Out of Time
It was a Saturday afternoon at the Autobot base and all was normal. It was quiet with no Decepticon activity. Though it wasn't quiet in the base itself with Miko and Bulkhead rocking to more Bulgarian metal rock, listening to a live stream from Varna. Raf and Jack were racing remote control cars with Arcee, Bumblebee and Elita watching over them, cheering them on. With all this noise Ratchet was getting progressively more annoyed with them. Why couldn't they make that racket somewhere else he thought. He was busy monitoring the globe for anything that would be of importance to the Autobots, whether it be a new energon signal or Decepticon movements. He was cycling through various frequencies and wavelengths in hope of finding anything, and finding something that would cause the others to go out into the field and stop the noise that was now really getting into his processor.
He was thinking whether he should voice his opinion to the others in regard to the sound levels but was stopped when he finally came across something. He put his full attention to it and tried to identify what the computer had picked up. When the result came through he was more than surprised to say the least.
"Optimus!" He called out to the Autobot leader.
The crimson red and cobalt blue Cybertronain emerged from the corridor from behind the screens of the main base computer. He came round the steps taking one large step down as he did and came to stand close behind the Autobot medic.
"I have pinpointed an Autobot signal. And it's coming from here on Earth" Ratchet said as he pointed at the screen.
Everyone overheard this and gathered around the computer. They all saw where the signal originating.
"That's got to be a crazy coincidence. Right?" Jack said after he quickly realized where it was.
Optimus looked at the screen and considered his options. It was a fairly populated area and they had people close by anyway so it could mean saving energon by not having to ground bridge. The more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
"Contacted Rear Admiral Baines" He ordered.
In a room thousands of miles away in an old house was an large collection of model submarines and warships from the present day to yesteryear. The bookcases was filled with books on nautical subjects and naval warfare tactics. Both old and new, made by Admirals, Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals and commanders from various nations. To accompany this vast study of naval warfare tactics was a complete list of every warship ever built in the form of a complete set of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1968 up to the latest edition of 2011-12. In a corner near the window was a globe on a stand, the globe's surface was made up of different colours of rock with the ocean being dark blue and the countries of the world given different colours and textures to distinguish between them.
In the middle of the study was a chess table and two men were sat facing each other. Playing with the white pieces was Rear Admiral Colin Baines. Michael Rickers was playing with the black pieces, all of them were made of a expensive wood to which the type had been long forgotten.
Baines took his left hand Bishop and took out Michael's right hand Knight.
"Unlike me, you only look ahead one shot. I however look ahead two battles" He said as he placed the black knight piece on the side of the table.
Michael was about to retort with a witty comeback but beaten to it by all the phones in the house starting to ring.
Baines got up from his seat and walked over to a oak table in the corner opposite the globe and picked up an out of place, modern portable phone and took the call.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Good evening admiral, this is Autobot Outpost Omega One calling" Optimus Prime's voice said through the ear piece.
"Anything thing I can help you with?"
"Yes. We have picked up a signal of Autobot origin located nearly ten miles to the north of your current location. Would you be able to go there and investigate for us?" Optimus asked.
"That's not a problem. Do you know what is giving off the signal?"
"No. All we know is, it is Autobot in origin"
"Okay, I'll call you when I have a better idea of what it is. If you wouldn't mind giving me the coordinates?" Baines spoke into the phone as he got a piece of paper and a pen which is always had ready next to the phone. He wrote down the position and hung up.
Michael swung around in his chair "Who was that?" He asked.
"Optimus. He says there is an Autobot signal not far from here. I think the coordinates he gave me indicated it's near Abercyon. He asked if I could go up there and find out what it is. You don't mind going, do you?"
"Why me?"
"Well I've had a few drinks tonight so I can't drive, plus I've got to be at HMS Cambria early tomorrow morning, doing an interview for the armed forces news. Don't know how long this might go on for tonight"
"Right, okay then. Can I have your keys please?" Michael asked.
"Oh like hell you are. You can take your bike" Baines told Michael. He would never let anyone drive his Jaguar XJ MKIII.
"Have you seen the rain outside? You want me to ride my motorcycle in that weather?"
"Well I'd suggest that you take your time and ride carefully"
Michael knew it pointless to continued to argue the point so he gave in. He climbed the spiral staircase to the first floor and went to the spare room he was using while he was staying at the admiral's house while on a weekend break back in his home town. He grab his biking gearing and got ready to go for a ride. He put on his black armoured jacket, armoured trousers and gloves. He got a bright red thirty litre rucksack, just in case he had to pick something up. Rather have a bag too big than too small. He got his mobile and synced it to the blue-tooth device he bought recently for his helmet. Once he was ready he went for the door.
