(Hmmm….apparently the thought speak things are giving me problems. Well…for now I'll use parenthesis despite the fact that I don't like using them for thought speak. It confuses me to be honest. But until I think of something else, parenthesis it is. Oh, and BTW, I don't own Animorphs.)
Chapter 4
Jake was pissed. Jake was royally pissed. It wasn't really my fault, and he knew that, so he wasn't so much pissed at me as he was at the whole scenario.
"How the hell are we supposed to get out of this one?" He demanded pacing the floor of the barn that served as our meeting place. The others had joined us. We had found them searching the area, just as Jake had been. Two very tweaked birds of prey.
Cassie was currently busy with her hand shoved down the throat of a raccoon that looked almost as pissed as Jake was. Rachel was leaning on one of the empty stalls. Tobias was perched in the rafters.
Tobias was still a red-tailed hawk. He always would be. See, this morphing power had a serious downside. Two hours max. You stay past that, you stay forever. Tobias was a perfect reminder. He glared down at me with his fierce hawk eyes. He looked pissed. Then again, hawks are incapable of looking anything but pissed, (Marco, you should've gone to see Jake right away. You should've told him.)
"Why?" I stated flatly, "there's no way out of it. Caitlin knows I was one of the ones who broke into alien toilet central, and she's not gonna let me off the hook when I see her again. Best bet is to avoid her. Which is easier said then done, she's everywhere."
"Well, you've got to come up with some good excuses, man" Jake said. He gave me this, you kinda blew it, look. I hadn't done anything! It was a complete fluke that I happened to walk out and Torrelli had been sitting there. Why were they majorly wigging on me?
"It's not my fault that girl transferred here, it's not my fault Torrelli is her uncle, it's not my fault that he HAPPENED to be there when I walked out of the building!" I snapped. I'm not normally one for snapping, but this was driving me nuts. I hadn't done a damn thing wrong. Yeah, we were in deep shit. No, it wasn't my fault.
"We know it's not your fault." Cassie said calmly and put a hand on my shoulder. I hoped it wasn't the hand that had been in the raccoon's throat, "The problem is, it's a big deal, even if it's no ones fault. Caitlin is bound to ask questions. We have to figure out how to answer."
"Right" Jake said, giving Cassie a smile that said, thanks for keeping me out of hot water with my best bud. He let out a sigh that made it obvious just how much he had aged since the war began. It hadn't been more than a year, but he was so old already. It was kinda sad. He ran a hand through his hair, "Look, we can figure out how to deal with Torrelli and his niece later. Now, the reason we're here. Erek gave me some interesting information. Unfortunately, he couldn't be here to share it himself. He needed to go to the Yeerk Pool."
"Great" I muttered "Even without being here the android brings bad news." I was not in a good mood. I flopped into a pile of hay and looked up at Jake, "So, oh fearless leader, what's up?"
"Well," Jake said as he rubbed his head, "There's this huge environmental thing in the forest this weekend. The governor's wife is even attending."
"Yeah!" Cassie said excitedly, "I heard about this! It's some sort of benefit thing for the national forests across America! It's like this big old camping trip and bird watching thing."
Cassie's eyes were glowing like Rachel's do at the mall, or when we're about to do something incredibly insane and get ourselves killed. I shifted in the haystack and flatly cut to the point I was certain Jake was going to make, "The Yeerks are going to be there. They're going after the governor's wife."
"Exactly." Jake said nodding at me. "See, the governor hasn't said yet whether he plans to run in the next election for president. He still might. If the Yeerks get him, he will."
"So," I cut in to finish his thought, "The Yeerks nab Mrs. Governor, and use her to get to Mr. Governor. As usual, it's the Animorphs to the rescue."
"Right, and since Cassie's parents are gone for the weekend, I figure rather than camping out in the woods, we could chill here. Marco and I will still need replacements from the Chee, no way are my parents going to allow me to stay at Cassie's –"
"Yeah, especially without adult supervision," Jake shot me a glare as I interrupted him.
Then he went right back into his speech, "I'm sure Marco's dad wouldn't want him spending the night in mixed company either. Rachel's not a problem, Cassie already asked and her rents agreed to let Rach spend the weekend."
"So, it's an old fashioned slumber party, huh? Yay! We can take dumb Teen Magazine quizzes and do each other's nails!" I squealed in mock delight, "Look, just don't get me another neat freak Chee to take my place, I'm sick of coming home after facing death and then, on top of it, not being able to find any of my CDs."
Everyone laughed slightly. This was my job. I said stupid things, and made people laugh even though we were nervous. And we had cause to be nervous. See, even though Jake hadn't mentioned it, this was dangerous for us. The National Forest is right at the edge of Cassie's property. Ax, our resident Andalite, lives in the woods on Cassie's side of that border. Tobias too, but he's a bird, so no one would really notice. But Andalites are gonna get attention, especially from Yeerks. Andalites are like blue centaurs, with scorpion tails. So yeah, they'd get noticed.
There was also an added risk of staying at Cassie's. That was something I had to bring up, "Hey, Jake, what if we get followed?" Everyone looked at me. Obviously they hadn't thought of that, "I mean, some Yeerk see us and follow us back here, Cassie's in trouble, we all are, and her rents."
(He has a point, Jake) Tobias chimed in.
"Yeah, he does." Jake looked at Cassie, "Well? Your call. We stay at your place, or in the forest?"
"Either way they might make the connection. I mean, Ax is out there, so why would he be living in that particular spot? They are bound to catch on. We're safer if we stay at my place. Ax too, that way he won't get caught." Cassie said as she tried to convince a baby goose to eat. So, at least she had seen the possibility of the Yeerks finding Ax, it didn't surprise me, she's one of the most observant people I know.
"Right, ok, so Friday night, we meet here. Most of our work will be spying, if we catch the Yeerks making a move –"
"We take them out!" Rachel chimed in, flipping her supermodel hair over her shoulder.
"Right." Jake said, "Tobias, tell Ax about this."
(Will do) Tobias said.
"Hey, Tobias" Rachel piped up, smiling at him, "You should stick with the gang this weekend. Like, stay at Cassie's I mean."
I rolled my eyes. I mean, sure, falling in love is sweet. But in their case, it was kinda sad. I mean, interspecies love? Yeah, Tobias was still a boy, but he was a bird too.
(Yeah, maybe I will) Tobias answered and fluttered his wings some.
"So," I said, "This just leaves one question"
"What's that?" Jake asked
"Where are Cassie's parent's going on this uber important weekend? You'd figure to vets would be dying to be there!"
Cassie laughed softly, "Oh, they're going to Texas to visit some relatives. The people putting this benefit together kept bugging Dad to help, but Mom wouldn't let him. They've had this Texas trip planned for ages."
(Wee, another Chapter done! I tried to work in a little Cassie/Jake and Rach/Tobias here, and Marco teasing them. Ok, shout outs to my reviewers on the last Chap!)
Medha: Of course I'm writing more! It would be awful if I didn't!
Traycon3: Thanks for the advice, and as a response to a question in your earlier review, it was book #14 with the Andalite Toilet.
LilManiac: Thanks for the advice, and it really is cute isn't it! I just thought Marco would be so adorable in this situation! Who am I kidding, Marco's always adorable! Great, now I sound like a child molester…