Hector Marville Speaks

The passenger steam train chugged forward at full speed through the windy great

plains, traveling to its ultimate destination, Boston. All men and women were socializing

upon this train, conversing and having a good time, except for one man. This man

happened to be the most important person on the train; Hector Marville was the train

conductor. He sat upright in his large chair at the corner of his small library in the front

train cart. Hector could smell the incinerating coal as he carefully turned each page of his

leather bound book, Hamlet, trying not to pry open the book too far so as to damage the

binding. Hector scratched the pale scar running down his long neck. Hardly did it ever

irritate him, besides the fact that he was mute. Hectors inability to speak was his main

excuse for not being socially active; his life was his books.

“To be or not to be, that is the question” read Hector silently as the train progressed

through the plains. His eyes were beginning to strain, so he tore his face from the book

and stared through the window connecting to the next train cart; an average

setting…people talking…for a second Hector experienced a hint of jealousy when his eye

caught these happy men and women talking with each other. Suddenly something caught

Hector’s eye – it was so vague he hardly knew what it was, when he returned his glance

to a man looking down to everyone in the cart. There was something on his arm!

A tattoo! A memory seeped up from the deep caresses of Hector’s mind; the tattoo was in

the shape of a serpent….The Serpent! Hector’s already pale face sank into an even more

deathly pallor. He leaped to the floor, trying not to be seen, and opened a small chest

under his chair. Hector lifted out a short but heavy gun that caused him great effort to

hold up. The weapon felt warm and sweaty in his grip while his eyes wandered around

the cabin. -Oh God! I’m not ready for this!- thought Hector, -this can’t be the end! It can’t!

Then, without thinking, he jammed the gun into his pants and climbed out of the

side window, onto the top of the speeding train. Wind crawled up his back as he toppled

over train cart, after train cart until he was at the end. His body was shaking like an

avalanche, and before he knew so, he swung into the window for the last cabin and furled

out his gun. Women were screaming and protecting their young while men took cautious

steps back. All was silent. Then Hector pointed his gun into the sky and fired. Everyon

stormed out of the train cart like a herd of buffalo and Hector opened up the floorboard

and cranked a lever, then the last train cart detached itself from the rest of the hurtling

train. After five minutes Hector’s cart was stationary while he saw his entire home fly off

into the golden distance….

Hector sat down on the floor and placed his hands on his face –I can’t believe they

found me- he thought. Hetor had not a phone, nor any means to contact the outside world.

–Now I’m stuck in a vast plain- he thought once more.

“Well, was that really necessary?” came a voice from behind Hector, as if straight

from his thoughts. He leaped up and turned around when his eyes widened. There was a

man dressed in the train’s steward clothes that Hector vaguely remembered hiring.

“Call me Donny”, the man said, “you might remember me…I certainly remember

you…now, sir, why do you have a gun? You certainly don’t look like the terrorist

type…if anything you look like an old man.”

-Oh yes, the chatty one- thought Hector stubbornly; he rolled his eyes. “Oh yaaa!”

exclaimed Donny, “You’re mute, aren’t you? Maybe we can talk with a note-pad” Donny

quickly opened up his steward pouch and pulled out a pencil and notepad, with which he

handed to Hector. “Now why?” said Donny “did you release us from the rest of the

train?” Hector stared coldly into his eyes then slowly began to write: They want my

voice. “What?” mumbled Donny, his big libs trying to form words “How-wha-who-

ya…” he looked up from the note pad and saw Hector no where in sight. Donny ran out

of the train cart and leaped into the majestic wild where he saw, waving like a golden

ocean with the sun directly above, the Great Plains. “Mr. Marville! Oh! There you are”

bellowed Donny amidst the ravaging wind, scrambling and screaming in random

directions. Hector was picking up pieces of wood and tossing them into a pile. “O.K.-ya-

lets just make a bon-fire to signal help. Uh…I’ll get you a flare to light it.” Donny said as

he retrieved a small flare and handed it Hector, his legs were started to get irritated by the

grass. Hector crammed it in his pants then froze silently. His eyes widened staring right

into the opening of the train cart, Donny looked at that point and saw, climbing like an

average passenger into the train cart, a lion.

