Chapter 1

--America! I have always wanted to visit America! The land of dreams! The land of the free!--

--The, err, land of Big Macs, Flawless?--

--Well, maybe we should ignore those, but everything else!--

The four of us - Sam Goddard, Philip and Ferdie Lawless and I were in goose morphs, making our way slowly over the Atlantic in the famous V formation, after a rather exciting run in with Visser Five. I myself was actually in swan morph, having acquired the bum of a swan, rather than a goose, by accident. Not that it mattered though. Migrating birds commonly fly together like we were. Ferdie and Sam were chatting about what they'd do when we finally reached dry land. It was nothing to do with planning, or anything like that. Mostly it was to fill the silence - after four days of doing nothing but swimming, you kind of run out of things to talk about. But I think they were more that talking. Sam, our self-designated leader, and Ferdie, the posh playboy, had grown pretty close over the last week or so. I suppose in a way we all had - we'd seen and gone through more than most people do in their entire lives - but Sam and Ferdie were different. They were spending most of their time chatting, laughing, and no doubt flirting, leaving me to listen to Philip's exciting, but still rather repetitive stories of his time in the army. To be honest, I felt rather uncomfortable listening to them - last night he'd admitted to Sam and I how he'd made a terrible mistake on duty and had been discharged just weeks earlier.

--I wonder where we'll end up? Hope it's somewhere nice,-- Ferdie pondered.

--Flawless, I don't think we'll be able to do much sight-seeing,-- laughed Sam. --We'd got to travel another two and a half thousand miles, remember?--

--Still, another country, though?-- I interrupted, feeling a bit left out of their conversation. Now they were talking about something in which we could all engaged, I wasn't going to be left listening to how to ambush an enemy platoon from Philip any longer. --I've always loved going abroad.--

--I've not really travelled much,-- said Sam. --Just France once or twice with my parents, and Wales obviously, if that counts.--

--Philip's pretty well travelled, aren't you?-- said Ferdie.

--Well, the army did take me quite a few places, yes,-- he said, slightly awkwardly. --Iraq, as you guys know, and Northern Ireland.--

--Well, that's better than me,--Ferdie said. --Until now, I'd never stepped foot outside the UK.--

--How about you, Mags?-- asked Sam. --Didn't you say you used to live in Africa, or something?--

--Oh, aye,-- I said. --My parents spent some time doing aid work in Zambia. I used to fly out in the summers to work with them. It was mainly in villages, building schools and wells and all that, but there was quite a lot of work with animals, too.--

--That sounds amazing,-- she replied. --I've always dreamed of something like that. It sounds so fulfilling. I bet that, if I hadn't have been abducted and all, I'd probably have landed some boring office job in the City.--

--I could never have some suit job,-- said Ferdie. --I'd fall asleep.--

--What were you planning to do then, when you left school and stuff?-- I asked.

--Play polo, probably,-- he said casually. --Go pro, make some money that way and stuff.--

--Lucky for some,-- I said.

--You could say that,-- he laughed, --but I'd say the circumstances have changed rather a bit, considering I'm now on the run from an alien war-lord.--

Sam laughed and swooped low, her long black and white neck arching gracefully towards the ground. Even now, after all the morphing we've done, I still find it hard to accept the fact that the goose over there, flying a few meters in front of me, as actually a human girl. It really does blow your mind to think about it. Personally, I try not to delve into it too much and just accept the fact that life has suddenly become very weird.

--Guys, I think I can see land!-- cried Sam. --A few miles ahead.--

I powered my wings and flapped downwards. Ferdie folded back his and swooped downwards in front of me like the daredevil he is.

--Oh, at last!-- he cried. --I was thinking we were never going to make it!--

--Just as long as we haven't gone in a circle and landed back in Wales,-- said Philip dryly.

--Common, Philip, don't be such a pessimist,-- laughed Ferdie. He flapped down closer to Sam. --What do we do now then, Wonder Woman?--

--Well, I'm thinking we should go shark,-- she replied. --I've seen a boat down there a couple of times over the last few hours, and I swear it's watching us.--

--What?-- I said. --How can you tell? We've seen loads of boats over the last few hours.--

--Actually, I was thinking the same thing,-- said Philip. --It's rather late in the day and the seas have got quite rough over the last few hours. Most of the boats are heading back to land now, but thing one has always seemed to be directly below us.--

--It's probably just a fishing boat, trying to scoop up some extra fish,-- I said.

--Maybe so,-- said Sam, --but I'd rather not take any chances. Anyone could be a Controller, and the Yeerks know they've got to keep an eye out for three geese and a swan.--

--Probably best to play it safe,-- agreed Philip. --We don't want another episode with the helicopters like last time.--

--Quite,-- said Sam. --So, everyone agreed? Sharks till we get to land, and I suggest we stay out of the skies for at least another few hours, just in case. Maybe go wolves. Get into the woods or mountains if there are any about, and try and lay low for the night.--

--Sure,-- I said. --And find something to eat, I'm going to be starving when I demorph.--

--You're always thinking about your stomach!-- I giggled. --That's always the first thing you think about when we demorph, whether or not they'll be food!--

--Come on, boys and girls,-- laughed Sam. --Lets demorph and go shark.