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Chapter 7 Snow
"Hey one moment , can we ride with Bumblebee?" said Sam.
Ironhide checked with Optimus. Then:
"Sorry kids, no can do, we're on the Highway here, you stay inside. Besides, you do not have an Iron-hide like I have and I won't take responsibility for your safety otherwise."
"Can we go in the back then?" said Mikaela.
They went round to the back of the black Topkick and he let them in.
Mikaela looked up to the sky.
"Transformers: Rollout!" called Optimus via the radio.
They moved out in convoy, Ironhide bringing up the rear.
"Hey it's snowing!" exclaimed Mikaela.
"Its wonderful!" cried Bumblebee in awe. Then, a few seconds later:
"Oh boy but it's cold!"
"Aw, it's only a little snow, it's considered good to snow at Christmas.
And there's a robin singing in a tree…," said Mikaela.
"It may be good for you, but it's melting and going under my plating, and it'll be icy and slushy later, and I'm the one who'll be sliding about with a muddy chassis…"
Bumblebee had already seen snow that Winter, he had not lost the wonder at it, he had joined the teens in building snow transformers and everyone had joined in a snowball fight, but then had come the disenchantment with the havoc on the roads and the drifting…
"And I'll have to sweep and shovel the drive," groaned Sam.
They moved out onto the Freeway.
"Gee, I should've told Mr Stumke next door, after he'd been to church, to cover up his Porsche's windscreen with newspaper!" Sam facepalmed.
"You didn't know it was going to freeze," consoled Mikaela.
"It's all right for you Truck-built vehicles, you're higher off the road than me, you don't have so much snow damage." Said Bumblebee.
"You're still more out of the way of the mud and ice and slush up there
than we are down here," Ironhide came back with.
Mikaela was still looking up.
"Hey, there's a falling star, let's make a wish!" She clutched Sam's hand.
"Bumblebee, stop whinging and shine the light!" called Ironhide.
Bumblebee swung up his Autobot symbol torch with his right arm.
"Hey, any Decepticon will see him and us with that!" Sam, catching sight of it, hid under Will's car blanket in the back.
"There's another! And another, we can have three wishes! There's another two! Hey, we can get comets named after us, there's two new
Christmas stars!" said Mikaela.
"Come under the blanket with me, it could be Starscream or other Decepticons!" came Sam's muffled voice.
"Starscream wouldn't show lights, he probably even blocks radar!"
"Sorry, Sam, I'm under orders!" Bumblebee called down.
"No Sam, the signal's Autobot!" called Ironhide.
Sam peered out sheepishly grinning.
Mikaela snuggled under the blanket with Sam.
"Hey, Epps has left his camera under here!" she said.
Then she peered out the back window through the lenses.
"Hey, it's got Nightsight! And Zoom!" She activated them.
Sam saw some white blue and red lights coming up behind them.
And a siren, but then that shut off.
"Oh no, it's the cops!"
"We're not doing anything illegal, we're taking a Christmas decoration to a children's party!" countered Mikaela.
"What if they think it's too long a load?"
" Oh no what if it's -" Sam's face went white, or through the camera lenses a darker pale shape with white holes. She took it down.
"It's not the same one Sam, it's an Impala, not a Mustang Saleen."
"What's the difference?"
"More white than black."
"But the disguise can change, Bumblebee -"
"Is up there in plain sight, with that symbol torch, and not one shot-"
She brought the lenses up for magnification again. "Besides, I can see what it says on the side, I saw it swerve just now, it says
'To protect and serve.'
And that's not the State badge, it's not pointy, it's even flatter and more rounded than the County Shield-"
"You mean… Let's have a look"
(Starscream's alt. form, the F22 jet, has almost no radar signature).
They both looked from the camera sights to the landing symbol in the sky above.
"They're on our side. Woohoo!" they hugged each other.
The horn sounded once :then, on the semi-deserted Freeway, it played "Glory Glory Halleloo-yah!"
This seemed to be a pre-arranged signal. The convoy pulled over to the hard shoulder and came to a halt. Optimus played the first line of the Battle Hymn of the Republic "Mine eyes have seen the glory…." followed by Ratchet doing the second line of the verse, and Ironhide the third. Mikaela sang along with the last line she remembered from July 4th:
"Let us live to make men Free!"
It seemed a very Autobot sentiment.
Bumblebee finished it off.
"……… marching on!"
"Hi Prowl, Did you have a good landing?"
"It was okay."
The headlights of the police car dipped, blinked and flashed.
Then Mikaela said:
"Look, the left headlight isn't working. Oh no, now it is."
She realized the police car was winking at them. This is hard for cars as headlights work in unison but not impossible for Transformers. This was a show for the drivers of the odd human vehicles speeding by.
A police officer got out, flickering ever so slightly: she realized he was a hologram. He stood beside the Impala, displaying a black case with a badge that was the county shield of Nevada. She tapped the door lightly and they were let out.
Holograms turned round and leaned out of every cab. Optimus had a truck driver with a wide-brimmed hat, flame patterned shirt and levis, Ratchet had a Paramedic, Ironhide had a middle-aged guy in a blue denim top and jeans with a military haircut in silver and black. He shouted:
"Officer, what seems to be the trouble?"
"Hi guys, the off rear light of this SUV seems to have gone."
They realized that Ironhide was winking back.
"No, it's all right now."
"He's with us!" Shouted Optimus's hologram.
"Are you?"
"Yes!" Boomed Ironhide.
"What is your destination?" He got out a little black e-book and stylus.
"A Forces' Family Christmas Party in Hangar two at the Hoover dam."
"I will accompany you."
"Thank you, Officer."
The noise of the traffic quietened down as the last car sped by. Only Sam and Mikaela heard the next comments at normal voice level, Optimus 's deep bass tone and Prowl's baritone:
"Welcome to Earth, Prowl"
"Your party, Leader Prime."
Prowl did one more thing via his hologram: he looked up at Bumblebee and held the book and stylus up. There was a whirring noise: Sam realised Bumblebee was being scanned, just for appraisal, not in a bad way. He ducked his head, remembering with embarrassment how Ratchet had first scanned him and Mikaela. Then, with a nod at Ratchet's hologram and an answering nod back, he was done. They got back in, doors slammed and they moved out back onto the Freeway.
The convoy arrived at the Hoover dam base with a police escort.
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