"Like I told Cassie," I said, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"The Force is strong in this one," Marco intoned.
Cassie looked up in sudden interest. "Is *that* what it's from? Star Wars?"
"What?" Jake asked.
"The whole, 'I have a bad feeling about this, Leia,' thing!"
Leia? Tobias asked.
"I called Cassie that," I confessed. "Earlier."
"But that's not right," Marco frowned. "They never say that in the movies."
"Sure they do!" I objected. "All the time!"
No, Marco's right, Tobias said. Luke says it to Han, Han says it to Chewie, and I think Threepio says it to Artoo. But nobody ever says it directly to Leia.
"Like, 'Beam me up, Scotty,'" Marco nodded.
"What?" Cassie and I chorused, utterly lost.
"In Star Trek! Nobody ever actually said that line, even though everybody associates it with the show. In fact, Kirk generally just said, 'Kirk to Enterprise: Energize.'"
I looked around. Ax was off babysitting the Helmacron. The rest of us were standing out in the field just next to Cassie's barn. It's out of sight from the house, but more exposed than we generally like to be. Tobias was in the air, flying cover for us.
You know, it scares me sometimes. We're five average teens. There was nothing special about any of us, before Elfangor came along. Yet we are humanity's last great hope. While we're quoting science fiction shows . 'I *weep* for the species.'
Preed. "Titan A.E.."
"Oh. What. Ever!" I blustered. "The point is: I don't like this nothlit thing."
"But you don't disagree with it," Jake said.
"No," I admitted. "I can't see any other way of handling the little creep."
"See, Jake, I told you," Marco grinned.
"Cassie, do you have it?" Jake asked.
In response, Cassie jostled the backpack in which she was carrying the blue box. "Right here," she said.
"Okay," Jake said. "Let's-"
I cut him off. "Hey!"
"Oh, sorry. Your line."
"Let's do it!"
Laughing, we signaled Tobias to let Ax know it was time. A few minutes later, we watched a disturbingly pretty boy holding something in his hands teeter out of the forest.
"I always want to beat him up when he's in human morph," Marco mused.
Don't even joke about that, Tobias said. He used to be kind of a bully magnet, back in school. Although, I have to admit, I know what you mean.
"Here is the Helmacron, Prince Jake," Ax said, holding out his hand. Then, as an afterthought, "Macron. Mack, mack. Kron!"
"Thanks, Ax," Jake smiled indulgently. Then he looked down at the Helmacron. "Okay . . . um . . . Helmacron. Here's what we're going to do. You know about our blue box, right?"
The blue box of transforming power! she squeaked. Yes, what of it?
"We've decided to do you a favor," Jake said. "If you stay in any morph for five hours, you end up living the rest of your life as the thing you morphed."
Five hours? Since when? I shot Tobias a quizzical look.
A little disinformation, he explained. If she decides not to go along with us after she gets the morphing ability, she'll think she has five hours in morph instead of just two.
I nodded. Made sense. It was surprisingly sneaky, though. Probably Marco's idea.
" . . . and so, for all those reasons," Jake was saying, "we have decided it would be best for you to permanently become an Earth animal. For everybody's safety."
There was a moment of silence as the Helmacron absorbed this. Well, she said slowly, I would be amenable to that proposal.
"Why?" I demanded. "It's a perfectly fair deal! What's your problem with it?" It was just like a Helmacron to refuse her one lifeline.
Amenable means "open to," Rachel. She agrees to the plan, Tobias murmured.
"Oh." I felt my ears redden. Why couldn't aliens use small, normal words?
"Okay, then," Jake said. "Here we go. Cassie?"
On cue, Cassie produced the blue box from her knapsack. It glowed gently in the afternoon light. We all stared at it in something like hushed reverence. This single cube had caused more pain and suffering . . . I thought back to David. Remembered the last time I was with him. Wondered if he was still alive, out on that rock . . .
I was jerked out of my morose thoughts as Ax tipped the Helmacron off of his hand and onto the top of the blue box. It glowed a little brighter. Thrummed slightly. The Helmacron probably felt a tingly warmth fizz through her body. That was it.
Is the ceremony complete? She asked.
"Yup," Marco said. "Welcome to the club. Enjoy your stay. And please morph something else as soon as possible so we can get back to dealing with the Yeerks."
