Hehehe…chapter 2! Usual disclaimers apply.

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Chapter 2: RACHEL:

I felt like I had just woke up, was hyped up on caffeine, it was Friday and I just found out school was cancelled for the day. I mean, I was really happy. I was alive. I WAS REALLY ALIVE!

But…I couldn't be…I had died…

"Cassie? Is it just me, or am I ALIVE??"

Cassie looked kinda nervous herself, but threw her arms around me and hugged me. "Rachel!" Then she turned to the others. "Jake! Marco! Ax! Tobias!" She hugged us all. Marco said, "Cassie, why was I on a ship that was about to ram another ship full of Yeerks one minute and standing here next to you, who we left behind on Earth, and Xena: Warrior Princess here, who's been dead for 3 years?"

Wait…3 years? It'd been 3 years?

Ax and Tobias were both in human morph. It confused them both.

Tobias looked around. "Hey, why am I human?" He paused. "Why am I even alive?"

Excitement turned into bewilderment. And, believe me, I was totally bewildered.

Cassie explained, "Well, the Ellimist…"



And then, for what seemed like forever, she told us. Ellimist. Figures. He never, ever interferes with the lives of other species, but he brings people back from the dead. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

"So Crayak wants us to be challenged? By what? I'm not sure if I understand all of this, Cassie," said Jake.

"I'm not sure I do either-" started Cassie, but Marco interrupted,

"Had anyone ever decided to take a look at where we are?"

No one had, actually. So we looked around. Tobias said, "Guys…we're on a ship, it looks like." He moaned. "Great. Now I don't have wings. And I'm on a ship. I can already see all the seagulls that'll swarm this place…"

"What's the name of the ship?" Jake said. He was in leader mode. He looked worried.

"Well, we should ask someone, don't ya think?" Marco, of course.

I, for one, just wanted to know what year we were in. 'Cause it didn't look like OUR year. For one, the people around us. They were dressed like they just came back from a costume party, like a "Blast from the past" type party. For the first time, I noticed they were staring at us.

"Guys, we should go somewhere a little more private," said Tobias. He must of noticed the same thing.

"Good idea," said Jake.

"If you want something done, just ask!" I said. I was suddenly in a bad mood. I hated being confused. And I was very confused.

"Rachel, we can't just go up to someone-"

"Excuse me, mister," I said to the first gentleman I saw, "What year are we in?"

"Madam," he responded, "This part of the ship is only reserved for first class. Steerage is on another part of the ship."

"Steerage? What steerage?"

The gentleman walked away from me without bothering to answer my question.



Marco had gone to another part of the boat. He raced toward us. "I found out the name of the ship, not to mention what year we're in,"

"Well?" Jake said.

"We're in the year 1912, and our ship's name is the TITANIC."

None of us spoke for several minutes. We were horrified. And this definitely was not our time. I was kinda used to that, though. I mean, time travel and such. "This is the challenge Cryak wanted to put us through. He wanted to see if we escaped the TITANIC alive," Cassie murmured.

"If we escape the TITIANIC, then what?" asked Tobias.

"We attempt to stop the Yeerks before they ever invaded Earth." Cassie said.

"Well, what's today?" asked Marco.

I asked a gentleman. This one wasn't as rude as the last one was.

"April 10th, 1912. That's what that guy said."

"When does the TITANIC sink?" Marco again.

"Marco, you should really wake up in history class," I said dryly. "The TITANIC sinks on April 14th, 1912. In four days."

"Should we try to warn people?" asked Cassie.

"Nobody would believe us, anyway," Marco said.

"Where do we sleep?" Jake muttered suddenly. "Didn't the TITANIC have staterooms or something like that?"

"Yeah." Tobias suddenly spoke up. "There was 1st class, which were the more important people who wanted to sail on the first 'unsinkable' ship. 2nd class, who were mostly families on vacation. And finally, 3rd class, who mostly were immigrants. They were the least important on the ship. They had to share staterooms. And, might I mention, bathrooms. They only had 2 bathtubs in the entire 3rd class."

We stared at him. And gawked.

"Sorry," Tobias said sheepishly.

"Hey, then how do we know which class we're in? Do we get to choose? I asked.

"We don't get to choose," Cassie said. "Look in your back pocket. I have a ticket." She murmured, "It's in 2nd class,"

"At least it's not third," I said. "Crayak must've supplied our tickets for us. How nice of him,"

I checked my back pocket. A ticket. I whispered a quick prayer: Oh dear God, let me please, please, be in any class other than third.

I pulled out the ticket.

I was in first class.