Dudley sipped his cold coffee as he watched the road. The autopilot kept the truck on the Highway. All he had to do was make sure he wasn't blindsided by bandits.

He didn't plan to lose his load and have to wait forever for a replacement truck. He would rather saw his horns off and head for the Human Plane before he got stuck in the Depot behind old relics who hadn't been on the road since tracks were invented.

He spotted a Dreamer on the side of the road up ahead. A No Hitchhiker policy prevented him from being a good Samaritan. And since he didn't plan to stop, the policy agreed with him.

He studied the Dreamer out of idle curiosity. The man wore a poncho, and a blindfold over his eyes. Thin hair escaped the cloth wrapped around his skull. He carried a long stick in one hand.

An obvious handicap didn't change Dudley's mind. A lot of things disguised themselves as something helpless. Then they attacked while you were trying to help them out. It felt better to the trucker to keep going instead of stopping for the thin human.

A Dreamer on the side of the road had probably suffered a breakdown. He could call back to the Depot and ask for someone to come out and find out what was going on. It was the least he could do other than completely stopping, which he wasn't doing no matter what.

Other truckers could stop and lose their loads. He would buy them a drink and be happy it wasn't him waiting in the box.

The alarm buzzed on his board. He checked it with a glance. Something stood against the truck's body somewhere. He glanced at the cameras. What had clamped on his truck?

Something banged against the door on the other side of the cab. He glanced over. The blind Dreamer clung to the outside of the hull. He knocked on the door with his stick.

Dudley frowned. Munitions should be lighting the guy up. He should be a pile of ash scattered down the Highway.

Why wasn't he?

“Could you give me a lift?,” the Dreamer asked the featureless metal. “I know someone's in there. I can hear breathing.”

Dudley turned on the outside mike. He needed to get this loon off his truck. The brass wouldn't understand that he picked someone up and couldn't get rid of him.

“No hitchhikers allowed,” said Dudley. “Get off my truck.”

“Are you going anywhere near the River of Night,” said the Dreamer. “I need a lift.”

“I'm going the opposite direction,” said Dudley. He checked his mobile map. The River of Night flowed on the other side of the Depot. Even if he was inclined, he wasn't turning around for some guy who didn't know where he was. “You need to cross the Highway and catch someone over there.”

“You can't give me a lift?,” said the Dreamer.

“No,” said Dudley. “Now, get off my truck. I have a delivery to make.”

“I can ride down with you,” said the blind human. “Then you can take me where I need to go.”

“How many times do you need to hear no?,” asked Dudley. “I'm not taking you anywhere. No hitchhiking means no hitchhiking. And I don't like you, so hit the road, Jack.”

“Joel,” said the blind man.

“What?,” said Dudley.

“The name's Joel,” said the Dreamer.

“Good for you,” said Dudley. “I don't see you getting off my truck.”

“I thought I'd wait,” said Joel.

“Wait for what?,” asked Dudley.

“Until those guys behind us catch up,” said Joel. He pointed down the length of the truck and trailer with his stick.

Dudley looked at his rear cameras. Three vehicles on tracks sped down the Highway after him. His computer identified various solid projectile guns, energy weapons, and a drill on the front of one of the speeding tanks. Were they hostile?

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“Go to maximum jets,” Dudley told the autopilot.

The truck sped up, but the pursuit closed as Dudley watched. He might have to fight a running battle along the Highway until he came to his exit. He didn't like that at all.

“Shields up, ready weapon systems,” ordered Dudley. “If you get killed out there, sorry. I warned you to get off.”

“I just need a lift,” said Joel. “I'll take care of any of them that make it aboard.”

“What are you going to do; hit them with your stick?,” asked Dudley.

“I don't see why not,” said Joel. “It looks like they're getting ready to start shooting at you.”

“I know,” said Dudley. “Take evasive action, target nearest threats first.”

The truck extended various weapons along its sides and top. The bottom was covered by the jets spraying anything in front of them into the road. Hopefully, any boarders would be shot at faster than the blind man.

He was going to have to check that out when he got back to the Depot. He couldn't leave a man-sized gap in his defenses.

Streams of energy lashed out from the smaller vehicles. The truck's screens diverted most of the attacks away from the transport. Kinetic weapons left spent slugs on the road as the battle passed.

Dudley's counterattack didn't touch anything to his dismay. The tracked trucks dodged between the energy beams and solid slugs. He chewed on his cigar as he tried to think of a strategy to get rid of the bandits.

Then he could get rid of his unwanted passenger.

“They're slipping time,” said Joel. “There's a second, or two, when they aren't there.”

Dudley frowned. How could the blind man know that? It suggested an opportunity. He just had to take advantage of it.

“Pulse one cannon at nearest target while firing full blast with the rest,” said Dudley. “We want the pulse to arrive on target a second after the rest.”

