“Jochen, why is the steering wheel and all your gauges on the right-hand side of your truck?”

“Before I answer you, would you mind if I give you a name?” Jochen figures it would be easier to talk with her.

“I don’t mind, Jochen.” The girl watches Jochen as he examines her.

“How about I call you, Sidney?”

“Sidney?” The girl thinks about it for a few minutes.

Jochen switches over to autopilot and turns his seat around to look at the girl. He wonders if she minds being called Sidney.

“I think Sidney will work, Jochen.” She looks at Jochen as he sat in front of her.

“Well, Sidney. The reason my steering wheel and gauges are on the right-hand side of my truck is Matilda was built in Australia. I was driving her over in Australia when I was offered a job over here in the states. Instead of driving a truck built here in the United States, I wanted to drive Matilda.”

“But doesn’t that make things a little difficult for you?” Sidney wanted to understand Jochen and the truck she was in.

“Nope, I have been driving in the outback since I was nineteen years old. Here in America, it's easy and most of the truckers here, wouldn’t last long in the outback. You have to deal with flooding, kangaroos, camels, rock slides, mud, bush fires, and other natural things that can cause you to lose your truck and your life.” Jochen counts himself lucky on some of the serious incidents he has been involved with.

“Oh! So, have you always driven Matilda?”

“The original Matilda was driven by my grandfather. Then, when he retired, my father started driving Matilda. This version of Matilda is the sixth truck to carry the name.”

“Are all trucks capable of doing what Matilda can do?”

“Nope, Matilda is one of a kind. She is the brainchild of me and a chief mechanic named Gears. You’ll meet him when we arrive at the
research facilities.” Jochen knows, Sidney will be tested down in medical, while they are there.

“Will you be with me?” Sidney was feeling nervous.

A smile appears on Jochen’s face “of course, I’ll be with you. I promise to stay by your side, the whole time we are there.”

“Thank you.” Sidney felt better knowing Jochen would be with her.

“Sidney, I do have one question for you. Why do you clinch that black bag so hard?” Jochen points towards the bag still in Sidney’s hand.

Sidney looks at the bag in her right hand. She knows it was special, but she didn’t know why it was special.

“I don’t know. I know it is special to me, but I can’t recall why it is special.” Sidney hated the fact she couldn’t remember anything.

“Well, if you don’t mind my helping you. I can put the bag somewhere safe until we figure out what happened to you.” Jochen figures he could lock it up in the small safe inside Matilda.

“Alright, I trust you.” Sidney hands the small bag to Jochen.

Jochen accepts the bag and kneels on the floor near her feet. He presses a panel and a lockbox slides out. He taps in some numbers to open the safe. Once it opens, he drops the bag inside and locks it again.

“There, it will be safe, until you need it.” Jochen sits back in the driver's seat.

“Thank you.” Sidney covers up a yawn.

“Why don’t you lay back down and get some sleep. We still have another five hours before we arrive at the research facilities.”

“Okay.” Sidney lays down on the cot and wraps the blanket around her body.

Jochen turns back around in his seat and disengages the autopilot. He loved all the bells and whistles Matilda had built into her. He never has to stop, unless it was to refuel. The self-driving system Matilda was built with, could drive them to any destinations.

After about an hour, Jochen comes upon a convoy. He blows his horns “this here is the Kola Bear, do you guys mind if I join your convoy?”

“Highway Man to Kola Bear, you’re more than welcome to join our convoy. Come in and drop inline.” As space opens up for Jochen.

Jochen pulls right into space and travel with them. He travels with them, up to a certain point, before having to leave them. He looks at the navigation display and notices she was only thirty minutes away.

He transmits his clearance code on a coded channel as he continues on the route. After thirty minutes, he comes to a checkpoint. He comes to a complete stop and rolls down his window.

A guard dressed in black body armor comes up to his door “who else is riding with you Kola Bear?”

Jochen recognizes the voice coming from the helmet. He has played poker with the guy.

“A young teenage girl that has no idea who she is or how she ended up on the highway, totally nude.” Jochen watches the guard.

“Alright, go to level twelve and drop your load off and head back up to level seven for your inspection. Dr. Yung will meet you on level seven.”

“Alright.” Jochen heads towards the old converted silo and pulls into a building.

Once Jochen was properly secured. He and his rig are lowered down to level twelve. The trailer is detached from the cab. Once that is done,
Jochen and Matilda are raised back up to level seven.

Once the lift stops moving, he notices Dr. Yung standing and waiting for him. Standing next to her, was Gears.

“It’s about time you brought Matilda in for her check-up.” Gears look at Matilda as Jochen climbs out of her.

“Yeah, yeah. She’s all yours, but first, let me get my passenger out of her.”

Dr. Yung looks at Jochen “how old would you say she is?”

“She looks to be at least fifteen years old or so.”

“And you found her walking down the highway?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Dr. Yung makes a few notes on her clipboard. She looks back towards Jochen “alright, let's see her.”

Cafeteria Secret Research Facilities:
Jochen watches as Sidney pack away two cheeseburgers, a chicken sandwich, and a large order of seasoned french fries. He knew she spent four hours with Dr. Yung as she performed a physical and psychological test on her. According to what Dr. Yung found out about Sidney, she was in perfect health. There was nothing physically wrong with her body.

As for what the silver square he found on the back of Sidney was. It was the same items that had been inside the shuttle he brought back from Death Valley. According to what Dr. Yung told him, a person could permanently change their physical appearance to the shape programmed into the square.

Dr. Yung figures that whatever caused Sidney to forget who she was or use to be had to happen before she was changed. That was the only explanation as to why Sidney couldn’t remember who she was original.

“Hey, slow down and enjoy the food.”

Sidney slows down and blushes from Jochen’s comment. She couldn’t help herself. She was feeling hungry after all the tests Dr. Yung and her staff gave her.

Dr. Yung gave her a plain pink jumpsuit and a pair of pink tennis shoes to wear. A biochip had been implanted in her as well. Dr. Yung informed her that it would allow her to monitor her and allow her to move around the base. It would only let her access rooms she had clearance for.

“Sorry, Jochen.” Sidney takes a bite out of her chicken sandwich.

“It’s okay. I just don’t want to see you choke on your food. No one is going to take it away from you.”

“I know, I just feel so hungry and I don’t know why.” Sidney finishes her chicken sandwich.

“Well, you are a teenager and I bet you used up a lot of energy from the test Dr. Yung gave you.” Jochen takes a sip of his sweet tea.

“Are we staying here tonight or heading back out on the road?” Sidney looks at Jochen for an answer.

“It all depends on Gears. If he is done with Matilda’s checkup and has put her back together. We can leave tonight. If not, it will be tomorrow morning. Is there any place, in particular, you want me to drop you?”

“I don’t have anywhere to be and I was hoping you would let me travel with you?” Sidney looks at Jochen with puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip.

Jochen just shakes his head at her pouty look. He didn’t have a problem with her traveling with him.

“You can travel with me, but I have a few rules you’ll have to follow. Since you appear to be a teenager, that means I’m responsible for anything you do. So, you’ll need to be on your best behavior. Secondly, you can’t tell anyone anything about Matilda and her special abilities.
You also can’t mention this base location to anyone either. Thirdly, Dr. Yung thinks your memory loss is due to some trauma you had before being changed into what you currently are.”

“What do you mean, by changed into what I am?” Sidney was confused by that statement.

“Didn’t Dr. Yung explain this to you?” Jochen figured she would have told Sidney she hasn’t always been who she is.

“No, she just showed me what to do when my period starts. She said I was nearing the start of it.”

Jochen almost choked on his drink. He forgot all about girls and their monthly gifts. When he takes Sidney shopping for clothes, he’ll have to remember to get her physical hygiene items as well.

