The Limit




*10:01:00 REMAINING*

"Ten hours," Jake said in a flat voice.

Ax nodded tensely. Or a minute more.

"And no Larynia."

Ax nodded again, now sadly at the loss of his cousin.

"And… no Time Matrix."

Grim silence.

But then Rachel flexed her fingers. "We've got some serious work to do."

"Got that right," Tobias said, standing up. "Serious work. We're supposed to prevent the biggest defeat in Earth's history, and we've got ten hours to do it."

The only way is to call the Andalites, Ax reminded them. And they do not listen to any of us.

"I'll teach them to listen," Rachel growled.

Jake began morphing the falcon. He was stressed and angry and sad, but still a part of him managed to look forwards to soaring across a blue sky again. Must be a part of him not aware that the world was about to be destroyed - unless they did something about it.

"Where are you going?" Tobias asked.

"I'm going to have a long talk with this time's myself," Jake said. "If I remember correctly, we had a Z-space transponder at camp. I think we need to borrow it."

"Why the talk? Steal it," Rachel said.

Jake smiled with twisted lips that were hardening to a sharp beak. "Remember who used to guard that transponder day-time, Rach. I really don't want to have to fight you for it." He crouched down low, spread his wings and swooped up into the sky.

"He's wrong," Rachel said in a low voice. "And he knows it. This specific day, I didn't stand guard. A duo of junior morphables did. But he wants to go for another reason as well. He wants to see Cassie."

But Tobias looked after Jake with envy. "Rach, can't we go flying? Just for the fun of it? I haven't flown just for the sake of flying in… well… since before the defeat. Long before."

There's no time, Ax said.

"Then what are we supposed to do except wait for Jake to return?"

Ax thought about that for a moment.

"We can always call it surveillance," Tobias suggested hopefully.

Rachel nodded, eager.

Ax shrugged, smiling with all four eyes. I suppose there is nothing else to do.

"Then let's fly!" Rachel said. She began morphing without waiting for an answer.

Ax and Tobias exchanged a glance and morphed as well.



That small patch of land saw four people morphing birds and taking to the sky that day. But not long after, something even more remarkable happened.

A large, shimmering metal sphere, an Andalite female and a man with a bandaged hand and a look of surprise on his face appeared.

The man blinked as he looked around him. Looked down at his hands and arms as if they weren't supposed to be there. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I'm… I'm alive!"

Of course you are alive, the Andalite said softly, and walked around the sphere. She had been standing on the other side of it. I got us out of there just before that dracon would have hit you.

The man suddenly looked angry. "You!" he said. "You followed me! I told you not to follow me!"

Did you expect me to listen? the Andalite replied, totally indifferent. She eyed the sphere with her stalk-eyes.

"No," he said angrily. "Of course not. But you should have."

I just saved your life, she snapped and her eyes grew hard. Be a little grateful.

"I'll be grateful when you start doing as you're told! You could have been hurt!"

Unless I've misjudged it, I was not hurt.

"That's beside the point!"

She looked critically at him. Like a mother angry at a spoiled child. The War Council obviously coddled you too much, she said in a tone that challenged anyone to disagree. Hopping around at your every wish! Don't even pretend that I ever even thought about listening to your orders! I'm not here to be bossed around. I've got my own free will.

"And plenty of it!"

Certainly. If you have any problems with that, then I'll let you come on closer terms with my tail-blade.

The man actually laughed. And when the Andalite glared at him, he laughed even harder.

How can you do that? she wondered. How could you just laugh?

He smiled at her. "Whatever would I do without you, my four-legged love?"

I am not sure. Probably, you would get lost a few times a day. Forget what time it is. Forget what you're supposed to do…

"About that," he interrupted. "What do we do with this thing?"

It was obvious that he was referring to the glittering sphere.

I don't know.

"We better figure something out. This thing is very dangerous in most hands." He glanced mischievously at her. "And very annoying in others."

Is it annoying that I saved your life?

"I was totally convinced that I was done for. I'd accepted it! I'd set my mind on it! And then you went and saved me!"

Oh, shut up, Marco. Keep to figuring out what to do with the Time Matrix.

Marco looked around, suddenly distracted. "Where are the others?"

Larynia - the Andalite - swivelled her stalk-eyes in circles. Her main eyes kept focused on the large, glittering sphere that was the Time Matrix. We are exactly three minutes after when we left. They should be here, she said.

