Chapter 10
If you address a ghost as "Thing!"
Or strike him with a hatchet,
He is permitted by the King
To drop all formal parleying—
And then you're sure to catch it!
-Lewis Carroll
________________________
I awoke at dawn the next morning, curled in a dip in the ground at the bottom of our ditch. Zinc was burrowed under my head for warmth. Tails was curled up nearby, his two tails pulled over his body like a blanket. Sonic was asleep where he had laid down the night before, and Jazz was sleeping with his gun cradled across his chest. Knuckles was nowhere in sight. The sky was murky blue, and my metal body was beaded with dew.
I lay still and thought about the previous day. No wonder I felt tired. We had rescued both chao, met Shellizaas and a dragon, and saved Sonic from a fate worse than death.
I listened to Zinc's breathing in my ear, and wished that we could let someone else deal with the Shellizaas. I just wanted to go back to the Floating Island and lay in the sun, and get to know the palm orchards ... I reoriented myself. I lived in Knothole, not the Floating Island. Why was I dreaming of the island? I thought of Hidden Palace, the ancient treasure-trove of the power gems. Hidden Palace, the heart of the echidna people. Perhaps that was why I preferred the island to Knothole.
Chimera appeared out of nowhere and threw himself in a body-slam on my stomach. It had no effect on me, and I watched with a smile as he slid off and lay on the ground, holding his own stomach and groaning. "Serves you right," I whispered.
I sat up, rolling Zinc out of my hair and disentangling his claws. He awoke and sat on the ground, blinking.
Knuckles was walking down into the hollow, grinning.
"You need to control your chao," I whispered.
He picked up Chimera and rubbed his stomach. Chimera gave a growling croon, and cast me a dark look. I stuck out my tongue at him. "Where were you?" I added to Knuckles.
"Standing guard," he replied. I scrutinized his face, but he did not look as if he had stayed up all night. He must have read my expression, for he nodded toward Jazz and said, "He watched most of the night. I traded off with him so he could sleep."
I got up and picked up Zinc. "What about wanting to beat him up?"
"I can do that later," said Knuckles. "He was doing it all by himself." He left the rest unsaid, but I knew how it must have floored Knuckles to realize the foolhardy rabbit had taken our safety upon himself.
We walked to the top of our ditch and stood looking at Diamonda, which still glowed faintly in the dawn light. The colors of the crystals were muted, but the tops of the tallest crystals caught the sun's first rays. I could hardly bear to look at them, for some reason, and looked at the sky instead. It was streaked with mare's tails that formed graceful interlocking bands across the sky. The air was still, for the breeze of the night before had dropped. "Rain?" I asked.
Knuckles inhaled and scanned the sky with a practiced eye. "Probably this afternoon, I'd say." He gave me a brief smile and returned his gaze to Diamonda, as if it were a puzzle he was trying to solve. He was guarding himself from me. I wanted to say something, but uncertainty held me back. What could I say, after all, that would not hurt him? But I couldn't accept his proposal of marriage. I felt a wave of despair at the thought, and walked down into the ditch again. I shouldn't even hang around him--I either hurt him or distanced him, and although I hated doing both, I couldn't see how to stop.
Tails opened his eyes and stretched, arching his tails. He sat up and pulled on his shoes. "Hi Zeff," he whispered. "What's for breakfast?"
"Cold rations," I told him. "Want some?"
Tails wrinkled his nose and looked at Jazz and Sonic, who were still snoring. "Naw, let's wait for them to wake up."
We walked out of the fold to where Knuckles was gazing down at Diamonda. He glanced up as we approached. "Morning, Tails."
"Hi Knuckles." Tails's eyes moved past him to the Ghost debris scattered around our former camp. His ears pricked up. "Hey, do you think I could look at those planes?"
Knuckles looked toward the ruined black shapes. "Sure, just don't get too close. I'll stay here." He glanced at me and rolled his eyes at Tails to tell me to go with him.
"Can I go with you, Tails?" I asked.
"Sure," said the fox, and we walked back toward our trees. I set down Zinc and he scampered along with us.
We counted eleven wrecked ghosts. The ones Jazz had hit with rockets were twisted lumps of blackened metal, and the smell of burned rubber and plastic was strong enough to knock you winding at thirty paces. We left those alone. The ones Tails had destroyed with his machine gun were in better condition. Two were recognizable as aircraft, and the cockpits of these were open, abandoned by surviving Shellizaa pilots.
Tails insisted on climbing inside one of these to see how they operated. The only way in or out of the Ghost was the round hatch on the underside. This was open, and Tails clambered inside. I peered in after him. "You know that if something happens to you, I'm the one who gets in trouble?"
