"Shoot it!" I yelled.
Twin red beams lanced out from the nose of our ship into the heart of the hunter-seeker. Twin pin-prick holes appeared its sleek metal surface. Then it opened fire.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge!" I shouted. The pilots did just that. The viewscreen swung wildly around as we shot into the thick air above the Yeerk pool. The hunter-seeker bore down on us like an angry moon. It was built for speed, just like our ship. We wouldn't be able to outrun it. Not without attracting some serious attention.
More Helmacrons had poured onto the bridge from all over the ship. The room was filled with Helmacrons running from station to station. I couldn't hear myself over their cries of "NEEP! NEEP!" and the blaring alarms that filled the air
"Shoot it again!" I shouted. We did. Again, not enough damage. I looked at Jake in desperation.
"Shrink it, then shoot!" he hissed.
"Fire the shrinking ray, shoot it when it's small!" A flash as we fired the ray. Then a truly beautiful sight. The hunter-seeker dwindled in size. "Kill it!" We continued to dance around the ever-diminishing droid. It finally exploded when it was about twice the size of our ship.
The bridge breathed a sigh of relief.
ATTENTION! COWARDLY ENEMY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY! ALL BRAVE HELMACRON WARRIORS, DRAW YOUR RAPIERS AND THEIR BLOOD! ATTENTION! COWARDLY ENEMY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY!
"Somebody shut that stupid alarm off!" I snapped.
ALL BRAVE HELMACRON WARRIORS, DRAWWww -- The voice slurred and fell silent.
"And when you're finished, bring your pictures to the briiiiddggge."
"Shut up, Marco." I tried to think back to the few Star Trek shows I had watched. "Damage report!"
No damage was sustained to the undefeatable World Desolator, Captain. We are still fully prepared to wreak our terrible vengeance upon the Yeerk foe.
"Did they see us fighting the droid?"
The pitiful Yeerks did not raise their gaze from their vile, mundane tasks to envisage our glorious victory against their titan dreadnought.
"That's a no."
Correct.
I took a deep breath. "Okay," I said. Crisis one over. "Scan for Jordan."
There are a multitude of similar humans in this complex, Captain. Which one is Jordan? a Helmacron inquired.
I looked at Jake. Jake looked at Ax. Scan the Captain. Isolate her human DNA from the various animal DNA patterns in her bloodstream. Jordan is her sister. There will be many genetic similarities, he announced.
The Helmacrons conferred together in rapid, excited thoughtspeech, then aimed an instrument that looked a little too much like a gun at my head. Do not twitch, they instructed gravely. I held very still. After a moment, the instrument beeped, and they excitedly plugged it into the wall.
"What, did it run out of batteries?"
"Shut up, Marco."
"Hey, what else am I supposed to do?" he muttered, while the Helmacrons were excitedly clustered around the panel. "I'm riding on a ship crewed by insane female egotistical aliens, captained by the Mistress of Mayhem herself. Like I have anything to contribute besides my razor wit?"
I rolled my eyes, but was saved from having to reply by the report from Mary Sue. We have located Jordan, Captain. She is currently in a holding cage.
Hot blood pounded in my ears. If she was in a cage, that meant she hadn't been infested yet. There was still time. "Let's do it."
Let's do it? the Helmacrons echoed. They looked at each other cluelessly.
"Let's get in there, rescue a lot of innocent people, and squish some slugs," I translated, my eyes locked on the viewscreen.
"NEEP! NEEP! NEEP!" The Helmacrons looked at each other delightedly. Let us do it! they shouted gleefully. Let us do it!
Tobias turned his intense raptor gaze at me. Rachel, you did not just teach the Helmacrons to say "Let's do it."
Cassie grinned. "She did."
Marco stared at the ceiling. "Why?" he whimpered. "Why me?"
Let us DO it! the Helmacrons shouted. The ship shot forward like it had been fired from a gun. The viewscreen became an unreadable blur.
"Pilot! Set us down on the top of the cage, at the back! Don't let anybody see us land!"
It is done, Captain. The ship slowed down, the viewscreen panned around, and I felt the ship buckle gently as the landing struts made contact. We roosted on top of an intersection of two steel pipes on top of the cave. As far as I could tell, not a soul had seen us come down.
"Okay," I turned to Mary Sue. "How many extra passengers can we fit aboard?"
After shrinking to Helmacron height? Mary Sue asked.
"Yeah."
She turned expectantly to one of the other Helmacrons, who considered for a moment or two. Thirty-eight.
"And how many people are in the cage?"
Fifty-seven.
Cassie frowned. "Not good enough. We have to get them all."
"I know, Cassie," I said. "Mary Sue, can we shrink them smaller than Helmacron height?"
Of course.
"Okay. We'll shrink them all to half-Helmacron height, and load them up. With any luck, we'll be out of here before the Yeerks notice they're missing. If they do notice, we just blast our way out." I tried to ignore the disturbing hope in the back of my mind that they would notice.
"Hold on!" Marco objected. "We're talking about loading fifty-seven people onto this ship? Jake, that means fifty-seven people who'll see us! That's fifty-seven witnesses who know we teamed up with the Helmacrons to rescue them! That's fifty-seven security breaches, Jake!"
"Rachel's the captain," Jake said. He stared at me. He knew he couldn't make a suggestion out loud. Taking orders from a male would have made me look like a weak leader. And that could be lethal in this crowd. But he had a plan. "If only," he said, "there were some way to make it look like we weren't here. Like there were only Helmacrons on board."
The Helmacrons looked from him to me in puzzlement. I looked at Jake with the same. What was he talking about? Hiding? Tobias figured it out first. He wants you to order us to morph, Rachel, he said privately. Morph Helmacron.
I stared at Jake. My cousin was a genius. A totally insane genius.
