Chapter 11: Ghost Station

The train surged forward through the darkness as explosions echoed across the mountains.

Claire Moreau and Adrian Keller moved quickly through the executive section, keeping low as flashes of gunfire illuminated the windows.

Outside, the carefully organized Nightglass extraction site had descended into chaos.

Vehicles burned.

Floodlights flickered.

Masked personnel ran in every direction.

For the first time that night, Nightglass looked vulnerable.

And that made Claire nervous.

Organizations this powerful rarely collapsed by accident.

Someone had come for them.

The question was why.

Another explosion rocked the valley.

The train trembled violently.

A crack spread across one of the windows.

Claire instinctively stepped back.

Adrian glanced outside.

They're trying to stop the transfer.

Or destroy it.

Neither possibility felt encouraging.

The train rounded a curve.

For several seconds the mountains blocked their view of the fighting.

Then something appeared ahead.

Lights.

Not vehicle lights.

Station lights.

Claire frowned.

There's a station out here?

Adrian looked surprised.

There shouldn't be.

The tracks ahead led toward a small platform hidden between the mountains.

Snow covered most of it.

The station looked abandoned.

Forgotten.

Yet lights glowed behind several windows.

The sign above the platform was partially broken.

Only a few letters remained visible.

A L T E R.

Claire stared.

What station is that?

Adrian's expression darkened.

It isn't one.

What?

I've studied every rail route between Paris and Geneva.

That station doesn't exist.

The train continued slowing.

Neither spoke.

Both watched the mysterious platform approach.

The building looked old.

Decades old.

Stone walls.

Iron supports.

Dark windows.

The architecture belonged to another era.

Yet somehow electricity still flowed through it.

The train speakers crackled.

Attention personnel.

Emergency protocol Sigma initiated.

Prepare for transfer at Station Alter.

Claire felt a chill.

Station Alter.

The station had a name.

Which meant Nightglass expected it to be here.

Expected to use it.

The train slowed further.

Not stopping completely.

But close.

Adrian grabbed Claire's arm.

Move.

Where?

Front carriage.

Before they start unloading passengers.

Claire nodded.

They hurried forward.

The executive section gave way to another restricted compartment.

Unlike the others, this one contained security monitors.

Most screens were dark.

Several displayed static.

A few still functioned.

Claire stopped immediately.

Look.

One monitor showed the passenger holding compartments.

The cages.

Passengers remained trapped inside.

Others displayed maintenance corridors.

Service tunnels.

Storage rooms.

Then Claire noticed a screen showing the roof of the train.

Several black-clad figures moved between carriages.

Not Nightglass personnel.

Different uniforms.

Different equipment.

The attackers.

Adrian studied them carefully.

Military.

Private contractors?

Maybe.

One thing was obvious.

They knew what they were doing.

The feed suddenly cut out.

A warning appeared across every monitor.

UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED.

Someone else had entered the system.

Claire looked around.

Control room?

Not here.

But close.

The next door required a keycard.

Adrian tried the handle anyway.

Locked.

Claire examined the panel beside it.

Electronic access.

Can you bypass it?

Maybe.

You always say maybe.

And you always complain about it.

Despite everything, Claire almost smiled.

The moment lasted only seconds.

A loud noise came from the opposite end of the carriage.

Footsteps.

Fast.

Approaching.

Adrian immediately raised a hand.

Hide.

Both moved behind a row of equipment cabinets.

The footsteps grew louder.

Then someone entered.

Not a Nightglass operative.

Not one of the attackers.

A young woman.

Mid-twenties.

Dark hair.

Gray coat.

Breathing heavily.

She looked terrified.

Claire stepped out.

The woman gasped.

Wait!

I'm not with them.

Neither are we.

The woman looked at Adrian.

You are Adrian Keller.

Both froze.

How do you know that?

The woman hesitated.

Then spoke quietly.

Matthias sent me.

Everything stopped.

Adrian stared at her.

What?

Matthias Keller.

Your brother.

He's alive.

Claire watched Adrian carefully.

Hope and suspicion battled across his face.

Where is he?

The woman glanced toward the windows.

Not here.

But he's waiting.

Waiting where?

At the facility.

The hidden facility.

The one from the photograph.

Claire's pulse accelerated.

The coordinates.

The manifest.

Everything pointed to the same place.

Who are you?

The woman looked exhausted.

My name is Lena Fischer.

I escaped six months ago.

Escaped from Nightglass.

Silence followed.

Claire believed her immediately.

Not because of the story.

Because of her eyes.

She had seen that look before.

Trauma.

Fear.

Survival.

Lena continued.

The attackers outside aren't Nightglass.

Then who are they?

People trying to destroy it.

Claire frowned.

Destroy it why?

Because nobody can agree what Nightglass became.

The statement confused both of them.

Became?

Lena nodded.

It didn't start like this.

Years ago it was something else.

Something legitimate.

Research.

Protection.

Witness relocation.

Emergency identity programs.

Then people started changing the rules.

Claire immediately thought of Viktor Weiss.

How many people are at the facility?

Hundreds.

Maybe thousands.

The answer landed heavily.

Thousands.

Not dozens.

Not hundreds.

Thousands.

The scale was staggering.

The train speakers activated again.

Attention personnel.

Arrival in two minutes.

Station Alter transfer beginning.

Lena's face went pale.

That's bad.

Why?

Because nobody leaves Station Alter.

The statement sent ice through Claire's veins.

Outside, the ghost station drew closer.

Its ancient platform sat beneath falling snow.

Figures waited beside the tracks.

Some wore Nightglass uniforms.

Others carried weapons.

All seemed prepared.

Prepared for arrivals.

Prepared for transfers.

Prepared for passengers who would officially cease to exist.

Adrian looked at Lena.

Can you get us to Matthias?

Maybe.

Claire groaned.

Now everyone says maybe.

For the first time, Lena smiled.

Then we're already improving.

The train began entering the station.

Metal wheels screeched.

Snow swirled through the floodlights.

Ghost Station Alter emerged fully from the darkness.

And Claire suddenly realized the train had never been the destination.

It had only been the delivery system.

The real nightmare was waiting at the platform.