Infected

Chapter 39

Eclipse pov.

We both sat in the control room till sunrise. Neither of us said much of anything. The morning energon cleanse sounded through the Golden Retriever.

"Who was that?" Wavelength finally spoke up.

"They couldn't have been taller than Flare." I sit straight.

"No, certainly not."

"What was wrong with their frame? Nothing should look that, off." A shiver runs down my back and up my wings.

"A cloaking device maybe?" He sighed, adding in the possible data.

"Maybe? A busted one that for sure."

"Or maybe they just weren't expecting anyone?"

I hum. That was certainly possible.

"Do we tell the others?" I look over at him.

"I, don't know. The captains wanted us to stay inside the ship."

I sigh heavily. That completely skipped my processor in the moment.

"They're going to notice we didn't recharge." Wavelength groaned quietly.

"They'll want to know about the bot. Neutral or not, they might try chasing us off Earth." I point out.

"Slag." Wavelenght buried his face into his servos. "You're right."

"Are you and Solar sure the relic is here on Earth?"

"Nope. It's got to be at least close to this solar system though."

"Yeah, but why? I've notice Earth has a habit of attracting our planet."

"Solar was talking about that actually. Something about the Earths soils interacting with our energon crystals. Iron and micas I believe. Causes the energon to spread through cave systems like wildfire. Not to many other planets can do that."

I nod, looking back out the massive window.

"We really should tell them." I shift, thinking back to Flare and Siege.

"It would be smarter. What if the seeker tries entering the ship?" Wavelength let his helm drop onto his monitors control pad.

"That's a concerning outcome." I shake my helm, pulling up the world map again.

It had to be nearly 8 am now. Neither of us recharged last night. I check my energon levels. 64%.

"When do you think they'll wake up?" Wavelength sat up and leaned back into his chair, peds now resting on the control pads rim.

"Honestly who knows? This mission is wearing us down."

"Yeah. We need energon as well. All the mines are bone dry."

My wings flick.

"Not the one near us." I quickly lean forward.

"The flooded and unstable one?"

"Yes! It's possible there's still energon down there."

"And how do we even get it without the entire cave collapsing?"

I pause in thought. It was a valid point. Removing energon, IF there was any to begin with, could remove any stability the rocks were clinging to. "What about the energon harvesters?"

"They're old and outdated. What if we find a more stable section?" He offered in return.

"Who would go down?"

"I could. Possibly Solar."

"That's true. The both of you could get through the easiest."

We again fell into a quiet state. What if there really was no energon down there? I heard Siege leave the room and go to the cafeteria. Harmony's space mouse ran after him a few minutes later. Filled of energy that one. Half an hour later the rest of the ship started waking up. Solar walked into the control room, yawning as he powered on his control balcony.

"You two are up early." He mumbled double checking the systems for bugs.

"We are. Hey, Solar." Wavelength stepped out of his balcony and over to Solar.

"Yeah?"

"Can, oh Primus." He pinched his nose.

"Can you call the others in?" I finish for him. "There's something we need to talk about."

Solar gave us a tired and confused look. Shrugging, he clicks the speaker system button and speaks into the mic.

"Can I have all bots in the control room?" Solar  leaned back when he was done. "Is everything ok with you both?"

"Somewhat."

"Not sure yet. It involves all of us." My wings flick.

"I see?" Solar shook his helm.

A few minutes pass by before the rest join us. Siege leaned against Solars control monitor, Flare steps into his own and Harmony walked up with two cubes of energon.

"Hungry kid?" Siege chuckled.

*No. it's for these two.* Harmony smiled, handing Wavelength and I each a cube.

"Thanks." Wavelength smiled back. "Cheers?"

I give an exhausted snort. "Cheers."

We clink our energon.

"So what's going on?" Flare spins slowly in his chair.

"I'm not sure. The two are fretting over something." Solar pointed over to us.

Siege looked over and frowned.

"They haven't recharged and there's wet dirt on their peds."

I look down. It wasn't as obvious on me, but it definitely was for Wavelength.

"What happened last night?" Siege hummed.

Flare stopped spinning and looked over to us. Solar gave a quick glance to further study us.

"I got paranoid last night." Wavelength admitted. "So I snuck out and watched that sensor."

"Wavelength!! We all decided that thing was dangerous!" Solar fretted.

"I know we did! But I couldn't shake it!!" Wavelength sighed.

"And I'm taking it Eclipse went with you?" I felt my oldest brothers optics on me. I look down almost ashamed. Almost.

"I did yes. I was studying the maps again when I heard him leave. So I followed worried about him." I look up.

"You both went to the sensor then. And I'm going to assume you saw something?" Flare finally walked over.

"We did...." Wavelength shifted his weight between peds.

*I don't like that. The way you're acting.* Harmony mimicked his ped movement.

"Wavelength, Eclipse, what did you two see?" Solar pressed.

"A seeker." I choke out. "About Flares height. But, they just looked so wrong."

"Whatever they were using to hide warped their metal and frame in unnatural ways." Wavelength shuttered. "They left with the sensor as well."

The Roman went chillingly quiet.

"So, we are under threat?" Solar looked up to my brother.

Siege had a concentrated expression.

"It's very possible yes." He looked up, "I would like that the Golden Crew officially operates as if we are a military operation. Captain?"

"I'll take your advice and heed your words. Golden Crew loom alive. This mission just became a dog fight for the relic.

My spark froze. We could all tell everything was about to get a lot more extreme.