{Everyone ready?} Jake asked in terse thought speech.
I swallowed hard, determined not to show my growing fear. That's what makes me me, after all. {Ready.}
{Ready,} echoed Cassie, sounding braver than I felt. She shifted her weight from wolf paw to wolf paw.
"We're ready," said two voices in unison. We couldn't see the speakers; their holograms hid them from view. However, I knew Erek's voice when I heard it, and the more feminine one could only be Lourdes.
{Let's go.} Tobias bobbed his head in hawk anxiety. We were all scared - more scared than usual.
Maybe because the last time we were down in the Yeerk pool, four of us ended up infested.
Jake nodded at Tobias. He flared his wings and dove sharply towards the gas station. It was on.
I scraped a grizzly claw against the forest dirt and charged. Hopefully the gas station was having a slow day. If not, there would be a lot of people to knock out.
By sheer luck, no one was loading up on gas. There were no cars to crush. I was almost regretful. I needed something to vent my stress.
I hit the glass door first and winced. {Ow! Those things are strong!}
Cassie plowed in after me, Jake after her. She pounced the man behind the counter and roared; he passed out from sheer fright. {I hate doing that,} Cassie muttered.
{Come on, come on!} I yelled. {Erek, get the Filter!}
Erek's hologram went down and he was suddenly visible, a Chee barreling towards the small back room.
"Unauthorized life form dete-" Screech. The sound of metal on metal. "It's safe," Erek called back to us. We looked at each other and then stampeded in. Erek had ripped some wires out of the wall, knowing exactly where to look, and given them a massive power surge that had no doubt taken out the entire Gleet BioFilter mechanism.
{Good work,} Jake complimented.
"Anytime. Here we go."
Suddenly I was no longer looking at an android but myself in the grip of two Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajir babbled in their alien language as "I" struggled and screamed.
{That's a very convincing hologram,} observed Tobias.
Cassie looked doubtful. {Think it will fool them?}
{It will fool them.} I reared up on my two back legs. {Let's do it!}
Lourdes stepped forward from the back of the group and began to interface with a small panel. After a moment, a door opened in the wall. We heard the screams we'd come to recognize as the Yeerk pool atmosphere.
{Go, Erek,} Jake said.
Erek began to make his way down the stairs. I tried to imagine how much concentration it took to keep the hologram making three different motions at once - my struggling and the actions of two separate Hork-Bajir. How hard would that be for an android?
We didn't have to wait long.
"ANIMORPH! It's the Berenson girl!"
{It feels almost nice to hear our real names,} I muttered.
{Go,} Jake snapped. {Rachel, Cassie, Tobias. Head down. I'll cover you.}
{This is insane,} Tobias announced. I shot him a glance and he laughed a little apologetically. {It was my turn to take Marco's line.}
Cassie shot past me with her wolf speed and rocketed down the stairs. I wasn't far behind. The Yeerks were distracted; we struck.
{Where's Marco?} I demanded.
{He's on the pier!} Tobias cried from above us. {Go! Go! The Yeerk's about to come out!}
{If they get him in restraints and guarded we'll never get him out,} Jake called. {Do it, now! We'll starve it later!}
The Hork-Bajir were beginning to notice us. That's an understatement.
"Ghafrash! Hruthrin!" one shrieked, waving a clawed arm at us. I turned around and smacked him back twenty feet. That seemed to make an impression on the others. Not enough of one - they charged for us.
Jake hit them from behind and knocked the back three forward. In a moment, a pile of ten was down. That made a dent in the force chasing us, but not much of one.
{Rachel! Help me! Tobias, Cassie, get Marco!}
He was next in line. I dimly saw Cassie reach him and knock him back. A Hork-Bajir moved for her and Tobias blinded him. Marco was starting to morph - not fast enough. Cassie knocked him out.
I didn't have time to concentrate on that for long. The Hork-Bajir were on us. Taxxons were slithering forward in hungry anticipation. I cried out as a Hork-Bajir sliced me in the arm. I couldn't afford to be distracted.
{Lourdes!}
A Bug Fighter began to descend. Lourdes had to be piloting it. That was her assignment - to get us the flaming hell out of here. If we lived long enough to get in the fighter.
{I need some help!} Cassie screeched as an alien cut deep into her back. {Now!}
Jake roared and dove for them, fifty feet away on the infestation pier. Lourdes was dropping fast, and the puny Dracon beams the Hork-Bajir on the ground were firing weren't enough. The door opened.
I charged and grabbed Marco. Without much regard for his bodily safety, I hurled him up to the opening. Cassie jumped and collapsed on the metal floor of the fighter.
{Erek!} I screamed. {Come on!}
He was walking forward, still as Rachel and two Hork-Bajir struggling to the infestation pier. The Controllers were confused. Was Rachel the girl or the grizzly? A small crowd of Hork-Bajir had surrounded "me," but they were no match for Erek. With extreme care, completely unable to hurt them, he was gently pushing them back and making his way towards the fighter.
