Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Two
14th January 1977
Mitte, Berlin
The underground platforms of U-Bahn in the Alexanderplatz Station Complex were among the oldest stops in the network, many thought it a relic of an earlier era with the ornate decoration. This was reflected in the tiled floors, as well as the design of the newspaper stands, and ticketing booths. The vaulted ceilings lit by electric lights back when that had been the latest thing. Even the escalators that took people up to the street level had been the very latest technology at the time. All of that was covered by year’s if not decade’s worth of grime. Whatever was tracked in on people’s feet, carbon residue from the trains themselves, random rubbish that had either been forgotten or discarded. There were also many instances of vandalism or graffiti that were around. Every few years a new layer of paint had gone up, but the effect of that was usually temporary.
The station had been slated for renovation for years, but that would require closing it for a period of time and that would put further stress on the rest of the system. David Kuhn knew all of that by heart by now. He had been working as a Transit Officer for decades; since the end of the Soviet War. He had personally seen how the system had grown overtaxed as the city had grown around it despite all the efforts to expand and improve the transit system. The round of budget cuts that had come down from the Government in recent months had hardly helped matters. The savings struck David as being penny wise, pound foolish. They were eventually going to have to address the problems that existed and when they did it was going to be a whole lot more expensive.
Today was no different as the evening comminute brought people by the thousands from their jobs in the City Center out to the Suburbs where most of them lived. It being a Friday evening, there were also a considerable number of people going the other way to spend a night out on the town. It was David’s job to make sure that all of that went smoothly. Something that was easier said than done. At any time something might cause the movement of people through the stations to get snarled and that had a way of spreading rapidly through the system.
David stopped to give directions to a harried looking woman who was trying to keep control of her children as they made their way through the labyrinthine passages between the various platforms. He had the understanding that a key part of his job was to help wherever he could, be the friendly face that people could count on in an otherwise miserable situation. It was then that his radio crackled to life.
“Report of smoke on… please investigate… report…” Came the voice from Dispatch. It was an annoyance that the radios only kind of worked once you got underground. They were supposed to get something better when they got funding, so David figured that would happen about the same time Hell froze over.
“If you could repeat that” David said into microphone.
“…smoke on U8 Platform… report back…” Dispatch replied.
David wasn’t surprised. Most people would be astonished at how fire was a regular occurrence in places like this. Usually the result of carelessness, small fires in odd locations but most often in the rubbish bins were a fact of life. That was why he knew exactly where the fire extinguishers were kept in all the stations. Using the master key that all the Officers had, he opened the storage and grabbed one of the ubiquitous red extinguisher bottles. Walking down the tunnels and descending a set of stairs, David emerged onto the platform, checking the rubbish bins he passed and seeing that there was nothing to see as he pushed through the rush hour crowd, getting cussed at and curious looks in equal measure. Still, there was the smell that grew stronger as he reached the far end of the platform. It was one that David knew quite well. Burning plastic, paper, and dust. This one had the smells of hot metal and grease mixed in as well. He just couldn’t see a source.
“Dispatch this is TO33, please notify the Fire Brigade that I can smell smoke on Platform U8 with no obvious source” David said into the microphone of his radio. Getting assistance down here would probably speed up figuring out what was going on here. Besides, no one could say that David wasn’t doing his job here.
“TO33… Fire Brigade notified…” Dispatch said, “Continue investigation… Report…”
David just shrugged. He knew that they were doing their best. Limitations on equipment and all that. It was something that he had needed to contend with for his entire career.
Reaching the escalator, David saw that smoke was emerging from under the escalator and a small flame was emerging from the edge of treads. He wasn’t sure how to get to the fire if it was under there, the Fire Brigade would need to be informed. Turning around, he saw dozens of people waiting for the next train that was coming from Weinmeisterstraße. David could hear the train coming and could feel the wind as it was pushing the air ahead of it. Glancing back at the escalator, he saw the smoke was growing in density and curiously it was traveling upward only a few centimeters above the treads. Something about that caused the hairs to stand up on the back of his neck as he keyed the radio to tell dispatch that they needed to act that instant.
Before he could say anything though, the whole world exploded into fire…