What Makes No Difference Is No Difference (WMNDIND 13)

-0-In the galaxy some place

They sat at a table near the back of the bar resting up from a long journey across the Barren, a vast expanse of space without anything larger than a small asteroid to break up the monotony. They'd arrived here on a planet whose name didn't matter to regroup and reconsider their plans. This bar was located near the largest ground side shipping port of a species that had been space going for eons. They were organic, traded in anything and everything for whatever had value and was an open port for most species including their own.

So far.

Putting his peds up on a free chair, Impactor looked around the room, something he did constantly anyway. One never knew when a fragger was going to jump through the wall to kill you. He had many enemies and was relentless about hunting them down. That didn't sit well with others including the owner of the bar they were in. However, the owner wasn't brave enough to say anything so he didn't.

All around them any number of aliens sat quietly, now and again taking a peek at the mechanisms sitting by the back wall. They were feared and hated, the Metallics, and no one was glad to see them come around anymore. Here was a shipping and transit area next to a vast series of urban centers growing into each other with each passing year. It was fed and itself fed the space port where most of this hemisphere's shipping both arrived and left.

It was a dangerous area at night so it was barely populated by the locals. There were armed guards that patrolled, their weapons surprisingly effective against agitators and troublemakers including the Metallics. Most kept to themselves or minded their manners, unwilling to be electrocuted by the police.

Huge ships were being unloaded as others landed or took off. The tower nearby directed traffic through the dark skies as in the distance an enormous blanket of light shimmered in the inky night as far as the optic could see. The cities out there were alive with light.

"What do you think we should do? Follow the trail or look for the fraggers?" Roadbuster asked Impactor.

That worthy considered the question. "The trail will be there. The fraggers will disappear again. Besides, they're heading for Autobot Alpha 1. I want to know why." He rose, downed his drink, then turned to leave the bar. Followed by the immense dangerous mechs with him, the room fell silent as they passed. It was only a few seconds after they were clearly gone that conversation would return to normal again.

-0-Autobot Alpha 1

Prowl stood on the field that was their airbase watching ships landing. They'd found energon free floating in the debris field the humans called Oort and pulled it into their vessels. He was glad. More refugees were landing every few joors, fifteen to twenty each time and although it wasn't a big number per vessel it was enough over time to make him worry.

Gear settled, ships powered down and hatches opened as the bots inside began to step out. One of them spotted him, then walked over to report.

"Welcome back," Prowl said.

Beachcomber nodded. "Good to be back. We would've come sooner but we were retrieving free floating energon in a collision space about fifteen light years away."

"How much do you know?" Prowl asked as heavies drove up and began to help unload.

"Enough to keep us going for a while. We have a notion of where more might be. I'm thinking that a Seeker drone was through here and laid it all down back when," Beachcomber said.

"It's priority number one for you and your team," Prowl said.

He nodded. "I know. I want to grab a bite while they're off loading and head back out. I don't see 'Cons around but you never know."

"I'll send an escort with you. Thank you, Beachcomber. We're getting signals of more refugees. We need all of the energon we can get," Prowl said.

They chatted together before turning back to the Ops Center while the big ships unloaded mountains of chunks of raw energon.

-0-On Earth

He stood among trees staring down into a quarry watching humans and their machines digging into the ground. It was getting onward toward darkness in this area of the world. It was a city-state called Wyoming, a vast area of flat terrain moving westward toward immense snow covered mountains. It was easy driving until it wasn't.

His sensors and that of Ratchet and Perceptor at base had brought him here. It was getting cold but it didn't bother him. He was hoping that the falling daylight and the gathering cold would end the work day for the humans. It didn't appear to be happening.

Springer who stood next to him glanced at Ironhide. "Do you think they found whatever is down there?"

"I would think so. No one else is here and more cars are coming," Ironhide said as they watched a string of vehicles with lights brightly illuminating the rough road downward make their way into the hole. "This is going to be trouble. Ironhide to Prime."

