Quite a few people have said they laughed at the previous chapter, which is weird 'cause I didn't think it was that funny. I guess it proves that people never read things in exactly the way you expect when you write them.

Chapter Fourteen

"If Alpha can produce a great enough quantity," Tommy was saying, "we can put it in the water supply and free a whole town at once."

"But not everyone takes a drink at the same time," Andros responded, "and the chemical takes effect within a few minutes. Those that haven't drunk the water might figure out what's going on and work out an antidote. At the very least, they'd be able to warn the Yeerks in other towns."

"They'd have to drink at some point."

"But we can't lace all the water on the planet. The synthetron has its limits."

"I've never seen them drink anything near the Yeerk pools," Tobias said, "Maybe they only eat and drink when they're out in the world pretending to be human. In that case, the freed controllers aren't going to tell the Yeerks."

"It only takes one Yeerk to see someone being freed and make the connection," Andros pointed out.

"Are you going to make any suggestions or just poke holes in ours?" Tommy snapped. They were all rather tense. They could all do with some sleep, but they wanted to have at least a vague plan before they got back to Earth. The Yeerks would certainly be on the look out for Tommy.

"Could we trick them?" Andros asked, "If we could find one person who we know is a controller and free them, that person can pretend to still be a Yeerk and trick others into drinking the chemical and then we give some of the chemical to those people and so on."

"That would take an awful lot of planning and it would only take one person to be caught for the Yeerks to have their own sample of the chemical and to be aware of the threat."

"Now who's poking holes."

Tommy sighed, "OK, let's call it a night. We'll get in touch with Hayley when we get back to Earth and see if she has any ideas."

"She might be a Yeerk."

"We can trick her into drinking easily enough and she's the best person to help come up with a new plan."

Karone smiled at Tobias and Ax, "Come on, I'll get you sorted out with somewhere to sleep."

She took them to a room similar to the ones Tobias had seen when he was poking around the ship. A thin layer of dust covered all the surfaces, which Karone apologised about.

"We were only expecting Tommy, so we weren't prepared for guests."

"It's fine," Tobias said.

"If you need anything, just yell. I'm right down the hall so I should here."

"Thanks." Karone left them. Tobias lay down on one of the two bunks. He closed his eyes, hearing Ax morph back into his normal form. They had a chance. He wouldn't have believed it a couple of days ago, but now he could. An old friend was lying down to sleep next to him, he'd been given a weapon that could destroy the Yeerks and he had new friends to help him do it. He still wasn't certain how they'd help Jake and Rachel, but if they could free the other controllers, that would be a great start and maybe one of them could help.

Tobias smiled to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

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Tommy strode onto the bridge feeling considerably more refreshed. Karone and Andros were already there, Ax and Tobias arrived a minute or so later. The Earth spun on the view screen, blue and green with veils of clouds. He didn't get to see his planet from orbit nearly often enough and this was a truly awe-inspiring view. Tommy stood there, watching the orb slowing rotate, impressed by the aura of apparent peacefulness.

"Welcome back," Tobias said to Ax.

"I've missed this world," Ax said, "particularly potato chips." Tommy grinned.

"We're all set," Andros said, "We'll teleport down to your house. There's no sign of any Yeerk ships, but Karone's going to stay up here just in case."

"Good idea," Tommy said.

"Does teleporting hurt?" Tobias asked.

"No. It just feels... kinda tingly."

"You ready?" Karone asked, at the controls for the teleporter. Tommy gave Tobias a quick glance before nodding. There was a sensation like pins and needles running through his entire body and the bridge dissolved around him, being replaced by the familiar sight of his kitchen.

Tommy led the way to the hidden stairs in his study. "We'll go to the lab and then I'll give Hayley a call and see if she can think of a way to... Never mind." He'd reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Hayley sitting at the computer, the former Dino Rangers sitting around the room.

"Dr O, you're alright!"

"We were really worried."

"You just vanished. And after saying something weird was going on, and all."

Tommy grinned slightly at the enthusiastic greeting.

"I'm fine, guys. Andros here had a problem he needed help with and there wasn't time to tell anyone I was going."

"Andros? The space Ranger. It is such an honour to meet you," said Connor, grabbing the hand of the former red Ranger and shaking it.

"You said something about calling me," Hayley said, crossing the room to join the excited teenagers who'd crowded round Tommy.

"Yeah, there's someone I want you to find. It's kind of important to know if he's still in Reefside."

The guys started asking questions about who this guy was, why Tommy was interested, whether he was really a creepy dinosaur in disguise. It was good to be home.

"Tobias," Tommy said, "why don't you go fix us all a drink? This could take a while."

"Sure."

"I'll give you hand," Kira volunteered.

"It's alright, I've got it." Tobias was the one carrying the only vial of the chemical they'd brought with them down to the surface. The rest were still up on the ship being analysed by Alpha, but they'd wanted some with them to make certain Hayley was really herself and Tobias seemed the obvious person to carry it.

Tommy headed for the computer, getting out the photo Ax had brought with him. It showed Ax and Tobias, as well as they others who'd fought the Yeerks with him. Apparently Ax had treasured the image in his time back on his home planet. For whatever reason he'd decided to bring it with him, Tommy was glad. He didn't want to try searching for someone he didn't have a picture of. Even Hayley would have a hard time doing that.

"The picture's a couple of years old, I'm afraid," Tommy said, "but I know this guy," he pointed at Jake, "was in Reefside the day I left and I need to know if he's still here."

"You never ask for anything easy, do you?" said Hayley, taking the picture and starting to hack into the town's CCTV network.

"So who is..." Connor started to ask, but was cut off by an ear-piercing screech coming from up in the house, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

"Kira!"

She wasn't in the lab. Tommy hurried up the stairs, the others running with him. Kira was stood in the kitchen. The floor was covered in broken glass at a huge puddle of fruit juice. Tobias stood by the table, soaked in juice and with a couple of small cuts on one hand from the shattered glass. The other hand held the empty vial.

"What happened?"

"He was putting something in the juice," Kira said, "He's trying to drug us or something!"

Oh boy! This wasn't going to be easy to explain.