Sidney noticed Jochen almost choke on his drink. A smirk appears on her face. She thought it was funny.

Jochen recovers from almost choking on his drink. He looks at Sidney and saw she had a smirk on her face.

“We’ll discuss the rest of the rules later.”

“Okay.”

After dinner, Jochen and Sidney head down to the motor pool to check on Matilda and to see how long they were going to be staying. As they
walk into the bay, they notice at least two other trucks were parked.

“Who do those rigs belong to?” Sidney stops to look at the first one.

It had a futuristic design to it and look like it was more streamlined than Matilda or the next one parked next to it. It had a huge front windshield and look like it could make tighter turns.

“That is Snowflake and is still under development. She’ll be assigned to Brown Betty. The one next to her belongs to The Texan. He’s a 1977 Kenworth and is one of the oldest trucks in the fleet.”

“How many other trucks belong to the fleet?” Sidney was curious.

“Don’t know. I just know the truck drivers stationed here.” Jochen knew the people who hired him kept certain things secret.

“So, how many are there?” Sidney was curious.

“Sidney, that is something I can’t tell you.”

Sidney seemed a little disappointed, but she agreed to Jochen’s rules. They walk over to where Matilda was parked and every access panel and such were opened on her.

“GEARS!” Jochen couldn’t believe his poor truck was exposed like she was.

“What?” Gears come sliding out from underneath Matilda.

“Why do you have my poor girl exposed like this?” Jochen waves his hand towards Matilda.

“I’m running diagnostics on all her special functions and checking her main computer out. You have been a little hard on her.” Gears pick up his tablet and bring up what the system told him was wrong.

“We’ve been doing a lot of hauling and carrying a lot of special deliveries.”

“Well, I have to replace some units in her and recalibrate her defense systems. Also, you're running richer than normal and I need to find out what is causing that.” Gears look towards Sidney and Jochen.

“So, how long am I stuck here?” Jochen preferred to be out on the highway.

“Give me two days to get the old lady back into tip-top shape.” Gears figures that should be long enough.

“Fine, do what you need to do. I swear she was better off without all this special gear.” Jochen now wishes she had stayed normal.

“Oh, you know you love all her special technology.” Gears just smile as he goes back to work.

Jochen turns around and leads Sidney back to the normal elevator. Once they are in it “let’s go and do some shopping for you.”

“What here?” Sidney didn’t know there was a shopping center or store in the base.

“No, in town. I’ll borrow a car and take you shopping.”

Once the elevator reaches the top floor. Jochen leads Sidney to a building away from the silo.

“So, what do you think of everything, Sidney?”

“It’s okay, I guess. Why is it out in the middle of nowhere?” Sidney didn’t see anything else around, except trees and open fields.

“That is something I can’t tell you.” Jochen sort of knew, but he didn’t know how to explain it to Sidney.

They managed to get a car from the building they were heading to. Sidney buckles herself in and wonders what she should get.

“Let’s go and get you some clothes, Sidney.” Jochen puts the car in gear and drives off.

Jochen glances back behind him at Sidney’s sleeping form. She was curled up under the covers on the bed in the sleeper area of the cab. Tatiana in research had intercepted a report from a State Trooper of two cars involved in an accident. The location wasn’t far from where he had picked Sidney up on the highway. She was going to do more research into who was involved and who the cars belonged to.

Jochen presses the auto-drive button and lets go of the steering wheel. He searches through his music playlist and selects one. He plays the music but keeps it low so as not to wake Sidney. They had left the base at four in the morning.

There were a few things he had to get help with, for Sidney. She may have a female body, but there were certain things that girls learn from their mothers as they grew. Some of the women at the base took Sidney and helped her learn as much as she could before they left.

They were deadheading to a manufacturing facility that Blake medical owned. They were to pick up the load there and take it to the Eastern distribution hub for Blake Medical. The manufacturing facilities were only a day's ride from the base, so that part wasn’t too bad.

Jochen grabs a cold coffee from the mini frig in Matilda. While he is enjoying the cold coffee, he checks Matilda’s system. Everything comes back all green. A big smile appears on his face as the Gambler by Kenny rogers starts playing. He plumes forgot that he had that song among the many mp3 he has collected and bought over the years.

He said, "Son, I've made a life
Out of readin' people's faces
Knowin' what the cards were
By the way, they held their eyes
So if you don't mind my sayin'
I can see you're out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey
I'll give you some advice"

Jochen was on the perfect pitch as he sang along to the song. He may have grown up in Australia, but he wishes he had been born during western times. He leans back in his seat and disengages the auto-drive system. There’s a slight switch as the system switches over.

Jochen continues to listen to his music as Matilda travels down the interstate. He wonders who Sidney use to be and why she can’t recall who she is.

“What time is it?” Sidney wakes up and spots that Matilda was traveling on a busy interstate.

“It's ten in the morning, Sidney. You’ve been asleep for the last six hours.”

“I was tired.” Sidney moves to the passenger seat and looks out the front window.

She was still wearing the pink pajamas she had gone to bed in. She covers up a yawn as she leans back in the seat and puts her feet up on the dash.

“Feet on the floor, Sidney.” Jochen had watched as Sidney put her feet on the dash.

“Yes sir.” Sidney folds her legs under her and sits in the seat Indian style.

Jochen just shakes his head. He had a big grin on his face.

“How much longer do we have before we arrive?” Sidney was curious.

“We should be at the manufacturing facilities by tomorrow morning. After that, we have a two-day journey to the Eastern hub.”

“Aren’t you required to take time off?” Sidney had read the rules for truckers, while at the base.

“That’s the thing about Matilda being able to drive herself. I can record that I took some rest time and still let her drive.” Jochen liked the fact
Matilda could drive herself.

“Oh, isn’t that sort of cheating?” Sidney looks at Jochen with a puzzled look on her face.

“Not really, considering now a lot of companies are switching to self-driving trucks and they don’t have to follow the same rules as human drivers.” Jochen knew Blake Industries have already perfected the self-driving software.

“Are we going to stop for lunch?” Sidney was feeling a little hungry.

“Ah! Now the truth comes out. Yes, we can stop for lunch. There’s a nice truck shop on this route that serves the best comfort food you have ever tasted.” Jochen liked Rosie’s truck stop.

“I don’t know if I have ever tasted any comfort food, before.” Sidney hated the fact that she couldn’t recall anything about her past. It was frustrating and she wanted to know, why.

The next few hours, Sidney changes into some normal clothes in the back of the cab. Once she was changed into some normal clothes. She sits back down in the passenger seat and starts reading a story on a Fire Kindle Jochen bought for her when they went shopping.

Around two in the afternoon, Jochen pulls into Rosie’s truck stop. The place was busy as Jochen parks Matilda away from all the traffic.

“Alright, we're here.” Jochen looks over towards Sidney.

“Good, my stomach was starting to growl.” Sidney grabs her purse and slips on her shoes. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a nice blouse.

Once Jochen climbs down from Matilda. Jochen opens a hidden panel and type in his security code. He closes the panel afterward.

“Did you just activate Matilda’s security systems?”

“Yep. Now, let's go and put some food in you.” Jochen starts walking towards the entrance of the restaurant.

Sidney just smiles as she follows Jochen towards the entrance. As she walks beside him, she just stops when a black SUV drives in front of them. A memory flashed inside her head.

Jochen notices Sidney stopping all of suddenly. He was watching her eyes and notices she was staring at the black GMC SUV that just passed in front of them.

“Did that SUV just trigger a memory?”

“Yes, but I can’t make sense of it.” Sidney looks at Jochen with a confused look on her face.

“Just think about it and we’ll talk about it after lunch.” Jochen figures if Sidney thinks about it, it might come back to her.

“Okay.” Sidney felt that the flash of memory she had, was important to her, but why?

She follows Jochen into the restaurant.