"Right, I'm off now. Catch you later" He called to Baines who was in the study room. He heard a distant reply from the admiral and then stepped out into the rain. He climbed down the stepped and through the tiled front garden that was one stride long and he was on the street. He looked across the street, the other side didn't exist, it was a cliff top looking out across the Bristol channel. The house sat right on Penarth Head overlooking most of the city of Cardiff and the waters of the channel and the bay area. The street was wet with rainwater and the street was kept clean with the wind blowing off from the sea and down below the waves were crashing on the rocks and the air was filled with the smell of salt. Michael took a few strides up the uneven pavement and walked over to the garage that had been added to the house sometime after the original house was built. He heaved the roller door up and flicked the light on. Parked up was the black Jaguar XJ MKIII and next to it wa
s his silver grey Suzuki Intruder 125. He really liked his motorbike. It was the only 125cc engine bike he could afford that was big enough for him to ride and still be comfortable.
He put his helmet on and made a call to the Autobot base using the blue tooth device for his helmet.
"Evening Ratchet, I trust all is well. So what are we dealing with then?" Michael said.
"Evening to you. We at this moment do not know what the signal is. It could be by an Autobot in distress or an artefact fitted with an Autobot locator beacon. We cannot speculate at this time, but I am working on it"
"Keep me posted"
Michael pushed the bike out of the garage, switched the light off then pulled the roller door back down and with his set of keys he locked it again. He straddled the bike and put the key in. He switched on the ignition and checked the gearbox was in neutral. He squeezed in the clutch with his left hand, applied the rear brake with his right foot and with his right thumb he pressed the electric start. The V twin engine turned over and fired up with a nice low throaty rumble. He gave it a few sharp throttle bursts to warm the engine up then let it idle for a moment as he heard the exhaust sound slightly tinny then became a more normal sound. When the tinny sound was gone he knew the engine was at it's optimum temperature. He pulled the face of his helmet down and flicked the visor up as he kicked the stand up and clicked down into first gear with his left foot and let the clutch out as he gave it some throttle and the bike rolled down the street.
The streets in the town of Penarth had a steep camber, made for the purpose of getting rid of the mess from horse and carriages when the town was first built over three hundred years ago. The town was built when the Port of Cardiff was the busiest port in the world and Penarth was then home to ship owners and captains, meaning all the houses were big compared to most of Cardiff. He drove west to the town centre and took the road that led towards Cardiff Bay. Michael got to the bridge that crossed the river Ely and onto Cogan Spur. When he was past the junction and on the bridge he spoke to Ratchet again.
"Hey you don't mind patching through a local radio station to me? This journey should be easily more than an hour"
Ratchet agreed and put through the station of Michael's choice.
"Delays to still be expected at Culverhouse Cross and at Cross Hands. Coriton interchange is moving now that broken down lorry has been cleared. Also listeners have called in to say the Bringlas tunnels are moving again both ways and the rest of the M4 is running smoothly. And that's the traffic. Weather is still looking the same as it was last time with heavy and persistent rain moving up the channel and working it's way up the valleys and towards the Midlands. Highs of ten and lows of seven with winds reaching fifteen miles per hour from the south west. If you spot anything and it's safe and legal to call, give us a ring on the usual number. And that's it for the next hour. Back to the show and I'm glad to say that after nearly twenty years they are back on the scene with a brand new album and currently on tour, this is Ultravox with there single 'Hello' from there new album. You're listening to Red Dragon FM"
As the music started Michael was crossing the mouth of the river Taff on the flyover bridge. Then it dived and went underground on the east bank going into the Butetown tunnels passing underneath the tourist part of the bay area. The tunnel came out the other end near the steel works and Michael took the Central Link road and went north towards the city centre. He turned east and followed Richmond road around the prison then took a left onto Newport road and travelled right into the heart of the city. He rode right past the southern end of Queen Street and up Dumfries Place and onto Stuttgart Striesser and followed across onto Boulevard-De-Nants. Taking a right onto North Road he had gone round two sides of the civic quarter and then followed the main road north. Passing through Maindy, then Cathays and over the Gabalfa flyover he followed North Road which widened and became the start of the A470 and followed it out north of the city passing the districts of Witchchurch and L
landaf till he reached the Coriton interchange. He stuck to the A470 and the road turned into a duel carriageway and Michael gave everything the bike had and was cruising along at fifty miles per hour while being overtaken by much faster traffic.