"Prime here."

"We may have found something but there's humans beginning to swarm," Ironhide said.

"On my way. Prime out."

They stared downward as they hid among the tall trees that bordered one small edge of the vast lip of the quarry. It was deep and in the center of the pit, lights were being pooled on a spot in the middle of the crowd as cars and trucks began to circle the site.

"They found something," Springer said as Ironhide nodded.

A flash of light and a bridge nearby caught their optics as Prime stepped through along with Bluestreak and Sunstreaker. They moved to the edge to look downward. "I think they found something. I'm unclear how to proceed, Optimus."

Optimus nodded. "We have to wait and see what happens. If they take it away from here we might be able to retrieve it with greater ease."

They watched the crowd in the circle of light as the sun began to swiftly go down beyond the horizon. It was cold and quiet but if they'd just looked up, they would have seen five self illuminating pairs of blue eyes staring intently downward to where they worked.

They didn't look up.

-0-Down below

"What do you think, Ben? I don't know why we can't get the thing out of the stone? How did it get there? What is a sword doing stuck in a rock here in the middle of nowhere? It was in the quarry so its been there since forever. Who put it there?" the foreman asked his boss, Ben Welch.

Welch glanced at the foreman, Dolcy Markus. "How do I know? I have a call in for a scientist from the University to come and see. All we have to do is wait."

"What about cutting the stone, Ben? I have a stone cutter in my truck," a man said, a big man with a hard hat.

Ben touched the blade which felt oddly cool and alive. Then he looked up. "Get it. Let's figure out how big this thing is and then at least cut the stone out around it. When the university guy gets here we can drag it out. Do we have a cat available?"

"I have a D-8 over there," the big man said pointing to the dark form of a massive caterpillar tractor nearby.

On the hillside listening to every word, Optimus Prime was thinking long and hard. So was Springer. "How about you and I go down there and pull that out. You can stay in truck mode and use your hologram to show as the driver. I can go down there and lie."

"Do you know enough to be a university professor or scientist?" Ironhide asked with a grin.

"Nope," Springer said with a smirk. "How hard can it be?"

"Let me. I don't know slag either but I can fake it better than you. I'll just smile and they'll give it to me," Sunstreaker said with a grin of his own.

"Prime to Ratchet."

"Ratchet here."

"I would like Perceptor to come here now. Have him carry a booster pack for enhancing his facsimile," Prime said.

"Understood."

A moment later a bridge appeared. Perceptor stepped out with a heavy square device on his back. Prime turned to him and gave him the details, then the two transformed into a truck and an elegant car.

"Perceptor, I think a truck will be a better sale. A car like that might raise questions," Ironhide said.

Perceptor sat a moment, then transformed again. A big red and black Topkick pick up truck sat in its place. Inside, a tall distinguished humanoid male sat looking at them with the bluest eyes. "Optimus, are you ready?"

"I am ready, Perceptor," Optimus said.

The two then drove back toward the roads nearby to make their way to the gravel pit floor where there were a mob of humans waiting for them to arrive.

-0-At a university dig site some miles away

The professor, Will Tablemore got the call to report to a gravel pit some distance away. They'd found an artifact that would be transported to the University for study and since he was a metallurgist he was asked to supervise its transport. Walking out to his car, filled with curiosity about the artifact, he headed out into the night for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Company's number four gravel pit in the next county.

-0-At ground zero

Perceptor drove downward, then pulled up as a heavy duty tractor truck slowed to a stop behind him. Sitting in that cab was a big good looking male with a dark mustache and a good humored face.

A tall man exited the pick up truck to walk to the group who had turned toward him. "You're here fast," Ben Welch said as he held out his servo.

Percy who appeared as solid as a real living person gripped his hand back. "I was heading back to the city when I got the call. I am delighted to help you. I brought my dig site foreman with me. Apparently you need help getting something out of a hole."

