Chapter 23
--Guys - sharks - now!-- cried Sam. --Get out of here! The Visser's leaving - he's not sticking around to get killed! The Assassin's going to die anyway! And we don't want to hang around for Lort-Strelitz to pick us up and present us to Visser Three instead!--
--What about the detonator?-- I asked, demorphing as I ran. She was still carrying it - or rather, the arm on which it was still strapped - in her mouth. She paused, stared at me for a second, and turned around.
--Where are you going?-- Ferdie yelled, half-way to human.
--I'm giving the Yeerks that blow we talked about earlier!-- she cried. --Get off deck - get in the water - now!-- She ran back towards the scene of the battle, and I realised what she was going to do.
"Ferdie, Maggie, get in the water!" I yelled, almost back to human. I stumbled, my joints switching direction from wolverine to primate. My claws retracted into my hands, being replaced by useless human fingernails. My hearing dulled, but even to my human ears, the battle still raged on.
Maggie and Ferdie caught up with me, the three of us now fully demorphed.
"Water, now! Sharks!" I cried. I climbed up over the railings. Leant over the water. I leapt into the blackness, immediately starting to concentrate on my shark morph. I hit the water with a splash, the noise of which was lost in the moment of battle, diving deep under the water, my body registering the ice-cold bite of the Atlantic. I surfaced, finding Maggie and Ferdie with me as well. Maggie was gasping for breath, her lips blue, her face white and pale. Ferdie's eyes were wide.
"Get away from the ship!" I ordered. "Morph shark!"
"Where's Sam?" cried Ferdie.
"She's coming!" I replied, spluttering. I powered my body away from the boat, half dragging a gasping Maggie with me. I could feel the changes begin already, although it was the last thing I noticed. My skin was turning rough and thick, the ice-cold sting of the water already loosing it's bite. My arms being sucked into my sides, my legs and feet fusing together to form the powerful tail of the Blue shark. I sunk under the water, unable to tread water any longer. I resisted the urge to inhale, but the urge was too strong and I breathed in deeply. Oxygen flowed through my veins - I'd formed gills. This was the first time any of us had morphed shark, and we had no idea what it would be like. Unfortunately, we hadn't had the luxury of practise, and we couldn't risk going airborne as geese. This was our only chance for escape.
--I hope you're out the way of the ship!-- I head Sam yell, from some distance away.
--I'm in the water, going shark and swimming my backside off to get as far away from this ship as I can, so I hope you're doing the same!--
--What have you done?-- cried Ferdie, who was well on his way to shark, and had crossed the line to thought-speak.
--She gave the detonator back to the Assassin,-- I explained. --She's going to let her destroy the ship, the artefact, and anyone left on it.--
--What about the Visser?--
--The coward escaped. He and his bodyguards turned his back on the battle - they got in his helicopter. He got away. We have to do the same.--
Suddenly, the shark's brain surfaced below my own, and I felt the irresistible need to swim. Without even thinking about it, I dived deep into the depths of the ocean, powering myself away from the ship.
A minute later, I was aware of a huge explosion. The HMS Hertford was destroyed. The Assassin had carried out her duties. She had destroyed the artefact, along with Lort-Strelitz, countless lower ranking Controllers, and herself. And the Fugitives were fugitives again.