12:00 pm
"You've lost your fucking mind Bishop, just how hard did you hit your head when I slapped you?" Jake was saying. I had just told him about my plan and he didn't take it very well.
"Look Jake," I said. "If we don't make a big move soon we'll be in trouble that virus only guaranteed us a few months if they get those satellites up and running…"
"I know what will happen." Jake said. I noticed that Tobias and Rachel were looking at Jake with a murderous expression. I wasn't clear on what happened after the mission but from what Cassie told me Rachel had drawn blood.
"Then you should know that this is the only way." Jake sighed he obviously didn't want to concede to me but he was stuck, no one else had a better idea.
"I assume you have a plan on how to do this." Jake said.
"Yeah I do. Our biggest problem will be getting in but I've found a way around it." We go into an entrance location with guns blazing and get someone to disable the security system. Then we go into the pool itself and attack morphs will be last resort. Once we get in we'll take C-4 explosives and set them at key locations we will get out of the blast zone and detonate, boom, invasion's over."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Jake said. "But there's something you forgot to mention: there's so much fucking security in there we'll be lucky to get into the pool alive much less plant anything! I…"
"That," I said. "Is something we've considered. The best thing for us to do is to have a someone provide a diversion. We're going to split into two teams. Team Scorn which will be causing the diversion, they will morph and do anything they can to cause problems. And team Wrath, they will handle the planting of the C-4. Hopefully team Wrath will look like regular controllers trying to get out of firing range.
"Once the C-4 is planted we will retreat, again hoping that the C-4 won't be noticed then we will beat feet out of there and give the detonation signal."
"Oh and I assume the Yerks will just ignore all the plastic explosives you're scattering around. You know they'll deactivate them or remove…"
"No they won't be able to. The C-4 we plan to use is specialized, once placed it cannot be removed or deactivated. If we place it then all we have to do is give the detonation signal and," I made a snapping motion with my hand. "pffft the Yerk-Pool is gone." Danny had shown up a few hours earlier I told him about my plans.
"Now," he said. "It's going to take about 9 months to get all the things we need together."
"Nine Months?!" Rachel said. "They'll have found us by then."
"Maybe not," Danny said. "There has been a lot of sunspot activity lately sunspots, disrupt satellite signals so we may have more time."
"And 9 months will give us time to run tests using the computer to find the best spots to place the c-4." Jerry said. Jake sighed.
"OK lets put it to a vote form my team only who wants to do this." Slowly hand went up: Rachel, Marco Tobias and Ax. "I guess that's it then, Erik we're with you , so you want to call a truce?" He extended his hand.
"Truce." I said shaking his hand. "That's all I have to say so you can go off now."
I went for a walk to think about what just happened. It was now official, we had enough people to fight a final battle with the Yerks, enough people to fight and possibly win. I knew that if we did, life would be a whole lot easier. My college grades was FUBAR along with any hope of becoming a doctor, but maybe I could pursue a career elsewhere. A lot of exposure would come with the attack maybe I could go into politics…
"You know I hear you following me from outside the hut Jordan." I said. Jordan jumped from the tree she had been hiding in, she had been trying to follow me in silence since I left the meeting room. She looked a lot like her older sister, she was about three years younger: (15) and hadn't said much since my team arrived.
"Damn," She said. "Well so much for getting on the team for stealth."
"Come again?" I said.
"I want to join one of the teams, I don't like sitting here while the others risk their lives it's my world too!"
"Hey Jordan I doubt you'll ever get on the Animorphs team as long as Jake runs it, and anyway working with him would be like working for Neville Chamberlain."
"Huh?"
"You failed history didn't you?"
"I don't see what that has to…"
"Look, back to what you were saying," I said, I just had a thought, I needed something to pass the time while I waited for the weapons and C-4 to come in. "If you want to learn how to use stealth properly, then I can teach you."
"Really," She said. "You mean that."
"Yeah, I mean it, but it won't be a walk in the park you'd better be ready to work because my training came from a Chee posing as a CIA agent and it wasn't simple."
"I am at the point where I would do anything to break the monotony of this life."
"Yup, you're Rachel's sister all right." Jordan laughed slightly but maintained a serious air.
"I mean it Erik, if you're going to train me I want to start as soon as possible."
"OK then," I said. "We'll start with the basics: The reason I heard you following me is that you were more concerned with keeping up with me than you were at stealth. The number one rule of stealth is: speed means noise and noise means compromise. If someone hears you then they will turn and if they turn and see you you'll find yourself at the pearly gates before you even know you made a mistake…" I spent the next few hours giving her lessons on stealth thankful for this project, and if things went well I may have another member for our team making our assault that much easier.
Seven Months Later
September 25th 2008
2:24pm
The last seven months had been tough on all of us. I had been training Jordan with the help of Karen who had found out about my little project the night I started it. So far I had been able to keep it from the Animorph team, which was a blessing considering that Rachel was to protective of her sister to approve and Jake couldn't see past his damn umbrella (Neville Chamberlain reference FYI) to approve.
Besides training Jordan I was spending a lot of time in the hut with a computer trying to find the right spots to place the c-4 charges. So far I hadn't had any luck at all. The charges would go off but only destroy a portion of the pool, and the damage could easily be repaired in a few weeks. After about three months with the help of Jerry and James we were finally able to come up with a working model.