"Nothing will happen," came Tails's muffled voice from the darkness within the ship. "It's all offline."
"Famous last words." I watched and listened with a superstitious fear of the bizarre craft, but the only sounds were made by Tails. Presently he clicked a switch, and the cockpit lights ignited. I could see him silhouetted against a narrow, domed space, surrounded by buttons, switches and dials. There were no windows.
"This is so weird," said Tails, lying on his belly and playing with the controls. "I don't see how they fly these things."
"Why?" I asked, peering around him at the blind cockpit.
"The controls are whacked. Look, there's no control stick or throttle. There's an altimeter, but no flaps. It's like half the controls are missing."
"No wonder Sonic's couldn't fly it," I said. I stood up and looked around, imagining I smelled jet fuel. "Want to go back now?"
"Oh, okay." Tails crawled out of the Ghost, reluctant to leave.
I called Zinc, who was examining a nearby Ghost, and we walked back to our 'camp' in silence. Tails was thinking. I was glad to get away from the wrecked ships. There was something about them that made my skin crawl.
The others were down in the bottom of the ditch, eating rations and talking. They welcomed us down and handed us some ration packs.
"Eat up," said Sonic. "We're trying to decide whether to leave or not."
I tore open the lid of my beans. "I want to try to save Kita. And maybe the dragon."
"Dragons are bad news," said Jazz, laying back his ears. "Letting it out would be the worst idea in the long, sad history of bad ideas."
"But it said it wouldn't hurt us," I said. "Just the Shellizaas. And we could get Kita out first."
"How're we going to do that?" said Sonic, scratching his bandaged head. "She lives in the middle of Diamonda. The only time we've seen her is when she's come to us, and she probably got in trouble for doing that."
"You think ... they hurt her?" I asked.
Sonic and Jazz shrugged, but Knuckles looked up. "They'll starve her, but she's too small to harm in other ways. And they wouldn't risk damaging that thing in her back."
"What thing?" said Tails, who until now had been eating and staring into space.
Sonic described the glowing strip in Kita's back, then said, "I'd like to help her, too. But we got the chao back, and we don't have much food left. Unless we think of something, I vote we go home." He glanced at Tails, and I wondered if Sonic's real motive for going home was to get Tails out of danger.
"I won't vote either way," said Jazz. "You folks are nice and all that, but I don't need your help. I'm expecting reinforcements."
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out, you mean," I muttered. "What do you mean, reinforcements?"
Jazz gave me a steady look that forbade me to ask more questions. "Reinforcements."
Knuckles was feeding Chimera, who was so greedy he kept nipping Knuckles's fingers. Now Knux looked up. "What's Tails think? He hasn't said much this morning."
Tails looked around. "Huh?"
"What's your vote, go or stay?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, stay, of course," said the fox. "I just got here, and I want to look around."
"That's two for, and one against," said Jazz. "How about you, Red?"
Knuckles looked at him with a funny expression. "You talking to me, Green?"
Sonic burst out laughing.
"Yeah, you," said Jazz over Sonic's mirth. "Go, or stay?"
Knuckles looked down at Chimera, then at me with Zinc sitting in my lap, waiting for his breakfast. "Go. We have too much to lose right now." He held my eyes for a second to tell me that it was me he was concerned about.
I was flattered and irritated. It was nice of him to worry about me, but I didn't want to be placed aside like valuable china.
"Great," said Sonic, wiping away tears and grinning. "Tails, how much fuel is in the biplane?"
Tails was resting his chin on one hand and gazing at nothing. "Brainwaves," he said.
"Tails," said Sonic, knocking on the fox's head. "Mobius to Tails."
Tails sat up. "They're controlled by brainwaves. I saw the helmet, but I didn't know what it was."
"The biplane?"
"No, the Ghosts." Tails's eyes focused. "They don't have windows and half the controls are missing, right?"
"Yeah," said Sonic, eyeing his sidekick. "What's this about a helmet?"
"The controls are telepathic," said Tails. "Once you're plugged in you don't need windows or controls. No wonder they can fly like that." He jumped to his feet. "I've got to try it!"
Jazz's ears were standing straight up. "Telepathic," he muttered. "That explains everything."
We trooped back to the mess of wrecked Ghosts, Tails running ahead to the Ghost we had visited before. He climbed in, and we gathered around the access door. "Awfully cramped things," said Jazz. We watched as the fox pulled a wire mesh helmet over his head and fastened the chinstrap. It didn't fit him, as the helmet had been made for a Shellizaa's skinny head, but Tails managed to cram it on. He became still. We watched him in silence. I was aware of a cricket chirping in the grass somewhere, and of how still it was. The grove of trees hung limp and tired, not a leaf stirring. The sky was blinding, hazy white. It was hard to believe that the carnage of the night before had happened.
