3.
Jenny and Gerald stood up and entered Mr. Sleeper’s office.
“Have a seat please!”
“Sit here, Gerald!”
“Can I have your ID, please?”
Jenny and Gerald handed over their ID.
“Once more, thank you for being in time! We appreciate punctuality and cooperation. We know it is not easy for you, the prospect for this day. We hope we can continue working together like this the rest of the day. We hate it ourselves to have to implement unnecessary force. At least you have saved us already from having to retrieve you from your home, as sometimes happens. It avoids extra efforts for the deployment of the local police either. Just let me, as a standard warning, tell you that, although our officers hate to implement force, they are well trained to cope with all kinds of situations very well. Whatever you would try, you will always be at the losing side. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do!” Jenny answered calmly.
“Good! Meanwhile, I have registered your presence here. Here is the confirmation. It says you reported in good order today at 06:25 a.m. in our offices.”
“All right!”, Jenny said.
“So, my job in this operation is over then. I have to hand you over to the officials and the team. You probably have noticed their arrival. They are waiting for you in our meeting room. I just need… where is it? Right, here! The transfer form! Everything official here! The three P’s that make a railroad company run efficiently! Procedures, Punctuality and Paperwork! Solid paperwork!”
Mr. Sleeper took a huge metal office stamp, and, with a ‘whack’, put a stamp on the transfer from.
“So, what do we have here? The white copy is for me”, Mr. Sleeper said, while he pushed the stamp down with a ‘whack!’. “The red copy will be for you! You see, in railroad operations, the color red always means ‘danger’! The yellow copy will be for the security crew, the green one for the district archive, the blue one for the security headquarters archive…” (any time, the stamp came down with a ‘whack’). “And there is also a grey copy, actually no one knows what it is for, but it is still attached, in case someone would request it! Now, I will sign them!”
When he got finished, he picked up the copies and stood up.
“Follow me, please!?”
“Gerald! Stand up!”
They left the office and went to the meeting room, where the crew chief, the woman with the brass and the man with the kepi were waiting. They were sitting along the meeting table, and observed Jenny and Gerald with a scrutinizing look as they entered. Jenny felt as if she was going to do exams.
“Form nr. 852bis, Mr. Stoker!” Mr. Sleeper said.
Mr. Sleeper gave the white paper of the transfer form to the man with the fancy kepi, who counter-signed it, gave it back to Mr. Sleeper, and then accepted the coloured copies. Then, Mr. Sleeper handed over Jenny and Gerald’s ID.
“So, I present you :” Mr. Sleeper said to Jenny and Gerald.
“Chief Station Master-General Stoker, Head of the Railroad District Nr. 5, in which the offense had been committed.” (so, this was the man with the kepi!).
“Captain Whistle, District Head of the Railroad Police & Security of Railroad District Nr. 5, and acting attorney in this case.” (the woman with the four golden stars).
“First Chief-sergeant Wheeltapper, leader of the team.” (the man from the jumpsuit crew who carried a suitcase).
“They are yours now, Mister Stoker! Maybe I come along this afternoon after lunch to have a look at the site.”
“Wait a minute, Mr. Sleeper!” the sergeant said “we still need form 317, the dispatch document of the two local security officers you put at our disposal!”
“Right! I will arrange it immediately!”
“By the way, Mr. Sleeper!” Mr. Stoker added, “ I think we need the grey copy of form 852bis for our archive, not the yellow one, that will stay here!”
“Sorry, Sir, I change it immediately!”
Mr. Sleeper left the meeting room. Meanwhile, Chief Station Master General Stoker took the word.
“So, Mr. and Mrs. L., on behalf of the railroad company, I thank you for presenting yourself in time as requested. I will put a little word here about the purpose and sense of the program you will be subjected today. Our company is constantly struggling with the problem of illegal trespassing and railroad crossing, particularly because of the risk of accidents these offenses bring about. We are doing all efforts to reduce the accident rate, by persuasion, by taking site specific security measures, and unfortunately also by repressive action. We have been so fortunate to reduce the daily rate of three to five lethal accidents to less than three, but we have to continue our efforts. I know, our trains are unfortunately reputed to be one of the most efficient suicide instruments, and we will never be able to eradicate that risk entirely, because we cannot put fences between our tracks and the platforms. But the risk of track walkers and track crossers must be further reduced. Accidents bring about a lot of inconveniences. The train driver’s trauma. The efforts of the emergency services to collect mutilated body parts. The frightening experience of the onlookers and the travelers on the train. The delays it causes. Trains standing still behind the accident. Perturbations of traffic. People missing appointments, losing money while having to wait! Considering your case, you have argued that visibility is very good on the place you committed your offense. But we cannot draw a line therein! It all can work a thousand times, but then you are hurried, you are not cautious, you are used to the risk. You only look half, you underestimate an oncoming train’s speed, and bang! Or you take the risk at bad visibility! No, we cannot be lenient about this! That’s why you are here! Think about that later this day! Captain Whistle?”
“Thank for your introduction, Chief Station Master Stoker”, Mrs. Whistle said. “Concerning Chief Station Master General Stoker’s role, besides representing the railroad district, he will also be in charge for all strictly railroad matters during the operations. But obviously, you will have to obey orders from him, as well as from all other staff! Let that be clear! Me, as attorney on this case, will supervise the movements. The practical conduct of the procedure is in the hands of Sergeant Wheeltapper, and his team. You will be in their hands and they will instruct and process you properly! They are handpicked, skilled people, and, to comfort you, they all are certified paramedics, for in case! But they are authorized to use force too. Once more! Just behave obedient and cooperative. Operations start at 08:00 a.m. All must be set at 08:30 a.m. Sergeant Wheeltapper? They are yours!”
Sergeant Wheeltapper stood up.
“Well, as Captain Whistle just said, I look forward to a good cooperation. My team will do anything to keep things as smoothly as possible. Just do what you are asked to do, and no harm will happen to you. Follow me, please!”
Jenny considered asking some explanation, but she hesitated and followed Mr. Wheeltapper.
“Come, Gerald!”
(to be continued)