Chapter 12

The nook was a little more cramped than it appeared to be in my falcon eyes. I demorphed and almost knocked the trash can over. I had to pull my knees hard into my chest to keep myself entirely hidden. Tobias and Santorelli wouldn't be able to see everything, so I couldn't be sure if some stray guard wasn't just meters away.

I didn't even risk whispering to Jeanne, who I'd heard on the opposite side of the shack. Nor could I communicate with Santorelli. Thankfully, he didn't stop talking.

((I'm not seein' anybody, boss. Tobias has a better view of the block, and he doesn't see anybody, neither. You're good.))

I took a few deep breaths. Morphing a falcon was something I had almost gotten used to over the years. The fly, however, was something I'd never grow accustomed to.

I would have feared for Jeanne screaming out in horror. But morphing insect was one of the first lessons I had taught her. And she seemed to have a natural gift.

And so the changes began. I kept my eyes open, too paranoid of unseen prison guards to close them. I had to watch my body transform in one of the most sickening ways, and having some control over the order of things wasn't going to make it any more graceful.

Firstly, I needed to shrink. The trash can that shielded me against the shack's wall suddenly started to tower over me like some vast bland architecture. The ground approached like I was falling in slow motion. My little space was quickly becoming comfortable. Then it was the size of my bedroom, then a dining hall, then a football stadium…

New appendages shot out of me. First, the wings. The transparent, gossamer fly wings that lay flat over my back. Not a second later, two black hairy legs spurted from either side of my abdomen. I could have vomited if my entire mouth and throat apparatus hadn't become distinctly non-human.

I left the proboscis till last, letting my body pinch into clear segments beforehand. My eyes stopped being rotating spheres inside of my head and became the many fixed eyes with such strange and confusing vision. The world around me became a wall of television sets that only the insect mind could decipher.

Finally, what remained of my mouth shot forward into a horrible, sucking tube. The arrival of the proboscis signaled the end of the morphing process.

((I'm fly,)) I announced to Jeanne and Santorelli. ((Jeanne?))

((Nearly finished!)) she called back chirpily. I'm sure she didn't feel chirpy.

Santorelli replied, ((Marco says he's in position. He just morphed skunk, and he's sittin' in the ventilation. The time is 6:52, accordin' to the Block's control panel. There's a guard posted at the panel.))

It was just as we had planned. ((Okay, Sarge. We'll get into position. Can you see the entrance to the Visser's block?))

((I can see the top of the door, boss!))

((Good enough,)) I responded. ((Think you could spot a couple of flies from where you are?))

His pause made me somewhat anxious. ((Maybe. Tobias could swoop over without gaining much attention.))

((Send him a message,)) I instructed. ((When I give the signal, I want him to fly low enough to see if we're beside the main door to the block—no lower, and no hanging around. We need him in the skies, and we need you to remain posted where you are.))

((Gotcha.))

I was taking more risk than I would have liked, but Jeanne and I needed to know that we were in the right place. The fly's vision wasn't strong enough to be one-hundred-percent certain.

((Jeanne, you ready?)) I asked.

((Yes! I am ready! Shall we find each other first?))

((Yeah. Probably not the best idea to morph flies around these trash cans…))

The fly wanted to explore the smelly area we had morphed in, but both Jeanne and I were capable and experienced enough to override the fly brain. I set off out of my temporary hiding place and into the bright light of the outside world.

We may have only been a few meters apart, but that was enormous as a fly.

((Tobias is in position!)) Santorelli announced. ((Ready for your signal.))

((Not yet,)) I grumbled, flying down to the ground after a pathetic attempt to locate Jeanne. ((Okay, Jeanne, I think it's best if one of us stays still. Where are you?))

((I believe I am on the waste disposal, Jake.)) Her tone wasn't the most convincing.

((Metal?))

((Yes, Jake. It is.))

With that clue, I shot back up into the air. She couldn't have moved far from her side of the shack where the other trash can lived. ((Could you walk down to the ground? I'll meet you at the base of the trash can.))

I kept within the dim sunlight, but alongside the wall to my right that I assumed to be the storage shack. Moments later, that wall turned away ninety degrees to my right. I spotted what looked to be Jeanne's trash can and flew over in the clumsy motion of an erratic flying insect.

Coming to the base of the trash can, it didn't take me long to find a second fly.

((Is that you, Jake?))

((Hope so,)) I replied. ((Let's go.))

Jeanne followed me up into the air, giving enough indication that I had found the correct fly. I knew which direction to fly in to get to the Visser's block. It was then merely a case of following the wall to the corner and around to the door. Once we had zipped around long enough in the right direction, we hit a flat wall. I stayed there briefly as Jeanne landed beside me. Then we headed along the wall.

It was a big building, at least as far as the fly was concerned, so it was a long while just bouncing along the dull grey wall.

((Boss?)) Santorelli spoke up, concern in his voice. ((You gettin' there?))

((Yeah, we're on the move.))

((Don't wanna panic you,)) he started. ((But the guards are on the way.))

((Damn it! What time is it?!)) I called. My bouncing off the wall to keep on the right track was abandoned, and I started heading as straight as possible. Jeanne followed my example.

((7:01. Marco's… Marco's sayin' that they're ready to open the doors. The guards are almost there!))

((Jeanne!)) I shouted to her. ((We need to move!))

She had already foreseen the issue and didn't necessarily need my words. She was speeding along beside me.

((Waiting on your signal, Jake!)) Santorelli urged.

I had no idea how close we were to the corner of the building and the doors. It could have been inches, could have been meters. I made a snap decision.

((Sarge, swoop now! Tell Tobias to swoop now!))