Erek strolled down the sidewalk, holding a leash. Trotting next to him and attached to the other end of the leash was the wolf, complete with a collar and an ID tag. Erek looked passably like any other kid taking his dog for a walk.
Jake and Rachel trailed a little bit behind, looking sadly at what used to be Cassie. Wedged tightly between them was the nameless vampire girl, still covered in burns of every degree from her lack of the morphing power. Between their morphing suits and punk attire, the three of them looked passably like any group of circus freak show escapees out for a walk.
Tobias, Marco, and Ax flew cover in bird morph. They looked passably like three birds flying cover.
Melissa wasn't here. You don't want to know what happened to her. You really, really don't. All you need to know is that it was very disturbing, and all of the Animorphs were emotionally scarred for life.
What was that? You want to know what happened to her? You really, really do? You want to be disturbed, and emotionally scarred for life?
Too bad.
(Pedestrians ahead.) Tobias warned. They were avoiding as many people as possible in case the wolf could still transmit the werewolf virus, or the vampire suddenly went bite happy.
Erek pulled his 'dog' down a side path, and the others followed him. "So, any plans?"
(I have no idea.) Marco said. Rachel shrugged.
"Ax? Erek?" Jake said. "You two know about all of this Z-Space stuff. Is there some way to stop the monsters from transforming?"
(My knowledge of Zero-Space physics pales in comparison to Erek's.) Ax admitted reluctantly. (At the time I was supposed to be learning it, I was distracted by the tail fighting competition that was being held later on.)
"Erek?" Jake prodded.
"Let me try to simplify this." Erek said, with the same non-offensive tone Ax used all the time. "Z-Space is outside of the universe, yet the two are closely intertwined. Every piece of matter in this universe affects the configuration of Zero-Space in uncertain ways."
(Yes.) Ax piped in. (For example, a blade of grass in a field somewhere may change a three day trip in Z-Space to a year long journey, or a grain of dirt may make the morphing time limit three minutes or so longer.)
"You mean the time limit isn't always two hours?" Rachel said.
(No. The time limit is because of the fact that matter cannot stay still in Z-Space. After a little while, it has drifted out of range of the morpher. The time this takes varies.) Ax explained. (As a matter of fact, the base time limit is not even two hours. It was determined to be two of your hours, five of your minutes, and thirteen of your seconds. We say two hours to err on the side of caution, because the time limit has never dropped below that, except in the immediate presence of a black hole or super nova, where Z-Space is most unpredictable.)
(Wow.) Marco said. Erek cleared his throat loudly.
(I apologize.) Ax said. (Please, continue.)
"Well, a large piece of matter, such as your moon, affects Zero-Space predictably." Erek said. "In Earth's case, it eases the transition of matter to Z-Space. Have you ever found that you can morph easier when the full moon is out?"
(Now that you mention it, morphing is a lot easier.) Tobias said. (I've never noticed that before.)
"Well, the same goes for the monsters." Erek said. The girl suddenly looked interested. "Crayak's virus works through Z-Space, so ours does too. It's sort of like the morphing power."
"It's voluntary?" Rachel yelled, looking like she was going to kill the girl. Erek quickly shook his head.
"No, no." he said. "It's so effortless to transform during the full moon, they almost can't help it. The slightest thought of transforming, and they do. One werewolf, well known among us Chee, also was a Buddhist, and avoided transforming every night of the full moon through meditating."
(So that's your solution.) Marco said dryly. (We teach all of these monsters Zen before the full moon rises tonight.)
"I'm just providing you with information." Erek said. "And besides, I think you have your religions scrambled."
(You know, I actually understood that.) Tobias said. (You did a much better job of explaining than Mr. King did.)
"Thanks." Erek said. "So, anyone have a stroke of genius?"
"Why don't we blow up the moon?" Rachel asked.
"That would not only have catastrophic effects on your planet's ecosystem," Erek said. "But it would have unpredictable effect on Z-Space. Every monster might be stuck in their transformed states permanently."
The girl shuddered. "I wouldn't wish this curse to be permanent on my worst enemy."