Song Lyrics By Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

Sidney watches from Matilda’s cab at the manufacturing plant. She was watching the video feed from the back of the truck as Jochen and several guys loaded the trailer. She was asked by Jochen to remain in the cab because security was tight at the manufacturing plant.

She didn’t mind, because she could see what they were doing from the cameras in the trailer and the ones mounted high on Matilda’s cab.
She notices that there was security personnel were watching what was going on. Every time something was loaded into the trailer, they would inspect it and make sure that it matched what was on the manifest.

Sidney wonders why security was so tight for a bunch of medical equipment. She’ll have to ask Jochen once they leave and was on the road. As for the memory flashback, she had at the truck stop. It has been bugging her and she didn’t know why. Every time she thought about the image, she would start feeling scared.

The twenty minutes, Sidney continues to watch as the trailer is loaded and secured. Matilda beeps as a light on her dash flashes. Sidney watches as the light blinks on and off. She has no idea what it means, so she doesn’t touch anything on the driver's side of the cab.

Jochen doubles check everything as he watches as the tags are put on the lock. He knows if those tags are removed, it will alert the hub. Which would mean he’ll have to answer questions as to why they were removed.

“Alright, Jochen you’re all loaded and ready to go. You’ll have to two days to get to the Eastern hub.” Clint looks at Jochen with a smile on his face.

“Thanks, Clint. Is there anything special you want me to bring back from the Eastern hub for you?” Jochen knew Clint had connections at the Eastern hub.

“Not this trip. Maybe the next load you take to them. Just be careful out on the highway. There are rumors that a few trucks have been hijacked and their loads have been stolen.”

“Well, I would like to see that happen to Matilda. Those hijackers will get a lesson they will never forget.”

“Coming from you, I can believe that. Still, be careful out there, partner.”

“I will.” Jochen heads towards the cab.

As he climbs into the cab “so, are you ready to get going?”

“Yes, it’s been kind of boring watching you and the other guys work. Oh! Why was that light was blinking?” Sidney points towards the blinking light.

“That’s to let me know the load is secured and the security system is active. It will go off when I start Matilda.” Jochen starts Matilda up.

Sidney watches as the blinking light turns off. She had to admit that it was a unique idea.

“Why does it do that thou?”

“Well, some drives get in such a hurry, that sometimes they fail to get everything, or sometimes the connection between the cab and the trailer isn’t working right. So, this way we know everything is working.” Jochen puts Matilda into gear and starts pulling away from the loading dock.

Sidney sits back in her chair and watches as Jochen goes through the gears and navigates the streets back to the interstate ramp. She’s been enjoying the trip so far. She couldn’t wait until they get out on the interstate.

She just watches Jochen as he navigates the traffic and finally makes it to the interstate. She waves at some of the other truckers as they drive by them. Some of them have never seen a right-hand side driven eighteen-wheeler before.

Some of the State police and city police have never seen a truck like Matilda before. She checks what the weather is going to be on the route they were going to be taking.

“Looks like we're going to hit a nasty thunderstorm later tonight.” Sidney looks over towards Jochen.

“Nothing I haven’t been through before. These storms here in the states aren’t as bad as the ones we get in Australia.”

“Won’t lighting be a problem for Matilda?” Sidney was curious about what would happen to Matilda if she got struck.

“Nope, she’s protected. So, have you had any more of those flashbacks or know what the other one means?” Jochen glances at Sidney.

“I haven’t had any more flashbacks, but every time I recall the other one, I start getting scared. Something about the memory scares me and I wish I knew why.” Sidney hated not knowing what it meant.

“Well, give yourself time. Maybe more of your memory will return.” Jochen wonders what Sidney was like when she was someone else.

Most of the afternoon traffic was heavy. Jochen wanted to hit some of the drivers who all suddenly pull in front of him. He had a few that were trying to hide in his blind spots, but he was glad that Matilda had cameras that surrounded her.

As the afternoon continued, Jochen was starting to hate coming to the route he picked. Traffic came to a standstill because there was an accident up ahead of them.

“All this technology at my command and I still get stuck in traffic.” Jochen couldn’t believe he was sitting still.

A smirk appears on Sidney’s face as she looks out through the front windshield of Matilda. The interstate was a parking lot, as all the cars and trucks in front of them were sitting still as well.

“Can’t you bring up a satellite image to see how bad traffic is?” Sidney has been going over the owner’s manual.

“Matilda, lock onto Blake’s satellite systems and give me an overview of this traffic.”

A hologram appears on the windshield and shows their location. The Interstate looked to be blocked for a good five to ten miles because of a five-car accident up ahead of them. The nearest exit to get off the interstate was at least five miles past the accident.

“Damn! We are going to be sitting here for a while.” Jochen didn’t like what he was seeing.

“That does suck.” Sidney had to admit she didn’t like just sitting and doing nothing.

Jochen selects some music to listen to as they sit there. He glances towards Sidney and notices she took out her Fire tablet and was reading a story she downloaded off the web. He leans back into his seat and just waits for traffic to start moving.

An hour and a half later, traffic starts moving. Jochen couldn’t believe how much time they wasted just sitting in traffic. According to the police reports that came over the scanner in Matilda, only two people had been hurt and had to be flown to the nearest hospital.

“I was thinking about skipping our planned stop for dinner, Sidney.” Jochen glances over to Sidney to see what she thought.

“That’s fine. I think we still have some sandwiches in the frig.” Sidney was glad they had stocked up on frozen sandwiches and dinners when they were at the truck stop.

Later in the early evening “Jochen, can you stop at the next rest stop, please? I got to pee and poop.”

A smirk appears on Jochen’s face “no problem. I could stretch my legs, some.”

“Thanks.” Sidney hopes she can hold her pee until they stop.

After thirty more miles, Jochen pulls into a rest area. No sooner does Matilda stops, Sidney hops out of the cab and sprint towards the bathrooms. Just as she enters the bathroom and drops her pants and panties at the first stall, her body releases its contents.

A sigh of release escapes from Sidney’s mouth as her body does its business. She was glad that Jochen stopped when he did. She was reaching her limit.

A smirk appears on Jochen’s face as he watches Sidney run her little butt off towards the bathroom. He checks her door to make sure it's lock before he heads towards the Men’s bathroom. If he had to, he had a plastic bottle he could pee in. As he is standing in front of one of the urinals, a guy comes walking in and takes the urinal next to him.

The guy was wearing dress slacks, a dark dress shirt, and a tie. Jochen spots a hidden gun on him, tucked into the back of the guy's pants. He has learned to be observant of people around him.

The man himself looked like he was some sort of agent or something. He the type of build Jochen has associated with some agents would have. He tries not to look too closely to see if he was an agent but didn’t see a badge.

He finishes his business and walks over to the sink to wash his hands. Once his hands were cleaned, he heads out of the bathroom and spots Sidney selecting a snack from the snack machine.

“You seem to be better. Did you make it to the toilet in time?”

Sidney turns to look at Jochen “yes. I barely made it.” Sidney opens the bag of chips she got.

“I’m glad you didn’t. Do you want to wait a while, before we continue, or are you ready to go?”

“I’m ready to go. The sooner we get on the road, the better.” Sidney didn’t mind continuing.

“Okay.” Jochen starts walking towards Matilda.

Sidney follows behind Jochen as they walked towards Matilda. As she is walking, she spots the same guy Jochen had in the bathroom and
she stops. A memory surfaces of two guys dressed in suits and carrying guns. A blinding white light flashed before her.

“Jochen!” Sidney drops to her knees.

Jochen turns around when he hears Sidney’s frightened voice. He watches as she drops to her knees, looking frightened. He didn’t know what caused it, but she was paled white. He runs back over to Sidney.

“What happened?” As he kneels next to Sidney.

“I just had another flashback and it scared me.” Sidney was shaking as Jochen held her.

