Pheonix Feathers – Chapter Twelve

Jake stared impassively at his General, waiting for new orders. He was working for the army; he had been since the end of the war. He didn't enjoy it very much, to be honest, but he couldn't really imagine doing anything else with his life. He didn't feel right, out in the world, he couldn't understand the people around them, and how happy they were. He was still living with his parents, but even they didn't speak to him much, not after he broke down and told them exactly what had caused his bother and Rachel's death. He didn't know if it was that they were angry with him, it was possible, they still really didn't understand the sacrifices that were necessary because of the war, after all, how could they? They weren't part of it. It was either that, or they were scared that he could have done something like that. It scared Jake too, still, that he had been able to make all the decisions that he had during the war. He felt like a murderer. He felt inhuman. So, he worked for the army. It was a dismal life, but it was what Jake could deal with. "Sir?"

In his thoughts, he had missed what the officer had said. The General looked at him impatiently, scowling. "I said that you're being transferred. We've got a special mission for you."

Jake nodded curtly. "Yes, sir."

"We'll have to knock you out, I'm afraid we cannot have you knowing where the facility we are bringing you to is."

Jake nodded again. "Yes, sir," he repeated. He stood still as the man nodded to one of the guards standing behind him, and then he saw no more.

Cassie soared over Red Wood national park, laughing in her mind from the sheer joy of flying. She adjusted her feathers, tilting her wings down into a dive. She spiraled down toward the huge, red trees. Though she enjoyed flying, she wasn't doing it pointlessly. She did try not to abuse her power, now that the war was over there wasn't a huge need for it, as there had been before. But in her line of work, it came in handy. A huge fire had ravished the forest recently. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Cassie, she had lived in California all her life, and she knew the importance of the fires that were so common there. Her father had taught her about them. She cringed inwardly at the thought of her father. He had died the previous year, of cancer. The Andalites had provided the technology that led to the curing of many human diseases, but not that one, sadly. She shook the thought away, resuming her examination of the forest below. Again, normally she wouldn't have been worried, but Red Wood trees were extremely endangered, and it wouldn't do to have this, the largest grove of them left in the world, burn to the ground. Thankfully, she and her volunteers had been able to stop the flames before they caused too much damage. Yes, it looked like the parts that had burned were beginning to regrow nicely. Satisfied, she landed on the ground, quickly beginning to demorph. As she stood up, morph complete, she saw a bright white light, and then darkness.

Marco lay beside his pool in skimpy, red swim trunks, sipping something cold and fruity. Though he usually would have had a couple of babes hanging around him, or a laptop on his lap, at the moment what he was holding was a book. He chuckled at the rarity of this occasion. But after writing so many books himself, it was the least he could do to read Tobias's book. Besides… he hadn't even seen his friend since Rachel's funeral so many years ago, and he had figured it would be nice to have some connection to him. And maybe he was imagining it, but he really thought that he could feel Tobias in the writing, though it was about nothing more than Red Tailed Hawks, someone who knew Tobias as well as he did could catch the traces of his subtle sense of humor, his pain. Marco laughed again, turning the page to reveal a beautifully photographed photo of a hawk in flight. That was something he was sure he wasn't making up; Tobias's love of flying was burned into every page of his book.

"Hello, Mr. Animorph."

Marco jumped, startled, the book dropping onto the slate ground. "That's me." He told the men, regaining his composure and flashing them his winning grin. He watched them, still grinning, though his mind was racing. There were three men, dressed in black, with what looked like beam-proof vests, armed with what he was sure were top of the line beam-guns. He couldn't imagine how they had gotten in. The Chee had conned him into having a ridiculously huge amount of dogs on his property, (Damn their ability to appear as anything… Marco just couldn't resist both Carmen Electra and Hilary Duff at once,) and they generally made a huge fuss whenever anyone was approaching. Besides, he had top of the line security, and many guards. He wasn't worried about anyone attacking his home, of course, but fans could be crazy sometimes… besides, how was anyone supposed to know how important he was if he didn't have an insane security system? "Hey, how'd you get in here, anyway?" He asked, boredly.

The man who seemed to be the leader sneered at Marco, the others keeping their eyes locked on their beam-gun sights. "That is none of your concern. You will come with us, or we will be forced to use force."

Marco raised his arms, palms outward. "Hey, I'll do whatever you want, men with large guns." He stood up, keeping his arms raised, eyes trained on the beam-guns which followed his every move. "Where we off to?" Apparently this was one too many questions, as the leader, rolling his eyes, fired his gun. Marco felt himself hit the ground, then his world went black.

They awoke almost simultaneously in a stainless steel room, seemingly devoid of windows or doors, though there was a ventilation grate in the ceiling. Marco and Jake looked at each other, both looking grave, as if at a lack as to what to say. Marco opened his mouth as if to speak, but was interrupted by a thought-speak voice. The bird will fill you in on why you are here, and what your mission is. Please do not attempt to escape from this room. There is a Bio-Filter installed outside the grate. You will be retrieved when we are ready for you.

As it faded into silence, Cassie jumped up, running across the small room to a cage bolted into the wall. Inside sat Tobias, deeply asleep.