"And you only have to deal with the vampire's mind." Erek said. "Werewolves endure a hundred times the madness."
(If Earth is taken over by monsters,) Ax gasped suddenly. (The accumulated matter would block all transportation through this section of Z-Space!)
(A Z-Space traffic jam?) Marco laughed.
(It is not funny!) Ax snapped. (The majority of the yeerks ships would be trapped in this sector of the galaxy during the full moon.)
"That's at least on consolidation if we fail." Jake grumbled
(No it is not!) Ax said. (They would attempt to correct this problem.)
"Like...Correct it?" Rachel asked hopefully.
(No, correct it.) Ax said.
"Ah." Rachel understood. "We can't let them do that."
"What can we do?" Jake sighed. "I think this is hopeless."
(No way!) Tobias said.
"I know, Tobias, we're not-" Jake started.
(No, really!) Tobias yelled. (Look over there!)
(Oh, wow!) Marco said.
"What?" Rachel yelled.
(I can see into the living room of that house over there!) Tobias said. (Look at the TV!)
"You three might have superman vision, but I don't." Rachel said. "Which way is the house?"
(East.) Ax said. (Or port, or to your left.)
Rachel walked right up to the window and peered in. "Man, I can't see!"
"Rachel!" Jake snapped, as she climbed up onto the porch and rang the doorbell.
"Hey, Rachel, wait-" Erek called.
There was a shuffling noise, and the door opened. A woman stood inside, holding a half-eaten granola bar. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, it's an emergency." Rachel said. "My friends and I need to see what's happening on the TV."
The woman looked skeptically at Rachel's clothes, and then at her two suspicious looking 'friends'. Then she saw Erek, and her face lifted.
"Erek King? Is that you?" She said.
Erek smiled. "Hey, Mrs. Hoffenburg."
"How lovely to see you again!" She said. Jake looked back and forth at them, puzzled.
"If it's not too much trouble, could my friends and I come inside?" He asked. "We had to get out of the house in a hurry, and it's really cold out here."
"Of course, sweetie." She said, after a moment of hesitation. "Missy and Taffy will love to see you again. I'm sure Taffy'll get along great with your dog!"
"Um, this dog isn't too friendly." Erek said, with a glance at the wolf. "I'd better tie her up out here."
"Well, okay. Come on in, dears!" Mrs. Hoffenburg smiled and walked inside.
"I used to baby-sit her daughter, Missy." Erek muttered as they went inside. "And the dog, Taffy, naturally adored me. Mrs. Hoffenburg thinks I'm the sweetest thing since apple pie."
"Wouldn't she be surprised, huh?" Rachel said snidely.
"Not now!" Jake hissed, a Mrs. Hoffenburg came back. She was holding a box of granola bars.
"Come into the living room." She said, her voice slightly forced, with a sideways look at the vampire. "Any friend of Erek's is- a friend of mine."
Rachel and Erek plopped down on the couch. Jake and the girl sat down awkwardly next to them.
"So," Mrs. Hoffenburg said, standing in front of the TV. Rachel tried to peer around her large form. "Erek, introduce me to your little friends."
"This is Rachel," Erek said, pointing to Rachel. Rachel forced a smile. "That's Jake, and that's, uh-"
Jake nudged her, and the girl mouthed something. Erek made a small shrugging motion.
"I didn't catch that last name, dear." Mrs. Hoffenburg said, shifting so that she blocked the screen in it's entirety.
"Would you move!" Rachel demanded. Then she added, too late, "Please?"
Mrs. Hoffenburg frowned deeply at her and sat down in a nearby seat. "No need to rude, now."
Eliza, The girl mouthed illegibly. Erek shrugged helplessly, and turned away from her.
"That's Jenny." Erek said.
"Hello to you all. Granola bar, anyone?" Mrs. Hoffenburg thrust the box at them, making it seem more like a politely worded order.
Rachel and Eliza took one. Jake took one reluctantly, and crunched into it with a pained expression. Erek took two, and her smile returned.
