5.
It was surprisingly easy to get different morphs. Nobody even bothered Cassie and well, David and I didn't exactly want to draw attention to ourselves.
David obviously wanted morphs with firepower. He had gone for a lion. I actually would have pitied the Yeerks if they hadn't, you know, started the whole mess.
I, on the other hand, thought Jake had a point when he mentioned smaller, more agile morphs, so I went with a fox. We also, when I suggested a heavy morph, both got rhinos.
Cassie also had us acquire a roach. Ugh. After that, we returned to the barn. David was pacing, obviously eager to practice something, while I sat on a bale of hay and thought about how my life had just turned upside down in under a day.
The others soon drifted in and eventually all eight of us were in the barn.
"I have the brochure," Rachel announced. "I downloaded it off the Internet."
She held out some color printer pages showing the Marriott resort. There were photographs of rooms. Pictures of giddy, happy people in bathing suits, a shot of a big buffet table maybe fifty feet long and loaded with food, and a map of the resort. The map showed a big, main hotel building that was twenty stories high. And down, closer to the beach, a jumble of smaller "cottages." Ten cottages in all.
"They'll be in the cottages," Marco said instantly. "The leaders, I mean. They'll dump all their people in the main hotel building."
"Sounds right," Jake agreed.
"They'll have security so tight no one will be able to burp without nine guys in sunglasses running over with their Uzis cocked and ready," Marco continued, counting off on his fingers. "French security, German security, Japanese security -"
"Ninjas?" David asked.
"Yeah, Jackie Chan himself," Marco said, rolling his eyes.
"He's Chinese, not Japanese," David said, rolling his eyes back.
"British security," Marco continued, adding quickly, "and no one say, 'Bond, James Bond,' please. Russian security and American secret service, FBI, and local cops."
Jake sighed and shook his head.
"Now just to make things really fun," Marco said, "there are the Yeerks. How many of the hotel's maids and waiters and pool boys are Controllers? Don't know. How many of the Russian, German, British, French, Japanese, and U.S. security guys are also Controllers? Don't know. All we know is that one of these presidents or prime ministers is a Controller."
"At least one," Cassie said. "Sorry to interrupt, but it's kind of important. Erek said one of them was a Controller. He didn't say for sure that the other five were not."
We all just gaped at Cassie.
"Can I say something?" David asked.
"Sure," Rachel said darkly. "As long as it isn't more bad news."
"It kind of is. My dad is part of the National Security Agency. What they do is electronic surveillance. You know, like bugging phones and watching people from satellites in orbit? Well, it just seems to me the Yeerks can do all those things plus a lot more. So probably the entire Marriott resort is being watched by the Yeerks."
"I'm pretty sure I said, 'No more bad news,'" Rachel grumbled. "Oh, man."
I thought for a few seconds, back to David's house. Back to the things we saw there. "Wait. There is some good news."
Everyone stared at me. "Good news?" Jake inquired, looking a bit skeptical.
"You all said it. The entire resort will have tight security, all of that. We're there to stop them from being Controllers, right? That means all those things we saw at David's house, they can't bring them there. They can only bring other people. So any Controllers will have to be human ones," I said. "They can't bring those other creatures. And our morphs can take out humans."
"You're right," Rachel said, slowly grinning and losing some of the worry that had been on her face.
"But," I cautioned, "it's obvious the aliens have technology. I would worry more about something like... I don't know, a dog whistle's big brother but for animals. The Yeerks aren't stupid obviously, they'll realize that there are animals like dogs and birds at the beach, I don't think they'll just ignore them."
Marco nodded, looking grave, "Yeah. We'll have to keep an eye out for that."
"Okay," Jake said. "This should be a nice, safe, easy trip down the coast. We're just spying the situation out. You'll need your bird morphs."
"I'll go first," David said.
Oh man. Talk about creepy. Morphing was disgusting to watch. And even I was scared when David went for Tobias, who freaked out, yelling about birds that were jerks.
"Okay, Melissa," Cassie said, once David had calmed down. "It's okay."
Nervous, I focused on the kestrel from earlier. It was definitely weird, but not as bad as David's morph. I shrunk first, still fully human. Rachel giggled at that earning a glare from me that intensified as my eyes transformed and I was covered in feathers, then the wings and feet formed.
It was pretty cool and weird, like someone else was in my head. But soon, everyone else morphed and we were off.
Flying was awesome. David kept shouting about it and I couldn't help but sometimes join in, but I tried to keep my excitement down to a minimum because the others were thinking.
