Chapter 17

((I repeat: Security Guard has noticed the inactive camera!))

What was I doing? I pulled and turned away from the Kandrona box as the rabid bubbling of the liquid within echoed throughout the dark room.

I couldn't. I began to morph fly, and this time I morphed my ears away first. I couldn't handle the screaming, couldn't bear to hear it. Was I such a monster?

I looked back. I saw the bubbling water in the glow of the box, steam pouring from the vent at the back of the container. The vapor twirled and spun up to a grill on the ceiling.

Inside, he had lost his grip. His body thrashed around the box, brought mostly by the torturous churning of the boiling Yeerk water. His screams, invisible to my now ear-less body, were causing the lid of the container to vibrate.

It wasn't me. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't let my anger result in the swiftly-approaching conclusion. I reached forward even as my body shrank and slammed hard on the box's main console button. I wouldn't know if I did it in time. What I did know, though, was that he would never be the same again.

((Guards are being alerted, boss! Time to morph and get out of there!))

I lost control of my morph's order, so disgusted with myself and my jump to such a callous action. I had resisted for so long, but then, in the end, stumbled willingly towards it.

But I was still going fly, and soon my ability to speak had returned. ((Can anybody hear me?!))

((Loud and clear, boss!))

((Yes, Jake,)) Jeanne chirped.

I dragged my changing body to the corner of the room that would be blocked off by the open door, out of sight of any guard that entered. ((We got what we came for,)) I told them. ((Jeanne, are you still fly?))

((No, Jake,)) she replied. ((I am hawk now!))

((Good!)) I exclaimed. Now I was barely a foot tall, though straining to keep my head clear to finish the morph. ((That saves some time. Get out of the facility whenever you can, but stay within Tobias' range.))

((Okay, Jake!))

((Sarge, I want Marco gone, too. Keep him in range.))

((No problem, boss,)) he replied. Then, he asked, ((How did you get it from him?))

((I…)) I didn't want to tell him, but he was straight onto the conclusion once my hesitance was clear.

((Is he okay?))

((I don't know.))

Santorelli fell silent, and I knew that his conflict was returning.

It wasn't the time for moralizing or questioning, and when I heard nothing from him for a clear five seconds, I made a decision.

((Sarge, swap with Tobias,)) I ordered. ((Get up out of the way and bring Tobias down to watch over the facility. Do it now!))

((Why do-))

((Do it now, Santorelli!)) I barked. ((No questions! Bring Tobias down and leave the facility! Keep in range!))

Dutifully, he obliged. ((On it, boss.))

I could have been seconds away from being spotted, and I still hadn't completed the morph. The prison security would be on the lookout, especially upon seeing Esplin and the tampered camera.

((Jake!))

((Tobias!)) I called out. ((What's it like out there?!))

((Four guards just entered the building, Jake,)) he assessed. ((Two doors to go, I'll give you ten seconds before your door opens!))

Ten seconds. It was enough. I was barely a centimeter now, my fly eyes now appearing and becoming fully functional.

((Doors closed!)) Tobias announced in alarm. ((They're closing the doors behind them!))

((Any other way out you can see?!))

A worrying pause. ((No, not on this side. Give me a few seconds to circle. These guards have guns, and they look pretty angry, so be careful in there.))

The light around me suddenly changed, and vibrations that had been quietly sneaking up in the background became thunderous crashing. The door ahead pushed towards me like an enormous wall, stopping a few inches from crushing me. The guards had arrived. The world became an orchestra of vibrations, and that was my cue to move.

I took off with my ecstatic wings and shot up along the edge of the door that hugged the frame, intending to pass back into the main hallway. Even if the other doors were closed, I could wait until a guard opened them, one by one, or I could perhaps find another escape route.

((Couple of ventilation pipes, Jake,)) Tobias informed. ((You okay in there?))

((I'm fine. Is Marco out?))

I came to the top of the door, turning over the edge. I saw the brighter lights of the corridor on the other side. Just a few more inches and I could slip through.

A gust of wind! The door edge beneath me suddenly shifted, the currents throwing me away just as I was about to be crushed between the door and its frame!

The door had been closed!

((He's almost out, Jake. He should b-))

((Tobias! I'm closed in!)) I interrupted. ((They closed the cell door! I'm trapped!))

((Isn't there another way out?!))

I couldn't see far enough to tell, and my mind was too muddled to recall. ((I don't know… I don't think I'll last in here with four guards!))

((Keep trying!)) Tobias urged.

With my crazy fly eyes, I could see the shadows of the guards below me. I couldn't stay in one spot, so I drifted towards the other corner of the room, closer to Esplin's container. Hopefully, the guards would be making enough noise to drown out the buzzing of my body in flight.

But with a broken camera and a tampered Kandrona cell, they had a very good reason for closing the door. They would also have a very good reason for searching out a tiny insect flying against the wall for an escape route.

I had no choice. I had to find a hiding spot. I processed all possibilities in my head and came up with only a few.

I hit the corner of the room, near the ceiling. I would have to descend to reach the bulky wooden table.

The light changed. The fly panicked!

The air current and the fly's quick insect reactions saved me just as the enormous hairy hand swiped by. I had been found!

I had to drop, speed downwards without hesitation, and disappear under the table. How long I could stay clear when they knew of my presence, I couldn't say.

Another hand swipe! It hit me, but with such a small body, I merely bounced off, and my wings propelled me clumsily to safety before the curling fingers could snatch me from the air.

Then the edge of the table arrived, and it couldn't have come sooner as another hand threatened to slam down on me. I ducked under the edge, the light levels around me decreasing sharply. I dipped beneath the vertical plank that joined the legs and rose back up so that my wings scraped the table's underside.

But I couldn't stay for long. In seconds, four guards could be under there with me. I headed back towards the wall and landed against it.

There was a slight gap between the table and the wall that I could walk up through. I had gone for a specific reason, and I had guessed my distances to perfection.

I was directly behind the Kandrona box. The orange-brown eyesore filled my vision. A couple of cables stretched from the back of it and down under the table nearby.

I scuttled over and ducked beneath the clutch of cables, shielding myself from direct sight. It was probably the safest place to be while I planned my escape.

The temperature rose as I approached, the last remnants of the interrogation I had performed. A shadow drifted by within the Kandrona cell before I hid entirely beneath the cables, its slight movements solely a consequence of the calming water.