"Erek!" Somebody shrieked. Erek spun around and scooped up a little girl, dressed in a purple witch costume. It reminded Rachel with a pang of Sara. Hopefully, her mother and Butch had followed her instructions and contacted everyone even remotely related to the Animorphs. Right now, if everything had gone correctly, they all should have been heading for Utah. But with her mother there, Rachel would not be very surprised if they weren't.
"Hey, Missy." Erek said. Behind his hologram, his head was really watching the TV. "Nice witch costume."
"I know. Mommy and I went to the Costume Stop yesterday and..." Missy went on and on about something none of them really cared about.
On the television was the crystal clear picture of the astronaut Janet, John and an unknown astronaut. When the unknown astronaut spoke, however, it was clear that he had been the one holding the camera back on the ISS. Because it was clear that they were no longer on the ISS.
"-pulled us right out of outerspace!" The cameraman gasped, sounding excited. Behind him was a strange blending of nature and technology, like all of the Chee's creations. The familiar grassy floor of gently contrasting colors, the trees and flowers in an insane variety of hues, and the simple beauty of a central waterfall. It was all arranged in such a way that would make an earth artist weep.
"The Chee ship." Erek whispered. "I can't believe they let humans on."
"Well, those guys did just get finished saving their butts." Rachel whispered back. "I think we should remind them that they owe Homo Sapiens one huge favor."
"There's still one of those bug ships after us, and they just got finished blowing up the space station." The cameraman said, grinning inappropriately. This was one of the most exciting moments in mankind's history, and he couldn't contain himself. "There goes a couple billion dollars!"
Eliza watched the television with her brow furrowed, understanding just about as much as Mrs. Hoffenburg.
"Too bad we lost the canadarm, we could give those buggers the ol' Earth one-two." He nudged Janet. "Hey, what do you think of that name? Buggers, like their ships! I just thought of that right this moment, on the spot."
John whispered something to him. He grinned sheepishly.
"Ah, whoops, sorry about that Orson." He chuckled. "Guess that's not too polite anyway, huh? Trying to kill us ain't such great manners either, but maybe they're just misunderstood."
An unhologramed Chee walked onto the screen. "Make no mistake, human, the yeerks are not misunderstood. Do you think they destroyed your space station for your well being? Do you think they killed your fellow astronauts for their health? They would have let you asphyxiate in outerspace, if we had not gotten to you first. They are not nice aliens."
All three of them looked shocked. They had never seen their rescuers in person before. Janet collected herself first
"Hello." Janet said, extending her hand. "I'm Janet, this is John and Gary."
"W-We've got a real live alien here!" Gary stammered. He grabbed the Chee's hand and shook it up and down. "We're the first humans to meet an alien!"
Jake made a scoffing noise, and Mrs. Hoffenburg looked at him.
"Just choked- on a raisin." Jake said.
"Come." The Chee said. "We would like to show you our spaceship."
"We get a tour of the ship?" John said, amazed. "We-We thank you for your hospitality."
He bowed, trying to be the mature responsible one that established a good relationship, while Janet and Gary ran to follow their Chee host eagerly.
"Isn't this exciting?" Mrs. Hoffenburg said. "Too bad it'll turn out to be a hoax."
"Come on." Jake said, standing up. "We have to go."
"Okay, dears." Mrs. Hoffenburg said, not sounding too sorry. "Come back soon, Erek!"
Erek gently slid Missy onto the couch, and waved as he closed the front door. "See yak, Missy."
Rachel blinked hard a couple of times and hopped off the porch. Jake chucked his barely eaten granola bar into a nearby waste basket. "Nasty stuff."
"Gerbil feed." Eliza agreed, tossing her uneaten one in with Jake's.
"Hey, that's a cute kid in there." Rachel said to Erek under her breath.
"Yeah, Missy's great." Erek said with a knowing smile, and untied the wolf from the porch railing. "Little kids are like puppies, almost."
That was a high compliment coming from Erek.
(Hey, what happened?) Marco complained. (We could see the TV, but I couldn't hear anything.)
(They can tell us later.) Tobias said. (We had a couple of great ideas out here that we think will work.)
(Ahem.)
(Alright, Ax had two great ideas, and all three of us bung out one together.) Tobias said grumpily. (Jeez.)