Only three of the weapons systems could point at the closest tank. Two fired a burst of plasma packages. The third fired a solid slug a second behind the other two. The energy exploded against the guard rail behind the tracked attacker. The slug punched through a track and stranded the vehicle on the Highway for someone to drag it away from the scene of the battle.

“Excellent,” said Joel. “It looks like they are trying to get directly behind the trailer so you can't shoot at them.”

“We'll see about that,” said Dudley. “Give me an S. Broadside with staggered volleys to beat their shifting.”

The truck mimicked a sidewinder for a brief second. When the sides bunched around to level guns at the bandits, fire and steel chewed up the road. The staggered volleys punched holes through the two surviving tracked trucks before they could change position enough to dodge the assault. Smoking heaps collapsed on the Highway as the carrier sped away.

“Can I get that lift now?,” asked Joel. He had returned to his place on the side of the cab.

“No hitchhiking,” said Dudley. “I can drop you off at the next exit. You can hitch a ride back the other way to the River of Night.”

“I guess that's reasonable,” said Joel. “Good shooting.”

“Letting me know they were slipping time was a big help,” said Dudley. “I probably would have run out of battery power trying to hit them without that.”

“The wind changes when things pop in and out,” said Joel.

“I'll bet,” said Dudley. He lit up his cigar with a finger snap. “What's so important about the River of Night?”

“I lost something there,” said Joel. “I don't remember what it was.”

“You don't remember what you lost?,” said Dudley. This wasn't the first time he had heard such a thing. He had run into Dreamers between trips. Some seemed confused. A couple said they felt like they had lost something. This was the first Dreamer he had met that identified where he had lost whatever it was.

“No,” said Joel. “I think that's the point. You don't get to remember what was lost, you just know you lost something with no way to get it back. I want to get what I lost back.”

“The River of Night is a big expanse to search,” said Dudley.

“I won't have to search,” said Joel. “I'll know what I'm looking for when I find it.”

“Let me call around,” said Dudley. “Maybe one of the others has room for a passenger.”

“One of the other delivery drivers?,” asked Joel.

“Sure,” said Dudley. “We own the rigs. If someone is between jobs, he might take you on as cargo.”

“I don't really have anything to lose,” said Joel.

“There's always things to lose,” said Dudley. “Power down shields and weapons. Call Buckley.”

The truck resumed its smoother configuration while Joel hung on the side of the cab. Dudley didn't think he was a threat to him personally, but he still wasn't allowing a hitchhiker in his truck with him. The three bandits might have been a trust earning exercise.

On the other hand, if he was real, calling Buckley and asking if any of the other drivers was free for a run down to the River of Night wasn't a big hardship.

Maybe Buckley would allow one of the waiting drivers to get back on the road temporally to deal with this. That might lead to that driver getting small runs again.

And Dudley liked to drive, but he didn't mind sharing the load if he could.

“What do you want, Dern?,” asked Buckley when the phone made the connection.

“I was wondering if one of the others was free for a small run down to the Nox area,” said Dudley.

“Let me check,” said the supervisor. His end of the call fell silent. “That's a no, Dern. Anything else?”

“I had a tail car, and just dusted off three wolves,” said Dudley. “I'm hiring a tail gunner to watch my back.”

“What?,” said Buckley.

“Send Buckley images of bandit vehicles,” said Dudley. He puffed on his cigar. “Someone wants the cargo, Bucky. I'm going to hire a tail gunner, and then I'm going to punch this load through, no matter what. The next thing coming down the pike might be able to punch in my weight class.”

“Do you need help?,” asked Buckley.

“You just said there was no one to spare,” said Dudley. “Don't worry. I'll cover the expense of an extra crew member on my sheets. The company won't have to worry about that.”

“Extra crew have to be approved,” said Buckley.

“Not in the face of an emergency action,” said Dudley. He smiled around his cigar. “Don't worry. I'll hire someone cheap for the job.”

“Cut call,” said the devil, smiling at the protests from the other end.

“Here's the deal,” said Dudley. “I'm hiring you to watch my back. When I get done dropping this load off, I'll take you down to where you want to go. Deal?”

“What about your boss?,” asked Joel.

“What about him?,” said Dudley.

“He sounded mad when you said you were hiring someone and charging your company,” said Joel.

“There's at least one driver free at any time, plus we have some waiting at the Depot for jobs to clear so they can drive again,” said Dudley. “When I need one to do me a favor, no one is around. Don't kid a kidder.”

“I got it,” said Joel.

“I still can't let you in the cab,” said Dudley. “But I can give you an auxillary position between the cab and trailer. You can ride back there until we get done dropping the load off.”

“Thanks,” said Joel. “What's your name?”

“Dudley Dern,” said the driver. “Head back if you can. There will be a bubble that should open for you to get inside.”

“Thanks for the lift, Dudley,” said Joel.

“Just keep your ears open,” said Dudley. He puffed on his cigar. “Three guys is just the tip of the iceberg if they want the cargo bad enough.”

“Right,” said Joel.