The Diego Diaries: Cam By Damn (dd8 74)
=0=Diego
Cameron Frazer hung in Jack's grasp like a doll. He stared at Jack with a mixture of fury and some fear. It was educational how little the fear was compared to the aggravation. "You can't take me anywhere. You can't hold me. I'm not on your territory and you can't arrest me otherwise."
Jack glanced around himself, then at the Embassy. Moving a few yards back, he stepped over the invisible line that divided the Autobot's diplomatic territory from the base. "How's this then?" he asked.
Cameron glanced over to Fulton who was sitting on Prime's giant servo with a few officers who were visiting the base. "You saw what he did. This is kidnapping."
Fulton considered that, then glanced up at Prime. "He has you there."
"It would appear so." Prime glanced at Jack. "Put him down, General. If he stays on our territory, you can pick him up again."
Snickers and laughter greeted that as Jack grinned, then bent down to place Frazer on the tarmac.
Frazer stepped back, then glared at Jack, Prime, then Fulton. "You're supposed to be in charge of this base. You let them come here and abuse a civilian. You didn't stop it from happening."
"You abused a civilian employee of Autobot Nation, Incorporated, Jack, who disobeyed orders to come here," Ratchet said. "You were rather awesome doing it I might add." Ratchet glanced down at Frazer. "You are an employee who is insubordinate and has broken a direct order from your supervisor. I'm not sure how that flies with your charge."
"You took me out of my office and dragged me over to the Embassy territory to have me arrested. You broke international law and created an incident from which I received no support or help from you, Fulton," Frazer said as he glanced up at Fulton with fury.
Fulton stared down at him. "That's General Fulton to you. Why are you here? You were ordered by your employer, the director of the human habitats on world and the Secretary of State to stay confined to Earth2 until the investigation is complete. You disobeyed direct orders and if there's a diplomatic incident out of all of this its with you leaving Earth2."
Frazer glared at him, then Ratchet. "You won't win this fight, Ratchet. You can't."
"How is that? And what fight is this?" Ratchet asked.
It was incredibly silent around them. The crowd was watching the exchange with astonishment, fury and disquiet.
"You know what I'm talking about."
Ratchet pulled a device from his subspace, then pressed a few buttons. He waited, then a voice answered, Owen Harris's voice. :Hello?: it said.
"Hi, Owen. This is Ratchet."
:Commander. To what do I owe this call?: he replied.
"I'm on Earth at Diego in the middle of a diplomatic incident. Your man, Cam, left the habitat against my express orders and he's decided to go full on Seal Team 6 in front of General Fulton, some visiting officers, the entire Embassy garrison, most of the Senior Autobots and Prime as well as the entire, and I mean entire military base population here. Isn't that interesting?" he asked with a grin.
It was silent a moment then a tense voice replied. :You're on Diego with Cam? There's trouble?: Owen replied.
"That's a good enough assessment, I think. Words are inadequate for the surreal moment we're having here," Ratchet replied.
:May I speak to Cameron?: Harris asked.
"Call him," Ratchet said as he clicked off on the handheld. It flipped back into subspace dazzling the punters. He glanced at Fulton. "So, how do you generals like Diego?" he asked to immense laughter.
Cameron on the other hand was standing on the ground talking into his phone which rang a second after Ratchet hung up. He was tense, listening hard, then concluded his call. He looked up at Ratchet. "What do you want now?"
"Well, you staying put when I, the commandant of the Habitations of Earth tell you to do so," Ratchet replied. "Since you didn't I'm here to arrest you, me and my rather dazzling posse." He smiled as he looked over the mechs who smirked back at him. "How about bagging and tagging this slagger, Springer?"
He smirked at Ratchet, then stared down at Frazer. Frazer didn't appear fazed by any of this, itself a disconcerting thing when Springer felt he'd sort of figured out the humans he knew. This behavior didn't feel normal in his experience. He glanced at Prime who nodded. "Well, Cam. Time to go in the hamster ball," he said as he unsubbed a transparent steel carry habitat for humans who had need of the law and environmental protection at the same time. "Hop in," he said as he opened it and set it down on the ground.
Frazer stared at it, then calmly walked to the door to go inside. It slid shut behind him and the lights signaling its capacity to house him safely came on.
Springer picked it up, held it before his face so he could see that things were functioning, then slid the entire thing into his carry hold.
The crowd gasped.
Ratchet grinned. "We can carry stuff. We can even carry you little slaggers."
Commentary swept the crowd including laughter and applause.
Ratchet turned to Prime. "I think my work is done here." He bowed elaborately, then turned to the crowd to curtsy and preen.
Ironhide rolled his optics, then grabbed Ratchet by the arm. "COME ON, OLD MECH! THE OCEAN BECKONS!"
The crowd roared as the mechs began to walk toward the beach with Ratchet hobbling along behind them as he was dragged away from 'his people'.
Moments later …
Optimus and Prowl sat and knelt with John Fulton and his guests chatting about this and that thing as everyone else was either in the water or getting there. As they did it seemed the entire base stood on the sidelines and low hills behind them watching, cheering, laughing and enjoying themselves as usual.
Ratchet cricked his neck, then ran for the ocean to leap up into the air spread eagle, then fall on his face to sink out of sight. The crowd roared with laughter and delight as the waves rolled in and caught a few. They were strained by the bots from the returning tide, then set on higher ground.
"You can swim," Jack said. "Give me that kid and go for a swim. Give the slagger in the box to Sun."
