I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep myself calm as the grousing continued. 

I had requisitioned the staff manager Peidmont, and the junior officer Jonas on the train had deigned to tag along, his superior unfortunately having been caught in the blast. Lord Gaspard, his coat half burned and his scarf missing, but otherwise unharmed, had joined us. As I had predicted, he did have military experience, but only as a logistics officer in the retinue of a colonel in what he described as the Goliad campaign, one I was not familiar with. The conductor, Agiad, was also present, and to my surprise he had the cog of the mechanicum on the breast of his shirt. Unfortunately, they had all begun to bicker as to the best course of action before I could get a word in edgewise. 

"How many men do you have? A half a dozen? I have autoguns in my cache, let's arm up and hunt these bastards down for daring to impeded on the Emperor's servants!" Lord Gaspard demanded, looking for all the world like it was phantine hunt. I recognized the bravado in his eyes. 

"My lord, these men aren't trained to use guns! They can barely breathe after that explosion," Peidmont protested. "I say we leave this to the security forces." 

Jonas clutched his collar, not wishing to appear cowardly but breaking out in a cold sweat. Lucky for him, I was the only one not nervous or blood drunk enough to notice. "I've only my deputy here. The rest of my men are in the back of the train-" 

"If they're even still alive." The conductor responded, his lanky face haggard from working long hours. I imagined the explosion occurred on the tail end of his shift, and if he had been off duty he might have been immolated along with two score of the passengers and staff that had been caught in the blast. He had even had the wherewithall to check the engine room after he had come out to see my dispatching of the assassins.

"We outnumber them-" Gaspard declared. 

"How do you know that?" Peidmont asked, too angered and afraid to use the required honorific. 

"-And even if we do not, we have a duty to the Emperor to see them dead!" the lord snarled, the short man trying to loom over the taller but skinnier civilian. Despite his youth and height, Peidmont cowed. 

"What do you think, Admiral?" Jonas asked pointedly in my direction. The lights flickered, but held strong. 

"The Admiral is only experienced in naval engagements," Gaspard rasped, my victory over him in Gothic still fresh in his mind, despite the far more serious atmosphere we found ourselves in. Like most aristocrats, his flawed ego bade him to take command here to nurse his wounded pride. I was unwilling to give my true identity yet, but he might leave me with little choice.

"Lord Deckard is the only one who seems to have made good on 'death to the enemies of mankind' ideal." Agiad reminded them, indicating me. 

Truth be told, I was not entirely dissatisfied with the group of them rambling over one another. It had given myself a brief moment to think. However, it seemed my dispatching of the three assailants minutes before had reentered their minds, and they all looked at me with a resurgent respect. Everyone save Gaspard was expectant, while the lord allowed himself a rueful look. I ignored him, the others growing more attentive with my momentary silence.  

"I could not help but notice we have stopped." I said to them. It brought confused glances, but to his credit, Peidmont's face brightened first. 

"There was only one bomb, right?" He asked, turning to Agiad. 

"Yes, the terminal only showcased external damage in two cars, each from the same explosion." The conductor responded, his mind whirring. I decided to help out, we did not have time for twenty questions. 

"I assume this train has more than one engine, considering cargo haulers have six cars or less, and with stringent weight limits. I also noticed the lights were out after the the blast." I reminded them, and regarded the conductor. "How is this train powered?" 

"Um, all the Luxury Locomotives on the planet have a mixture of electro-promethium engines. This one has three. One in the front, one in the center, and the other at the very back." Agiad explained, thinking out loud. "But we would either need to lose a lot of weight, or I would need to get all three engines moving. Tractive friction can keep it moving, usually, but in the mountains we need the torque from the engines. But there was no way they could have sabotaged all three engines, or at least the engine up front. I was the only one up here when it happened, no one got into the engine room. But I got it running right quick, after."

"Disabling one wouldn't have stopped us so completely, either. I imagine they used a haywire weapon." I said. 

"A what?" Jonas asked, frustrated by consistently being out of his depth. Agiad and Gaspard blanched, however. 

"But that would mean-!" 

A clear ring erupted to the group's left. Peidmont near wet himself, thinking it another explosion. A familiar voice that uplifted my heart sprung out of the audio centre. "Admiral Deckard, your wife is on line one, Admiral Deckard line one." I reached for the telespeak, much to the dismay of the others who no doubt thought it a trap. I held up a finger. "Excuse me gentlemen, I must take this," flipped the switch for line 1, placed the device near my ear. 

"This is Admiral Deckard," I said. 

"Throne, I'm glad you're alright." Emmaline said, her voice like the finest damassian wine. 

"Touch and go for a moment there. Are you safe?" I asked her. 

"Yes," she said, not needing to explain she was not in our room. Either way, it was a weight off my shoulders. "I'm at the rear of the train, none the worse for wear." 

"Good to hear. Now that I know that, I can ask..." I began casually, before lowering the pitch of my voice. "what are you wearing?", and she giggled.

"The same thing, which I know you like." 

"I do," I agreed, smiling at the others. They looked expectant or disturbed, at both me and the situation. "Hang tight, we'll be there soon." 

"Wait, I have some news..."