People were trying to tell him he was a genius. Were they right? Maybe. I don’t know if it was actual intellect or just being able to sound really smart. My best guess is a bit of both.

I sat across from him, in the train compartment. Oliver sat next to me, reading an old newspaper someone had left in here, probably some time ago. Vincent was looking out the window.

“See anything, Vince?” Oliver asked, bored of his newspaper.

“No…” Vincent responded, absentmindedly, the way he does when he’s thinking about something.

“What about you Charlie?”

I turned away from the window. “Not really. Not much to see in a desert. Particularly a desert at night. Anything interesting in that?” I point at the newspaper.

“Not really. Just a lot about things breaking down. Doubt any have been fixed.”

“What’s the year?”

“Don’t know, first page was sitting by the window for god knows how long. Most of the print is way too faded to read”

“Check the train map,” Vincent said, still looking out the window, but clearly listening. “Are there 2 stations in Palstaza, or one?”

Oliver flipped through a few pages, “Three”

Vincent moved his head away from the window slightly. He barely showed it, but he was interested, “It’s about 11 years old. Somewhere from May to July 2079.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because, Charlie, Palstaza Station Gamma opened May… May 8th, I believe, of that year. Palstza Station Beta had already been closed for several months by then, but it was only announced that it wouldn’t reopen in July. Can I see that paper, Oli?”

Oliver handed him the newspaper, and Vincent flipped through a couple of pages, before stopping on one.

“You find something you don’t already know?”

“No… no I knew about this, I had just forgotten. I rarely forget things.”

“Of course you do.”

“It’s late. You two should get some sleep. Fi went to bed nearly an hour ago.”

He was right, it was nearly 2 in the morning, and while we were riding the train for another 3 days at the minimum, I’d been up for nearly 20 hours.

Oliver nods, “He’s right, and Fi will wake me up by 8 either way, don’t wanna be too knackered tomorrow. G’night.”

Oliver left the compartment, leaving just Vincent and myself.

“What about you?” I ask, “Don’t you need sleep too?”

“We’re only in the desert for about 3 more hours. I want to enjoy that. I’ll sleep tomorrow.”

“Alright. I think I’ll head to bed too. Night Vince.”

“Goodnight.”

I left the compartment and started heading towards our sleeping car, the second one. I passed by Fiona, already asleep. I got to my bunk, it was above Oliver’s. As I climbed into bed, I heard him speak.

“He was right, you know?”

“What?”

“Vince. He was right about the stations. Palstaza Station Gamma opened May 8th, 2079. Station Beta closed July 15, 2079. I checked.”

“You surprised?”

“No. I’ve known the kid since he was four. Ten years. He’s never wrong.”

“Ten years? Wouldn’t that make him-”

“Fourteen. Wouldn’t guess that, would you, with the way he talks? Kid’s a prodigy.”

“Oli?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are we going? Shouldn’t we have been heading North, not South?”

“South is fastest way to the coast, boat is the fastest way to Alaska. Anyway, I’m tired, I’m going to go to sleep now.”

I saw his light turn off, and I did the same with mine. I looked out the window again, still empty desert, and soon fell asleep.