Chapter 4

My mom drove by me on her way to work as I stood at the end of our long, dirt driveway and waited for the bus to school. I waved and she waved back, but she was distracted. Her normally sunny smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She was chewing her bottom lip. She didn't toot the horn the way she normally did.

All of these subtle changes would have deeply disturbed our resident paranoia expert, Marco, but they didn't bother me. Well, not in the way they would have bothered him, about my mom possibly being a Controller. Actually, they served to comfort me in the fact that my mom was still free. A Controller wouldn't have been upset by the mystery that was the incident with the manta ray, but I knew that was what was eating my mom. It was eating me too, but for me, it would have to wait.

As the took my seat on the bus, I opened my bookbag and sorted through my stuff for class. I skimmed my essay on the Revolutionary War. It would do. B material, at least. I made sure my pre-algebra equations were all done; luckily my math teacher was pretty cool, he didn't care if you got the answers right on the homework as long as you tried to work them all out. Biology homework...check. I crammed it all back into my bag as the bus pulled up to the school.

Normally, school doesn't really get to me. But the thing with the manta...I couldn't get it out of my mind. The early sun had been covered up by some clouds that were majorly threatening rain, and I worried about my dad out in the steep hills that would be slick with mud as he looked for traps that could seriously maim him. Add all this to the squat, ugly, cinderblock building that made up the school, and I had a serious case of the Mondays.

I snagged an open picnic table in the yard and dug in the front pocket of my bag, looking for something sweet to munch on to take the edge off of the morning. I found a couple of loose Sprees, dusted them off, and ate one. After a while Rachel's bus arrived and she sauntered over to join me. She looked like a model in a Gap ad, as usual, but the stormy look on her face matched the storm brewing in the sky, and I had to stifle a giggle. "What's up?" I asked as she sat down heavily next to me.

She reached over to take a purple Spree and popped it in her mouth. She crunched it hard enough that I winced and imagined a chipped tooth. "Nothing," she said moodily. "Sarah thinks she's old enough to start stealing my clothes, and my mom seems to agree. Nobody cares that she wore my favorite American Eagle sweater this weekend and got grape soda all over it. Forty bucks!" she raged, and again, I suppressed a grin.

"Doesn't your dad pay for your clothes?" I asked innocently. She glared Dracon beams at me and I put my hands up, simultaneously making a gesture of peace and offering my last Spree, which she took. "Just asking," I said innocently.

"Yeah, he pays for them," she said. "But that's not the point. The point is that I'm not gonna find a 70/30 silk/wool blend in that color and cut ever again, and nobody seems to care."

"You can always raid my closet," I said breezily. She looked at me in confusion for a minute, then realized I was making a joke. She laughed hard once she got it; I mean, she's always going on and on about how I needed a serious wardrobe makeover. The first bell interrupted us, and we headed off to our respective classes.

I muddled through school as best I could. Luckily, all of the teachers seemed to be as into the day as the students - not at all. Two out of my four teachers popped in a movie for class. I let my mind wander, and found myself thinking of the stuff that I usually do during my downtime.

I wondered how Tobias was faring as the raindrops pattered against the windows. I know for a while, Jake was letting him stay in his attic, but Tobias had bailed on that arrangement. Every day, he seemed to throw himself a little more into his new reality. He hunted instead of eating Jake's leftovers. He had staked a claim on a meadow not too far from my farm. I think Ax's arrival into the forest had been good for Tobias; yeah, Ax was an Andalite, but at least they had things in common. They were both fighters. They were both refugees. It was the best of a bad situation, and I had to be grateful for that.

Toward the end of the day, against my free will, my mind began to wander back to the manta ray we'd helped to save. What was the deal with that? Why would such a beautiful, majestic animal be afraid enough to beach himself, which was a death sentence? What could be terrible enough to override every instinct in the manta's biological imperative and make him do that? I sighed, knowing I'd never be able to rest until I found out. And I knew I'd never be able to find out without morphing the gentle giant. I resolved to talk to Jake as soon as possible and let him know just how much the whole thing was bothering me.

When the final bell rang, it was a relief. I wanted to talk to Jake, check on Tobias, check on my patients...all of the things that bring me a peace that I can't get at school. And it seemed like my luck was in, because Jake and Marco were the first people I saw when I opened the double doors to get to the bus parking lot.

