Part 29 - Unresolved
Cable found it easy to sneak out of the base, now Soundwave was no longer there and monitoring everything, even if it did take him longer than he wanted. Fretting, the little transformer found himself a sheltered place and sent out the call.
::Cable?:: 'Spin paused in his lecture on the microengineering of unstable elements for a microsecond as the smallest transformer commed him. ::What's wrong?::
xxx
Beverley looked up, frowning, as 'Spin charged into her office.
"Walker hath moved Phil and the Wing Commander - 'abducted' them. Cable wath left behind. He didn't have enough time to tranthform and hide on them. He doethn't know where they went."
"Oh hell..." She hesitated for only a moment before turning to Ramp, who had already contacted Diego Garcia, Brize Norton and General Morshower and enlarged his monitor screen to allow representatives of all three to be seen.
"Ms Jones, you look distressed. What has happened?"
Beverley tried to smile at the Prime, but he had grown so adept at reading human expressions it did no good. As Morshower's aide and Lt Bowers, the Consulate's liaison at Brize Norton, appeared Ramp quickly brought everyone up to date with recent events.
The aide - Davis, Beverley thought his name was - nodded and said he'd report to the general, but that this was really a local matter: unless the UK contingent really needed them, US NEST would simply monitor the situation. And on that note, they would require frequent updates.
Biting down her distaste for the flippant dismissal and brusque order, Beverley nodded tightly and turned to Catherine Bowers as Davis closed his end. The lieutenant smiled sympathetically.
"Ramp's sent me everything that's been done so far. I think at this stage it might be as well to get back to the site and see if we can find any trace of them. I'll get over there as soon as possible. Is Prowl available?"
"I can get him here in an hour."
"Great. If you could do that, please. We'll discuss our next move when I arrive."
As she signed off Beverley turned to Optimus. The Prime nodded.
"I am sorry you are so troubled, Ms Jones. Is there any way we can help?"
She wanted to say yes, but in all honesty there was nothing anyone on Diego Garcia could do that couldn't be done at least as well and without the travel delay by their own personnel. She shook her head.
"Thank you, sir, but no. Ramp will keep you advised."
"We would appreciate it. Know that we will do anything in our power to assist if it is needed."
"Thank you. At the moment I think Prowl and the twins are our best bet."
xxx
As the screen went blank the Prime turned to Ratchet.
::There are now two organisations in the UK that threaten us and our human colleagues::
The medic vented a sigh and hoisted Nova a little higher up his frame.
::How many does that make, worldwide?::
::That we know of? Three hundred and fifty three. Of those, seventy represent a genuine threat. Thirty nine of those are in the northern United States, twenty are in that area the humans call the Middle East, and the rest are scattered across the Russian mainland::
::Can we keep our people safe?::
::It appears not::
Ratchet hugged his sparkling protectively. ::No matter where we go or what we do we cause problems...::
Optimus laid a servo on his shoulder. ::On the positive side, while they are plotting against us, they aren't killing each other::
Ratchet snorted. ::I do not find that much of a consolation::
::I know, old friend. And yet, abandoning them now would cause more harm than good::
::Are you sure of that? Would everyone really not be better off if we left?::
::It is something to consider for the future. At present, we have become too important to their overall wellbeing for us to leave::
Which Ratchet knew to be true, at least as far as the current agricultural and energy-production projects were concerned. None were at a stage where they could be left wholly unsupervised.
::I suppose so. But it rankles, Optimus. We should have our own planet, somewhere we can be ourselves, rather than being allowed to stay here at the humans' sufferance::
Prime laid a heavy servo on his shoulder.
::Somewhere we can recreate our own civilisation::
::Yes::
::We will, Ratchet. We will. Just let us assemble a few more of our own and we will make the endeavour::
::Where? Where will we go?::
::The most suitable planet is Mars::
Which was ironic, thought the medic. The planet named for the human god of war could become the planet where we find peace at last...
xxx
Prowl, with Catherine Bowers in his driving seat but not daring to actually touch anything other than the steering wheel, had headed off to retrieve Cable as soon as the Nemesis could get to Brize Norton. At the same time Starflare had diverted from NEO clearance to collect Bluestreak from the Moon, it having been agreed by Prime and Morshower that Poppy would be safe enough with just 'Beat and Stronghold, given how many other Transformers there were currently at the base, while Blue would be of much more use on earth now that Phil and Graham were missing.