Her tiny body jerked. Yeerks!? she exclaimed.
"Yeah. From what we've seen, you people have heard of them before."
See, Helmacrons don't like Yeerks. As in really, really, really don't like them. They've got some kind of history that seems to run pretty deep. This Helmacron's reaction was pretty typical. It involved running around, yelling "Neep! Neep!" randomly, and yanking out little steel swords and sticking them into things. Except that she didn't have a sword, so she kept reaching for hers, realizing she didn't have it, and running around anyway. After a few seconds, she grew tired and stopped.
"Are you done?" Marco asked.
Yes, she panted.
"Okay, then," Jake said. "Cassie, what morph can she use?"
"We're thinking dolphin, octopus, starfish, anemone, or shark," she said.
All aquatic animals, I noticed. That made perfect sense. Anything deep in the sea would have minimal contact with humans. When you're dealing anything as unstable as a Helmacron, getting them away from humanity, even trapped as a nothlit, sounds like a good idea. Although . . .
"Not starfish," I said. I have personal experience with the starfish morph. Way too personal of a personal experience.
Cassie had pulled some glossy pictures, probably cut from magazines, out of her knapsack. Pictures of the animals she had just named. "This one's the dolphin," she said, holding them up for the Helmacron to see. "That's the octopus. There's the anemone, and this guy's the shark. I'd recommend the dolphin, he's my favorite."
The Helmacron stared up at the pictures. Opotcus, she said, after a moment.
Cassie and Jake exchanged a look. "It's pronounced 'octopus.' Okay," Cassie said. "Then we're going to have to take a trip to the Gardens. We can get your morph there. But before we go, there's just one thing I want to clear up."
Yes?
"What's your name?"
Mirixzu.
"Did she just say her name was Mary Sue?" asked Marco.
"No," Cassie corrected. "Meeree-Kszu."
"That's too hard to pronounce," Marco said dismissively. "We'll just call her Mary Sue."
Have I just been renamed? "Mary Sue" asked.
Yes. This is a sign of acceptance in human culture, Ax informed her.
Ah.
"Right," I agreed. "C'mon, Mary Sue. Let's do it."
"The Force is strong in this one," Marco intoned.
Cassie looked up in sudden interest. "Is *that* what it's from? Star Wars?"
"What?" Jake asked.
"The whole, 'I have a bad feeling about this, Leia,' thing!"
Leia? Tobias asked.
"I called Cassie that," I confessed. "Earlier."
"But that's not right," Marco frowned. "They never say that in the movies."
"Sure they do!" I objected. "All the time!"
No, Marco's right, Tobias said. Luke says it to Han, Han says it to Chewie, and I think Threepio says it to Artoo. But nobody ever says it directly to Leia.
"Like, 'Beam me up, Scotty,'" Marco nodded.
"What?" Cassie and I chorused, utterly lost.
"In Star Trek! Nobody ever actually said that line, even though everybody associates it with the show. In fact, Kirk generally just said, 'Kirk to Enterprise: Energize.'"
I looked around. Ax was off babysitting the Helmacron. The rest of us were standing out in the field just next to Cassie's barn. It's out of sight from the house, but more exposed than we generally like to be. Tobias was in the air, flying cover for us.
You know, it scares me sometimes. We're five average teens. There was nothing special about any of us, before Elfangor came along. Yet we are humanity's last great hope. While we're quoting science fiction shows . 'I *weep* for the species.'
Preed. "Titan A.E.."
"Oh. What. Ever!" I blustered. "The point is: I don't like this nothlit thing."
"But you don't disagree with it," Jake said.
"No," I admitted. "I can't see any other way of handling the little creep."
"See, Jake, I told you," Marco grinned.
"Cassie, do you have it?" Jake asked.
In response, Cassie jostled the backpack in which she was carrying the blue box. "Right here," she said.
"Okay," Jake said. "Let's-"
I cut him off. "Hey!"
"Oh, sorry. Your line."
"Let's do it!"
Laughing, we signaled Tobias to let Ax know it was time. A few minutes later, we watched a disturbingly pretty boy holding something in his hands teeter out of the forest.
"I always want to beat him up when he's in human morph," Marco mused.
Don't even joke about that, Tobias said. He used to be kind of a bully magnet, back in school. Although, I have to admit, I know what you mean.
