Crimson Hail and the Secrets of Valour — Chapter 2.a : The Japanese Desert

Standing in the corridor of the train with his bag in hand, Crimson walked through the narrow carriage which only had three passengers. An old, smartly dressed man reading the paper, a young woman staring out of the window, and a very overweight woman at the far end who looked like she was either asleep or watching a film on her virtual reality headset. A section near the centre of the carriage with a lot of legroom caught Crimson’s eye. Almost immediately a robotic female voice gave a train-wide announcement.

‘Welcome on board the ten-fifteen Coast-to-Coast sonic speed train from Mombasa to Benghazi. The next stop will be Nairobi Station’. Travelling long distances wasn’t something Crimson often did but whenever he did, he would always take a Sonic Speed Train–the fastest mode of transport in Africa. From childhood he loved looking out the window when the train hit top speed. He enjoyed seeing the colourful streak of objects outside as if he were going through a rainbow. As the train picked up speed, he fastened his seatbelt and looked around with a faint grin on his face.

‘Attention. The train is about to enter Sonic Speed mode. We strongly advise you to fasten your seatbelts and stay seated until the train slows down,’ a second announcement from the robotic voice.

Still very excited, Crimson hid his grin and avoided the gaze of the others so as not to appear childlike. The few windows that were opened automatically closed, sounds of pressure regulation in the carriage were soon heard as the train moved faster. Buildings and trees that once were clearly visible gradually gained motion blur. Then, the loud ‘boom’ of a shockwave erupted through the whole train which pushed everyone back to their seats and in that instant, everything got quieter, almost silent if it were not for the occasional high pitched ‘swoosh’ sounds made after the train passed a large object. Only after Crimson became acclimated to the new speed of his environment could he fully enjoy the spectacle taking place outside.

Streaks of different colours popped in and out of view. It looked as if the train was in a race with multiple colourful bullets that disappeared and reappeared at will. He had the feeling of being in a completely different world, a…