Sonili-Esth-Fastil:

Night was several hours away by the time Jacob and Torfan returned. They had a human vehicle with them, which Jacob maneuvered up the cargo ramp, and into the hold. Its exhaust stank, even though it only took Jacob a few seconds to turn off the engine.

Jacob vaulted up into the high cargo area of the vehicle, and began passing large, heavy crates to Torfan, who had morphed into a Hork-bajir (Jett). Jett also assisted.

"Hey, honey, can you start loading these back packs?" Jacob asked me, holding out sturdy canvas objects. I took them quietly, and did as Jacob asked. It took ten minutes, before the packs were loaded and ready. The tubular explosives were actually quiet easy to load into the packs. Jacob had the lightest load, only a single 36 kilogram pack, but Torfan was a Hork-bajir. He carried two packs, one strapped to the front, and the back.

I watched them leave, scrambling in the deepening gloom. If not for the cold, it looked like the larger feet and hands of the Hork-bajir gave Torfan an advantage. Finally, when I could no longer see them, and my stalk-eyes felt like they'd already frozen, Jett made me come back into the ship, and she chased me out of the freezing cargo hold.

"Cold no good for Son-ill-ee. Jah-kob good, have coat," she chastised.

((Yes, Jett, I know))

I wondered what Jacob had tied to his pack before he left.

((()))

((Jett… do you remember your mother?)) I asked, staring at the ugly ceiling of the Yeerk ship.

"Jett remember mother," Jett answered, reluctantly. I couldn't sleep, and neither could Jett, apparently.

((Did you ever fight with your mother?)) I asked.

"Jett's armblade kill mother," she replied bluntly.

((You blocked my mother's blade. Thank you for that, but you didn't kill her)) I gently corrected.

"Son-ill-ee no listen. Jett's armblade kill Jett's mother," Jett patiently explained.

I was… speechless for a moment.

((I'm… sorry. How did it happen?)) I said, tentatively.

"When Jett was not Jett… first thing not-Jett do, use Jett's armblade, cut throat. Mother die. Too old, no use to not-Jett," Jett said bitterly.

((The Yeerk in your head made you kill your mother? Because she was too old?)) I clarified.

"Yes, is true."

((What… what is it like? To have a Yeerk in your head?)) I whispered.

Jett thought about it for a minute, "Jett see, Jett hear, Jett feel… but not-Jett look, not-Jett listen, not-Jet touch. Not-Jett move Jett, say things, do things, make Jett sad. Not-Jett happy when Jett sad. Not-Jett make Jett's body take Jett's friends, make them not-friends. Make them like not-Jett."

Jett hadn't told me anything I didn't already know, but the way she said it…

"Then… good thing happen. Not-Jett guard ramp. Not-Taff shot, Not-Jett run up ramp, wait. Enemy run up ramp, dodge not-Jett, shoot not-Jett. Not-Jett wake up, not-Jett scared. Not-Jett hurt, this make Jett happy. Then, Not-Jett leave. Jett find not-Jett's pictures in Jett's head, but no find not-Jett. Jett move Jett. Jett listen, Jett touch, Jett look. Jett free."

I drifted off to sleep, thinking about what Jett had said. In my nightmare, I was Jett… and my tailblade slit my mother's throat, before becoming Evaan. Over and over.

I screamed, I begged, but darkness laughed in me, and told me I deserved this. Over and over, I killed mother, who turned into Evaan. He would look at me, ((I deserved this)) then die. I don't know how long this continued. Too long.

"Son-ill-lee not deserve this," a voice said, and I looked up, startled. Taff stared at me, confused, then her body flattened, crushed by invisible forces. I ran, screaming, but Taff followed me, broken and bloody, calling my name, like a lost child. A child that need her mother's attention.

"Sonili?"

I woke up, screaming, Taff had my shoulder! My tail-blade slashed.

"Shit!"

Taff let go, scrambling back.

"Calm down, girl, it's me! It's Jacob!" Taff yelped.

I finished waking up, but my hearts were still beating frantically, as my eyes adjusted to the dim room, and I saw Jacob holding his arm.

((Jacob?!)) I whimpered.

"And Esplin," Jacob replied grimly, one hand tightly clamped to his forearm.

Jett turned on one of the portable emergency lights, filling the room with cold blue illumination. Dark fluid trickled down Jacob's arm, from beneath his hand.

