Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I hope I'm not creeping anyone out by writing this.

Disclaimer: I've said it twice already; do I really need to repeat myself?

Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 3: Introductions

Ronald Sandoval stared at the stranger. He'd never seen anyone like the newcomer before in his life.

The stranger was easily six feet six inches in height, with not a scrap of wasted space on his tall, slender frame. He was solid muscle. Some instinct told Sandoval not to take that man on in a street fight. Another instinct, one used to otherworldly creatures, pointed out that the stranger was not human, though he looked it. His ears were more pointed than rounded, and his emerald eyes had slitted pupils. Sandoval was tempted to think they were only contact lenses, but then he saw those slitted pupils widen and narrow, adjusting to the bridge lighting, and knew they were definitely not contacts. The intelligence in those eyes were unnerving. Sandoval had the distinct impression that the stranger was far more intelligent than even the Taelons.

The stranger put his hands on his hips and glared. He was obviously someone with a great deal of power. The way he carried himself indicated that he didn't doubt his own authority.

"Well?" There was irritation audible in that deep voice.

"Agent Sandoval!" Zo'or hissed, snapping Sandoval out of his trance. He aimed his skrill at the stranger.

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" Sandoval demanded, keeping his skrill pointed at the intruder.

The stranger didn't look impressed. He ignored the threat the skrill presented. "I am Ultra Rodimus, leader of the Autobots and current commander of Cybertron. Now where am I and who the hell are you?"

His bluntness and dismissal of the threat confused Sandoval. He wasn't used to having anyone stand up to him. He blinked at the tall stranger, then shook his head slightly and reaimed. "And how did you get here?"

"Dimensional breach. I'm certain you couldn't have overlooked that. The ruptures tend to open in a quite spectacular fashion." Ultra Rodimus's voice was laced with sarcasm.

"I've had some experience with dimension jumping, but my transfer wasn't nearly as spectacular or noisy," Liam commented suddenly.

Ultra Rodimus's penetrating gaze shifted to the Major. "Then you know how irritating it is to be snatched from your own reality and thrown into another without any warning."

"I know well enough."

"And you are...?" Ultra Rodimus asked.

"Major Liam Kincaid, protector to Da'an, the North American Companion," Liam answered.

"And who is the rude one?" Ultra Rodimus indicated Sandoval with one hand.

"Agent Ronald Sandoval. He's another Companion agent."

"And what are these 'Companions?' I have never heard of them."

"That's what we call the Taelons." Liam indicated Da'an and Zo'or.

"Enough," Sandoval cut in. "You will get no more answers from us until we've gotten answers from you."

Ultra Rodimus regarded him coolly, but didn't say anything. Sandoval stalked up to him, keeping his skrill aimed at Ultra Rodimus's midsection. The taller man eyed the skrill, but with more curiosity than anything else.

"Point that thing in some other direction," Ultra Rodimus told him, an edge in his voice. Sandoval merely shifted his aim from Ultra Rodimus's torso to his face.

"No."

The reaction was surprising.

Ultra Rodimus moved so fast Sandoval had no time to react. He grabbed hold of Sandoval's skrill arm with one hand and delivered a stunning blow to the back of Sandoval's head while simultaneously kicking his legs out from under him. In less than five seconds, Sandoval found himself face-down on the deck, stunned, his arm aching from wrist to shoulder, looking at the gold-and-blue-spotted silver snakeskin boots Ultra Rodimus was wearing.

Snakeskin boots. Now why didn't I notice that before...?

"I don't take kindly to being threatened, Mr. Sandoval," Ultra Rodimus announced coldly. "I would suggest you not try that again."

Sandoval pushed himself up, noting the ring of Volunteers aiming their skrills at the taller man. From the way Ultra Rodimus was studying them, there was gonna be trouble.

"Stand down!" Liam barked, pushing his way past the Volunteers. They reluctantly backed off.

"What are you doing, Major?" Sandoval demanded.

"He's only defending himself, Sandoval. If you don't bother him, he won't bother you."

"And how can you be sure of that?" Zo'or demanded.

"I can spot a fellow warrior. He's been in some serious fighting. He'll lash out if he thinks he's in danger. And since he could easily have killed Sandoval, I think that shows that he won't kill unless he has no other choice." Liam stepped toward Ultra Rodimus, holding up his hands to show that he meant no harm. Ultra Rodimus eyed him cautiously, but didn't move.

Sandoval reluctantly backed off. He watched as the Major stopped in front of the tall offworlder. The two studied each other. Then Ultra Rodimus relaxed.

"Where am I?" Ultra Rodimus asked.

"You're on the bridge of the Taelon mother ship, in orbit around the planet Earth."

"I know Earth. My people have cities on the planet, in my reality." Ultra Rodimus looked around at the ship. "Interesting design. Who's your decorator?"

"The ship is organic."

"I kinda figured as much." Ultra Rodimus looked at the Taelons. "And they are the Taelons you mentioned?"

"Yes. This is Da'an, and that's Zo'or. Zo'or is the Taelon leader."

The Autobot eyed the Taelon critically. "He strikes me as being the narrow-minded, self-absorbed, arrogant, airheaded, greedy type. The type who don't care about anyone but themselves."

"And you're right," Liam muttered.

"I thought so. I only just got here and already I don't like him."

Liam snorted. "Then I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

Ultra Rodimus returned the smile.

Da'an stepped closer, and Ultra Rodimus turned toward him. "How long will you be here?" the Taelon asked.

Ultra Rodimus shrugged. "Until I find a way home, I suspect."

"How long will that take?" Zo'or asked.

"Less than it will if you continue nagging at me," Ultra Rodimus shot back.

Zo'or glared.

"You really don't like him, do you," Liam commented.

"Not in the least," the Autobot confirmed. "Methinks he'll try to control me, and do everything he can think of to get hold of me."

Liam tilted his head. "Have you ever been tested for psy abilities?"

Ultra Rodimus shook his head, puzzled. "No. Why?"

"Because so far all of your predictions have been perfectly accurate."

The Autobot Prime gave him a curious look. Then he looked around the bridge. "Does the rest of the ship look like this?"

"It does," Da'an confirmed.

"C'mon. I'll show you around." Liam gestured toward the corridor.

Ultra Rodimus walked toward it, followed by Liam and Da'an. Suspicious, Zo'or and Sandoval trailed the trio.

In the lower decks of the ship, Ultra Rodimus poked his head into one of the labs, staring at the large tank in the middle. "What is that?"

"That's the tank where the skrills are bred."

"What are skrills?"

"Life forms bio-engineered to be weapons. Sandoval has one on his arm." Liam pointed at the creature.

Ultra Rodimus walked over to the tank and peered in at the creatures inside. He studied them for a moment, then turned away. He was about to leave the lab when a loud hissing sound came from somewhere behind him. He turned to find the source.

"What is that noise?" Zo'or demanded.

One of the Volunteers looked up. "It's..."

To be continued...

You wanna know what the sound is, don't you? Sure you do. Send me a nice review and I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

I will warn you that there will be delays between updates. Between college classes and almost literally wrestling my sister for control of the keyboard, updates will take a bit longer than they did when I was on summer break. Just so you know I'm not leaving you hanging deliberately.