Scars Don't Heal - Transformers Prime (1)

Chapter Nine

[Amanda]

  Bulkhead let out a sigh. "Really messed up that time."

  "How'd Fowler know you?" Jack asked as I walked towards the platform railing.

  "Long story," I waved a hand dismissively.

  "You can't pull that card, Amanda." Jack said sternly, walking up the stairs to face me. "I think we all deserve some explanations."

  I raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?"

  "Anything," He said. "You know basically everything about us. It's only fair to return the favor."

  I thought for a moment then sighed. "Fine. You want the whole backstory?"

  He nodded and I saw Miko and Raf do the same. Even Bulkhead was interested. I sat down on the couch and crossed my arms.

  "I used to move around a lot because of my mom's work," I started. "We only settled in Jasper when I was nine. Mom-"

  My voice was cut off by a loud siren and flashing lights, which caused Bulkhead to shift his attention to the monitors.

  "My ears!" Raf exclaimed, covering his. I had to admit, the siren was much louder this time.

  "It's an S.O.S.," Bulkhead informed us. "From Fowler."

  That caught my attention. Bulkhead looked a little confused as to what to click on the monitor, before accidentally deleting the alert. The four of us exchanged an exasperated look.

  "Did you trace it?" Raf spoke up.

  "Location scan was incomplete," Bulkhead said and shrugged. "Oh well."

  "Oh well?!" I exclaimed. "Seriously?!"

  Bulkhead turned to me. "Fowler's a jerk!"

  "So you're willing to let whatever happened to him happen because he's a jerk?!" I demanded.

  "Besides," Jack piped up. "Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons might have him!"

  Raf nodded. "And Agent Fowler knows your location." Then he gulped, looking fearful. "Our location."

  "And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a 'Bot?" Miko added. "The 'Cons will totally make him squeal!"

  Bulkhead looked defeated. "But we lost the transmission. Fowler could be anywhere."

  "Maybe I can help narrow it down," Raf said, pulling out his laptop and sitting on the floor. "About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets."

  Miko, Jack and Bulkhead all gave Raf a shocked look, and he shrugged.

  "What?" he asked, looking up from his keyboard. "I saw it on TV. Anyways, if I can hack into the Fed's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates."

  Miko was still shook. "You know how to hack? But you're, like, two years old!"

  "Twelve!" Raf corrected. "And a quarter."

  I moved to join them. "You're going to need more than some hacking skills to get into the Fed's mainframe. You need to know your way around."

  Jack turned to me. "And you know your way around?"

  I shrugged. "I have a few extra curriculars." Sitting down next to Raf, I pointed to a set of numbers on his screen. "Let's start by cracking that bit of the firewall."

  For the next few minutes, Raf did as I said and together we maneuvered through the numerous firewalls to get to what we wanted.

  "Agent Fowler's chip is number 340923429," I said and Raf typed that in. A few seconds ticked by and then we got our answer.

  "Latitude 39.5. Longitude 116.9" Raf recited and Bulkhead punched that into the ground bridge controls before starting up the ground bridge.

  "Okay, wait here," Bulkhead said as he headed towards the ground bridge.

  "Aw!" Miko complained. "Don't break up the band!"

  "Uh," Bulkhead turned around for a moment. "Jack, you're in charge!"

  And then he ran into the ground bridge, disappearing. Jack turned towards the rest of us.

  "Guess we four have the run of the place," he said.

  "Um, three," I commented.

  Jack paled. "Miko?"

  Then the three of our gazes went towards the ground bridge, where we saw the figure of Miko dashing after Bulkhead.

  Crap.

  "What should we do?" Raf said, his tone filled with panic. "Bulkhead may have not even realized she followed him!"

  Jack nodded. "Miko hasn't seen the Cons in action like we have. She has no idea."

  I turned to the monitor closest to me and pulled up a window. "Those are the coordinates."

  "They're still locked in!" Raf exclaimed, looking over my shoulder.

  Jack glanced at the ground bridge and sighed. "Um, Amanda, you're in charge." he said before bolting to the ground bridge, which Raf fired up. I shook my head and then ran after him.

  "Raf, you're in charge!" I called over my shoulder but saw him running after me.

  "In charge of who?"