Jake
We all met in Cassie's barn, as soon as her parents had left. Human, Andalite, Time Lord, Yeerk. Even the TARDIS waited patiently outside. Weird as it was, I got the feeling the Doctor's ship might be... smart enough to understand how important this was. Like some sort of vague artificial intelligence. Either way, all of us were trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the task ahead. Storming the Yeerk Pool and setting in motion a plan that could end the war. Should be fun.
"So Rose, Aftran," I said, "We don't really have time for you to practice most of these morphs, unfortunately."
Rose and Aftran were both human at the moment, so it looked like we had a pair of identical twins with us. They both managed to find some sort of skin tight black pants and shirts that had a strange texture to it. Probably alien. And to the immense jealousy of the Animorphs present, they had some sort of blue, skin-tight shoes. They fit perfectly- like they had blue feet. We would have to ask about that later. Still, even dressed the same; I could sort of guess who was who. Rose was fidgeting, a nervous smile on her face. Aftran-Rose was much more reserved, and stood rigid. At least, I'm pretty sure that was the difference.
"But we need to make sure you have some of the basics available, just in case," I finished. I saw my friends each nod.
"Well, guess it's good I'm a fast-learner then," said Rose. She grimaced. Not quite the devil-may-care smile from the night before. I guess she was nervous.
You have to be careful, said Tobias, Don't underestimate the animal's instincts and behaviors. Some of the urges are intense, and they can catch you off-guard.
"Like the ants," added Rachel with a shudder. I nodded, thinking back to that horrific battle in the ant tunnels. We would all have nightmares about that for the rest of our lives.
"Ah," said Rose, nodding even though she didn't quite understand. She bit her lip, still twitchy. Next to her, Aftran shifted her weight and crossed her arms. I guess because she already knew bits and pieces about morphing, she wasn't quite as nervous. But when it came down to it, she was almost as inexperienced as Rose.
Cassie stood up then. Even though the Andalites invented the morphing technology, she was still the 'morphing expert'. Even Ax said she had a gift for it. So it fell to her to give them the basics.
"You're gonna get three basic morphs," she said. Aftran shifted her weight again, tense. I guess maybe she was more nervous then I thought. Rose nodded and bit her lip, focused on Cassie's every word.
Cassie continued, "A bird morph, something that you can fly with and get in and out of places in a hurry. It's going to have be a crow, sorry Tobias-"
Jerks, he said, There was a big group that mobbed me a few weeks ago. I had to land and morph to get them to leave. Stupid thugs. The Doctor chuckled, and Rose looked up at Tobias, tilting her head.
"It's a bird thing," Rachel explained by not explaining. Marco and I chuckled.
"Right," Cassie said, gesturing to Tobias with a shrug. The Doctor laughed again as Rose rolled her eyes. "But we're short on time, and he's the best option in the Center right now. And unfortunately, Aftran, you'll have to be Yeerk to acquire their DNA. So I guess now is a good time to test those morphing outfits."
Aftran nodded, and walked over to a part of the barn floor that was a little cleaner. Slowly the changes began to take place. Her eyes sucked back into her skull and skin grew over the place where they used to be. Trying not to gag, I turned to watch Cassie talk instead.
"You just have to focus on it as a part of your body," Cassie added, nodding. The black and blue outfit did seem to be turning Yeerk-colored, so I guess it was working.
"I will sell my soul to you if you use that screwdriver thing of yours to make it so we can morph in normal clothes," said Marco to the Doctor.
"Not sure that I can except human souls as payment. The Shadow Proclamation outlawed that. Clause 63 point… 4 I think," he said, a little too seriously to be comfortable.
"It's just an expression, but okay…" said Marco, concerned.
The Doctor cocked an eyebrow, smirking, and Rose snorted. So he was joking… maybe…
SLUUUURPPP
Aftran's human legs, now tiny, sucked into the sides of her slug-like form, making Rose shudder.
"You're sure it doesn't hurt, yeah?" she asked. Grimacing, she bent down and gingerly picked up Aftran off of the floor. Cassie smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Trust me," Rachel said, "If it felt anything like it looked, we would not be doing this at all."
"Yeah…" Rose didn't seem completely convinced, but she turned and looked at the crow in the cage anyway. "So, I just have to touch it, yeah?"
"Uh, not just yet," said Cassie, and she walked over to pick up a jar from a tool bench, "This one first."
Marco smirked. We all knew which one was going to be the least favorite morph the two acquired today. Rose took a step closer to Cassie, trying to see what she had. The instant she recognized it, she yelped and jumped back.
"Oh- oh gross!" Rose said, grimacing. Then she remembered that the sudden movement must have startled Aftran. She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and bent down to take closer look. The jar held a small, shiny, brown insect. One designed by nature to survive just about anything. A cockroach. It scurried around in a panic now that it was out in the light. "Mum and I used to find those in the flat sometimes. She'd scream like you wouldn't believe."
"I believe it. Your mum can be a real- Ow!"