"Shoot him!" a human screeched. "Shoot him!"
The Dracon beams burned through the Hork-Bajir around him. Erek dropped his hologram and leaped for the fighter. A second later, Tobias dove in behind him.
Fwapp!
I stopped in shock as an Andalite tail blade found my throat.
{It's over, Animorph,} Ax's voice sneered in my head. {Demorph and we'll simply kill you. If you make it hard, we'll infest you. You don't want that, do you?}
{Liar,} I hissed in a voice strangled by fear. {You'd infest me anyway.}
I swiped my grizzly paw at his tail and knocked it away. I thought I'd gotten away scot-free until I felt the blood trickling down my shoulder. Ax wasn't fast enough to kill me, but he was fast enough to hurt me. Pretty bad, from the way things felt. I snarled and felt blood gush from my neck to my arm.
{Get in the fighter!} Jake shouted. {Now! Now!}
{Hold it, Rachel.}
My head snapped up. I knew that voice.
A leopard slunk out from behind a mass of Hork-Bajir. {Remember my host?}
{Taylor!}
{I'm morph-capable, now. You let me touch that box a few seconds too long. And now it's going to cost you.}
I paused. That didn't sound like a Yeerk. It sounded like a human. She dove for Jake.
Tobias dived from the fighter and slashed at her eyes. She screamed.
Jake spun and growled at her. {Tobias, Rachel, get up there!}
{We can't leave Ax!}
{We have to! Get up!}
I roared in frustration and leaped. My claws scraped the side of the hovering Bug Fighter. I swung myself up with a scream as the vein in my neck gushed a little more. The world began to spin.
{Jake!} Cassie screamed. But he was right behind me; he flew over my head with his tiger strength and soared up to land on the cold metal floor.
{Can you get us out of here?} he demanded of Lourdes. She swung the fighter upwards.
"It's automated," she said evenly. "As soon as I push this button, the roof will open up and let me out in the middle of the forest."
{Do it,} he panted. {Rachel, demorph. Hurry!}
I saw the roof of the cave open. I felt my limbs change almost without willing them to. {I'm hurrying,} I said numbly.
Cassie was demorphing too. She looked at Marco. "We have most of the team back," she said quietly.
Tobias was staring out the window. {We left Ax,} he said in quiet fury. {He deserved better than that.}
"We had no choice," I said, with a human mouth.
"We're going back," Cassie promised him. "We'll have to go back soon."
I did not enjoy that thought.
I swallowed hard, determined not to show my growing fear. That's what makes me me, after all. {Ready.}
{Ready,} echoed Cassie, sounding braver than I felt. She shifted her weight from wolf paw to wolf paw.
"We're ready," said two voices in unison. We couldn't see the speakers; their holograms hid them from view. However, I knew Erek's voice when I heard it, and the more feminine one could only be Lourdes.
{Let's go.} Tobias bobbed his head in hawk anxiety. We were all scared - more scared than usual.
Maybe because the last time we were down in the Yeerk pool, four of us ended up infested.
Jake nodded at Tobias. He flared his wings and dove sharply towards the gas station. It was on.
I scraped a grizzly claw against the forest dirt and charged. Hopefully the gas station was having a slow day. If not, there would be a lot of people to knock out.
By sheer luck, no one was loading up on gas. There were no cars to crush. I was almost regretful. I needed something to vent my stress.
I hit the glass door first and winced. {Ow! Those things are strong!}
Cassie plowed in after me, Jake after her. She pounced the man behind the counter and roared; he passed out from sheer fright. {I hate doing that,} Cassie muttered.
{Come on, come on!} I yelled. {Erek, get the Filter!}
Erek's hologram went down and he was suddenly visible, a Chee barreling towards the small back room.
"Unauthorized life form dete-" Screech. The sound of metal on metal. "It's safe," Erek called back to us. We looked at each other and then stampeded in. Erek had ripped some wires out of the wall, knowing exactly where to look, and given them a massive power surge that had no doubt taken out the entire Gleet BioFilter mechanism.
{Good work,} Jake complimented.
"Anytime. Here we go."
Suddenly I was no longer looking at an android but myself in the grip of two Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajir babbled in their alien language as "I" struggled and screamed.
{That's a very convincing hologram,} observed Tobias.
Cassie looked doubtful. {Think it will fool them?}
{It will fool them.} I reared up on my two back legs. {Let's do it!}
Lourdes stepped forward from the back of the group and began to interface with a small panel. After a moment, a door opened in the wall. We heard the screams we'd come to recognize as the Yeerk pool atmosphere.
{Go, Erek,} Jake said.
Erek began to make his way down the stairs. I tried to imagine how much concentration it took to keep the hologram making three different motions at once - my struggling and the actions of two separate Hork-Bajir. How hard would that be for an android?
We didn't have to wait long.
"ANIMORPH! It's the Berenson girl!"
