Chapter 23
Even to my supreme falcon vision, the port was growing smaller and small as we headed up into the atmosphere. I had caught a decent thermal in the late afternoon air and was now drifting lazily upwards, too tired to bother flapping my wings more than I had to.
It was quiet up here, although I could make out the noises of the port below me. None of us were saying too much. Philip was probably torturing himself, his plan having failed and putting the team in danger. Sam, guilty for hanging back as crow whilst the rest of us fought for our lives. Maggie had said nothing since demorphing from wolf. And I had finally realised that this journey - or war - was no longer a game.
In front of me, I could make out Sam circling back round towards the rest of us. She had been first to the skies, and now felt obliged, as leader, to put her teams' wellbeing before her own. Philip was further in front. Typical Philip. Fight, then run, and leave the others behind you. Maggie, although having taken off before me, had fallen behind and was now struggling to catch up. It had taken her a huge amount of effort to get her eagle body into the skies, and was now having trouble getting enough lift to gain some good distance.
--Tilt your wings to the right a bit,-- advised Sam, who had seen Maggie's problem. --There's still a bit of warm air coming off the tarmac, and if you glide towards them, you should get a bit of lift.--
Maggie flapped on, relentless.
--Come on, Mags, you can do this,-- Sam said gently. --We're going to stop and demorph in a minute. You can rest then.--
Maggie shifted her flying position, and appeared to catch a little breeze from the ocean wind. She stretched out her huge wings fully, soaring upwards.
--Great stuff, Maggie,-- praised Sam. --Ok, guys, we're going to head for that run down building about a mile east. We'll demorph there. Then, you guys can morph to wasp and beetle, and I'll go goose.--
--Why?-- I asked.
--You guys need a rest,-- she said. --You can ride on my back as we find this stupid ship.--
I smiled at Sam. We had landed and were taking a breather before morphing again.
"That's a pretty nice thing you're doing for us, Sam," I smiled sheepishly. "Don't feel you have to put yourself out for the rest of us though. We can handle ourselves too, you know."
Sam smirked and raised an eyebrow wearily. I could see that she was worn out as anyone.
"Don't try to be such a gentleman all the time, Flawless," she laughed, slipping her hand into mine. "It's not going to get you anywhere."