LILAH
I woke up, my whole body sore and tired. Earlier, we'd been in a burning ship, surrounded by smoke, odd voices and an apparent rip in space-time. Now my eyes were met with blue skies and rolling white clouds. It was serene.
"Oskel? Ez…? Carra?" I sat up. My fingers gripped grass and dry earth. That was odd. It'd been pouring last night, so if we'd passed out, then why was it bone dry?
We were still together, despite the change in scenery. Carra was at my feet and Ez was trying to stand. The only person who was missing was…
"Where's Oskel?" I asked, worried. Had he woken up and wandered away? That was unlike him. "Where are we?"
Carra shook his head and Ez gave me a look. It was troubled. /I awoke before you did, Lilah, and I think I know what happened./
"Yeah?"
/What we encountered must've been a result of the destruction of the mysterious sphere from earlier. I did not realise at the time, but I believe it may have been the Time Matrix,/ she nodded to herself, as if confirming that her theory sounded solid.
"The sphere was the Time Matrix?" I asked, shocked.
/Yes. When the MeadowRunner crashed, it must've broke the Matrix. What we saw was the result of that. A warp in space and time. And I speculate when the… voice… tried to stop it from fluctuating, it could have tried to take us through time based on someone's thoughts or memories. Although where we are is a mystery to me./
"So that was the Time Matrix all along… what was the MeadowRunner doing with it?"
Ezurin pulled a puzzled expression. /I did not even know what it was until now, let alone that it was in our possession./
I pondered on it. "Oskel was freaking out, wasn't he? It was like he was having one of his flashbacks. Maybe it… oh."
/What is wrong? What are these flashbacks?/
"He has dreams he's not supposed to. I think maybe you should ask him yourself, when we figure out where he's gone. Only his parents and I know about it," I explained, feeling guilty but also aware that I shouldn't spill all his secrets to someone he wouldn't like very much.
/I have never heard about such a thing before. How strange,/ said Ezurin.
"He would've taken us back in time, if anything, rather than forwards. The only question is how far. And where is he?"
Carra was gawking at all the plants around us. He stared up at the trees and their leaves, following the way they swayed in the wind. Then he crouched down to inspect the grasses and the flowers.
"What are these? They're different from Andalite grass. The colour is different."
It'd been dark when we'd landed on Earth in a cattle field. Carra didn't know that grass on Earth is green. "The colour's called green. If it's long and thin and wavy it's grass. And the big plants are trees. We have a lot of both on Earth."
Carra's head followed the fleeting movements of a bird in a bush, then moved to gazing at the distant silhouette of a hawk. His wings perked and he snapped to glare at something rustling in a bush. Maybe a mouse?
It was like nature overload for him.
"Lilah, what kind of animal is this?" Carra asked, snout pointing at the ground between a couple stalks of flowers.
"Oh, that's a slug – wait." I leant forwards and had a closer look.
/YEERK!/ Ez exclaimed, jumping backwards like she'd seen a ghost.
"Calm down," I said. She was overreacting. "It's not like it can frigging fly into your ears from the ground. It's harmless."
I took a moment to think to myself why on Earth there'd be a Yeerk here. "Wait. There are three of us. There's a Yeerk on the ground. One of us is missing. Isn't it a coincidence that our missing person is an ex-Yeerk?" I said, glancing at the diminutive grey slug on the ground.
Ez's eyes widened in realisation. She didn't look any less squicked out. /He was the only one among us who was a nothlit. Could it be possible that the space anomaly reversed that somehow?/
It was insane. But so was the idea of being thrown around through time by a hole in space.
"That's what I'm saying."
"So Oskel's turned into that?" Carra asked. "He looks like he's going to dry out. We should act fast. Should we dip him in water?"
I shared a look with Ez.
/No. Not my brain,/ she said. /He's your friend./
Carra tilted his head. "He lives in brains?" he asked.
"Yeah. Well, they don't live in brains, but that's the only way they can communicate or do anything. They have to take over another creature's body," I explained. "Compared to Earth parasites they're actually not so bad. They don't suck your blood or spread weird diseases or anything. It's just disturbing."
