The station was packed with people crushed together like sardines. Zan had never been there before having never left the city, and anywhere he had been he had always walked to.
The bridge across the tracks traversed the six different lines and twelve different platforms, and he foraged in his pocket for the ticket as he crossed. 'Platform seven: Seven-Thirty' it said on the otherwise blank piece of paper.
Platform seven. Massive signs swung above each set of stairs leading down from the bridge to each platform. He grabbed the handrail tightly as he stepped down onto the stairwell which rocked unnervingly from side to side, and it made reaching the solid floor at the bottom somewhat of a relief.
People brushed passed him, knocking his shoulder violently as they went. They all appeared to be in a mad hurry, but to where he wasn't sure. Maybe this is what the workers of the city did. It seemed that a carefully chiselled elbow or two were a necessity to get ahead in this place. He rubbed his ribcage in the spot where he'd been stabbed by one a few moments earlier.
Most of the people that were frantically trying to catch a train were of the higher clan – The Greaters. No wonder they didn't stop to wait for Zan - he was an insignificant that needed pushing along and out of the way, he thought. His green cloak denoted someone of a lower standing.
According to the ornate clock stuck high up on the wall, he still had some time – around ten minutes in fact. The pillars holding up the gigantic roof were immensely thick - Zan couldn't even spread his arms to cover a quarter of it. There were at least two dozen of them lining the platforms, and the outer walls were solid stone. The effect was a terrific din of trains shuttling in and screeching, and the echo of the chattering mouths and clunking footsteps reverberated around continuously.
The board above the platform changed from one destination to another, each with its own time next to it. Zan figured that it was either the time that each train left for that destination, or that they were the times of the stops for the next train.
He held his hood in place as a train whizzed through without stopping. It dragged many carriages, and they went through at such a speed as to make it impossible to count them. His hair blew back and his breath was taken away by the force. All along the platform people stood noticeably further back, so Zan joined them sheepishly.
The clock changed to seven twenty-four. Zan peered down the track as people began to edge forward and jostle for position. It took strength to hold steady and not get pushed over the edge by everyone behind him. Some tried to shove him to one side to get a better spot when the door opened, but Zan decided he was having none of it. He steadied himself, and jabbed the people beside him in the stomach and arm, and grabbed their coats to prevent them gaining any meaningful advantage.
The trained slowed as it entered the station, and its silver carcass dripped with dew while the front white lights shone even in the daylight. It seemed a patch of mist had been ripped from its mother group and congregated around the bullet like frontage as it stopped. A sign above the windscreen read 'Vikana'. It sounded exotic, but Zan knew it was just a town situated a little inland from Vlindra, at the foothills of the Jankari mountain range. He'd never been but had seen pictures of it, and had heard that The Greaters liked to work there due to the prestige of it. Having a job in Vikana was something to boast about, apparently.
The doors opened and the stampede began. Zan fought for his place, and managed to be among the first to board. He saw a vacant seat and walked towards it, but as he was about to turn and sit, another man sneaked into it before him. At the other side there were two more vacant seats and he charged over to them, sitting on the one nearest the window just before another man got there. His face was flustered, and hair windswept. He was suited, and was evidently a person of some importance.
"You don't belong there," the man said in a disgruntled tone.
Zan felt the man's hand twist his arm, but he yanked it back, pulling the man onto the woman sat next to him. She turned towards Zan. "Come on, out," she said as she pulled her nose up and brushed her jacket where Zan had touched it. "People like you shouldn't be on here."
"Why not?" Zan said in disgust.
The woman pinched her nose. "Because you're from the slums, I can smell it." she said.
"They should all be exterminated," the man said, now holding onto one of the overhead bars as the train started moving, lurching from one side to the other.
"Hear hear," the woman said.
Zan didn't respond, instead choosing to look the other way through the window.
"You see, they know no manners either. Look at me when I'm talking to you," the woman said.
Zan turned his head slowly around, and his nostrils flared. "I don’t answer to you. If you don't like the smell, move!" He turned towards the man. "And if you want a seat, you'll have to be quicker next time." He returned to gazing out of the window, but noticed their shocked reactions in the reflection. As the train pulled out of the station, Zan wondered whether their shock was at having their attitude checked, or that he could speak as well as they do. He hoped it was the latter.
The train sped through the countryside, along the meadow with several streams running into the river. The track followed the river almost continuously from the estuary right up to source. It was only a few feet across now, and lined with large trees, and the leaves had long since fallen. The ground had become an incredible mass of golden brown. The spring and summer seasons on Sykana were short and lasted for weeks only. Sometimes there was just continuous winter, and the cold and snow remained in place. Thankfully, this year wasn't one of the ‘frozen years' as they were known.
The train began to slow, and eventually screeched to a halt in the middle of the greenery. There were some tall glass buildings up ahead not far from the platform, and as the doors closed, Zan could see numerous people walking along towards them, like an army marching in sequence. One of them was the woman who had left the seat next to him. She gave Zan a glance through the window as she walked, and Zan stared back at her in defiance. It was she who broke eye contact first.
He looked across the aisle, and though still busy, quite a number had left. Above the window on the far side were some place names, presumably, Zan thought, to denote each stop on the line. 'Divolka Towers' was the one they were just moving away from, as Zan had seen the signage on the platform. The one at the end of the line was 'Vikana' – there was no mention of the 'Jankar Complex'. The name ran around Zan's mind. He knew he was on the correct train, as he'd glanced at the timetable at the station, and there wasn't another one due at platform seven for another hour after.
"Tickets please." The conductor meandered down the aisle as everybody fumbled around their pockets and bags. "Tickets." The conductor wore a blue uniform buttoned right to the top, and a short hat with a visor. He held a small device that he used to puncture holes in each ticket that he checked.
Zan could feel his approach and he stared at the floor as the shadow of the man crawled all over him. He pulled the ticket out of his pocket and looked up while handing it over. The conductor towered above him, a tall portly Rilaris man with a round green face. He snatched the ticket from Zan's hands and studied it closely. His eyes moved back and forth as if trying to read some fine print.
He looked back at Zan, and then back at the ticket with a concerned look.
Zan took a gulp of air. "I thought I was on the right train, but there doesn't appear to be a stop by that name on the line," he said nervously.
The conductor leaned forward. "You sit tight," he whispered, giving him a wink before sticking the ticket into the machine. It made a clipping sound, before he handed it back to Zan with two holes along the top edge.
He sat back in his seat as the conductor moved on, and the train gained speed once more.
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