"What about you two? I was sort of hoping you'd give Ironhide and Raptor a swimming lesson or two," Springer said with a chuckle.
Sun grinned. "You have a point," he said, then walked with purpose to the ocean to jump in and disappear. Jack was right behind him and as he sank from view so did a number of mechs bobbing in the water around where they disappeared.
The younger mechs waded in and were dragged underwater by their elders. Some of the crew swam under water like sharks rising from the depths to pull someone under.
Devcon ducked Smokey, then both disappeared in a swirling maelstrom of agitated ocean water.
Meanwhile nearby upholding the flag, personal dignity, op sit, et al, … (while secretly jonesing to jump in the water and drown a few mechs) ...
"What then do you expect to do about that corridor, Optimus?" Fulton asked as the generals with him listened with intense interest and amazement.
ALIENS!
"We have overtaken Polity's base and have transformed it into a heavily armed and high tech fortification for our own purposes," Optimus said. "Thundercracker is commandant and we have stationed the warrior titan Scattershot there for a permanent assignment. That area is now under sensor surveillance up to 250,000 light years. We can see millions of light years in all directions when we point our sensors and dishes to look but this distance allows us high resolution images of what's out there."
"Have you considered adding some of these forward bases to the N.E.S.T. training protocol? Having Europa is a good thing. Maybe having experience in the farther reaches has value for us," Fulton said.
Optimus glanced at Prowl.
"I'll check in with Lennox. He always wants to go out on the missions and I'm sure that adding a forward base like Borderlands will appeal," Prowl replied.
The conversation and the mayhem would continue about a joor, then the bots would drag out of the ocean, chat up the punters, then drift back to the Embassy for the journey home.
=0=Stepping off at The Fortress
They stepped out, most of those who came for the lulz to follow Ratchet and Prime into the Ops Center and the conference room therein. Springer and Drift came as well including half of Ironhide's elders and a number of the mechs who tagged along with Springer and Drift. It was a heady mix of individuals who sat down in the room together.
"Spring him, Springer," Ratchet said with a dazzler. "See what I did there?"
Springer snorted, then complied, sliding the case with Cameron Frazer out of his hold. Placing it on the table, he sat back to watch and listen to 'A Master At Work'™.
Ratchet leaned forward on his elbows. "Hello, little psycho. Any second thoughts yet?"
:Fuck you, Ratchet: Frazer said smugly as he sat on the couch inside.
"What would happen if I pick this up and give it a good shake? I'm asking for a friend," Ratchet said.
Even Prowl laughed.
Prime stared at him a moment, then considered what strange beings some humans could be. "What was the purpose of this action by you besides to create trouble? You were ordered by someone with the authority to do so to stay in Earth2."
Cameron considered Prime and his instructions, never formally given but relayed to him by Harris nonetheless. Press but don't push. Find out his limits. See how good a chess player Prime actually is. Don't ever underestimate this individual. :I had an emergency order to take care of and I did. I helped someone from Unidad working on a timetable. It was more important to assist them on their timed project than stay home for voicing my opinions which were solicited I might add:
"You have state-of-the-art equipment at Earth2. You could have done it there," Ratchet said.
:I needed access to my office on Diego. That's where I have my contacts and where I get things done more quickly: Frazer countered.
"That sounds odd. Why would you leave your important information on Diego? You only go there once a week," Prowl said.
Cameron decided to push the envelope. :I have my system, Prowl. I don't expect you to understand:
Frigid was too small a word for the reaction he got from The Prowler.
=0=Earth2
They walked into the entry way of Earth2 where a delegation of the leadership waited. The leaders of E2 were called to come and they did.
Raptor, Sun and Jack stared down at the group that included Cameron's parents, the entire command structure of the building's administration and Cindy Tomas. "We were informed that Cameron Frazer left the habitat to go to Diego Garcia when he was expressly ordered by Commander Ratchet, the Secretary of State for the Empire to stay here" Raptor said. "He left and when we were sent to retrieve him he caused an incident."
The humans blanched as Beliveau stepped closer. "My son … where is he, General?"
Raptor considered the man before him, someone with beautiful manners and a way with words. "He was arrested and will be placed in the human security sector of the Prison pending a hearing. I was sent here to tell you. I was also sent to tell you that Optimus Prime was present and he's going to be calling your office in a couple of moments, Harris. I would go there and wait for his call."
Raptor glanced at the group, some of who were shocked, others anxious and still more deeply surprised. He nodded, then the group with him walked to the doors to leave. By the time they exited, the humans would be crowding into Owen Harris's office.
=0=Conference Room
Prowl leaned over and linked to Owen Harris's office. He glanced at Prime with a nod.
Prime glanced over his shoulder to the big screen which showed Harris and a mob of others with him, all the movers and shakers of the habitat's leadership including Cameron's distraught father, Pierre 'Perri' Beliveau. "Owen Harris, this is Optimus Prime."
:Lord Optimus. General Raptor delivered the news. We're concerned about where Cameron is and what's happening: Owen said.
"Cameron Frazer is here with us. He is under arrest and is going to be held in the special section of our jail for humans at the Military and Civilian Prison. He is going to face charges of insubordination, breach of contract and the behavioral and morals clauses he agreed to when he came here. Finally, he will face a hearing concerning the permanent deportation from my Empire."
Even Cameron sitting in the container felt a buzz of surprise at that news.
=0=01-24-2021