Carra made a noise of acknowledgement. "Looking at him, I don't think they're as disturbing as Skrit-Na," he said thoughtfully. "I would offer to take him, but I don't know where my brain is."
"Pretty sure Ruwin said that your kind isn't suitable to infestation anyway, Carra," I consoled him and patted him on the back. "But thanks."
Knowing that I was stuck with this responsibility alone, I knelt down next to the Yeerk and gently scooped it up. It was as slimy as it looked. I tried not to cringe in case I dropped it.
The Yeerk reacted to my touch and moved in my hands, as if trying to bury itself into the folds of my palms.
It's only Oskel. He's my friend, I tried to convince myself. But the reality was that I was about to stick a brain parasite into my ear so it could take over my brain. No sweet words were going to soothe my nerves.
Ez watched with fascinated horror as I moved to hold the slug to my ear. /Wait! Do you need to do this? We could hold onto him until we figure things out,/ she suggested. /I am certain he would understand./
I paused. I even considered it. But what would he do if the situation were reversed?
Probably get all snappy and sarcastic, then risk himself like an idiot because it'd be the right thing to do. Like he had by running into the burning Andalite ship with us. We were the reason he was here at all.
"Thanks, but... He's my friend. He's probably wondering what's going on. I'm not going to treat him any differently just because he's a Yeerk now. I'm not super thrilled about this but it's not like today is getting any weirder, at least."
I held the Yeerk to the side of my head. At first, there wasn't really a reaction. Then I felt its cold body tentatively probe my ear, as if it was deciding if it liked it enough to go in. I closed my eyes when it actually slithered inside, cold slime trailing in my ear.
I held my breath. The Yeerk was actually in my ear.
Even Ez tensed. She raised her tail blade nervously. A worrying thought occurred to me. What if it wasn't Oskel?
I yelped. "My ear!" I cried. The pain! I could feel the Yeerk burrowing into it and it hurt like hell. Weren't Yeerks supposed to have some kind of painkilling substance so it wouldn't hurt?
Or… what if it just didn't care?
Ez watched in horror as I grimaced, trying my best to handle the pain. There was nothing she or I could do. The Yeerk was squirming deeper into my ear. Into my head. It was in my head. I felt my breathing quicken.
This'd been a terrible idea, after all.
Was it wrapping itself around my brain? Binding its body with my nerve endings?
My brain felt fuzzy for a couple of minutes. It was like being caught in a haze. The others could only watch with concerned looks.
/Took me long enough. Are you okay?/ a strange new voice asked me.
I was petrified. Too petrified to answer.
Suddenly, my brain flashed back to the memory of the moment I saw the Yeerk on the ground and placed it in my ear, then to the pain it'd caused. It was looking at itself through my memories – reading it like a page from a book.
/My God. I'm rusty. It wasn't meant to hurt. Lilah? It's me. Oskel. Who else would it be? Stop panicking. You're scaring me. I know this isn't exactly a great experience. I'm not thrilled either. I can leave your head if you want./
I tried my best to collect myself.
/Oskel...? You sound... different. In my head./
A long pause before he replied. /Of course my thought-speech will sound different. This is how I would've sounded before I became a nothlit. It's still me, Lilah - the stupid idiot who wastes his time all day arguing with strangers online and was dumb enough to get mad at his friend when she didn't turn up dead after going missing,/ he sulked. /I don't know why I'm a Yeerk again, but since we're no longer running for our lives… I'm glad you're okay./
Crap. I shouldn't have let him worry.
/It's alright,/ he said plaintively.
First I was baffled, then I remembered. Of course could read my thoughts. He was literally listening in on my brain. I wondered if he even had a choice.
/I don't,/ he replied. /I can either hear what you're thinking or I can't. I'm sorry. I wished this worked more like Andalite thought-speak and I could only hear what you wanted me to./
That sucked. It would have to do, though. I only hoped he wouldn't think badly of anything I thought of. I was used to holding my tongue. I'd never had to hold my thoughts.