"Damn girl, you hit bone," Jacob hissed. Jett crouched beside Jacob, and encircled his upper arm with one of her hands, and squeezed tightly. Jacob groaned, but the trickle of blood slowed to a dribble. "Jett slow blood. Son-ill-ee bring mother," the Hork-bajir told me, scared.

I didn't hesitate.

((Mother!)) I screamed, galloping through the small ship, headed for the medical bay. ((Mother!)) I slammed through the hatch, and my mother looked up from a satchel, snatching her hand out, ((Sonili, what is it?)) she asked, flustered. I didn't notice.

((Jacob, I hurt Jacob!)) I screamed. My mother grabbed a portable field-kit from the emergency locker, and chased me as I ran back to the small cabin. Everything was just as I'd left it. My mother pushed me out of the way, and knelt beside Jacob, opening the field-kit. Hooves thundered on the metal deck, outside the cabin, ((Sonili? What's wrong?)) Torfan asked, trying not to crowd my mother.

"Like a damned circus," Jacob growled, "I know, I know, you can stop saying I told you so," he snarled at no one. It took me a moment to realize he was talking to Esplin.

((What did you do to my daughter, human?)) Mother hissed.

"What did I do?" Jacob retorted, "We'd like to know!"

Mother finished disinfecting the wound, and used the chemical sutures to reattach the severed muscles, veins, and arteries. Despite Jett's impromptu tourniquet, Jacob's dark blood had left a wide puddle on the deck. I hoped it looked worse than it was. My mother approximated the edges of Jacob's skin, and closed the wound with additional chemical sutures.

She packed up the field kit, and Jacob looked at her, "What about a pain-killer, doc?"

((I will do no such thing. The tissue has been rejoined, but it isn't healed. That will take time, two weeks, at least, probably less for you. You will forget your injury if it does not pain you, and most likely exacerbate the damage by accident)) my mother replied stiffly.

"Okay Jett, you can stop trying to pinch my arm off at the elbow," Jacob complained. Jett let go, and Jacob's face paled when blood began to flow, and sensation return, in his forearm.

He made as if to stand up, but Jett brooked no such foolishness. "Jah-kob be smart. Not stand. Blood lost." She easily held him down with one hand, until she was certain he would listen. Then she looked at me, "Why hurt Jah-kob?"

Everyone looked at me, expectantly. ((I was having a nightmare, about Evaan. I mistook him…)) I whispered. It was not a lie, but it was not the truth, either.

Only Jacob seemed to pick up on that, but he didn't say anything.

Torfan shifted his weight, awkwardly, ((Perhaps… we should prepare for the avalanche?)) he suggested. At once, half (or a third, if Esplin was counted as a separate entity) the people in the room disappeared, leaving only the aliens, and me.

"Next time you're kicking and thrashing, I'll poke you with a really long stick," Jacob panted, his face beaded with sweat. I looked down at the bedding I'd been using on the floor. The thin pads had blood on them.

My internal clock told me I still had an hour until dawn, but there was no way I could sleep now. Instead, I cleaned up the blood. Jett tried to make Jacob comfortable, but Yeerk bunks can do only so much.

((Demolition will commence in one minute)) my mother said in public thought-speak.

"Sonili, can you pull up a visual, from an external camera, for me?" Jacob asked.

It took my trembling fingers twice as long as it should have, but I routed the feed from one of the operational cameras to a datapad, and projected it onto the cabin wall. The rivets and welds threw strange shadows on the image, but it was clear enough to understand. I directed the camera towards the mountain, where the explosives were.

((Demolition in ten seconds)) my mother warned us.

"Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…" Jacob trailed off. Near the crown of the mountain, there was a sudden string of five distant plumes of snow, thrown into the air. There was no sound. At first, nothing happened.

"Come on… come on…" Jacob growled, nervous. Then an entire sheet of snow began to slide down the mountain, doubling in size every few seconds. Churning white filled the image, and I could feel the deck tremble, filling me with primal fear. The ship lurched suddenly, and the image went dark as literally tons of snow swept over the ship, and the valley.

"We are now officially cloaked, courtesy of General Winter. Welcome to Earth," Jacob chuckled, before he fell asleep.