Then he settled in for the ride keeping that speed while he got cold and wet in the wind and rain. The duel carriageway followed along the steep rock face on the east side of the Rhondda valley, passing below Castle Goch. Then he passed Taff's Well then more former industrial towns of Natgarw and Pontyprydd. He passed turn-offs for many other towns in the valley which was still dramatic and steep on both sides. After the road twisted and turned it's way north the duel carriageway came to an end with a roundabout, three exits, one to continue north on the A470 and two both for the town of Abercyon. Michael already had a rough idea where the signal was coming from and took the first exit to his left and travelled down the signal carriageway road that went to Abercyon via the industrial and former mining areas, passing through small villages.
"Okay Ratchet, give me some directions from this point on" Michael spoke in his helmet back to the base.
"Follow the road for the next few miles, there is an old coal mine coming on your left. Follow that road when you see it"
"Which mine? There was quite a number around here?"
"It's the… the… look I'm know I'm probably going to say it incorrectly so I'll just say it. The Aber-sea-on Drift Colliery" Ratchet said, stumbling over the name.
"Said wrong, but I know what you mean, it's Abercyon, 'Aber-cun-on'" Michael corrected enunciating clearly and slowly the second time as he kicked down a gear and gunned the engine.
After a few miles Michael saw a old muddy road that was unlit coming up, he knew the old mine was down there so he decelerated, using a bit too much on the rear brake the rear tyre locked up causing the back end to slide out, Michael corrected the slide with less brake and adjusted the braking as he slowed then carefully took the junction and then proceeded in second gear down the old access road.
He switched the headlight to main beam to see in the dark but all he got was the glare bouncing back on the large rain drops so either way Michael could see nothing. He kept his speed low as he could feel the surface was slippery from the torrential downpour.
After a good ten minutes of taking it carefully and not sliding out Michael had reached the old mine. There wasn't much there. In fact there wasn't anything there at all. All the buildings that had made up the surface part of the mine had been torn down after the mine along with many others were shut for good. The steel and anything else that could be sold off, was. The only thing left was tall steel wire net fence that surrounded the entrance to the mine. It looked like that of a cave that had been squared off my machinery. It didn't look natural in any shape or form.
Michael parked the motorcycle right next to the locked gate on the fence. He set the stand on the only firm bit of ground surrounded my the massive puddles of muddy water and rocked the bike to see if it would fall over.
"So where now do I go? Inside?" He asked.
"It would seem so. The signal strength isn't very strong so my best guess it is underground. So yes, you will need to proceed inside"
"Copy that"
Michael kept his helmet on, it's blue-tooth unit was the only hands free kit he had on him, plus he wanted some head protection if he was going in a mine. He was not oblivious to the fact what he was about to do was dangerous. He took his gloves off, they would be no use to him, they were very thick and would make using his fingers very difficult. He took his rucksack off and dumped his gloves into it and put the rucksack on again.
He looked at the fence. It was an old, bog standard wire fencing, seven feet high and no barbed wire on top. It was more a deterrent than anything else. Michael took a few steps back and made a run up, he jumped high and with the momentum of going up, his arms pulled himself up on top. He swung his body over and dropped down the other side. Easy.
He walked up the muddy slope to the entrance of the mine "Right, here we go"
"Be careful" Ratchet warned.
"No, I'll rush in and be stupid about it" Michael said sarcastically.
Michael took his rucksack off again and in one of the side pouches was small nine LED torch that was one inch long. He clicked the button on the end and shone the light in front of him as he entered the drift mine.
It was fairly easy going at first, the tunnel sloped down gently. Drift mines are drilled sideways into a mountain or valley side as opposed to straight down like shaft mines. Michael remembered from his history lessons that the first coal mines in the South Wales area were drift mines started by the very first pioneers of the industrial revolution right back in the early eighteenth century. So this meant two thing, first this was a very old mine and second, it was a big mine with lots of tunnels meaning he could be underground for quite awhile.
Luckily Ratchet was able to provide assistance. He had Michael's tracker showing and the location of the signal. He was able to tell Michael which way he was facing and in which direction he needed to go, with that Michael was able to go down the right tunnel.
The tunnels were small and cramped, cold and wet. Water was dripping off the ceiling and flowing along the tunnel floor.
"I think it's safe to say that all this torrential rain has washed out whatever is giving off that signal" Michael said.
