I nodded to Ryan before turning and kneeling next to Scrappy "Hey, could you send a messege to Shono or Warpath?" I asked and of course Scrappy beeped out his reply.

"Yeah, why?" I had no idea what the heck he said so I asked him "Um... What" the droid beeped at my incompetence then displayed his reply on a hologram "Thanks" I said as I stood up "And, um put it on speaker" the little red droid rolled his optics before doing so.

"Hey Shono, this is scrap, I kinda need some help here" a voice translator said in the speaker.

I blushed a little when Evory noticed. "Sorry...it's just that everything's so different here. I've never met anyone like you before. There are so many new things I have to see, things that I've read about, and--" I stopped myself from adding wrote about. I paused, then added in a whisper, "It's hard to believe this is real."

I listened to the others debating. Personally, I would have preferred to just stay and "do nothing" at the Elvish settlement, but of course I didn't say so. Where were those Ditto heroes when you needed them? They just had to pick this week to take a vacation, didn't they?

"Hey Scrappy!" Shono replied over the intercom "Whats going on over in Ditto town, VAC's reports some kinda invansion, Warpath is considering his options" Scrappy replied "Well I'm currently with some weird looking strangers who seem to know something we all don't know" Shono fell silent for a minute before saying "Put me on hologram" Scrap complied and projected his image onto the floor "Well, which one of you is in charge here?"

I smiled inwardly at Harry's comments. Maybe these guys weren't as bad as I originally thought they were. Or not. Whether Harry and Hank were nice or not would not change what they were doing in the slightest bit. I was still their prisoner.
I stared up at the ship, barely noticing the demolished houses around it. I wasn't about to admit it, but I was scared. I hate it when I'm scared.

Hank pulled Susie along. He pulled gently, that was true, but also firmly. The three of them walked up to the ship, and once they were there Hank pulled a comlink from a loop off of his belt.

"Lieutenant, this is Hank, reporting in."

A slight buzz of static came from the comlink. The ship had just landed and was probably establishing that its signal was by far the coolest (and the strongest) signal in the area and therefore no one should interfere with it.

Finally the buzz faded out and was replaced by a new voice. "Acknowledged. Lieutenant here. What've you got for us?"

"Prisoner from the fountain, sir." Hank reported.

"Ah. Yes. Bring her in."

The boarding ramp to the enormous ship lowered as if on cue.

Hank grinned at Susie. "This is your big moment, girl." Then they walked up the ramp and into the maw of the ship.

--------

Evory smiled slowly at Took's eagerness. "Why shouldn't it be real? Isn't it perfectly logical that there should be other worlds than your own?" She said, paraphrasing one of her favorite authors. "But I know why you think it is strange. You believe that you made most of it up."

I nodded in agreement with Ryan. Stun guns. Those were nice. Not lasting, no killing. Good. "I wonder how you work guns." I said aloud.

"Well, I didn't do much, really, but--" Then I stopped. "You...you know who we are?" Telepathy crossed my mind again. She knew an awful lot for being one month old. Then I bit my tongue, real hard, hoping I hadn't misintepreted and accidentally given us away.

I watched Hank as he contacted the ship. If this was a movie, I would think his device was cool.
"What do you mean, my big moment?" I asked warily.

"I know absolutely nothing about any weapons that aren't plastic lightsabers," I admitted, blushing faintly. "And I'm sure I don't know how to fight very well with those either. And I don't even know where we can get phasers. Now that Drake's gone . . ." I glanced at Booky and tried not to feel annoyed. It wasn't his fault Drake had taken offense to finding out Booky controlled his life . . . then again, maybe it was.

----

"Like, you're going to meet the big boss," Harry said, nodding, looking around for anyone who ranked higher than him (which was pretty much everyone). "Uhhh, Hank? Did the Lieutenant say he was going to meet us here? Or should we take her down to the holding deck?"

P.S."Brooklyn!"

