All Hail Lord Starscream; Ruler of the Decepticons and Emperor of Cybertron.

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June 26 2004

Skywarp teleported into Starscream's lab. His lack of interest in science had kept him out of the facility in the past. As he surveyed the room his curiosity was peaked. There were several cages in the room with specimens in them. Each cage contained a male and a female human. Some of them began to scream as Skywarp appeared in front of them from out of nowhere.

He walked over to the computer and opened the feeding instructions. Which read:

Human Care Instructions:

For some odd reason I am unable to fulfil my duties to my experiment, so you have been chosen to carry out this highly secret work. Fail me and I will see to it that your life will be an utter hell when I can resume my work. Read me? Good!

It is a very delicate experiment and requires you to adhere to the specified measures and schedules. I need you to fill out the reports and observations.

Feeding:

Humans seem to require three feedings a day and about 2400 calories. Since these creatures are hardly running around, they need fewer calories. About 1600 should suffice.

They require ample water to drink. Their bodies are about 70 - 80 percent water so they tend to dehydrate very quickly. Ensure that they have several litres each.

If they dump their food or water that is their problem. They will learn soon enough that we do not give them extra.

You will find the food and potable water supplies in the cooling unit at the end of the laboratory, it is beside the cryogenic chamber.

For food, hand each human five of the bars. If more is required follow the instructions at the bottom of this file.

Also if it is present, hand each human one fruit.

Cleaning:

Humans are very messy creatures. They tend to smell bad if their cages are not kept clean. I prefer to use straw as a floor covering. This needs to be changed every three or four days. As you are cleaning the cages you can allow the humans to take a bath.

The straw is kept in a subspace locker beside the bathing alcove on the left hand side of the lab under the seawall window.

Dead stock removal and handling:

Occasionally the humans die; this is to be expected. Sometimes they don't take well to their captivity or they kill each other. Remove the bodies immediately. If not they decompose and can threaten the health of the other humans.

Keep all bodies that are found dead. Slip them into a plastic bag and mark their bags as such:

Place the bodies into the cryogenic chamber and freeze them. I will take a closer look and attempt to determine their cause of death later.

I do not tolerate escapes. Now, do not do this unless it is absolutely necessary; if you have a particular troublemaker (escapee) dump them alive in a bag, mark it as above however for condition of body: escapee and for possible cause mark down: Culled. Then place the whole unit in the cryogenic chamber. Please keep the females alive. I will need to test them before I determine their fates.

Refuse removal:

Place all the refuse into the incinerator and burn it immediately.

Bar recipe:

It took me a while to figure this recipe out. They call it Muesli which is defined as: A mixture of usually untoasted rolled oats and dried fruit, often used as a breakfast cereal.

I have a barrel of the Muesli blend made up made to my specifications to ensure all required macro and micro nutrients are present.

Humans use such miniscule measurements. This recipe needs to be multiplied about 100 times to get the required amount. If you have trouble with this, PF10 is capable.

Mix together, cook in a 160C/325F or gas 3 oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Cut into even bars. I highly recommend you get a human to lend a hand. They can break the eggs and cut the bars into portions more to their scale. The oven is beside the cooling unit.

When the heating procedure is complete allow them to cool and place into bags and then into the cooling unit for portioning out later.

Please keep your mouth shut. If Megatron gets wind of this he will not let me live it down or he will spoil my experiments.

Locate Observations.txt and fill in the required information. Save file with today's date dd/mm/yy

The dark Seeker located the food and water supply and began making his rounds to each cage. Some of the humans greedily accepted his offerings and ignored the fact that he was a twenty foot tall mech that was foreign to them. He walked to the third cage and discovered the male was dead. He had not been dead long as he was not in a state of decay but his body had become stiff due to rigamortis. The female clung vehemently to his lifeless body. She screamed and begged for Skywarp to leave him in the cell with her. Skywarp noticed that the feeding dishes were turned over and the floor of the cage was dry. The couple must have gone without water for quite sometime which was most likely the cause of death in the male. It was very likely that dehydration coupled with the fact that she had been taken prisoner by a Decepticon mad scientist were the causes of the female's insanity.

