Quick disclaimer: You all have been more than patient, and I sincerely thank you! What can I say...life.
This chapter is also the beginning of the second arc of this story, which, because of your wonderful support, is going to be longer than I ever expected. :) RG
~~~~~~~~
"You're so blonde, you put lipstick on your forehead when you want to make up your mind."
"And yet I'm still not the one who has to write "Hooked on Phonics" under the education part of a job application."
"You're so blonde, you thought a quarterback was a refund."
"Was this before or after you sold your car for gas money?"
Marco only grinned, minding to step around the muddy patches of grass. The rains the night before left the valley wet, muddy, and surprisingly sunny. That in itself was a blessing-otherwise, Tobias might not ever have spotted Ax resting near one of the small springs buried in the woods earlier that morning. After making sure he was unhurt (including not infested), they agreed to talk with him after he and Erek had a chance to discuss in detail what was going on out east.
Until then, Marco had no problem in allowing himself the guilty pleasure of needling Jordan, a small habit that'd grown into a slight obsession.
"You're so blonde, you ask for price checks at the dollar store."
Jordan rolled her eyes, unable to keep her own lips from turning up.
"Probably better than going to Taco Bell to pay the phone bill. Come on Marco. Is this the best you can do?"
She thought his face would crack from smiling so hard as he leered at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, you're so blond, you studied all night for a blood test...and failed."
Silence resounded in the air as Jordan sputtered. She definitely hadn't seen that one coming!
"What? Need some more lipstick???" Marco offered, reaching in his pockets as she smirked.
"Ha!" she mumbled. Jordan had been positive the boy would be out of blonde jokes by the time she whipped out the phone bill crack. Unfortunately, it seemed he was more persistent, and witty, and funny than she thought
Not that it was a bad thing...
Jordan was just about to ask what he might be doing with a tube of lipstick when she spotted Cassie approaching them.
"Hi," she said in greeting after Marco smiled in Cassie's direction.
"Hey Cassie, you just missed Jordan's ultimate smackdown. I'm surprised she's still alive-but then again, it IS hard to be brain dead if one doesn't possess a brain...you know. Being a blonde and all."
Cassie stifled a laugh as Jordan poked a finger in his ribs.
"So what's up?"
"Ax is ready to talk to everyone about North Carolina and D.C.," she replied, "but I've got to warn you...he might not be in the mood for jokes."
To Cassie, the Andalite hadn't seemed overly despondent or fatigued, despite getting lost in the woods outside their camp the night before. The fact he was able to remember exactly where they were hiding said a lot in itself. But it was also clear he wasn't looking forward to disclosing what was going on.
"Got it. I just hope he isn't too serious. I mean please. This is the same guy who binged on cigarette butts and gasoline fumes. Hmm...gas fumes... " He fondly thought of the Shell station across the street from his house. How could something so deadly smell so good?
"Uh, anyway. I can sit in on the meeting, right Cassie? I won't interrupt or anything," Jordan said, and Cassie shrugged.
"I don't see why not." Suddenly, she smiled.
"That is, if you are a glutton for punishment and want to be around Marco a little while longer."
He threw his arm around Jordan and cheesed at the older girl.
"Don't hate, Cassie. We all know Jordan's a glutton for punishment...AND hot guys."
Although silently glowing, Jordan easily removed herself from Marco's grasp and gave him a skeptical look.
"And apparently, delusional boys," she finished, causing Cassie to glance at Marco.
"Spoken like a true "blonde" Berenson, huh?"
She continued to lead the way to the meeting tents, where the others were waiting.
~~~~~~~
Despite her promise not to interfere, Erek thought it was best Jordan not be a part of the briefing. It wasn't so much he was afraid she would cause a distraction, but they all knew the teenager was too much like her older sister to sit idly while the rest of them spoke. Jordan finally relented when Naomi convinced her it would be better to help her watch Sara, who was still asleep, and make sure she stayed comfortable and warm.
Jake waited until Marco and Cassie sat down before looking to the head of the table.
"Go ahead, Ax."
The Andalite-now human-smiled at him.
"Yes, Prince Jake."
He took another sip of the steaming cocoa in his hands before speaking.
"Well, as you all know, I was positioned in Raleigh for five of your months."
Cassie grinned inwardly. She'd kind of missed his absent Andalite detachment.
"During this period, I was able to gather a complete listing of human hosts currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. This allowed me to observe any significant change in their political standpoints. After some time, it became obvious these individuals are slowly, but surely beginning to push for changes in privacy laws," he surmised.