/You having bad thoughts? I'd be more afraid of what you'd think of me if you could see my thoughts./
Oskel wasn't a bad person, so I could never understand why he was always so harsh on himself. At his best, he was sincere, observant and silly, and at his worst he would worry way too much about what others thought of him and maybe shout and be haughty and stern.
That wasn't being a bad person. That was called having a personality.
Ez shifted, expression confused. From her perspective, I was stood in place while pulling silly faces at nothing.
"Is she okay?" Carra asked. "Did the Yeerk hurt her brain? Should I try and get it out?"
I remembered they had no idea what was going on at all.
/That could be the case,/ Ezurin replied. /I have never heard of a Yeerk causing pain. Perhaps it did damage her brain./
My body seized and went numb. My head turned to glare at Ez and words tumbled out of my mouth with ice sharp indignation. "I did no such thing! You'd be rubbish at doing something if you hadn't done it in nine years too!"
Ez looked relieved, then displeased. /At least we know it's you, Oskel. Your irate mannerism is undeniable,/ she said and crossed her arms, a very human gesture she must've picked up from me.
My face contorted into a scowl against my will. "You barely even know me," Oskel said, pulling off icy tones that I hadn't even known I was capable of.
/Can we not turn today into an even more chaotic mess than it needs to be by annoying Ez?/ I said. I rarely got this serious, but sometimes when Oskel got mad, he could get carried away.
Oskel must've realised what he was doing. He stopped himself. /ARGH. I don't know why, but she is so infuriating when she talks. I shouldn't have snapped. Today's been a mess. Is it alright if I ask her what's happened? I'm still confused./
/You're my friend,/ I said. /This entire situation is weird, but of course you can./
"What happened?" he asked tersely. "Why am I a Yeerk again? Why are we in a random meadow in the middle of nowhere? Wait. Don't tell me it was something to do with that nightmare room everyone insisted was a wonderful idea to hide in?"
Ez became serious. /It is possible. I said to Lilah earlier that the anomaly was likely caused by the destruction of the Time Matrix and potentially its interaction with us./
He faltered. He'd missed out on Ez's explanation and what we'd seen in the MeadowRunner, so he turned to me. /Time Matrix? What's this about a Time Matrix? I'm still confused how you even ended up on that ship. This is all so insane. Can I look? If that's okay? You don't need to say yes. I know this is all so weird./
He was asking about checking my memories. I didn't see any reason to say no. This would be a good opportunity for Oskel to get up to speed from the moment I got abducted. Maybe I was also a little bit curious as to what it was like to have my memories read. /Knock yourself out,/ I said. /Read me like a book./
/I'd rather compare it to playing a video,/ he mused. /Only from a very large and complicated playlist./
I felt him pick at the memory of the day I was walking home from school. He didn't even need to go searching for it. Without realising, I'd brought it up for him just by thinking about it.
It was a few days before the Summer Holidays started. Sparrows chirped from the hedgerows and leaves rustled in the wind. Usually, I walked home from school with Oskel, but he was in detention that day. Feeling rebellious, I hopped the wire fence at the back of the school and cut through a field to go home.
A shadow engulfed me.
Above me was the distinctive UFO shape of a Skrit-Na ship. I was man-handled into a holding cell. From the window inside, I could see clouds turn to sky, turn to the darkness of space.
/I can't believe they just took you like that. I was in detention with Mr. Terry and you were being kidnapped./
He saw me meet Carra afterwards.
/So he was kidnapped too. An odd coincidence. Why go so far to kidnap a Kelbrid?/
/Skrit are weird, but maybe they had their reasons?/
/At least he seems trustworthy,/ he commented, seeing us meet each other and learn each other's names. /I can't believe it. He learned English entirely from scratch!?/
/Yeah. Trust me, I'm still surprised too./
/That's ridiculous. What kind of galaxy brained alien can do that and then not understand a game of Go Fish?/
He skipped to the memory of when we played cards together on the MeadowRunner before it was shot down. The memory of when we despaired for our burning House of Cards.