Bowers was one of those rare humans who didn't feel the need to fill the silence with noise, which Prowl found very soothing. Cruising at a steady 180 miles per hour - it had taken some persuasion but special dispensation had been granted to transformers to break the speed limit under certain circumstances - it only took a couple of hours to reach the THB headquarters. Cable scuttled out from his hiding-place as Prowl pulled up at the edge of the transport park, the little transformer leaping in as the door opened.
"Report." Prowl's voice was clipped and emotionless. Cable glanced at the human.
"Aloud?"
"The humans needs to be party to the intel."
Cable settled himself in the passenger seat and plugged into Prowl's comms port as the car drove back out onto the main road and waited in a layby to decide - or be advised - where to go next.
"Walker took them with no warning. All three 'Con's went with him. They left no trail, and as far as I've been able to tell, haven't tried to contact anyone so far. Though since they're operating on their own that's not so surprising. I'm sorry, it was forty minutes before I could get out of the complex to comm you without risking alerting anyone."
"So we don't know where they went." Bowers had called up a map of the area and was scrutinising anywhere that might be used as a retreat. There were a number of mines in the area that she thought were well worth investigating. She tapped the video array and glanced at Cable. "We need a couple of search teams."
"Bluestreak will be back later today. I'll have Starflare transport him, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to the vicinity." Prowl shifted slightly as he commed the order. "In the meantime, we ought to set up a command post."
Bowers frowned. "Are we sure they're here?"
"It's most likely. According to NEST records there has been unusual activity here in the last couple of years, not enough to raise the alarm, but enough to warrant keeping an eye out, as they put it." He brightened one specific area of the map. "Here. The lower workings proved to be mildly radioactive, and the mine was abandoned."
"Radioactive?" Bowers frowned worriedly. "That's not good."
"It causes us no problems."
"Maybe not, Prowl, but it's very dangerous for humans. Can have some very nasty effects."
In the time it took her to say it he'd skimmed everything online about radiation poisoning. "I see. Then it behoves us to find them with all due despatch. But perhaps you should keep your distance."
"I'll stay away from the mine itself but I need to be here. Any operation involving NEST has to have a human rep in attendance."
"Very well. But you will need to wear protective gear."
"I'll get it organised."
"Good." Prowl paused, listening to his comm. "We have orders not to try anything on our own. We are to wait for reinforcements. The three 'Cons are considered to be very dangerous and I understand Walker himself is unstable. A stealth operation may be our best option. For that we will probably need more human operatives. We will assess the situation when everyone is here."
"And in the meantime we wait?"
She could almost feel the nod. "We wait."
xxx
Graham shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. The cell was dark, cold and dank, the walls dripping. "We're going to need more blankets or something."
Walker leered at them then waved a hand around the little cave. "Get used to it. This is all you're getting."
He pulled the makeshift but substantial door to with a clang and locked and bolted it. As his footsteps faded away both officers tried to shift the door. They failed, much as expected. In the dim light of an overhead naked electric bulb they inspected their new quarters. Not that there was much to see. Roughly rectangular, hacked out of the rock, a rough but very solid door that didn't fit properly, letting in air. Two metal cots with the thinnest of mattresses, a thin hard pillow and one blanket each. There was a bucket, with a pile of slightly damp newspaper on the floor beside it, against one wall.
And that was it. Graham grinned mirthlessly.
"On reflection, I'd prefer the Ritz..."
Phil groaned and nodded. "Well, let's do what we can to make it less unbearable."
They shoved the cots together - taking advantage their shared body heat and giving them two blankets instead of one each - then sat in silence, wondering what they could possibly do next...
xxx
Poppy was actually enjoying her time on the moon, even given her constant worry about Phil and Graham - and everyone at Iacon House. She spoke almost daily with her fellow consuls, all of whom were breathless to know how she was coping, what they should plan for when it was their term, how she got on with everyone... It certainly soothed the homesickness. And there was something rather nice about being able to look down on the home planet - not in a superior way but almost... motherly. She felt like some sort of maternal observer, gazing down on the planet she loved and served. And she got quite a kick out of being able to see everywhere. It made reading the reports of transformer activity around the world so much more fun. Hound and Trailbreaker were currently in Russia, focussing on protecting the amur tigers of Sikhote-Alin: with a little help from Ramp she was actually able to find the area and zoom in, feeling a thrill that their allies were making a difference to the planet.
It was wonderful.
And when Yule came, Stronghold and 'Beat took her outside, lifting her up five feet above the surface and boosting her forwards in an approximation of flight. If she hadn't been so worried about Phil, and Graham, who were both still missing it would have been just perfect...
xxx
© JAT 31.12.12
