“Thanks for coming out and helping me load this shuttle onto my trailer, Klang and Jackal.” Jochen looks at them. He wipes away the sweat that was sliding down into his eyes.
“No problem, Jochen. The sooner you get this thing back to Pines Bluff, Wyoming, the better.” Jackal was already dealing with one problem because of this shuttle.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be on the road in a few minutes.” Jochen activates the special concealment screens.
They raise and conceal the shuttle. As soon as they formed the rectangle box around the shuttle. Jetson Moving Company print appeared on
either side of the trailer.
“There, that should conceal the shuttle until I get back.”
Klang and Jackal were amazed by the technology Jochen’s rig was equipped with. For a backwater planet, some people had some amazing technology available to them. They knew the owner of Aero Flight had access to the technology they shouldn’t have. Ever since the red hair woman intercepted one of their cloak communications probes. They have been working with them.
They have been working with her organization. Jackal had to get clearance from his superiors, which meant sending a long-range subspace message. Once he received the okay, his team and Aero Flight were permitted to work more closely.
Jochen climbs inside the cab of his rig. He waves goodbye to Klang and Jackal as he starts driving back the way he came. It was going to be a long drive to Wyoming.
Down on Interstate 15:
Eric floors the accelerator as he tries to get away from Drake’s goons. He had planned the thief down to every detail. How in the hell did Drake find out that he stole the bag of diamonds already? He tries to keep control of his car, as it is hit from behind.
His car is hit again and manages to keep control. Someone, informed Drake, but who? He feels his car hit again and just as he takes a twisty turn, he spins out of control. The next thing he knows, he is rolling off the Interstate and into the desert. He was hanging upside down by his seat belt, with a black velvet bag lying near his head.
He unfastens his seat belt and crawls out of the car. He could hear the other car that was chasing him, skidding to a halt. He grabs the black velvet bag and starts running. His leg was hurting him as he ran.
He feels a bullet strike him, as he falls forward and hits his head on a rock. Just before he passes out, he feels something sharp poke him in his back. The bag of diamonds falls next to him. The car he was in explodes, sending the two men chasing him flying backward.
Jochen was listening to some music as he drove down the Interstate. So, far he has been on the road for two hours when he spots a naked person walking down the Interstate.
“Matilda, enhance the image on the screen.”
The image enhances, on the front windshield. The person appeared from the rear, looked to be a young naked girl with long wavy dirty blonde hair. He also noticed a tiny silver square in the middle of her back. He spotted that she was carrying a small black bag in her right hand.
“What the heck?” Jochen was confused about what he was seeing.
He pulls his rig in behind the girl and comes to a complete stop. He hops out of the cab and runs up to her.
“Hey, miss! Are you okay?” Jochen puts his hand on her left shoulder.
The girl stops in her tracks as Jochen walks around to look at her face. Her eyes looked like they were glazed over like she was in some sort of a trance or confused. She had a cute heart shape face and a small nose. Locks of her wavy dirty blonde hair hung down covering her
forehead.
“Hey, are you alright?” Jochen watches her gray eyes to see if she understood him.
She shakes her head no, as she collapses forward into his arms. She was still clenching the small bag in her right hand.
“Shit!” Jochen picks the young girl up and carries her back to Matilda.
He lays her down on the mattress in the cab. He looks at her and wonders what happened to her. He couldn’t see any injuries on her. He rolls her over to look at the silver metallic square in the center of her back. He gives it a gentle tug and it comes off.
Jochen grabs a plastic sandwich bag and drops it into the bag. He turns the girl back over and looks at her “who are you and what happened to you?”
He moves to the driver seat and starts heading towards his destination. He holds up the plastic sandwich bag and looks at the silver metallic square “Matilda, contact Sarah. Use secure code.”
Jochen watches as on the front windshield as Matilda connects with Aero Flight's secured communications system.
Aero Flight Secret Research Facilities, Pines Bluff, Wyoming:
Sarah was at her assigned station when communication comes through. She identifies the incoming signal as belonging to Kola Bear. She presses a few buttons “what’s the problem, Kola Bear?”
“I know I shouldn’t have broken protocol, but I picked up a passenger and I need for you to identify them.”
“Who did you pick up, Kola Bear?” Sarah knew it was against company policy to have a rider.
“I don’t know who she is Sarah. She was walking down the Interstate naked and barefoot.” Jochen glances back to look at the girl.
“Did you say naked and barefoot?” Sarah wanted to make sure she heard Jochen right.
“Yes, naked and barefoot. Also, she had this weird-looking metallic square on her skin, on her back.” Jochen holds up the plastic sandwich bag.
“Hhhmm, send me her images and anything else you have on her.”
“Sending, now.” Jochen presses a few buttons on his windshield.
“Alright, I’ll get back with you when I find out who she is.” Sarah figures it was going to take her a while.
“Alright, I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Jochen ends the transmission.
Six Hours Later:
The girl starts to wake-up. She opens her eyes and felt extremely hungry and thirsty. She also felt extremely confused as well. She had no idea where she was or who she was. She looks towards the driver and wonder who he is. She sits up and as she does, her stomach growls loud.
Jochen heard a growling sound coming from behind him. He glances back and notices that the girl was sitting up “are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“There’s half a sub in the refrigerator near you. You can have it and if your thirsty there’s some water and soda in there as well. You’re welcome to them.”
The girl reaches forward and opens the refrigerator. She spots a white wrapped package. She grabs it and bottles water as well. She drinks the water first because she felt extremely thirsty. After she finishes the water, she unwraps the white package and starts eating the sandwich.
“Matilda, engage autopilot.”
Jochen watches as the girl devours the sandwich. She was acting like she hasn’t eaten in days.
“If you’re still hungry, there’s a bag of potato chips that I haven’t opened yet.” Jochen was amused by the girl.
“Thank you.” The girl grabs the bag and starts eating the chips.
While she is eating, Jochen figures he might go ahead and ask her, who she is. He didn’t know, why she was so hungry.
“So, do you have a name?”
The girl stops eating and looks at Jochen and shakes her head no. She didn’t know what her name was. It was like there was some sort of
mental block in her mind.
“Can you tell me what happened to you, at least?” Jochen watches the girl.
“I don’t remember.” She looked so confused because there was something that wanted to surface, but she couldn’t recall what it was.
“Can you at least, tell me what happened to your clothes?” Jochen could see the girl was having a hard time remembering things.
“I can’t recall.”
She didn’t know what to think, because everything was so mixed up. Some things didn’t make sense to her and things she couldn’t access like it was blocked off.
“It's okay.” Jochen stands up and grabs a t-shirt and a pair of clean boxers for the girl to wear.
“Here, you can wear these, until we get you some clothes.” As he hands the clothes to her.
“Thank you.” As she accepts them.
Afterward, she goes back to eating the chips. When she is done, she slips the t-shirt and boxers on. Both were baggy on her slim body.