The two guys in suits that triggered the flashback were looking towards Sidney and Jochen. One had a curious look on his face as he observed the man and young girl.

“What do you think that is all about, Quin?” Han was curious because he had watched as the young girl fell to her knees with a frightened look on her face.

“I don’t know.” Quin was curious himself. He has seen people before having episodes of remembering something they tried to forget.

“I wonder what scared that young girl so much?”

“That’s a good question, but we don’t have time now to find out.” Quin gets into their car.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Han gets in on the driver's side.

Jochen picks Sidney up off the sidewalk and carries her back to Matilda. He could tell she was scared to death. One of her memories must have surfaced and frightened her.

He unlocks Matilda and manages to put her into the cab and lay her down on the bed. He wipes some of her hair out of her eyes.

“You’re safe, Sidney. No one is going to hurt you.”

Once Sidney has calm down. Jochen tucks Sidney into bed and head up to the driver seat.

Jochen couldn’t believe the thunderstorm he was traveling through. Lightning was striking off in the distance but seemed to be getting closer to his location. He hopes it doesn’t get too close.

As he is driving, Matilda picks up an emergency signal being broadcast on military frequency.

“This is convoy 4, we’re under attack. We need help.” The transmission goes dead.

“Matilda, lock back onto that transmission.” Jochen brings the HUD system online.

“Unable to lock onto the signal.” Matilda’s female voice echoes in the cab.

“Why?”

“Signal is being jammed at the source.” Matilda shows the location of the last transmission.

“Plot a course to that location.” Jochen notices the location wasn’t too far from where he was.

“Plotting the fastest route.” Matilda shows the route on the HUD.

“Matilda, contact the ranch.”

“Contacting the ranch.” Matilda logs onto the secure satellite connections.

The Ranch:
“Oh, what a beauty you are my new drones.” Joe runs his hands down the sleek forms of the new Raven attack drones that Aero Flight Industries sent to the ranch.

They were replacing the older models that they have been using for special missions. Joe couldn’t believe he had received the new drones today. Normally, the ranch was the last to receive the new models of anything.

“Hey Joe, we have an incoming call from operator twenty-five.” Annie was on monitoring duty when she received the incoming call from Matilda.

“What do they need?” Joe never received a distress call from operator twenty-five before.

“I’m finding out now.”

Matilda:
“Go ahead operator twenty-five, what is the emergency?”

“We just received a distress call from a government convoy. According to the transmission, they are under attack. I’m diverting from my planned route to their last known location. I’m unable to contact them, because of jamming on their end.” Jochen hopes the convoy is alright.

“You’re unable to contact the convoy, give me their last coordinates.” Annie wonders what could be jamming the signal.

“Sending information.” Jochen sends the last coordinates of the convoy.

The Ranch:
Annie watches as the coordinates appear on her screen. She programs the coordinates into one of the orbiting satellites belonging to Aero Flight. She manages to get access to one of their satellites that were in the area. There was heavy cloud cover as it brings up a visual image of the area she was looking at.

She notices that two of the SUV convoy trucks protecting the government eighteen-wheeler were damage. Four heavy armor military vehicles were trying to stop the eighteen-wheeler carrying whatever cargo it had. She brings up Matilda’s location and notices it was almost to the location.

She calculates the flight time for the Ravens to arrive. She figures Matilda would have to buy her some time.

“Joe, we need to launch now, if we're to get there in time to back-up operator twenty-five.”

“Alright, send Raven one and two. We’ll keep Raven three on standby.” Joe releases the tie-downs on the Ravens and prepares them for launch.

Matilda:
When Jochen arrive in the area of the transmission. His communications are jammed. He spots four military vehicles. Three of them were MRAP APCs and the fourth was an armored Humvee.

“Matilda, switch to combat mode and secure, Sidney.” Jochen didn’t want Sidney falling out of the rack while he helped the government truck out.

Jochen watches as the special armor built into the trailer surrounds the trailer. A special energy field surrounds Matilda herself. It was still experimental and was supposed to repel bullets and such.

“Let’s see how powerful their engines are.” Jochen preps the battering ram and head for one of the MRAPs.

He increases Matilda’s speed and rams the rear end of the nearest MRAP. The ram absorbs the impact and causes the MRAP to flip over. The speed Matilda was traveling at, and the battering ram mounted on the front shakes her.

Sidney is woken up from the impact and finds herself under a clear dome. She notices that Jochen was busy in the driver's seat. She feels Matilda shake as Jochen slams into the Humvee.

The Humvee tried to avoid the oncoming eighteen-wheeler but was unable to. The driver of the Humvee had no idea who the driver of the oncoming eighteen-wheeler, was but they try to avoid them. The Humvee goes flipping as the eighteen-wheeler hits it. The microwave device on top of it goes flying off.

Matilda shakes as it hits the Humvee. Jochen just smiles as the extra power of Matilda sends it sliding down an incline. Jochen notices that communications were being jammed. So, one of the two MRAPs had jamming equipment inside of it.

Jochen notices one of the MRAPs turned around and was coming straight for him. Sparks start bouncing off the special shield protecting Matilda. Some of Matilda’s systems start acting up.

“What the hell!” Jochen watched as the HUD system starts flickering and Matilda starts slowing down in speed.

Minor systems inside of Matilda start shutting down. Jochen has never experienced anything like this before. He tries shutting down a few systems and tries turning them back on. The collision alarm starts sounding as the MRAP gets closer to Matilda.

The special shielding protecting Matilda starts flickering as the power to it is affected. Jochen watches as the MRAP gets closer to him and just as it was about to slam into him, it explodes.

Jochen avoids going through the wreckage just in time. He spots the other MRAP explode as well. He watches as two dark objects fly over him through the ceiling windows.

The other eighteen-wheeler starts slowing down and pulls over. Jochen tries communicating with it.

“Convoy 4, this is special operator twenty-five with Blake Industries. Are you alright?” Jochen waits for a reply.

“Special Operator twenty-five, this is convoy 4 driver. I’m fine, but several of my escorts have either been hurt or killed.” Mike was a little shaken but hopes the worst was over.

“Alright, I’ll have a medical crew come out and take care of your people.”

“Thanks, special operator twenty-five.”

“You’re welcome. Do you have any idea who attacked you?” Jochen knew Janet was going to want to know who they were.

“No, I have no idea who they were or what they used to combat us.” Mike was surprised by the attack on him and his escorts.

“Alright, let me get medical out here. Those black objects you saw, belong to the company I work for.”

“I’m just glad you guys showed up when you did.”

Jochen contacts The Ranch to let them know he needs a medical team at their location. He gets back in touch with Annie and requests a medical team.

“Jochen, what just happened?” Sidney was concerned after the clear dome opened up.

“I’ll explain in a few minutes, Sidney. Just stay here in Matilda, while I find out more about these attackers.” Jochen grabs his stunner and climbs out of Matilda.

He walks over to the first MRAPs that had attacked the convoy. The driver inside was knocked unconscious. There were two others inside with him. He checks them out and notices they all had the same tattoo brand on their upper arms. He snaps a picture of it and sends it to the ranch.

He feels the wind pick up as a Blake Medical Emergency helicopter lands. He watches as a dirty blonde hair woman in her mid-thirties jumps out along with several other people.

“I have three unconscious attackers over here. Make sure you secure them, before transporting them.” Jochen waves the doctor down.

Dr. Franklin saw a trucker wave at her and her team. She walks over towards him “you said there are three attackers in there?”

“Yeah, be careful. The driver is unconscious and is going to need medical attention. There are two others inside with him. They are unconscious inside. As for the ones in the other MRAPs, you’re going to need body bags for.”

“Alright, I’ll get my people on it.” Dr. Franklin motions to some of her people.