/You were more concerned with A BUNCH OF CARDS than a crashing ship!?/
/You saw how long we spent on that!/
/Lilah, you can easily rebuild a House of Cards. A lost life isn't so easily replaced./
He moved back through my memories. He was a little bit random in the order he looked at them. I wondered if it was because he wasn't really used to being a Yeerk. Many of the ones he looked at were just of me and Carra learning English together. Until…
The memory with the peacock. Oh no. Before I could object, he opened it.
Essentially, I had been confessing my crush on Oskel to Carra. I never used to have a crush on Oskel. But we'd been friends for so many years that it sort of just… developed. I found myself liking his passion for niche subjects, for his soft-hearted personality that he only let his friends see, and for the way he showed concern in others even when he tried to act like he didn't. Even his talent on the piano was cool.
Whenever we'd hang out, I'd drop plenty of hints to see if he was interested. I always assumed he wasn't though, so I never pressed it. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. It was one of those kind of relationships that were too good to risk losing.
Surprised, he dropped the memory like a hot cake.
But he couldn't just pretend that he never saw it.
/I… I never realised. Can we… can we talk about this later? When the others aren't around? ...And perhaps when I'm back in a body that isn't yours? I don't exactly want to talk about love and crushes while in your brain. I mean - this is awkward as it is. I never knew./
That surprised me. Was he being polite? Or was he really just this oblivious? /Yeah,/ I agreed, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He didn't need my feelings for him on top of his other problems.
Quickly, he flipped through the rest of my memories. Alcazer rescuing me and Carra, Carra's reaction to grass (he found that one 'stupidly charming', in his own words), our meeting with Ez, which he pretty much skipped past entirely, and then to our discovery of -
/So that's the Time Matrix?/ he recognised near instantly. /What would a civilian type ship be doing with one of those? Even Ezurin didn't know it was there?/
I was clueless, so he moved on.
He saw us escape the crashing ship. Saw Carra fly us to safety with his wings. /He looks like a cross between a butterfly and a lizard. I had no idea those were actual wings,/ Oskel remarked, amused at seeing Carra flying. /Okay, never-mind, he's an alien dragon. He can breathe fire./
Oskel stopped when we got to the point where I went into his house. There'd be no point in looking at memories he'd already been there for, after all. It would just be an invasion of privacy.
He spoke up using my voice again. "Having looked at Lilah's memories I'm amazed any of you are still alive," he said plainly to Ez and Carra. "So I assume the broken remains of the Time Matrix took us somewhere? And turned back the clock on me too, by the looks of it."
/I thought you might've known, Yeerk, considering you were the one acting so strange before we were transported. The Time Matrix only transports to where the user wants to go,/ Ez said. /I know I wasn't thinking of anywhere in particular./ She turned to Carra. /Were you?/
He shook his head. The accusation against Oskel was obvious.
/Was Lilah thinking of being anywhere? Lilah?/
"She wasn't," Oskel answered for me, seeing what my reply would be.
An aeroplane flew overhead, streaming white contrails behind it. At least we weren't in the middle ages.
Ez stomped her hoof. /So where are we? Oskel, simply tell us where you took us!/
He hesitated. "That room… it gave me a nightmare about the Earth-Yeerk war," he admitted slowly. "Normally they happen when I'm trying to sleep, but I guess the Time Matrix didn't care. You could say it's a little bit like an unwanted flashback or a seizure, only less severe. I sometimes forget where I am. So I suppose we may be in the worst time period in history, and absolutely the last place I'd ever want to be."
Ez was shocked. /You're a Yeerk that has seizures? I've never heard of it. You also seem too young to have been alive back then to have psychological trauma./
"I am. My ridiculous birth was so rushed that I got the condition from one of my three lovely parents," he snapped. "Trust me, I hate it."
Carra wagged his wings in distress. "Everyone? Why don't we ask someone where we are?"
/If one of us asks, it has to be us,/ I said to Oskel, the implications obvious. We couldn't have aliens walking around in broad daylight attracting attention.
"Alright then," he said. "You two stay here and Lilah and I will go wander through the forest until we find the speaking clock or something. Wish us luck."