"Nice job, Ax," Jake interrupted him momentarily.
"You always suspected they would go this route."
Ax nodded, slightly surprised but pleased he remembered his conjecture all those months ago.
"Thank you, Prince Jake."
He took a big bite of cinnamon toast while waiting for their questions.
"Do you have an idea which laws in particular they're concerned with-public, personal, professional? I bet they have no clue how much of a Pandora's box they could be opening with this, asshats," Marco smirked.
Rachel just stared across the table at him.
"YOU have no clue how smart you just sounded."
"You're not too dumb either, plus, hello! Your mom's a corporate lawyer. You guys both know how much legal crap chemical-research companies can get boggled down with from other companies because of privacy laws. My dad could practically smell a lawsuit every time they released a new product."
"Now that we know Marco's secretly a geek," Tobias spoke up, causing a little laughter and one sardonic grin, "maybe you could clarify, Ax."
"Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain specifics without risking my anonymity, or at least, my non-suspicious status regarding Senator Delaney," he replied, refilling his cup from one of the mugs Eva made especially for him.
"I thought he was a governor," Rachel mused, pausing her dictation.
"That was my mistake," Erek volunteered.
"I guess even androids are human sometimes." The girl glanced at him sideways.
"Either way, it sounds like this guy is really involved, not to mention powerful. Just how much damage has he caused?" Jake asked.
"Too much," Ax answered immediately, his large hazel eyes speaking for themselves.
"Erek was able to send me the name of the Chee who replaced a recently deceased Senator. One of the two from Louisiana, I believe. Through working with her and further investigations on my own, I found that approximately 45% of the Senate has been infested. Voluntarily or otherwise."
~~~~~~~~~
Everyone sat up a bit straighter at the number. Forty-five percent? None of them expected to hear that high of a count. It made them all the more grateful to Ax, who had unequivocally went above and beyond by remaining in such hostile territory for the sake of their freedom.
Cassie's face darkened as she settled back in her chair, deflated.
"Half of the President's cabinet are controllers? That is way too many. I can hardly comprehend that," she echoed everyone's thoughts.
"I wasn't sure about the number until last week, and it's also why my consequent return was unexpected. Delaney probably hasn't even gone through all my resignation papers yet. Hopefully he never suspected the legitimacy of my credentials," he said, knowing they all understood the difference could mean whether or not their valley would stay undetected.
Rachel frowned, folding her arms.
"Something tells me this isn't it. Is it," she said rhetorically, and sighed. Even she was beginning to realize this wasn't something they could rush head on, especially since the general summary of the situation was so overwhelming.
"Correct, but it is not all dire. In addition to what I've told you, I was able to locate where the Yeerks are keeping their newest Kandrona," he disclosed. The hopelessness quickly drained from the tent, as a slight breeze simultaneously blew in from outside.
For the first time that day, Jake actually seemed optimistic.
"This is it...this has to be the break we were waiting for."
Ax felt a subtle relief at his statement. Erek told him earlier Jake wasn't doing well, hadn't even pretended he cared about what happened to himself or anyone else. Luckily, it seemed his leader was starting to regain some of the balance he'd lost since coming to the Hork-Bajir valley.
And although it simply could've been his over-analytic nature, Ax noticed Jake and Cassie were discreetly holding hands under the table throughout the entire meeting.
"How in the world did they let something like that slip?" Tobias wondered out loud, pushing a lock of dark blond hair from his forehead. He didn't want to think the worst, but there still was a chance their "break" could be a well-orchestrated set up.
"Hey, no one ever said those Yeerks weren't some cocky mofos," Marco quipped, tapping a pencil against a used up Post-it Note pad.
"It sounds just like them to cover every little clue except the most important thing of all. I bet there was some kind of paper trail, or something?"
"Actually, yes," Ax said, and motioned for Erek to pass a sheaf of papers around the table, starting with Jake, who carefully flipped through them.
"Those are the financial records of two start-up Yeerk-infested companies, both located on the eastern shores of Virginia. Obviously, the Senator of North Carolina had no business possessing such detailed transactions if it wasn't something beyond his host's job. I eventually traced their, that is, the Virginia entrepreneurs' source of capital back to a large settlement of Yeerks, located in Myrtle Beach."
"And it's where the Kandrona is," Jake finished, his dark eyes electric with excitement.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves," Cassie spoke up, "at least, not with the way Erek is looking all guilty over there."
Everyone's attention drew to the android, who sheepishly grinned.
