The next day, Perigord dispatched Galloper Riffle back to Salamandastron to fetch Lady Cregga and her army. The rest of the hares joined the Redwallers in rebuilding the north wall. The Guosim shrews had stayed to assist as well, so there was a veritable army working out there, filling holes, tamping down earth, and relaying the massive red sandstone blocks.

A scaffold of logs had been erected in order to lift the bricks. It had a hoist with two platforms, which moved up and down by a series of counterweights. As one platform went up, the other went down. You simply loaded the platform on the ground up with bricks, then the beasts up on the scaffold hauled it up to the top, bringing the other platform down in the process. Then, while the creatures on top laid the bricks that had just been brought up to them, the animals down on the ground loaded the other platform with more bricks.

Tammo, Amethyst, and Pearl threw themselves into the thick of things. Perched high up on the topmost scaffold pole, they toiled away with a clear blue sky above and a breathtaking void beneath them. From where he stood, Tammo could see out over the countless acres of Mossflower Wood to the east. He turned slowly, looking across the vast plain to the west. "Now I know why birds always look so happy," he said. "Everythin' looks so different from up here."

Nearby, Joshy winced. "Tamm, could you stop movin' around so much? You're shakin' the whole scaffold. Somethin' inside me just did a somersault!"

"Prob'ly that cheese 'n' mushroom flan you had for lunch!" Amethyst ribbed him.

"Hey, a chap's gotta have his blinkin' scoff, wot wot," Joshy said.

"We're running out of mortar," Pearl observed. "Tammo, why don't you pop down and tell them to send some more up?"

Tammo saluted. "Righto! Quick's the word and sharp's the action!"

He stepped aboard the platform. It descended slowly. Down below, Pasque, a mole, and four mice were mixing sand, limestone and water together to make cement.

The mole touched his snout in greeting. "Are Amnyfest and Purl needin' more blocks oop thurr, Tamm?"

Tammo stepped from the platform. "Not at present, Drubb, 'tis mortar they want."

"How's it goin' up there?" Pasque asked.

Tammo answered, "Well, I tell ye, marm, I'm surprised how far along we've gotten. Arven and Skipper are saying we could be finished in just a couple o' days."

"We may not have that long, though," she said.

"I know," said Tammo. "But we've just gotta finish as much of the job as we can."

"You know what?" said Pasque. "I just can't stop thinking about that spaceship buried in the ground. I feel like if we could uncover it, there'd be something inside that could hold the key to defeating Damug Warfang."

Tammo agreed. "That Marvin the Martian must have been a powerful warlord in his own right, to cross outer space like that. I bet his ship was chock full of alien weaponry. There has to be something inside that would help us fight the Rapscallions. We should talk to Amethyst and Pearl about this. I'm sure they can figure out a way to get into the ship."

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While the Redwallers were mending their wall, the Rapscallions were searching for the kindergarten. At last, that evening, they reached it.

Damug strode into the canyon, with Peridot by his side. "Is this the place?" he asked her.

Peridot nodded. "Yeah, this is it."

"Let's make sure dere ain't any o' dem monsters around," Rinkul cautioned.

But there weren't any. They had all been poofed in the battle at Redwall.

Damug rubbed his paws together. "This is where my plan begins. Soon, with my new Gem army, I can take over the entire planet! Now, how do I get started creating the Gems?"

Now, Peridot had actually been sent to Earth for the express purpose of reactivating the kindergarten. You see, the Diamonds up on Homeworld had heard of Rose Quartz's death, and with her gone, they'd decided to have another go at conquering the earth. The first step would be to get the kindergarten going again and raise up an army. The Diamonds reasoned that creating an army right there on Earth would be easier than ferrying an entire existing army across the galaxy. So, in fact, Peridot's motivations coincided with Damug's. For the moment, they had the exact same goal- creating a Gem army to take over the planet. The only difference was that Damug wanted to conquer the planet for himself, and Peridot wanted to conquer it for Homeworld. She had decided that she would let Damug and his Rapscallions assist her- it would make the job that much easier. Once the new Gems had been born, Peridot was sure they would take orders from her, and not from Damug. Then, if Damug became troublesome, she could order her new soldiers to dispose of him.

