Turbo's little ship lifted off the now-open deck of the Saucy Mare II, then gracefully turned and ignited her primary engines.
"Get a lock on the Surfr's transmission trace," Turbo ordered Davic.
"Aye, sir," Davic answered. There were several soft bleeps, a pair of short, high-pitched beeps, then a click-ping-hum.
Turbo grunted. "That's a waste of energy, you know. We're well out of the Web Riders' range."
"I wasn't targeting them, sir."
"Suit yourself. You get to get out and push if we run out of power mid-Web."
"I know what I saw, Dot," Matrix told his sister as Wayne patiently scanned the cadet's head. "Davic's right. If Ray isn't Megabyte, then he's under Megabyte's control."
"Davic told you that?" Wayne asked with a frown.
"He said Ray's story is just a little too perfect," Matrix answered, tilting his head under Wayne's gentle pressure. "I could keep an eye on him, so I went up on deck to watch Ray and the Web Riders. Good thing I did, too."
Wayne lowered his scanner and sat down. He looked Matrix steadily in the face and asked, "What did you see? Did the virus shape-shift?"
Matrix shook his head. "I only saw his back, for a moment before the feedback pulse. But I know it was Megabyte."
"What about what you saw identified Megabyte?"
"I've seen Megabyte enough to know him when I see him," Matrix growled.
Dot exchanged a wide-eyed look with Wayne.
Matrix caught the look. "Don't you believe me, Dot?"
"I—I don't know, Enzo," she answered. "After what's happened…" She bit her lip.
"Fine," Matrix snapped. He reached for his sister's hip, and yanked his gun out from under her belt. "I'll take care of it myself." He turned to Wayne. "I'm not crazy. I'm gonna stop Megabyte, once and for all." He aimed the gun at Wayne's chest, and it powered up with a zing. Matrix's right eye buzzed, and turned red. "Don't try to stop me."
"I try not to interfere with a Guardian performing his duties," Wayne said coolly. He moved, quickly and with assurance. Matrix yanked his right hand back with a grunt of surprise, then looked up into Wayne's purple eyes.
"I think I've said this once before, but I really don't like it when someone points a gun at me," Wayne said, looking Matrix's weapon over. "Especially a loaded gun. Please don't do it again." His tone indicated more than a simple request. He reversed the gun and offered it to Matrix, butt-first.
"I'll remember that," Matrix said, his eyes narrowing. He holstered his reclaimed gun.
Bob cocked his head, listening to the Websong that wove and crackled around the Saucy Mare II's hull. "They're sorry the noise upset our systems," the Guardian said. "They got pretty excited when they figured out what that energy signature was."
"Hmph," Captain Capacitor grunted. "AndrAIa! Report!"
"We'll have impulse power back in another ten nanos, Captain," AndrAIa's voice responded over the in-ship comm.
"Very well," Captain Capacitor sighed. "Mr. Christopher, make a note in the ship's log. The engineers are to find or design Websails at the first opportunity."
"Yes, sir!" the first mate acknowledged.
"The Web Riders say the packet's in pretty bad shape," Bob said. "The propulsion unit is gone, along with most of the address information. There's not much room inside, but they can hear movement in it. They're trying to get a good scan," Bob reported. "They—that's strange." His eyes widened as he listened. "I take that back—that's impossible."
"What is it, Bob?" Mouse asked, her eyes straying from the long-range scanners.
Bob shook his head, his attention still on the Websong. "I must have misheard."
"What did you hear, lad?" Captain Capacitor asked.
Bob's brow furrowed. "One of the Web Riders just opened the packet."
"So?" Mouse asked. "They have to open it to get at whoever's inside."
"Not in the open Web," Bob declared. "Never in the open Web. The Web Riders always tow packets somewhere safe before they open them."
"Maybe they opened it up for Turbo," Mouse offered.
Bob shook his head. "Turbo's still at least twenty nanos out. Wait—" he paused, his eyes searching the roof of Web armor above his head. "Turbo's sped up. He—" Bob paused, a range of expressions crossing his face. Then he let out a slow whistle. "That's a little scary."
"What's a little scary?" Mouse demanded impatiently.
Bob came back to himself, blinking at Mouse, then glancing at the captain. "Headquarters started upgrading the fleet right after we defeated Daemon," he said, bemused. "Charlie's been busy. Turbo's ship just outran a carrier wave."
"Glory be," the captain breathed.
"Turbo should be beside that packet sometime in the next nano or two," Bob reported.
"Weren't you the one lecturing me about wasting power?" Davic yelled over the shriek of taxed engines.
"This just became an exigent circumstance, Davic!" Turbo bellowed back. "Hang on to your teeth!" He yanked abruptly on one of the control sticks, and the little ship bucked, skidding through the Web on its side.