"But they're not. Which means, something has happened."

Yeerks, Larynia growled fiercely.

"Don't jump to conclusions. Might be, but… You don't think they went along peacefully, do you? And there are no signs of battle."

Yeerks are good at covering up their tracks.

Marco snapped his fingers - on his good, not bandaged hand. "Hey! 'Covering'? Genius! We'll dig this stupid thing down!"

Not good enough, Larynia said. Didn't work that well the last time. They even built a Yeerk base on it, but we got it out anyway! No. We need to get rid of it for good. We cannot let anyone find it. Ever.

"Throw it into a river?"

As if we could ever lift it. Rolling is better. Roll it into an especially large, fast-flowing river. But a river is too small.

Marco tapped the sphere thoughtfully. "A lake. Let's see… where's the nearest lake?"

Why not an ocean?

He stopped tapping. "Ocean is good."

They grinned at each other. Larynia's grin faded first.

But I'm still angry at you for not figuring that out about the effects of undoing the defeat.

Marco's grin faded as well. "I know."



*8:14:00 REMAINING*

Jake circled once above camp. The guards on the ground looked suspiciously at him. He could see the flying guards - a bunch of hawks and ospreys and eagles - focus their gazes on him as well. At least a few of them. Some were too far away, flying over the surroundings to see if anyone was nearing on foot.

The camp was heavily guarded. Just as he had wanted it to be. It was impossible to come close to it without being noticed. Good. But, he knew from clear memory, that hadn't helped.

He continued, flying away, aiming vaguely east without thinking that much about it.

Everything in camp was in order. Just as he remembered it. No signs of the coming disaster. No signs that anyone had any clue to what was about to happen.

They weren't really supposed to know, either.

Jake kept flying while he thought about what to do. They needed that transponder as soon as possible. But he didn't want to get killed trying to get into camp. And he didn't want to be seen by anyone except the other himself.

Somehow, that sentence sounded odd.

He decided to land and demorph - he was almost out of time - and rest, so he swooped down low into a valley. The valley was clear. Empty, with no-one and nothing within sight. Nothing but plants. Unnaturally peaceful.

Maybe that should have warned him.

But he was too busy looking for resistance guards and Yeerks in disguise to notice the strange lack of wildlife.

So, he blew through the hologram and suddenly an entire Yeerk army appeared under him.

Jake realized what had happened and flared his wings instinctively to kill speed. His wings strained, but he flapped wildly to move upwards and out of sight.

As soon as possible. He shot upwards with as fast as the falcon's wings allowed.

And hit a roof. He fell, struggled to steady himself again and finally got air under his wings just as he had figured out what he had flown into.

A force field.

A one-way force field.

Ingenious, Jake admitted to himself. Anyone or anything could get in. But not out.

The design itself revealed that the Yeerks were convinced that they could take care of whatever came in. They were more worried about what might succeed in getting out and warning the resistance.

Now, everyone that stumbled into the Yeerk camp was trapped in the Yeerk camp.

Including Jake.



Dive! Rachel yelled, dropped her wings and blew downwards at full speed.

Ax kept guard above. He was happy about flying, as the others, but he was worried.

Tobias swooped down after Rachel and cut off the dive just before he hit the ground. He saw Rachel climbing up beside him.

Stop playing around, Ax said suddenly. I believe I see Prince Jake.

A red-tailed hawk and a bald eagle rose quickly upwards again on a thermal.

Where? Tobias asked. He's coming back?

Not… exactly… Ax said. He's flying east. Maybe trying to avoid the camp guards.

Rachel gazed around the sky and spotted a peregrine falcon soaring purposefully to the east. Gotto be Jake, she said. The Yeerks had - have - shot down most of the real falcons and hawks and eagles by… now. And there were only three other peregrines in camp.

So it's Jake, Tobias agreed. But which one? Our Jake or this time's Jake?

This time's Jake would be home in camp checking the food supply at this time, Ax said.

The small falcon continued east. The harrier, hawk and eagle watched it, unseen, from a distance.

We should join him, Ax said. Come.

He pumped his wings and soared away towards the falcon. The two others followed him.

The falcon dove down into a valley.

And was gone.

Hey! Rachel exclaimed. Where did he go?