With that, he threw my hands up into the air, picked a direction and started walking.
Would Ez and Carra be okay on their own? Would they know what to do if someone saw them?
/They'll be fine as long as they stay where they are. Hopefully. We'll find out the date somehow and we'll be quick,/ he said, reading my concerned thoughts.
I stopped to scratch an itch on my head. To my surprise, my body obeyed me with no resistance. Since we split from the others, Oskel had slackened his control. I felt a twinge of shame and realised that it came from him.
/I didn't mean to take the reins from you like that earlier,/ he apologised. /I was just… stressed./
I wasn't surprised. We all were. In fact, it was a miracle that all of us were getting along as well as we were. /Nothing has been normal today, has it? Seeing you as a Yeerk was a huge surprise. I've never seen a Yeerk before. Or you as a Yeerk./
/Or been infested by one before? Yay me, I get to be your first,/ he replied with lifeless enthusiasm.
A blush crept up my face. Was he jabbing at me for earlier? /Slow down. Take me on a date first, at least,/ I joked. It wasn't really funny though. Just awkward. I wasn't really great at making jokes.
Then I looked up and saw it. The forest had given way to a verge. Streets. Cars. Colourful shopfronts. Yellow traffic lights and the slim, boxy cars straight from the late 90s.
/Oh God they're driving on the wrong side of the road!/
I rolled my eyes at the lame attempt at humour but smiled. At least we hadn't been stranded far from civilisation.
I crossed the street and stared wide-eyed at how retro everything felt. Cassettes were still on the shelves, music was sold in physical copies, and even arcades were alive and well. There wasn't a smartphone in sight. It was incredible. We were in the past!
/Even you have to admit this is cool, right? We've time travelled!/ I prompted Oskel.
/Okay, perhaps a little. Now let's ask someone what year it is like perfectly normal time-travellers. We don't want to keep Carralis or Ezurin waiting – I have a feeling at least one of them will think I've kidnapped you./
I picked out someone who was close to my age. He had dark hair, was stood in front of an arcade facing the street and looked like he was waiting for someone. He didn't seem too happy for some reason.
"Good morning," I chimed with my best smile. "You don't happen to know what the date is, do you?"
He looked up, surprised to be shaken out of his thoughts by a stranger. "Um. It's Friday. April third. And it's past noon."
"Oh. Woops. What about the year?" I asked as if it were no big deal.
He studied me as if I'd grown a second head. "Nineteen-ninety-six," he said, cautiously, as if I might've started hissing and spitting acid at him for all he knew.
I nodded my head as if in deep thought. In reality I was trying my best to keep a straight face. "Mmhmm. Very interesting. You're a star. Thanks."
/I'm not pleased but at least we know where we are now,/ said Oskel. /Though that person gives me a weird sense of deja-vu./
/Weird. And yeah. We're right at the start of the Earth-Yeerk War. We need to tell the others this./
I turned to walk away.
"Wait! You can't just walk off after asking me what year it is. Are you a tourist? Is this a prank?" The boy asked, raising his arm after me as if the gesture could stop me from simply walking away.
This time, Oskel couldn't just watch.
"No, just a time traveller," he quipped, stealing control of my voice for just a few seconds.
I had to hold my breath until I was out of sight in case I started giggling like a little girl. I had to stay composed!
"Whew," I let loose a sigh of relief as I lost the air of regal confidence that I so often put on in front of others. It worked great to get people to do what you needed, but it could be exhausting.
Oskel was too amused to notice. /Now you know why I always tell the English supply teachers that I can't read. It's even funnier when they think you're serious,/ he confided. /Now let's get back to the others./
I nodded and started the ten minute walk back.
/Oh no,/ he suddenly said out of nowhere.
I stopped. /What's wrong? You know only one of us can read minds, Oskel./
/I'm basically the tutorial character, aren't I? Reminding you what to do every five fucking minutes./
I chuckled. /Hardly. Just don't get kidnapped so we don't have to go on a mission to save your sorry arse./
/That happens far too much to tutorial characters. Someone else should get kidnapped instead. Keep things interesting./
Suddenly, I heard a different type of thought-speech enter my head.
