A/N: This story is likely to stretch into more chapters than a usual Animorph book will.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
::Rachel::
"Rachel, where're you going?"
"It's none of your business, Jordan!" I rolled my eyes, locking the clasp of my duffel bag. "Young lady, don't you have your own precious friends to hang out with?"
Jordan eyed me coldly. "I thought you'd like it that I trust your taste better than anyone else's."
I slung the bag over my shoulder, and sighed. "Right, I do, but I really have something on today."
"The sale's only on for today!" whined Jordan. "You promised me!"
It seemed to me that Rachel was a very compromising older sister in this reality. In fact, I felt guilty, Christ's sake – since when did Jordan become so persuasive?
It took me all of fifteen minutes to strike a deal with Jordan that I'd get back by the afternoon to go shopping with her. In the morning, she could take Tessie, her friend, along to pick out the stuff she liked on sight, then I'd give my opinion later. After the deal was done, I got out of the house, snuck back through the backyard and tossed my bag into an old rickety cupboard, and morphed to bald eagle. I tried not to think that it was almost impossible to do whatever I had on my checklist. Not to mention that I was feeling downright cranky from a sleepless night. How could anyone sleep knowing that everything – including myself – was just wrong?
By the time I had demorphed and morphed a fly behind a Dumpster near the basketball court, the rest except for Tobias were already there at various positions. Marco was about to launch into his instructions when I spoke first.
‹Are you sure you know what you're doing, Marco-boy? There could be Yeerks around this place for all you know. This could be some illusion constructed by the Yeerks.›
‹Oh, I'm not doubting there are Yeerks waiting to pounce on Jake and stuff a slug in his ear,› Marco said testily. ‹But I wanna know what's their latest project. As it is, everytime we've ended up in some screwed-up world, the only way back is when the aliens are on some mission.›
As it was, Marco was right. Every crazy situation we had been in, it was the aliens that were the keys to the puzzle. Dino-land had the Nesk's comet, and World War Two had Visser Four and the Time Matrix. Whoever put us here must have done so for a reason. Still, it was disgusting the way we had ended up as chesspieces for the galaxy. Something in Marco's voice also told me that he knew more about the chess game than I did, but after the last time he had snidely commented on whether I should be leader, I figured I should shut up. The last time something similar happened, it had been a disaster.
Not that I'm backing down against Marco. Definitely not.
‹Okay, so here's the deal: I'm betting they will try to push Jake to go to the Sharing with them after the game. So we're going to follow them there – on Jake.›
‹Wait a minute, how are we going to–›
‹Four humans are approaching by the bend. They are holding an orange ball.›
‹This is so weird. Ax, you're a fly, not an Andalite. How the hell did you see that coming b›efore we did?› I demanded.
‹I am an Andalite,› Ax replied, both affronted and smug. ‹I am trained to see–›
‹Tom and Jake coming from the other street,› reported Cassie. ‹Whoo–›
"Gah, hate the flies in this weather!"
‹Be careful, Cassie,› said Ax.
‹Oh right.› I could have slapped myself. ‹You guys are actually at the street. Marco, where are you?›
‹Around the court, which I figure that's where you are, too. Tobias, you ready?›
‹Wait, Tobias is here?› I blurted. ‹But he said he was–›
‹How is this game played?› asked Ax.
‹With Marco in the lead and not telling us what's going on,› I said, a little angrily.
‹Yeah, Marco, you haven't told us about Tobias' role,› said Cassie, her voice thin.
‹I don't under–› Ax began.
‹He's around, don't worry. He said he's in on this.›
‹Marco...› If he was right in front of me...
‹Relax, Rachel, all you have to do is just zoom straight at Jake later.›
‹A basketball game can take up to an hour or more. That means only one hour on Jake.›
‹Don't you always like a tinge of risk, Rachel?› I swear that if Marco was human, he would be grinning right now.
Not really, I thought, but then Tom began to call out to Jake. "Hey, midget!"
‹He still calls him midget?› Marco wondered aloud.
But hearing Tom call Jake midget was not humourous anymore. Back when we were ten and I was over at Jake's for Thanksgiving, everytime I heard Tom call Jake that, I would tease Jake unmercifully about it. In fact, I was taller than Jake by a couple of inches, and he had made a face at me for bragging about it. Jake later told me that the nickname no longer stuck after Tom joined The Sharing; his Yeerk had other things to be concerned about than the little brother at home. Just yesterday, I could remember us back in the valley. The look on Jake's face when he had returned from the mission at his home – it tore me apart. I couldn't feel angry or sad anymore; it was emptiness. If I could feel that, then how would Jake have felt then? Jake and I aren't the closest of cousins, nor was I close to Uncle Steve and Aunt Jean. But just seeing his face was a message to all of us: even if we won the war, it would come at a very, very terrible price. And even if Jake got his parents back, I doubted he would be the same boy we all knew.
