Chapter 32 - Gone
(WPOV)
Mikaela and the decrepit ex-Decepticon disappeared. They just disappeared. Gone. Vanished. There weren't even any smoke and mirrors. Just a vortex and gone.
"MIKAELA!" Optimus roared beside him. Weapons were popping up from beneath Prime's armour, blades, guns, every movement screaming preparation for battle. That cannon across his back was friggin' huge.
Oohkaay. Will signalled every human out of the enraged Auto-bot's way. The airplane Optimus' hand had been resting on squealed in protest as the mech's fist idly closed. Now he could see why the bot always kept his temper so under control. That. Was just fucking scary.
"Ratchet! Ironhide! Bumblebee! Report!" Optimus roared.
"He opened a space bridge, Prime," Ratchet stated calmly, "now calm down. You're scaring the humans. Jetfire isn't going to hurt her, we all know that Kae is no doubt tearing him a new access port as we speak."
"Unless he wound up on a planet without an atmosphere," Ironhide added. Ratchet hauled off and whacked Ironhide upside the head. "What!? The bot should know why we stopped using unsupported space bridges! They were temperamental! You needed a hell of a lot of energon just to control it, and even if you did sometimes you speared off for no apparent reason. Mostly we didn't care until that idiot Magda Prime bridged himself right into the middle of the Cardinal."
"We're trying to remain calm!" Ratchet roared, "not give Optimus even more reasons to want to destroy everything in sight!"
"Oh, right," Ironhide frowned. He turned to Optimus. "If she's alive, she'll call," he shrugged. "Give her an hour or so before you destroy everything. If she's dead she's already dead. If she's alive she'll find a way to contact us."
Bumblebee was wandering around the airplanes.
"Isn't there a single bloody flier in the house!?" he demanded. "I'm a Bee! I should be able to fly!"
"Where would you even start looking?" Ratchet demanded irritably.
"I have to try and find my big sister!" Bumblebee shouted desperately.
Optimus' phone rang.
"Hello?" Optimus answered it furiously.
"Optimus!" Mikaela's voice almost shouted, the relief in her voice was terrifying.
"Mikaela where are you!?" he demanded, leaning heavily on a plane in relief as her voice rang out across the field.
(MPOV)
"FUCK!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, feeling the sting of nanites repairing a burn on my hand.
"Woah, well that wasn't so bad," Jetfire rumbled several hundred yards away from me. "At least we're on the same planet." he looked around and stood up on far more stable legs, reaching down and picking me up. "Better get out of the way for the next bridge."
"WHAT THE HELL FIRE JUST HAPPENED!?" I shrieked. "Where the hell are we!? What do you mean at least we're on the same planet!? What other Primus damned planet is capable of supporting carbon based spinal cord organisms!?"
"I opened a space bridge, it's the fastest way to get to Egypt, you were duly informed, now where are the others?" he asked irritably.
"Space bridge! You didn't say anything about a space bridge! Why are we in Egypt!?" I shrieked, practically hysterical now. "How the hell am I supposed to contact Optimus! How the hell is he supposed to find us! Or am I a Decepticon captive now!?"
"I told you I changed sides to the auto-bots!" he roared.
"You're going to have to forgive me for not believing you seeing as you've just separated me from my guardian!" I bellowed at him.
He looked down at me in surprise.
"Huh," he rumbled patiently, looking around.
"Well now what the hell are we supposed to do?" I demanded.
"We continue our mission!" Jetfire stated proudly. "Your Prime is going to need the matrix if he isn't old enough to open a space bridge! We'd better get them over here then."
I sat down in his palm and sighed.
"I don't suppose you picked up their transmission wavelength?" I asked hopefully.
He looked down at me.
"You should have it," he growled.
"How the hell am I supposed to have it?" I demanded, "Fleshling? Remember? Fine, can you tell where the closest human habitation is with phones? We have to stay quiet, the majority of the human population doesn't know that you guys exist."
"Why the pit did you do that?" he demanded.
"I don't know!" I said irritably, "I'm not exactly in charge of the friggen administrations! I just try to keep the messes as low key as possible!"