Skywarp placed the deceased male in the freezer as Starscream had ordered. He then returned to his duty of feeding the survivors. He opened the door to the fourth cage. The female had not stopped screaming since Skywarp had entered the lab. The male threw fecal matter and insults at the Seeker as soon as he opened the cage door. Skywarp became enraged and grabbed the specimen squeezing him with all his might. He felt a warm ooze between his fingers and threw the human down in disgust. The female began screaming louder. Skywarp was angry and frightened and did not know what to do. He reached in the cage and grabbed the female. He gently tried to shush her but she became more agitated and frightened. Skywarp realized she was not going to stop screaming and squeezed the life out of her.

He placed the other two specimens in the freezer, cleaned himself off and returned to feeding the rest of the humans. The last cage seemed different from the others. The humans in that cage appeared to have more luxuries than the others and the female was quite fat. She nervously rubbed her belly as Skywarp studied her. He placed the food and water in their cage and turned to leave. "Where is the other one?"

Skywarp froze. He quickly turned around and looked at the fat female. "Did you say something?" he asked not really expecting a response.

"The other one that brought us here. Where is he?" the female continued to rub her swollen stomach as her cellmate gobbled down his food.

"He'll be back in a few days. He got hurt and needs to rest." Skywarp eyed the female circumspectly as he spoke to her. He quickly teleported out of the lab to return to Starscream.

Starscream sighed as Skywarp teleported out. He felt bad for sending Skywarp on his way. As much as he appreciated the dark Seeker's concern he felt uncomfortable by it. Skywarp's presence only further reminded him of his captivity. The black Seeker had a gift of teleportation; there were no barriers for him. He could come and go as he pleased. Starscream's ability was speed and to be fast he needed to be free. To be free he needed to get well and to keep out of trouble.

He turned and looked at his computer. The monitor stared blankly back at him. The screen cold and black. Carefully he sat down glancing at the smooth surface of his desk glinting in the soft illumination of his quarters. He was a prisoner and was distressed by it.

Silently he sat looking into the black screen focusing his optics until he was able to make out his own reflection clearly. Starscream frowned, he could make out the fresh weld that ran along the side of his head. He scowled, the wound would remain that way until his self repair systems addressed the internal damage; only then would it deal with cosmetic damage.

The Air Commander idly picked up his personal datapad off the desk's satin surface. He had spent most of the afternoon glancing over past logs, reviewing mission reports and entertaining himself with simple games of skill. He glanced over the log's dates and realized that he had not made an entry since the evening of June 20th 2004. With that revelation he settled down to write his recent unpleasant experiences.

User Name: Starscream

Password: ********

Personal log for: STARSCREAM

Earthdate: 06-26-2004

What a misery for me, I am a prisoner in my own quarters, what will I do?

Perhaps a summery of events that led up to my present imprisonment should be in order.

Five days ago, which should make it Earthdate: June 21st 2004, I had returned from flying a mission, a simple energon raid from a nuclear processing plant on the coast. I was teamed up with Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust. This was not at all unusual for me. Lately I had been teamed with most of the other flyers that were not my usual wingmates, Skywarp and Thundercracker.

I had not realised that Skywarp's nose was out of joint about being kept on base filling in reports. I guess I should have known, being confined to an undersea base is frustrating for one who was made for flight. We Seekers value our freedom and supremacy of the skies.

I guess I had lorded it over Skywarp, rubbing it in, that I had off base missions while he was stuck pushing paper at a desk. This did not go down too well and I found myself under a brutal attack. To put it bluntly, Skywarp had almost killed me. If it was not for Thundercracker's timely arrival, I'd likely be nothing but slag iron.

I guess the severity of the attack rendered me unconscious for about two days and I woke up in time to find out that Megatron had intended to terminate Skywarp for gross misconduct. I wonder if I should have been flattered that Megatron went through that trouble to make an example of Skywarp, but I was more horrified that I would find myself lacking in a competent wingmate and warrior should he carry through.

My memory of the events that followed that moment have been lost in haze and fog, blurry and too scattered to make any coherent sense. What I do recall fairly well is having both Thundercracker and Skywarp in my quarters. We were having a "party" as Skywarp so simply put it, a social gathering just the three of us, trying to mend shattered bonds and heal open wounds.

The results of the gathering was, how should I say, interesting and then frightening. A practical joke went to all hell and I found myself beaten once again then shot by our noble leader, Megatron. I question my motives, I faintly remember that I was trying to prevent Skywarp from taking the fusion blast. Instead, I got the brunt of it. All I recall from that point on again is haze, fog and pain.

