Chapter 11
{Status updates!} Prince Jake demanded.
{The Visser is unconscious and tied up. Making our getaway now,} I reported.
{The lady who saw me went running screaming the other way,} said Tobias.
{The controllers are in full panic mode,} said Rachel. {They're running back to their vehicles to get ready to follow the limo!}
None of the SUVs were close enough to block the limo, but the controller in the suit tried to block it himself.
Cassie tried to swerve around him, but the man jumped onto the hood of the limo.
I watched him draw his pistol and point it at Cassie. His face contorted into an expression of pure rage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hannah was faster. Three shots through the windshield and the controller was no longer a threat.
{Thanks, Hannah,} said Cassie.
{No problem.}
Cassie quickly jerked the wheel right and then left again, and the controller's body fell off to the side.
A second later, we descended into the parking garage.
{The controllers have reached the SUVs and are following you!} Rachel warned.
{Jordan, Tobias! Come near the exit of the parking garage and get ready to stop the SUVs! Don't worry about people seeing you, the Yeerks already know we're here.} Prince Jake commanded. {Rachel, get elevation, be ready to follow the limo! I'll stay with Jordan and Tobias as backup.}
Rachel, Tobias, and Jordan all confirmed they understood.
Meanwhile, Cassie was flying down the parking garage at breakneck speed, drifting around corners. The SUVs were seconds behind us.
{Holy shit Cassie!} Marco wailed. {Where did you learn to drive like this? A fast and furious movie?!}
{This is how we drive on the farm,} she responded with a wink in the rearview mirror. {And getting 25 years of experience from Mr. Tidwell's brain didn't hurt, either.}
Another drift.
{The SUVs are gaining!} I warned.
Another drift, inches away from colliding with parked cars.
{They can't shoot, they won't risk hitting Visser Three,} said Marco.
{Just don't let them pit maneuver us,} Hannah advised.
{What is a pit maneuver?} I asked.
{Not the time, Ax!} said Cassie.
Another drift.
And now I could see the exit. I could see out of the parking garage, across four lanes of traffic, and a pizza restaurant across the street.
Pizza is an excellent human food.
Not the time, I reminded myself, echoing Cassie.
Perched on the sign of the pizza place, was an owl.
Prince Jake.
{I see them!} Prince Jake announced. {The SUVs are very close, Jordan you need to charge at the exit…now!}
I became aware of a rumbling sound.
Suddenly, we erupted out of the parking garage and onto the street, to continue the chase.
I glanced to the right and saw a wall of gray approaching.
The first SUV shot out of the parking garage.
WHAAM!
Jordan collided with the side of the SUV, sending it into the air where it flipped twice before landing on its roof.
{Ha HA!} Jordan cried triumphantly. {This morph is awesome!}
{Two more! Watch out!} Prince Jake warned.
But Tobias was there, too. Tobias effortlessly, almost gracefully, stomped on the hood of the next SUV, flattening it like a pancake.
Before I could see anymore, we were around the corner, speeding off again.
{Red light ahead,} Rachel warned. {You're good to run it, there are no cars coming.}
{Thanks,} responded Cassie.
We went down a little bump, and the bottom of the limo scraped on the ground, sending up a shower of sparks.
{Cops three blocks ahead!} Rachel warned. {They're laying down spikes!}
{Think they're real cops or controllers?} Hannah wondered.
{Does it matter?} Marco asked. {We're doing 90 mph in the city with bullet holes in our windshield and blood splattered all over the hood! We look like we just got back from a vehicular manslaughter convention!}
{There are conventions for such things?} I asked skeptically.
No response. I honestly didn't expect one.
{Cassie, you'll need to make a right here, the spikes are blocking the entire road ahead,} said Rachel.
{Got it.} With a squeal of rubber, Cassie drifted to the right. This time, we actually did hit a parked car, but only very gently.
{Sorry!} she called out.
{I do not think automotives are capable of receiving thought-speak,} I said.
At that point, Visser Three began to stir. I knocked him back unconscious with a flick of my tail.
{Cassie, I'm flying at full speed here, but I can't keep up for much longer,} said Rachel.
{No problem, you've done great so far,} Hannah responded for Cassie, as Cassie was too busy trying to dodge between other cars.
{Not far enough, that's the problem,} Marco muttered.
At this point, we turned onto the highway.
{Just three miles to go, and then we'll be in the woods,} said Cassie.
We weaved left and right, dodging between cars with inches to spare.
Other drivers honked and yelled at us.
One guy in a trunk with exceptionally large clearance under it gave us a strange salute involving a single finger.
{I can't keep up!} yelled Rachel, her voice already growing faint. {You guys are driving too fast for me.}
{No worries Rachel,} I said. {We have passed the hardest part, just catch up whenever you can.}
We continued driving, now going about 120 human miles per hour. The world outside turned to a blur.
{More cops ahead!} exclaimed Hannah. {They've blocked the whole road!}
Cassie slowed down considerably, but we were still going about 80.
{Everyone hang on! We're going off road!} Cassie announced.
{Cassie, you're crazy!} Marco shouted.
Cassie spun off to the right side of the road, spinning up a cloud of dust.
