The Hunt (TFP Book 2)

Chapter 18

Silas glared at the screen, his plan had been perfect until this moment. He tried and failed again to read or at least understand the symbols on the computer. The answer had to be on the encrypted files. Jinx grunted in frustration and banged the console. She had spent the last two hours trying to crack the code. She stood up quickly, grabbed a pipe and walked towards their prisoner. Silas grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"He has to know something about this, so I figured I'd beat it out of him." She said angrily as she gestured to the doctor. Silas thought for a moment and looked at their prisoner again.

"He's just the medic. I'm sure Optimus is the one that actually knows how to crack it. Besides I bet he's the one that put it up in the first place." He said and he dialed a number. The line rang a couple of times before the person answered.

"Yes sir?"

"Have you found Optimus?" Silas asked. The line was quiet for a moment.

"Yes sir. But they jumped into the river and we lost them. I have my men looking as we speak." The man said.

"Good....when you find them bring them in." Silas muttered.

"Yes sir. If they resist?" He asked, Silas smirked.

"Shoot them." He responded before hanging up. He looked back at the computer and smiled, he would have what he needed soon enough.

~

Rachet studied the handcuffs for a while, he noticed a small hole and figured the key went to it. Now he just needed something long and small. He looked around and noticed something in the crack of the stairs. He winced as he shifted closer to it. Silas had tried to get information out of him, but he remained silent.

Once he was close enough he saw a small black pin. He remembered finding one a week ago and yelling at Miko for leaving it on the floor. When he asked what it was for she said girls pit them in their hair to hold it.

He looked around and waited until no one was looking. He ran his finger along the crack until he was able to pick it up. He carefully inspected it and then straightened it the best he could. He stuck it up his sleeve as someone approached. After a moment they left and he stuck the straight side out of his sleeve. He put the pin in the hole and smirked to himself.

The pin seemed like a useless thing when it came to staying in Mikos hair, but it would aid in his escape. Though why Miko called the pin Bobby, he would never know.

~~

June paced the room as the kids sat on her couch. The nurse would look at the time and then pace some more. She had contacted Agent Fowler and asked him if he had been able to get a hold of the Autobots. When he said no she told him what she knew, and what Rachet had said. The Agent said he would be there soon.

A couple more minutes went by before there was a knock on the door. The nurse walked over and answered it, she quickly let the agent in. He looked at the kids and sighed.

"Mrs Darby why aren't they at home?" He asked.

"Because we're worried too." Miko said as she crossed her arms and glared. The man sighed in exasperation.

"Alright, alright. So does anyone have a plan?" He asked. All eyes slowly fell on Raf. He looked at them and straightened his glasses.

"Well......first thing is we need to take down the security systems they added. Then somehow get inside." The boy muttered. "But that has to be done from the inside. Which makes it harder." The room went quiet as they thought.

"All we need now is an inside man to pull the switch." Agent Fowler said as he scratched his chin.

"Could one of us try to get inside?" Jack asked.

"No it's too dangerous." June said as she gave him a look. They all thought for a moment. Mikos eyes widened and she smiled big.

"Guys! We have an inside man." She said. All eyes were now on her. "Rachet." She said simply as she smiled mischievously.

"How is he going to help?" Jack growled as he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh please, this is Rachet we're talking about." The girl said. "He seems to figure things out pretty quick." She smirked.

"How do we get a message to him?" The Agent asked.

"Leave that to me." Raf said as he smiled mischievously.

~~~~

Rachet furrowed his brow in concentration as he twisted the pin. He looked up again to make sure no one was watching. He looked back down at the cuffs and wiggled the pin again. He smiled slightly as he felt it click.

"Sir." The doctor looked up as he saw someone walking up the stairs. He quickly slipped the pin up his sleeve. The man walked over to Silas and handed him a report. Rachet looked up at the catwalk and saw Jinx glaring down at him arms folded. Did she know? There was a beep and he looked back at the computer.

"Sir, I'm not sure how this is happening, but a transmission is forcing its way into the system." One of the men said as he typed frantically.

"What? How is that possible?" Silas yelled as he glared at the screen. Suddenly some Cybertronian lettering popped up on the screen. It didn't make sense to any of them and was totally random.

"What the heck is that?" Jinx asked as she looked at the screen. It played over again a couple of times. Rachet furrowed his brow, as he tried to read it. He smiled slightly as he realized who sent it. Rafael.

~~

Arcee sighed heavily as she finished telling the officers what had happened. The officer named Chase had asked her to repeat somethings as he wrote it down, and to clarify at other times. It annoyed her a little but she didn't say anything. As she told her story Chief Burns listened intently, but didn't say anything.

"So you have no other form of transportation?" Chase asked as he finished writing.

"No......like I said our car is at the bottom of the ocean." Arcee muttered as she folded her arms. He nodded and wrote some more. Was he writing a report? The woman face palmed, they didn't have time for this.

"Look." She said pulling out a wet badge Agent Fowler had given them. "We're part of a special team and we need to get back to our base." She looked at Bumblebee who nodded. "If you need to confirm what we're saying is true, call Agent Fowler." She said as she handed the Chief the badge. He looked at her skeptically and went back to the car to confirm her story. Arcee looked at Bumblebee who shrugged.

After a few minutes Chief Burns came back and stood next to Chase. Arcee and Bumblebee looked at each other then back at the officers. The Chief handed the badge back and smiled.

"Agent Fowler said he was relieved to hear the two of you are alive." He said. Arcee sighed with relief and Bumblebee grinned.

"Thank you Chief. Do you think you can help us get back to our base? The rest of our team could be in danger." Arcee said as she looked at them. The two officers looked at each other and grinned.

"I know someone that might be able to help." Chief Burns said as he looked at them.