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as he slipped into his driver's chair. Alzbeta glanced up at the motion and
her voice died.
"She's doing absolutely fantastic," Otakar said. "About ten times brighter and
ten times smarter than the last dim dirt-scratcher I tried to teach this job
to. If the other girls are anywhere as good, our driver problem is solved."
"I'm sure they will be,:' Jan said, hut his eyes were on Alzbeta as he spoke.
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So close he could almost touch her. Those dark eyes looking deep into his.
"I like this work, too," she said. Very seriously, her back to the others.
Only Jan could see her eyes move up and down his body, followed by the slow
wink.
"For the good of the train," he said, just as seriously. "I am glad that this
plan will work.
Isn't that so, aunty?"
The Hradil's daughter returned only a glare of pure malice before bending back
to her knitting. She had been well briefed by her mother. Her presence could
be suffered. It was small enough price to pay to have Alzbeta nearby. When he
spoke it was to Otakar, but his eyes were on the girl.
"How soon before you think she will be ready to spell you as co-driver?"
Her jaw was clamped tight and, beautiful as she was, there was more than a
little of The
Hradil in her when she spoke.
"Yes. I can do it. I know I can do it."
"Very good. Then it is all arranged."
When the fusion guns had finished cutting the new Road, Jan personally walked
every foot of it, the exhausted tank operator plodding at his side. They
walked along the lip, just a meter from the sheer fall into the jungle far
below. Despite the breeze the cutting was like an oven, the rock still warm
under their feet. Jan knelt and tapped the edge of the rock with a heavy hall
peen hammer he carried. A chunk of stone broke away and rattled down the slope
and vanished over the drop.
"I don't like some of this rock. I don't like it at all," he said. The tank
operator nodded.
"Don't like it myself. If we had more time I would widen the cut. I've done
what I can with melt compacting. Hope the lava flow on the surface will
penetrate and hold it together."
"You're not the only one to hope that. All right, you've done all you can now.
Get your tanks through and I'll bring the first train over." He started away,
then turned back. "You've dug'
in the guide wire as we planned?"
"Absolute minimum clearance. If it was one more centimeter to the right you
would be taking off the top of the engine."
"Good." Jan had been thinking about this and he knew what had to be done.
There would be protests, but they would follow his orders. His own crew were
predictably the first.
"You'll need an engineer for this job," Emo said. "I promise not to sleep."
"All clear," Otakar called from the open hatch. "I can still come along."
"See you on the other side. Clear the train, I'm starting."
He touched lightly on the accelerator and, at absolutely minimum speed, the
engine crawled forward. As soon as it was moving he set the autopilot and took
his hands from the wheel. He was committed. The engine would take itself
across in a far more controlled manner than he himself could. As the train
crept forward he went to the open hatch and looked at the edge of the Road. If
there were trouble, it would be there. Centimeter by centimeter they crawled
through the newly-burned section of Road, closer and closer to the far end.
The sound was a grinding rumble, easily heard above the drone of the engine,
and as the noise began cracks appeared in the hard surface of the stone. Jan
started to turn to the controls, then realized he could do nothing. He stood,
his fingers tight-clamped to the edge of the hatch, as the great section of
Road broke away and vanished with a roar toward the valley floor, far below.
Cracks spread like deadly fingers across the surface, reaching for the train.
Then stopped.
There was a great gap now, a chunk bitten out of the solid rock of the Road.
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But it ended short of the engine. The powerful machine lumbered past the
opening and Jan sprang back to the controls, frantically switching from camera
to camera to get a view of the following car.
Now the engine was through safely, past the gap.
However, the cars it pulled were almost three times wider.
His foot was a fraction of a centimeter above the brake pedal, his fingers
resting on the autopilot, his eyes fixed on the screen.
The radio bleeped in Jan's ear and he switched it on.
"Did you see that?" Otakar asked, in a very weak voice.
"I did. Stay close by and report on the broken area. I'm going to take the
rest of the train across. If it stays this way it will be fine. But tell me
instantls if there are any more falls."
"I'll do that, you can be sure.
At minimum crawling speed the cars followed, one by one, until the entire
train was safely across the gap. As soon as the last car was reported safely
past Jan killed the engine, jammed on the brakes, and let out a deep sigh. He
felt as though every muscle in his body had been worked over with a heavy
hammer. To relieve the tension he jogged back to the new section of road to
join Otakar.
"No more falls, none at all," the co-driver reported.
"Then we should be able to get the other trains through." The passengers were
crossing on foot now, pressed as close to the inside wall as they could,
looking with frightened eyes at the cut edge and the gaping crevice. "Take the
first engine and keep going. Half speed until all the trains are over. It
should go well now. When they are through I'll catch up on the cycle. Any
questions?"
"Nothing I can put into words. This is your show, Jan. Good luck."
It was hours before the last train was past, but they all made it safely.
There were no more rock falls. As Jan sped along beside the slow-moving trains
he wondered what the next emergency would be.
when the sun did not set at all. It dropped to the southern horizon, a burning
blue ball of fire, then moved into the sky again soon afterward. After this it
was always above their heads, its intensity increasing as they headed south.
The temperature outside had been rising steadily and now stood at well past
150 degrees. When there had still been a night, many people had emerged from
the cramped, boring quarters to move about on the Road despite the breathless
heat. With the sun now in the sky constantly this could not be done, and
morale was being strained to the breaking point. And there were still 18,000
kilometers to go.
They were driving a full nineteen hours every day now, and the new co-drivers
were proving their worth. There had been some grumbling among the men at first
about women out of their natural place, but this had stopped as fatigue had
taken over. The extra help was needed. Some of the women had not been able to
learn the work, or had not the stamina for it, but there were more than enough
new volunteers to take their places.
Jan was happier than he had remembered he had been for years. The fat
chaperone had complained about the climb up to the driving compartment and,
when the heat had increased, it had been impossible to find a coldsuit big
enough for her. A married cousin of Alzbeta's had taken the watchdog role for
one day, but said she was bored by it and had her children to take care of and
refused to come back the following day. Her absence had not been reported at
once to The Hradil and by the time she had learned about it the damage -- or
lack of damage -
- had been done. Alzbeta had survived a day alone with three men and was none
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