And this morning, I awaken. It appeared that another two days had passed and I have no recollection of them. It's quite scary, I have to wonder if I've suffered damage to my databanks. Brain damage in a flyer is not a good thing and if I have such damage, I better keep it to myself or else I will be made into a pig iron ingot.

It was after spotting an empty energon cube filled with articles that came from Skywarp's quarters, I remembered that I had not been to check in on my experiments in the lab. I decided that I had better get a move on before my valuable specimens found themselves dead and stinking. But, It was not to be, Megatron and the Constructicon, Hook, overrode my private quarters locking mechanism effectively imprisoning me in here. Upon my query to Megatron I was informed that I would be held in "quarantine" until further notice.

Megatron knows better than to do something like that to me... I suppose this is better than being locked in the repair bay or worse, the brig. Just my luck that Skywarp decided to pay me a visit this evening. I was able to ask him to check in on my lab and report back any possible problems with my specimens, he killed two. I should not grumble, I guess two killed by him was better than losing the lot to starvation and thirst.

My only worry is this; will Skywarp be able to keep this to himself or will I, when I'm released, find that the entire base knows of this experiment and Megatron asks me to destroy them all. I suppose only time will tell if Skywarp can, for once, keep his blabbering mouth sealed and my experiment can continue unhindered.

One day Megatron, I'll get you for this. I promise.

- SS

June 27, 2004

Skywarp teleported into the lab and walked over to the fridge. He began his rounds. As he handed the last ten bars to Jolene and Thomas he muttered "frag". He walked over to the computer and opened the feeding instructions and grimaced as though they were written in a language that was foreign to him. Skywarp looked around the room and shouted, "Who the frag is PF10?"

Jolene walked to the bars of her cage looking intensely at the dark Seeker. "That would be me," she said firmly.

Skywarp studied her for a second. "I need your help making this food."

"I can assist although it's getting harder for me to move comfortably," she said as she walked to the door and looked up at the massive Seeker.

Skywarp opened the cage door and held out his hand for Jolene. She hesitated for a moment remembering what those hands were capable off. She stepped onto the open palm and clung to the huge thumb feeling quite nervous. Skywarp walked carefully to the work area sensing her nervousness. He carefully placed her on the countertop.

"What do you need help with exactly?" Jolene asked.

"Um, everything. I have no idea how to make human food." Skywarp replied shamefully.

Jolene grinned. She was sure that it was not unusual for Decepticons to not know how to cook. "It's really not that difficult."

"To you maybe," the dark Seeker retorted.

"Starscream makes it most of the time. I just help with the more fiddly things like eggs," she replied casually. She was leery of the huge Seeker. She was not going to show him fear. Decepticons like most predatory creatures sensed fear.

Skywarp laughed intensely. "I can just imagine Screamer cooking."

"Screamer?" Jolene had never heard Starscream being referred to anything other than Starscream. She was somewhat amused that the Decepticons had nick names for one another.

"Yeah, that's what we call him. I'm Skywarp by the way. My friends call me Warp," said Skywarp introducing himself to the small human.

"Starscream calls me PF10, Skywarp, but my name really is Jolene Thurwood." She had no intention of calling Skywarp by a name his friends call him. He was not a friend, he was the enemy, part of a faction that enjoyed murdering humans for fun. She tolerated Starscream. She never wanted to give the mad scientist a reason to 'terminate' her.

"I wondered about that. PF10 is a weird name for humans. Not that Jolene is normal or anything." Skywarp thought humans had strange names. They did not seem to mean anything, just a jumble of sounds merged together.

Jolene grabbed her belly. "Oooh!" her unborn child suddenly gave her a massive kick and started to move around rapidly.

Skywarp looked at her intently. "What's wrong?" Skywarp did not want to lose another human. Starscream seemed pretty upset over the last three.

"Nothing, just a got a huge kick. Open up the recipe and I will tell you where to find the utensils," she replied shrugging off the question. Skywarp was highly unlikely to understand the "joys" of carrying a child. She had seen how he had stared at her the day before.

Skywarp eyed her suspiciously and followed her instructions. "That's the oldest trick in the book, ya know. Even I'm not stupid enough to fall for that one." He scrolled down to where the recipe was shown.