Jochen walks over to the fallen microwave unit that fell off the Humvee. He takes pictures of it and examines it for any makers marks. Which he finds none at all.

“Now, that is unusual.” Jochen knew things of this nature were either built by a person or sold on the black market.

Sidney watches from the safety of Matilda. She noticed the medical helicopter that had landed. She watches as all the medical people inside it, get out and search the vehicles Matilda rammed off the highway. State troopers and agency people start showing up.

Jochen walks over to talk with one of the government people that had shown up. He gives his account of what happened and how he answered the mayday. Afterward, he walks back to Matilda and climbs in.

Sidney kept watching everything from the safety of the cab. She wonders why so many people were showing up to ask questions. She also noticed some of the government people came over and took pictures of Matilda.

“So, are alright to leave?” Sidney was getting tired of just watching everything.

“We’re cleared to leave. Let’s get this load to the Eastern hub before my boss wonders what we are up to.” He puts Matilda into gear and starts driving down the highway. Traffic had backed up because of the fighting.

It takes Jochen and Matilda at least an hour to get through the backup and finally on their way. During that time, Sidney sat quietly in the passenger seat and watched everything. She hated not being able to remember anything of her life.

“Jochen, do you think I’ll ever remember what my life uses to be like?” Sidney looks at Jochen as he drove Matilda.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know. Your memory may come back. If it doesn’t, you can always make new memories.” Jochen wonders if
Sidney wants to know what her previous life might have been.

Sidney curls up on the passenger seat and sits quietly. She watches as Matilda heads down the highway.

“What do you think your boss is going to say about us being late?” Sidney looks over at Jochen.

A smile appears on Jochen’s face “I don’t think my boss is going to mind too much.”

After about six hours, Jochen pulls Matilda into the receiving bay of the Eastern hub. The security guard at the gate said that the warehouse crew has gone home for the night. Jochen drops the trailer off and makes sure it is secure, before leaving the yard.

“Is the trailer going to be, okay?” Sidney was concerned.

“It will be okay. There is a security guard at the Eastern gate and another one at the Western gate. There’s also two that patrol the grounds at night.” Jochen pulls away from the yard.

Jochen heads towards one of his favorite hotels. As much as he liked Matilda, he liked getting out of her for a while.

“Are we staying in a hotel room for tonight?” Sidney liked it when they could get out of Matilda.

“Yes, the place also has an in-house restaurant as well.” Jochen pulls up to the hotel and parks Matilda.

“I’ll be back.” Jochen hops out of Matilda and heads inside the hotel.

“Okay.” Sidney watches as Jochen heads into the reception area.

There weren’t many cars in the parking lot. The restaurant looked to be kind of slow right now. She wonders what she should get as she gathers her travel bag and unplugs her tablet.

Sidney spots Jochen coming out of the hotel with two credit cards in his hands. He hops back into Matilda’s cab “here you go.” As he hands Sidney one of the cards.

Sidney accepts the card “thank you.”

“You’re welcome, kiddo. Now, let’s go to our room and then catch a nice homecooked meal at the restaurant.”

“Sounds good to me.” Sidney smiles at Jochen and watches as he drives Matilda around to where their room was.

Jochen parks Matilda, so she is pointing her nose out. Once Jochen has Matilda parked the way he wanted. He shuts everything down.

“Sidney, can you grab my overnight bag, please?”

“Sure.” Sidney grabs Jochen’s overnight bag. She knew he had everything he needed already packed the way he wanted.

“Alright, Sidney. Let’s go and check out our room.” Jochen climbs out of Matilda.

Sidney gets out and makes sure her door is closed. Once she is out “okay, you can secure her, Jochen.”

Jochen opens a secret panel and activates Matilda’s security systems. Once the system is activated, Jochen closes the panel.

“Okay, let's go.” Jochen had already spotted the room they were in.

Sidney follows behind Jochen as they head up to the second floor where their room is. She watches as Jochen opens the door. As she follows Jochen into the hotel room, she notices it had a small kitchenette.

“Jochen, how long are we going to be in town?” Sidney takes the bed near the bathroom and kitchen.

“Don’t know, but it is nice we have the kitchenette.” Jochen had asked for a room with a kitchenette.

After Jochen and Sidney get settled in. They head down to the restaurant for a late dinner. Jochen orders a nice steak covered in mushrooms
and gravy. He looks over towards Sidney and notices she was eating fried chicken and was enjoying it.

“How’s your fried chicken?”

“Juicy and crunchy.” Sidney loved the crust on the chicken.

They return to their hotel room for the night. Sidney changes out of the clothes she had on and into a pair of pajamas. As soon as her head hits the pillow, she falls asleep.

Jochen watches as Sidney falls asleep. He wonders who she was before she was changed. He pulls his Fire Kindle out and starts reading a story he had started.

Around midnight or so, Sidney starts tossing and turning. She saw flames and felt herself hanging upside down. As she is hanging there, she spots the black velvet bag laying near her. She could feel herself scrambling to get free and no sooner does she gets free. She runs as fast as she could, as the car explodes behind her.

“NO!” Sidney sits up in bed shaking and scared.

She looks around and notices Jochen was sound asleep. She gets out of bed, pulling the top sheet with her, and lays down next to Jochen. She was still feeling scared and didn’t want to sleep in her bed by herself. She slowly falls back asleep snuggled against Jochen.

Jochen is woken up by his bladder forcing him to go and pee. He feels another body next to him. He spots Sidney snuggled up against him, sleeping on top of the blanket he was covered up with. He also notices that she was covered up from the top sheet from her bed.

He slides out of bed and heads towards the bathroom. He wonders why Sidney crawled into bed with him. He does his business and washes his hands, before heading back to bed. He manages to lay back down, without waking Sidney. He feels Sidney snuggle up against him.

Several hours later, an alarm goes off. Jochen reaches over to his cellphone and taps the snooze button. He goes back to sleep and nine minutes later. The alarm goes off a second time. He reaches over and turns the alarm off. He noticed Sidney was sleeping on her side near the edge of the bed.

He gets up and heads into the bathroom and does his morning business. He also takes a quick shower afterward. He was going to let Sidney sleep as long as she could. He was still curious why she crawled into bed with him.

Once he is dressed, he walks over to the bed and gently shakes Sidney. He stands there for a few seconds. When she doesn’t wake up, he shakes her again “hey sleepy head. You need to wake up, we have work to do today.”

Sidney slowly wakes up and looks at Jochen. She sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes.

“Bad dreams last night?” Jochen could tell Sidney was still tired.

“Yes, I dreamed I was running away from a car on fire.”

“Anything else, in your dream?” Jochen wonders if Sidney had anything to do with the car that was on fire not far from where he found her.

Sidney looks up at Jochen’s face “I was running away because I just stole something.”

“Could it be those diamonds I found you with?”

“Yes!” Sidney didn’t know why she stole those diamonds.

“Is there a reason why you stole them?”

“I don’t remember why I did. I just remember I did.” Sidney couldn’t remember why she did it.

“Do you remember who you stole them from?”

“No, I don’t. All I can recall is that I wanted them for some reason.”

“Well, at least you know more than you did before. I’ll do some digging to see if anyone has filed a police report about those missing diamonds.”

“Okay. You’re not disappointed about me, are you?”

“Sidney, I have no idea why you did what you did and it doesn’t change what I think of you.” Jochen knew Sidney the girl was different than who she uses to be.

“Thanks, Jochen.” Sidney stands up and hugs Jochen.

Jochen returns the hug. He holds Sidney for a few minutes.

“Now, why don’t you go and get dress and we’ll go and get some breakfast afterward.”

“Okay.” Sidney gives Jochen one more hug, before releasing him.

She walks over to her suitcase and pulls out some clean clothes. Afterward, she heads into the bathroom and hops into the shower. The dream she had last night still bothers her. She wonders why she stole the diamonds.

