Chapter 10

I'd almost completely forgotten about Groof's ability to teleport to any point in Space without the passage of any time. Such minor and unimportant technology was bound to go missing from my memory bank.

Within twenty minutes of Jake sending out a call, he had arrived in his little ship. The entire twenty minutes were spent preparing to land, not traveling; such was the power of the technology Surote's group held.

Of course, Jake didn't make the call straight away. Everything was organized beforehand, including the search pattern, the morphs used to search, the plan upon finding the supply base, and all the backup plans should the first be hindered. That took seven hours of careful, deliberate theorizing. After my initial distancing, I re-found my purpose for being there in the first place. Of course, I was going to go.

It put into perspective how much my subconscious was rebelling and how much trouble I had to readjust. The others all told me that I was becoming more and more unstable.

When I returned from the woods from a vague and secretive walk, I was back on board with the idea, no matter how perilous it was.

Jake managed to cover all relevant points, and we listened intently in the front room, with Ely and Sten joining us despite not being involved in the mission. The plan itself was more structured and detailed than anything Jake had done before, and it was particularly impressive. Perhaps even inspiring. We all knew our parts and what to do in an emergency.

However, the big test was yet to come: Would it actually work when we got there?

Groof was as flamboyant as expected when he arrived. He was some weird alien from a far-distant galaxy, and the race's name was only pronounceable to those with a tongue shaped like an octopus, so I never attempted it. I often described the race as a terrifying Taxxon-Demon hybrid, and it's definitely understandable when considered purely on aesthetics. Otherwise, Groof was about as menacing as a damp sponge. He also had a strange fascination with earrings. We were prepared for that.

He bounded through the opened door. "Hello, Humans, bird, and Andalite. Oh, and Hork-Bajir. I was expecting you to call, but not quite so soon!"

Groof started laughing, a low rumbling sound. It was a joke that only he caught. Everybody in the room stared with a blank expression, apart from Sten; he looked just about ready to collapse over the back of the sofa. He'd never seen Groof before.

"Are you ready for the mission?" Groof chirped like we were preparing for a trip to the beach.

"We're ready," Jake replied. "We aren't taking anything but a couple of maps. Do you have an idea where in the Rockies this base is?"

Groof responded, "Burr-Ammit was given rough coordinates but couldn't gain access to exact details. You'll have to find it within a three-mile radius."

"I thought so," Jake said. "Not a problem. We planned for that. Let's get moving."

With that, we started to mobilize, gathering the few notes we needed and grabbing a last gasp of water before the mission commenced. Ely approached Jake with a list of suggested housekeeping tasks, and Jake approved without even looking. He told Ely to stay safe and remain indoors, which the sort-of-ex-butler obediently accepted.

Jake took that moment to give Sten his first major task. Until that point, Sten had been sitting back in a beat-up old armchair, either listening silently to our plans or gawking up at Groof. Tobias, equally silent, was perched like a statue beside him.

"Sten, we're going now," Jake announced. "Ely's staying here to look after the house. Think you could get your team working this soon? The place needs protection."

Sten sprung up eagerly, fast enough to spook Tobias from his motionless daze. "Sten will protect while Humans are gone. Jake not need to worry," he said with a grin.

Jake was satisfied, and Sten soon returned to the trees to fetch his sentries. We were ready to leave and made for the doorway.

Groof raised a frightening pincer to halt us. "Oh, Humans!" he squeaked. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What's he talking about?" Menderash murmured to Jake.

Jake pushed the question forward to Groof. "I guess we are."

Groof made a cackling noise, the meaning of it entirely unknown to us all. "We agreed on payment upfront for my transportation services! Don't you remember?"

Jake suddenly remembered that. Nobody else did. "Oh. Oh yeah," he muttered to himself. Then he addressed us. "Earrings. We got any?"

"Earrings…" I repeated in disbelief. "That's paym-…? Oh, sure. Sarge?"

Santorelli shrugged. "Don't look at me."

"Mendy?"

I don't know why I asked. "I have never understood the necessity of attaching meaningless pieces of metal to the earlobe."

"Thanks, Mendy," I groaned. I looked past him at Ely, who was already dusting the mantelpiece. I pushed past Menderash and approached him. "Hey, Ely. I need a favor."

He gazed up at me through thick specs. "A favor, sir?"

"We need earrings," I told him. "Have you got any stowed away somewhere?"

He shook his head shakily. "I'm afraid not, sir."

I thought for a moment and glanced back at Groof, who was engaging in small talk. "Got any paper clips?"

"Yes, sir. They're in the stationery drawer."

"Right, stationery drawer!" I grinned, clasping my hands victoriously. "… Where's the stationery drawer?"

"Bottom drawer in the kitchen," Ely informed.

"Got it. Thanks!" I patted him gratefully on the shoulder and rushed to the drawer stated.

I got the impression that Groof was not exactly the connoisseur he portrayed. His obsession was not borne of knowledge. Therefore, earrings crudely made with paperclips and bottle caps might satiate him.

"Oh, wow!" he gasped when I handed them to him. "I've never seen earrings like this before!"

I smiled as he attempted to latch them to the two bumps on either side of his head. "They're Austrian earrings. Very rare!"

"I love them!" he cheered. "So, who's ready for a mission? I am!"