I became aware that the Ghost's frame was vibrating. I rested a hand on it--yes, it felt as if an engine had activated. But there was no sound. I glanced along the wing overhead, and poked the boys. They looked around, and I pointed at the wing flaps. They were lifting and lowering. "He's doing it."
Other lights began to flick on and off inside the Ghost, and the searchlight in the ship's belly swiveled like a blind eye. Tails lay oblivious in the midst of it. "Is he in control?" I whispered. It was freaking me out to see the Ghost come alive and move on its own. What if it had taken over Tails's brain in some insidious way?
Before I could voice these fears, everything stopped and Tails pulled off the helmet and exhaled. "Whew, what a ride." He climbed out backwards, grinning. "Did you see it? Did all the stuff move?"
"Yeah," said Sonic. "Kinda scary. Was it hard?"
"Not really," said Tails, rubbing his head where the helmet had pushed his fur the wrong way. "I'll bet I could fly it if it weren't broken."
We took turns climbing into the Ghost and trying on the helmet. Sonic could work everything, but he was weak and shaking when he climbed out. It startled me to realize that Sonic still had his mental conditioning, almost two years after the biotics.
Knuckles could only ignite one light, and emerged soon afterward, rubbing his head and saying that it was too hard. Jazz went in and stayed there ten minutes, manipulating one part at a time. He was determined to conquer the Shellizaas in every way possible. When he came out, it was my turn.
I hated the Ghost as soon as I crawled in to it. I hated the cramped cockpit, now warm and stuffy from former occupants. I hated the way the too-small helmet pinched my skull when I put it on.
Being hooked to the Ghost was like having a second body. I was aware of myself, lying in the cockpit, hands gripping the handles on either side. But I was also aware of the Ghost--its wings, its low tail fin, where the lights were. I knew how to operate the stun beam, and I knew that a series of sensors ran along the sides and belly that let me see out from every angle. I could see the others looking in at me through the door, and Sonic sitting on the ground, holding his head.
I looked further, and found the other wrecked Ghosts, but they were silent. Wondering how far I could see, I reached Ghosts waiting in rows inside the dam, and read their names. But with these new, distant Ghosts came a sound--a shrill, keening sound like an orchestra playing a sustained note. It was irritating and harsh, and I flinched.
Suddenly I realized that if someone should put on one of the helmets in another Ghost, I would be revealed to them, and so would anyone standing within eyeshot of the wrecked Ghosts. I yanked off the helmet and crawled outside as fast as I could. "We've got to get out of here."
They looked at me like I was crazy. "Why?" said Knuckles.
"They can see us," I said. I pointed at a clear lens on the ship's belly. "See these? You can see through these with the helmet on. If a Shellizaa puts on a helmet, they'll be able to see us."
"How?" said Jazz and Tails in unison.
"You just can," I said.
Jazz and Tails dove for the Ghost. Jazz was quicker and got inside first. Tails waited impatiently outside the door, and looked at me. "How do you know you can see through those lenses?"
"You just can," I said. "You see how far you can look--look outside, then look at the wrecked Ghosts, then you can find the ones in the dam."
"No need for a radio," said Tails, swishing his tails and peering at Jazz inside. "Hurry up, I want to try!"
Knuckles was looking at me in admiration. "I couldn't even work a light."
"It's freaky, and I hate it," I said. "I'll bet they could hurt you somehow." Speaking of being hurt ... I knelt beside Sonic. He was holding his head in both hands, eyes closed. "Sonic?" I said softly. "Are you all right?"
"I'll be okay," he murmured. "It's just ... for a minute I could hear Them again. And Him."
"But the network's gone," I said, bewildered.
He opened his eyes and touched his temple. "The network is still here, Zeff. It wakes up whenever something similar enters my head." He shuddered.
Tails left the Ghost and crouched beside Sonic. "They can't get you, can they?"
"Not unless they have Leviathan," said Sonic, laying his ears back. "And if they did, he would have killed me as soon as I touched the helmet. But he's dead, thank goodness."
Tails patted Sonic's shoulder in a nieve, childlike gesture, and sat there until Sonic began to feel better.
After a while Jazz emerged from the Ghost, disgruntled. "I can see out and that's all. I think you made that up about seeing other ships."
Tails whisked into the Ghost, and I glared at Jazz. "Maybe I'm more sensitive than you."
