hairpin from his pocket, one that he acquired from a waitress's hair. Using his picking skills he learned as a kid, he slid the pin in the door lock and opened the door in a few seconds. Cold Alaskan air rushed into him, pushing his entire skin towards the back of his body. He could barely open his eyes, and he held onto to dear life. Now all he had to do was climb to the top, open the hatch, and politely ask the driver to stop.

A small ladder extended from the side of the locomotive engine and reached the roof of the train. Paul put a strong foothold on the last step of the ladder and started climbing slowly. 100 mph wind slammed at his sides, making it near impossible to breathe. As soon as he reached the top of the ladder, his life just became worse. A tunnel was looming up in front of him, and Paul wouldn't have enough room to climb the top and open the hatch. Neither did he have enough time to get back into the carriage.

The empty blackness of the tunnel came rushing towards Paul, and before he could react, the air turbulence send him flying towards the back of the train. He held onto to dear life, with complete sensory deprivation, except for sound. The sound of metal over metal in the emptiness of a seemingly never-ending tunnel filled his ears. Cold air rushed into his pores, making him lose all sense of feeling.

Just as he thought he couldn't hold on any longer, the tunnel ended, and out came the merciful light of the fresh morning day. Paul recovered from his ordeal and continued on his epic journey to save lives. He finally reached the top and held onto a steam hatch on top of the train. Now he had to climb up the train. With the wind howling in his ears, and sweat decreasing grip on his hands, Paul managed to reach the final and only hatch on the locomotive.

He took out the pin from his back pocket and began his work on the door. As soon as he managed to open it, yet another tunnel began making its way toward the train. Paul had just enough time to make it in without killing himself. He grabbed the opened hatch, went in headfirst, and slopped onto the engine room's floor.

He was in the loco-

A loud banging noise disturbed the quiet of the engine room. The hatch wasn't lucky. It hadn't closed in time and was obliterated by the tunnel entrance. The loud thrashing of metal attracted the train captain and he came bursting through his resting quarters.

"HEY, who are you? What are you doing here?", exclaimed the captain, as he looked into the eyes of the man who wasn't technically born yet.

"Hi, sorry, I had a mishap coming here.", replied an injured Paul.

"Sir you're not authorized to be here, how did you get here?"

"Look, I had to come here -"

Time was running out. A screen above Paul showed the time to Magadan, and it was only 25 mins. He couldn't believe it took him4 hours to get to the front. But he had to stop the train. Now!

"Look, sir, sorry to disturb you but you have to stop the train now", screamed Paul above the noise of the rushing air.

"WHAT? You come into the train outta nowhere and expect me to start listening to you. I am calling security on you young man."

"NO, NO, listen. I am from the future. This train derails in a few minutes if you don't stop it. If you brake now, it won't derail trust me."

"What in the world man? You're from the future? What kinda prescription are you on sir? I am calling security", replied the agitated captain.

"SECURITY!!! WE HAVE AN ---"

Paul punched the captain and knocked him out. He had had enough. He was stopping the train.

He entered the control room and saw a myriad of buttons that he couldn't make sense of. There was a lever to control speed but it wouldn't stop the 100+ tonne train in enough time to avoid disaster. But he noticed a big red emergency button that said: "EMERGENCY BRAKE".

Paul pressed it without hesitation, and within seconds, he was thrown to the front of the train, and so were thousands of passengers in the immensely long train. But that didn't matter, because Paul just saved their lives.

As soon as the train came to a full halt, Paul was pulled into a whirlpool.

He felt weightless. He couldn't breathe. He was getting sucked into the abyss.

He woke up. He was in a chair this time in front of a man who could easily play the Humpty-Dumpty character if there was ever a show for it. The man got straight to the point.

"Hi, Mr.Hansen, my name is Elliot. I am responsible for the alteration of the timeline for the good of the planet. I sent you back in time to save the WExp so that thousands of lives could be saved. Not only that but a very honorable scientist, Fritz Artriche had the paper that would lead to the cure of cancer. You made it possible. We thank you for your contributions.", he explained.

"Wow. No consent? Lured me into an interview and send me on a death mission. I at least owe an apology. And why me? Out of all the people in the world?", replied a frustrated Paul.

"Mr.Hansen, you will surely be compensated for your heroic work. You are studied in history books across the world. As for your selection, you are a man with a particular skill set that suits us and our missions", replied the man.

"Hmm, I don't think getting to the front of the train requires a particular skillset", mocked Paul.

"Yes, you are right, it doesn't. But it will. This was a test. You passed. Today is Wednesday, April 20th. At 08:00 on Monday the 2nd of May, the nucleur football and 'The Biscuit' get in the wrong hands and by 17:00, the planet is vaporized. No one survives. You are to prevent that from ever happening. Good Luck."

"Wait, I nev-"

***

Paul woke up in a room. This time there was no nausea. He looked around and saw a digital clock in front of him.

He read the time:

Monday, May - 2, 13:01

"SHI-"