Chapter 18

I couldn't risk hanging around because they would eventually find me. Hidden behind the steaming-hot Kandrona cell would buy me some time, but I had to come up with something else.

((Marco's out,)) Tobias told me. ((He's… Yeah, he's left the facility. Just me and you, Jake.))

((I'm hidden. I don't know how long for, but I'm trying to think of a way out… Tobias?))

((Yeah, Jake?))

((The One is based on Kyritlyp. It's a Kelbrid machine built for warfare.))

He seemed confused. ((Huh? Kyruh…))

((Kyritlyp,)) I reiterated.

((Jake, you're getting out of there. Tell me this later!))

It was a precaution. I had been in far worse situations before, but the part of me that couldn't escape reality was smart enough to pass on such vital information. I would try to balance it out with some optimism, but that often blinded me to the stone-cold facts.

The table vibrated and then shuddered with a bang. In seconds, they would find me. I flicked my nimble little body and parked upside-down on the underside of the cluster of cables, just as I felt the box beginning to move.

The movement caused me to shift, unintentionally and instinctively jumping closer to the box. The temperature increased substantially, so close to the heated liquid within…

Wait, the steam!

((Tobias! I'm going to try for a vent! I know where I can find one!))

((Go for it, Jake,)) he replied. ((I'll keep an eye out for you. More guards appearing out here, most of them heading for the Visser's block.))

I had a path. It wasn't going to be comfortable, but the heated steam would provide me cover and guide my way directly to a small ventilation grill on the edge of the ceiling that I recalled spotting earlier in my peripheral vision.

The box jerked sideways as the guards feverishly attempted to spot me. I let go of the cables and circled them, zipping directly up to find a thinning body of steam. It wasn't hard to find.

No hand swipes right away, and I buzzed up into a cloud of steam that rose quickly towards the ceiling.

Pain in a fly body is difficult to explain… It's certainly not like the pain of a vertebrate, but my body was definitely telling me that something was wrong. The steam enclosed me, and though it hid me enough while the guards fumbled around beneath and before me, I was half-tempted to risk flying back out into clear air. I was suffering.

But the path to the vent wasn't far. With an agitated morph, I found the slit openings in the ceiling after following the current of the rising steam. I tucked myself in, just as five chunky digits found me and tried to enclose my tiny body. They wouldn't fit through the vent slits, but they would know where I was going. With that in mind, I had to hurry.

I ran the building layout through my head, and from that, I deducted the direction I needed to go in. After choosing my path, everything became very dark, and it was up to chance that I could find the exit before the guards alerted any others to where I was.

((I'm in the vent, Tobias! Heading westwards. Visser's room is right at the end of the building, so I should come out near there!))

((I see the exit,)) he replied. He seemed a bit further out. ((Tell me when you see light. I'll get a little closer to find you.))

((Guards around?))

((Yeah, but they aren't by that side of the block yet. You have a minute. Less than.))

((It's enough.))

I hoped it was. I could see nothing in the square tube I was traveling through. Much to our previous frustration, the layout we had found didn't display the newer buildings' vent and pipe systems, but I felt confident that I was heading in a straight line for the facility's left-most side, close to the wall that signaled freedom.

It went on for a while. I was counting the seconds in my head, hoping to reach the end before the heat got to me.

((Still clear.))

Then I saw the light! It revealed itself to me up in the distance as a single circular beacon. I continued through the cramped, dark space, pulling it closer.

((Seconds!))

I breached the barrier, the bright light stunning my unfamiliar eyes.

Just as something swiped past me, threatening to block off my route! I rose, higher and higher, out of their reach and the clutch of the depressing building.

((I'm out, Tobias!)) I called to him, filled with relief.

((Yeah… Yeah, I can see you! You're just where I thought you'd be. Keep heading in that direction. I'll meet you on the other side of the wall.))

((Got it. Stay inconspicuous.))

((Seriously?))

Nobody was going to see me in the vast dawn sky that hung over the facility. Not in that tiny body. I continued in the same direction, riding the slight breeze higher than any regular fly would bother going. There was never dog poop up this high.

((I'm near the wall, Jake,)) Tobias announced. ((I think I can… Yeah, I can see something like a dot coming towards me.))

((Are you hidden?)) I asked in return.

((Yeah. I'm hidden by a bush quite far from where you are. There's a lot of noise coming from the prison, but nobody's going to spot you.))

((It's you that I'm worried about,)) I grumbled.

((Don't worry about me, Jake. I'm an expert at hiding.))

I continued on my path with Tobias guiding me. He didn't want to get any closer as the prison's security was going haywire. I pitied any unfortunate, innocent birds flying over that were bound to receive the consequences of heightened paranoia.

Our birds, however, were safe. The others were within range, but I sent them back to the RV. Their jobs were done.

I landed beside Tobias and then jumped into a dense bush of his feathers. He complained of itchiness but resisted the temptation to preen and flew me back.

I was looking forward to a good meal. But an Andalite was buying…