The train glided through the twisting wormhole with the coach passengers safely strapped into their chairs. For them the tight accommodations made the journey more agreeable while the first class passengers bounced around in their cabins with every jostle or twist. Some of the passengers had taken sleep medicine in an attempt to avoid feeling the motion while others toughed it out. No one really enjoyed the travel but it was the price to pay to move between planets.

  After a few hours the unpleasantness came to an end as the train exited the wormhole and stopped its bumps and shaking. The lack of jostling woke the detective up from her nap. Looking around the cabin she noticed a few items in disarray. Thinking “It must have been a turbulent passage” she unlimbered herself from where she had wedged into the corner of the couch. “Sometimes it pays to be small and limber” she thought as she stood up and stretched.

  With the train now at a station it was time to deal with her hunger. She had already checked the menu out on the cabin monitor but that didn’t show if the chef on this train was decent. In the past it had always been a gamble on the food. Occasionally stations had small restaurants to entice passengers but in her experience they were usually worse. Not having a steady clientele meant there was little risk of a previous customer coming back to complain.

  In this case it didn’t matter since these small way stations didn’t have restaurants. The train chef was the only choice if she wanted to eat now. With that thought she sallied forth to the restaurant car to see what the chef and his kitchen could do.

  Reaching the dining car the detective was not surprised to see a Victorian motif again. The walls had multiple monitors sized and framed to look like windows. Each one was showing a moving display of what she assumed was a classical English countryside from back then. It looked relatively pastoral, lots of rolling green hills and an occasional village passing by. She doubt any of that still existed in England nowadays.

  As she looked around the dining car there was only one passenger currently eating. A young elegant looking woman wearing a trendy cerulean jump suit. It was a beautiful piece the detective had to admit with spangles and the most exquisite lace on the cuffs and collar. The detective remembered that for some reason that style was referred to as the “Elvis”.

  Even sitting down the detective could tell she was tall and slim. She also couldn’t be more that twenty or twenty-five years old. There was a kind of cool efficiency in the way she was eating her breakfast and also in the way she called to the waiter which indicated a knowledge and comfort level of the interstellar community far more than one would expect from someone of her age.

  The detective’s probability analysis started kicking in again identifying likely scenarios were someone her age would be an experienced traveler. Reminding herself once again that she was on vacation the detective stopped the analysis again. As much as she enjoyed exercising her skills this was not the way she wanted to spend her vacation. Looking around the detective decided to sit by one of the fake window monitors. Maybe the view would help to keep her from analyzing the passengers.

  Looking again around the dining room the detective wasn’t surprise at the lack of other people. From past experience she knew it took most people a bit of time to recover from a rough transit. With the current stop scheduled to last 2 hours there was more than enough time for those with queasy stomachs to get their appetites back. Luckily a queasy stomach was not something she never had to deal with.

  The detective perused the menu. From the names of the dishes it looked like they continued the Victorian theme for the food. After a careful review of the descriptions she decided to go with something called “kedgeree”. Evidently a type of fish dish with rice and eggs that came with something called “black pudding” and toast. An odd choice for breakfast but she was willing to try it. When it arrived the fish ended up being sardines and the eggs reconstituted but the marmalade was excellent.

  As she sat and enjoyed her toast and jam a few more passengers drifted in. The first ones were the mother and daughter pair. They took up a large table normally intended to hold a half dozen or so people. The mother then immediately ordering a pot of tea and a small tray of scones for both. A simple meal that normally would mean not much of an appetite but they both quickly demolished the food. A diet was another possibility but the choice of scones instead of something healthier made that unlikely.

  The detective couldn’t help herself when she immediate again started to run a probability analysis. She ried to switch her attention to the window monitor display again before finally giving up. Switching her attention back to the two women she analyzed possible reasons for people who look like they are traveling without servants and eating basic meals.

  Personal idiosyncrasy is always a possibility as unlikely as it seems but a downturn in their personal finances seemed a more likely explanation. The only issue with that were the expensive accommodations they had on the train. From what she remembered the line had a generous refund policy on their tickets. If finance was an issue they should be traveling coach.

  The detective had always prided herself on her analysis and its ability to read people. A lifetime of studying people, their behavior in different situations along with probability of what leads their actions was a key skill for her. When something didn’t fit a well established behavior pattern her instinct was to look for something else that might fit it better. For these two women the highest probability was that something else was keeping them booked into an expensive cabin.