“Oh my god…,” mumbled Donny in a high pitched whimper, “Oh…my…god”

Hector nudged Donny in the side; the lion had heard his whining and stared out the

window with a ravenous look in its eye as it held a seat cushion between its jaws. It

dropped the cushion and stepped slowly out of the vehicle, showing its full golden brown

color and its feet forming craters in the miserable grass. The two men stood petrified in

fear, realizing they were the monster’s next victims.

Suddenly, from the sky, came a thick rope, dangling for their rescue. They looked

up into the sky and immediately recognized a massive oval in the air, connecting to the

rope. A blimp! With haste Donny and Hector struggled up the rope, just before the lion

pounced upon them.

The two men hurled themselves over the blimps windowsill, falling to the carpeted

floor and panting like dogs. “Nice of you to join me…” came the voice of a manstriding

towards them “It seems I couldn’t perceive you on your beautiful train, but, at least I have

you now…”

Hector looked up into the eyes of the greatest man he feared, who he could only

recognize…with the serpent tattoo. Donny and Hector got onto their feet and realized

there were at least 50 other men surrounding them…each with the serpent tattoo. “And

what,” questioned Donny “is your name?”. He said “Rimsky Karteran. You’ve just happened to stumble onto our innocent totalitarian blimp base” he protruded a wicked smile “Hector and I have some unfinished business to attend to. Ralph!”

“Oh, yes sir, I’ll do it” said a hunched over man; a midget in comparison to Rimsky.

He attached a bundle of cords and wires to Hectors neck while others constrained him.

Rimsky held a small microphone up to Hector’s mouth and yelled “Speak, you fool!”

“Never!” mumble Hector, spit drooling from his mouth. Hector Marville spoke. A

strange shockwave rocked the blimp while a hum rolled through the valley. “Well, Mr.

Marville, thanks to you, we have just caused a complete obliteration of all technology

throughout the United States, great job.” “What just happened, Hector” Muttered Donny

frightfully.

“I-can’t I…I can’t explain” Hector replied in a soft but craggily voice. “You must!”

yelled Donny forcefully “who are these people. What have you done?”

“Thirteen years ago,” sighed Hector “I was a prisoner to these totalitarian outcasts.

They… forced me to create a device that would wipe out all American technology, so

they could sell technology and become the dictators of America. So I created this device,

but made it voice activated by me, and then I removed my vocal gland and escaped the

prison. I never thought they would find me.”

“But we did!” added Rimsky smugly and close enough for Hector to taste his putrid

breath, “And I will give you the option to either die…or join us in our take-over of

America.” The two men thought hard, contemplating their decision, when Hector noticed

a plaque on a table they were standing by that read: Hydrogen blimp, built 1836. Hector

smiled, “You see Rimsky…I would never join you, even if you had good intentions. It’s

because, Rimsky, you never learn from histories mistakes; Democracy is good, and

Hydrogen…is flammable.”

Suddenly Hector pulled out a flare, struck it on a table, and threw it at a red curtain,

igniting it into flames. “It’s gonna’ blow!” yelled one man. Another said “He’s going to

pull a Hindenburg on us!”

All was a blur as Rimsky knocked down Hector…, and Donny grabbed a parachute and

leaped out of the blimp. Shortly after, flames gripped hold of the oval in the sky and

ignited the flying machine into a puff of smoke and fire. The hum in the air stopped

rumbling, and technology once again became free to America. Donny slowly hit the

ground while Hector and the totalitarians careened into the Earth, within an everlasting

inferno.

Epilogue

Donny rode swiftly in the helicopter four hours after his rescue from the plains. He was

staring at the pilots when he noticed something, something so slight…it was hardly

noticeable. Tattoo serpents on each man’s arm. Donny almost choked on his own saliva-

“It’s too simple-they must be all over the country!” he thought. When, rising over the

horizon was the city of Washington D.C.

- It was in flames.