I don't know, Tobias said. He was soaring upwards on a thermal, and when he was high enough he turned and dove forwards and downwards.

Hologram, Ax said. He must have flown through a hologram.

We had no holograms at camp! Rachel protested.

No, Ax said. But the Yeerks must have had one.

They flew closer to the valley where Jake had disappeared. There was no sign of any other birds in the sky. Jake hadn't reappeared.

Why isn't he coming out again? Tobias wondered. You can fly through a hologram both ways.

But not through a force field, Ax said. There may be a one-way force field to keep prisoners from escaping. If they have any. It is also possible that the Yeerks simply built a trap here… and have their camp somewhere else. Then there will be no guards.

That's good.

The three began circling in wide circles above the valley. But then Rachel, slowly and carefully, spiralled down lower.

Jake! she called. You down there?

First, no reply. Rachel flew down further, setting out to soar as low down as she dared.

Jake! You hear me?

Yes, I hear you, Jake's voice replied. And just for the record… I've found the Yeerk army.

So much for the trap idea.

Is the army large? Ax wondered, soaring down to join Rachel.

Well, let's put it this way… it's much smaller than it seemed during the attack on camp. But it's big enough to kick the resistance's butt a few dozen times over.

That's not good, Rachel remarked. No wonder we lost. Any way to decimate it?

No.

Have you found any way out of there? Tobias asked, now flying at the same height as the other two. An exit through the force field?

No again. I'm trapped. But fortunately, they don't spend that much time looking up, so they don't know I'm here. I've hid as a cockroach under a few leaves near the force field, so I'm safe for the moment.

What shall we do? Ax asked.

Get to the camp and get that Z-space transponder, Jake instructed. And contact the Andalites. Tell them to get down here quickly.

It will take at least three months for the Andalites to arrive here, Ax pointed out.

No, Tobias said. There has just been a flick of Z-space, remember? It'll take them about one day. I know, cause I was sent to join the attack on their home world the first thing after being infested.

Which - counting one hour for us to get the transponder - makes them arrive still seventeen hours too late, Ax pointed out.

That will bring them here about one hour after we're all infested, Rachel said.

Maybe one hour too late, Jake agreed bitterly. But I think I've got a plan. And it's better than them not coming at all. We'll figure the details out as we go. There's no time.

And what about you? Tobias asked.

Me? I'll hang around, Jake said. Wait until the Yeerks leave here, and then I'll leave as well. I'll haul up to camp and hopefully arrive before the Yeerks do. Then I'll have that talk with myself and get the resistance out of the way.

That will only buy us time, Rachel said. And not time in days. Time in hours.

Enough time for the Andalites to arrive.

Hopefully.

Tobias sighed. This plan has way too many holes in it.

It's the best we'll get.

Why doesn't one of us talk to the other you? Rachel asked. Get the army clear earlier.

Jake laughed dryly. I have a tendency to be very suspicious - from about that time. Remember how many people came into camp and tried to fool us? If you tried, I'd probably have you locked up. I'm not even sure I myself will be able to convince the other me.

Travelling by land to the camp from here will - in this terrain - take an hour or more, Ax said. By air, it will take five minutes. That is a very tight time limit to relocate the entire resistance and cover up their tracks.

Again, it's the best we'll get, Jake said. No choice. Now get that transponder, okay?

Let's go! Rachel said. She flapped hard and soared upwards. Ax followed her.

You'll be OK? Tobias asked Jake.

I'll be fine, Jake assured him. Now get outta here before the Yeerks see you!



*7:00:00 REMAINING*

"There," Marco said as he finished the demorph. "Told you I could get him."

The small hawk stayed still on the ground where Marco had left it. It was alive, but knocked out.

That animal you morphed did not seem capable of "getting" anything, Larynia commented.

"Cheetah," Marco sighed. "It's called a cheetah. And you're jealous of his speed, aren't you?" he grinned.

No. I do not need to be.

"The fastest kitten in the universe. Don't underestimate the power of that cat. And, Larynia dear, he is fast enough to bring down an Andalite."

Not likely, Larynia said. You were only lucky to catch this…

"Some type of hawk."

Hawk. It was on the ground long enough.

"It was hungry enough to risk it," Marco said. "Poor thing."

Yeerks again, Larynia hissed. They destroy the balance of nature.