I wandered out of the cabin, and went looking for Torfan. Jett wouldn't let anything happen to Jacob…

I found Torfan, in his new human morph, struggling in one of the maintenance access tubes. I deduced that he was attempting to reroute the stealth field emitters, without success. Mother was monitoring his progress from the cockpit.

Bored, I found myself once more at the small cabin Jacob was sleeping in. I accessed the ship's computer from the terminal in the cabin. I still didn't feel comfortable with the idea of willingly sharing the same room as my mother. I needed to do something, or I was going to scream.

I sifted through the encrypted files on the computer, breaking their ciphers. Most of them were personal logs by the commanding officer. He'd either been highly paranoid, or extremely cautious. I almost didn't notice the embedded anti-tampering code to delete the files. I lost a few of the older files before I could partition the code from the other files, and destroy it.

I glanced through the life of a Yeerk. It was boring. Lots of conspiracies and dual allegiances, between Vissers and Sub-vissers I didn't know. I was surprised that the Yeerk Empire was as dangerous as it was… with this much political maneuvering, their military should have been paralyzed.

Disgusted, I cached the decrypted logs into a compressed data module, decreasing the system load on the main computer. I trawled through the rest of the encrypted files, unraveling their useless secrets.

Jacob Nyles:

When I woke up, my arm was throbbing rhythmically, in time to the beat of my heart. Esplin grumbled something involving a lack of pain killers and Andalite anatomy. I think sharp objects might have also been involved, but she had detached partially from me, so her thoughts were fuzzy. I really didn't blame her. I was jealous.

I tried to sneak out of the bunk, but Jett was on me like a snake the moment I moved.

"Jah-kob sleep. Sleep good," she ordered.

"I'm fine," I lied, wiggling my fingers, "See?"

My arm exploded with flaming, suicidal army ants, but I kept my expression flat.

"Not true," Jett argued, having none of it.

"Look, I just want to check on some things, then I'll go right back to sleep, I promise," I bargained. Jett considered this, and hissed. Now, normally, such a sound would have scared the shit out of me, but I'd learned that it was the Hork-bajir equivalent to a reluctant sigh.

"Jah-kob hurry, sleep sooner," Jett grumbled, and trailed me from the cabin. I found that if I kept my arm folded up, so my hand was near my shoulder, the throbbing decreased. Slightly. I headed straight to the cockpit.

Apparently, the big-wigs had called a meeting, without the aliens. I walked in, and sat down at the sensor station, "Hey guys, wat'cha do'in?" I drawled.

Dr. Helaine glanced at me, irritated by my very presence.

((We are attempting to formulate a plan of attack)) Torfan volunteered.

"How's that going?" I asked, curious.

Torfan glanced at the doctor wryly, ((Poorly))

((If we wish to harm the Yeerks, we must deny them access to Kandrona. It is their greatest vulnerability)) Dr. Helaine said, as if repeating herself for the fifth time.

"Okay. How do we do that?" I asked the next logical question in this chain of thought.

((We locate their sources of Kandrona)) Torfan said.

"Good, so the Pool ship is a big supplier. We can't touch that yet, not without space-capability, so that leaves Yeerk pools on the planet's surface, for now." I continued.

((You have told us nothing we did not already know)) Dr. Helaine interrupted.

I held up my finger, "Not finished. So, we need to locate a pool, and knock out the kandrona generator. I see two problems; first, how do we find a Yeerk pool, and second, where do we find easily portable explosives with enough bang to do the job?"

I looked at the Andalites expectantly, but they just stared at each other.

"Listen," Jett suggested.

"Exactly," I said smugly.

((Perhaps you will enlighten us?)) Dr. Helaine asked sarcastically.

I shrugged, "People are always talking to each other. Yeerks do it too, but they probably are using communicators, not telephones. Now, every three days, they have to be at the Yeerk pool. So, if we had some way to pin-point yeerk carrier signals, and then see where most of the signals meet… well… there's a yeerk pool somewhere in that cluster," I said.

((It… would be crude. The signals would no doubt be spread over a wide area…)) Dr. Helaine mused.

"But at least it gives us an area small enough to start a search," I pointed out.

((Actually… I believe I may have a better solution)) a voice said hesitantly.

I turned to look over my shoulder. Sonili hovered by the hatch to the cockpit nervously.

"Okay… what is it?" I asked.

