(All right, you both heard what we're going to be doing here, so let's get back to it,) he said, trying to sound as steady as Jake always did under these circumstances.

"Yes, Tobias," Slade said, sounding just the same way he had when he'd been taking orders from Jake.

He saw Shara shake her head, once Slade had turned away from her and so couldn't see what she was doing. He thought it was kind of sad, himself, but then he hadn't been the one who'd lived with the person Slade had been all his life. It had to be worse for Shara, if only because she knew what she was missing.

She knew how much her brother had changed.

The three of them settled into something of a routine, after that; he'd take periodic flights around the city while either Slade or Shara were down in the tunnel, keeping an eye on their remaining morph-time so that neither of them overshot their limits and trapped themselves the way he'd done.

After a few more hours of working, though, both of the siblings seemed to be getting tired. So, after one last check to make sure that no one was going to be coming out this way, he told them to get some sleep, and also to stay in the shed until he came back for them. Not that he was particularly worried that either of them would run off, Tobias just felt better about making sure that everything was clear between him and Slade.

Shara he didn't have to worry about so much, but Slade seemed to be the kind who needed things like that spelled out for him; it had to be something the Radam did to his mind.

xxxXxxxx

When the five of them returned to the shed after she, Cassie, Jake, and Marco had finished their schooling for the day, Rachel was only briefly surprised to find Slade just demorphing after coming up from the mole tunnel. Looking over at Shara, Rachel found the other girl just waking up from a nap.

"Hey, Shara," she called, drawing the attention of the other blonde just as she had started to yawn.

"Oh, good afternoon, Rachel," Shara said, tilting her head as she turned to look her way.

There were empty Safeway bags tucked neatly into the far corner of the small shed, one of them stuffed full of what had clearly been food containers of one kind or another, and the other looking well on its way to sharing that same fate. Cassie had said that Slade and Shara tended to eat quite a bit more than normal people – again, probably something to do with the Radam – but she'd never considered what kind of evidence that would leave behind.

"So," Marco said briskly, clapping to draw everyone's attention to him. "Are you guys all finished down there?"

"Not as far as I can tell," Shara said, folding her arms as she looked back to the hole. "We haven't been able to take measurements, but neither of us had managed to find as large a space as you've all said the Yeerk Pool occupies."

"Nuts," Marco muttered, and Rachel didn't bother suppressing a smirk.

"What, you weren't looking forward to another spelunking expedition?" she teased. "You going to try and convince us you left your gear at home, or something?"

"Why is spelunking even a word?" Marco demanded, holding out his hands in supplication. "It sounds like something a six-year-old made up."

"We're drifting off-topic, here," Jake said tolerantly. "Who's up for taking the next shift?"

This time, she and Slade were the first ones to volunteer, but when Jake gave Slade an order to get some rest, Slade backed down the way he always did in the face of a direct order.

Morphing as quickly as she could manage, Rachel took a deep breath. (You mind talking me though this again, Shara?)

(Not at all, Rachel.)

(Thanks,) she said, and would have smiled if she were still capable of making anything like human expressions in this morph.