The man moved forward so their faces were just inches apart and peered into Michael’s eyes. First one eye, then the other, shifting his head back and forth. His breath was sour, like spoiled milk. His teeth were lined in black. Michael had to force himself not to pull away.

“How much did you give him?”

“Enough,” Billie said.

The man gave him one more skeptical look, then stepped back and shot a jet of brown spit onto the hardpan. “I’m Gus.”

“Michael.”

“I know who you are.” He held up the object for Michael to see. “You know what this is?”

Michael took it in his hand. “It’s a solenoid, twenty-four volts. I’d say it comes off a fuel pump, a big one.”

“Yeah? What’s wrong with it?”

Michael passed it back, shrugging. “Nothing I can see.”

Gus looked at Billie, frowning. “He’s right.”

“I told you.”

“She says you know about electrical systems. Wiring harnesses, generators, controller units.”

Michael shrugged again. He was still reluctant to say too much, but something, some instinct, was telling him he could trust these two. They hadn’t brought him all this way for nothing.

“Let me see what you’ve got.”

They crossed the railyard to the shed. Michael could hear, from inside, the roar of portable generators, the clang of tools. They entered through the same door the man had emerged from. The interior of the shed was vast, the space illuminated by spotlights on tall poles. More men in greasy jumpsuits were moving about.

What Michael saw stopped him where he stood.

It was a train. A diesel locomotive. And not some rusted derelict, either. The damn thing looked like it could actually run. It was covered in protective metal plating, three-quarter-inch steel at least. A huge plow jutted from the front of the engine; more steel plates were riveted over the windshield, leaving only a thin slit of exposed glass for the driver to see by. Three boxy compartments sat behind it.

“The mechanicals and pneumatics are all up and running,” Gus said. “We charged the eight-volts using the portables. It’s the electrical harness that’s the problem. We can’t pull a current from the batteries to the pump.”

The blood was racing through Michael’s veins. He took a breath to calm himself. “Do you have schematics?”

Gus led him to a makeshift desk where he’d laid out the drawings, broad sheets of brittle paper covered in blue ink. Michael looked them over.

“This is a rat’s nest,” he said after a moment. “It could take me weeks to find the problem.”

“We don’t have weeks,” Billie said.

Michael lifted his face to look at them. “How long have you been working on this thing?”

“Four years,” Gus said. “Give or take.”

“So how much time do I have?”

Billie and Gus exchanged a worried glance.

“About three hours,” said Billie.

Chapter Fifty-Three

FIFTY-THREE

“Theo.”