/Lilah? Lilah? There's something wrong with Carralis! Hurry!/
I swore and found myself jogging to get back faster. Before I knew it, I saw the familiar form of Ez's purple deer-like body and to my surprise, Carra fast asleep in the grass.
She turned to me. /I was explaining to him about why Oskel was turned into a Yeerk and what a nothlit was, but then he went to sleep. Now I cannot get him to wake up,/ she explained, looking deeply upset.
Something told me Carra was fine, but Ez didn't know that.
"So your lecture was so boring you put him into a coma," Oskel observed.
/Shut up, Oskel,/ Ez snapped. /This could be a serious medical situation. We know nothing of Kelbrid biology./ It seemed she knew the difference between when either of us were talking.
"Did Carra say or do anything before he went to sleep?" I asked, making sure to stay calm. "He's never done this before. I've always been able to wake him up."
/He said he was cold. And hungry. And tired./
"We all are," Oskel sympathised to the sleeping alien. A cloud overhead passed by and the sun came out for a little. "You know. He's probably just emergency napping or something. Maybe it's a Kelbrid thing."
/But he will not wake up! We cannot have a member of this group unconscious!/ Ezurin panicked.
Oskel shrugged my shoulders. "I'm beat. Have you tried turning him off and on again?"
/He is not a machine!/ Ez argued, not quite understanding Oskel's dry sense of humour.
"Calm down," he said. "I wasn't being serious."
/And how would I know that?/ Ez snapped.
Carra stirred. "…Lilah?" he mumbled, eyes opening just enough to see me. "I need to drink. I can't stay awake in the cold like this."
/Drink? As in water?/ Oskel queried me.
"You need that liquid you talked about?" I asked him. He nodded.
/Wait./ Oskel took a peek at my memory of Carra explaining to me about his diet. /He can't possibly…/
"You drink that?" he said, twisting my face into an expression of disbelief, then amusement. To my frustration, he wouldn't let me know what he'd figured out. "Well then, I hope you like unleaded."
/Why are we at a human vehicular refuelling station?/ Ez asked. She was stood behind a billboard so the station attendants wouldn't see her.
"It's called a petrol station," I said. "But I guess since we're in America, we can call it a gas station."
Carra looked puzzled. "It smells familiar, like a type of drink we make at home."
"I can't believe we're about to do this," I muttered under my breath as Carra and I crept towards the station. We went out of our way to find this particular petrol station. It was a little bit out towards the countryside without any other buildings nearby – only the convenience store where you paid for the fuel. At the moment the attendant was taking a smoke break on the other side of the building.
We were broke. None of us had a wallet on us when we time travelled, and even if we had it'd be the wrong currency, minted in the wrong year. We hadn't spent more than a day in the past and we were already committing crime.
/Carralis needs to eat,/ Oskel reminded me. /I don't want to think about any potential butterfly effect we might have on the future – but there'd be no point in trying to get back if one of us starves to death./
Oskel was right. Apparently the only reason Carra lasted this long was because Kelbrids can last extremely long periods of time without food or drink if they don't expend themselves – but Carra using his firebreath had basically all but depleted his reserves. Without any energy, he can't stay warm in the cold and he goes into a sort of torpor.
While we searched for a petrol station, we also came up with a plan on what to do. We weren't meant to be here. We had no money, no family, and no way of explaining our situation. There was also no way we could book a plane ticket to get back home. Maybe to England. But not to our home – the present day.
And there was only one device that could take you through time.
Yes. The Time Matrix. We were going to steal it. It was an insane plan that Ezurin, of all people, had suggested.
We knew where it was. When it was given back to the Andalites and the Animorphs published their autobiographies, its location was pretty much made public. I mean, why not? The Andalites had taken it home.
It was a good thing they never accounted for time travellers.
Once we were done here, we were going home.
"So, my dear Carralis, would you prefer the one-hundred percent Unleaded or our one-hundred percent organic Diesel? I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard many great things about the Unleaded option. It's a little more expensive, yes, but you can taste the difference." Oskel was taking control of my body to make stupid jokes again. Not that I didn't like it.
