Chapter Six:
This is a really, really bad plan, I announced. We were flying over the driving school car as it bustled down the highway. Do you realize how many things can go wrong with this plan? And do you realize what will happen if anything does go wrong?
Marco, you're starting to repeat yourself.
Actually, for half an hour of nonstop griping, he's doing a good job of keeping it original.
The truth was, I wasn't at all happy about the plan. Cassie was supposed to get the instructor to stop somewhere obscure, and then we were supposed to fly down and slash the tires on the car. Rachel was carrying a heavy- duty razor blade in her talons. Tobias was keeping track of which car was Cassie's. Ax was memorizing where the car was headed. Jake was a cockroach inside the car, and I was flying general support, "just in case." Cassie was sitting in a car with a Controller who was having her drive herself to wherever it was she would be infested.
How's it going, Jake? asked Tobias.
It's kind of funny, actually, he chuckled. Cassie keeps 'accidentally' making wrong turns. I think she's starting to really get him lost.
Hey, great! I said. Let's get him way out in the -
Shoot, Jake grumbled.
What? asked Rachel.
The guy just pulled out a GPS.
What is a GPS? Ax queried.
A Global Positioning System, I supplied. It's a little box that's linked to satellites or something. Basically, there's no way he's gonna get lost now.
We kept flying.
Okay, Jake said. Here we go. She's making the request . . . he's going for it. All right, we're going to pull in at the next rest stop. Marco, Rachel, you fly ahead, land, get into the bathroom and start demorphing as soon as you get the go-ahead. Cassie, stall. Wait outside the bathroom. When I say, you two come out, and Cassie goes in. Stay in there as long as possible.
Um, Jake? Boy and girl coming out of bathroom together? Does that sound normal to you?
Does the idea of people changing into birds and fighting alien slugs sound normal to you, Rachel? he asked.
Rachel's just afraid she'll be unable to contain her passionate desire for me in private, I explained.
My passionate desire to kill you, maybe.
Ha! Ha!
Ax, I groaned.
What was that? gasped Jake.
That, said Tobias, was Ax laughing at Marco and Rachel's jokes.
Ax-man, don't do that, okay?
I do not understand, he grumbled.
We both picked up speed and sloped down towards the rest stop. It was one of those dingy gas stations with a lone bathroom around the back of the building, tobacco-juice stains on the ground, and cigarette cartons caught in the ragged patches of grass that grew up between the cracks in the concrete. Pretty desolate, overall.
I dropped down to the bathroom, and tugged at the doorknob with my talons. It isn't easy to open a door as a bird, I can tell you. It's even harder when the door is locked. Houston, we have a problem.
Just tell me you aren't leaking gas, sniggered Rachel.
What's the problem? Jake asked.
The door is one of those where you have to get the key from Billy-Bo behind the counter. The bathroom's locked.
There was a moment of silence. Marco, can you demorph?
I looked around. I had dropped into the shadow of one of those plastic cigarette cutouts they have at gas stations. No way. A big, old semi is parked right in front of me, and the driver's sitting in the seat. I can't tell whether he's awake or asleep, but I don't think we can take the chance.
Okay, new plan, said Jake, quickly. I saw Cassie's car pulling into the lot. Cassie. Get the key, unlock the bathroom, go in. Rachel, Marco, get in there with her. Demorph. I'll have Tobias let you know when it's safe to come out.
I watched Cassie leave the car. Rachel landed on top of the truck. Cassie entered the gas station. A few minutes later, she came back out, jingling a key loudly. She unlocked the door, and held it open, giving a fair impression of having stubbed her toe on the doorjamb. I hopped in, and perched on the toilet. A second or two later, Rachel flew in, flaring her wings wildly. She bounced off the wall with a colorful phrase and rolled under the sink. Cassie shut the door. "You okay, Rachel?" she whispered.
Yep. I'm just dandy, she growled from the darkness.
Ah, the glamorous life of an Animorph, I sighed.