~Yeerk stealth technology!~ Marco suddenly freaked, when I noticed weird shimmering behind the helicopter that Tobias had said was called Marine One.
Something happened though... the others were trying to get on what they called a 'Blade ship.'
And I crashed into it, trying to make it in.
~Melissa!~ Rachel yelped.
~Ow... I'm... I'm all right~ I managed, groaning. ~The others are inside. I...~
~It's okay~ Tobias said. ~Rachel and I couldn't either.~
~So what now?~ I asked, confused and worried.
~We wait for them~ Rachel said confidently.
She was right. I grabbed two roaches that were falling and Rachel confirmed it was them. We flew behind the dunes and I blushed madly, but Tobias brought a swimsuit for me and swim trunks for David.
~Remind me we have to return those to the Kahuna Beach Shop,~ Tobias said.
"You stole them?" Cassie asked.
~No, I borrowed them. Besides, I'm a bird. Birds are not capable of stealing. What are they going to do, arrest me?~
"We'll find a way to get the money to the store," Jake said. "We don't want to even start down that path. In an emergency like this, maybe we can grab something. But we have to make it right later. That's the rule."
We had just finished dressing when the others turned and David said, "You know, it would be amazing."
Jake looked at him, "What?"
He shrugged. "Us, with our powers? We could take anything we wanted. We could like morph into cheetahs or whatever, run into some jewelry store, grab the diamonds, and get away at sixty miles an hour. What could anyone do? We'd be outta there. Plus, we'd morph back to humans."
"Let's do that," Marco said dryly. "Right after we figure out how to keep the Yeerks from turning the most powerful leaders in the world into alien-infested zombies. As soon as we're done with that, we start ripping off jewelry stores."
"Hey, I was just kidding," David said. "I guess I forgot you're the only one allowed to make jokes, Marco."
There was tension there, it was obvious. But Marco had been here a lot longer than either of us. Odds were no matter what, his side would be right to the others.
"It would be nice to do anything," I admitted before anyone could speak. "But I'd... I guess I wouldn't feel right. Sure we'd be able to do whatever, but our folks are still there, trapped. Even if we die trying to free them..." I trailed off because David had put an arm over my shoulder.
"Well," he said simply, ignoring the others. "When this is over, all the way, we'll be able to get on any airplane for free. We can take a long vacation when everything is said and done. I mean, saving the world leaders, the least they can do is let us in their country."
"Go to London and see Big Ben?" I said, smiling.
"London, Paris," David said, "Bonjour, mon nom est David. Comment êtes-vous?" He smirked as the others blinked. "I know a little French, my dad..." He trailed off and shook his head before giving them a look. "Thought you said this was a mission."
Jake nodded, "You're right, it's time to get serious. They caught us by surprise. Maybe they know that was us scurrying around up there, maybe they don't. But one way or the other, we have to get inside that resort and get busy."
"We have to get past the greatest security in the world just to get into that place," Rachel said. "We have to go by air. But we can't use bird-of-prey morphs. That'd be slightly noticeable."
"No problem," Cassie said. "It's the beach. There's one kind of bird no one can keep off the beach. Seagulls."
"Yeah, well, we don't have seagull morphs," David pointed out.
I nodded and brightened, "Maybe Tobias could catch a seagull for us?"
Jake seemed to give me another mild look while Rachel grinned and he nodded. "Tobias?" He yelled up. "Sorry to keep sending you out for things, but can you get a seagull?"
"Alive?" Cassie added.
~Can I grab a gull? Puh-leeze. Can Michael Jordan hit a three-pointer? They're just rats with wings.~
"I always thought those were pigeons," I said, looking over the ocean. It was very beautiful. Just a shame we couldn't even enjoy it.
"Could be worse," David murmured, rubbing my shoulder. "Could be some place cold."
Rachel nodded, "We've had our share of weird places."
It felt weird, being the new person when I had known these people most of my life. Well... I had thought I had known my parents too.
How much of it had been lies? Saving the world in secret... no wonder I didn't see Rachel as much any more. No wonder she seemed distant. My parents, hosts to alien slugs...
The hand on my shoulder tightened. "Don't fall apart," David's voice murmured quietly in my ear.
Soon, Tobias brought back a gull and we were flying... but there was someone there, someone able to knock out birds with what Ax had said was probably a low-powered Dracon beam.
It had hurt very much when I had been hit, and it was obvious every inch of this place was covered.
"Let's go home," Jake said after we left, looking tired.
They all went home, but I decided to stick with David for a bit. He had gone to Cassie's barn, she made a place in the hayloft for him.