She picked one of the Injectors up from the ground. "These machines are called Injectors," she said. "They're used to embed nascent Gems into the crust of a planet, where they gestate before emerging."

"Say that in English, please," Damug said.

Peridot sighed. She tried to explain it again, using the simplest words possible. "Basically, you just jam that thing into the ground, and it'll plant a baby Gem into the earth. Then, after a short gestation period, the Gem pops out, fully grown and ready to fight!"

"And how long does the gestation period last?" he asked.

Peridot shrugged. "It varies from Gem to Gem. It can be anywhere from a few hours to a few days."

"A few days! Great seasons, I hope it doesn't take that long. Those Redwallers could have their wall repaired by then." Damug glanced around at all the Injectors lying around on the canyon floor. "You sure these are in good working order? They look like they haven't been used in a while."

"They're totally outdated of course, but they should still work just fine," Peridot said.

Damug put his paws on his hips. "What d'you mean, outdated?"

Peridot turned the Injector around to show him the drill. "See, they've got the old-fashioned Era 1 drills. They're just not the most up to date model, but they'll still get the job done."

"Is there anything else I should know?" he asked her.

Peridot started listing off tips for optimal Gem growth. "Make sure you inject the Injectors into a flat surface, because curved surfaces result in Gems emerging sideways. The holes must have even spacing an' consistent depth. The Gems must not come out of the holes at an angle, and they must leave strong, clean silhouettes. Exceptionally good quality holes have frictional rock melt, and glass all the way to the back."

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Ruby and Sapphire stood outside the entrance to the kindergarten. They stared down at the vermin tracks on the ground, leading inside.

"No mistake about it," said Ruby. "They went in here."

Sapphire shuddered. "What could Damug Warfang possibly want in this place? Do you think he's got ideas in his head about creating his own Gem army?"

"Would that even work?" Ruby wondered. "Could an Earth creature actually make Gems on his own, and would they follow him if he did?"

"No one's ever come up with that idea before, so I have no idea if it'll work or not," said Sapphire.

"Well, there's no time to waste," said Ruby. "We'd better get on in there."

She started to march right in, but Sapphire stopped her. "I think I should go in alone," she said. "We're better off if the vermin don't know about you. That way, you can deliver messages for me between here and Redwall unhindered."

Ruby hated to be separated from Sapphire, but she knew Sapphire was right. "Be careful in there," she said.

"I'm always careful," Sapphire said. She gave Ruby a quick kiss on the lips. Then she turned away from her and walked into the canyon.

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The vermin were startled to see Sapphire appear in their midst, but they reacted quickly. A group of them surrounded Sapphire, pointing weapons at her.

Damug came walking over, sword raised. "Who are yer an' where'd you come from? What do you want here?"

Peridot appeared at his elbow. "Are you from Homeworld? Did the Diamonds send you to assist me?"

Sapphire decided to go along with this. It would be the quickest way to gain Peridot's trust. "Yes. I'm Sapphire. I've come to help you."

"Well, we don't need help," said Damug. "We can get this kindergarten up and running without you, can't we, Peridot?"

Sapphire reached up and parted her own hair like a curtain, revealing a single eye in the center of her forehead. "You're Damug Warfang, son of Gormad Tunn," she said.

Damug was taken aback. "How do you know my name?"

"All Sapphires have the gift of sight," Sapphire responded. "We know lots of things."

"Is that true?" Damug asked Peridot.

Peridot nodded. "I've heard about Sapphires and their abilities, though I've never clapped eyes on one before. They are among the most special and rare Gems in the universe!"

The Greatrat sheathed his sword. "Can you look into the future?" he asked Sapphire.

"Yes," she said. "And I've seen your future, Damug Warfang. I've seen victory for you and your army."

"I like the sound of that," Damug Warfang mused. "Okay, Sapphire. Welcome to the Rapscallions."