{It feels almost nice to hear our real names,} I muttered.
{Go,} Jake snapped. {Rachel, Cassie, Tobias. Head down. I'll cover you.}
{This is insane,} Tobias announced. I shot him a glance and he laughed a little apologetically. {It was my turn to take Marco's line.}
Cassie shot past me with her wolf speed and rocketed down the stairs. I wasn't far behind. The Yeerks were distracted; we struck.
{Where's Marco?} I demanded.
{He's on the pier!} Tobias cried from above us. {Go! Go! The Yeerk's about to come out!}
{If they get him in restraints and guarded we'll never get him out,} Jake called. {Do it, now! We'll starve it later!}
The Hork-Bajir were beginning to notice us. That's an understatement.
"Ghafrash! Hruthrin!" one shrieked, waving a clawed arm at us. I turned around and smacked him back twenty feet. That seemed to make an impression on the others. Not enough of one - they charged for us.
Jake hit them from behind and knocked the back three forward. In a moment, a pile of ten was down. That made a dent in the force chasing us, but not much of one.
{Rachel! Help me! Tobias, Cassie, get Marco!}
He was next in line. I dimly saw Cassie reach him and knock him back. A Hork-Bajir moved for her and Tobias blinded him. Marco was starting to morph - not fast enough. Cassie knocked him out.
I didn't have time to concentrate on that for long. The Hork-Bajir were on us. Taxxons were slithering forward in hungry anticipation. I cried out as a Hork-Bajir sliced me in the arm. I couldn't afford to be distracted.
{Lourdes!}
A Bug Fighter began to descend. Lourdes had to be piloting it. That was her assignment - to get us the flaming hell out of here. If we lived long enough to get in the fighter.
{I need some help!} Cassie screeched as an alien cut deep into her back. {Now!}
Jake roared and dove for them, fifty feet away on the infestation pier. Lourdes was dropping fast, and the puny Dracon beams the Hork-Bajir on the ground were firing weren't enough. The door opened.
I charged and grabbed Marco. Without much regard for his bodily safety, I hurled him up to the opening. Cassie jumped and collapsed on the metal floor of the fighter.
{Erek!} I screamed. {Come on!}
He was walking forward, still as Rachel and two Hork-Bajir struggling to the infestation pier. The Controllers were confused. Was Rachel the girl or the grizzly? A small crowd of Hork-Bajir had surrounded "me," but they were no match for Erek. With extreme care, completely unable to hurt them, he was gently pushing them back and making his way towards the fighter.
"Shoot him!" a human screeched. "Shoot him!"
The Dracon beams burned through the Hork-Bajir around him. Erek dropped his hologram and leaped for the fighter. A second later, Tobias dove in behind him.
Fwapp!
I stopped in shock as an Andalite tail blade found my throat.
{It's over, Animorph,} Ax's voice sneered in my head. {Demorph and we'll simply kill you. If you make it hard, we'll infest you. You don't want that, do you?}
{Liar,} I hissed in a voice strangled by fear. {You'd infest me anyway.}
I swiped my grizzly paw at his tail and knocked it away. I thought I'd gotten away scot-free until I felt the blood trickling down my shoulder. Ax wasn't fast enough to kill me, but he was fast enough to hurt me. Pretty bad, from the way things felt. I snarled and felt blood gush from my neck to my arm.
{Get in the fighter!} Jake shouted. {Now! Now!}
{Hold it, Rachel.}
My head snapped up. I knew that voice.
A leopard slunk out from behind a mass of Hork-Bajir. {Remember my host?}
{Taylor!}
{I'm morph-capable, now. You let me touch that box a few seconds too long. And now it's going to cost you.}
I paused. That didn't sound like a Yeerk. It sounded like a human. She dove for Jake.
Tobias dived from the fighter and slashed at her eyes. She screamed.
Jake spun and growled at her. {Tobias, Rachel, get up there!}
{We can't leave Ax!}
{We have to! Get up!}
I roared in frustration and leaped. My claws scraped the side of the hovering Bug Fighter. I swung myself up with a scream as the vein in my neck gushed a little more. The world began to spin.
{Jake!} Cassie screamed. But he was right behind me; he flew over my head with his tiger strength and soared up to land on the cold metal floor.
{Can you get us out of here?} he demanded of Lourdes. She swung the fighter upwards.
"It's automated," she said evenly. "As soon as I push this button, the roof will open up and let me out in the middle of the forest."
{Do it,} he panted. {Rachel, demorph. Hurry!}
I saw the roof of the cave open. I felt my limbs change almost without willing them to. {I'm hurrying,} I said numbly.
Cassie was demorphing too. She looked at Marco. "We have most of the team back," she said quietly.
Tobias was staring out the window. {We left Ax,} he said in quiet fury. {He deserved better than that.}
"We had no choice," I said, with a human mouth.
"We're going back," Cassie promised him. "We'll have to go back soon."
I did not enjoy that thought.