"Here is the Helmacron, Prince Jake," Ax said, holding out his hand. Then, as an afterthought, "Macron. Mack, mack. Kron!"
"Thanks, Ax," Jake smiled indulgently. Then he looked down at the Helmacron. "Okay . . . um . . . Helmacron. Here's what we're going to do. You know about our blue box, right?"
The blue box of transforming power! she squeaked. Yes, what of it?
"We've decided to do you a favor," Jake said. "If you stay in any morph for five hours, you end up living the rest of your life as the thing you morphed."
Five hours? Since when? I shot Tobias a quizzical look.
A little disinformation, he explained. If she decides not to go along with us after she gets the morphing ability, she'll think she has five hours in morph instead of just two.
I nodded. Made sense. It was surprisingly sneaky, though. Probably Marco's idea.
" . . . and so, for all those reasons," Jake was saying, "we have decided it would be best for you to permanently become an Earth animal. For everybody's safety."
There was a moment of silence as the Helmacron absorbed this. Well, she said slowly, I would be amenable to that proposal.
"Why?" I demanded. "It's a perfectly fair deal! What's your problem with it?" It was just like a Helmacron to refuse her one lifeline.
Amenable means "open to," Rachel. She agrees to the plan, Tobias murmured.
"Oh." I felt my ears redden. Why couldn't aliens use small, normal words?
"Okay, then," Jake said. "Here we go. Cassie?"
On cue, Cassie produced the blue box from her knapsack. It glowed gently in the afternoon light. We all stared at it in something like hushed reverence. This single cube had caused more pain and suffering . . . I thought back to David. Remembered the last time I was with him. Wondered if he was still alive, out on that rock . . .
I was jerked out of my morose thoughts as Ax tipped the Helmacron off of his hand and onto the top of the blue box. It glowed a little brighter. Thrummed slightly. The Helmacron probably felt a tingly warmth fizz through her body. That was it.
Is the ceremony complete? She asked.
"Yup," Marco said. "Welcome to the club. Enjoy your stay. And please morph something else as soon as possible so we can get back to dealing with the Yeerks."
Her tiny body jerked. Yeerks!? she exclaimed.
"Yeah. From what we've seen, you people have heard of them before."
See, Helmacrons don't like Yeerks. As in really, really, really don't like them. They've got some kind of history that seems to run pretty deep. This Helmacron's reaction was pretty typical. It involved running around, yelling "Neep! Neep!" randomly, and yanking out little steel swords and sticking them into things. Except that she didn't have a sword, so she kept reaching for hers, realizing she didn't have it, and running around anyway. After a few seconds, she grew tired and stopped.
"Are you done?" Marco asked.
Yes, she panted.
"Okay, then," Jake said. "Cassie, what morph can she use?"
"We're thinking dolphin, octopus, starfish, anemone, or shark," she said.
All aquatic animals, I noticed. That made perfect sense. Anything deep in the sea would have minimal contact with humans. When you're dealing anything as unstable as a Helmacron, getting them away from humanity, even trapped as a nothlit, sounds like a good idea. Although . . .
"Not starfish," I said. I have personal experience with the starfish morph. Way too personal of a personal experience.
Cassie had pulled some glossy pictures, probably cut from magazines, out of her knapsack. Pictures of the animals she had just named. "This one's the dolphin," she said, holding them up for the Helmacron to see. "That's the octopus. There's the anemone, and this guy's the shark. I'd recommend the dolphin, he's my favorite."
The Helmacron stared up at the pictures. Opotcus, she said, after a moment.
Cassie and Jake exchanged a look. "It's pronounced 'octopus.' Okay," Cassie said. "Then we're going to have to take a trip to the Gardens. We can get your morph there. But before we go, there's just one thing I want to clear up."
Yes?
"What's your name?"
Mirixzu.
"Did she just say her name was Mary Sue?" asked Marco.
"No," Cassie corrected. "Meeree-Kszu."
"That's too hard to pronounce," Marco said dismissively. "We'll just call her Mary Sue."
Have I just been renamed? "Mary Sue" asked.
Yes. This is a sign of acceptance in human culture, Ax informed her.
Ah.
"Right," I agreed. "C'mon, Mary Sue. Let's do it."