{Rachel, what are you . . . oh, no.} Tobias flared his wings, and landed on my shoulder. He stared at the door.
I grated my teeth. Defeated. All of the adrenaline had left me, and I was hollow inside. Only useless anger rattled around in the emptiness. Jordan had to be down there. In the Yeerk pool. Even if we somehow, miraculously, managed to get her out, how would we explain what she had seen? She would know the truth.
And I really didn't want her knowing the truth.
"Should I try to break it down?" I asked. I wanted to be told what to do.
{No, there's gotta be a biofilter,} Tobias replied. {But don't worry. As soon as Jake comes, we'll find another way in.}
Oh, good. Jake was coming. Jake would pretend to know what to do.
We looked at the door helplessly.
"Let's go let Mary Sue out," I said, after a while. There wasn't much else we could do. Tobias launched himself into the air. I picked my way through the broken glass and debris. Back out through the gate again. I was getting to hate that gate.
When I had been in elephant morph, it had felt like I gave the mailbox a very gentle squeeze. But I sat there, trying to pry open the lid for a good five minutes without success. It gave me some outlet for my pent-up anger, though. I cut myself a few times on the sharp, twisted aluminum. Fine. It would go away when I morphed whatever Jake told me to morph.
{Here they come,} Tobias said. A few seconds later, I heard the whirr of bikes being ridden quickly. I dropped the mailbox, and charged out to the road.
"Hey! Over here!" I yelled.
Jake, Marco, and Cassie pulled their bikes up sharply. Cassie staggered onto the pavement. She had ridden the farthest, all the way out from her farm. She sat down on the curb to catch her breath. Ax, in harrier morph, fluttered down to rest in a tree.
"What's up," Jake snapped, in the same way a general might bark "status!"
{Jake, we've got what looks like a door to the Yeerk pool beside Megan's house,} Tobias said quickly. {The whole party went through it. Including Jordan.}
"Wait. Hang on. Fill me in here," Marco said. "Because last time I heard, the plan was for us to stop Jordan coming to this party at all. Why are we talking about doors to Yeerk pools?"
"Mom said Jordan couldn't come to the party," I said. "But I figured she would sneak out anyway, and I was going to stop her."
"And you didn't do that . . . why?" Marco asked.
"Because the best laid plans of mice and men went awry," Cassie said quietly. "Jake, what do we do?"
Cassie knows people. She knows me. She knew that if I had been forced to tell them why I had failed, I would lie rather than confess any further weakness on my part. And she knew that everybody would know I had lied, which would have only made me more guilty. So, instead, she turned things back over to Jake.
Who we all hoped had a plan.
{Let me out of here,} Mary Sue complained.
"What was that?" Marco asked.
"Mary Sue," I said. "I locked her up for her own good."
Jake set his jaw, and looked at Tobias. "Do we know of any accessible entrances to the Yeerk pool?"
{All of the Yeerk-made entrances have bio-filters, Jake. And the batcave has long since been plugged.}
Cassie must have caught something in his voice that the rest of us missed. Some hesitation. "Isn't there any other way in?" she asked.
He hesitated. {Well . . . sort of . . . it's not really an entrance. At least, not yet.}
{Tobias, perhaps you had better explain,} Ax said. He definitely put it nicer than I would have.
{The Yeerks have been constructing a tunnel beside a church, but it doesn't connect all the way through yet, and they've got a twenty-four hour guard. We could try to charge them down, but we'd still have to dig at least forty feet.}
"We don't have time for that!" I said. "They could be infesting Jordan right now!"
"I know that, Rachel," Jake replied evenly.
"We have to DO something!" I yelled.
"I know that, too." He held his head, willing an idea to come.
I could feel the seconds ticking away. Who knew what was occuring behind that inscrutable door. If Jordan was already being led to the pier. If she was already screaming as a Yeerk worked its way into her brain.
{Rachel, open this container,} Mary Sue ordered me.
Jake looked up. "Rachel, go let her out of whatever you put her in. Ax, examine that door. Any chance we can break through?"
Glowering I darted into the trees, snagged the mailbox, and came back out onto the street.
{I just checked, Prince Jake. The lock on the door is quite secure. As is the gleet biofilter set up around it. Both are Andalite technology, of course,} he added as an afterthought.
"Ax! We don't care if it's Andalite technology, Yeerk technology, French technology, Eskimo technology, or silly string!" Marco exclaimed. "Can we get through or not?"
{No.}
No. Just . . . no.
A heavy quiet fell. We were a strange and silent group, standing in our bare feet on a darkened suburban road. We were out of ideas. Beaten by a door.
The mailbox finally snapped open, and I immediately felt a tickling sensation as Mary Sue scampered onto my arm. {You shall pay dearly for imprisoning a female of the Helmacron Empire,} she threatened me. I didn't respond.
Marco broke the stillness. "So, for two million dollars, nobody has any ideas how to get into the Yeerk pool?"
{You need to get into the Yeerk pool?} Mary Sue sounded surprised. {That's simple enough.}
We all stared at the miniscule alien on my arm.
"What do you mean, 'simple enough?'" I demanded sharply.
