Author's Note: Once again, I do not own the Transformers, but I do own every other character you do not know.

Mood music- Indikator: Fissure

After three hours of rigorous questioning and answering, the Autobots had finally decided they had all the information they needed. Each question was answered by a specific specialist and each was answered to the fullest.

"It went like clockwork," Sam thought. Optimus would present a question, and automatically, a scientist would begin addressing it. He tried to pay attention as best he could, but some of the specifics the scientists were giving were completely lost on him.

He was now being taken back to the surface via the same hallways he had strode just hours earlier and with the same escort as before. Only this time, the small woman who had been sitting next to Dr. Brecht took the assistant's place. Her and the General walked side by side and kept in step with one another, while Sam trailed closely behind.

"She didn't say anything the entire time," he noted mentally. While every other person at the table had been directed at least one, if not two, questions she had not answered any. The only noise she had made in the time he had been there were a few deep coughs, which she had been quick to suppress with a small black handkerchief. "What did that mean? Why was she there if she had no use?"

When they approached the elevator, Veers came to a halt, "Lieutenant Ackland will take you to the surface. I have other matters to attend to at this time. It was good to meet you, my boy," he added with a half smile. After a brief handshake, the lieutenant nodded her goodbye to the General and pulled her own access card from the breast pocket of her uniform. Sam wondered silently if this was where all military members kept important things.

"Apparently, no one here has ever heard of elevator music." Sam was distraught by the silence and the feeling of fear caught up to him. The small elevator was cold and metallic, and the noise of mechanics was the only thing to fill it. He glanced sideways at the woman standing next to him.

She was indeed short and her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her uniform was crisp and black patent high heel shoes matched her skirt. "Her face would be a gentle one if she allowed it to be," he reflected. She didn't look as old as him and he deduced she had to at least be 10 years younger. He decided to break the ice because she clearly wasn't going to.

"So, Ackland, do you have a first name?" He smiled at her warmly and put his hands in his pockets.

"Yes. It's Lieutenant," Her eyes never met his and she kept her focus straight. Her words were spoken with malice and she was clearly annoyed at being addressed.

Sam frowned inwardly. " You know, deep down I knew you'd say that."

The conversation ended and the doors opened. She was the first to step out and he merely followed, feeling dejected. She led him back to the entrance he had came through earlier and then through the building. Once they had stepped through the front door, they were greeted by two armed MPs who acknowledged the lieutenant in a casual way. Sam, however, merely looked past them and onto the two vehicles that seemed out of place amongst the drab, olive ones around them. The red and blue cad was pulled up next to the yellow camaro, and an impatient honk of the camaro's horn filled the air, causing the MPs to give an annoyed glace in their direction.

Lieutenant Ackland walked a few steps over to where Sam had stopped. She took an envelope out of her folder and handed it to Sam, " The instructions on your return date are enclosed along with three passes to be presented to the front gate in order to gain entrance. You will follow the MP's jeep out."

With that, she gave a nod to the one Sam assumed was the leader and they motioned for him to follow. She was already inside the building when Sam went to tell her goodbye. The only thing he could make out through the tinted glass of the front doors was a small figure walking away.

--

Once away from the base, Sam and Bee tailed Optimus and they eventually came to an empty area and parking. Sam got out and Bee and Optimus once again transformed.

" We must discuss this with the rest. I will begin to round up everyone. It should take no longer than a day. Meet me back here at this time tomorrow."

" Alright," he replied, but then paused for a few moments. " But... It's important to me that I say I honestly don't know what to think of this situation."

"Understood, Sam. Thank you for saying so. Give yourself time to think about what has just happened. The events that have unfolded are not something to be taken lightly. I would like it if we had your input tomorrow, so give the matter consideration."

Bumblebee nodded his head in support of what Optimus had just said.

"Yeah, no problem."

Sam's ride home was a disappointing one. Bee had chosen to drive, so Sam merely sat in the drivers seat as formality. He was left to his own thoughts, feeling afraid and cold, until the radio cracked to life. Bob Marley's voice filled the car for a second before it was once again silenced.

"Every little thing gonna be alright."

Sam only felt worse now. " I hope so.. I hope so."

--

Authors note: Bee's voice box has, by this point, been fixed. However, I choose to write it as something that works with minor difficulty. I'm trying to move things along and, in another chapter or two, something interesting is bound to happen. I move really really really slow, I know. My bad.

Margaret Thatcher(1925-) English politician

"I stand before you tonight in my red chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up, my fair hair gently waved... The Iron Lady."