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LOS 35
Albert continued to beat me, indifferent to my pain. I began to think that he intended to keep hitting me until I died.
Looking at him now, I felt a strong conviction that he was exactly the kind of man capable of such a thing. Why hadn't I noticed it until now? Behind the mask of a kind and thoughtful man lay a cruel soul accustomed to murder and torture, and I had become his new target.
He barked at me.
“Do you think playing tricks like that is going to change anything, you bitch? We’ll be crossing the border soon. The train will enter Beldam territory within two hours. There is nowhere for Giles Hessen to run. It’s already too late. Both he and you are finished.”
I had to do something. I couldn't afford to lose consciousness in a place like this. But Albert gave me no room to think. Every time I was struck, my mind flashed white. Nothing in my field of vision remained clear.
It was then that a screeching noise tore through my ears.
Screeeech—
The train was braking hard. Albert let go of my hair, and my head slammed directly into the floor. After a few seconds, the noise stopped.
My senses slowly returned to me. Lying collapsed, I gasped for air, rolling my eyes frantically to assess the situation.
Someone flung open the door to the engine room. It was a man I didn't recognize. He gave a salute to Albert and reported in an urgent voice.
“Emergency, Agent.”
“Stop stalling and get to the point.”
“The train... the train cannot move forward any further.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
His subordinate replied with a deeply agitated expression.
“The tracks have been severed. There is no path ahead of us.”
After a moment of silence, Albert placed his hands on his hips, wiped his face with one hand, and approached me. He threw something over my head. It was a material that didn't allow air to circulate well.
In the darkness, I heard him speak.
“Let her suffocate or whatever. Giles Hessen killed this bitch. That's the story.”
With the sound of footsteps, the door closed. I was left alone in the darkness, gasping for breath. My body temperature rose, and my head began to ache. I couldn't breathe. I tried to push myself up somehow, but it was futile. I had no strength left.
However, I kept my eyes wide open to maintain my consciousness. I would not die here. I was determined not to lose consciousness.
But I didn't know how much longer I could hold out.
-
The train came to a complete standstill. Albert strode across the corridor, flanked by his subordinates. Passengers were whispering among themselves, peering outside to see what was happening. Albert suddenly screamed at them.
“Shut your mouths!”
At that, the doors closed and everyone vanished. One of the subordinates opened the door leading outside. Albert stepped onto the ground. It was still bright daylight. They walked across a patch of wildly overgrown grass and reached the front of the steam locomotive.
As the subordinate had said, the tracks were severed. It wasn't that the tracks had never existed; there were traces of tracks having been installed on the ground. Someone had intentionally removed them.
Something had gone terribly wrong. There was no doubt about it. The mission had failed. This wouldn't have happened unless they had been discovered. What now? They had to abandon the train and find another way.
“Find Giles Hessen. We must keep hold of him, at least. He should still be on this train.”
“What about the other passengers?”
“Leave them be. They're no longer our concern.”
Albert turned and headed back toward the train. However, he didn't even have the luxury of capturing Giles Hessen to seek a way out.
Military trucks were swarming in from all directions.
-
Every train has communication equipment. Because emergencies can occur at any time, regulations required the installation of devices to communicate with the outside world.
And such an important device would surely have someone guarding it. Giles spotted an agent standing guard near the driver's cabin.
The agent didn't seem to have noticed Giles yet. Giles scanned the surroundings and approached him, muffling his footsteps in the agent's blind spot.
Just as the agent was about to look back, Giles instantly subdued him and pressed the muzzle of a gun against his head.
He whispered to the struggling agent.
“Where is the communication equipment?”
The agent panted, trying to resist until the end.
“Do you think I'd tell a traitor like you—ugh!”
A blade sliced into his thigh. The agent tried to scream, but Giles covered his mouth first.
He asked again.
“Where is the communication equipment? It would be best to spill it while I'm being nice. As you know, I'm a man capable of far worse.”
Trembling, the agent pointed in one direction. Giles confirmed the location. The agent was now useless. Giles snapped his neck and approached the equipment.
The train was getting closer to the border, but it was still within Ipswin territory. The signal would reach the nearest Security Bureau office. Giles entered the emergency code he knew.
A dial tone rang. There wasn't much time left. There was a possibility that other agents would notice someone was attempting to communicate. He had to finish the transmission as quickly as possible.
Soon, a response came from the other end.
“This is Office 9007.”
“Code 307, Herringbone Walter. Connect me to 2000 Vulture.”
“Please hold for a moment.”
Soon, another person was connected. It was Harrington.
“What is it?”
“It's about the train I mentioned previously.”
“Surely you aren't telling me you're on that train?”
“I am. And I need immediate support. Beldamites attempting to escape to Beldam are on board. We will cross the border in a few hours.”
“There isn't much time. There are more than a few trains passing through Ipswin territory right now. How can we identify the train you're on?”
Giles thought quickly. A characteristic only this train could have. How to identify it? A signal? A sound pattern that could be tracked by frequency from a distance would be the most accurate.
If so, there was only one answer.
“Track the sound of a piano. You will definitely find it. And tell them to remove all tracks crossing the Beldam border in advance.”
The communication cut off.
Now it was time to dispose of the body.
Around the same time, Security Bureau agents were gathered in front of a large device connected to numerous wires, listening through headphones. They were tracking sounds above 440 hertz emanating from the western border region.
Then, one agent raised a hand to a colleague who was adjusting the dial of the device.
“Wait. I hear it.”
At that, the other agents all put on their headphones. They could all hear the same sound. It was Ernststein's Nocturne in F Minor. It was exactly as they had been told. It was unmistakably the sound of a piano.
She gestured to her colleagues.
“Helena, Ruby, confirm the coordinates.”
The agents moved busily.
At that moment, Giles Hessen was looking at the swarm of trucks that had gathered after receiving the coordinates. The train had stopped, and they were surrounded. It was a complete defeat for the Beldam Intelligence Agency. Armed agents attempted to respond with their guns drawn.
Gunshots rang out. Screams followed. Giles stepped outside. As soon as he entered the corridor, he came face-to-face with a Beldam agent who had come out to help his comrades.
Before the agent could even raise his gun, Giles fired first. He continued forward, passing the lifeless body of the fallen agent.
As he stepped outside, Ipswin soldiers who had occupied the rear saluted him. Among them were familiar faces. His direct adjutant, Charlie Spenson, was there.
“Captain.”
He draped a military coat over Giles's shoulders. Charlie welcomed Giles with a grin.
“It's an honor to see you again in such a situation. You've pulled off another one. Did you know? I always believed in you, Captain.”
“What's the situation on the other side?”
“We haven't completely seized the train yet, but our forces are far more overwhelming. They'll all be suppressed shortly. Don't worry.”
Giles nodded. He didn't linger and moved again. It wasn't to help his subordinates; they would do their part well. There was something else more important to Giles right now.
While they might not have been interested in Anna at first, that was no longer the case. Although she might not have known it, Anna was practically the reason the train had been discovered.
Officially, she was as good as a traitor to Beldam. If it hadn't been for the piano performance, the train might have already crossed the border. Perhaps she had already fallen into the commander's grasp.
Her life could be in danger.
He had to find Anna as quickly as possible.
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