Mary Sue laughed as if we were all very slow students. {Why, we'll just . . . What, do none of you understand what it means that I am a heretic?}
I grated my teeth. Defeated. All of the adrenaline had left me, and I was hollow inside. Only useless anger rattled around in the emptiness. Jordan had to be down there. In the Yeerk pool. Even if we somehow, miraculously, managed to get her out, how would we explain what she had seen? She would know the truth.
And I really didn't want her knowing the truth.
"Should I try to break it down?" I asked. I wanted to be told what to do.
{No, there's gotta be a biofilter,} Tobias replied. {But don't worry. As soon as Jake comes, we'll find another way in.}
Oh, good. Jake was coming. Jake would pretend to know what to do.
We looked at the door helplessly.
"Let's go let Mary Sue out," I said, after a while. There wasn't much else we could do. Tobias launched himself into the air. I picked my way through the broken glass and debris. Back out through the gate again. I was getting to hate that gate.
When I had been in elephant morph, it had felt like I gave the mailbox a very gentle squeeze. But I sat there, trying to pry open the lid for a good five minutes without success. It gave me some outlet for my pent-up anger, though. I cut myself a few times on the sharp, twisted aluminum. Fine. It would go away when I morphed whatever Jake told me to morph.
{Here they come,} Tobias said. A few seconds later, I heard the whirr of bikes being ridden quickly. I dropped the mailbox, and charged out to the road.
"Hey! Over here!" I yelled.
Jake, Marco, and Cassie pulled their bikes up sharply. Cassie staggered onto the pavement. She had ridden the farthest, all the way out from her farm. She sat down on the curb to catch her breath. Ax, in harrier morph, fluttered down to rest in a tree.
"What's up," Jake snapped, in the same way a general might bark "status!"
{Jake, we've got what looks like a door to the Yeerk pool beside Megan's house,} Tobias said quickly. {The whole party went through it. Including Jordan.}
"Wait. Hang on. Fill me in here," Marco said. "Because last time I heard, the plan was for us to stop Jordan coming to this party at all. Why are we talking about doors to Yeerk pools?"
"Mom said Jordan couldn't come to the party," I said. "But I figured she would sneak out anyway, and I was going to stop her."
"And you didn't do that . . . why?" Marco asked.
"Because the best laid plans of mice and men went awry," Cassie said quietly. "Jake, what do we do?"
Cassie knows people. She knows me. She knew that if I had been forced to tell them why I had failed, I would lie rather than confess any further weakness on my part. And she knew that everybody would know I had lied, which would have only made me more guilty. So, instead, she turned things back over to Jake.
Who we all hoped had a plan.
{Let me out of here,} Mary Sue complained.
"What was that?" Marco asked.
"Mary Sue," I said. "I locked her up for her own good."
Jake set his jaw, and looked at Tobias. "Do we know of any accessible entrances to the Yeerk pool?"
{All of the Yeerk-made entrances have bio-filters, Jake. And the batcave has long since been plugged.}
Cassie must have caught something in his voice that the rest of us missed. Some hesitation. "Isn't there any other way in?" she asked.
He hesitated. {Well . . . sort of . . . it's not really an entrance. At least, not yet.}
{Tobias, perhaps you had better explain,} Ax said. He definitely put it nicer than I would have.
{The Yeerks have been constructing a tunnel beside a church, but it doesn't connect all the way through yet, and they've got a twenty-four hour guard. We could try to charge them down, but we'd still have to dig at least forty feet.}
"We don't have time for that!" I said. "They could be infesting Jordan right now!"
"I know that, Rachel," Jake replied evenly.
"We have to DO something!" I yelled.
"I know that, too." He held his head, willing an idea to come.
I could feel the seconds ticking away. Who knew what was occuring behind that inscrutable door. If Jordan was already being led to the pier. If she was already screaming as a Yeerk worked its way into her brain.
{Rachel, open this container,} Mary Sue ordered me.
Jake looked up. "Rachel, go let her out of whatever you put her in. Ax, examine that door. Any chance we can break through?"
Glowering I darted into the trees, snagged the mailbox, and came back out onto the street.
{I just checked, Prince Jake. The lock on the door is quite secure. As is the gleet biofilter set up around it. Both are Andalite technology, of course,} he added as an afterthought.
"Ax! We don't care if it's Andalite technology, Yeerk technology, French technology, Eskimo technology, or silly string!" Marco exclaimed. "Can we get through or not?"
{No.}
No. Just . . . no.
A heavy quiet fell. We were a strange and silent group, standing in our bare feet on a darkened suburban road. We were out of ideas. Beaten by a door.
The mailbox finally snapped open, and I immediately felt a tickling sensation as Mary Sue scampered onto my arm. {You shall pay dearly for imprisoning a female of the Helmacron Empire,} she threatened me. I didn't respond.
Marco broke the stillness. "So, for two million dollars, nobody has any ideas how to get into the Yeerk pool?"
{You need to get into the Yeerk pool?} Mary Sue sounded surprised. {That's simple enough.}
We all stared at the miniscule alien on my arm.
"What do you mean, 'simple enough?'" I demanded sharply.
Mary Sue laughed as if we were all very slow students. {Why, we'll just . . . What, do none of you understand what it means that I am a heretic?}