He had to take his time, planning each and every step as though he was rock climbing. The water made everything slippery.
"How far now?" He asked.
"According to the information, you are right on top of it" Ratchet answered.
Michael shone his torch in all directions, all he saw was rock and seams of coal.
"There's nothing here" He said.
"Well clearly you didn't look hard enough. Look again" Ratchet gruffly told Michael. What he got back in return were a few well chosen curses in Welsh through the com link. Everyone who heard it, didn't need to speak the language to know what it meant. Jack and Raf were snickering from close by.
Michael did as asked and looked around again, only this time more slowly and carefully. Then he spotted it. It would have been unnoticeable if you weren't aware that something was there. In the side of the tunnel there was a pile of rock and coal that looked like it had burst out from the side and piled up on the floor. Michael inspected the pile of disturbed rock and assessed what would happen if he tried to move the pile, would more rock collapse into the tunnel? Was it safe? He wasn't an expert on the matter but he came to the conclusion that with the amount of water pouring through if more rock would have spilled in, then it would have by now.
Michael slowly removed the pile of rubble one piece at a time. Every time he removed a piece he would stop to hear if anything was moving, but he heard nothing other than himself breathing heavily and his heart beating in his ears, the sound of water dripping from all around and it running downhill in the mine, but no movement.
Eventually he had removed nearly all of the pile of rubble and he made a discovery.
"What is it?" Ratchet asked through the com link.
"It's an object, looks futuristic so I'm going to guess it's Cybertronian"
"What does it look like? Describe it"
"Hard to describe, best I can say is it looks like a hand held device. Small screen I suppose and buttons. Other than that I can be more accurate"
Optimus' voice came through the speakers in Michael's helmet "Bring the object to the surface and we will rendezvous with you"
"Will do"
Michael sort about getting the device in his backpack. He took the bag off his back and laid it on the floor making sure their was space to get the device in, then he went to pick the device up. It was fairly heavy and with the uneven floor surface and it being wet he slipped and dropped the device. What happened next was not to be expected as the device started to hum and a strip of light washed over Michael in exactly the same way Ratchet had scanned others with his own scanner. Michael was frozen, he dared not move.
The others heard the noise "Michael, what's going on?" Ratchet asked urgently.
"I dropped it and I think it scanned me, hold on"
Everyone at the base went silent and waited for Michael to speak again.
"Okay, nothing is happening. I doubt it's going to harm me, if it would have, it might have done so by now. Could be a security feature or something"
"Get it to the surface and take your time and be very careful" Ratchet instructed.
Michael moved the bag and the object to a more level flooring before he tried to put the device in the bag. Once he had it securely stowed he put the backpack on and took his time exiting the mine. It took awhile to retrace his steps, but he wanted to be sure he wouldn't get lost. He knew he could rely on Ratchet to guide him out, but he was fairly sure he could do it himself.
After fifteen minutes of slow progress, walking on wet cold rocky ground he finally saw the night sky again and the clouds had gone, though he could see another weather front was fast approaching.
He jogged over to the fence and like before he leaped at it and swung over and landed firm on his feet on the other side. He strolled over to his motorcycle and found the stand was still set on a dry bit of ground and hadn't become submerged in a massive puddle.
"Right, where should we meet?" Michael asked the Autobots.
"Take a right when you get to the end of the access road and I will give you directions as you go" Ratchet told him.
Michael confirmed his orders and set about getting the bike ready, with the device weighing heavy on his back he took his time straddling his bike and starting the engine. The engine had gone cold during his search underground so he waited till the tinny sound had stopped. When it had stopped his pulled the face down on his helmet and engaged first gear but then he heard something over the sound of the engine, it was another engine. A jet engine. He looked to the sky and saw a formation of aircraft heading in from the north. He was puzzled, anything from RAF St Athan never flew in the Rhodda valley and certainly not that low. Then he realized, it wasn't from RAF St Athan and his suspicions was confirmed when he could tell the majority of the formation was made up of purple, Decepticon flying troopers and it was the other ones which was what concerned Michael more. A black sports helicopter and a alien silver jet that was completely unmistakeable.
He opened the throttle all the way and let the clutch go, the back wheel span rapidly, kicking up mud as it fought for traction and the bike lurched forward and tore down the muddy access road, taking cover from the trees.
"Guys, the Con's have just appeared. I need backup right now!" Michael shouted over the sound of everything, the bike, the tyre roar and the Decepticons flying overhead.
