Author's Note

Here is the next chapter. My apologizes for the wait. I have had one of the most busiest weeks ever. I spent every evening revising desperately for my ship stability resit which had cost me £60 to do and also my tides resit. I passed my tides so I'm chuffed about that however I fail stability AGAIN! AGGHH! I will have to resit it in over a years time so that has really annoyed me. I have a further two exams on Wednesday and Thursday so don't expect the next chapter til after then. I'm trying my level best to keep writing but I'm finding less and less time and the day I go back to sea is looming on me and I'm not sure if I will have completed this story by then, lets just hope I do.

Anyway as always, enjoy

The skies were grey over the airbase of RAF Brize Norton and they were threatening to pour down on the Oxfordshire countryside around the base. Out from the low cumulus clouds immerged the RAF A330 which had flown all the way from Nevada. As it came into full view it circled around the base till it was lined up for the approach run for the single runway. It came down, reducing it speed and at the last moment before touch down it lifted the nose up and the rear wheels touched the ground first with the front wheels moments later which was followed by the engines engaging full reverse thrust to slow the jet before it careered off the other end of the runway. When it had reduced its speed enough it turned off the runway and taxied around to the apron. At the apron waiting for the RAF transport to arrive was a convoy of two silver BMW X5's with a number of men in slim fitting grey suits standing next to the cars. The plane came to a halt and the engines started to wind down as a multitude of vehicles quickly rushed over to it. Within a few minutes of coming to a halt, the steps had been brought alongside and the forward doors had been opened. A number of troops came out through the doors and stood around the bottom of the steps as Michael was led out on the aircraft in handcuffs. He was flanked by a soldier on either side as he came down the steps and back onto British soil once again.

The men in grey suits by the two cars briskly walked over towards the steps. The point man reached for the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small black leather wallet. He was reasonably built, clearly exercised a lot, but not to the level of Special Forces. But on the whole a very ordinary looking man, someone you wouldn't take a second look. Brown hair, brown eyes a rather undefined jaw line, just ordinary. As he approached Michael and the two soldiers he opened his wallet to show his warrant card.

"Mr Rickers?" He said loudly to be heard over the noise of the jet engines still winding down.

"That's me" Michael replied, having to yell back.

"I'm with the Home Office. We're here to escort you to where you are staying for the mean time"

"A police station?"

"No, we want to keep this all low profile. You're staying in a hotel we have hired out. Please come with me" He held his arm out and took a firm hold of Michaels shoulder as Michael stepped towards him. He walked alongside Michael's large frame towards the front car where the rear passenger side door was already open. Michael leaned in as he got in with the man putting his hand over Michaels head to stop it bumping against the door frame and then climbed in after Michael with the door closed by other man standing by the door. The driver and the man who closed the door got in the front while the other four got in the other BMW.

The cars made their way off the apron of the airbase and around the hangers to the service road towards the checkpoint at the entrance. The cars stopped as a red and white barrier was across the road. A guard approached the driver's door and the driver flashed his badge. The guard went to the barrier and pushed the counter balance with one foot to raise the barrier and allowed the two BMW's to leave the base. The two cars eased onto the A road, heading to the M4 motorway.

"So where exactly are we going?" Michael asked the man would had spoken to him.

"All I can say is we are heading to a hotel in central London. You'll be staying there and that is where the Tribunal will be held. I can't tell you where for now, just in case you try to plan something and try to pull a fast one on us. Now we can't have that, can we?"

"No, I guess not" Michael answered back and refrained himself to watching the countryside roll past the window.

The cars joined the motorway at the junction for Oxford and headed east towards London. They sifted through the busy traffic and passed Heathrow Airport, passing underneath the M25 London orbital. They were soon on the West way flyover and the motorway came to an abrupt end and becoming Marylebone Road. They got to the South east corner of Regents Park, then headed South on Portland Place and onto Regents Street. After negotiating Piccadilly Circus they quickly got through Haymarket, around Trafalgar Square and continued south down Whitehall and passed the Houses of Parliament and then after travelling through the tight little streets in the Westminster area the cars pulled up outside a modern but reserved looking hotel.

