SOL 2305

Meeting Mala

I step onto the Trans American train and take a seat near the back. It's 2:30 pm Friday, and I'm going back to New York City; Mala and I have agreed to meet at least once a month-partly for fun, but mostly because the Diech of Union has instructed all five of us to keep both each other and the Diechdeil informed on what each of us is doing. The car pulls into the private parking complex behind Union Station and automatically parks itself. The station is busy, with humans crowding the escalators that are leading down to the platforms; I follow Schrader through the crowd and into a private, first class carriage waiting room on the last platform as we wait for the train to come-which it does a few minutes later, quietly pulling into the station before setting itself down onto the tracks without so much as a squeak until the doors open. We let everybody onboard exit before stepping into the carriage.

"Have a good trip sir" Mr. Schrader says while waving from the platform.

I stop and turn around "I will, and you have a good weekend"

The inside is sleek and clean, with deep blue carpets surrounded by beige walls and big, comfortable looking seats clustered around large tables. I sit at the front of the carriage two tables away from the bar and lean back, watching the 20 other passengers as they take their seats.

Crutez sits next to me and crosses his arms with a huff, while the other lone guard-Lieutenant Dolsk-stands at the ready with his paws clasped behind his back, watching the humans. I look around the first class car and see a few people staring at us-glaring at Lieutenant Dolsk, who is standing at attention beside the table with his paws clasped behind his back. "Lieutenant sit down, I am safe here" I mumble to him. He looks down at me and bows his head respectfully, before sitting across from Crutez. The train lifts a foot into the air and moves forwards, the station disappearing behind us as we enter a dark tunnel; I lean back in the seat and watch the wall lights streaking past the window. The ride should not be that long, only an hour or an hour and fifteen minutes I believe.

We exit the tunnel into the blinding midday sun; the train rapidly accelerates, making the car gently shake, and my stomach lurch for a moment. The last building passes the window and is replaced with the blurs of green and brown a minute later-the train hugs the coast on its elevated track, gliding through the flowering forest at over 200 miles per hour. I glance at the next table and see the two Americans who were staring at me turn away; one down at his computer, typing on the keyboard as the other looks over at the bar where someone is already ordering a drink. Tapping my nails on the hard plastic table, I look out the window again

and patiently let the time pass.

The tops of large buildings come into view in the far distance, and quickly grow bigger and bigger as we get closer to the city, with the massive yet thin space elevator leading towering over every other building leads up to the tiny white speck above the clouds. We pass between two towers on the suspended track, over the solid black streets that have cars navigating through the large city blocks that have roads stretching between them for miles. New York is astoundingly massive with 30 million residents, but not as big as Paru, the Capital City. All of the cars below us look like they're self driving, keeping about 10 or 12 feet between each other, and only slowing down when one needs to change lane or turn, but then the ones behind it speed up to close the gap. The train turns to the right and begins to slow down as Central Station comes into view a few blocks away. We descend down to street level, gliding past the cars before plunging into an the dark underground tunnel, and gently pulling into the station. Two American soldiers without their armor, but in uniform with pistols strapped to their hips wait in the first class room, and immediately step towards the train when the train lowers down onto the track.

"Sir" The first soldier says as I step out of the car "please come with us"

I nod and follow them out of the waiting room, going through the crowds-which parts ways when they see the soldiers, Crutez, Lieutenant Dolsk, and I-up the stairs, and through the crowded entrance. One of the soldiers climbs into the front seat of a black US government SUV, which was parked on the curb near the front door, and the second ushers us into the back seat, before getting the front seat as well. The SUV automatically pulls forward; merging onto the road by itself and falls into line with the rest of the vehicles.