Michael did his best to get as much speed as possible on the muddy access road, but he two things going against him. One, he was an inexperienced rider and two, physics. He hadn't been riding motorbikes for long so attempting at going sideways on bends was out of the question, plus if he did there would no traction to do so. But none of that mattered to him any more because he came round a bend too quickly and the rear wheel slid out and Michael lost it. He try to correct it with more throttle and leaning out of the slide to level the bike The bike fell to the right and he went down with it. It appeared that time slowed from his perspective as he fell but it was very quick. He hit the ground with his right knee and hip and slid behind the bike as it kept going. After two whole seconds he had gone from riding a motorbike to lying on his side in the mud.
He slowly got to his feet and shaky on them, his balance wasn't so good, he tried to stumble back around to his bike which was still in gear with the rear wheel spinning idly off the ground. The cap on top of the fuel tank had been ruptured and petrol was leaking profusely out of it.
Michael had made no distance when the Decpticons landed and surrounded him. He was thrown off his feet and fell on his back and the bag. The troopers were the first and charged up their blasters and aimed them squarely at Michael. When they had secured their target they all moved back and were replaced by the Airachnid and the warlord himself, Megatron.
Airachnid eyed up the motorbike that was running in idle on it's side in the mud. In her twisted mind she made the connection to Arcee and quickly took aim and blasted at the motorbike. The energon blast and the leaking petrol made one hell of a fireball. The explosion ripped the bike apart in all directions. Burning petrol was spattered all over the place but the fires were short lived due to saturated ground.
"You bitch! I still had finance outstanding on that" Michael spat as he got to one knee, only to fail as his knee gave way and he hit the mud again.
They looked down at the human lying in the mud and watched as the pain on coming off a motorbike then hit as Michael got a throbbing pain in his hip. He eventually got to his knees and one hand with the other grasping his hip.
"Get up" Megatron ordered.
Michael looked up, still with helmet on and stared at the Decepticon warlord.
"Shit" He said to himself.
"Take that off" Megatron told Michael.
Michael struggled to climb to his feet now his hip was hurting like hell. He flipped the face up and unclipped the chin strap and pulled the helmet off then threw it to one side.
"The artefact. Now"
"And what if I say no?" Michael asked defiantly. He sure as hell wasn't going to appear weak in front of them.
The answer he got was the sound of Megatron's blaster powering up and pointed straight at him.
Michael sighed a defeated sign and was about to take off his back pack off when twenty meters away a ground bridge portal opened up and the Autobots came running through. The area was filled with the sound of metal giants moving around and blasters powering up. Rival's aimed at each other. It was a stand off and Michael was caught up in the middle of it. Optimus was aiming at Megatron with Megatron aiming at Michael. Then no one moved. No no one dared move.
"Megatron, stand down" Optimus commanded.
"Highly unlikely Optimus. I have your pet at my mercy. You stand down, or watch him die"
Optimus' eyes tightened with anger.
"Optimus" Michael spoke "I'm not getting myself killed over whatever is on my back. Please stand down. There's always tomorrow"
Optimus knew Michael was talking sense. They could lose the artefact now, but they could fight for it again later. He disengaged his blasters and stood back, the other Autobots doing the same and the situation de-escalated from a potential bloodbath.
Michael pulled the straps off his shoulders and swung the bag around and got a good grip of it, held in front of him.
"I give you this, and we all walk away. Clear on that?" He told Megatron.
Michael swung the bag back and threw it underarm in front of him and as far from him as possible, but compared to the Cybertronains it wasn't a long throw.
The bag pirouetted through the air, it's trajectory forming an imaginary arch in the air. It went up and up, then stopped climbing and started to fall and it fell fast and it hit the ground with a dull thud between Megatron and Michael.
Megatron bent down to pick up the bag when it started to hum violently.
Then it just suddenly happened. Everyone all thought the same thing when they saw it. A big flash of light, blinding them all and a loud boom with a shock wave knocking every one, Bot and Con off their feet. It was explosion, pure and unmistakeable.
Every one slowly got to their feet again and they all saw the same thing. An empty space where both Megatron and Michael were. They were gone, both of them. Not a trace. Then both sides opened fire at each other and a battle erupted over the bag that was still there lying on the ground. The battle was short lived as one of the flying troopers snagged it and took off with it with the rest of the con's breaking off their battle and took to the skies, leaving the Autobots with nothing. No artefact and most importantly of all, no Michael. He was gone. They had put two and two together and a startling and horrifying fact came to them. Michael Rickers must be dead.