Marco was going to love this.
Twin red beams lanced out from the nose of our ship into the heart of the hunter-seeker. Twin pin-prick holes appeared its sleek metal surface. Then it opened fire.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge!" I shouted. The pilots did just that. The viewscreen swung wildly around as we shot into the thick air above the Yeerk pool. The hunter-seeker bore down on us like an angry moon. It was built for speed, just like our ship. We wouldn't be able to outrun it. Not without attracting some serious attention.
More Helmacrons had poured onto the bridge from all over the ship. The room was filled with Helmacrons running from station to station. I couldn't hear myself over their cries of "NEEP! NEEP!" and the blaring alarms that filled the air
"Shoot it again!" I shouted. We did. Again, not enough damage. I looked at Jake in desperation.
"Shrink it, then shoot!" he hissed.
"Fire the shrinking ray, shoot it when it's small!" A flash as we fired the ray. Then a truly beautiful sight. The hunter-seeker dwindled in size. "Kill it!" We continued to dance around the ever-diminishing droid. It finally exploded when it was about twice the size of our ship.
The bridge breathed a sigh of relief.
ATTENTION! COWARDLY ENEMY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY! ALL BRAVE HELMACRON WARRIORS, DRAW YOUR RAPIERS AND THEIR BLOOD! ATTENTION! COWARDLY ENEMY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY!
"Somebody shut that stupid alarm off!" I snapped.
ALL BRAVE HELMACRON WARRIORS, DRAWWww -- The voice slurred and fell silent.
"And when you're finished, bring your pictures to the briiiiddggge."
"Shut up, Marco." I tried to think back to the few Star Trek shows I had watched. "Damage report!"
No damage was sustained to the undefeatable World Desolator, Captain. We are still fully prepared to wreak our terrible vengeance upon the Yeerk foe.
"Did they see us fighting the droid?"
The pitiful Yeerks did not raise their gaze from their vile, mundane tasks to envisage our glorious victory against their titan dreadnought.
"That's a no."
Correct.
I took a deep breath. "Okay," I said. Crisis one over. "Scan for Jordan."
There are a multitude of similar humans in this complex, Captain. Which one is Jordan? a Helmacron inquired.
I looked at Jake. Jake looked at Ax. Scan the Captain. Isolate her human DNA from the various animal DNA patterns in her bloodstream. Jordan is her sister. There will be many genetic similarities, he announced.
The Helmacrons conferred together in rapid, excited thoughtspeech, then aimed an instrument that looked a little too much like a gun at my head. Do not twitch, they instructed gravely. I held very still. After a moment, the instrument beeped, and they excitedly plugged it into the wall.
"What, did it run out of batteries?"
"Shut up, Marco."
"Hey, what else am I supposed to do?" he muttered, while the Helmacrons were excitedly clustered around the panel. "I'm riding on a ship crewed by insane female egotistical aliens, captained by the Mistress of Mayhem herself. Like I have anything to contribute besides my razor wit?"
I rolled my eyes, but was saved from having to reply by the report from Mary Sue. We have located Jordan, Captain. She is currently in a holding cage.
Hot blood pounded in my ears. If she was in a cage, that meant she hadn't been infested yet. There was still time. "Let's do it."
Let's do it? the Helmacrons echoed. They looked at each other cluelessly.
"Let's get in there, rescue a lot of innocent people, and squish some slugs," I translated, my eyes locked on the viewscreen.
"NEEP! NEEP! NEEP!" The Helmacrons looked at each other delightedly. Let us do it! they shouted gleefully. Let us do it!
Tobias turned his intense raptor gaze at me. Rachel, you did not just teach the Helmacrons to say "Let's do it."
Cassie grinned. "She did."
Marco stared at the ceiling. "Why?" he whimpered. "Why me?"
Let us DO it! the Helmacrons shouted. The ship shot forward like it had been fired from a gun. The viewscreen became an unreadable blur.
"Pilot! Set us down on the top of the cage, at the back! Don't let anybody see us land!"
It is done, Captain. The ship slowed down, the viewscreen panned around, and I felt the ship buckle gently as the landing struts made contact. We roosted on top of an intersection of two steel pipes on top of the cave. As far as I could tell, not a soul had seen us come down.
"Okay," I turned to Mary Sue. "How many extra passengers can we fit aboard?"
After shrinking to Helmacron height? Mary Sue asked.
"Yeah."
She turned expectantly to one of the other Helmacrons, who considered for a moment or two. Thirty-eight.
"And how many people are in the cage?"
Fifty-seven.
Cassie frowned. "Not good enough. We have to get them all."
"I know, Cassie," I said. "Mary Sue, can we shrink them smaller than Helmacron height?"
Of course.
"Okay. We'll shrink them all to half-Helmacron height, and load them up. With any luck, we'll be out of here before the Yeerks notice they're missing. If they do notice, we just blast our way out." I tried to ignore the disturbing hope in the back of my mind that they would notice.
"Hold on!" Marco objected. "We're talking about loading fifty-seven people onto this ship? Jake, that means fifty-seven people who'll see us! That's fifty-seven witnesses who know we teamed up with the Helmacrons to rescue them! That's fifty-seven security breaches, Jake!"
"Rachel's the captain," Jake said. He stared at me. He knew he couldn't make a suggestion out loud. Taking orders from a male would have made me look like a weak leader. And that could be lethal in this crowd. But he had a plan. "If only," he said, "there were some way to make it look like we weren't here. Like there were only Helmacrons on board."
The Helmacrons looked from him to me in puzzlement. I looked at Jake with the same. What was he talking about? Hiding? Tobias figured it out first. He wants you to order us to morph, Rachel, he said privately. Morph Helmacron.
I stared at Jake. My cousin was a genius. A totally insane genius.
Marco was going to love this.