After Sidney takes her shower, she gets dressed and fixes her hair. She makes sure to shave under her armpits like she was taught. She brushes her wet hair and blow-dries it.

Jochen turns the television on and watches the local news station. According to the weather woman, it was going to be hot and humid. He hears the blow dryer going in the bathroom. He continues to watch the news until Sidney steps out of the bathroom.

Sidney steps out of the bathroom and looks at Jochen “I’m ready.”

She put on a nice dress that had spaghetti straps and a tight top. The bottom of the dress was loose and flared out. She had on a pair of light brown sandals to go with the dress.

“You look nice.” Jochen thought Sidney looked cute.

“Thanks.” Sidney grabs her purse and the keycard to their hotel room.

Jochen leads Sidney down to the restaurant they ate at last night. There was a breakfast buffet set up. While they are waiting in line to be served “are we doing the buffet or ordering off the menu?”

“The buffet looks good.” Jochen saw what was on display.

“Okay.” Sidney follows Jochen.

When it's their turn to enter, they are greeted by a woman in her late thirties “how can I serve you today?”

“Two for the buffet.”

The woman rings them up. She looks at Jochen “that will be twenty dollars, sir.”

Jochen pulls a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and hands it to her.

The woman accepts it and hands him the receipt “enjoy.”

“Thank you.” Sidney smiles at the woman.

“You’re welcome.” The woman smiles back at Sidney.

Sidney and Jochen find a nice table to sit at. Their waitress comes over and places some rolls and plates at their table. She leaves a card with her name on it.

“I guess we can help ourselves.” Sidney grabs a plate and hangs her purse on the back of the chair.

Jochen and Sidney go up and fill their plates with food. Sidney puts a few things she wanted to try on her plate. She spotted Jochen loading up on his favorites.

“Are you hungry this morning?” Sidney was going teased Jochen.

“Hey, I paid ten bucks for this plate. I’m going to get my money’s worth. You might want to add some more to your plate as well.” Jochen saw how little Sidney had.

“I’m coming back for seconds.” Sidney grabs a blueberry muffin.

Jochen and Sidney head to their table and start eating their breakfast. While Sidney is putting butter on a corn muffin “are we going to be here all day?”

“That depends on how long it takes the warehouse to unload us and what they are going to load us up with.” Jochen bites into a biscuit he filled with eggs and sausage.

An hour later, Jochen and Sidney walk across the street from the Hotel to the Eastern Hub. Sidney liked how her new dress felt when she
walked. It was a sensation she has never experienced before.

Before she and Jochen are allowed into the Eastern Hub. Their security badges are check. The older security officer on duty looks at Jochen when he scans Sidney’s badge “she’ll have to wait in the visitor's room, Jochen.”

“Okay, Nathan. I’ll make sure she waits in the visitor room.” Jochen knew Sidney couldn’t go further in the warehouse.

Ralph lets Jochen and Sidney continue on their way. He watches them as they enter the warehouse. After they enter, he goes back to working on his report.

Sidney follows Jochen inside the warehouse. She wonders why security was so tight for this place.

“Jochen, why is security so strict?”

“I wish I could tell you, Sidney. However, it's kind of secret.” Jochen takes Sidney to a room that had large clear windows.

“Is this the visitor room?”

“Yes, you’ll be comfortable inside.” Jochen opens the door for Sidney.

When Sidney walks inside the room, she notices it was set up like a living room with comfortable leather recliners, a rug on the floor. There was also a huge big-screen television and a sofa that matched the recliner.

“You’ll like it in here. There are several snack machines if you are thirsty or hungry and they have every channel there is here. So, you can veg
out and watch whatever movie you want too.”

Sidney looks at Jochen, before walking into the room “how long will you be?”

“Not long. I’ll let you know if I’m going to be in the warehouse for a while.”

“Okay.” Sidney walks in and over to the sofa and sits down.

Jochen shuts the door to the room and heads towards the warehouse.

Sidney pauses the movie she was watching on her tablet. She glances at the clock in the room and notices it was almost noontime. Jochen has been in the warehouse for the past few hours, and she was starting to get bored.

She pulls some money out of her purse and walks over to the vending machines. She looks at the selection of items available and spots a few items that she likes.

“Hhmm???” Sidney puts her money in and selects a few items.

Once they drop down, she retrieves them and step over to the soda machine, and selects a Pepsi. Once she has all her selections, she heads back to her seat. She opens her first bag of snacks and starts munching on them, while she continues to watch her movie.

Around one in the afternoon, Jochen enters the waiting room. He looked exhausted. He looks at Sidney “are you ready to go?”

“Yes, but can we stop somewhere and get some lunch, please?” Sidney was still feeling hungry.

A smile appears on Jochen’s face “I think we can work that in.”

“Cool.” Sidney packs up her stuff and walks over to Jochen.

Jochen watches as Sidney gathers her stuff up and throws away her trash. He just watches her as she makes sure nothing was left.

“Looks like you have everything, lets getting going.” Jochen turns to walk out of the room.

“Can I use the bathroom, before we go, please?” Sidney didn’t need to use the toilet while she was sitting down.

However, when she stood up and started moving around. Her body started giving her clues that it needed to go. She crosses her legs and starts doing her little pee, pee dance.

A smirk appears on Jochen’s face “yes, go ahead.”

Sidney rushes towards the Women’s bathroom. She barely gets her panties down as she sits down before she starts peeing. All the soda she has been drinking filled her bladder up.

Jochen wonders how many sodas’ Sidney drunk while she was waiting for him. He knew she has been waiting several hours for him to come out. He watches as Sidney finally exits from the bathroom.

Sidney comes walking out of the bathroom feeling better. She not only had to pee but take a poop as well. She looks over towards Jochen “I’m ready.”

“Good, let's get going.” Jochen escorts Sidney to Matilda.

As they are walking towards her “where are we going now?”

“First Texas, to one of Blake’s medical research hospitals and then to Mexico to one of their research facilities.”

“I’ve never been to Mexico or Texas.” Sidney wonders what the places were like.

“Well, this will be my fourth trip to those places.” Jochen climbs into Matilda’s cab and starts her up.

Sidney climbs into the cab on the passenger side and puts her safety harness on. She turns to look at Jochen “so, where are we going to stop for lunch?”

“Frankie’s truck stop. It’s on the way out to the interstate.” Jochen starts heading towards Frankie’s truck stop to get them some lunch.

Sidney watches as Jochen drives. She wonders how long they were going to be on the road. It wasn’t like she didn’t mind traveling. She loved traveling with Jochen as he drove.

After twenty minutes, they arrive at Frankie’s Truck Stop and buy a few sandwiches to take with them. Jochen wasn’t planning on stopping anywhere on the route to Texas. Sidney got several of her favorites and ate one.

She looks over towards Jochen and knew what he had gotten. She knew he had several that he liked.

“Is the load we are transporting, expensive?” Sidney was curious.

“It’s mostly normal medical equipment, nothing special.” Jochen couldn’t tell Sidney the real truth.

They were also carrying some experimental medical equipment as well. Some of it was based on the technology that the headquarters found.
Also, there was a more advanced medical bed scanner. Jochen also found out that the older medical scanners beds could be upgraded with newer modules that could be changed out.

After a few hours, Sidney curls up on the passenger seat and falls asleep. While she is sleeping, Jochen looks over at her and wonders why Sidney would need to steal the diamonds he found her with. He hasn’t heard back from headquarters about the piece he sent them.

The next few days, Matilda heads towards Texas. The only time Jochen stopped was when both of them needed to stop for a bathroom stop. He noticed that a few times when Sidney was asleep. She would toss and turn.

When they arrived in Texas, Matilda let Jochen know. While they are traveling down Interstate forty-five towards Fort Worth. Two black drones appear out of nowhere and start following them.