"What?" she inquired, "the oldest trick in the book?" she did not understand what he was playing at.

"The old sick prisoner trick. I'm not gonna let you go," responded Skywarp seeing through her innocent act.

She abruptly realized what he had meant. "You honestly have no idea?" she said perplexed. She would have thought he would realize she was pregnant. She had thought that Starscream might have informed him as such.

"No idea about what?" inquired Skywarp puzzled.

She did not feel like explaining him the fine details just the fact. "I'm not sick, although I feel like it sometimes. Now, grab the "cup" measures: the big one that says twenty-five liters on it." She pointed to several shiny metal jugs that lined a shelf. For a Decepticon Starscream had incredible house cleaning skills. Everything was neat tidy and in its place.

Skywarp sighed. "This is too hard. You do it." He dumped the jug in front of Jolene, stepped back and folded his arms across his chest.

"I can't possibly do this myself. It's simple, follow the instructions," she said angrily pointing at the recipe on the screen. Skywarp it appeared was very lazy. She would have to goad him into doing his work.

Skywarp grumbled and grabbed the cup. "Fine, now what?"

Jolene sighed. She realized she was going to be in for a very difficult evening. "Locate the mix, it's in a barrel down in the storage room along with the ostrich eggs if there are any left." She pointed as she spoke.

"Frag, why can't he just raid Burger King or something?" Whined Skywarp as we walked off in the direction that Jolene had gestured.

She snorted in disgust. "Burgers are not a very good long term diet. Neither is granola. It's sufficient in vitamins and such bit it is quite boring after a while. Starscream has not paid too much heed to my suggestions in the past." She sighed shaking her head, however a burger from Burger King would be a gourmet meal now.

"Ok, how much of this stuff should I bring back?" he paused in his progress.

"You need four of those measures of the dry mix and four big eggs. If there are no big eggs we are screwed as I know he does not have chicken eggs." Jolene pointed to the bowl on the shelf. "You might want to put it in there," she said helpfully as she rolled a large hex nut over where she could sit on it and assist.

Skywarp studied the countertop and the distance to the floor. "I'll be right back. You know that you'll die if you try to jump, right?" he did not trust the human on her own. He thought she would make a break for it.

"I am not likely to move off this nut, let alone try to jump," Jolene assured the tall mech.

Skywarp left, Jolene could hear him mumbling to himself. Soon he returned with the ingredients piled in the bowl. He lined them up on the table regarding the four large eggs with interest. Jolene pointed out the order of ingredients and helped Skywarp start the blend. "What's your job?" She inquired drizzling the oil over the heap of muesli.

Skywarp looked at her a bit shocked. "Um, I..uh..why do you care? You don't want to know what I do, trust me," said Skywarp giving the bowl a vigourous stir.

Jolene sighed, "It's not like I have not seen horrors here. I am curious. I know what you beasts do." Why did she care was a good question. Why did she care? She wondered. Jolene figured it would be better to know thine enemy. Although Starscream was in the lab most days and evenings when he was not doing whatever it is he does, he never spoke much on a personal level. He viewed Jolene and the rest of her cell mates as a human scientist would regard a lab rat.

Skywarp on the other hand seemed talkative. Decepticons were not nice creatures. She had seen what Starscream had done to other unwilling victims and what Skywarp did to the noisy woman the day before. She knew the rules of the lab well enough. Do as asked and life will be bearable. Don't do as required and suffer the consequence of starvation or death; and death was not a very pleasant option.

Skywarp looked at the floor with an expression of shame. "I can teleport. I sneak in places and...well..."

Jolene cut him off. "Never mind then," she said tartly. Skywarp perhaps then was not willing to talk. "When will Starscream be back?" she asked trying to get the relevant information out. How long were they to deal with this strange Decepticon Jet?

Skywarp glanced up with a thoughtful yet slightly guilty expression. "I'm not sure. Maybe two weeks. We kinda got in trouble. You see, I kinda beat the slag outta...uh two weeks." He smiled slightly. He still did not regret the pounding he had given his Air Commander.

Jolene was very curious. If this Decepticon had beaten up what was his higher ranking officer, and was helping him out in his absence that he had caused, then the Decepticon social mores must be quite different to human standards. "You beat the "slag" out of him and he trusts you here? What happened?" She asked daringly. Jolene was very intrigued by this information.

