Chapter 80

80 The Cargo Building

“We’ll go over the plan on the way,” Tisiah said, as he walked over to us. The boat was quite large, almost as big as a ship, but more like a kayak. “We need to follow that ship, and see where they’re heading.”

We turned to see that TSA cruise-looking ship, still in the distance. It was a good thing we had this boat, or else we’d be stuck here in the water forever.

“Alright, let’s get paddling,” I said when they all of a sudden began to laugh. “What makes you think I made something that would require hard work?” Nikki chuckled, as she walked over to the controls.

“This thing is high-tech,” she said, as she pressed a button. The boat then sped away, almost making me fall. The boat I tell you was fast, and I mean like really fast. “Hang on!” Nikki shouted as we all grabbed onto something.

I looked forward, seeing the ship getting slowly bigger, as we were catching up to it. “We’re almost there,” September said, as she looked through a pair of binoculars.

“We should stop right-”

She suddenly stopped as confusion folded onto our faces. “Guys, I see a very tall building, and I mean a tall building.”

We all looked through the binoculars, and she was right. In the distance was a building that reached the clouds. But the three letters on it scared me to death. “TSA,” I muttered, as we all looked at each other with a worried look.

“What is the TSA doing with a building that big?” Nikki asked. “I mean even ours isn’t that big.” “Because this building holds cargo, ours is an academy,” September said, as she looked at the building.

.....

“Cargo?” I asked, as I looked at her. “What kind of cargo?”

“Anything that the TSA stole, which the Cybertron may be in there,” Tisiah said, as he looked at the building. “That’s why we need to get on that ship, so we can get inside.”

“So why did we jump out in the first place?” I asked.

“Because Rocke was going to blast us to bits,” Nikki said, as she looked at me. “Good thing we have this boat.”

“We need to get on that ship though so we could check through,” Tisiah said. “Make us a ladder real quick Nikki.” She nodded, as she went to the back of the boat, used her wand, and created a long ladder.

“Isn’t that too risky?” September asked as she looked at Tisiah. “What if it falls or breaks while we’re midair?”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, as he looked at her. “I trust Nikki with my life.” He then reached out his hand as Nikki passed the ladder to him. “Ooh, this is heavy,” he grunted, as he struggled to hold it.

“Well hurry up!” Nikki said as she looked at him. “They’re getting away!”

He then ran towards the side of the boat, and with a mighty heave, threw the ladder onto the ship. We all watched as he climbed up first, then September went after. “I don’t like how this feels,” Nikki said, as she looked at me.

“Yeah, me too,” I muttered, as we both began to climb up.

Malachi was the last, which he didn’t seem too pleased about. But we all made it on the ship without any incident. “That was close,” Nikki said, as she looked at us.

We threw the ladder down, and Nikki used her wand to make it disappear. “We should split up,” Tisiah said, as he looked at us. “So they don’t find all of us at once.”

“Who said we were going inside?” September said, as she looked at him. “I mean that’s way too dangerous.”

“Look, we don’t have a choice,” he said. “Guards will be coming out soon to do their rounds, and if they see us, we’re dead.”

“He’s right,” Nikki said, as she looked at us. “I can make some disguises for us. Could last for 30 minutes or so.”

“That should be enough time,” Tisiah said, as he looked at her. “Now let’s go before it’s too late.” But then all of a sudden, the boat stopped.

What happened?

We turned around, seeing a huge dock. And on that dock were hundreds of people, all in uniform. “Oh no,” Nikki said, as she looked at them. “It seems we’re already here.”

We all looked at each other with worried looks, not knowing what to do. Then Tisiah stepped forward. “We need those disguises now,” he said, as he looked at Nikki.

She nodded, as she went to work. A few seconds later, we were all in uniforms. I never seemed to think about how useful Nikki’s majoring power is until now.

But we didn’t have time to waste, as the guards were coming our way. “Quick, act natural,” Tisiah ordered, as he took the lead. We all nodded, following behind him as we acted as if we belonged there.

