The Argo Goes West

24, Attack of Scylla and Charybdis, part 2

"A pincer attack is cowardly!"

Sergeant Paul Reisman frowned bitterly. He was in Car No. 8 with four cannons. The cannons pointed left and right and were useless against the enemy in front and behind. The gunfire and vibrations from the last car boosted his morale, but he couldn't fight. Sergeant Riseman was impatient.

"Damn it!"

He spat and headed for the car in front.

"Sergeant, where are you going?" asked one of his men.

"I'll see what the monster ahead is," he replied.

He jumped onto the deck of Car 7 and climbed up the ladder next to the door. The roof shook and it must have been difficult to stand, but he stood with his hands on his hips.

The monster looked just like the Kraken, a mythical creature he had seen in book illustrations when he was a child. It crawled toward the Argo, with its many tentacles undulating, not over the sea, but over the reddish wastes of Texas. How eerie and disgusting! Sergeant Reisman thought it shouldn't exist. He recited a passage from Deuteronomy in his head. 'you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.'

Sergeant Reisman turned to return to his post. He saw several civilians in suits on the roof of the car four cars behind him.

"What are they doing!?"

Joe Arbogast was yelling from the deck of Car 11 to the roof.

"Come back Floyd. You're not young anymore!"

Floyd Murdock, who was on all fours on the roof, replied loudly. "Mind your own business! The important thing for a newspaper reporter is whether or not he can write a good article, not his age. If I can't write that, I'll stop being a journalist." He was clinging to the roof and couldn't turn around. So, he wasn't sure if his voice had reached Arbogast.

"Are you okay?"

Clifford Kent, who was ahead of Murdoch, asked worriedly.

"You don't care about me and just go."

When Murdoch replied, the cannon roared again. The vibration knocked Murdoch off balance and rolled him over the roof. His hand looked for something to grab onto, but there was nothing. Someone's strong hand gripped his left hand.

It was Clifford Kent. "Are you okay?" asked Kent with a carefree smile, trying to put Murdoch at ease.

"Are you okay? Are you okay? Is that the only thing you can say?" Murdoch taunts Kent even though he helps him.

"Excuse me. I'm a novice reporter and don't have a lot of vocabulary."

"You're certainly a novice reporter. You still don't know what a reporter should do at a time like this."

"If you don't mind, can you tell me?"

"Yes, I'll tell you. Leave me alone and aim for the last car."

"I can't do that," Kent replied, puzzled.

"Why? Don't you want to write a good article?"

When Kent was at a loss for an answer, Arbogast's voice came from his feet. "It's going to be a good article."

Kent saw Arbogast and other journalists trying to reach for Murdoch from the train window.

"Here's the headline: Veteran Reporter Falls from Train Roof, Life Saved by Novice Reporter" Arbogast winked mischievously.

"Good. We're getting closer and closer to our target."

In the last car, Hawk Galloway put his slouch hat back on and called out to his men. Just behind Galloway, the Edison crew was filming with a kinetograph. Galloway was always picky about the appearance of his subordinates. Don't wrinkle your uniform. Maintain your gig line. His men got so fed up with him that they nicknamed him "Man of Iron". (It means an iron that smooths out wrinkles in clothes.) Now the camera was recording Galloway's perfect military appearance. He raised his voice more clearly than usual, hoping that the young soldiers would watch this film and learn from it.

"Everyone, do your best!"