((I've been searching through the ship's files and logs… which has familiarized me with Yeerk programming and source coding. I may be able to introduce a program that will make their communicators send out an intermittent pulse at regular intervals. We can trace their path, and see where the paths intersect)) Sonili suggested.

((How do you plan to introduce the virus to their communicators?)) Dr. Helaine asked stiffly.

((I would have to upload the virus onto a yeerk communicator. From there, any Yeerk communicator that receives a transmission from the infected device will also acquire the virus. Any communicators contacted will in turn acquire the virus… so on and so forth))

Sonili explained.

"That's… brilliant," I said.

((What about counter encryption and security countermeasures?)) Esplin asked.

((Rejoining society?)) I teased.

((Shut-up. I'll slip back out in a minute)) Esplin said tensely.

"Actually, Esplin is worried about counter encryption and security-countermeasures," I interrupted.

((I could make the program look like a software bug, or a calibration error. If I keep the operational duration short, say… three days, with sporadic transmissions… perhaps eighteen bursts per day, it shouldn't cause undo alarm, especially if the problem resolves itself)) Sonili suggested.

((Will that work?)) I asked.

Esplin thought about it for a few minutes.

((Let me speak)) Esplin asked.

((Okay))

"It should work… but make the operational duration variable as well, use a Sine wave, as well as inverted Sine waves too. Also, don't have every transmission spread the virus, make the transmission just as random as the other factors. If there is any discernible pattern, the Yeerks will notice, if they have a competent security officer," Esplin warned.

((We will take your suggestions under advisement, parasite)) Dr. Helaine sneered.

I snatched back my speech before Esplin could reply, and she vented her tirade silently in my head.

"Be nice. She's only an Andalite," I cajoled, but Esplin wasn't listening. She detached away from my pain, still snarling things in galard.

"So, how soon can we start bugging their communicators?" I asked brightly.

Torfan looked at Dr. Helaine, then Sonili.

((Give me an hour)) Sonili said, quietly logging into a computer terminal. At that point, Jett marched me back to the cabin, and reluctantly, I did sleep, as I'd promised.

Sonili-Esth-Fastil:

It took me forty-five minutes to fully compile a virus, using repurposed lines from an actual Yeerk communication program, just out of order. I didn't add any additional lines of code, so even if a Yeerk technician pulled the malicious program apart, piece by piece, there wouldn't be anything identifiable as non-Yeerk. I contemplated the completed virus for a moment. Yeerk computer programming was very similar to Andalite programming… understandable, since their first taste of computers came from stolen Andalite ships.

I downloaded a copy of the virus onto a portable datapad. Mother and Torfan were still in their private meeting. I quietly left the cockpit. Mother would never approve, but I wanted to have a second opinion. In theory, the program was sound, but this was my first attempt.

"Come on, Jett, I took a nap. I need to move, now," Jacob complained.

"No. Jah-kob stay, sleep more," the Hork-bajir growled.

"I'm not tired enough to sleep, Jett, without painkillers. I'll just run down to the med-bay. In and out. No one will know," Jacob insisted.

"Jah-kob not sneaky as Jah-kob think right now. Jah-kob sleep," Jett replied.

I entered tentatively, ((Hello, Jacob))

"Hi kid," Jacob said tiredly.

((Umm, could… Esplin take a look at my program?)) I asked hesitantly.

Jacob's eyes defocused for several seconds, then he focused on my face again, "She's being kind of terse, right now," he said.

((So… no?)) I clarified.

"Oh come on Esplin— no, I won't. We owe her a little— that's hardly her fault!" Jacob snarled, looking off at the wall. He whispered other things quietly under his breath, finally, he gave up and looked at me, "Esplin's free floating, to keep away from the pain. She can't block it out, or get distracted from it," he explained.

((But, why is that?)) I asked curious.

Jacob shrugged, "It's simple. Most nervous systems can only handle so many messages at once, so when we get distracted, the number of messages being transmitted exceeds capacity, so some things get lost… but for a Yeerk, they're connected to every nerve ending, and they can channel all of the messages."

((Oh. That is simple))

Jacob scratched at his stubble in irritation, "I can take a look, if you want."

((Thank you, Jacob, but, I need a Yeerk's point of view)) I said awkwardly. Jacob smiled, "Touché." He looked off to the side, then back at me, "Actually, Esplin will do it, on one condition."

I perked up, ((What does she want?))