"That's you, Oskel, right?" Carra asked as Oskel unhooked the petrol pump for him.
"Yes," he said. "Do you want to drink it from the nozzle or…?"
Carra sat on his haunches and took the pump with his claws, turning it to inspect it. "How do I -?"
"Depress the trigger," he explained, pointing my finger to it. It was still so strange to feel my body being piloted like this. I figured if a stranger was doing it, I'd be horrified, but with my friend in control, it wasn't so bad.
Carra did, but nothing happened. "Am I doing it right?" he asked.
"What? Give that to me." Oskel took the pump from Carra. "What's wrong with this thing!? Did you break it?" he said as he wrestled with the latch using my hands.
/Let me,/ I said firmly. /There's got to be a reason./
There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, so I turned to the part of the fuel pump that told you how much you had to pay. It was hard to see, but there was a pin pad and a card slot on it. "I think I remember now. My brother said that in America, you pay first, fuel up after."
/Just MARVELLOUS. THEY HAD TO BE DIFFERENT. Ugh. Do you think we can go inside and unlock the pumps?/
"The petrol is inside of this thing?" Carra asked us.
"It is," I confirmed. "We just need to get it out. Somehow."
He paused for a moment and assessed the petrol pump. Then he grabbed it with his hands and started pulling.
Oskel wasn't amused. "WHAT do you think you're doing, you muppet? You're never going to be able to -"
I heard a crack as Carra pulled the entire pump from the ground. He gently dropped it to the side so that it wouldn't squish me.
"Okay, that's one way of doing things," I said. A mix of petrol and diesel started leaking from the bare ground where the pump had been pulled off. "Be quick, Carra."
"I will." Carra dropped to his forelegs and did his best to drink from the puddle. I wondered if he realised that he looked undignified.
"Brilliant. Never in my life did I ever think I'd meet a petrol guzzling alien," said Oskel, smirking with my lips. "You lot are already far cooler than Andalites in my books. Grass is for pussies."
/I heard that!/ Ez's voice echoed in my brain. I glanced to see that she was still keeping look-out from her place by the billboard in case the attendant finished his smoke break. She couldn't see what we were doing, but could still hear us.
/Woops,/ Oskel murmured. /Made the Andalite lady mad again, my bad./
"Lilah, this stuff is great - it's almost like the stuff we make at home for celebrations," Carra said, taking a breather from drinking to speak.
"Carra, while you drink, I'm going into the convenience store to get something. It's been too long," I said, taking back control of my body to go inside the store. We'd already destroyed a fuel pump. At that point, we may as well have taken what we needed.
I know I wasn't being a bastion of morality. But I didn't care about a little theft. Sometimes you had to break the rules to get things done.
/Lilah./ Oskel's voice chastised. He knew what I was doing, and in his eyes it was worse than thieving.
I ignored him.
/You spent how long on a spaceship away from them and you're STILL going to keep doing this?/
/You know I never did it because I felt addicted to it,/ I said. /It helps me to relax. And God knows I haven't relaxed since I was literally abducted by aliens./
Inside the store, I hopped over the counter and perused the selection. I reached for the familiar red packaging and took a new lighter from the shelf. I'd dropped my old one earlier. While I was at it, I swiped a map and a bottle of water too.
/Stop,/ he ordered. /You know I hate it when you do this. Smoking is for chimneys, not people. You'll ruin your lungs. I don't want to know what it feels like, either. It's terrible for your health./
I rolled my eyes. "Says the guy who drinks, what, ten cups of tea a day and doesn't sleep? That isn't healthy either, but okay," I muttered as I left the store to watch Carra finish his 'refuel'.
I took out a cigarette and flicked the lighter. The flame burst to life, hot against my fingers. As I went to light the cigarette, my hand suddenly dropped it.
/Oops,/ said Oskel. /That's a really slippery lighter./
"Really?" I picked up the lighter again. "Fine. I'll smoke when you're out of my head."
