eugenesis-text

‘Do you believe Nightbeat’s story’ asked Mainframe quietly.
‘Yes,’ whispered Wheeljack. ‘We all saw Optimus, and Nightbeat has no reason to lie to us.’
‘So one of your old leaders has been, what, brought forward in time’ Centurion spoke at normal
volume, and his voice boomed through the Canyons. As the echo rippled into infinity, Wheeljack put a
stern hand on his shoulder.
‘I don’t want to have to tell you again,’ he hissed. ‘Keep your voice down. Anything louder than this
is potentially lethal.’
‘Why do you think they call this place the Sonic Canyons’ asked Sygnet. ‘The natural dynamics of
these canyons are unique. They snatch sound and amplify it, like the ultimate echo chamber. To the
unprotected audio receptor, a loud bang would register at thousands of decibels.’
Nightbeat pulled his face from between his knees. ‘Prime must still be alive,’ he said decisively. ‘If he
weren’t, none of this would exist. We’d have been annulled. We’ve got to find him, rescue him, and send
him back to 1984.’
The air was shredded by a torrent of noise so loud that the Autobots curled into embryonic balls. The
echo waxed and waned for 11 minutes before becoming tolerable.
Nightbeat pointed to four tiny jets on the horizon. ‘Phaser, Treadbolt, Blastmaster and… Sunrunner,
I think. Heading west.’
‘So Siren is at home,’ murmured Wheeljack. ‘Let’s go knock on the door.’
Nightbeat checked him. ‘It’s not as easy as that. Delphi’s protected by radial mines, motion-detectors
and micro-sensors that can pinpoint imperfections on a rivet.’
‘Right. I don’t suppose you have a backdoor key, do you’
‘I look forward to meeting you. Quantax out.’
Prowl frowned. ‘Play it again, Chromedome.’
The communications officer obliged, cranking up the volume so that the Autobots in the corridor
outside could hear.
‘This is General Quantax, commander of the Quintesson army, broadcasting to all Autobots. I have your leader.
He is frail and near death, but at present maintained by my scientists for use as a torture doll. I imagine you want him
back before I break him. The body is stored within our fortress, co-ordinates to follow. I look forward to meeting you.
Quantax out.
‘This is General Quantax, commander of the—’
‘Switch it off,’ snapped Kup. ‘Now.’
‘It’s being broadcast on every frequency,’ said Chromedome. ‘Looped, too.’
‘So it wasn’t sent directly to us’ said Prowl.
‘No, we just intercepted it. God knows how long it’s been out there.’
‘Where is this Quintesson fortress’ asked Red Alert.
‘According to the co-ordinates, it’s in Polyhex, near Darkmount.’
‘It’s obviously a trick.’
‘Obviously. Surely this Quantax knows we’ll see through it. What do you think, Kup’ Prowl looked
up when no reply came, and the audience split in two. Kup was slipping into the corridor. ‘Kup! Where do
you think you’re going’
Kup slowly turned. He had not spoken to Prowl since their argument at AMC1 (notwithstanding the
torrent of abuse he’d hurled at his commander on coming round; it had taken four Autobots to stop him
acting on his threat to kill Prowl ‘in ways that would make Galvatron blush’). ‘Where am I going I’m
going to get some weapons, then I’m coming back here to recruit a rescue team.’
‘You’re joking, I take it’
‘There is an excruciatingly high probability that Quantax is luring us into a trap,’ said Perceptor.
Kup shrugged. ‘I know it’s a trap. I’m still getting Prime back. I didn’t want to leave him behind in
the first place.’ He turned to his audience. ‘Prowl knocked me out before I could break into Prime’s medivault.’
‘The Quintessons were about to break in,’ Prowl found himself saying to the crowd. ‘We had no
more time. Kup would’ve been killed.’ He resented having to justify his actions in public.