The men from the rear car got out first and surrounded the front car with one opening the door to let two in the back get out. Michael was hurried though the glass door and into the hotel foyer where there was again more men in identical grey suits who made it obvious that they were armed. The man who had been with Michael the whole time led him over to the lift, not even stopping at the reception desk as the entire hotel had been taken over temporarily. As the doors of the lift closed, Michael caught a glimpse of the two cars leaving again. He could only praise how flawlessly that whole operation went. Not a single slipup.

The lift ascended four floors and the doors slid away to a long corridor with white wooden doors with even numbers to the left and odd numbers to the right. The man led Michael down the corridor down till the fourth door on the left. The man simply twisted the door knob and opened the door and showed Michael in.

The two walked into a fair sized suite. It was clearly made for someone staying for a long time. Another door to the left led into a small bathroom, to the far left in the alcove formed by the small bathroom was a queen size bed with a big flat screen TV in the opposite corner and a small work top with a kettle, toaster and microwave oven on it.

"This is where you'll be staying for the time being. You'll find clothes provided in the wardrobe and if you need anything else just call reception using the bedside phone" He pointed out the wardrobe, hidden between the bed and the wall of the bathroom.

"Seeing that I haven't been read my rights. I take it I can just leave whenever I like?" Michael asked.

"No. Your passport has been confiscated so you can't leave the country and your bank account has been frozen. Also I would strongly recommend you don't do anything to cause the wrong type of attention while you're here. If you kick off, or try to leave this hotel, you'll be tasered till you are drooling on the floor. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal"

The man pulled out a key and undid the handcuffs and took them off Michael's wrists.

"Good, I'll leave you to it. You are more than welcome to roam the place. No one else is using the hotel. The key for the door is on the bedside table next to the phone" The man exited the room and closed the door behind him. Michael padded over to the bed and lay down and stared at the ceiling. It had been a long journey and he needed the rest.

An hour later and outside in the quiet street a black Jaguar XJ series III pulled up outside the hotel. The chrome was well polished along with the silver Jaguar pouncing on the bonnet. A car that had been well cared for over the years. The driver's door opened and out stepped Rear Admiral Colin Baines. He closed the door gently and locked the car. He straightened out his grey waistcoat and did up the buttons of his matching jacket. He then walked around the front of the Jaguar and climbed the few steps, pushed open the glass door and calmly walked in and headed for the lift. He pressed the button to call the lift and a grey suit quietly came up beside him very suspicious as to who he was.

The man tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Excuse me?"

Baines turned to face him.

"Who are you?" The grey suit asked.

"Rear Admiral Baines. I'm here to see Mr Rickers"

"Ok, but before you go up, have you got anything you shouldn't have?"

Baines stepped closer and discreetly pulled out his stainless steel Walther PPK and press the end of the barrel into the belly of the grey suit. Baines face scrunched up slightly.

"I don't think you quite understand. I am a Rear Admiral. I am well over your pay grade and I can have you thrown out on a whim, so don't you dare ask me that question, boy. Do I make myself clear?" He said slowly and quietly so no one else could hear.

The grey suit stuttered "Y-Y-Yes, sir"

"That's, yes Admiral to you"

The lift pinged and the doors slid apart. Baines slipped his gun back into his jacket pocket and stepped sideways into the lift. The doors closed behind him, leaving the grey suit to ponder over what just happened.

Michael was sitting on the end of the bed watching various day time TV, flicking through the channels for something that didn't involve selling antiques or properties to make some quick money. There was a knock on the door, Michael switched the TV off and threw the remote on the bed as he padded over to the door. He opened the door to see Baines standing there.

