Free Transformers Dark of the Moon by Peter David

Except … Lennox might have been imagining it, but there might have been hope in his expression as well.
    “Mr. Voskhod,” Lennox said, making no attempt to hide his concern, “where’s your radiation suit?”
    Voskhod shrugged as if he had neglected to bring an umbrella when a light shower was predicted. “It would not matter. For me, it is only a matter of time.”
    Lennox didn’t know what to say to that. As always, when unsure of what to say, he opted for saying nothing at all. It was hard to go wrong when following that strategy.
    They entered the reactor sarcophagus together. Unlike the city outside, the interior of the power plant was surprisingly clear and orderly in places. Men had come back to work there and had slowly brought some of the utilities back online.
    But as the group descended, they began to see the effects of that terrible day in April 1986.
    “There were energy experiments going on in this reactor,” Voskhod said casually, as if he were leading a tour down the middle of Hollywood Boulevard. “Its fuel quite literally melted down. Remains fossilized, like lava.”
    It was true. Lennox had been stationed in Hawaii for a time and had walked fields that were composed of lava that had cooled and dried centuries ago. This had the same feel to it. The closer the men drew to the core, the more they encountered the hardened fuel.
    “Every year,” Voskhod continued, “our cleanup efforts probe deeper. Only days ago, we found … 
it.
”
    There were several men waiting for them, all dressed in radiation suits as well. One of them stepped forward upon their arrival and bowed slightly. Voskhod indicated him as he said, “Yuri will lead you below.”
    Willis moved past Voskhod, carefully checking the readings he was receiving on his instrumentation. Lennox started to follow him, but Voskhod pulled him aside before he could go past. “And Colonel … one other thing …” he said in a voice filled with caution.
    Before Voskhod could continue, there was an echo of movement from above. A shadow flitted through the rafters, catching Lennox’s attention. He squinted in the dimness, seeking the source. “Don’t tell me you have birds living in here?”
    Voskhod was looking up as well, studying the ceiling. Suddenly he seemed nervous where he hadn’t before.
    “It can wait,” he said.

iv
    The group descended into the core, the heart of where the meltdown had originally occurred. The accident that had shaped an entire generation’s views on atomic energy had begun right here, and Lennox realized that he was holding his breath for extended periods as they moved around within the ruins of the reactor.
    “There,” Yuri said, pointing below and to the right. Willis, the NEST tech, came forward with his instruments. Everyone in the group was shining flashlights around so that the entire area was bathed in illumination.
    The excavation crew had cleared away a section of the “lava” just as Voskhod had claimed. In doing so, it had revealed what appeared to be a charred case on whichwere emblems that Lennox was reasonably sure he recognized.
    His communications channel open, he said, “Optimus, we have a visual. Objects in some sort of metal harness. There’s also a case. Guys,” he said, turning to the Ukranians, “those markings on the case … they’re from the Soviet space program, yes? Why are these markings from the Soviet space program?”
    He did not have the opportunity to get an answer, however, because the entire room began to shake violently. Lennox staggered but didn’t quite fall. “Willis! Talk to me! What are we dealing with!”
    “Energon reading, sir!” the NEST tech shouted, even though his voice was coming loud and clear over Lennox’s headset. “It’s strong! Below us! Closing fast!”
    Lennox had heard and felt enough. The environment had suddenly turned unstable. Remaining here, particularly with a bunch of civilian scientists, was not an acceptable option.