Davic's answering howl was drowned out by the cry of the engines and the shuddering of the ship as she bounced, then flipped over. With her (upside-down) tail now pointed toward the stranded packet, the wailing engines acted to slow the ship. She rolled upright without a wasted motion, and slid neatly into place beside the tiny Web packet without so much as a bump.
"Some ride," Davic panted.
"Not bad for an old-timer, huh?" Turbo's usual cool delivery ran dangerously close to enthusiasm.
"Sure hope you're not planning to pull that on some poor civilian," Davic commented, regaining his breath.
"Let's go see how that poor civilian is," Turbo answered. "Suit up, and bring the rescue pod. Copland!"
Turbo's keytool beeped, then plugged itself into a slot beside Turbo's left elbow. After an instant's buzzing, Copland's tiny screen lit up with downloaded data. The keytool pulled away from the slot, dropped back on to Turbo's arm, and folded itself out into neat, overlapping plates that quickly spread up Turbo's arm and across his chest.
Caen beeped.
"Are you saying you can't handle a little extra script?" Davic demanded of it. "Copland seems fine—why don't you ask it for some advice?"
Caen made several high-pitched comments, most of them colorful, then armored Davic in protective scales that might have been just a little bit too tight in places. Davic muttered a few curses as he clambered out of the confines of the cockpit and turned back to fish for the rescue pod.
The Web Riders greeted the Guardians by waving them toward the open hatch of the packet, and trilling a few comments.
"You think we're too late?" Davic asked, as Turbo hesitated.
"Could be. What I don't get is why they opened the pod before we got here," Turbo answered. "It almost feels like they wanted this particular sprite to delete."
Davic's stance changed. "Viral?" he asked.
"Maybe," Turbo answered. "Copland. Scan."
Copland beeped, a mildly strained sound.
"I know. Give me a ping, old friend. One ping only, please."
The ping of Copland's scan was answered by the harsh sound of something moving within the ruined Web packet. Turbo and Davic stumbled, then fell to near-identical crouches for balance. Something heaved in the darkness beyond the pried-open hatch.
"Dear sweet Programmer," Davic whispered.
The packet's occupant wrenched itself forward. It made a sound that fell somewhere between a croak and a hiss, and advanced a little further into the light streaming in from the hatch. Most of its body was parallel to the floor, doubled over and held so by a wide flap of torn, scarred skin stretched tight between the midsection and what served for a left leg.
Turbo rose, and took a half-step toward the creature in the hatch. "It's—all right. We're Guardians. We're here to help." Moving slowly, his brown eyes wide and watchful, he moved into the darkness of the packet, and put his armored hand on skin thickened by Web scars.
The reaction was immediate. The creature reared up with a scream, and a long, knobby limb twitched back and wound around Turbo's arm from wrist to shoulder. The Prime Guardian gasped, and took an inadvertent step back.
"Boss!" Davic jumped forward.
The Web Riders moaned and chittered.
"Don't!" Turbo ordered, his tone rising just a little bit above its normal register.
Davic froze, and watched, his eyes wide and his stance low and tense.
The Web victim wailed, and twisted its thick body around, bringing its right side into the light. A short, stubby limb groped blindly in the air, then three talon-like digits found Turbo's left leg and latched onto the edges of the plates just above the Prime's knee.
"Turbo…" Davic drew out the last vowel on a rising, warning pitch.
"You might want to get him out of the open," a new voice said.
Davic spun fast. "Where have you been?" he demanded.
"I was coming to meet you halfway," Ray replied. "Then you blokes came by towing a backwash big enough to roll a Web creature. It took me a while to get my bearings sorted out again."
"How convenient," Davic said sarcastically.
Ray gave him a look that spoke volumes.
The misshapen being clinging to Turbo wailed, and rotated the top of its scar-laden body. Turbo involuntarily sucked in his breath as a single, staring eye fixed on his face, and a triangular gap beneath two black-rimmed holes opened, and let out an earsplitting howl.
"Davic, the rescue pod," Turbo breathed, his eyes a little wild.
"Yeah," Davic said, keeping his eyes on Ray for a long moment. He set the pod's silvery casing down beside Turbo, and spread his hand over its side, touching five well-separated keys simultaneously. The pod beeped, then folded out, doubling, then quadrupling its length and width while building up thin, armored walls.
Ray, perched on his SurfBaud, drifted a little closer for a better look. "Hm. That's a neat trick."
"Guardian engineers," Davic replied. "They're always coming up with new gizmos for us to use against viruses."
"That one's hardly a viral containment unit," Turbo said, his voice a bit strained. He eased toward the now-deployed and waiting pod. "Help me, both of you."
Ray and Davic exchanged a hard look, then obeyed.