"Oh, hey, Cassie," Jake said, like he kind of knew me but wasn't really friends with me. I caught myself before I gave him a big smile, glanced around, and saw no one was paying attention. Like me, everybody just wanted out of there for the day.

"Hey Jake. Can you stop by the Center later?" I saw Marco spinning circles to make sure no one had overheard, and I wanted to tell him that he was being more suspicious than my question ever had a chance of being. I held my tongue though.

"Sure," Jake said flippantly. "I'll bring those Chem notes," he added for the benefit of anyone who cared to listen. "See ya."

On the bus ride home, I saw a bird of prey riding the thermals over the highway. I had no way of knowing if it were a Red-tailed hawk, let alone Tobias, but for some reason, I knew. I wasn't sure why, but my stomach tightened a little, the way it does when I feel like something is out of wack. I tried to ignore it, but my instincts are usually good and this felt real.

Still, I forced myself to go about my work. I slipped on my bite proof gloves and decided to get the rowdiest out of the way - the raccoon. He was feisty and I got a good scratch on my elbow for letting my mind wander while dealing with him, but I gave him a juicy grasshopper out of the freezer to show that there were no hard feelings. He gave me a suspicious look, but he took it and ate it, so I figured we were cool. I went about it and I knew when Tobias had arrived from the way the animals in the cages reacted. Fight or flight responses dominated the barn, and I closed my last cage grateful he hadn't shown up when I was doing the raccoon. "Hi Tobias," I said, tossing my gloves aside and waving.

(Hey Cassie. Jake and Marco are on their way; I saw them out on Route 4 on their bikes a few minutes ago.)

I grinned - Route 4 was like at least two miles from my farm, but Tobias had been able to I.D. the guys. Talk about super vision. "Yeah, I asked Jake over. This manta ray thing...it's really bugging me," I confessed.

(Yeah, well, it bothered me too,) he said, lifting a wing to preen as he talked. (That's why I spent the morning over the beach, looking for any clues as to what happened.)

"Oh, Tobias, you didn't have to do that," I muttered. "I know the conditions were horrible." I was referring to the fact that the thermals over the choppy water were not ideal on a sunny day; the clouds and rain must have made flying downright miserable for him.

(Yeah, it was no picnic,) he agreed. (But that whole scene was fubar, you know? That just wasn't right. So I decided to have a look.)

"And what did you see?" Jake asked as he skidded his bike to a stop just inside the barn. Marco was right behind him and tried to show off with a fancier, sliding stop...but the loose hay messed up his technique and he went flying over the handlebars. As Jake and Tobias roared with laughter, I checked on him - luckily, the same hay that ruined his trick had also broken his fall.

"I'm fine. Embarrassed, but fine," he said, laughing a little. "I'm more interested in what the Bird Wonder saw out at the beach."

Tobias didn't say anything for a minute, even though I knew he heard Marco's question. His ears were almost as sharp as his eyes. The feeling of general wrongness that had been twisting my stomach earlier was back. Jake saw me chewing my lip and grinned confidently at me from where he was sitting on a hay bale. It wasn't some super macho cocky grin...just an easy smile that said to me, 'hey, don't worry, we'll deal with it.' It made me feel better and I smiled back, grateful. Marco obviously didn't miss the exchange because he rolled his eyes.

(Okay, well I don't know what it was exactly that I...AHH!) Tobias yelled and was halfway across the barn when I realized a bald eagle had landed nearly on top of him. He realized it was Rachel at the same time I did. (Come on! Jeez! I don't have enough problems without having to worry about some big honkin' eagle sneaking up on me?)

(You should pay more attention,) Rachel said casually as she flapped to the floor of the barn and started to demorph. Even though she was just an eagle that was rapidly growing human legs, I could still picture the crazy, cocky smile. (How /did/ I manage to get the drop on you? I've never been able to before.)

Tobias settled back into the rafters. (I've got a lot on my mind. I was woolgathering.)

Now that Marco was done laughing at Rachel scaring the bejeezus out of Tobias, he got serious. "Anyway. What were you saying before Xena decided to buzz the tower, bird-man?"