“Jochen, are we supposed to have drones following us?”

Just as Sidney says that the drones open fire on Matilda. The bullets bounce off the protective armor protecting the trailer. The second drone fires at Matilda as well.

Jochen maneuvers Matilda out of the way of fire. He flips a few switches and activates the weapon systems. The defensive system comes online as well.

Bart was heading towards Fort Worth when he spots two black drones with fans appear in midair. He has only seen something similar to that with the vehicles Terry built. He watches as the two drones fire at an eighteen-wheeler several car lengths ahead of him and his family.

Caroline spotted the drones as well. She looks over towards her husband “what are they?”

“I don’t know. Take a picture of them, so I can send it to Terry to identify.” Bart has never seen anything like them before. They weren’t like the drones Terry build.

“What’s going on, dad?” Julie leans forward to see what her parents were talking about.

Angel was traveling with Bart and his family. They had gone on vacation for a few weeks and were now coming back. She watches as Julie leans forward to see what her parents were talking about.

“Julie, please sit back in your seat, sweetie.” Caroline looks at Julie.

“Yes, ma’am.” Julie sits back against her seat.

“I’m pulling off the road.” Bart pulls his SUV over onto the emergency lane.

Caroline looks at her husband “don’t do anything dangerous, sweetie.”

“I won’t.” Bart checks his handgun and gets out of the SUV. He starts firing at the drones, but the bullets bounce off of them.

“DAMN!”

Bart tucks his handgun into the back of his waist. He walks back to the SUV and opens the back hatch. He lifts the carpet covering a secret compartment and inputs a code into the electronic lock. He opens the secret compartment “let’s see how you handle this.”

Bart lifts a rifle that was a duplicate of Anika’s sniping rifle out of the compartment. It had all the same functions and abilities hers did. He switches out the normal rounds the gun carried with the special depleted uranium rounds Rachet sent him and Anika.

Red lights start flashing on Matilda’s windshield. Sidney looks towards Jochen “what’s going on?”

Jochen notices that the rear tires on the trailer had been hit. He starts losing control of the trailer.

“We lost the rear tires on the trailer.” Jochen manages to keep from losing the trailer. He manages to pull Matilda over onto the shoulder.

Jochen sends out an emergency signal to Blake rescue team. Right now, Matilda was a sitting duck.

“Jochen, what are we going to do?” Sidney was scared.

“We’re not out of the game, yet.” Jochen targets the drones with the mini-missiles Matilda kept in reserve.

Just as he launches them at the two drones, one of the drones explodes. The other drone explodes as two missiles hit it. The damaged drones fall out of the sky.

Bart manages to shoot one of the drones with two rounds from the rifle. He watches as it explodes into a bright fireball. Just as he was aiming for the second drone, it explodes as what he guesses were missiles hitting it.

He spots the eighteen-wheeler parked on the side of the interstate with the trailer tires completely gone. Bart puts the sniping rifle back where he got it from. He looks at Julie since she was looking behind and at him “I’m going to go and check on the driver. You girls stay here.”

“Be careful, Bart.” Caroline had turned to look at her husband.

“I will.” Bart closes the back hatch and starts walking towards the semi-truck.

Bart walks up to the cab of the eighteen-wheeler. He spotted that the driver was on the right-hand side of the truck. Which was a first for him, because he has never seen a right-hand drive eighteen-wheeler before.

Jochen saw a person walking towards his door. The person looked like he spent time outside and was dressed like a cowboy. He waits until the person stops by his door. He rolls Matilda’s window down.

“Can I help you?” Jochen looks at the gentleman.

“I was going to ask you the same question. I’m Bart Hardy and I was making sure you were alright.” Bart noticed that the person had an Aussie, accent.

“Yeah, we’re alright, mate. Do you know who those drones belong to?” Jochen was curious about who sent them.

“They don’t belong to me. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you transporting? That might explain why someone came after you.” Bart figures the attack might have something to do with the cargo that was being transported.

“Just medical supplies. Nothing really important.” Jochen couldn’t go into detail about what he was transporting with this person.

“So, you have no idea who would try to steal your cargo?” Bart knew medical supplies, depending on what it was. Could go for big money.

“None. By the way, were you responsible for the second drone being destroyed?” Jochen knew Matilda didn’t destroy it.

“Yes, I was.”

“Well, whatever you used to destroy it, was impressive.” Jochen wonders what this Bart Hardy used.

“Thanks. It looks like your trailer took some damage.” Bart noticed it on his way towards the cab.

“I better see how bad it is.” Jochen opens the door and climbs down out of the cab.

Sidney watches as Jochen opens the door and climbs down. She spotted the guy Jochen was talking to waiting for him. She heard his name and wonder what he did and who he was.

She watches as the driver's door shuts. She knew once the door was shut, Matilda’s security engaged. She taps the front windshield and turns the rear cameras on. This way, she could see what Jochen and the other guy were doing.

Sidney watches them as they inspect the rear end of the trailer. She doesn’t know if Matilda has mics in the rear or on the trailer. She just watches them.

Caroline and the girls watch as Bart and the driver of the eighteen-wheeler inspect the rear tires of the trailer. From what Caroline could see, there was a lot of damage to the rear end of the trailer.

“I wonder what dad and the driver are talking about.” Julie was curious about what her father and the driver were saying to each other.

Caroline just smiles. She knew how inquisitive Julie was.

“Your father is just being helpful.” Caroline knew how Bart was.

Bart and Jochen examine the damage done to the rear end of the trailer. It was going to take a lot of work to fix it.

“Looks like, this rear end is going to need a lot of work.” Bart looks at Jochen when he says that.

“I agree. There’s no way I can continue to my destination with this damage, even if the tires are replaced.” Jochen takes his cellphone out.

“Let me tell my wife and kids that were going to be here for a while.” Bart turns to leave.

“Wait. The company I work for is sending a team out. I’ll be okay until they get here.”

“Alright, if you need anything, just call me.” Bart hands a business card to Jochen.

“Thanks, I will.” Jochen accepts the card.

Bart walks back to his SUV and gets in.

“Is everything going to be okay?” Caroline looks at her husband.

“Not really. The rear end on that trailer is going to need to be replaced.” Bart looks at his wife.

“Are we going to stick around, daddy?” Julie looks at her father.

“Yes, until someone from his company shows up.” Bart figures it might be a good idea to watch out for more of those drones.

Jochen makes a phone call to the company dispatch and informed them about the damage. He’s informed that a repair truck has been dispatched and they will make temporary repairs until they can transfer the cargo to another trailer. Jochen climbs back into the cab. He notices Sidney had the rear cameras on.

“Are we going to be here, for a while?” Sidney looks at Jochen.

“Unfortunately, yes. The trailer is too damaged to move right now.” Jochen hopes the repair team can get them going.

An hour later, several repair trucks from Oliver transportation show up. Sidney watches as Jochen gets out of the truck and talks with the guys. She pulls her tablet out and watches a movie as the guys work on the rear end.

Bart and his family leave, once he was sure about Jochen and his cargo. Julie waves goodbye as they drive by.

Holiday Inn:
Sidney wakes up in the middle of the night and rushes to the bathroom. She plops down on the toilet seat, after lowering her panties. She felt relief as her bladder empties everything. As she sits there in the bathroom, she wonders what she is going to do.

Pieces of her old life were slowly returning. She remembered why she stole the diamonds and what she uses to do before she was changed. She hasn’t told Jochen yet of what she has remembered.

Once she is done using the bathroom and washing her hands afterward. She walks back to her bed and lay down. As Sidney lays there and tries to go back to sleep. She hopes that Jochen doesn’t hold what she used to do, against her.

She tries to go back to sleep but couldn’t. She grabs her earbuds and her tablet. Since she couldn’t sleep, she watches a Disney movie. She loved her tablet because it had a cellular connection. The hotel had a strong connection.

