CHAPTER 21

Tobias

Watch it, Susan! I yelled, and banked right before Susan tumbled through the space where I had just been.

We'd been airborne for about half an hour, and so far Susan had ruined every maneuver that birds of prey could make in flight.

Sorry, Tobias, Susan called. It's difficult without the instincts of how to fly.

Tell me about it, Rachel said. She and the others were staying as far away from Susan as they could, so she wouldn't accidentally crash into anyone. I was the only one near her.

Look, just follow my lead, I said. I made a gentle, banking turn. Tilt your wings to your right gently and straighten them.

I watched as Susan made a clumsy, but successful banking turn.

Got it! she cried. Thank you for agreeing to teach me, Tobias.

No problem, I said. Now let's get over there.

I hitched a ride on a thermal and shot up. Susan, who I had taught how to do this earlier, was right behind me. She was nowhere near as graceful as the rest of us, but she could fly, and, considering she'd had no idea how to fly yesterday, I personally thought she'd done quite well.

One by one, the seven of us touched down on the ground by the gas pipeline. Susan skidded on landing and "stopped" by crashing into a bush, but at least she'd made it down without dive-bombing headfirst into the ground. That was progress.

Once we were down, the others demorphed, Ax used his tail to open the manhole cover again, and we all hopped down into the pipeline chamber. I went last, dropping down behind Susan.

I touched down at the bottom and looked around. The tunnel that Ax and I had made was still there, a large hole in the dirt wall.

Okay, time to get moving, I said.

"Everyone morph bat," Jake ordered.

I focused on the bat DNA inside my body, and began to morph.

I shrank, and the bones in my wings once again shifted and reshaped themselves into the leathery wings of a bat. I opened my mouth and fired out a burst of sound waves that bounced back as echolocation, painting the chamber silver in my head. I saw the others as they finished morphing. Susan, meanwhile, had already finished morphing, but was looking around the dark chamber like she was blind.

Oh, great. She didn't have the bat's instincts, so she didn't know how to use echolocation.

Susan, the bat knows how to do this. Send out sound clicks and listen for the echoes.

Susan dutifully opened her mouth and fired out a pulse of sound. She was quiet for a moment, then gasped in thought-speak as she received the echoes.

Whoa! she said. This is amazing. She sent out another burst of clicks, monitoring the echoes.

The others had all finished morphing by this time.

Let's get going, Jake said.

I flapped my wings and shot towards the tunnel. The others followed me. This time, Susan already knew how to fly and was able to follow us more quickly.

We shot through the tunnel, wings beating, echolocation illuminating the tunnel in my mind.

Then I saw light up ahead. We shot through the exit and blew out of the tunnel, into the vast cavern of the Yeerk pool.

Looking down, I saw the lights of the Yeerk pool below. We circled just below the tunnel opening, looking down.

I spotted the shed where I'd seen the Hork-Bajir guards two days ago. There, I told Jake, indicating the shed with one wingtip. He's down there.

You're sure? Jake asked.

Pretty sure, I said. There were about half a dozen Hork-Bajir guarding it two days ago, so I'm pretty sure that's where the Hunter is.

Okay, good. We'll land, demorph, and morph Hork-Bajir. Then we can check the place out and find a way to rescue the Hunter.

And then things went crazy.

I was looking around with my echolocation, scanning the area. And that's when I saw it.

Two silvery spheres, about the size of beach balls, were gliding towards us. They were about a hundred yards away and closing.

Hunter robots! I yelled.

Get close to the rock! Jake yelled. Maybe that'll mess up their aim!

TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!

One of the hunter robots fired. Twin narrow Dracon beams sliced through the air and struck the rock near me.

Susan swerved wildly and came within inches of crashing into the rock wall.

She was going to end up either crashing or being shot by the hunter robots. I banked and shot toward her.

Susan! I yelled. Spread your wings evenly! Flap as hard and fast as you can! Try to make your wings meet on the upstroke!

Susan was flapping hard, and she began to rise. But she was going slowly.

Too slowly to dodge the next shot.

TSEEEWWW!

AAAHHH!

SUSAN! Marco screamed in my head.

I saw the Dracon beam burn clean through Susan's wing, leaving a hole about the size of a quarter. Her flight became even more erratic. Now she was spinning, the injured wing unable to help her gain lift.

Aim for the visual system! Ax yelled.

Got it! Rachel yelled.