"I'm a black belt in Tae Kwon Do!" I volunteered, and then looked sheepish. "But I haven't practiced for three years, since I quit."

I had seen Drake disappear, looking angry, but I didn't exactly know why. I knew this, though: I was not looking forward to taking two days to ride down the mountain. Or wherever we were. Was Estëe in the mountains?

"You're an author." Evory said, as if this should be the most logical thing in the world. "Your group as a whole believes that you created this place." She nodded sagely.

------

Hank frowned, and then shrugged cluelessly. "I have no idea. I didn't ask. You call." He suggested.

"Too late." A voice called from a deck above them. "I'm here."

Hank looked up to see the Lieutenant.

"Yeah, the only sport I've taken is ballet . . . and I can't even kick as high as I used to," I said, shaking my head. "We're seriously outmatched here unless we can get more back up. Having the Autobots is great, but we'll need more than that probably."

----

Harry's protestation "you call" died on his lips as the Lieutenant stepped into view. He stuttered, "H-hey Lieu-Lieutenant! Uhhhh, look what we found!" He shoved Susie forward. "The Captain will be pleased, yeah?" He asked hopefully.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

I had watched enough Westerns and Sci-Fi films that I could probably figure out how to work a gun or blaster or phaser or whatnot. Though, considering the turn the conversation had taken, we would probably be staying here for a little while longer.

"What kind of back-up would we need exactly?" I asked Ryan. Having Autobots on our side sounded pretty good to me, but apparently that would not be enough.

"Ah," I replied. "I never knew we were so well known. I never read..." But of course I wouldn't have read much about it. People only wrote a handful of stories where the "Authors" played a part, and I hadn't read too many of the RPs to begin with.

I wasn't paying much attention to the others by then. I thought I heard something about toy lightsabers and Tae Kwan Do...

Okay, so apparently getting to see the "big boss" was supposed to make my day. I didn't know if I should be worried about it or not. I tried to think of how I was going to get away, but nothing came to mind. Maybe I should have watched more action movies with complicated escape plans instead of Jane Austen.
I looked up when I heard a voice above us. I bit my lip when I saw who the speaker was. This Lieutenant person did not look like he was going to be friendly. I heard Harry stutter as he addressed the Lieutenant. I guess Harry didn't think he was a friendly guy either. I felt almost sorry for Hank and Harry, until I got shoved forward. I stuck my tongue out just the tiniest bit in frustration. How many times was I going to fall today? Fortunately, I managed to stay on my feet this time.
I looked up at the Lieutenant again, and (unfortunately) said the first thing that popped into my head: "Is anyone going to explain what it is you want with me, or am I just going to get moved around?"

"Well if its a gun... I'd be willing to use it..." I said. Becoming a junior member of the NRA had its benefits, Shono, who was still listening in on the conversation said "Hey, I could request to have Silverbolt come up there and pick you all up, then you could meet Warpath and clear this up for us"

My ears perked up at this, and my eyes practically begging for anyone to respond positively to this.

Hank crossed his arms behind his back and waited for the outcome of the situation

The Lieutenant, Lt. Jamison Lee to be exact, turned his sharp gaze on Harry. "The Captain. Of course." He sounded almost snide, but no one could tell for sure. "You were slow." He accused Hank.

"We had to wait for someone to pop up." Hank made his excuse.

Lt. Lee shook his head in disgust. "Don't make excuses." He jogged down to the deck that Hank, Harry, and Susie were on and looked Susie up and down. "If you have made a single mistake about who this is--" He let his voice trail off threateningly.

Susie had spoken some minutes before, but only now did Lee deign to answer her. "Moved around, I think." He nodded to himself and smiled, amused at his own wittiness.

-------

Evory blinked. "You're not well known. Most people here have no idea who you are. But I do. Because the Will made it so."

I turned to regard Joe. "How are you so buddy-buddy with the autobots already? Have you visited here before this too?"