Chapter 8
The Andalite gave us a little time to consider the situation as he worked to programme one of the escape hatches.
"This is unbelievable," said Ferdie. "Absolutely incredible."
"Innit." Asha. I wasn't sure if this was a term of agreement or not.
I left the two of them to their conversation and glanced at Philip. He was staring into space, an unreadable expression on his face.
"You ok?" I asked.
"I can't believe I'm doing all this again," he muttered,
"Doing what?" I doubt whether he had met another bunch of warring aliens in his lifetime.
"Battle," he said. "Command. Orders. Missions. I thought I'd left it all behind. Thought I'd try and make a clean start. Now, I'm here, in the mist of battle all over again."
I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I felt uncomfortable asking. It was his past. We'd all suddenly changed in the last hour and a half. This morning, we were normal kids and young people doing everyday normal things. Normal chores. Normal secrets. Normal battles of our own. Now, we were thrust into the middle of a gruesome war, and were fugitives from a mind-controlling alien war general. Who cared if one of us has a bit of baggage?
I heard a sudden noise behind me; a swoosh of gushing air. I turned. A large, car-sized vessel had been sucked down one of the transparent tubes. It was an oval shaped pod, silver in colour, with large reflective windows and the front. It was standing on four little legs, which made it look a little like a cartoon pig.
--Hurry!-- shouted the alien. --This module is suitable for your transportation. You must leave immediately! I will give your final instructions as I programme the co-ordinates.--
We ran over to the module. There was a round hole in the side and a sliding door. I let the others in and climbed in myself. The inside of the pod was very plain, just a couple of small, retro-style seats and a screen and some controls in front of us.
Eramas stepped over to us.
--You must reach the other humans,-- he said.
"Other humans?" I asked?
--There are five other humans on your planet with the Andalite morphing technology. From our last contact with Earth, we have heard that they were given the morphing power by a renegade Andalite cadet, Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill. This cadet and these five humans are the only resistance on earth at this time, before our fleet arrives to support them. You must find them! You are fugitives now, on the run from Visser Five. You will not survive without the other's protection.--
"How the heck are we meant to find them?" shouted Ferdie. "We don't even know who they are! And when will this fleet of yours arrive? We don't what to be caught up in this whole thing for the rest of our lives."
--Our people have recovered the DNA of the last five individuals who gained the morphing power from a device that reached the co-ordinates of earth,-- said Eramas, completely ignoring Ferdie's question about the Andalite fleet. --It contains a simple transmitter that records and broadcasts the DNA of individuals back to the laboratories of the Andalite home world, or the closest Andalite ship. My soldiers are now incepting the records of your human census, to find the names of these individuals. We will encrypt and transmit them to this escape module on a secure line as soon as we can. But you must not share the names of these individuals with anyone! If they fall into the hands of the Yeerks, then Earth's only resistance will be captured and infested! Visser Three will stop at nothing to get this information. Luckily, most of the time, we Andalites keep our technology very private.--
Eramas pulled out a small device from his sash, which looked somewhat like a portable television. It appeared to have no controls. However, the Andalite stared at it for a moment or two, and then held the screen up to our eyes. It was a map of a city.
--This is where the Escafil Device used to give the humans the morphing power was recorded in action last. I have translated it into a topographical map for your convenience. This is where you will find the Resistance – and the main Yeerk pool complex.--
I stared at the screen. "Can you, I don't know, zoom out or anything? I don't recognise that city." Eramas stared at the device again, and the screen suddenly showed a map of the Earth. A little flashing dot indicated the place where the morphing cube had last been activated.
"America." I said to the others.
"Obviously!" Ferdie. "It's always the States, isn't it? Never Britain."
"It's on the west coast of America. Around two-hundred miles from the state capital.Over five thousand milesin total."
"Five thousand miles!" gasped Asha.
"Oh come on. You didn't expect it to be London, did you?" asked Philip.
--Once you land back on earth – I have programmed the module to take you back to exactly whence you came – you will have less than twenty-four standard hours before Visser Five and his troops have prepared and landed on Earth. You will need to use your morphing power to find the Resistance. Acquire some useful morphs for your planet, both for travelling and for battle, and make your way to these human soldiers. Never stay in morph for more than two hours, or you will remain trapped that way. Beware. Visser Five will soon learn your identities and will try to track you down. You are fugitives now.--