Skywarp groaned. "It's a long story. If you could meet TC he could probably explain it better, but I doubt you'll ever see him. He'd have a slag fit if he knew you were here." Skywarp watched Jolene as she cracked open the giant egg with the edge of a knife. She spilled the contents of the thick shell into the bowl of almost completed granola. Skywarp wondered where Starscream had managed to acquire these eggs. They were not the run of the mill supermarket variety.

Jolene cocked her head, "TC?" she said confused. "Starscream never speaks of the others. I know who you are from news reports before my capture." She did not know much about him just what his colours were and the name attached to him.

"Thundercracker. He's my best friend. The three of us used to be wingmates but TC and I have been stuck in the control room lately while Screamer goes on missions with the Coneheads. I got kinda pissed about that and beat the slag outta Screamer," Skywarp continued.

"I supposed that's what you meant when you said he got hurt and needs rest the first time. You must have beaten him bad if he is out of the running for two weeks," said Jolene in awe. Skywarp did not look too much different from Starscream. She wondered how badly he had been hurt and how he had been injured.

Skywarp frowned slightly. "Uh, well, I didn't beat him THAT bad. Other things have happened since then. We decided to set our differences aside and have a party. That's where he really got hurt." Starscream getting punched out and getting his wing shot off was still quite vivid in his mind.

Jolene nodded again. She scooped the granola blend out of the bowl and spread it thinly on a sheet of metal. "That must have been one hell of a party. I've not been to one of those since I was twenty-two." She remembered the huge fight that had occurred between a couple of friends. One came out with a broken nose and jaw. The other friend was arrested and sent to jail for six months. She wondered what went on at that Decepticon party.

Skywarp leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. "Is that food done yet?"

Jolene recognized the defensive stance Skywarp had taken. She nodded, "It needs time to bake." She watched as Skywarp quickly removed the huge tray and placed it into the cooking unit at the end of the lab. "So what do the great Decepticons do at parties? Do you drink? Can you drink? If so, what do you drink?" she asked rapidly.

Skywarp nodded to her drinking questions. "Oh yeah, I barely remember what happened that night."

Jolene persisted in interrogating the Decepticon. So far he seemed to answer the questions without too much fuss. "You can't remember or you don't want to remember?" she asked cooly.

Skywarp thought for a moment. "Maybe both."

She grinned, "I've been to one that I can't remember much about. Remember going there, don't remember leaving. All I recall is waking up in the morning and in bed. Someone had kindly taken me home," she said with a sheepish smile.

"Heh, those are the best parties."

"That was my twenty first birthday. They gave me twenty one shots of... I can't remember what and I must have hit the floor shortly after that," Jolene admitted. She had not drunk alcohol in that way again after that party. She remembered waking up with a hangover that made her highly ill for the entire span of the following day.

"So, how old are you now?" questioned Skywarp.

"Twenty-seven," replied Jolene with a slight sadness.

"Hmmm, humans have such a short life." Skywarp said slightly tactlessly.

Jolene nodded in agreement. "It seems that way sometimes. My life will likely be quite short living here. I doubt I will ever see the sun again," she sighed sadly. Jolene wondered how long it would be after she stopped having children before she too was sent to the sharks. She wondered how long she would be allowed to keep her offspring. "How long do you guys live for?" she asked to get her mind off the subject of her life span.

"Well, in humans years I guess I'm about ten million years old. I guess I'd be somewhere around thirty. Starscream is a couple of astro years younger than I am. Most of us are around the same age, give or take a few astro years. Our life span is similar to yours but a lot longer." Skywarp wondered if the human would understand such an idea.

Jolene nodded not understanding how the life span could be similar but longer. "I suppose it's easy to replace a damaged part. If I were to lose my head I'd be dead. you I guess could replace your head if it got damaged or removed."

Skywarp nodded reflectively.

Jolene turned her head sharply to the sound of a buzzer. "Quickly get them out they are done."

Skywarp panicked for a second and then realized she was talking about the food. Jolene laughed at the confusion the dark Seeker displayed. He suddenly seemed as thick as the molasses used.

"Frag this stuff stinks." Skywarp grimaced as he sniffed the granola.