(Yeah. Okay. So I was out over the water, just seeing what I could see, you know? I've been thinking about it all day, and I still can't piece together what it was that I actually saw.)

"So just lay out the pieces," Jake said. "We'll see if we can help you put it together."

(Right. Well, the first thing I noticed is this huge research ship anchored offshore. That really really big one from the Black Hole Oceanographic Institute.)

"I read a story that they were the ones catching the fish for the new aquarium. 'Responsible for the humane and safe treatment of future exhibit animals,' was the way they put it." Marco looked around like he'd made a joke, but let it drop when nobody laughed. "So that's not exactly weird."

(See, this is why I think you guys need to see for yourself,) Tobias said. (I can't explain it right. Sure, a marine biology boat responsible for catching aquarium fish shows up around where a manta beached itself...sounds on the up-and-up. But it's not,) Tobias said, frustrated.

"It's okay, Tobias. I believe you," I said gently before he could really start to get upset. "Let's talk about why it was wrong to you. Just talk, okay? We're here to listen, not judge. We'll figure it out."

He mentally sighed. (Okay. Well for one, that the boat is even there in the first place. That bugs me. Why send a 300 foot research vessel all the way from the Institute? They've got a whole fleet of boats, so why the biggest one they have? It looks way out of place, so close to shore.)

Marco said, "I'm with you on that, Tobias. Gas is expensive. Why chug their biggest boat, the one outfitted to catch big deep sea creatures, out off the shore?" He snapped his fingers, as if he'd just had a revelation. "Dude, that boat is probably what freaked the manta in the first place!"

"The boat wasn't out there yesterday," Rachel said. "I remember thinking how, for a Sunday, there weren't enough boats out on the water. I would have noticed it."

"There could be a logical explanation," Jake said. "They could be out there trying to figure out the same thing we are - why the manta did that in the first place."

(That's what I thought at first, too,) Tobias said. (But there are two Coast Guard cutters out there. They're running off any boat who wanders too close.)

"So they're helping the Marine Biologist people, big deal," Rachel said. "They don't want a bunch of wakeboarders screwing up their tests or whatever."

"That's not it," I argued. Everybody looked at me and I blushed. "The military isn't allowed to do stuff like that. They can't waste taxpayers' money on independent research ventures. Not without a bunch of paperwork about environmental impact studies and legal permission. Federal permission. And they don't like to do that paperwork in the first place, let alone fast-track it. If it were a few Department of Marine Resources boats out there? Some ocean Rangers? That would make sense. But Coast Guard? That's just weird."

Jake looked thoughtful. "Anything else, Tobias?"

Tobias hesitated. (No...well, yeah,) he admitted grudgingly. (Its just a feeling, but its strong. Its like a ghost town out there in the water. I don't go to the beach very often, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but its just too dang quiet out there. No dolphins jumping. No sharks cruising off the sandbar. No fish schooling. Its like every animal within a half a mile of that research boat has just disappeared. Its...spooky,) he admitted.

Jake stood up. "Thanks, Tobias. Thanks for checking on this while we were stuck in school." I marveled at how naturally the words came out. They didn't sound forced at all, because they probably weren't. Jake's leadership instincts were right on, as usual. Tobias can't morph anymore, and I guess it makes him feel like he doesn't do enough to help. Jake was turning the table and making sure Tobias felt like a valuable piece of the team.

Jake looked around at everybody. "Well, I guess we ought to get Ax and check this out. Cool?"

"Now?" Marco asked.

"Now," Jake agreed. "Let's get feathery."

Author's Note: Just want to say a quick thank you to those of you who've taken the time to review :) Not to sound like a jerk, but I'd probably be writing this a lot faster if I were getting more...chapter one had over a hundred different visitors and I think three reviews lol. Anyway, not a gripe session. It is what it is. This is mainly to let everybody know where this is supposed to fit in the series. I want it to stick as close to canon as possible (even though I've accepted that its /not/ canon..sigh..) so its set roughly between book #5 and book #12. All of my old stories were set after Tobias got the morphing power back, and I realized that when that happened, the paranoia and fear that got me hooked on the series in the first place were kind of bleeding out of the series. I want to try to bring that back a little. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and either way please be kind enough to leave your thoughts! Thanks for reading!