We'd need to get creative? What did that mean? Would I die out here in space? Run out of oxygen? Or food?
I didn't want to die, but I remembered Jazz saying I saved a lot of lives by running away. And I remembered Beatus saying that Shockwave would have killed me sooner or later, no matter what I did. Maybe I was always going to die after Shockwave's mechs kidnapped me, but at least I'd found Jazz and we'd stopped Shockwave and the others. "If I don't make it, you'll tell my folks what happened?"
"Whadya mean by that, squirt?" he demanded. "I said ya were goin' home ta your family, an' I meant it."
"But it takes months to travel to Mars!"
"Two weeks, tops," Jazz countered. "Dependin' on how long we gotta play possum an' how well I calculated Earth's direction, could be as lil' as a week. Ya might be hungry, but ya'll see Earth again with your own, organic eyes. I promise. But while we figure things out…" A panel slid open and a bag I didn't recognize floated out. "It's just field rations, but it ain't raisins or nutrition shakes, as promised."
I grabbed it and squinted, trying to read the packaging.
"Oh! Sorry," Jazz said and then a light turned on above me.
I looked up and saw it was a dome light like in any old car and smiled, shaking my head. For some reason, I thought it was crazy-funny that – after everything – I was driving home to Earth in a car. I reached up and, sure enough, I could switch it on and off, just like in Breaker's SUV. Giggling, I switched it on and off a few times.
"Ya okay, squirt?" Jazz asked, but he sounded like he thought I was the crazy one and that just made me laugh harder. "Slaggit, where's ratchet when I need 'im?" he muttered.
Eventually I settled down enough to remember why I'd needed to see better in the first place. Leaving the light on, I looked at the package in my hand, and it read, "Freeze-dried Neapolitan Ice Cream."
"An' there's these…" Jazz added, and another bag came floating out of the wall.
This time it was dried mangos, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation.
"An' I got Cheetos an' Doritos an' all the -itos, seemingly. Whatcha want?"
"Got any actual potato chips?"
"Thin or wavy?"
"Thin?"
Another bag came floating out and I snatched it up. I tore it open and eagerly ate the salty, greasy potato chips. I knew they weren't good for me, but I'd earned these chips days ago and I was going to enjoy them now!
Jazz didn't say anything until I'd finished the chips and was on my second dried mango slice. "So ya got your survival suit, which means ya're set for water an' warmth. We got enough calories to keep ya goin' for a bit, too. It's oxygen that's the trouble."
My mouth was suddenly dry and I swallowed the last bite of mango with a gulp. "How long do I have?"
"Depends, but the short answer is, 'a lot longer if ya can sleep all the way.' Luckily, Shockwave's handbook on humans says ya can hibernate, if I give ya the right ultrasonic pulse. He even included the frequency an' everythin'. Even if it takes us the full two weeks, ya'd have enough oxygen fo' sure, if we go that route. Ya okay with that? Ya can go ahead an' finish eatin' an' get a drink an' whatever else ya want first. Then ya can take a little nap ta skip the borin' part. I'll help ya conk out an' then I'll wake ya up when we get ta Earth."
I could feel my eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. He was asking me? Like he wanted my permission to keep me alive? I was so used to the Decepticons just doing whatever they wanted to with me that I was kind of surprised. "I thought you were going to tell me we'd run out of oxygen before we got there."
"Well, we will if ya don't hibernate."
"But, I mean, you could have just conked me out without asking first."
"Would your Uncle Optimus ask first?"
I thought about that for a second and then nodded. "Yeah, probably. But if I fought him on it, he'd make me sleep because it's what's best for me. I am still a kid."
Jazz chuckled. "Yep, with all the honesty a' one. An' if it meant keeping ya alive, I'd probably do the same. But that's the difference between Optimus an' Shockwave, or between any a' the Autobots an' the Decepticons, really. We try ta do the right thing, at least."
I nodded and then thought about what else I wanted to do before I let Jazz put me in hibernation. "Got any jerky?"
"Looks like I got three packages," Jazz said.
"I'll eat two of them now and then save the last one for when I get back to Earth." It was wild to say those words: back to Earth. Was I really going home?