This is a really, really bad plan, I announced. We were flying over the driving school car as it bustled down the highway. Do you realize how many things can go wrong with this plan? And do you realize what will happen if anything does go wrong?
Marco, you're starting to repeat yourself.
Actually, for half an hour of nonstop griping, he's doing a good job of keeping it original.
The truth was, I wasn't at all happy about the plan. Cassie was supposed to get the instructor to stop somewhere obscure, and then we were supposed to fly down and slash the tires on the car. Rachel was carrying a heavy- duty razor blade in her talons. Tobias was keeping track of which car was Cassie's. Ax was memorizing where the car was headed. Jake was a cockroach inside the car, and I was flying general support, "just in case." Cassie was sitting in a car with a Controller who was having her drive herself to wherever it was she would be infested.
How's it going, Jake? asked Tobias.
It's kind of funny, actually, he chuckled. Cassie keeps 'accidentally' making wrong turns. I think she's starting to really get him lost.
Hey, great! I said. Let's get him way out in the -
Shoot, Jake grumbled.
What? asked Rachel.
The guy just pulled out a GPS.
What is a GPS? Ax queried.
A Global Positioning System, I supplied. It's a little box that's linked to satellites or something. Basically, there's no way he's gonna get lost now.
We kept flying.
Okay, Jake said. Here we go. She's making the request . . . he's going for it. All right, we're going to pull in at the next rest stop. Marco, Rachel, you fly ahead, land, get into the bathroom and start demorphing as soon as you get the go-ahead. Cassie, stall. Wait outside the bathroom. When I say, you two come out, and Cassie goes in. Stay in there as long as possible.
Um, Jake? Boy and girl coming out of bathroom together? Does that sound normal to you?
Does the idea of people changing into birds and fighting alien slugs sound normal to you, Rachel? he asked.
Rachel's just afraid she'll be unable to contain her passionate desire for me in private, I explained.
My passionate desire to kill you, maybe.
Ha! Ha!
Ax, I groaned.
What was that? gasped Jake.
That, said Tobias, was Ax laughing at Marco and Rachel's jokes.
Ax-man, don't do that, okay?
I do not understand, he grumbled.
We both picked up speed and sloped down towards the rest stop. It was one of those dingy gas stations with a lone bathroom around the back of the building, tobacco-juice stains on the ground, and cigarette cartons caught in the ragged patches of grass that grew up between the cracks in the concrete. Pretty desolate, overall.
I dropped down to the bathroom, and tugged at the doorknob with my talons. It isn't easy to open a door as a bird, I can tell you. It's even harder when the door is locked. Houston, we have a problem.
Just tell me you aren't leaking gas, sniggered Rachel.
What's the problem? Jake asked.
The door is one of those where you have to get the key from Billy-Bo behind the counter. The bathroom's locked.
There was a moment of silence. Marco, can you demorph?
I looked around. I had dropped into the shadow of one of those plastic cigarette cutouts they have at gas stations. No way. A big, old semi is parked right in front of me, and the driver's sitting in the seat. I can't tell whether he's awake or asleep, but I don't think we can take the chance.
Okay, new plan, said Jake, quickly. I saw Cassie's car pulling into the lot. Cassie. Get the key, unlock the bathroom, go in. Rachel, Marco, get in there with her. Demorph. I'll have Tobias let you know when it's safe to come out.
I watched Cassie leave the car. Rachel landed on top of the truck. Cassie entered the gas station. A few minutes later, she came back out, jingling a key loudly. She unlocked the door, and held it open, giving a fair impression of having stubbed her toe on the doorjamb. I hopped in, and perched on the toilet. A second or two later, Rachel flew in, flaring her wings wildly. She bounced off the wall with a colorful phrase and rolled under the sink. Cassie shut the door. "You okay, Rachel?" she whispered.
Yep. I'm just dandy, she growled from the darkness.
Ah, the glamorous life of an Animorph, I sighed.