They nodded, then all turned to a hole that was hand dug but held a strange silvery object inside. Perceptor walked over and stepped down into it. Scanning it subtlety, he looked up. "You have a metallic object that's embedded in stone. I can see you tried to cut it out."

Dolcy Markus turned and picked up a stone cutting saw. "We tried." It was broken and the blade bent from the attempt.

"I can see that," Perceptor said. "Let me talk to my colleague." He walked to the big rig pausing by the door. "What do you think we should do? The only way that will be moved is if you touch it. It won't come out any other way."

Prime nodded. "Go to your trunk and pull a cartridge from your battery. Slot it into me. I have to boost my facsimile hologram."

Perceptor complied as the open door of Prime's cab hid the action of slotting the device into his side. He appeared to become denser, something unseen to the humans in the gathering darkness, then stepped down to walk to the group who were watching them curiously.

He shook hands, had the salutations, then looked down. A big sword was in the ground stuck in stone. He would have to be careful with this. All he did had to seem reasonable.

He knelt, touching the blade with his fingers. It flashed, then settled, almost as if forming its essence for Prime's touch from another dimension into this one. The light had startled everyone.

"Why did it do that?" Dolcy asked as he leaned down to look.

"I don't know," Prime lied. "Maybe it can be moved now," he said as he stepped into the space to block everyone's view. He gripped the hilt which was the part showing, then pretended to tug. Over and over he did until the blade slipped free. Pretending to stumble, he stood still holding the blade in front of himself. "It's out."

"Let me see it," Perceptor said as he stepped closer.

As he did Dolcy Markus stepped closer too. "What's it doing here in this hole in Wyoming? By the way, it belongs to me."

Perceptor looked at him. "There are laws that apply to artifacts found anywhere. You will have to allow me to take this to the university where you will be able to go through the process of certifying ownership there."

"I'm not allowing this out of my sight," Markus said. "You're not taking it anywhere without me."

"Why don't you follow us then," Prime said soothingly. "You carry the artifact, Doctor, and all of us will follow you."

Perceptor turned to Markus. "Please come with us. I need you to help figure out the paperwork to ascertain ownership and to certify the artifact so that it can be studied. If the provenance and chain of custody isn't established properly the findings won't mean anything."

"And why is that a problem for me?" Markus asked.

"It won't be worth a red shanix if we can't establish chain of custody and provenance," Percy said. "You also will not have custody of it unless you go through the courts. It could take years and a lot of money to win it that way."

Markus stared at him, then Prime cleared his throat. "It won't be worth a cent."

Markus stared at both of them, then turned to Ben Welch. "Get in my truck. We're going with them. Give me the sword."

"Not on your life," Percy said as he stepped between Prime and the two humans. "You don't trust us. We don't trust you. Follow us back to the university or I will ask the authorities to come here and take possession of the artifact."

"Good luck getting it back then," Prime said scanning the internet swiftly. "The last fiasco with an artifact was over the tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, Sue. They lost it."

Markus steamed as he looked at them, then nodded. "We're going to be riding your ass." He turned with Welch and ran for his truck. When Prime and Percy began to go he was right on their bumper.

Up the road and into the night they drove with Welch and Markus following. When they reached the highway Prime called for a bridge three miles away. "Come on, Perceptor. Let's hurry."

They both stepped on it flashing away in a burst of speed unheard of outside the Indianapolis 500 Speedway.

Markus and Welch blinked, then stepped on the gas as well. By the time they reached the bridge destination it was already closed and the two vehicles gone. They would drive all the way to the University and get arrested for trying to break into the building to look for the two men that no one at the university had even heard of before.

Two hours later, Dr. Will Tablemore would arrive at the quarry and walk to a hole in the ground. It would be empty. So would the rest of the quarry.

-0-TBC 2-21-15 edited 2-13-16 01-23-2021