"Good call, squirt. Here ya go!"
I took a few minutes to finish my mangos and jerky. Then I tried the ice cream. It was nothing like real ice cream, but it was sweet and kind of melted in my mouth and after almost a week of nutrition shakes, it tasted amazing. After all that, I took a swig and managed one swallow of my room-temperature water. "Any chance you can cool this down for me?"
"Whatcha mean?"
"Dirge made it ice-cold by opening the cockpit in space…"
"He did what?!" Jazz blurted out. "With ya on board?"
"Yeah. I put the water pouch on his console to cool down, and it pissed him off, so he opened the cockpit and froze part of the water."
"Pissed. Funny." Jazz snorted and then said, "It don't bother me, squirt, an' I don't wanna waste oxygen that way. Just set it anywhere, an' it'll be good an' chilled when ya wake up."
"Okay." I drank it half-way gone and then leaned back in the seat. Jazz tilted it the rest of the way back, and I shifted around, trying to get settled in. When I figured I was as comfortable as I could get, I said, "I'm ready."
"Nighty-night," Jazz said, and my eyes fluttered closed. "Wake up!"
"Huh?" I mumbled.
"Wakey, wakey!" Jazz said.
"Stop fooling around," I grumbled, my eyes still closed. "Gotta save the oxygen."
"Yep," Jazz cheerfully agreed. "Took us a whole eleven days, so it was a good thing ya conked out. But we're here now, Daemon. We're home. We're approachin' Earth."
"Wha?" I asked, trying to blink my eyes open.
There were some metal noises, and it got bright on the other side of my eyelids. I finally focused to see that Jazz had opened that bubble of glass for me again. Earth filled the round window and it was bigger than my fist.
"But I just fell asleep," I protested, trying to make sense of it.
"Slept like a lil' angel, too," Jazz said, sounding like he was teasing me. "I let ya surface from the hibernation enough ta get a drink a coupla times, but it wasn't enough for ya to really wake up. Thought ya might wanna be awake for this part, though. Ya hungry? That water oughtta be nice an' cold again, too."
Now that he mentioned it, I was hungry. Really hungry. "Don't suppose you have pancakes and bacon somewhere on board?"
"'Fraid not, squirt, but I got your jerky an' five different types a' dried fruit, plus all those chips an' some crackers, too."
"Give me all of it," I decided.
He chuckled and dumped them all out of his wall panel, so that they floated around me. I grabbed the dried pineapple, but before I started in on it, I tried a swig of water. Sure enough, it was cold, and I guzzled it all down. If I weren't able to see Earth with its oceans of water, I would have asked Jazz for a nutrition shake, too, I was that thirsty. But what I'd drunk was enough to get me home.
And then it hit me like a thunderbolt. It was true. There was Earth, all blue and green and white. I'd been asleep for more than a week and a half. "You did it, Jazz! You got me home!"
"Said I would, didn' I? Check this out…" Then on his mirror, he played a news clip about me, about an Amber Alert that they'd put out about me. It was crazy seeing all that, with the description of the car that took me and everything. "Ya famous now, Daemon."
"Whoa!"
"I'm not findin' any Autobot signals, though. Guess we'd better ring the doorbell." His voice changed into something that sounded…different. Like he was talking on a phone or something – kind of tinny, maybe? "Anybody awake down there?"
"Who is this?" someone demanded in answer over Jazz's speakers.
"Prowler!" Jazz exclaimed. "Ya made it ta Earth!"
"Jazz?" the other voice asked, surprised.
"Ya let some other mech get away with callin' ya 'Prowler' while I was away?"
"No," Prowler answered, sounding grumpy. "No one else is that annoyingly arrogant."
And then it sounded like I was in the middle of a crowded room, with everyone shouting, "Jazz!" and "You're alive!" and "Where the slag are you?" until a booming voice I recognized ordered, "Jazz, report."
Uncle Optimus.
"Optimus Prime," Jazz said. "Seems some property a' yours found its way inta my spark chamber. Thought I'd return it in person. Oh, an' I found a cute lil' squishy of a Prime. Can I keep him?"
