The Power Within - Transformers Prime (2)

Chapter Three

  "Amanda and Jack may be the only two who can do this, June," Arcee said. "But I don't want you to think for one moment I'll allow either of them to travel unchaperoned."

  At least we'll have Autobot backup and not be alone on a foreign planet.

  "Not everyone is destined for an ordinary life," Ratchet spoke up. "Optimus Prime was once Orion Pax, after all."

  Ms. Darby's concern was still clear, but she took a breath and looked at her son. "When you were little, you always wanted to be an astronaut."

  Jack smiled and I knew we had her approval. My hand slipped into my pocket, my fingers curling around the key card Optimus gave me before he left to defeat Unicron.

  Almost there, Optimus. Just hold on a little longer.

  "We will ground bridge directly into the energon mine," Ratchet said, creating a plan. "And make our way to the space bridge chamber, neutralizing any Decepticon forces we encounter. Once we secure the space bridge, we'll send for Jack and Amanda. Stealth must be an absolute priority. We will most certainly be outnumbered, and if any Decepticons should transmit an alert to their warship, the odds become four hundred to one. Scrambling communications upon entry will certainly provide an edge in this regard."

  Raf stood up. "I got that covered." Ratchet nodded in approval.

  "Taking the bridge is the easy part," Arcee said. "You three need to hold it long enough for Jack, Amanda, and me to get to Cybertron and back."

  "Rafael climbed to the top of the rope in gym class," Ratchet said. "We can do this."

  Raf's smile said it all.

  "What does gym class have to do with anything?" Miko demanded. "And if Ratchet gets to go on a commando raid, I'm going too."

  "Miko," The medic said. "You will help Rafael operate our ground bridge and manage the communications hub."

  She didn't look happy at that, grumbling under her breath as she stormed to the couch. I didn't want to tell her that the thought of going to Cybertron somewhat terrified me, I had no idea what was waiting on the other side, since she'd probably flip at me. I decided to let her cool off.

  "And Nurse Darby will stand by in case of emergency." Ratchet finished.

  I pulled out my phone, dialling a member of the space team at BeckIT. "Coleen Garcia? Hi, this is Amanda Beckett speaking. I need two of our space suits ready for pick up at our Vegas building ASAP."

  "Miss Beckett!" Coleen Garcia, head of the space department, said. "I'll have them prepared right away!"

  "Perfect. And make sure they're ready to go; pretend this is protocol for an actual space mission."

  "Yes, miss. Give me five minutes, they will be ready."

  "Thanks." I hung up and turned back to the group. "Five minutes, Vegas building. Ratchet, can you ground bridge me there?"

  The medic nodded and fired up the bridge. As I started to walk towards it, Finn followed and I gave him a questioning look.

  "You can't take both by yourself," He said as though that were all the reason he needed, but he was right. We both walked through the ground bridge, emerging in the back alley behind the Vegas BeckIT building. I walked towards the clean front entrance, scanning my hand when we reached the front desk.

  "Confirmed. Amanda Beckett." The computer said and the lady behind the front desk smiled.

  "Confirm guest." I said and the computer beeped, acknowledging Finn as a guest for now.