"Welp, we'll fly then." Jetfire announced, transforming around me and setting me in the cockpit. He took off, we were thousands of feet above the ground in moments. "I'll set you down a mile outside the town and you can call them. I'll scout around and make sure we don't have company."
"You're going to have to land to set me down!" I said quickly, "Fleshlings can't fly unaided!"
"Oh bollocks. Still!? Fine!" he grumbled, descending again and landing on the backside of the dune. "I'll meet you back here in an hour." he said as I quickly climbed out of the already hot plane. I began trotting up the dune to get an idea of my surroundings. There was a fair sized city down there. I began walking quickly toward it, forming a plan. I had cash in my pocket, American unfortunately.
I stumbled into the shade of the wall gratefully, finally out of the sun I began walking around. A man on top of the wall began yelling down at me.
"English!" I shouted up. "Help! Please! English!"
The man pointed excitedly the opposite way I'd been walking, I turned around and was grateful to find a road, gate and several excited men. One of them offered me a long strip of cloth, indicating for me to cover my head and face. I obliged him quickly, leaving only my eyes showing.
"English?" I asked hopefully.
"Leetle," one man said kindly. "Help?"
"Car," I mimed driving, then hit my hand with a fist. "Escort," I lifted my hand above my head then crossed a finger across my neck. "Telephone?" I held a hand to my ear, looking desperate. The man gestured for me to follow, leading me down a street and pointing proudly to a bright red telephone box.
"Thank you," I said quickly, bowing to him. He nodded his head and held the receiver for me, I pressed 0 and said "English, English please." eventually an operator with a heavy accent came on the line.
"How can I help?" he asked.
"I'd like to make a collect call, please," I said slowly.
"What is number?"
"America," I said slowly, "303-588-6259." the phone rang.
"Jenny's Pizza!" a girl on the other end answered.
"Sorry, wrong number!" I said quickly, hanging up. I closed my eyes and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes.
"Help," the good samaritan said gently, touching my shoulder. "Number?" he produced a pad of paper and pencil. I quickly wrote it down. He frowned at it.
"Um, here," I said patiently and pointed to the first number, holding up three fingers.
He took the pencil with a grin and wrote it down, a squiggle to me. We quickly signed the number together and he picked up the receiver, pressing zero and talking in rapid-fire arabic. He handed me the receiver.
The phone rang.
"Hello?" Optimus' voice answered furiously.
"Optimus!" I almost shouted in relief, sagging against the box.
"Mikaela where are you!?" he demanded, I could hear the relief in his voice as well.
"Egypt, somewhere, I had to get a wonderful good samaritan to dial the phone for me." I said with a deep sigh. "Grandfather thought you were going to follow us. He's a bit confused, I think."
"Where is he now?"
"Scouting."
"Have you got any idea where you are?" Lennox's voice demanded.
"Egypt, helpful, I know," I sighed. "here, can any of you speak Egyptian? Or Arabic, I don't know what primary language this dear helpful man speaks."
"Put him on," Optimus rumbled. I offered the phone to the man.
"Salome?" the man said curiously, his eyes lit and they began speaking to each other quickly as I watched worriedly. He nodded and handed the phone back to me.
"You're in Ezbet Dush," Lennox told me calmly, "the man there is going to give you a pencil and paper, he'll have written instructions on the paper in arabic for you, I want you to write this down Thirty-two degrees, thirteen minutes and thirty-five point two seconds east, and forty-one degrees, nine minutes and thirty-three point two seconds."
I wrote the co-ordinates down.
"Now, if Jetfire doesn't take you there I want you to go to the embassy and give them that slip of paper. Understand?"
"Understood, thank you Will," I said in a calmer voice. I handed the phone back to the man, who spoke for a few minutes before hanging up.
"We part ways now," he said calmly, "for my family I thank you."
"For my life, I thank you," I replied, bowing to him. He nodded and walked off. I turned and walked out of the gates, spying the man who'd given me the linen and offering it to him. He shook his head, crossing his hands over his chest then gesturing for me to keep it. I bowed to him in thanks and wrapped it around my face again, heading back out into the desert as the sun rode low in the sky. I walked up the dune again, following my footprints. I glanced at my watch. Broken. Brilliant.
(OPOV)
Optimus ran a deep, calming sync as the phone went dead. She was safe, Ratchet reached up and gripped his shoulder.