And then everyone was exclaiming, "Daemon!" and Dad's voice came through over theirs. "Are you all right?"
"Sure am!" I all but yelled. It was so good to hear his voice. "Shockwave had one of his guys kidnap me and then brought me to Mars but I found Jazz and he came back to life and used all kinds of cool tricks to sneak us around and…" I took a deep breath. "…and we saw the thing on the news about the Amber Alert and now I can see Earth in Jazz's windshield"
"Windshield?" Mom said incredulously, and at the same time, Prowler demanded, "Were you involved with the explosion near Mars?"
"A' Course!" Jazz answered, sounding insulted. "Who else could come back ta life, rescue a Prime, blow up the 'cons Next Big Thing an' come waltzin' home triumphant?"
"And what, exactly, was that next big thing?" Prowler asked.
"And you're not home yet," added another voice that I recognized.
"'Bee!" I shouted. "Was Beatrice really named after you?"
Several people laughed, but Jazz was not the kind of person who would give up a chance to show off. "That next big thing was gonna be Trypticon's second chance at life." At that everyone got really quiet. "That's right, the 'cons were fixin' ta get a titan-class Deception of a space station in this solar system. But…" He paused and it might as well have been a drum roll. "...this lil' squirt outfoxed Shockwave, an' Trypticon never got a spark. Then I blew his frame up for good measure, an' so we could surf our way home."
Breaker demanded, "Are you in your cometary form, Jazz?"
"Yeah," he answered, sounding a little less happy. "Ya didn't manage ta recruit any Seekers while I was away, did ya?"
And then everyone was silent for a second.
"Jazz, where are you?" Prowler quietly said.
"Approachin' orbit over Africa or so right now, an' I'm steering clear a' those satellites with Wheeljack's signature all over them. I know better now than ta attempt reentry with a human inside, but tell me we got some flyers, because I'm about outta tricks for life support."
"Those are our coordinates," Prowler said. "We've whitelisted you for the satellite network. Set a course for landing, and Optimus will intercept you."
"Optimus?"
My uncle chuckled. "Yes, Jazz. I will. We've had an adventure or two in your absence."
"Now that's just plain cruel," Jazz huffed, but metal slid forward to cover the windows again. "Havin' fun without me."
"When you're this late for the party…"
"What do I 'xpect, I know, I know. But serious, how are ya gonna intercept us, Optimus? Don't tell me ya got wings while I was gone."
"Seeker wings," Optimus said smugly.
"Tear 'em off ole Screamer?" Jazz asked, a grin in his voice.
Suddenly, Optimus' voice was almost sad. "No, they were a gift. I'll tell you the full story once we have the both of you safely on the ground."
"Wait!" a woman's voice suddenly said. "You said you blew up a titan-class frame with no spark?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That could be a lot of protoform alloy," another man agreed. "Jazz, do you know the space station's composition?"
"I'm insulted, Ratchet," Jazz said. "I got the life ripped outta me, not the smarts. Ya honestly think I'd skip outta there without downloadin' that kinda intelligence? Haven't had a chance ta process all a' it quite yet, but yeah, I got that. Whatcha needin' protoform alloy for, though, hmmm?"
The stream went quiet, so I jumped in with a question that was eating at me. "Uncle Optimus…are you a giant alien robot?"
"Yes, Daemon, I am."
"Mom, Dad…?"
"No."
"Me?"
"No, Daemon," he chuckled, "your sister and you are both fully human, too."
"'Bee?"
"Yes, he is a Cybertronian like Jazz and me, but does it really matter?"
"YES! If it means I get to go flying with him!"
Several people laughed again, and Hound said, "He's a Witwicky all right!"
"I don't really fly," 'Bee admitted. "But Evac does. The helicopter is his alt-form."
"His what?"
"We can all turn inta vehicles," Jazz explained. "Cars or trucks or whatever. Evac turns inta a helicopter."
And then I got it. "Bee – you're a yellow Camaro! And Hound – you're the green Jeep?"
"Yep," Hound cheerfully answered.
"But how come you…I mean…you're human, too."
