Sorry to any New Yorkers if my facts and descriptions are way out - I've not been to NYC or even the USA so have had to get all my information for details from research from the internet!

Chapter 12

--I know we have spent much of the last few days flying,-- I said, --but I have to say that being a human is rubbish compared to being a bird.--

--I agree,-- said Ferdie. --I just feel pinned to the ground when I'm not flying. And only moving in two dimensions is so restricting.--

--Plus the view below us now is far more interesting than miles and miles of ocean, like before,-- put in Sam.

The four of us were in our long-distance transit morphs: geese for Sam, Philip and Ferdie, and swan for me. We soared about the land a few thousand meters up, enjoying the clear views of the ground below us, and the utter silence apart from the wind rushing past our ears. We were flying in anticipation, making our way towards New York City, following the highways and freeways below us, where we would spend a few hours fine tuning our plans and getting our act together before finding the airport. We were hoping that the plane used to transport the celebrities would be fairly easy to spot - partly because it was a Concorde and partly because the levels of security around it would probably be very high, assuming it was controlled by Yeerks.

There was a buzz of excitement in the air - and it was not just the build up to another mission, but to visiting New York. I felt like we were going on an exhilarating trip for the Christmas holidays. Plus, there was the feeling that we were one step closer to finding the human resistance - something we'd been working on since this whole thing had started, and what every single one of our actions had counted towards over the last two weeks. Philip kept out in front, giving us directions, although it seemed to me that we were just flying in one long straight line. The airport was a few miles east of northern Manhattan, in the north of Queens, and if we managed to find it in time, we were planning to go crow and explore the city from the air, flying alongside the skyscrapers like Spiderman in the movie of the same name. For that reason, I was planning to acquire a pigeon or a similar bird, since I was the only one without a 'common' bird morph. All I had was an eagle and a swan - both of which were highly noticeable, unlikely to be living in a city, and would probably attract unwanted attention from Controllers who would know to look out for swans, assuming they were us fugitives in morph.

--This is so exciting!-- I said childishly. --Are we nearly there? I've always wanted to visit New York!--

--I think we're probably about halfway there,-- said Philip, from the front of our little V formation. He kept swooping down towards the ground to get a look at road signs and to make sure we were still on track. Our bird morphs had great eyesight - not quite as good as our raptor morphs but still far better than human eyesight.

--New York is huge, you know that, right?-- Sam said. --It's not just a case of one second we're not in the city, and the next second we are. Not like that town we just came from. It's huge. Much bigger than London and far bigger than Leeds - it sprawls out for miles and miles and you can't tell what is part of it and what is not. Until we manage to find our way right into the centre, we probably won't have any idea of where we are.--

--It shouldn't be too hard to find the airport, though, will it?-- Ferdie asked. He was flying behind me and to my right. Sam was flying beside me, to my left. --All those runways and everything will be fairly easy to spot from the air.--

--Well, yes, but only when we get into that main area,-- Philip said.

--We managed to find Cardiff port, didn't we?--

--Yes, but that was in a country that was familiar to us. None of us have ever been to the States before, let alone one of the most major cities in the world.--

--Oh, Philip, stop being such a pessimist!-- Ferdie laughed. --You're always looking for things that will go wrong.--

--It's called being realistic, Flawless,-- Philip sighed. --What has your optimism bought us? Just crazy and far-fetched ideas as far as I can see.--

--Well, I think it's great for one of us to be so optimistic,-- Sam said. --If we were all constantly worried and let this whole situation get on top of us, I think we'd all either be at each other's throats or had given up by now.--

--See, Philip? A little optimism is good for peoples' spirits!--

Philip started to grunt something in response, but gave up, leaving us to fly on in silence, although I had the feeling that Sam and Ferdie were speaking privately to one another from time to time - particularly when Ferdie started laughing for no apparent reason.

Eventually, after a whole afternoons' flying and the customary two hour de- and remorph, we began to see signs that we were coming into the city. The countryside below had long since been replaced by an urban jungle of concrete - a metropolis of modern Western civilisation. Skyscrapers and vast office blocks took the place of trees, and mass transit lines and highways replaced rivers and streams. The stretch of water whose coast we had followed since setting off from Cove Bay began to filter off into a number of smaller channels, cutting through the state like blue ribbons laid across vast grey paving slabs. As Philip navigated his way into the city, I began to recognise many of the landmarks I realised I'd seen a thousand times in films pictures - sending a surge of relief and amazement through my body as I realised that he had managed to navigate us here almost effortlessly.

--Ok, everyone,-- Philip said after another half hour or so of flying, --there's the airport that the Concorde will be departing from. I suggest we descend now to get a better look at the layout and come up with the plan.--

The airport was spread below us, from air, it looked like a child's play set. We were still about five thousand feet up, and so although we could easily make out runways and terminal buildings, and just about make out individual planes, it was very difficult to tell which was the Concorde. Philip swept back his wings and soared towards the ground, the rest of us following. Ferdie, always the daredevil, was plummeting towards the ground as if he was in his flacon morph.

--Flawless - stop diving like that! Geese don't dive - they glide! It would look suspicious if anyone saw a goose diving like that!-- I called to him.

Ferdie ignored me and continues swooping towards the ground, a great grey and black missile. Eventually he pulled up and started flying in wide circles a few hundred feet below us, waiting for us to catch up.

--Ok, let's land on that terminal building over there and morph hawks,-- said Sam. --We'll work out our plan for getting on board the plane, then have a bit of a break. There's not much we can do anymore apart from wait for the celebrities to arrive.--

--Then, can we go sightseeing,-- I asked?

--Sure, Mag's, we'll go sightseeing,-- Sam laughed. --I want to see the Statue of Liberty!--