Chapter 17
--So, what might one do when one gets to Cardiff?-- asked Philip in a ridiculous, but completely serious, accent. --What might be one's options?--
Sam forced back a laugh. --Well, one cannot be sure until one enters the city,-- said Sam. --One may sleepeth, one may carry on flying, one may swimeth or one might even sneaketh around the port and see if one can hitchhiketh a trip to America.--
I laughed in thought-speak - and squawked out loud to show my approval. Sam doesn't often make jokes, but this one was brilliant, having clearly knocked Philip off his throne.
--I think stowing away on a boat sounds like a good enough idea,-- said Maggie. --I know we've all got water morphs and stuff, but crossing thousands of miles across the Atlantic is a pretty big step. What if one of gets lost, or hurt, and there's nowhere to demorph?--
--We could fly over, as geese,-- said Philip, carefully avoiding any 'ones'.
--Yeah, but we'd still have the problem of demorphing and remorphing - in the middle of the ocean,-- said Sam.
--Do you have any idea how large the Atlantic is, Philip?-- I asked innocently. --It's rather a lot bigger than our swimming pool. A little deeper too. And with a couple extra species of dangerous animal.--
--Yes, thank you, Flawless. I can't hear you suggesting anything else. I can see you're all up for easy option.--
--Guys, please,-- said Sam. She raised her left wing and turned towards me. --There's an international port in Cardiff. We just have to find out which ships - if any - are set to sail for the US, morph something small, and stow aboard.--
--There's so many things wrong with that plan, Sam, that I don't know where to begin,-- huffed Philip. --But how about this one - how on earth are you going to find out which ship is going where? I would seriously advise against going up to the captain and asking him? And what if they're Controllers?--
--Well, I don't know!-- scorned Sam. --It was just a suggestion! Why don't you- --
But I wasn't going to hear another fight for dominance between the pair of them.
--Ok, -- I said, stepping between them for the first time. --Sam, you may not have all the answers but at least it's a start. Philip, if you have an idea, tell us - amicably.--
Philip was silent for a second, obviously annoyed at being told off by his younger brother.
--I'll find out where the ships are headed,-- he replied. --I know a thing or two about navigation. Nothing like the Navy boys or anything, but I should be ok. It's a civilian port, so it won't be as secure as military ones. Might need you guys to help me though.--
--Fine. You tell us what you need and we'll do it,-- said Sam.
We flapped on, Philip outlining his ideas to sneak into the database of the international port. He was carefully checking each step with Sam, asking for her approval. Although quick to criticise others, Philip won't make any plans without supervision nowadays. As I listened, I realised it wasn't much of a plan - there was a heck of a lot of 'ifs' and 'in cases', but it was the best we had. I didn't bother listening to the intricate details, instead just waiting to hear what I had to do and remembered as much.
The fields were becoming fewer and further between now. We were approaching the city. The four of us, being different species of birds, had spread out quite a lot over several kilometres and at different altitudes in order not to attract attention. I was quite far in front, maybe a mile up. Maggie was behind me, further west, and higher than all of us. Sam and Philip were to the east, furthest away from me and flying slightly lower. Philip was guiding us towards the port, again following roads and signposts. His hawk eyes were perfect for the job. As we flew over the motorway, I caught a nice thermal from the concrete below and soared lazily upwards. A thermal is like a pillar of warm air. If you catch one, you can ride it like a lift up to the bellies of the clouds. You just spread your wings and let it take you. It's an amazing feeling. Maggie and Philip were soaring better than I was. Maggie hardly had to flap her wings at all. The two of them had larger wingspans, their hawk and eagle morphs well adapted for riding the thermals. Mine and Sam's falcon morphs had shorter and slimmer wings - perfect for diving skimming through the air to catch small birds on the wing, but not quite so good for soaring. Still, I was flying, so I couldn't complain.
At long last, and after a de- and remorph in some smelly alleyway just before we got into the centre of the city, we found the port. It had taken a while - there were many cities and ports along the south coast of Wales and from the air, they all seemed to merge into each other. I said, why not just stop anywhere on the coast, but Sam had insisted we stick to the plan. How useful this morphing power had turned out to be! There was no way we could have found the place so quickly or so easily by train. We demorphed, as usual, on the roof of a large, modern building alongside the river. It had turned out to be the Millennium Stadium - an enormous, top of its class sports and events stadium, host to prestigious events such as the 1999 Rugby World Cup and the FA Cup, and one of the stadiums to be used in the 2012 Olympics.
"Oh, wow!" I gasped, when I'd realised where we were. I wonder if there's a game going on?" The stadium was enormous, with a huge retractable roof to allow the match to take place in the open air, but to shelter the thousands of spectators. I tried to run towards the edge of the roof, but Philip called me back.
"Flawless, you idiot! The roof's curved - you'll fall right into the stadium before you managed to see in! Anyway, since when have you been interested in rugby or football? I thought you only liked polo."
"Yeah, I do, but - Philip! We're on the roof of the Millennium Stadium! My god! Johnny Wilkinson could be just meters below us!"
"Oooh, yes, what a thought!" daydreamed Maggie. "Johnny…or David Beckham…directly below us…"
Sam sniggered at our childish comments. "Guys, if there was a game going on right now, don't you think you'd be able to hear it?"
I ignored her. "When this whole thing is over, I am never going to pay to go to another game or concert again! Who needs to shell out hundreds of pounds for a ticket - when we can morph falcons and watch the thing for free, from the air! God, yes! And it would be the best view in the entire stadium, and- "
"Yes, come back down to earth now, Flawless," Sam laughed. "We'll still got a job to do."
I swallowed, my bubble burst. Oh yes. We were going to be morphing wasps. What fun.