  A few minutes later the two men who had pretended they didn’t know each other showed up. They came in right behind each other and then took tables on opposite sides of the car. It was interesting that they are still pretending thought the detective. That meant that whatever the situation was that had them putting on this act it was still continuing here on the train.

  Thinking about the different possibilities and their probability the detective decided the most likely prospect was that they planned to do something illegal against someone on the train. If the act required two people and the need to provide an alibi pretending not to know each other made a certain bit of sense. The next likely prospect was a personal conflict between them making them pretend not to know each other. The probability on that was low given how they arrived together to the dining car.

  Whatever the reason for their behavior it still didn’t justify their horrible acting. Although that did raise a slight possibility that it was intentional. They wanted someone on the train to think they were pretending not to know each other. Very unlikely she thought, if that was the situation the person it was intended for would have made themselves known to one or the other. Just to be sure that wasn’t the case she decided to keep a watch on the other passengers and how they acted around these two.

  Both men took a quick look around the dining car when they came in before grabbing a seat. While they ate they continued to ignore everyone and everyone seemed to be ignoring them. That was until the man with the servant, Williams she believed he had been called entered the room. When the man Williams showed up several people including the two men took notice. It seemed there was a connection but she lacked sufficient information to do further analysis.

  The detective did take note of how each of the passengers responded to Williams. The two men paused in their eating and stared for a moment in excitement then they started to text on their communicators. The woman and her daughter stopped their eating and just stared at him. Their looks seemed to be of hate from the daughter and despise from the mother. What was unexpected was the notice the young woman in the jumpsuit gave him. It was brief but seemed to be longing, like she wanted him for something.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  This was getting more and more curios the detective thought. There are at least three groups, all showing different emotions towards him and all suspicious in their behavior. Nothing illegal seemed to have been done yet but maybe she should be proactive and find out more about this Mr. Williams. Anyone with so many people interested in his actions should be known to the authorities.

  Since he boarded at Tau Ceti the police there should be a good source she decided. Using her communicator she took a quick picture. Adding a quick text with what little she knew about him she sent it off to the police commander. It will take a few hours to get to him and the answer back to her assuming he had anything.

  With that done the detective went back to enjoying her marmalade and toast. It wasn’t the best breakfast she ever had but it wasn’t too bad she decided. She was just finishing when the conductor arrived. After taking a moment to check out the passengers he made an announcement that the train would be here at the way station and hour longer then scheduled. Unexpected which was probably why he gave it in person instead of just displaying it on the cabin monitors.

  Looking at the car’s monitor the detective could see the next wormhole link was now status as dark orange indicating a high instability. The engineer had probably ordered the delay in the hope the status would improve if he waited. An unlikely prospect, the detective thought. Historically these periods of instability could last days. Way stations were notoriously short of supplies and facilities making it a poor choice to ride it out at one of them.

  When the conductor finished his announcement several passengers started to question him for the reason. His answer to them was variations of saying it was to wait for a smoother passage. With some amusement the detective noticed that as he was answering their questions his eyes kept drifting back to Mr. Williams and the others that the detective had identified. Seems there is another interested party she mused.

  Walking back to her cabin the detective decided this delay was a good time to stretch her legs. Heading to the exit she disembarked onto the platform. Stepping out onto the platform she was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was. Evidently the manager of the station didn’t follow any ridiculous climate policy. It was also smaller than the one at Tau Ceti and didn’t have a waiting area.

  Way stations are normally established in the empty areas of space to connect wormhole links. Without a colony to support them they were little better than a brief stop on the road. Usually with only a single station agent who almost never bothered to meet with any train passengers. What the platform did have was a door opening onto a narrow hallway that looked like it went completely around the station.

  As she walked back and forth on the platform she noticed the inner station door was open. She was always curious about anything out of the ordinary and with a quick glance at a platform monitor to see how much time was left she went through it. Once through she found herself in a small utility corridor. From the curve of the hallway it obviously ran around the circumference of the station. Looking left and right she could see several doors spaced around with one toward the left was partially open.

  Still pandering to her curiosity she approached the door and as she got closer she heard electronic noise and the sound of someone mumbling. Looking through the crack she saw a figure pacing back and forth. The mumbling could now be distinguished as complaints about something. She couldn’t make out much detail of the figure but way stations typically only had a single station master. Normally they were solitary souls willing to reside alone on a small station in the middle of nowhere.