"Oi! Be nice!" said Rose, "She's been… understanding. I suppose she'll freak out when I tell her I had to turn into a bug, though."
That was strange to think about. Rose's mother knew how strange and dangerous the things she did were, and was okay with it. Mostly, anyway. It was a reminder of how little we knew about the two of them. And I wondered what my parents would think, if the day ever came when they found out about all this.
They're crazy useful, unfortunately, said Tobias. Insects can get into a lot of places most animals can't without anyone noticing.
"Just don't look in a mirror while you're morphing," I added, remembering the first time I morphed cockroach with a shudder. "Trust me on that one."
Rose looked at the jar again and shuddered, making a face. Aftran didn't seem as bothered, but at the moment it was impossible to tell for sure. Cassie was confident that Aftran would hear everything we say in her Yeerk form. But Aftran had no way to respond to us.
"They're a little skittish around light, but they aren't distracted by smells the way flies are," continued Cassie. She unscrewed the lid of the jar.
Make sure you don't grab it too hard and kill it, added Tobias. You can't acquire something dead.
"Oh and what a shame if we couldn't turn into the little louse," said Rose. Even so, she stuck her free hand down into the jar and scooped it up, grimacing. "Oh I really don't want to be a bug."
"Remember to focus on the animal itself," Cassie reminded. "If you don't concentrate, it won't work."
"Yeah, I am, I think," said Rose, her eyes squeezed shut. "I can definitely tell it's working. It feels… odd… but I think I've got it now." She was right. The roach had completely stopped moving and lay still in her palm. Rose opened her eyes. She nudged the roach on top of Aftran, enunciating, "Your turn."
After a moment, the slug sort of… squished, which seemed to signal that Aftran was finished. Cassie plucked it off of her back and tossed it into a pile of hay.
"So now the crow? And you mentioned one more?" Rose said, looking over to the crow. "It's smaller than the ravens at the Tower."
"Yeah, ravens are much larger. Their behavior is similar, though," Cassie replied, walking over to the cage.
Crows are worse, said Tobias, glaring.
"I'll take your word for it then, yeah?" said Rose with a shrug. "How do we touch him?"
"It shouldn't be a problem for you to touch him Rose. He's smart. He knows we're not here to hurt him," said Cassie, coaxing the bird out to perch on her hands. "He's a little out of it from the meds too. Hopefully he won't notice Aftran."
The crow didn't seem to notice what they were doing at all, as Cassie predicted. Two down, one to go. And the final morph we needed them to have was a battle morph. Something with teeth that could hold it's ground in a fight. Since our options were just what was in Cassie's barn, there was only one choice.
"It should be an easy morph to handle, even with no experience," said Cassie. She eased the crow back into the cage, then stood up and dusted her hands off on her overalls.
"That'll be good then, yeah?" said Rose, biting her lip again. "So a bird, and then something to fight if I need- that's what you guys were saying, yeah?"
I saw her look over to the timber wolf female in the far corner of the barn. As far as possible from the horses. The Doctor noticed her eagerness and chuckled. Like there was some kind of inside joke we didn't know about.
"Bad wolf," he muttered. Rose winked at him and he rolled his eyes. It wasn't quite a joke, though, whatever it meant. Because as soon as Rose turned her attention back to the wolf, I saw the Doctor sigh. Cassie jumped to defend the species.
"They're not bad at all actually. Wolves are great for local ecosystems-"
"He's kidding, Cas," said Rose. "It's a long story. But I get to turn into one then?"
I wondered what the story was. After this was over, maybe I'd ask.
"Yeah," replied Cassie. "She's a female too. Which is good because it's easier than having two males running around. And we don't have time to stop by the Gardens and get you two different morphs."
But then something weird happened. I didn't know what to call it, but there was a strange energy between the two of them. Rose and the wolf locked eyes, unaware of anything around them. Call me crazy, but the wolf almost looked at her… respectfully. Almost as if instead of becoming drowsy, Rose's touch energized the wolf. But not in an aggressive way. At first, I thought it was in my head. But then they broke contact. And it wasn't there when Rose then touched Aftran against the wolf's fur. If I hadn't been a wolf once myself I wouldn't have noticed it. Then they finished, and Aftran morphed back into Rose again.
"We don't have time for you to test them," Cassie said as Aftran finished becoming Rose. "But if everything goes according to plan-"
"Which it won't," Marco chimed in unhelpfully.
"You shouldn't need them," she finished. We didn't exactly try to contradict Marco on that one; but the Doctor seemed much more optimistic.
"Oh come on now! Have a little faith," said the Doctor. "I have done this sort of thing before."
"Which is weird. But you're running with the Animorphs now," replied Marco. "Which means sooner or later we're all going to be running and screaming in terror."
"Actually, the running thing does happen quite a bit more often than you might expect..." the Doctor admitted, shaking his head with a strange thoughtful expression.