Marco, Visser Three, and I bounced from side to side.
We hit a particularly large bump and my stalk eyes bounced painfully off the ceiling of the limo.
I was glad Cassie and Hannah were wearing their seatbelts.
With a spin of the tires, we swerved back onto the pavement.
We jerked crazily left, right, and then left again.
For a terrifying second, I thought we would flip.
But miraculously Cassie saved it. She straightened out and accelerated with a squeal of rubber.
The cops quickly got back in their vehicles and rushed to chase us, lights and sirens blaring.
{I thought the cops don't chase you if you're going too fast,} complained Marco. {Like chasing you would be more dangerous than letting you run.}
{How much do you want to bet those aren't normal cops?} Hannah asked.
Cassie was flooring it, once more going about 120 mph.
But the cops weren't giving up.
{We have to shake them soon, we'll miss our chance to escape into the woods,} said Cassie.
{Anyone have any brilliant ideas?!} Hannah yelled.
I glanced around the inside of the limo.
Unconscious human controllers, Visser Three, a backpack, automatic weapons…
Automatic weapons….
{I do have a brilliant idea!} I exclaimed. {Open the airlock!}
{Uh…airlock?} Marco asked. {This isn't a spaceship, Ax-man.}
{What is the opening in the roof called?} I asked.
{It's a sunroof,} said Hannah. She pressed a button on the control panel and the corresponding section of the roof slid open.
{It's actually a moonroof,} Marco said. {A moonroof slides back, but with a sunroof the panel gets removed completely and…}
{We do NOT CARE,} screamed Cassie.
{Right,} admitted Marco. {What's your plan, Ax?}
I quickly told Marco the plan.
{It's worth a shot,} he said.
I grabbed a weapon off the rack and chambered a round into the primitive human gun. It was surprisingly heavy, compared to a shredder or Dracon beam.
Marco ripped one of the seats out of the floor and positioned it under the sunroof.
He helped me stand the still unconscious Visser Three on the seat, and I placed my front legs on said seat so that both Visser Three's human head and my own Andalite head were protruding through the sunroof, facing the human cops.
Or…moonroof?
Nevermind.
My stalk eyes were blown back by the insane wind, pointing directly at the humans.
I raised the human weapon and pointed it at Visser Three.
{Human law enforcement personnel!} I announced. {Stop pursuing us at once, or this innocent man will be killed!}
{Innocent?! Visser Three?} Cassie demanded.
{I have to make it seem more threatening,} I said privately.
Two of the human police vehicles stopped chasing us, but two more continued the pursuit.
{They must be controllers,} Hannah speculated. {They won't stop chasing us no matter what.}
{We'll have to try something less subtle,} I concluded.
I turned the human weapon toward the oncoming vehicles.
{Ax! What are you doing?} Marco demanded.
{Do not be alarmed,} I said. {I will only shoot the tires,}
I fired off a quick burst. The recoil was insane! I knew human guns had recoil, unlike beam weapons, but I hadn't expected it to be this much!
I realized with horror that several of my shots had gone higher than I had anticipated. I had aimed for the left front tire, but at least a couple of the shots had stuck the human operating the vehicle.
I watched, helpless with horror, as the human police officer driving the vehicle began to drift left as he was no longer able to control his vehicle. The man in the front passenger seat frantically tried to reach the steering wheel.
But it was too late. The damage had been done.
The police car I had hit spun to the side and collided with the other police vehicle.
Both vehicles crashed into the concrete wall that separates traffic from traffic going in the opposite direction.
I watched, paralyzed, as the two vehicles erupted into a ball of flame.
{AX!} shrieked Cassie.
{I'm sorry!} I wailed. {I didn't mean for that to happen! I only meant to stop the vehicles!}
"Hahahaha, foolish Andalite!" laughed a voice.
I jumped in surprise. Visser Three had ironically regained consciousness right at that moment.
In my panic, I realized I hadn't used private thought-speak, and that the Visser had heard my cry.
"You think you can have a clean, fair, honorable war without any casualties? Fool," Visser Three sneered.
{Silence, Yeerk,} Marco snapped. {You of all people do not get to lecture us on morals.}
Before the Visser could retort, Marco slammed his fist against the side of Viser Three's head. The Visser fell unconscious once more.
{What have I done?} I murmured, feeling sick.
{You made a mistake, Ax,} said Hannah. {But that's okay. Everyone makes mistakes. Now let's continue the mission.}
{Hannah's right,} said Marco. {It sucks that happened, but we have to push forward.}
Easy for you guys to say, I thought. You didn't just kill a bunch of innocent humans.
Cassie must have predicted my thoughts.
{Ax, I know you feel terrible right now,} she said, and I could tell by her tone that she was speaking privately. {But you can feel remorse later. Right now, we have a job to do.}
{You're right,} I admitted. {Thanks, Cassie.}
Cassie pulled off onto a dirt road.
{I'll continue until we're out of sight of the highway. Then we can proceed with the plan.} she said.
Soon we pulled off onto the shoulder where we couldn't see the road.
It was time to continue with the plan.
But that didn't mean I had to feel okay about it.