It irritated me. Like he was an animal...
He was irritated too, muttering about sneaking into a hotel.
I thought about it and shook my head, making him look at me.
"Why not?" He inquired, looking at me.
"Because even though animals can't be charged with crimes, any of the workers can be Yeerks," I said, making him think. "There might be security cameras too. If footage gets out..."
"But then people would know about the Yeerks."
"While their world leaders are here," I pointed out. "Think it's a hoax... but Yeerks will know that one human can morph."
"They know who I am." David paused and sighed, "Oh. Oh crap. They don't know who you are though. If they think you're the one with me..." He shook his head.
It was obvious. He didn't have to say much more. If he was caught, that'd be it. End game. Even now it was risky. My father didn't know I had been the one there. Rachel had covered for me, Rachel and Cassie.
Even if David and I died, they would be the next targets. Rachel would fight, but it would be a simple leap. Her, her cousin, his best friend...
"A hotel sounds decent," I muttered. "But you don't need attention drawn to you either."
He sighed and nodded, obviously not liking it.
"But they said Ax has a place in the woods. Maybe we can do something like that for you." I gave a grin, "If they're all experts at things, you'll have to become the expert woodsman."
He began to chuckle. "I don't have a tent."
"I do. My parents used to take me camping when I was younger. The stuff's all in the attic, hasn't been used in... well, years," I admitted, wondering if the reason our family outings had really stopped was because of finances... or because my parents had become Controllers.
It didn't matter. It would help David now.
"I'll ask Rachel to help me with the stuff," I said, standing. "Maybe bring it tomorrow after school?"
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Just wish I could watch some TV or something."
"TV rots the mind," I teased. "I'll bring you some books and stuff. It's horrible and I know they keep thinking about the big picture, but..."
"Yeah, I get it," David said, rolling his eyes. "I'll tough it out. You have a good night."
I smiled, "You too."
The others skipped school the next day. I couldn't, of course. I finished school, got home and managed to drag our old camping stuff from the attic.
Rachel did come and help me, Cassie too, the three of us talking about camping and just leaving the stuff at Cassie's place since it was closest to the woods. My father had pulled up just as we were leaving.
"Where are you three going?" He asked, looking puzzled.
"We were talking about camping this weekend," I said. "But figured it'd be easier to just bring the stuff closer to the site, we weren't sure if we'd be able to get a ride."
"Come along then," My Dad said, shaking his head. "You teenagers... Ah, Rachel, I'm sorry to hear about your cousin."
"My cousin?" Rachel inquired.
"Your cousin... Saddler, I believe? Tom told me last night at our meeting, about how he had been hurt by a car."
Rachel looked a bit sad and soon we were near Cassie's. We left my father in the car, me nodding when he said to call when I needed to get home.
He had a meeting tonight. I wasn't going to call him.
Earlier, Rachel had asked Tobias to find an okay site for David, near a little bit of water but far enough from people to not draw attention. He had managed this perfectly. Soon, David, Cassie, Rachel, and I were all setting up the different equipment. I even had managed to bring the hand-crank generator, and Rachel had found one of those small televisions. Wasn't great reception, but Tobias mentioned something about Ax probably being able to fix that. I had gotten some books for him too and so he had a nice little campsite.
It wasn't a home, but it would have to do for a fair bit.
We made it back to the barn before too long and began making plans for the banquet.
But something nagged at me as they told me everything they had seen that day.
"Melissa?" Cassie asked, making me look up. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know the limitations of alien technology," I said slowly. "But if they managed to get one hologram... they're covering that pool. Obviously in a limited range, they're capable of different things. A hologram in a hologram. And you want to convince these people aliens are real. I think this Visser would have thought of that already. I think he's willing to try to be just as sneaky."
David nodded, understanding my point while they just stared at me. "Hologram in a hologram makes sense. Probably a bunch of them because they don't know the limitation of earth animals various sense of sight and the like. They probably know for sure we were the roaches. That case, this wouldn't work and probably would just result in another failure."
"What do you -" Marco began before he paused. Maybe the words sunk in because he was looking at me.
So was Jake. "You think so? Honestly? That our planning this won't work?"
"I think you're trying to be stealthy in a situation where it's impossible," I confirmed.
"So then what, we give up and let the Yeerks win?" Rachel demanded hotly.
David rolled his eyes. I mentally agreed and he spoke, "So when you can't be stealthy..."
"Then you'll just have to abandon stealth," I finished, grinning at their confused faces.