First and Only by Dan Abnett Page B

didn’t want to turn back now. His mind raced as he reviewed his troop files, scrabbling to recall personal details.
    ‘Domor!’ he called, and the trooper hurried over.
    ‘Back on Tanith, you and Grell were engineers, right?’
    The young trooper nodded. ‘I was apprenticed to a timber haulier in Tanith Attica. I worked with heavy machines.’
    ‘Given the resources at hand, could you stop one of these trains?’
    ‘Sir?’
    ‘And then start it again?’
    Domor scratched his neck as he thought. ‘Short of blowing the mag-rail itself… You’d need to block or short out the power that drives the train. As I understand it, the trains move on the rails, sucking up a power source from them. It’s a conductive electrical exchange, as I’ve seen on batteries and flux-units. We’d need some non-conductive material, fine enough to lay across the rider-spine without actually derailing the train. What do you have in mind, sir?’
    ‘Stopping or slowing the next train that passes, jumping a ride and starting it again.’
    Domor grinned. ‘And riding it all the way to the enemy?’ He chuckled and looked around. Then he set off towards Colonel Zoren, who was conversing with some of his men as they rested. Gaunt followed.
    ‘Excuse me, sir,’ Domor began with a tight salute, ‘may I examine your body armour?’
    Zoren looked at the Tanith trooper with confusion and some contempt but Gaunt soothed him with a quiet nod. Zoren peeled off a gauntlet and handed it to Domor. The young Tanith examined it with keen eyes.
    ‘It’s beautiful work. Is this surface tooth made of glass bead?’
    ‘Yes, mica. Glass, as you say. Scale segments woven onto a base fabric of thermal insulation.’
    ‘Non-conductive,’ Domor said, showing the glove to Gaunt. ‘I’d need a decent-sized piece. Maybe a jacket – and it may not come back in one piece.’
    Gaunt was about to explain, hoping Zoren would ask for a volunteer from among his men. But the colonel got to his feet, took off his helmet and handed it to his subaltern before stripping off his own jacket.
    Stood in his sleeveless undervest, his squat, powerful frame, shaven black hair and black skin revealed for the first time, Zoren paused only to remove a slim, grey-sleeved book from a pouch in his jacket before handing it to Domor. Zoren carefully tucked the book into his belt.
    ‘I take it this is part of a plan?’ Zoren asked as Domor hurried away, calling to Grell and others to assist him.
    ‘You’ll love it,’ Gaunt said.
    * * *
    A WARM GUST of air announced the approach of the next train, some seventeen minutes or so after the first they had seen. Domor had wrapped the Vitrian major’s jacket over the rider-rail just beyond the spur and tied a length of material cut from his own camo-cloak to it.
    The train rolled into view. Every one of them watched with bated breath. The front cart passed over the jacket without any problem, suspended as it was just a few centimetres above the smooth rail by the electromagnetic repulsion so that the whole vehicle ran friction-free along the spine. Gaunt frowned. For a moment he was sure it hadn’t worked.
    But as soon as the front cart had passed beyond the non-conductive layer, the electromagnetic current was broken, and the train decelerated fast as the propelling force went dead. Forward momentum carried the train forward for a while – by the track-side, Domor prayed it would not carry the entire train beyond the circuit break, or it would simply start again – but it went dead at last and came to a halt, rocking gently on the suspension field.
    There was a cheer.
    ‘Mount up! Quick as you can!’ Gaunt ordered, leading the company forward. Vitrians and Tanith alike clambered up onto the bomb-laden carriages, finding foot and handholds where they could, stowing weapons and holding out hands to pull comrades aboard. Gaunt, Zoren, Milo, Bragg and six Vitrians mounted the front cart alongside Mkoll, Curral and Domor, who still