Codename: Night Witch by Cary Caffrey Page A

time. A fair trade, wouldn't you say, Mr. Bins? There, he approves!"
    Jaffer snickered. "Come on, you can load it in the back."
    With Bins's longspur stowed, Sigrid climbed the ladder back aboard. As she entered the cab she found Jaffer sitting, not in the driver's seat, but in the passenger seat. Grinning, he tossed her the rig's key, which she caught one-handed.
    "You want me to drive?"
    "I thought we could trade off—get more ground covered with the two of us taking turns. Make up for lost time."
    Sigrid studied him dubiously. He was looking far too pleased with himself for his own good. "And what exactly makes you think I can handle a rig like this?"
    The Cheshire grin widened further. "Oh, let's just say I'm starting to suspect there's not much you can't handle. Call it a hunch."
    A hunch?
    It wasn't a stretch to wonder what that hunch might be. Ever since leaving Alcyone, she'd become keenly aware that she wasn't like other girls. She saw the way people looked at her: uncertain, curious, frightened. They might not know what she was, but there was no disguising the fact that she wasn't normal.
    Looking at Jaffer, she could tell he was already starting to suspect something was off. But rather than feelings of anxiousness or awe, Sigrid sensed only intrigue in him, an innocent if boyish curiosity. He'd already seen her dispatch Bins and his merry band of bandits, hadn't he? There seemed little point in hiding her talents. Besides, she was growing to like the big trucker.
    Narrowing her eyes at him, Sigrid grasped the controls. Her PCM found the rig's schematics buried in one of her databases and fed them to her. She didn't even bother to look at the controls. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on Jaffer, one of her eyebrows cocked, as she flipped on the actuating switches in quick succession as if this was something she'd done a thousand times before. One after another, she brought each of the systems back online. The reactor hummed at a perfect resonance as she fed power into the drive engines. Her final button press brought the rig's transmission from its fully automated setting back to manual, allowing for more tactile input. Sigrid stomped on the massive clutch and threw the rig into gear with a flourish.
    Chuckling, Jaffer sat back and pulled his cap down low over his eyes. "Now, if it's all right with you, I'm going to catch some zzz's. Wake me when we get there."
     

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Crossroads
    Driving Jaffer's rig wasn't like anything Sigrid had driven before. It was big, it was heavy, and the fourteen trailing intermodal containers seemed to have a mind of their own, constantly weaving behind her and threatening to pull the entire train into the ditch or oncoming traffic. Her PCM fed her constant updates, warning her if one of the trailing carriers was struggling for grip or losing brake pressure.
    It was taxing, but she was loving every minute of it.
    Within minutes, she had the train well up to speed, barreling along at a steady 180 kph, with Jaffer snoring soundly at her side.
    The highway split here. A faded green sign showed an arrow pointing to the right along with the words "Buenos Aires, 450 km." The sign was overgrown with ivy and some wag had painted what looked like a skull and crossbones across it. Sigrid ignored it, exiting instead to the left. They weren't headed for Buenos Aires anyway. They were headed for the Crossroads—home of this Consortium, whoever or whatever that was.
    Stomping on the throttle, she hauled hard on the wheel, taking the cargo train into a sweeping left-hand turn. The road was narrower here and there was only one lane running in each direction. She was barreling along at 240 kph when she pulled out to pass a line of slower-moving transports. The lights of an onrushing train flashed its warning ahead of her. Rather than give way, Sigrid pulled hard on the air horn—just as she'd seen Jaffer do. Her foot never wavered from the throttle even as the two transports rushed