Jacob chuckled, "She'll look at the program, but she wants a pain killer first."

I shifted uncomfortably. ((Mother said—))

"Hello Sonili, this is Esplin," Jacob said, his tone and inflection changing subtly.

((Oh, hello)) I said, off-balance.

"An anti-inflammatory will be sufficient. It doesn't have to be a full analgesic," the Yeerk assured me.

((Why are you speaking, and not Jacob?)) I asked, curious.

"We're experimenting," Esplin replied softly, and Jacob's eyes softened strangely.

((Alright…)) I said slowly.

"Please hurry," Esplin requested.

((()))

My mother was still in the cockpit, so no one challenged me in the med-bay. I carefully looked through mother's kit, and took only what I needed. I bumped into mother leaving.

((Sonili?! What were you—?)) my mother stammered, startled.

((I was… looking for you)) I lied.

((Can we speak later, I have to—)) my mother started to say.

((Crashed on a backwater planet, with nothing to do, and yet you still have no time for your own daughter)) I whispered bitterly. I shoved through the door, and out of sight, keeping my eyes ahead. I refused to look back at her with even a single stalk-eye.

I stormed back into Jacob's cabin, and handed the vial to Jacob, as well as the datapad.

"You look, disgruntled," Esplin said hesitantly.

"You look pissed," Jacob corrected.

((It is nothing. Please check my program, Esplin)) I said tersely.

Jacob administered the anti-inflammatory, in the correct dosage, into his left brachial artery. Within a few minutes, he visibly relaxed as the pain diminished slightly.

Esplin paged through the lines of my code, furrowing Jacob's brow. I waited patiently, and within ten minutes my… friend… finished her analysis,

"It looks fine, except for lines fifty-seven through sixty. This cache command, its Yeerk programming, but arranged using an Andalite sequence,"

I took the pad back, and looked at the problem. She was right. I readjusted the programming, and handed it back to Esplin.

"Good… yes, this will work."

((I'll go show my mother then))

"Wait, Sonili," Esplin called.

I paused, reluctantly, ((Yes?))

"Jacob and I will listen, whenever you're ready to talk about what you were really dreaming about,"

I nodded hastily, ((Thank you)) and fled the cabin.

Helaine-Mtalenon-Ashul:

We dug a small tunnel through the snow, leading to the surface. Naturally, the human thought it entertaining, especially when throwing packed lumps of snow at us when we least expected it, despite only using one arm. He told me to "live a little" after I berated him for his poor conduct. We used the tarps to maintain the integrity of the tunnel, as well as lengths of piping, cut to the correct lengths. I did not relish the thought of a collapse.

Sonili handed me a corrupted Yeerk communicator carefully. ((Remember, turn all of our communication devices off at the designated time, until you finish isolating them from the virus)) I reminded her.

((Yes mother, I know))

((Torfan and I should return in a week)) I continued. We did not take the human vehicle, instead, we morphed into owls, which we had acquired earlier, after stunning one roosting in a tree. We would be able to move much faster through the air, than over the uneven terrain. In 167:52 hours, the communicator would begin broadcasting the virus to anything in range. Sonili had physically rigged it to look like a locator beacon that had malfunctioned, but had recently received a physical jolt that had jogged, the circuit, so that the beacon began to transmit as it had been intended.

The Yeerk reassured me that losing communicators happened more frequently than one might think, due to their small size. However, if a communicator was lost, it could be pinged remotely, and would broadcast a homing beacon, allowing for its retrieval. Elsewhere, such a thing was mere convenience, but on this planet, keeping their presence secret would make the feature indispensable.

It had taken the Yeerk, and my daughter nearly an hour to sabotage a communicator to their satisfaction. The same communicator which weighed less than a quarter of a kilogram, yet now felt like ten times its weight in my talons.

The plan was to fly as far south as possible, before hiding the communicator among the commercial products of a long-range transport vehicle, the human had called semi's, and eighteen-wheelers interchangeably. I used the internet to find a picture of our target.

Hopefully, it would look like a Controller had carelessly lost their communicator, perhaps while inspecting cargo or some such, and the beacon had malfunctioned. With any luck, the yeerks would hastily recover the device, never realizing that it was infecting their own communicators.

((Sir, I have a question)) aristh Torfan said hesitantly.

((Speak your mind, Torfan)) I replied.