The guards gave us a quick look and then turned back as we walked towards the stairs off the boat. “So far so good,” Nikki whispered, as we all nodded.

But then we heard shouting from behind us. We turned around to see that it was an argument between two guards. One of them was pointing at us, and the other one was shaking his head.

“Uh oh,” Nikki said, “I hope they’re not talking about us.”

But then they began to walk towards us, as sweat began to form on my brows. “Quick, act like you don’t know them,” Tisiah said, as he stepped in front. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, where’s Demetrius Rocke?” he asked, as he looked at us. Nikki stepped forward as if to say something. But Tisiah quickly put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“He should be inside the ship, I just talked to him,” Tisiah lied, as he looked at the guard.

The other guard then stepped forward. “We’re going to need to see some ID,” he said, as he looked at us.

“Of course,” Tisiah said, as he pulled out a fake ID.

They looked at it and nodded. “You can go,” the first guard said, as he looked at us.

We all let out a sigh of relief as we walked toward the building. Were they suspicious of us, why would they ask for our ID?

But we didn’t have time to think about that now, as we had to find Demetrius Rocke. And fast.

The lobby of the building looked huge and very pretty. Marble floors and a big chandelier were hanging from the ceiling. There were also several guards posted around the room, who was watching everyone who came in and went out.

“This looks less like a cargo building and more of a hotel,” Malachi muttered, as he looked around.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I said, as I looked at the guards. “Alright, let’s move up.”

We all began to walk towards the elevators when one of the guards stopped us. “Where are you going?” he asked, gesturing for our ID.

Tisiah quickly showed him the fake ID and the guard nodded. “You can go,” he said, as he stepped aside. “So you guys visiting someone?” he asked. Tisiah shook his head.

“We’re here for business,” he said, as he pressed the button for the elevator.

The doors then opened and we all walked through. But just as the doors were about to close, the guard stopped them. “Hey, I forgot to ask,” he said, as he looked at us. “What’s your business here?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Tisiah then hesitated for a second, before he answered. “We’re here to pick up a package,” he said, as the doors finally closed.

We all let out a sigh of relief. “Clearly you’re a spy,” I said to him, as the elevator began to move up.

“Hey, I’m just good at thinking on my feet,” he said, shrugging. “That’s what most struggle with in these types of situations.”

I shook my head. “Well, let’s just hope we don’t have to use our acting skills again.”

“Most likely,” he chuckled, as the elevator came to a stop.

The doors then opened and we stepped out into a long corridor. “Alright, what do we do now?” Nikki asked. “Find the Cybertron?”

Preview:

“I think that’s a good place to start,” Tisiah said, as he began to walk down the corridor. We quickly followed him after a few seconds. The place seemed dark and abandoned. But as we walked further down, we began to see signs of life.

We could hear voices coming from some of the rooms. It was very noisy as if it was a very important discussion-or a heated argument. But as we walked by, we tried our best to look inconspicuous.

Then as we walked, we found another elevator. But as we got closer, we could see that the doors were slightly ajar. Tisiah then gestured for us to stop, as he looked keenly at the door. “I’ll check this room,” he said, as he pulled out his weapon.

We all nodded, as we waited for him to give us the all-clear. But after a few seconds, he said for us to come in. We walked in and he turned on the light, revealing a bunch of boxes that were inside a gray room.

“This must be it,” Tisiah said, as he began to look through the boxes. “The Cybertron must be in here!”

“It better be,” I muttered, as I began to help him look.

We all then started to search through the boxes, but we couldn’t find anything much. Boxes after boxes, but no sign of the Cybertron. But then as I was about to give up, I heard a noise coming from one of the boxes to my right.

I stopped cold in my tracks, as I stared at the box. Did I really just hear that? Or was it just my imagination?

I then slowly approached it and I could hear the noise again. It sounded like...a faint heartbeat.