"Oh?" Jolene inhaled deeply smiling with her eyes closed. Although she thought granola bars were pretty boring after a couple years; this was the one moment where she could pretend she was elsewhere in her mind. "I thought it smelled quite pleasant." She stood back as Skywarp placed the bars down on the counter.

Skywarp grinned. "What I think smells good you would find nauseating." Energon smelled good, pure electrical energy smelled nice, the granola bars smelled burnt and grainy.

"Likely," said Jolene dryly. There would be no point in arguing with the dark hued Decepticon. They were two different species, with different likes, dislikes and obviously ethics.

Skywarp watched the woman waddle around the sheet of granola tapping it with the edge of a knife. "So, why are you so unafraid of us?" he inquired with a hint of curiosity.

"Hmm," she looked up at the pale face and the brightly glowing red optics. He was smiling slightly. He seemed to be quite amused by her. "To be honest, you lot freak me out, but what is the point in cowering in fear all the time? I've been hardened against it for the most part as I have seen what is done to those who don't do as asked." She sat back down on the nut awkwardly. "I also had time to acclimatise myself to Starscream when I was captured. He was grounded in a snow storm and we had to wait until the weather had passed to resume the flight here."

Skywarp cocked his head and looked at her with amusement. "You'd make a good warrior."

'A warrior,' she thought, "I am—was a business woman. You kinda have fight to make sales. So you can earn money to live." She realized that Decepticons were similar in the respect that they had to forage on Earth for sustenance. They were fighting in a highly competitive world for energy. The Autobots needed it, the Humans needed and so did the Decepticons. She suddenly remembered that energon was their main source of food? Fuel. She had seen Starscream toting an energon cube through the lab.

"So, what do we do with this stuff now?" inquired Skywarp poking at the surface of the granola in disgust.

Jolene carefully began to draw lines across the surface of the still very warm bars. "We score it then let it cool. After that we break it along the scored marks. Bag it and keep it cool until needed." She shrugged. She had done most of the work regardless of telling the Decepticon she was not in condition. Bending over to score the bars into portions was very difficult and she could feel him watching her as she struggled. "Do you enjoy fighting?" Jolene asked suddenly, standing up from her work. "Do you enjoy killing?" she had asked these questions of Starscream, he merely laughed and told her not to question the affairs of superior beings.

Skywarp shook his head. He couldn't believe he was cooking human food and chatting with a human. In some ways he found her amusing. She showed little fear and was quite interested in his kind. He was somewhat unnerved by her questions. "I don't know. It's not that I enjoy killing. I see it as a necessity. I fight for the Decepticon cause. If that means killing, then so be it."

Jolene inhaled wearily, "I suppose that this 'cause' is the reason why I along with the others are here."

Skywarp laughed loudly. "Not really. That's Screamer's cause."

She was surprised at this. She was under the impression that he was doing this for the benefit of the Decepticons. "He's acting on his own? We are not part of the greater scheme of things?" she spread her hands out to encompass the room.

"Heh, no you're not. He was a scientist on our planet before he joined the Decepticons. I suppose his curiosity is what brought you here. The Decepticons followed the Autobots here in search of fuel. Our planet is almost dead," explained Skywarp.

Jolene held her hand over the dark granola to see if it was cool enough to break. "That is strangely disappointing. I had hoped our captivity and our deaths would be more than just for curiosity of a Decepticon." She took a knife and started to cut the bars into separate pieces. "There is no joy in life living in a cage."

"You think it's fun for me to live on this planet?" Skywarp scoffed.

"At least you're free to go where you please. When was the last time you were put in a cage, wondering what the next day would bring?" She said with a sharp snap then she realized she used a harsher tone then she intended. She made a fearful step back. "Please forgive my tone of voice." She said bowing her head in shame.

Skywarp scowled for a moment. Her question gave him an unpleasant reminder of his week. "It's understandable. I'd be a bit concerned if you didn't get pissed from time to time," he said sharply avoiding the question. Skywarp watched as Jolene started to slip the chunks into bags. He watched the effort that it took for her to move. "You're pretty fat," he commented.

The human stood up and scowled. "That's a very unkind comment to make to a pregnant woman," she admonished Skywarp with a wag of her finger.

The dark Seeker looked down a the woman in surprise. "I mean...I uh...how much longer until you have the baby?" he finally managed.