((I understand why Jacob wishes to fight the Yeerks on his homeworld, but I cannot grasp why the Yeerk does as well))

((Why do you believe the Yeerk?)) I asked in counter point.

Torfan was silent for several minutes, only the wind behind us could be heard, forcing us south at speeds we would never have been able to maintain otherwise.

((I cannot explain it sir… but I believe the human and Yeerk truly are allies… of each other, and us as well)) Torfan admitted.

I sighed, withdrawing a little more from the owl's primitive mind, letting it automatically adjust my tail feathers, to capitalize on the tail-wind.

((I see things that do not make sense, unless the Yeerk is being truthful, but I cannot accept such a possibility, because if I am wrong…)) I trailed off.

((I understand sir)) Torfan replied, ((But I am certain of one thing. Jacob will never intentionally allow harm to come to your daughter, or break his word to her))

I considered the sentiment, and found that I could not disbelieve such either.

The human might dislike, probably even hate me, but he would do anything my daughter asked. But he had still ruined her promising career, and my own, by necessity. I owed him nothing.

Jacob Nyles:

"What are you doing?" I asked, curious.

Sonili looked up from the computer, ((I am introducing a virus onto your internet, which will drain a very small amount of currency from every single account linked to the internet, if detected, it will look like an accounting error, or computer glitch)) she explained.

"I didn't know you were an expert of human computers," I said carefully.

((I'm not, but these computers barely warrant the name)) Sonili giggled.

"Careful, or I'll whip out my abacus and beat you to death with it," I growled.

((That comparison is quite apt)) the Andalite smirked, ((For example, your computers are still using binary, which only utilizes a simple switch, on/off. Even Yeerk computers use all 32 states of the electron!))

"Only because they stole the technology from you," I pointed out, "Give humans the same start, and we'll be on the same level as the Yeerks in a few years…"

Our argument apparently became unpalatable to the girland she politely disengaged. With nothing else to distract me, I wandered the ship for…

((Seven minutes)) Esplin supplied helpfully.

((That's all? Not fifteen?)) I asked.

((Eight now)) Esplin said.

((Let's go back and bug her some more)) I said, without anything better to do.

((()))

I found Sonili playing with the computer still, but now she was combing through data files of some kind. ((Oh, hello Jacob, I didn't see you)) she said in apology.

"Technically, that should be really hard to accomplish," I said wryly, gesturing to her stalk-eyes.

((Mmm)) she mumbled, returning her attention to the display, and all four eyes.

"What are you doing now?" I asked, curious.

((Lately I have noticed that mother is acting… strangely. She's been more evasive than normal, and is spending a lot of time in the medical bay's research lab. At first, I thought she was sulking, after—))

Jett had told us what had happened, "After she took a swing at you," I supplied, softly.

((Yes))

Esplin perked right up. She thrived on intrigue, and secrets.

((Whereas you thrive only on humor and direct confrontation)) Esplin retorted.

((Yes Esplin, together, we will rule the galaxy!)) I deadpanned, before laughing.

((When do we start?)) Esplin replied dryly.

"So… what are you doing right now?" I asked, trying to keep from distraction.

((For some reason, my mother has disabled internal monitoring in the lab))

"That is… really suspicious," I allowed. Sort of.

((Exactly. What could she possibly be doing that no one else can know about?)) Sonili asked darkly.

I didn't answer that. She was just a kid.

((I doubt Andalites need… alone time, Jacob)) Esplin chuckled.

((I make no assumptions)) I replied defensively.

((Yes you do)) the Yeerk answered dismissively.

"Again, what are you doing?" I asked.

((I am attempting to bypass the command block my mother installed. If I can do it without alerting the safeguards she left in place, I should be able to use the internal scanner to see what she was doing in the lab)) Sonili whispered to me.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then," I said.

((At least find out what it is when she finishes)) Esplin complained.

((I'll ask)) I hedged.

((Fine…)) Esplin sighed.

We paced through the halls, and snuck into the med-bay (force of habit, even though there wasn't anyone to stop us) for another vial of meds, since our arm was beginning to become unmanageable again.

((Now what should we do?)) Esplin pondered.

((Got any… sixes?)) I asked slyly.

((No. I refuse to play that insipid game one more time!)) Esplin snarled.

((Okay; I spy with my little—))

((Jacob, shut up))