Watching him walk down the street to the basketball court, a grin plastered on his face as he acknowledged the other guys with a short wave, was a painful affair. I knew the silence that hung over all of us as we watched Jake was a sign of the same thoughts we had. Taking a deep mental breath, I flew over to hover above the lot, hoping that my buzzing would not be too conspicuous.
"Hey, if it isn't your bro, Tom!" said one of the guys, a blond, enthusiastically. "So Jake, I guess you decided to loosen up a bit and have some fun?"
Jake smiled, but it wasn't as enthusiastic.
"Chill, man," said a tall, brown-haired boy with eyes set too near each other. "We're all here to relax. It's been a tough week. Gee, Tom, we've got to get our study group act back together again."
"You have a study group?" Jake turned to Tom, evidently amused. Tom shrugged, grinning. The boys started to move to various positions, when Jake seemed to have spotted someone. "Hey!"
‹Hey who?›
‹We have a guest star!› said Cassie. ‹But uhh honestly, Marco, what is Tobias doing here?›
‹Well, since he can't morph...›
‹Tobias, what are you–›
"Hey," said Tobias, with fake cheer as he approached Jake. "Heading to the mall. Your basketball game with The Sharing kids?"
"Yeah," began Jake, but the blond came up and gave Tobias a brilliant smile. "Hey man, you Jake's friend? You know about us?"
"Umm well, kind of," mumbled Tobias. "But I'm not really into the whole–"
"Social thing?" The blond grinned. "Nah, I started out as some introverted kid too. But then," he flipped his thumb towards his friends, "I met these guys. Needless to say, I am as you see me now!"
‹I feel like I'm watching a commercial,› I muttered.
‹These Messages are definitely more interesting and informational,› said Ax, firmly.
‹Ax, have you been watching those–›
‹The residence I am staying at has a television set,› said Ax, defensively. ‹And I would like to add that the red-haired boy below me just pulled out something from his pocket to look at before putting it back in again.›
‹What's that?›
‹I cannot see details with these pathetic eyes,› said Ax, oblivious to a little snigger from both Cassie and I. ‹But I would be fairly sure that there were pellets in the transparent packet he brought out.›
‹Pellets? You mean like sweets?› asked Marco. ‹Ax-man, you know what it's like with you and pellets.›
‹Is that an attempt at a joke, Marco?› Cassie's sweet voice rang out.
‹Shut up, Cassie. You're treading dangerous waters here.›
Tobias had been encouraged to join the game by both Blondie and Jake. I wanted to ask him about the previous night's events, but it wouldn't do to distract him halfway. Meanwhile, I noticed Jake had a wary eye on Tobias all the time, but if he couldn't remember him, yet Tobias recognised him, then I guess it would certainly be unsettling. The game began, and Jake scored a couple of three-pointers, earning him applause from the rest. Tobias, on the other hand, was completely fumbling with the ball, but the other guys were very accommodating. I noticed the smile on Tom's face was kind of weird. Ax commented a few times on how strong human hands were. Cassie was cheering Tobias on. Marco was silent. All in all, this reality was starting to annoy me incredibly. I was having difficulty hovering around a flying basketball and four running boys. Worse still, towards the end, my fly body was itching to land on one of the sweaty bodies – it's likely a hundred times worse than standing in the middle of a male locker room after a football match.
Not that I've been there, but I can extrapolate the odour of one to many.
Just as they were playing their last round, the redhead stretched too far out to slam dunk, and ended up with an awkward tumble to the ground. The rest immediately gathered round to check if he was alright, and he was. When he got up however, something was on the ground. I saw as the redhead immediately turned around to pick it up.
"Drat the weather and these insects," said the boy, as he shook the packet.
‹Is... one of you there?› I asked.
The redhead prepared to flick the packet. When he continued to stare at it, I knew there was trouble.
‹Get out of there!› cried Marco. So it wasn't him.
‹Real flies move, so MOVE IT!› I screamed.
"I think–" Tobias began, clearly edgy by all our shouts and screams.
"I haven't really–" The redhead's hand twitched, then he smacked hard down on the packet.