"This time we've gotto thank them, though," Marco said, lifting up the hawk and holding it as Larynia acquired it. "You needed a bird of prey morph. And if this little guy wasn't hungry enough to risk landing near a cheetah for a meal, well… my osprey isn't big enough to knock one out of the air for you."

Larynia nodded and took her hand away from the hawk.

"I wonder what to do with him," Marco said suddenly. "If we just leave him here, unconscious, then he'll get eaten."

We can hide him.

"Not well enough."

There's no time to stand guard over it, Marco, Larynia said softly.

"I know."

But right then the bird woke up. Ruffled it's wings, noticed where it was and took to the air with a screech, leaving bleeding scratches on both Marco's hands from its claws and beak.

Problem solved, Larynia said. Time to fly. And she focused on the new hawk DNA inside her.

Marco smiled, looking up after the bird, and began morphing his osprey. He was much more used to morphing, having had years of practice, and was already in the air when Larynia finished her morph.

Come on, he said. We've gotto find the others.

Larynia sighed as she flapped her new wings, testing them, still standing on the ground. I'm just glad we got rid of the Time Matrix properly, she said. That Orca of yours was very useful in pushing it into the sea.

Only problem is, it isn't pushed out far enough, Marco replied. But it'll take a few years time before anyone finds it. I buried it under seaweed and everything else I could find and lift. It'll be lost beneath the sea bottom before long.

Will you be able to find it yourself? Larynia flapped harder and lifted slowly from the ground.

I don't know. Sea bottoms are unpredictable. If the Yeerks get me, let's hope I can't. Marco peered down at her. Let the hawk fly. Stop running in the air. Don't keep your tail so stiff, it's supposed to be moving…

And I suppose you know everything about flying? Larynia snapped. She rose to the sky more elegantly now, getting used to her new body. Her wings pumped her quickly up to Marco's level.

She was a fast learner. Had no problems adapting to the hawk's mind. And when she had rejoined Marco and they rose together on a thermal, she could - with the hawk's help - fly almost as good as he ever had.

Let's get to the resistance's camp and check the situation, Marco said. If the others are around, they'll be there.

Where is this camp? Larynia asked.

Somewhere that way, Marco said without giving any clue to which direction he meant. But he seemed pretty certain when he led the way through the skies.

Larynia was troubled. Marco. What are we going to do?

We're going to find the others, get that transponder, call the Andalites, relocate the resistance, and then join the Andalites in kicking the slugs off this planet.

Not about that.

Then about what?

About… about us. About what this past-altering will do.

Marco was silent. I don't know. No idea. he angled the feathers on his wings and rose higher on a thermal. Follow me, he said, changing the subject on purpose. You can just see camp from here. Well… you can see the place it's on, at least. But it's camouflaged pretty neatly.

Larynia caught the thermal and soared up higher as well. She looked over the area Marco motioned towards with his wing. At first glance, her hawk eyes saw a normal area - there was nothing special about it. But when her eyes focused harder, she saw the edges of structures which simply couldn't be natural. There were too many straight edges. She didn't have much experience with Earth nature, but she was pretty sure there were no natural structures like that.

They were manmade. Or possibly Hork-Bajir-made.

The resistance camp.

And it was surrounded by hawks, eagles, falcons, and ospreys. More were coming up from ground level, quickly. Dozens of them were rising to the sky and joining the others. They kept in a tight group, focusing tightly on something like a single, giant bird.

Something's wrong, Marco said. They're not supposed to do that…

The only birds of prey not joining the formation was a large eagle, a reddish hawk, and a harrier. The eagle was carrying something in its claws.

And that was what the other birds were after.

Hey! Marco exclaimed. That's the transponder!

The harrier, eagle and hawk were speeding away from their pursuers - a band of well-disciplined, well-organized and highly annoyed mismatched birds of prey.

And then that must be…Larynia said.

Ax, Rachel, and Tobias, Marco agreed. And they need serious backup. Come on!






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Author's note;

Okay, so once again, not one of the best chapters. I got stuck about half-way through and it felt like walking through tar to write the next part.

I need ideas! Anything that complicates life - preferably badly - for the group. If you've got some ideas, e-mail them to me and if they fit in, I'll use them...

AND REVIEW! I want at least seven reviews before the next chapter... *that should hopefully buy me some time... hehe*