Author's Note: Much like Cassie in my story, first my whole family got sick, and now I am. Life imitates art, huh?

Rachel

It was only after we boarded the plane that I noticed our class plus the chaperones were the only people on the whole flight. If I hadn't known what was about to happen, it wouldn't have seemed suspicious. After all, there were more than a hundred of us. Chapman and a bunch of teachers took up all of first class. Because we were seated alphabetically, Tobias and I sat next to each other up near the bulkhead. Marco had somehow schemed and traded his way into an exit row seat next to Ax. Tobias and Ax could talk to each other through thoughtspeak, which was lucky. There was no other way we could communicate on a crowded plane.

I felt the familiar thrill of impending battle as I settled into my seat. This was going to be unlike most of our missions. There was no way to plan. No way to know who or what the target would be. No Jake or Cassie. We'd have to act on spur of the moment, with a lot of improvisation. Which was fine. It's not like any of our plans ever worked out the way we thought they would, even in the best of circumstances.

"Did you call Jake?" Tobias asked me.

"No, I forgot in all the crap with Marco. I'll do it now."

I whipped out my cell, but got his voice mail right away. Of all the times to turn off the phone.

"Hey Jake it's me. I was just wondering where you wanted to meet up once we got to—" Suddenly a rough, hairy hand tore the phone out of my grip. I looked up ready to curse out a complaint, but Chapman's Controller face stared down at me from the aisle.

"No cell phones allowed in school, Rachel," he said sternly. I was about to say something to the effect of "we're not in school are we, alien slug," but I held my tongue. He glared at Tobias who was staring out the window.

"Why were you calling Jake? He's right next to you," he stated skeptically.

"Different Jake," I said in a "duh" voice. I also rolled my eyes and flipped my hair over my shoulder. Nothing proves you're a typical teenager like copping an attitude. He was about to reprimand me for being disrespectful when the flight attendants told him to take a seat.

"You'll get this back at the end of the week young lady," he said, pocketing my cell phone. As soon as he turned his back, I gave him the finger. You'll pay for that, I thought to myself.

"Very mature," Tobias said with a wry smile, "but good save."

"Yeah well there goes our only way of contacting Jake and Cassie. I'll steal it back from him when I trample him into the ground later. In the meantime, we need to be on alert here. We've got to assume we're not really going to DC. Some of the teachers and kids are Controllers, but not all. Most of them must still be free if they're risking hijacking a plane," I said. I was just thinking out loud, but Tobias was nodding. "Run all that by Marco and Ax and see what they say," I finished.

I sat back while he translated into thoughtspeak. The plane trundled down the runway and lurched into the air. I'm not afraid of flying, but after being an eagle and a fly, it always amazes me these things ever get airborne.

"Marco says probably all the chaperones are Controllers and maybe the pilots too. There's really nothing we can do until they tip their hand. We'll just have to be ready," Tobias said after awhile.

Great. The sit-and-wait plan. My least favorite.

"Well keep an eye out the window. See if you can figure out where we're going," I said, just to be proactive.

He nodded and turned back toward the window. We rode for several hours in silence. I spent the time burning a hole through the curtain that separated first class and coach with my eyes. I tried to work out ways to morph and attack the chaperones without anyone else on the plane seeing me. It was no good. Tobias got up to demorph and remorph. I knew he must be stressed being in such a claustrophobic space and unable to return to his hawk form. It was probably stupid of me to worry about him so much. I don't know anyone tougher than Tobias. I don't know if I'd have the strength to choose to keep the life he lives. I guess he just feels the fight is too important. I understand that. It bothers me sometimes, but I understand it.

Just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that due to poor weather in the Washington DC area, you will have to deplane in Stewart, New York. We will have more details once we land. Thank you and again, we apologize for this inconvenience."

Tobias and I exchanged glances.

"What do you think? Are we really in New York?" I asked him. I figured he was used to seeing geography from the air.

"I have no idea. We've flown over a lot of forest and farmland. Now we're somewhere with mountains and a river and more forest. It's getting dark, and there aren't any cities or even towns around. We could be practically anywhere. Where is Stewart?"

"Search me. It probably isn't even a real town." I could feel my ears start to pop. We were beginning our decent. Finally, time to do something. "Ok, tell Marco and Ax to get ready to morph as soon as we get off the plane. We can't give Chapman and his henchmen any time to act. We'll take them out, try to round up our classmates, and head for civilization."

He nodded and relayed the plan—if you could really call it a plan. The Controllers would definitely have the advantage here. Wherever "here" was. The plane touched down in what seemed like total darkness. When I fly back and forth between home and my dad's house, the airports are always in big cities; the lights blot out the stars and cast an orange haze on the sky. As I leaned over Tobias to look out the window, I could make out trees and a strip of landing lights in the dusk. The five hour flight was actually eight thanks to the time difference. If we really were in New York, it was about 8pm.

After we touched down and rolled to a stop, Chapman came back into the coach cabin.

"Ok, settle down, SETTLE DOWN," he shouted. Why do teachers always start that way even if no one's causing trouble? "We are on the tarmac, so you all need to disembark in an orderly and quiet manner, pick up your luggage, and meet in the airport terminal. Follow the chaperones and use caution. This area is poorly lit. Now: some announcements. The airline will be putting us up in lodgings for tonight. You will stay with your assigned roommates. We will leave for the capital at 7am tomorrow morning, so no horsing around. That is all."

He retreated back to first class, and the aisle filled with people. Marco shouldered his way up to the front, dragging Ax in his wake.

"How much you wanna bet they grab us as soon as we get off the plane?" he said.

"I would bet many dollars," Ax volunteered. "We must not allow them to enclose all of these people in one place."

"Ok," I said, "Once we get on the ground, head for the woods. We'll morph and double back for the tarmac. It'll seem like 'Andalites' just came out of the woods in the confusion, and no one will notice we're not there."

I thought it sounded like a great plan. Save the class, take out a dozen Controllers, and destroy a Yeerk processing center in the middle of nowhere. As Marco would say, what could possibly go wrong?