CHAPTER FOUR

Mr. King stood up as he heard a knock at the door. He activated his hologram and opened the door, which revealed a smiling teenage boy.

"Hi Mr. King," the boy said. "Good to see you again. Is Erek here?"

Mr. King looked at the boy, as if trying to remember where he'd seen his face before. He then shrugged it off, turned inside and said, "Erek, you have a friend at the door." The boy continued to grin, having realized that Mr. King didn't know who he was. Erek appeared from the hallway and looked at the boy at the front door. Erek looked as puzzled as his father did.

"Hey Erek, how's it going," the boy asked.

"I'm sorry," Erek said. "You look familiar, but I can't remember your name. Do you know me from school?" Some concern came across his face as he added, "Or from the Sharing?"

"You don't remember my name, huh?" the boy said, still grinning widely. "Erek, Erek, Erek, I last saw you only two days ago. We've been friends for years. And you've forgotten my name!" The boy laughed.

Erek gasped, recognizing the laugh, and then he too smiled as he realized who the boy was. "Well, just by that laugh, I'd have said you were Jake. But the way you were talking gave it away. My only question is, Marco, why are you halfway morphed into Jake?"

Marco continued to grin. "Long story," he said, walking inside and melting back fully into his own body. "Come on. I'll tell you all about it."

Mr. King shut the door, and Erek led Marco into the living room.

* * * * *

Ax, now in his Andalite form, walked into his scoop, and turned on his computer. Tobias flew in and landed on the windowsill. These human computers take too much time to load, Ax complained. Even with the modifications I have made to it. An Andalite computer would be ready instantaneously as it was activated.

Tell me about it, Tobias said. Back when I was still in school, if I wanted to use a computer that wasn't already turned on, I might have to wait five minutes for it to boot before I could do anything.

Ah, it is ready now, Ax said. He then opened the web browser and went to the search engine. As I recall, most of the reports in your country were near this area, on the west coast of your country. Perhaps we should focus our search in this area.

That's true, Tobias said. But if we were going to be staying so close, we probably wouldn't even need a bug fighter. We could just morph birds and fly there. We could probably reach Sacramento in just a few hours. Tobias looked at their findings on the computer screen. Could you scroll down a little Ax? Yeah, and most of the places with reports seem to be bigger cities.

Yes, Ax agreed. Cities with large populations, such as Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego have numerous reports of sightings. Prince Jake said to focus on locations we could get to without easily being detected. It would be wise to focus our efforts on these locations.

But at the same time, Tobias said. We want to get to as many places as possible. We could get as far as Phoenix and Las Vegas--I've always wanted to go to Vegas--and maybe even Salt Lake City and Boise.

I need to see where these cities are located geographically, Ax said. I will attempt to locate a site with a map.

Try Mapquest, Tobias said helpfully.

Ax entered the URL and pressed enter. The human that created this modem did not put thought into its speed efficiency, Ax again complained as the page slowly began to load.

Tobias just laughed as Ax typed in the information for the correct map. There it is, Tobias said, as a map of the western United States appeared. See, none of those cities are too far. I'll bet none of them are more than five hundred miles away from another. That's nothing for a bug fighter.

I see a possible flight plan, Ax said suddenly. He pointed to the map on the computer screen. It would form a loop of sorts. We could start by going to Los Angeles, followed by San Diego. We could then go east towards Las Vegas and then on to Phoenix.

Yeah, I see, continued Tobias. And then we could go to Salt Lake City and Boise. After that we could go to Seattle, then turn south for Portland, maybe even stop in Sacramento before we head home.

Yes, Ax said, turning a stalk eye toward Tobias. So you see it as well. That is the loop I was referring to.

If we do this, Tobias said. We'll hit eight or nine major cities. That should be enough to put a pretty good-sized dent in the Yeerk invasion.

Thank you for your help Tobias, Ax said. I shall ensure that all these locations would be beneficiary for us to visit. Then we can report to Prince Jake.

Sounds good Ax, Tobias said. Well, if you don't need me anymore, I'm going to go hunting.

I can manage the rest on my own, Ax said. Goodbye Tobias.

I'll see you later. Tobias turned and flapped out the window, leaving Ax to continue at the computer.

* * * * *

A bus came to a stop at a street corner. The door opened and Cassie stepped out onto the sidewalk. She then turned down the street and walked half a block to Mr. Tidwell's house. She stepped onto the porch and rang the doorbell.

Several seconds later Mr. Tidwell opened the door. He looked surprised when he saw Cassie. "Oh, hello Cassie, I wasn't expecting you." He quickly scanned the yard, as if looking for someone, before he turned back to Cassie. "Please come in."

"Hi Mr. Tidwell," she said as she stepped into the house. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine," he said. He gestured toward a chair. "Please sit down. What brings you here, Cassie?"

"Well," Cassie started, as they both took their seats. "We're going to need some help from the peace movement for an upcoming mission. We were wondering if you'd be willing."

Mr. Tidwell gave her a wary look. "What kind of help?" he asked.

Cassie, not noticing the expression on his face, said, "We're going to need to use a Bug Fighter and a good pilot from the peace movement who can fly it for us. We need to travel to some other cities. And we want to avoid having the Bug Fighter spotted."

Mr. Tidwell looked at Cassie with a slight frown on his face, and then let out a long sigh. "Cassie, I'd like to help. I'd do almost anything to help slow down the invasion, but right now I can't help you."

Cassie looked shocked. "What do you mean?" she exclaimed.

Now Tidwell just looked tired. "They suspect us, Cassie. Other Yeerks suspect Illim of being part of the peace movement. For now, I have to keep a very low profile. I can't be connected to the disappearance of a Bug Fighter. If Visser One were to find out that I'd been associating with the so-called 'Andalite bandits,' I could be tortured, or even starved of Kandrona rays. If either of these happened, Tidwell would be given to a new Yeerk. And if that Yeerk weren't of the peace movement, he'd know all about you!"

Cassie looked at him with sympathy. "I didn't realize things were getting so bad. We certainly don't want to risk exposing you. But isn't there anything you could do to help?"

Tidwell sighed again. "Even if I wasn't being watched, I don't have a high enough rank to get a bug fighter for you." He paused and tapped his finger on the table. Then his face warmed into a smile. "But I know someone else who might be able to get one for you."

**********

Author's Notes: Thank you Gooner, Swiss Army Knife, MeShelly and Ruby for reviewing. And to anyone else who read and liked this chapter (or even if you didn't like it), please review. It just doesn't look like this story is as popular as my new one :-( Not to worry. I'll still keep writing both. And since I haven't done so yet (sorry I'm so late doing this), I'd also like to thank my beta readers, Forlay and Katherine, for their help on this story. It wouldn't be what it is without them. Chapter Five should be up next week.