The Trip Begins

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Entry posted by astronelson · January 25, 2011

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Chapter 4: The Trip Begins

The route from Hidden Valley to Dusk Village. The start is the white dot near "START", the end the red rectangle near "END"

“All set?” asked Theo, putting his bags in the back of the service station’s van. Mark had been called away to a farmstead earlier in the morning, so Brendan would be taking the two of them down to the train station in Dusk Village.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go. We can stay with Will until we find somewhere to live.”

“Will?”

“He’s my cousin in Farrer. He says he’ll need a day to clean up the spare rooms though.”

“Well, we could stop overnight in Lake Marley. We need to do some shopping anyway.”

Juliet hadn’t changed her clothes since the fire the previous day. The previous night Theo had heard her moving around upstairs until he fell asleep. This morning she was found sitting in the armchair, a book open on her lap, having fallen out of her hands after she had finally drifted off.

“You all getting in or what?” called Brendan from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, OK!” Juliet replied, climbing in next to him.

“You’ll have to get in the back seat, doc. Careful you don’t hit anything back there.”

Theo climbed in through the van’s side door and took his seat.

“All ready? Then away we go!” Brendan started the car and turned on the radio as he pulled out on to the highway.

This is Halcyon Radio 5, bringing you the top hits and the top stories. The time is one o’clock in the afternoon, and here are the headlines.

In Chicago, the members of the Pacific League have reached an agreement on the proposed international standard rail gauge. This proposal stated that all rail lines between two Pacific League nations should be required to use the broad gauge of 2140mm. Prime Minister Marfan was recorded as saying, “This agreement bodes well for the planned Amity Tunnel. Initial design specifications called for this gauge, and construction will be able to proceed with this design.” The Pacific League meeting wraps up on Friday.

Back in Halcyon, the House of Representatives has begun debating whether to increase the HSA’s budget to pay for Project Reach. The controversial project has split national opinion, with 47% in favour, 43% opposed, and 10% undecided on the space agency’s plan. The bill is expected to pass the lower house easily, but may face some trouble in the Senate, where neither party has the balance of power. Independent Senator Leslie McFerguson has vowed to oppose the bill, calling it a waste of taxpayer money. The House is expected to vote next Tuesday, after Prime Minister Marfan returns.

To the weather now, and the low pressure system that brought the storms yesterday is weakening and expected to move off to the south-east, taking the rain with it. Light showers in some areas today, clearing to fine over the 3-day forecast period. A high of 28 is predicted tomorrow, with night-time temperatures to be around 22.

Those are the headlines; these are the hits, right here on Halcyon Radio 5.

“Well, here we are. Dusk Village train station. End of the line.”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Brendan.”

“You sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to go back yet.”

“I’m certain.”

Brendan chuckled. “I never could talk you out of anything. Don’t do anything stupid or dangerous, OK? We don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“That was an accident. It won’t happen again.”

“If you say so. Be careful out there though, OK?”

“OK, OK, what are you, my father?”

Juliet smiled and punched him in the arm.

Brendan laughed. “You two need any help with the bags?”

“We’ll be fine.”

“OK. Call me if you ever need me.”

“We will, don’t worry. The train will be here soon, we’d better get going. Bye Brendan!”

“See you later Juliet. Bye Doc.”

After Juliet and Theo got their bags he pulled away from the kerb and drove off. As they watched him leave, Theo asked “What did he mean, ‘we don’t want a repeat of last time’?”

Juliet looked over at the train station. “I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s go get our tickets."