The Trans-Siberian Railway...

The EIS team have arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, on route to liberate Albert Einstein. The EIS team consists of Alfie Baldrick, the one man rifle section; Mimi Dubois, maîtresse of skills; Madeline Forsyth, the living shadow; and Sven Hyse, the Norwegian shapeshifter.

Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, USSR, January 1950

Having eaten the hearty meal cooked by Mimi the team settle down in the safe house to get some rest and keep a low profile. Sven heads out in the late afternoon and walks through the green spaces of the city taking time to observe the local wildlife as well as a number of the citizens of Vladivostok, taking time to commit their images to memory for later use.

The following morning, Sunday, Artium returns with a large suitcase which he sets down on the kitchen table before throwing it open revealing several pistols, knives, and a pair of Kalashnikov automatic rifles. Sven grabs one of the AK-47s from the case and checks it over before raising a quizzical eyebrow in the direction of Artium. The agent shrugs and says:

I do not believe that you will be able to travel with them. But I got them just in case.

He also hands Madeline four tickets for the Vladivostok to Moscow Trans-Siberian Railway. The tickets are for two twin berth compartments, with the train due to leave at seven the following morning. Both Madeline and Mimi eschew taking a gun, but they do both help themselves to a knife each. Sven puts down the Kalashnikov and heads to the kitchen to get some breakfast, leaving the Alfie Baldrick to pick up the six pistols. Alfie heads back to his bedroom and duplicates out Billy, Charlie, Davy, Fredie, and Georgie who each grab one of the guns before being absorbed back into Alfie leaving just one Baldrick holding a single pistol.

The Sunday passed uneventfully and the team headed to bed early preparing for their early start, and long before the sun had risen on the Russian skyline Artium had arrived at the safe house to drive the EIS Team to Vladivostok train station. The team are waved through the ticket barriers by the armed guards without a second glance, all apart from Baldrick who gets the definite side-eye from one of the soldiers but it comes to nothing. The team locate their cabins and pair off with Madeline and Mimi sharing one cabin, and Sven getting what he considers the short straw and partnering with Alfie. All four of the team leave themselves packed for a swift exit if required, but Madeline does take the time to find a good hiding place for her dagger.

Eventually the train pulls slowly out of Vladivostok station heading north. Thirty five minutes out and the ticket inspector knocks on the ladies cabin door and asks to see their tickets. Mimi talks to him in depth for a few minutes weaving their prepared backstory for the inspector, she obviously does a good job as he leaves without further questions and walks to the men's cabin and knocks loudly. Sven answers and the inspector, having already received a thorough explanation of the reason for their journey from Mimi, merely asks to see their tickets. A simple request, but one that Alfie somehow manages to mess up. As he is reaching for his ticket he realises that it is in the same pocket as his hidden pistol, and in his rush to comply and show his ticket he just pulls the gun out of his pocket and holds it it the air.

The ticket inspector is understandably agitated by the unexpected turn of events, looks at Sven and blusters:

What is he doing with that on this train? I'm going to have to report this you know!

Sven places a calming arm around his shoulders and walks him back towards the women's cabin saying:

I really think that you should speak to our boss before you do anything rash.

Sven taps gently on the cabin door and asks aloud for Dama Orloff. Madeline opens the door and asks what the problem is. Sven explains what has happened and Madeline adopts the look of an angry matriarch and stomps to the door of the men's cabin and starts to berate Alfie loudly in perfect Russian. Obviously, Alfie doesn't understand a word of it, but he does get the meaning and does his best to look contrite. Having verbally chastened Baldrick, Madeline turns back to the ticket inspector and explains:

I apologise for my man. He is not the cleverest, but in our line of duty it is sometimes essential to have armed protection.

Madeline continues to work her vocal magic and by the time that the ticket inspector moves on he seems far less concerned by the situation. A couple of hours out of Vladivostok the train stops and Madeline leans out of the window to see that the train engineers are hooking up a couple of extra carriages to the rear of the train, both of which appear to be cargo wagons. Wandering if it might mean something, Madeline grabs Alfie and leads him off to look for the dinning car. Having eaten, and made sure that Baldrick doesn't make a scene, the pair head back to the cabins and swap places with Mimi and Sven allowing them to get some refreshments.

The Trans-Siberian train pulls into Khabarovsk just before ten in the evening and Mimi takes the opportunity to disembark in search of cigarettes and pipe tobacco. She also uses it as an opportunity to push out with her senses and make sure that there are no other enhanced individuals within her range, she breathes a sigh of relief when she doesn't get any other returns apart from her travelling companions.

Tuesday morning sees another visit from a different ticket inspector, but this time Madeline takes full control of the conversation and the ticket inspector heads off along the corridor an unconcerned man. The dark grey sky gives way to heavy snow as the train turns northwest and by the time that it pulls into a heavily militarized Belogorsk it is difficult to see more than fifty feet through the blizzard like conditions. Another cold night passes and Wednesday morning comes with a dark snow laden sky, and yet another ticket inspection by yet another different ticket inspector.

Mimi speaks to him first and all goes smoothly, but when he speaks to Sven the Norwegian's Russian accent slips and the ticket inspectors attention is suddenly focused on what Sven is saying. The ticket inspector insists on seeing both Sven and Alfie's papers, which they happily hand over, but while the keen train guard is looking intently through them he is distracted by someone stumbling out of a cabin further along the carriage and he thrusts the papers back at Sven before rushing off along the corridor.

That evening the train pulls into Ulan-Ude and Alfie spots a lake in the distance through the gently falling snow. Still intrigued by the cargo carriages added at the start of the journey Madeline grabs Mimi and the pair stroll along the snow covered platform having a cigarette. When they realise that the train is too long for them to get close enough for Mimi to push out with her senses and reach the cargo wagons they return back to their cabin and Mimi borrows Madeline's enhanced abilities and the pair transform into shadows and slip from the train. They slide onto the undercarriage and get within range of the end cars. Mimi pushes out with her senses but gets no returns. As a precaution, Madeline and Mimi check the full length of the train and confirm that there are no other enhanced individuals aboard.

Thursday follows a similar pattern to the previous days as a different ticket inspector pays the team a visit, which Madeline once again takes control of and makes sure that it passes smoothly. The train rolls downhill and passes Lake Baikal before climbing once again out of the valley and heading north and then west towards Novosibirsk. During the journey the team agree that they are going to slip covertly from the train when they reach their destination, and they prepare their gear for this. But when Friday night sees the train pull into Novosibirsk station, they see that several people are disembarking and so they quickly grab their bags and slip away in the crowd.

Madeline manages to hail the only taxi at the rank, and gets the sleepy driver to take them to a reasonable hotel where they book a couple of rooms and breakfast. Saturday morning the team rise and Madeline reapplies everyone's disguise before they all head down to the dinning room for a good breakfast to prepare for the next leg of their rescue mission.