"Sorry," he rumbled softly.
"It's alright to care about her, Optimus." Ratchet rumbled in amusement, "But I call dibs on being the one to fly into a streak of fury next time. You're the better commander, that's why you're in command kiddo."
"Wait! Kiddo!?" Lennox demanded incredulously. Ratchet looked down at him in astonishment.
"You really haven't figured it out yet?" the medi-bot asked curiously. "You're younger than Jacobs and in command, Major."
"Well, okay but how old are you guys anyway?" Epps asked curiously.
"Figuratively?" Ratchet grinned. He onlined his holoform. A grizzled, careworn late fifties, in excellent shape none the less. "It doesn't really matter, we are who we are. Optimus is a Prime, a true leader." he explained as the holoforms onlined beside him. They got into formation together, Optimus taking point, Ratchet on the right, leaving a space. Ironhide to the left and all present taking their positions. The soldiers stared at the men and women, all different ages.
(WPOV)
Will looked up and down the line in shock. Optimus was maybe thirty, but there was a definite look of natural leadership in his stance. Even if he was currently pissed off. Ironhide had to be in his forties, Ratchet his fifties. Bumblebee. Bumblebee was a friggin kid. Okay, mid to late teens. The three girls were twenty five probably. But there was one definite similarity.
Every last one of them was in true fighting form, standing lightly, barely a fidget and alert for any trouble.
"I'm shocked at you," Ratchet laughed then, "Mikaela didn't even need the holoforms to know our respective ages."
Will walked forward to the holoform and reached up, gripping Optimus' shoulders in strong hands.
"We'll find her," he said firmly.
Optimus looked down at him, his frown easing slightly but not disappearing. He took a deep breath and nodded.
"Let's roll," he rumbled firmly.
"You heard the bot!" Will shouted to the soldiers scattered among the auto-bots. "Cleanup crew! Rendezvous at base! The rest of you load up!"
(OPOV)
Optimus drove onto the C17 impatiently. The sooner they got to base, the sooner they could scrapping well leave.
::. OPTIMUS!.:: Bumblebee shouted the next second.
He sounded terrified, horrified, so much so that he hadn't even called him Prime. The scout routed a frequency, not simply one, but all of the human's radios, televisions...
"Citizens of the human hive..."
That voice alone had Optimus snarling.
"Your leaders have withheld the truth..." Scrap. "You are not alone in this universe." Scrap. "We have lived among you, hidden, but no more..." Scrap!
Optimus looked at the soldiers listening in horror.
"As you've seen, we can destroy your cities at will..."
Slow anger began burning through his spark, systems running full diagnostic checks on weaponry.
"Unless you turn over, this girl." Pictures began circulating throughout every television and networked screen.
Kae.
Optimus froze. It was the only safe move. Only sheer force of will stalled the snarl of rage.
"If you resist us, we will destroy the world as you know it."
::. We can't let him have her!.:: Bumblebee almost shouted over the Primary as Auto-bots and Humans alike exploded around him.
Lennox ran to the phone and listened to it for a second.
"Let them land goddamn it! Civilian! Civilian who's had an absolutely HELLISH day!... Tell her I give her permission to explain everything about them!... Because the line isn't safe! ...She defused a bomb then got half kidnapped by a sentient bloody airplane! Now for god's sake let them land and watch out for her temper, she'll be one HELL of a pissed off by now! Yes I mean it!... Good. Thank you." Major Lennox shouted into the phone, he finally hung up.
"Major!" Optimus barked.
"Listen up!" Lennox shouted over the din. "Kae's safely at SOCCENT! Jetfire brought her in! Let's get back to base, get packed up and get our asses over there. They're going to adhere to radio silence until Optimus himself shows up to get her."
"We cannot let the Fallen get his hands on her," Ratchet rumbled into the lowering noise levels.
"If he wants her, he will take her over my dead body," Optimus snarled, onlining his holoform.
"And mine!" Bumblebee shouted, following suit.
"And mine!" several others chorused, human and auto-bot together. Optimus looked around at his unit with fierce pride.
"Let's fly!" Lennox barked.
"Landing gear checked, let's take her out boys!" the pilot announced over the speaker.
Finally.