Rachel, Jake and Ax shot in. Rachel, as it turned out, had a good strategy. She flew in, slammed into the hunter robot, and dug in with her claws, clinging to the robot.

One of her wings wrapped firmly over the camera lens.

The robot veered away like it was lost, with Rachel still clinging to it.

Jake and Ax hit the remaining hunter robot dead on, knocking it sideways as they attempted to grab the lens. Neither of them managed to get a firm grip and both of them immediately swerved away as the robot fired.

TSEEEWWW!

The Dracon beams missed. The robot turned.

It was targeting Rachel, who was still clinging to the other robot, blocking its camera lens.

Rachel's robot was firing blindly, attempting to hit one of us through luck. Most of the shots weren't even close, but some were dangerously near us.

Marco and I reached Susan at the same instant. I grabbed her by the fur at the scruff of the neck with my hind claws, while Marco did the same thing, grabbing her feet with his.

I can hang on the rocks if you can get me close enough, Susan gasped through the pain from her Dracon beam wound.

We swerved towards the tunnel entrance. Marco released his grip on Susan's hind claws just in time for her to grab a ledge near the entrance to the tunnel and hang on.

Susan latched onto the rocks just a few feet from the tunnel entrance. If we could lift her up into the tunnel, she could demorph. But if she demorphed here, she'd plummet to her death as her bat feet became human feet and it became impossible to hold onto the cave wall.

I turned back towards the fight at the exact moment the second robot fired at Rachel, still clinging to the first.

TSEEEWWW!

Rachel released her grip and plummeted away from the hunter robot, just as the second robot's Dracon beam struck the first.

BOOM!

The first hunter robot blew apart, a fireball followed by small pieces of shattered debris raining down towards the pool below.

Rachel, flapping hard, leveled out about twenty feet below the explosion and accelerated towards the rock wall.

Jake and Ax shot in again and slammed into the second robot just as it fired again. The shot went wide.

AAAHHH! Rachel yelled as the Dracon beam struck her.

RACHEL! I yelled.

Rachel spiraled downward. The Dracon beam had burned through her wing.

Stay with Susan! I snapped at Marco and plunged.

As I shot downward, I began to demorph. I needed my own hawk body. And fortunately, I could go from bat to hawk in midair, as both were flyers.

Feathers sprouted over my body, and I lost my echolocation but gained my extraordinarily sharp hawk vision. My wings changed from the leathery wings of a bat to the feathered wings of a hawk. My bat feet expanded, split and hardened into talons.

In a matter of about twenty seconds, I went from bat to hawk. I plunged toward Rachel, who was still falling towards the Yeerk pool complex. I flared my wings, decelerated, and snatched her in my talons, cradling her gently as I flapped my wings and rose towards the ceiling.

She looked up at me. Tobias?

Yeah. I demorphed while I was diving toward you.

Thanks, she said.

You're welcome. I'll drop you back into the tunnel entrance and you can demorph and remorph. I'd suggest going eagle, we're gonna need firepower.

I'm on it, she agreed. Just get me up there.

Got it. I looked up to see Jake, Cassie and Ax making another run at the hunter robot. They hit it broadside, knocking it sideways, but didn't take it down.

We need to take out that camera lens, I said. But they can't get a grip on the robot like you did.

You can do it, Rachel said. Hit the lens with your talons, as hard as you can. You might be able to break the lens.

I have to get you up there first, I said. I increased my speed, beating my wings harder as I carried Rachel up towards the tunnel.

When I reached the tunnel entrance, I flapped into the tunnel and dropped Rachel on the ground inside. She immediately began to demorph. I turned to her.

I'm going to get Susan in here, and then I'll go help the others. Just finish demorphing and then morph eagle and get in this. I'll be back.

I unfolded my wings and jumped over the edge of the ledge. I flapped and swept in towards where Marco was circling below Susan as she clung to the ledge.

Susan, I'm going to get you back to the ledge so you can demorph, okay?

She looked over at me. Tobias, you need to help the others stop that hunter robot, and besides… She paused. I haven't been completely honest with you. I forgot to mention another difference between my morphing power and yours.

What difference?

In response, she released her grip on the rock, unfolded her wings and plunged.

Susan! Marco yelled. He dove after her, as did I. But then something odd happened.

Susan began to change. But not into her original form.

Her bat feet melted and split into talons, and feathers sprouted across her body.

What in the… I stopped, realizing what I was seeing.

Susan was becoming a Cooper's hawk.