He muttered something and stalked off to our camp.
"Beat by a girl," said Sonic, grinning his old grin. He stood up. "I guess you operate on the right wavelength, Zeff."
Tails slid out of the Ghost with his tails fluffed twice their size. "I saw them," He said, eyes wide. "Inside the dam. There was nobody around, but I know what you mean, Zephyer. They'll be able to see us." He peered up at the sky. "I think we should leave now."
Sonic's smile faded. "Um, okay. I guess we'll go back."
We trooped back to our new camp, Tails and I throwing nervous glances back at the crumpled planes. I kept thinking of the sensation of being revealed to the enemy, as if putting on the helmet had left me naked. While I wore that helmet, I was one of them. The very idea sent a wave of horror through me. I glanced at Tails and knew he felt the same way.
We descended into our ditch and found Jazz loading his gun.
"What are you doing?" Sonic asked.
Jazz gave us a look. "I'm going to destroy the rest of the Ghosts while I still can."
"Inside the dam?" said Knuckles. "Are you nuts?"
"I'm quite sane," said Jazz, his eyes glittering. "Destroying their air superiority is the first step toward eliminating Devan Shell's operation."
"It'll also demoralize them," said Zinc, who had spent his time away from me eating an entire package of rations with Chimera. "A demoralized enemy is a beaten one."
Jazz looked at Zinc, one eyebrow raised. "I won't ask how you know that." He shouldered his gun and marched away without a backward glance.
We watched him go. "I still think he's nuts," muttered Knuckles, sitting down beside Chimera.
"I'm with you," said Sonic. The hedgehog looked at Tails and me. "What's with you two?"
I looked at the fox, who gave me a scared look and said, "Ghosts are freaky."
"Okay," said Sonic, "we're back where we started. Do we go or stay?"
I glanced at the white sky and thought of the dragon and Kita. I remembered Kita floating up into the waiting Ghost, paralyzed and helpless...
"I know how to rescue the slaves," I said.
Everyone looked at me. "What? How?"
"The Ghosts," I said, looking at Tails. "They can track a slave by the thing in their back. That's why Kita can't escape."
"Right," said Sonic sarcastically. "All we need to do is borrow a working Ghost. Get real, Zephyer."
"I am real," I snapped. "It's a plan, which is better than I can say for you two."
"Either that or you've flipped out," said Sonic.
I pointed a finger at him. "You're the one who likes humans so much. You can't bear to see kids hurt, and now you want to abandon a bunch of human children to these psycho turtles! You know how psycho they are? They eat Mobians and experiment on humans! Tell me, Mister Hero, what are you going to do about it?"
Sonic and Knuckles stared at me. "They eat Mobians?" said Sonic.
"Yeah," I said. "The cages with the chao were full of other species. I let them all go." I hadn't told them about that? I guess meeting the dragon had distracted me.
Tails, who had been observing all this, looked ill. "I didn't know that."
Sonic looked at Knuckles, and I could tell by their expressions that my point had been taken. "How many slaves are there?" asked Knuckles.
I shook my head. "Ten, twenty?"
We looked at Tails. He flinched. "You want me to fly a Ghost, don't you?"
I nodded. "And once the slaves are clear, we'll let the dragon out."
"I need to get Jazz," said Sonic. "Hang on." He rocketed off, and five minutes later was back with Jazz. The green rabbit looked irritated, but became interested as we explained our plan.
"Sketchy, but workable," he said, leaning on his gun. "If the slaves were out, I could waste everything that moved."
Before Diamonda this would have repulsed me, but now his words were music to my ears. I looked at Knuckles, and found him frowning at me. "What?" I mouthed at him. He jerked his head toward the rim of our ditch, and I followed him apart from the others.
As soon as we were out of earshot he said, "Fine, you win. You know that we might die attempting this?"
"No we won't," I said, keeping my voice low. "It'll work like a charm now that we've got Tails."
"You're not God, Zephyer," snarled Knuckles. "You think stealing a Ghost will be so easy? You think releasing a dragon that size will help anything? Think about it! You're going to get us all killed!"
I couldn't think of anything to say, but I scowled at him. He returned the look and whispered, "You're becoming just like Jazz."
"Jazz knows how to handle things," I hissed. "If I have to think like him, then so be it! He knows how to handle Shellizaas."
"Shellizaas, but nobody else." He looked at the others, then back at me. "I'm going to try to keep you out of this. There has to be one survivor of this idiot scheme." He stalked down the hill.
How dare he try to tell me what to do! What did he care if I admired Jazz or not? He was jealous, that was all. I folded my arms. Everything would work out, he would see.