As William stared at the massive spaceship on the Moon's surface, he momentarily considered explaining it to the public. But what purpose would that serve other than inciting mass panic?
While he pondered his next move, taking several seconds, the live feed transmitted back to Earth. Around the globe, billions of viewers anxiously watched William's expression on screen, desperate to know what had shocked the seasoned inventor.
In the London Space Center, the director frantically shouted for the feed to be cut and urgently tried to contact William to request images of what he was seeing.
"Ring-ring-ring."
The abrupt sound of a ringing phone interrupted the tension.
The four-star general, standing near the director, snatched the phone and answered brusquely, "Who is this?"
"Is this Thomas Berry, the director of the London Space Center?"
"Identify yourself," the general demanded, while one of his aides began tracking the call's origin.
When the aide signaled they needed fifty seconds, the general softened his tone slightly, "Fine, let's assume I'm Berry. Who are you?"
"Apologies, General, but I can't disclose my identity directly. However, my department reports solely to President Benjamin Arthur. You'll receive the necessary authorizations shortly."
After verifying the caller's credentials as coming from the U.S., the general asked impatiently, "You have thirty seconds. Make it count."
The voice on the line responded, "I demand that you immediately order William Devonshire to cease his exploration and return to Earth, where he will submit to U.S. authorities for investigation."
"That's not happening," came the curt reply—not from the general but from Richard, the English Prime Minister, who had been listening in.
Furious, Richard snapped, "We will neither hand over our citizen nor abandon this mission. If you have concerns, bring them to Prime Minister Arthur directly. Or better yet, tell William Devonshire yourself."
Richard ended the call without waiting for a response.
As the situation escalated, William's face appeared on the large screen in the command center. Greeting his mother first to reassure her, he then addressed the room with a grim expression:
"It's no surprise that the Americans are interfering. It seems we've been deceived for decades. Their lunar missions weren't just about exploration—they were about this."
The screen shifted to display the massive spaceship resting on the Moon's surface.
"Oh my God…"
Everyone in the room froze, staring in disbelief at the colossal ship.
"That's a supercarrier, nearly a kilometer long…"
"Wait," someone interrupted, "why didn't our astronomers discover this? Not even a shadow in their photos?"
William explained calmly, "I'm currently on the far side of the Moon, a region permanently locked away from Earth's view due to tidal forces."
He then cast a disdainful glance at the new Security Minister, who had asked the question, before turning to Richard.
"If you don't believe me, feel free to board my spacecraft and come to the Moon yourself. The entire round trip would only take about eight hours."
"Enough, William," Richard cut him off with a scowl, ignoring the eager gleam in the minister's eyes.
"Taking a joyride would only draw public ire. Let's focus on exploring that spaceship. Look for evidence that the Americans knew about this decades ago and deliberately kept it hidden."
"Apologies, but I'm not landing, nor am I entering that ship," William replied firmly.
Rather than risk approaching the alien vessel, William deployed dozens of probes before ascending back into orbit.
He knew well that if the ship was from the Transformers universe and contained Sentinel Prime, it might have already been compromised by the Decepticons.
The last thing he wanted was to activate a trap that would bring Cybertron to the Solar System, endangering Earth's resources and population.
Unbeknownst to William, his decision enraged certain parties. Hidden on Earth, Starscream, a Decepticon searching for Megatron, realized the departing spacecraft was their only chance to retrieve Sentinel Prime.
He immediately ordered the Decepticons hiding within the wreckage to attack William's ship.
"Damn it, I knew it!" William cursed as beast-like robots emerged from the derelict ship and charged toward him.
He quickly turned his ship back toward Earth, intending to deal with the Decepticons on the ground, where he had the advantage.
"Warning: Incoming attack detected."
Before he could strategize further, Sunday's voice rang out.
"Activate evasive protocols!" William shouted, immediately unbuckling himself and moving to the ship's midsection, ready to use a portal to return to Earth if necessary.
Thankfully, Sunday's advanced algorithms kept the ship ahead of the Decepticons' clumsy capture weapons. The enemy seemed more interested in disabling the ship than destroying it, making their attacks easier to evade.
After dodging two strikes, the ship finally escaped the attack range.
Once out of danger, William reassured Lena via video call before severing communications with Earth. Then, with a dark expression, he gave Sunday a chilling order:
"Deploy reconnaissance spiders to Hoover Dam. Search for a massive robot—likely Megatron.
If he's there, contact the Yautja team that's worked with me before. Offer them 100 healing talismans as payment to dismantle Megatron and transport him to X-17."
"Understood, Sir. Reconnaissance will be complete in approximately six hours."
William smirked coldly.
"If they think they can ambush me without consequences, they've got another thing coming. No warning, no negotiation—just take out their leader."
Without Megatron, the Decepticons would descend into disarray, making them far easier to eliminate.
"Sunday, order the lunar probes to hide. I want them operational for future missions."
"Affirmative, Sir."
As the ship approached Earth, now 40,000 kilometers away, Sunday's voice cut in:
"Warning: Incoming unidentified aircraft detected. Model identified as F-22 Raptor. Estimated interception in 18 minutes if current trajectory holds."
"Starscream?" William muttered, narrowing his eyes.
(End of Chapter)
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