"Greaaaat…" Marco muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Prince Jake, there are 22 of your Earth minutes until we must meet with Erek and the Chee, announced Ax. He had kept quiet this whole time. I kind of understood that- the Doctor still made him nervous. He also hadn't bothered to morph human, since Cassie's parents were gone for the day. As Andalite, he always looked a bit stiff. He had hung back, standing silently on the far side of the barn.
"Thanks, Ax," I said nodding, "Let's get moving." I didn't bother to correct him for calling me 'Prince'. It was time to focus. We were betting all we had on this mission going well. There was nothing left to do but meet up with Erik and the Chee. And hope that Illim and Mr. Tidwell had gotten the message out. And risk everything on a crazy plan that was only possible because of a time-traveling alien from another dimension. Yeah, nothing too tricky about that… I sighed.
"Well, here goes everything," said Marco. He sighed, looking grim. Rachel was, of course, full of energy, leading the way out of the barn beside the two Rose's. Marco trudged after them, followed by Ax, Tobias, and the Doctor. Cassie hung back for a moment. When she noticed me watching her, she just smiled, and caught up with us. The Doctor held the TARDIS door open for us. For a moment I swore he was watching Cassie, as if he thought something was wrong with her. But as soon as we were inside, he pulled the TARDIS door shut and practically leaped to the center console.
"Allons-y!" said the Doctor with a wild grin on his face as soon as we were all settled.
"Hey!" said Rachel with an equally maniacal smile, "That's my job- Let's do it!"
The Doctor winked and slammed down the lever at the console. Once again, the whole TARDIS rocked and shook. Lights flashed, as we ground to a halt. To me it looked like everything went according to plan. It was hard to judge what qualified as a smooth landing in the TARDIS.
And then the lights blinked out completely.
After a moment, red emergency lights turned on, keeping us from being in complete darkness. The glowing tube in the center of the console was still lit, but it was fainter than before.
That's not supposed to happen, is it? Tobias stated flatly. It was a question, but we all kind of knew the answer. There was a feeling of intense dread building up in the pit of my stomach.
"Ummmm… no… not really, no," said the Doctor, "It is not, no."
"Well then. I'm gonna go ahead and say that 'I told you so' that I was hoping to save for a little later in this mission," Marco said. "You know, after it had actually started." He groaned from his place on the railing.
The lights flickered back on one by one until the room grew bright enough for the red lights to shut off. It was still darker than before, I noticed with dread. Some of the lights hadn't come back on. After checking a few screens and levers, the Doctor ran over and opened the door. Erik, Mr. King, and another Chee I did not recognize stood looking worried. I exhaled hard, relieved.
"Technical difficulties?" said Erik, looking amused, until he peered in through the door. Then he looked more than a little concerned.
"Nothing I can't fix right up," said the Doctor, sounding less convincing than I would have liked. "We're still good to go though."
"Not like we have much of a choice," I added.
"We've started missions worse," Rachel said, somehow still sounding confident.
"Riiiight…" said Erik. "See, this is why it was hard to convince everyone to come help." He gestured to the assembled Chee. There were more of them standing further from the door, I saw. And they were looking less than enthusiastic about what were about to do. I guess I couldn't really blame them for that.
"Hey! We're professionals," said Marco, stepping out of the TARDIS and into a darkened room. It was the former Gap store at the mall. The doors were boarded up, and there were construction tools laying around. But there was still a Yeerk Pool entrance in their dressing rooms. It wasn't currently used, which was perfect for our purposes. Erek had found us an a deserted entrance with an easy exit route for the newly morphed Yeerks. So far, that part of the plan seemed to be okay.
"Yeah, that's comforting," said Erek.
"We'll be fine," said Rose with a smile. She turned to the assembled Chee."Hello. Rose Tyler, very nice to meet you all. You're Erik's family, er, people, right? The other Chee."
"Something like that," said Mr. King, smiling back at her before turning to the Doctor. "And you're the Doctor? We've heard interesting things."
"Oh, well, I am very interesting," said the Doctor, "I'd love a chance to talk to you all as well. I've never met an entire species of android designed for non-violence. I've met the opposite, actually, had to deal with them quite often, and well… they're nowhere near as good of conversationalists."
"Yeah, we'll have to sit down and have tea later," said Rachel sarcastically.
"Splendid idea!" said the Doctor, missing her tone.
"But for now, we need to focus a little," I began. The Doctor looked almost shocked for a moment. I guess he wasn't used to a kid half his age telling him to 'get serious'. Which only made me feel more awkward about it. I got the feeling he usually ran the show, but he didn't fight me on it or anything. The Doctor just nodded. It was respect, way more respect than I deserved. I cringed a little at his expression. He must have noticed.
"You're in charge," said the Doctor. "I'll follow your lead."
I paused, unsure of what to say.
"No pressure or anything," joked Marco, breaking the silence. I snapped out of it, like he knew I would. Right. Time to make sure everyone survived. Time to make sure what I hoped would be on of the last missions we ever undertook went as well as possible. I took a deep breath.
"Right, so, here's where we need everyone to be…"