From Within The Sand (Sunstreaker and Sideswipe Bayverse)

Chapter 21

It takes some time to calm everyone down. The chatter fills the hanger, echoing against the walls. It's mushing all their words together, making it difficult to understand what anyone is saying. I can barely think straight. Most of the work has come to a standstill. The others on my team are becoming distracted by those returning. I want to talk to Jazz, to see if he can tell me anything, but him and Ironhide have been having a heated debate about going to the location of the missing. When it finally looks somewhat safe, I meander over to the second in command and the weapon specialist. This will either help or I'll look incredibly stupid.

"Jazz." I call out through the crowd. "Sir!" I add.

His optics snap down to me, then he kneels down closer to my level. He may be the smallest of the Autobots, but he is still a giant compared to me.

"Yes, Hart?" It still surprises me that they know my name.

"Can I ask you questions about the orb?" I ask, looking up at him.

"You can try, but I don't know much." He answers, giving me a sad look.

"Does anyone know more about it?" I'm hopeful.

"I'm afraid not. Optimus ain't know too much about it either." He admits.

My shoulders fall, that is something I really didn't want to hear. There has got to be someone who knows something. Jazz stands back up tall, the sad look never leaving his face. I crawl into my own little world, trying to think with all the noise around me. Until I feel a tap on my shoulder. I spin around and come face to face with Epps. He has a sad but determined look on his face.

"I think I may know someone that can help." He says, still holding his weapon at his side.

"Who?" My eyes brighten and I almost smile.

"He used to run Sector 7, Seymour Simmons." He gives me a name I recognize.

"How do I contact him?" I ask.

"That I don't know. He went under the radar after Sector 7 got shut down." My shoulders fall once again.

"Great. How am I supposed to find him?" I try not to snap.

"Let me do some digging and see if I can come up with anything." Epps says optimistically.

"I'll check online to see if I can find anything. I still have about 2 hours left of my shift. I need to do something." I try not to sound whiny.

Epps nods his head in agreement and then wanders off. I push through the soldiers and go back to my station. I release my breath as I sit down. It's odd how I still go through the motions of breathing even when I don't have too anymore. Internet browser comes up and I begin to search through google. The thoughts of breathing leave my mind. I type in the name of Seymour Simmons. If he was with Sector 7, there probably wouldn't be much on him. With it disbanded, who knows what he is up too. Articles about the once top-secret unit come up. Pictures of the battle with Megatron pop up. All retelling the story of the alien kept in the basement. But no mention of what the team is up to now.

About 30 mins later Epps came back, a grim look on his face. He didn't find anything either. He stands over me as we continue to search the internet together. My Sargeant ended up joining the search too, then slowly other jumped on the bus as well. The search for one man has become more difficult than we thought originally.

"Hey, what if we asked the guy who created this website?" One of the guys on the team calls out.

"What website?" Epps asks looking over to him.