The Diego Diaries: Onward Ho (dd6 213)

-0-In the human world

It was dull and tense at Earth2 among the population. The news was playing on the monitors and televisions everywhere. Business and science was ongoing and the schools were open. The monstrous facility was going great guns but there was a feeling among the population that something had happened that might not be put back together. Gathered in groups, at work stations, in the common spaces, those who lived here talked in hushed tones as the day went forward. There were dozens and dozens of requests to talk to inhabitants from Earth media organizations but that was still off the table due to management directives.

"This is crap," Monica Hadden said to her husband as they worked together on a row of carrots in a field of the farm on the third floor. They were researching the growth of the plants for a number of mission programs.

Zak Hadden was a plant geneticist who was not only hopeful of working with the Hu-An but putting together new ideas about growing food that would help with future colonization of the planet. They were hopeful given the promising data thus far that they would be able to grow all of their own food in five years for every habitat on Mars that was home to humans. "I know. I asked to go to the Hu-An habitat three days ago and got an e-mail this morning from Harris saying that we were going to have to wait and see."

"This is going to come to no good, Zak," Monica said as she stood up to go refill the water pitcher. They were hand watering a group of isolated plants to ascertain the difference from direct application of water over diffused irrigation. It had implications regarding rainfall and the lack of it here. "Everyone is furious."

Zak nodded. "I know. I think Harris better explain this to all of us to our own satisfaction because right now, the presence of those guys is a detriment to the mission. I'm furious that I have to wait."

She nodded, then walked down the rows to the path that divided the massive 'fields' from each other. Nearby, a stand of trees and other kinds of forest-type plants grew in a stand that was very popular to everyone here. It was a short walk to the station buildings along the wall where their labs were. She filled the water pitcher, then paused long enough to listen to the talking heads on programs from Earth over the MCA.

"The treaties between Mars and Earth give them full right to arrest, detain, judge, and punish those who break the law on world. There's nothing we can do about this. We have treaties," one talking head was saying. "Everyone was informed and instructed. We have not had problems until now and that's pretty amazing considering there are 5,000 or so humans living at Earth2 alone."

"The letter from the Prime's office was very clear. This individual trespassed on Cybertronian soil and therefore, has no recourse to the outcome short of appealing to Prime. It was made very clear to all of them that they would be held accountable to Cybertronian law if they broke them," still another said, the host who was named Phil Cartney.

"They would have an easier time holding him by sending him to Earth to fulfill his sentence," a woman by the name of Kate Keller said. "We can take them and have them serve here. Frankly, I don't like the idea that in the middle of the facility, the center is off limits and considered territory of Prime. Its the heart of the entire thing and frankly, we should have our own people trained to do the jobs there in case something happens. For nothing other than back up, we should have that option."

"The bots built the facility. The building is hundreds of years more advanced than what we can put forward now. Our people wouldn't be in any shape to do anything by the time they reached Mars via our tech. The radiation alone would damage their brains. They would die of cancer," Phil said. "I find it … incredibly ungrateful that anyone would hold such views, Kate."

"It isn't about a lack of gratitude," she began before the other woman on the panel, Lisa Mandrake, cut her off.

"It is. Its also about honoring our word and commitments. We don't even have a facility on the moon. We decided to skip that intermediate step and go for Mars. If we had to do it ourselves, we couldn't go to either without tremendous effort, cost and danger. We'd still be tinkering over some tiny plan right now without the bots. Our people can live in comfort, have state-of-the-art facilities and labs, do massive advanced research on everything we need to know, and get to learn about the system and other species. I don't hear gratitude here. After all, he did break the law and make a spectacle of himself. He's a loose cannon and Harris needs to explain what he's doing there, he and the others," Lisa said.

"Kate, this is autonomous territory," Matt Lewis said. He was a science reporter for their station. "We agreed in advance. We don't have the right or luxury to change our minds because we don't like what's going on. That being said, I think the committee needs to explain why these individuals are there. The bots give intensive security to the human community so having former mercenaries on the job is a bit of overkill."

"I agree," Phil said.

"They don't inside. The bots don't come inside." Kate said. "There has to be someone inside to keep order and handle problems. I just don't like the idea that the facility has places that we can't enter. It makes you wonder what they're doing there."

"They're keeping our people alive," Lisa said. "It was mutually agreed upon that this area was off limits for reasons of tech and personal security. Now is not the time to argue about that. The management of the facility signed off and so did all the related governments."

It would do on like that as Monica walked back to the field with a full pitcher of water. It would stick in her gut as she did.

-0-At the jailhouse

He stood in his cell watching the goings on outside the clear box windows. There were mechs coming and going, then a small femme that he had seen at games, Maxi who arrived with an armload of datapads. She left some, picked up others, then walked back out. Glancing at him, she smirked as she left. He frowned at her as she went.

The desk sargent changed with every 12 hours that passed. The mechs who worked here were uniformly massive and if he wasn't so pissed, amusing. They worked hard when prisoners came in, then hung out shooting the shit together at the doorway, in the lounge nearby or with the desk sargent. It could have been any barracks he had ever occupied. That was weird to see. He walked to his couch, a transparent molded shape with clear air cushions for comfort. His berth nearby was also clear and his blankets, strangely soft and completely clear were laying on it with an air filled pillow. Everything was clear including the monitor which played everything the bots showed. Nothing was left to chance.

He didn't know that the box had every kind of sensor attached to it that was possible so he wouldn't be able to harm himself. He just knew he was stuck here for thirty days. He sat on the couch, then turned up the sound on the monitor. A talk show on the MCA was playing.