"What can I say...I was never good at hiding my emotions. You all have every right to be hopeful about this, but you've got to understand going there wouldn't come without some very heavy risks," he began, eying Cassie in particular. She smiled ruefully and said, "No different from any other mission we've done. As dangerous as it'll be, we just can't afford to let this chance slip."
"That's the spirit," Rachel said, happy that even her usually cautious friend saw the opportunity for them to really do some damage.
Erek sighed, pulling his chair closer to the table.
"For the past few weeks, I've been going over travel routes that would be both direct and inconspicuous. Unfortunately, I've just about ruled out private transportation, like cars or vans or anything, and flying is out of the question. Lucky for us, though, there are several other options."
"Uh, "lucky"? You only forgot to mention our fugitive status," Rachel put in unspitefully.
"Ax has that covered. All you guys need to do is agree to what we've planned," he said. Tobias glanced at Rachel, who despite her recent quip looked like she would agree to just about anything.
"It all sounds okay so far. It won't kill us to ride a bus for a few days, right?"
Marco tensed at Erek's silence.
"Just come out with it, man."
"Look, you all know I'm not the dramatic type. I wouldn't be hesitating like this if I really thought there was nothing to worry about. But, the thing is-you guys wouldn't be together."
~~~~~~~~~
Cassie frowned slightly, subconsciously stroking Jake's palm with her thumb.
"Well...okay. You mean we can't act like we're in a group, like we know each other," she said, knowing full well from the expression on Ax's face that wasn't the case.
"Erek is being quite literal, I'm afraid. Travel will be safer this way, Cassie."
Tobias glanced confusedly at Ax, who was staring down at his empty cup.
"But Ax, if something had happened to you in Raleigh, there isn't a thing we could've done to stop it. If we split up...how can we protect each other if we're not together? Why risk it?" he asked, thinking of Rachel's recklessness. He would kill himself before he let anything happen to her, but she was her own person. She didn't think straight sometimes, and everyone knew it was only him and Cassie who could truly make her listen. Because of it, he could only hope they used the same reasoning.
"We have no choice. The Yeerks know our main group consists of six-five of them humans. It wouldn't be as much of a problem to remain anonymous if we travel by threes," Erek explained, and took it a step further.
"And Tobias, I do realize the added risk in having you all go in two separate groups. But you have to trust that Ax and I have taken into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of each of you, and how each person complements the other," he said, and Ax nodded.
"I think you guys might have forgotten my mom forbid me from leaving the camp," Marco spoke up.
"She said as much before you even came back, Ax."
"She doesn't have a choice but to agree. Otherwise, Prince Jake and I would be short one person," Ax replied. Jake sat up straight.
"Excuse me. Are you saying we have no say in who goes with who?"
Erek had no choice but to say yes.
"It might not seem like it, but we really have thought about this is. A lot more than you know, actually. For instance, Ax will only answer to you, Jake, and Marco's tactical sense-although slightly skewed-will balance your logical."
Everything he said did make sense, but Jake was still reluctant.
"It won't work," he said stubbornly.
"Jake's right," Rachel spoke up on his behalf.
"I'm just gonna come out and say it. I'd love it if Cassie were with me and Tobias, but frankly, her and Jake need some time together. This is the perfect opportunity for them to work out their issues," she said bluntly.
"It's okay, Rachel," Cassie replied suddenly.
"Erek is right. This is about logic, how we fit together. I understand."
Jake just looked at her.
"Well, some people fit together in ways beyond logic. And you know what I'm talking about."
No one knew what to say to that, least of all Cassie, who couldn't stop the blush from rising in her cheeks.
"We need to talk," Jake mumbled, and abruptly left the tent with Cassie right behind him.
Ax coughed, a human trait he'd picked up that was perfect for awkward moments.
"If you'd all excuse us, I'd like a moment with my shorm," he said. Tobias looked around and nodded, standing from his chair.
"We can talk down by the fire." The uncle and nephew departed soon after.
"And I need to check up on Sara. She's probably been awake for awhile now," Rachel sauntered over to the zipped down entrance, and gave Marco and Erek a Look.
"Eva said she was going down to west end of the lake to start washing some blankets. Let's hope she's in a good mood."
Then she left.
Erek sighed again, gathering the various scattered papers and documents.
"Technically this meeting isn't over, but she's right. I guess we better catch your mom and convince her to let you go," he told Marco, who rolled his eyes.
"It'll be the day a teenage robot will convince my mom to do ANYTHING, least of all travel across the country. But hey. I'm always up for a good laugh."
~~~~~~~
There will be a mass reader response in the reviews that will hopefully answer your questions, to this point.
Thanks again!