It would be a tough one though, the placement of the charges would have to be exact, and the spacing between the points to place the charges was great. This was going to put more stress on Scorn. I was becoming increasingly sure that we would endure massive casualties.
All of this work was stressful and by nightfall I normally came back to the cave and collapsed on the bed. The days I had to myself were spent with Karen talking, taking walks, making love, and sometimes just sitting with each other. Karen if possible became even more dear to me after our wedding. The high stress of preparing for an attack was greatly alleviated by spending time with her.
Karen had a lot of stress too, she was as active in preparing as I was if not more. No one really had an easy seven months. Especially Jerry, Becky hadn't returned his affections and he took it pretty hard. Jerry's love life was pretty much non-existent, he got a few girls with his fiery intellect but he never really settled down. Becky was his true love and since she didn't return it, well it didn't make him feel too good.
But Jerry found help from a source even I didn't anticipate. Sarah, Rachel's younger sister, had taken a shine to him. He spent most of his free time reading to her or telling her stories about our missions. Seeing him taking care of the little girl hurt a part of me though. I had never really thought about children much, I didn't have time to. But, now that it looked like the war that had taken up so much of my time was nearly over, I began to realize that I would never have a child of my own.
That was the thing that always broke Karen's heart, she never said it but I saw it in her eyes. Back when we were living outside of the valley any time we saw a young family walking in the park, when one of her friends was pregnant and feeling the baby kick, when she saw a display of baby toys and clothes. One time when we were attending a baby shower for my cousin I saw her crying one of the bedrooms at the house.
I was sitting near the river mulling all of this over when I had the feeling I was being watched. It made me uncomfortable, another thing drilled into your head in stealth training was if you think your being watched then you are, and you'd better stay alert. I decided to go back to my cave and lie down, Karen was spending the day with Rachel, no doubt complaining about something I do, so I'd have the cave to myself for awhile so maybe I could catch a nap.
Plus in a cave there was only one way in, and anyone who tried to sneak up on me would have to attack before then. If I could draw them out before they were ready then I'd have a slight advantage… I walked back to the colony and I knew that something was wrong, it was deserted. No one was out, no baby Hork-Baijar playing baseball, no Cassie and Jake laying in the grass looking at the clouds, no Hork-Baijar carving houses in trees.
It must mean we had been attacked, whoever was following me must be an attacker. I didn't have a gun anywhere nearby (most of he supplies had arrived but we were still waiting on more c-4 and some automatic weapons) so I knew I need to morph. I focused on the cougar…
"Surprise," I almost jumped out of my skin. "Happy birthday Erik!" The air shimmered and I saw the colony as it should be, but now there was a large table that had several boxes of Pizza Hut pizza on it along with a few wrapped gifts. I had been a part of a few small birthday celebrations in the valley but none this elaborate, why were people making such a big deal over me.
"I talked them into it," Karen said answering my question, after living together for a few months we could tell what each other was going to say pretty easily. "Thought we'd all need a break and you more than anyone else." She smiled and led me over to the table, she took a plate (it had been a long time since I had been able to use a plate) and piled it high with pizza. "Eat up." I realized how hungry I was. Even though the Chee tried to get us food it wasn't easy for them and we were relying more and more on increasingly unsuccessful hunting trips for our sustenance.
After I sat down the rest of the humans got their share of the food. Karen sat next to me and I had a flashback to another time we had shared pizza together, that night I came so close to death that when I realized I was alive I just ran over to Karen and kissed her and held her for about ten minutes.
We sat and ate in silence a few minutes, then Karen spoke up.
"Two months left…" she said.
"Yeah," I said. "I know."
"Erik if we pull this off we'll win you know that right? Erek says there's only one Yerk Pool location so if it goes then will be a near fatal blow to the Yerks, they'll be dependent on portable Yerk pools, the only choice they'll have is to leave earth, and once they do those who were controllers will be able to prove that the invasion was real, they'll never get the drop on us again. We will have saved earth."
"It's hard to believe," I said. "I mean so much of our lives has been based on this war, Karen, do you know what you want to do after we win."
"Anything that has you in my life"
"Oh don't give me that honey, I know you want to do something besides follow me, that's just not your style."
"I, well, I've always wanted to have a radio show…"
"Then can I ask why you had a major in pharmacy?"
" Well when I started college I wasn't a freedom fighter now that I might have exposure I think I could get a show rather easily, what about you Erik?"
"I want to go into politics, because you know I've missed so much school I doubt I can make up for lost time, and anyway, I think I'd do better in politics."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help overhearing," Marco said. "OK I was eavesdropping so what? I plan to get a TV show, I want to be on SNL, or something like that." One by one we found out from each member of the two teams what they wanted to do. Rachel and Tobias were going to get married and open a gymnastics studio (Tobias' time as a hawk helped increase his reflexes.) Cassie was going to open up a vet clinic, Jake was going to open a museum of the war weenies with a yearly festival to honor the UN… ok, he didn't even talk to us, he still was mad or sad or something from the mission a few months back. James and Anna planned to go into the military, and Fred was going to open up a series of learning centers for urban children.
One thing I realized though all throughout the conversations we had was one thing. We were all assuming that we would win this mission, and that we would all come back alive, and I knew in my heart that the later was just not possible…
OK now it's time for me to give you a voice in the stories progress, do you want Erik on strike force Scorn or Wrath, vote using the reviews and tell me what you think of the chapter. As of now I think I may have four or five more coming.