"Those are our holoforms," Breaker explained. "Like holograms but solid. We use them to interact with humans sometimes, but they're really just an illusion. The body of metal is our true selves."
I thought about that for a second, trying to wrap my mind around the idea of 'Bee or Hound really being an alien monster like Shockwave – or a metal superhero like Jazz. "Can I see it?" I asked. "Can I see you turn into your real selves?"
"We're going to have to renegotiate the treaty now anyway," Dad said. "You can know anything about the Autobots that you want. In fact, it's probably best if you learn as much as you can."
"Hey Daemon," Jazz interrupted, "do you wanna see what Optimus' real form looks like?"
Did I? Suddenly I wasn't so sure. I mean, this was the man… person… whatever who was my uncle. What if he looked like some monster with one eye like Shockwave or was a creepy little bug like Scalpel? But I remembered when he asked earlier if it really mattered and I decided it didn't. He was still Uncle Optimus, no matter what he looked like. "Sure. Show me."
The vid on the mirror changed and I could see a huge figure racing toward us. He was kind of human-shaped with arms and legs, but he also had black wings and jets that were leaving a stream of fire behind him.
"Ain't that cool?" Jazz whispered.
"Sure is." And I meant it.
"Face it, Jazz, Optimus is so much cooler than you now," the woman's voice teased.
"No way, Arcee!" Jazz scoffed. "Ain't no 'bot cooler!"
"He can fly," another man's voice pointed out. "With Seeker wings!"
"I can fly, too! An' I got a human Prime on board!"
"That's not flying," 'Bee answered, and then he played a quote by Woody from Toy Story. "That's just falling with style."
So many people laughed so hard that Jazz had to turn down the volume, but he was chuckling, too. "Yeah, I s'pose I deserved that one."
"It's good to have you back, Jazzman," 'Bee added, and Jazz turned the volume back up again. "Get your skidplate on the ground in one piece. You and Daemon both."
"Approaching intercept coordinates," Optimus said, sounding all professional.
"I'll do my best, Bumblebee," Jazz promised. The seatbelts tightened around me. "Hang on, squirt. This might get a bit excitin'."
Considering the space station blowing up was just 'interesting,' I clung to the seatbelts with both fists. I didn't have anything to worry about, though. I felt a little squished like we were on a roller coaster again for a few seconds but nothing like when we got tossed around before. My survival suit's helmet closed around me again, but this time I wasn't sure why. My hands were still uncovered from eating, and they weren't cold at all.
I don't know how long it took to land, but it seemed like forever. Jazz opened his window again so I could see out, and there was a U-shaped island down and in front of us.
"Hey, squirt, take the Matrix after I transform," Jazz told me. "Ya should be the one ta give it ta Optimus."
The island got closer and closer until we plopped down in the sand. Jazz started to transform, and my helmet opened again. As soon as my bare hand touched the Matrix, Beatus' voice was in my head again. He's okay! He made it!
Then I was staggering out to land on all fours in the sand. We were on the island, and I was already sweating, it was so hot. I also felt heavy – too heavy to stand up at first. A gentle metal hand scooped me up, and before I knew it, I was staring in the face of a robot just as big as Shockwave.
And just like I could hear and feel Beatus in my head, I could feel this robot, too.
On a hunch, I tried talking to him in my mind. Uncle Optimus?
A laugh swelled in my chest and he chuckled. Yes, Daemon, it's me.
Wait, what?! my dad's voice echoed in my mind, too. I could sense him a little ways away but moving fast, which on the weirdness scale was right up there with getting kidnapped in the first place.
Optimus reached for the Matrix with his other hand, and I held it out for him. When I dropped it into his giant palm, though, it didn't clang – it floated. It hovered there while a cupboard-thing opened in his chest and he guided it in. My sense of him, and of Beatus and Dad, was gone, too.
Looking up at him, I asked, "Can everybody hear my thoughts now?"
The metal plates of his face shifted into something that looked like a small smile. "That fate, Daemon Optimus Witwicky, is still in your hands."
Then he set me on solid ground, and this time, I was strong enough to stand on my own two feet.