"About two months." She looked up at the Seeker. She could see in his face that there was something more. "Did I say something that bothered you? You shifted topic really fast just now," Jolene remarked. She realized that something had happened to him recently.

"Screamer is getting a taste of his own medicine right now. That's why I'm here and not him." Skywarp avoided the topic once again.

Jolene sighed as he re-directed the question. "His own medicine? I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Skywarp grinned. "He can't leave his room. Megatron locked him in for two weeks."

Jolene nodded. She realized that Starscream would be indignant about his captivity. "Two weeks is a short time; I've been here two years," she explained.

Skywarp ignored her comment. "I should put you back. This stuff is done and ready to be put in the cooler?" he gestured to the packets and at the cooling unit.

"Yes," she replied sourly. Jolene did not want to be put back. She liked being out even if it was to simply assist making their supplies. She was also interested in talking more to Skywarp. He seemed to have a loose tongue and she would be interested in finding out what were the plans for them. Skywarp quickly removed the packets from the counter and dropped them in the cooler.

"Thanks for your help. Screamer would kill me if I screwed anything up. How can I reward you?" he asked holding out his hand in a manner that suggested she had better climb on.

She sat down on his palm and glanced up at his face. "Sadly there is no reward that is in your power to give me. Just put me back. I am only following orders because I don't wish to get killed," she explained.

Skywarp frowned. "I'll tell you what, I'll see what I can do. I'm sure I can give you something or do something for you that won't affect Screamer's research."

Jolene watched as Skywarp clumsily cleaned up the area and suddenly disappeared. Once The dark Seeker was out of sight she turned to her cage mate and presented him with a couple of fresh bars she had managed to sneak under her tunic when Skywarp had not been watching. He smiled warmly as they quickly ate them down. Jolene realized that she might as well think of him, now, as her husband.

Skywarp returned to the lab the next day and immediately headed for Jolene and Thomas's cage. He opened the door and handed her a huge vat of pickles, a container of half-melted strawberry ice cream and a large rack of the most hideous maternity clothes she had ever seen.

Jolene looked at the huge jar of pickles and the molten tub of icecream lost for words. She had not seen such food items in years. Her mouth watered at the sight of pickles and in horror at the rack of gaudy coloured clothes. She was sure there would be others who could wear some of those. "Uh... thanks... I have no idea what else I can say..."

Skywarp beamed. "I just wanted to give you something to thank you for helping me. I doubt Screamer will object too much."

"Hmm, perhaps someday you can tell me more about yourself and Starscream. I don't know much about him other than what I have seen or heard on the news long ago." Her curiosity about her captors was intense

"He's alright. He can be a real pain in the afterburner sometimes though. I'd better hurry up and get you guys fed. I'm hangin' out with TC tonight and I'd hate for him to get suspicious. If Megatron found out about you guys, he'd have you all killed," he explained and with that said he rapidly went about with his duties and quickly disappeared without any further interaction.

Starscream sat alone at his desk gazing blankly at the monitor. He was filled with boredom and was getting tired of being confined to his quarters. Between working with his reports and other such things Megatron had ordered him to do, he cleaned his weapons. When they were finished he reorganized his armoury and dusted, wiped and washed everything he could get his hands on. He stood up and began pacing the room. Abruptly Skywarp appeared scaring Starscream that he leapt back with a yowl.

The dark Seeker grinned as he handed Starscream a datapad. "Can't stay, gotta go!" he said cheerfully. "Have fun!"

"Skywarp, no, wait!" shouted Starscream as he disappeared. Skywarp was the only one who could enter his quarters and he desired company. He shrugged in disappointment and returned to his computer to contemplate the next move in the chess game.

He moved his black knight and took out the rook.

The computer quickly took the knight out with its bishop. "Check," it announced.

Starscream sighed as he intercepted the bishop.

The computer moved its queen and took out Starscream's King. "Check Mate. Play again?"

"No," he responded harshly as he stood up again. Starscream paced in circles before he finally stopped and stared out the window. He watched as a pair of blue whales and a calf slowly glided with grace and ease in the distance. The Seeker rested his fist on the bowed glass and his forehead on his curled fingers. He stood like that for sometime, not moving, lost deep in thought as he gazed at the thriving sea floor below.

Queen Elizabeth Way Firewall

*NOTE* Musli recipe comes from "The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook" by Roz Denny Pg. 230.