When Carra finished drinking I waved him over. "What is it, Lilah?" he asked me. There'd been something else I wanted to do here before we finished.
"I need you to help me split the cash register," I said. "It has money inside that we might need if we end up staying here for more than a day."
"What's a cash register?"
"I'll show you."
/I never thought we'd straight up rob money from a shop in my life. Should we really be doing this? This is getting more illegal than I'm comfortable with. Not that I was comfortable with stealing in the first place. That was necessary. But this?/ Oskel asked.
/I know you're a lawful and upstanding citizen, but we're not citizens here. What if we need money for food? Proper, human food? Who knows how long it'll take us to find the Matrix?/
He fell silent for a moment. I'd won because he switched subjects.
/Are you sure you weren't Al Capone in your past life?/ he asked. I smiled. He always liked to compare me to a mafia boss whenever I did something underhanded. It at least made me feel cooler than just being a rebellious teenager.
I showed Carra the register. "This thing. It's locked. It has money inside that we might need. Can you crack it open? No fire. It'd burn the money too."
"It pulls open here?" He inspected the drawer delicately.
"Yeah," I said. "Normally you pull it open."
He pulled on it gently. It didn't budge. Then he held the register down with one of his hands for leverage and pulled on the drawer with the other. It creaked. I wondered if this would really work or if I was overestimating Carra's abilities.
The register snapped open and green paper flew onto the floor. I looked inside. The metal that'd been holding the register locked was mangled.
"Splendid. Thank you, Carra." I pocketed the money. I didn't bother to count it. That could be done later.
Carra smiled. "No problem," he said, as if I'd only asked him to unscrew a jam jar for me.
/First the pump and now this. He's strong and not stupid. A good ally to have on our side. More useful than me, at least./
That wasn't quite right. Oskel was the entire reason we were here in the first place, taking care of our friend's needs. His insight had cut straight to the chase.
This time, Ez's voice rang out in my mind. /Lilah, Carralis, Oskel, the attendant has finished his detrimental recreational activity,/ she informed us. /Please hurry or I shall have to find new friends, as you will all be imprisoned./
I grinned. Was it me, or were aliens just generally great at dry humour?
I ran back to Ez with Carra in tow. "Alright. I have a map guys," I announced once we were out of view of the station.
It turned out that we were only the equivalent of a fifteen minute drive from the construction site. Of all the places in time and space, we'd been dropped in the Animorph's hometown and I hadn't even realised.
The bad news was that the sun was setting and it was getting late. By now, we were all stressed and tired.
"It's freezing," I muttered, rubbing my elbows with my arms as we trekked. Oskel was being oddly silent, but I think I knew why.
/If we keep walking we will stay warm, Lilah,/ Ez reassured me. /The site is only a few miles away. Think of home. Think of your family./
I nodded. I didn't want to think of my family, but Ez was being kind.
"So, what are the petrol stations supposed to be used for?" Carra asked us as we cut across a farmer's field.
/They are used for fuelling land-based vehicles such as cars – those are the metal wheeled objects you have seen on the roads,/ Ez explained. /It is expensive and inefficient, but the humans have yet to discover Z-Space energy in this time period./
Carra's jaw dropped in shock. "You… you use it for your machines? On my home-world we would kill to get a taste of that! How could you waste it like that?"
"It might taste great to you Carra, but I'm pretty sure it'd kill me and Ez if we drank that," I pointed out. "Your biology must be very different to be able to handle it."
Ez stopped. /Actually, I believe it would pass through both human and Andalite digestive systems untouched. It would simply make it very dangerous for us to go near fire./
/At least you'd go out with a bang,/ Oskel suddenly commented. He loved puns, but I don't think Ez would've gotten it.
I laughed at the mental image. /I don't think I'm too hot on the idea,/ I replied to his amusement.
To Ez and Carra I said something different. "That'd be an awful way to go," I said. "Cool, but awful."
"You aliens are strange," said Carra with a limp wing configuration that suggested exasperation.
If I was honest, I'd hate it if we weren't.
Things were so much more interesting this way.