"How are you doing Michael?" Baines greeted him

"Could be better I suppose. Come in" Michael made space for Baines to slip through, closing the door after him.

"You been keeping yourself out of trouble I hope?" Baines asked as he scanned the room.

"Yeah, of course. Been busy studying you see"

Baines pulled out a small electronic device from his inside pocket and showed it do Michael. It was a bug scanner. Michael knew what Baines was going to do next.

"Yeah, I was researching for my law report" Michael continued.

"What about?" Baines passed the device over the TV and moved to the work top.

"To do with the case between the Pride of Bilbao and the yacht called the Ouzo in 2006"

"Oh, yeah, the one where the three were found dead in the English Channel" Baines had already moved to the bed, bedside table and the wardrobe.

"We have to explain whether the owners of the ferry are liable in the tort of negligence"

Baines had moved into the bathroom and was scanning the area "So what does your gut tell you?"

"Partially they are, but it would be hard to get anything to stick" Michael replied.

"Well I'm glad to say you have the right idea that was my opinion when it happened. And I'm also glad to say that we aren't being listened to" Baines came out of the bathroom and put the device back into his pocket. He went over the end of the bed and sat down.

"Ok, then. Give me the load down on what is going to happen" Michael said.

"Quite simple. They will be a panel you will listen to everything said while a person from the Home Office will ask you direct questions. I want you to give him direct answers"

"So, who's on the panel?"

"Three people from either of the armed services who are aware of the Autobots existence. First off there is an Air Chief Marshall. We get along with each other. He will probably be lenient on you, however not one to really push his opinion across. The second one is a naval architect who I have worked with closely on designing the new Astute Class attack sub. He sometimes does lectures at Warsash"

"What?" Michael was stunned.

"Yeah, he is an old friend of mine. I asked him to keep an eye on you in the academy. But you won't know him"

Michael was struggling to take that in. All that time and Baines had tabs on him.

"I wanted to be sure you were safe. I asked him to watch over you from a distance. Now the third one. There's the problem. It's Major-General Simmons"

"Ah shit" Michael muttered.

"Look, I know what he did and I think he was out of line. He should have let you and her stay together. When you are answering try not to let your emotions get the better of you. I did try to get someone else on the panel but they insisted on him. Remember just answer the questions and say nothing else. They will try to mix your words so be careful"

"Will anyone be there?"

"I've spoken to Optimus and he and the others will arrive to watch the proceedings so you won't have to face this alone"

"You arranged all that?" Michael asked slightly surprised.

"Myself and Fowler" Baines got up again and headed for the door. "I'm sure you think this whole thing is a set up and I do as well. I've got my resources out there looking for clues. The moment I find anything that suggests that this is a setup; I'm getting you out of here. For how just relax and tried to remained focused on the task ahead" Baines opened the door and stepped out into the corridor and closed it behind him.

Michael went back to the bed and laid back on it as he had earlier, only this time he much more to think about. His mind went back to 2006, during his visit to Ibiza in the summer. He had managed to scrounge enough money to go on a holiday to the party island of Europe, and he met her. He remembered first laying eyes on her while on the beach. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He remembered how casually he tried to introduce himself, but making a mess of it and actually looking like a complete idiot. He stuttered and couldn't find a way to speak at all. But he remembered how she said she found it cute. He spent nearly his entire two weeks on the island with her. Then the day came she had called her father and told him about Michael. Her father just so happened to be Major-General Simmons and he knew all about Michael. As fast as that she was gone, taken from him and never to be seen again. It made him dark and cold inside. He was a lot nicer to people before, but after she was taken, he slowly start to close his heart to anyone else ever again, determined never to have his heart broken like that. Those two weeks had been the happiest he had ever had, but it was ended so prematurely. He had forgotten all about it up until now, not wanting to be reminded of what he could have had. But now that was all he could do, he could only think about her.

It was another painful reminder as to why he had hated his life so much.