Sidney finally falls back to sleep, while watching Expendables 2. She got halfway through the movie before she passed out. Her earbuds were still in her ears as she slept.

Jochen wakes up early and stumbles to the bathroom to relieve himself. He takes a shower afterward and walks back into the bedroom to get dressed. He spots Sidney still wearing her earbuds and her tablet still on. He knew she went to sleep first last night.

He gently shakes her shoulder “come on Sidney. It’s time to get up.”

Sidney slowly opens her eyes and looks at Jochen “do I have to?”

“Not unless you don’t want breakfast.” Jochen knew how much Sidney enjoyed her breakfast.

“I’m coming.” Sidney stumbles out of bed and rushes to the bathroom.

Sidney does her business and takes a quick shower. She knew Jochen won’t leave without her. She dries off and runs out of the bathroom without a towel on.

Jochen just shakes his head as Sidney comes out naked. It wasn’t the first time she’s come out of the bathroom naked. He watches as she gets dressed.

“Sometimes I think you do that on purpose.”

“Do what on purpose?” As Sidney pulls her t-shirt over her head.

The shirt had a pair of wolves howling at the moon. She saw it at one of the truck stops they had dinner at.

“Come out of the bathroom naked.” Jochen knew Sidney turned into a teenager.

“I thought we were in a hurry?” Sidney runs a brush through her hair.

“You still could take your time.” Jochen watched as Sidney brushes her hair.

“I’ll be careful from now on.” Sidney puts her brush back in her purse.

“Are you ready to go?” Jochen looks at Sidney for an answer.

“Yep.” Sidney wonders where they were going to go for breakfast.

Jochen walks out of the hotel room and heads down towards the lobby. He knew Sidney was following him as they get into the elevator and take it to the first floor. They walk through the main reception area. When they step outside and look across the highway there was an IHOP, a Hardee’s, a Capt. Jack’s, and a Lum’s diner.

“Which one do you want to go to, Sidney?”

“How about IHOP?” Sidney was in the mood for pancakes.

“IHOP it is, then.” Jochen rushes to cross the highway with Sidney running beside him.

Jochen and Sidney walk into the place. The hostess on duty escorts them to a booth near the window that overlooked the parking lot.

“Your waitress will be with you in a minute. While you're waiting, would you like something to drink?” Beverly looks at the young man and the teenage girl that was with him.

“Coffee, black for me. As for the young lady, a medium glass of orange juice.” Jochen didn’t let Sidney drink coffee.

“Okay. I’ll be back with your drinks.” Beverly turns and walks away.

Sidney looks across the table towards Jochen. She knew she needs to tell him about her past. She takes a deep breath “Jochen, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Jochen could tell Sidney was nervous. He’s come to learn her tells.

Sidney looks at Jochen feeling nervous. She didn’t want to lose his friendship.

“I finally learned why that black bag is so special to me. It seemed, that I took it as final payment from a mobster I use to work for.”

“Okay, what did you do for this mobster and who is he?” Jochen wonders what Sidney uses to do.

“I used to steal for him. There’s wasn’t a building, safe or lock I couldn’t bypass or break into. I used to steal for Drake Dalitz.”

“I’ve never heard of him.” Jochen has been to Vegas several times and never heard of him.

“The only time you’ll hear from him is if you owe any of his guy’s money. He does all sorts of gambling and loaning money to people. He doesn’t believe in drugs or weapons. He owns a few prostitution ranches and cowboy resorts.”

“So, why did you steal from him and for him?” Jochen was curious.

“I wanted to get out of the business and do something different. I was tired of being a thief and working for someone else.”

“Well, I think he’ll have a hard time finding you now unless you tell someone. And even then, they might not believe you. So, I think you're
safe.” Jochen knew the way Sidney looked now. There would be no way to say she is the same person.

Their waitress shows up with their drink order and places them in front of them. Afterward, she takes their order and leaves.

“So, what are we doing today?” Sidney takes a sip from her glass.

“Well, we have several deliveries we have to make, and afterward, we will head to Alabama to pick up a load.”

“Will we be able to get a new trailer, or are we stuck with the old one?”

“We will be getting a new one. The old one is going to the shop to be fixed.” Jochen got the okay from headquarters to switch out the trailer.

“You’re not disappointed in me, are you?” Sidney was concerned about what Jochen thought about her.

“Sidney, I can’t hold what you use to do against you. I didn’t know you then. I only know the fifteen-year-old girl in front of me. What you do with the second chance you have been given, is up to you.”

Sidney wipes the tears that were sliding down her cheek. She felt relieved from what Jochen just said to her. She was hoping he wouldn’t hate her.

Jochen saw the tears from Sidney’s eyes. He gets up and slides in next to her “I won’t leave you, Sidney.”

Jochen hugs Sidney to reassure her. He knew she was feeling emotional. It was getting close to her period.

He moves back on his side of the table as the waitress brings them their order.

The next few months Sidney and Jochen crisscross the country carrying loads to various locations. Between the normal work, Jochen gets
from his employer and the extra loads he picks up when he isn’t working for his employer. He stays busy.

Sidney becomes his helper and handles the paperwork they need to do or download apps so customers can track their loads. She learns a few things from Jochen about truck driving. He lets her handle Matilda a few times when they are at a shopping center parking lot or back at the Eastern hub.

As for the business with the drones. Mrs. Blake’s people are looking into that matter. He wasn’t the only truck that had been hit and their load took. Several other truck drivers carrying government loads had been hit.

Even some of the ghost fleet trucks had been hit and their nuclear material was taken. He wasn’t supposed to know about them, but he did. He knew some of the drivers that had been around for a long time and that were good.

He and Sidney had been warned a few times that their load had been compromised and to take a different route. Of course, Jochen confirmed the message and changed in route before proceeding with it. He found out later, a decoy truck had been sent on his route with armed men in the trailer part to ambush the thieves.

An informant that he picked the load up from had given them the details about his route and what he was carrying. The trap had worked like it was supposed to. Which he liked very much.

When Matilda had to go in for her twenty-five-thousand-mile checkup. He and Sidney visited Disney World down in Florida. She had never been and she wanted to go.

Jochen had never been the amusement park type of person, but he did it anyway, to make Sidney happy. He took pictures of her in the swimsuit they had picked out for her. She got red as a lobster when they spent the day at the beach. He tried to warn her because she was fair-skinned, but she didn’t listen. So, she paid the price for it.

For Christmas, they spend at a ski lodge that belonged to Mrs. Blake. Jochen didn’t have a base of operations or a home. He normally spent the seasons on the road working. However, since he had Sidney now and she was experiencing everything for the very first time as a girl. He decided they should spend Christmas at a ski lodge. So, they did.

As for the men that were after her for stealing the diamonds. Jochen informed certain people he worked for so, they could close the man down. Jochen didn’t tell Sidney about what he did. He saw how she was slowly adapting to being a teenage girl and how she was enjoying herself.

One evening while Jochen and Sidney are at a truck stop in Wyoming waiting out a snow storm going on. He looks at her “you know this past year has been fun. I’ve never had anyone travel with me this long.”

Sidney looks at Jochen “not even when you were in Australia?”

“Well, I did for some sort trips or if they were going from one end of the continent to the other end, but not like you.” Jochen was enjoying
Sidney’s company.

“Thanks, I guess. Is something wrong?” Sidney has gotten to know Jochen and when he was trying to say something.

“No, nothing wrong. All I’m saying is, I’m enjoying having you in the truck with me, is all.” Jochen just wanted Sidney to know how he felt about her.

“I’m enjoying it and I would be bored out of my mind at a place by myself.” Sidney knew she would be bored.

“That’s good to hear.” A smile appears on Jochen’s face as he continues to eat his dinner.