  Her curiosity now fully aroused she lightly knocked on the door. The mumbling and pacing immediately stopped but the figure didn’t turn around, just pause where they were. She waited a few more seconds for a response then the detective decided to knock again. With the second knock the figure dashed to the door and with a quick motion flung it open.

  Standing in the doorway was another Kemonian, a male dressed in a pair of old coveralls and a nice set of whiskers. It was a bit of a surprise for her to see another fellow Kemonian here. She had not been home in years and it had been several months since she had last seen a fellow Kemonian. Most were not found of traveling so they were seldom seen off their planet. She was a bit of an exception with the amount she did but that was more of an occupational need.

  Glancing over the man’s shoulder the detective noticed the large blocks of electronic equipment in the room behind. She wasn’t an engineer but it looked like pictures she had seen of high capacity power banks. They were composed of storage crystals that could discharge their full power in a single surge when needed. This was a key need for providing the enormous power needed when generating wormholes.

  The man seeing her stand paused then shouted “What?” as he got over his shock of seeing another Kemonian.

  “Saluda, my name is Felipa Pinjay.” said the detective giving her alias “It’s a pleasure to meet someone from home so far out here.”

  The man who had just been in the midst of a rant when she knocked was thrown off by the pleasant greeting. She could tell from the changing expressions on his face he wasn’t sure how to respond to her pleasant greeting. Her analysis of the situation and his expressions was indicating a high probability that he had not talked to anyone in months.

  She decided to help the conversation along by asking a question “I don’t mean to interrupt whatever you are doing but I was curious of what the situation was with the station delay.”

  It seemed at first the man was still not going to answer her but after la moment he did “Name’s Wally, same as it’s been for months on this route. The links are unstable and our energy storage is bad. Engineers are worried and it’s making them second guess everything and hesitate for the jumps.”

  The detective was uncertain of the logic behind what he had just said. As far as she knew high instability on this route was not that unusual. The train engineers traveling it should have been adjusted to the transits.

  “Isn’t it normal Mr. Wally? Why are they worried about it now?” she asked

  Just Wally, no parts, no relief and I’m stuck trying to keep it all running.” was his confused answer.

  Looking into the room again behind him the detective noticed the power banks had sections blacked out. She didn’t know anything about power banks but that didn’t seem like a good sign.

  “What is the issue with the energy storage” the detective asked.

  It was obvious the man didn’t want to answer but he finally did by saying “Recreated the links three times this week. Only got two reactors working. It’s taking too long, maybe next time it won’t.”

  His answer only slightly cleared up her confusion. As the man continued to complain about what he was dealing with in short sentences the detective finally pierced together what had the engineers worried. It seemed the line hadn’t sent any parts for any of the way stations in over a year. He had been keeping things going by cannibalizing parts from non-critical machinery but had gone as far as he could with that. The system was now hanging on by a thread.

  The next collapse might mean they would be offline until a maintenance ship with parts could reach them from Earth. A maintenance ship could create its own links and reach stations offline but they were slow and could take weeks to reach out here. Not something a train engineer wanted to risk with a load of angry passengers on board.

  What seemed to get the man Wally the most upset about a long term shutdown was the idea of being stuck with a train full of passengers for days. The man had a dislike of people or maybe just passengers. It was so bad the detective was surprised he had even been willing to talk to her considering how anti-social he was. Or maybe it was just because they were both from Kemono and had common appreciation for stylish whisker.

  The detective was curious why he and the other station masters had not raised a fuss or submitted a complaint to the line about the situation. When she asked the answer was unexpected. The line had contracted out the parts supply management to another company. Somehow the terms of the contract didn’t specify delivery schedules. They had been trying to work it out with the company but it was currently tied up it litigation.

  There was something very odd about what Wally was describing. The company was facing a serious shutdown. One that would needed a maintenance ship to be sent out and could potentially cost the company billions. So instead of waiting on litigation the smart thing would have been to hire another company to temporarily do the deliveries. What the star line was doing made no financial sense at all. She never really believed in hunches, only probabilities but she was feeling that somehow everything could be tied together.

  Deciding it was time to head back the detective thanked Wally and left. When she got back on the platform the monitors were showing 10 minutes with a final boarding call. As she looked around the empty platform it seemed that she was the only passenger that took the opportunity to get off the train. As she walked up the steps to board she took another look at the monitor and saw the dark orange status was still in effect. It seems the engineer’s decision to delay leaving hadn’t helped.