Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

they believed him. The Sea Goat just grinned sardonically. Edwin the train was shy at first, but once he realized they didn't mind his talking to them, they couldn't get him to shut up.
    "Good to be carrying passengers again," he said contentedly. "I mean, what use is a train, unless he's carrying people somewhere? The other toys are very good, and let me take them for short rides now and again, when they can spare the time, but it's not the same. They don't care where they're going. And they're not people. I need to be doing something, something useful. I was designed to be of use, to fulfill a function, not just sit around thinking. Which is overrated, in my opinion. Thinking just gets in the way of a regular service. I chuff, therefore I am. And that's all I need to be happy. But even apart from that, I am glad to see humans again. I missed you terribly. You were always so happy when I took you places. Laughing and shouting and pointing at things. You were all so happy, then.
    "Then the bad toys came, and dug up my rails so I had to stop. They pulled my passengers out of the carriages and killed them. I wanted to stop the bad toys, but there was nothing I could do. They were fast and strong, and I couldn't leave my rails. I didn't even have any hands. I blew out steam, to keep the bad toys at bay, but I could only protect myself. Too much steam would only have
    hurt the passengers anyway.
    "I shut my eyes so I wouldn't see them die, but I could still hear the screams.
    They seemed to go on forever. Afterward, the bad toys left me alone. They were afraid I'd explode if they damaged me. I could have exploded anyway, and taken them with me, but I didn't. I was afraid. I'd only been alive for such a short time, and I was so scared of dying.
    "Bruin Bear saved me. He got my tracks repaired and started me running again.
    Found things that needed moving from one place to another. Gave my life meaning and purpose again. He does things like that. He's Bruin Bear, after all. And now I have human passengers again. I can't tell you how happy I am. And this time, I will be brave. I promise I will. I'll die before I let another of my passengers come to harm."
    "Don't try and comfort him," said the Goat, when Edwin's voice became choked with tears. "He just gets morbid, and tears make him rust. Pick up the speed, Edwin. The sooner we get to Toystown, the happier I'll be. This is disputed territory, and you humans wouldn't believe some of the things that are disputing it."
    "Don't you listen to him, Edwin," Bruin Bear said firmly. "You're going quite fast enough as it is. We'll have no showing off your sudden accelerations this trip. Remember what happened last time."
    "Don't worry, Bear," said the train. "I'll be good. I've got people on board again." And he sang a merry song and chuffed and tootled his way across the grassy plain.
    He kept his speed at a constant twenty, and after a while the rebels became somewhat accustomed to the lurching motion of the carriages. Giles even came
    close to dozing off. There was nothing to do, and very little to look at. One grassy plain looks much like another. There were no trees, no vegetation, and no sign the war had ever got this far. Just endless oceans of waving grass, cut through by silver tracks. Flynn suggested a friendly game of cards, but after seeing the more than professional way he shuffled the cards, everyone politely declined. And so the rebels and the toys maintained a polite silence, each deep in his own thoughts. Finlay suddenly remembered something he'd been meaning to ask and leaned forward so his face was opposite the Bear's.
    "Who buried the recon team's pinnace? And why?"
    "We did," said the Bear. "The Goat and I. We arrived too late to save the humans, but we were able to drive the bad toys off before they could get to the ship. The Goat can be quite ferocious when he has to be. And he was almost mad with rage then, to see so many humans dead again. We wrecked the ship's engines, and then buried it, to put it out of temptation's way. The bad toys are desperate to get offworld, you see, and take their war to Humanity. I'd like to have buried or at least concealed your ship, but there wasn't time. We can always do it later."
    "Don't worry," said Finlay. "There are all kinds of unpleasant booby traps waiting for anyone who doesn't have the right warm-up codes."
    Bruin Bear shook his head admiringly. "You humans. So tricky. But I wouldn't be too confident. Some toys have