"... don't have a facility on the moon. We decided to skip that intermediate step and go for Mars. If we had to do it ourselves, we couldn't go to either without tremendous effort, cost and danger. We'd still be tinkering over some tiny plan right now without the bots. Our people can live in comfort, have state-of-the-art facilities and labs, do massive advanced research on everything we need to know, and get to learn about the system and other species. I don't hear gratitude here. After all, he did break the law and make a spectacle of himself. He's a loose cannon and Harris needs to explain what he's doing there, he and the others," a blond woman was saying.

He frowned. It was clear to him that he had few friends on the air. He sat and watched the screen alternating between movies, shows and news. He was front and center on all of the commentary programs on Earth. He grinned slightly. Owen Harris owed him large.

-0-Home

"Get that."

"Here."

"Thanks." Ratchet carried the tiny trees to the window and put them in a row. The bigger tree was already in place with its lights going strong. The windows were draped by the lights that he had gotten for them years before. Hanging things up, setting things around, he looked at everything critically.

Ironhide walked to his chair. He had Halo on his arm. Sitting, he grinned. "Shiny."

"It sure looks it," Ratchet said. "Do you think we need something new?"

"Probably but don't ask me to get it," Ironhide said. "I'm too comfortable."

"Then I suppose I have to get Prowler?" Ratchet said with a grin.

"That would be really ho-ho-ho of you, slagger. Halo and I were going to have a spark-to-spark together."

"Well, we can't stop up the lines of communication," Ratchet said with a grin. "I'll get him. You still have to do the homework. I have a lot of case work to finish up and I want to see what Lucien's up to. He's my new minion after all. What kind of tyrant would I be if I didn't go in and rain on his parade?"

"There's that," Ironhide said with a grin. "I'll take care of Prowler and the family has the others. They're taking them to their lessons at the dojo and Sunny to dance class at Aerie Hill." He watched as Ratchet gathered his work into his work bag, then kissed Halo's little face. "Sounds like a plan," he said. Kissing Ironhide, he walked out to do his daily duty. The door slowly closed.

Ironhide watched it, then looked at his daughter. "I think it's time for The Promises," he said as he stroked her cheek gently. She smiled at him and he grinned back. "Your old dad is from Praxus and we make promises about our infants according to The Code. You'll learn about The Code. Your old ada smacks me with it a lot. I promise to take care of you forever. I promise to help you always. I promise to give you a good life. Whatever you need, you tell me. I wouldn't want to miss something you needed because you didn't tell me."

She smiled at him and he grinned back.

"You're a cute little slagger. Your old ada did a good job on you. You're going to be as pretty as your sisters. Some fine orn, I'll make these promises to you when you can understand me. Until then, just consider it a given. Your family loves you. So ..." He grinned. "Let's talk munitions."

She smiled again.

-0-On the way to the 33rd floor

Ratchet walked down the hallway to the suite of rooms where the diplomatic business of the Department of State happened. Entering, he chatted with a number of those working there, then headed for the office that was Lucien's. Pausing in the doorway, he watched as Lucien was working on a contract that was prompted to them by the Ecuadorian government. "You look busy."

Lucien glanced up, then sat back. "It's interesting enough," he said. There was a lot of work there and it required review and study.

"Good to hear," Ratchet said. "The humans are interesting as well. Right now, they aren't altogether happy about what's going on."

"Given the treaties, that would be a tenuous position to hold at best," Lucien said.

Ratchet nodded. "Prime said it best. They're a young species with much to learn. By the way, we're going to Diego Garcia in a few orns. I'll let you know when the meetings are firmed up. There's more discussion about the new habitat and access to the colony. I think they're going to start pushing for more habitats and more humans here. This event doesn't help that but we have to talk. We were going to go over the rules and such anyway but this makes it rather different in tone and outlook."

He nodded. "Very well."

Ratchet stared at him a moment, then grinned. "See ya." With that, he walked out, bantered a moment with the staff, made two decisions that had been pending, then left to go upstairs.

Lucien watched him go but said nothing. He turned back to his work, something that never seemed to diminish no matter how hard he tried.

-0-Prowl

He looked at the list of work that was coming due. Another migration was showing up and there were ghosts on the edge of their sensors that might or not be Decepticons. The Tall White ship that had left Earth some time ago was nearly at the station that their people kept in space for travel and communications, the one that was destroyed. It was the first one, the one that was open to another dimension. It would be time to see what he did when he passed. It was assumed that he was going to his home world by sleeper ship so it would be interesting to see if there was going to be any attempt to talk to the now-destroyed station. Time would tell.

He keyed in the datapad to look at the shenanigans of Razorclaw and his mechs. They were getting intercepted messages that he and his ships were menacing alien worlds on the other side of the dividing line between Prime and the Decepticon leader. They would have to step in and slag Razorclaw hard. They were told not to bother anyone and they were doing this anyway.

He watched as the door opened and Prime walked out. Grinning, he walked onward heading for the Prep school to pick up his daughters. It was that time. Prime would arrive there just about the same time as Ratchet.

-0-TBC 12-09-17 edited 1-10-18

NOTES

Guester: Thank you for the comment. I am juggling 12 pages front and back of threads. I will add your comment. I love it when someone sees something and lets me know. I have about six or seven viewpoints going at the same time and I might not get all the angles and nuances of each person as I go. That's where you guys shine. Thank you so much. ADDED! :D

ESL:

tenuous: (ten-U-us) something that's not very sure or stable. A fraying rope bridge is tenuous.