Chapter 7
"Visser Three arrives to The Sharing meetings via his signature black limo," Rachel explained. "There are three human-controller guards in the limo, plus a driver. The limo's windows are tinted, so we can't see inside. It is reasonable to expect him to demorph and remorph inside the limo, but when he enters and exits he is in his human morph."
"When he actually arrives at the meeting, there are many guards waiting to meet him, and probably Hork-Bajir on standby just inside," said Hannah. "Way too many for us to make a move."
{The best time to attack in my opinion is when he first enters the limo,} said Tobias. {Visser Three gets dropped off by a single bug fighter, and only a handful of human-controllers are waiting for him.}
"He doesn't use his blade ship?" Marco asked.
"No, the landing site is too small for the blade ship to land," Hannah explained. "He could land further away, but presumably he wants to limit transport time on the ground."
{The blade ship is probably just above the landing site, cloaked,} I said. {It will be ready to swoop in at a moment's notice.}
"Yes, we considered that," said Rachel. "But we couldn't see any evidence of any other ships."
"Where exactly is the landing site?" Prince Jake asked.
"The roof of the downtown parking garage," said Hannah. "They have the whole top floor reserved, and the privacy walls prevent anyone from seeing the bug fighter. The parking garage is just six blocks from The Sharing's meeting place."
"What if we could put a hidden camera up there?" Jordan asked. "Get video proof of a spaceship, then post it online?"
"Most people would just assume it's fake," said Marco. "Besides, the Yeerks could remove the video easily enough."
"I would like to point something out," Cassie said. All eyes turned to her. "You observed Visser Three one time. We don't know if the landing site is the same each time, Visser Three could take a different route, Visser Three might not even go to every meeting. Visser Three could have twice as many guards next time."
"We need a plan that works every time, regardless of the variables," said Marco.
{I have a question,} I said. {Where is this vehicle now?}
"The limo? It's in a private lot behind The Sharing's community center. Why do you ask?" said Rachel.
{What if we were to sneak into this limo, before Visser Three enters? Perhaps we could ambush him?} I suggested.
"Good idea," said Prince Jake. "We could demorph and remorph inside the limo, thanks to the tinted windows."
"What if the Yeerks have multiple limos, and use a different one each time?" Marco wondered.
"We followed the limo all the way to and from the community center," Hannah pointed out. "No sign of any other limos."
"That means nothing," Marco countered. "They could have five other limos in hidden places all over town."
"Well we know about this one for sure," said Jordan. "Let's get a closer look at it."
{Sounds like we need to get a look inside this limo,} Tobias said.
Prince Jake nodded. "All right. Tonight, limousine reconnaissance. We get inside the limo and make a plan from there."
And that is why, five earth hours later, I was in roach morph riding on the back of a dog.
We had decided we didn't need everyone to go inside the limo, so Marco, Rachel, and myself were chosen to go in. We were three cockroaches riding on Jordan's back.
Jordan's dog morph was specifically chosen due to its black fur, which would allow her to blend into the night easily.
According to humans, one stray dog wandering around at night is not unusual.
Tobias and Prince Jake were soaring somewhere far overhead, in owl morph, providing a lookout.
Cassie and Hannah were pretending to wait at a bus stop half a block away. If things went wrong, they could duck into an alleyway, morph, and come to our aid in a matter of minutes.
Tobias and I had been inside the community center's security room, so we knew where all the cameras pointed. Most of them aimed at the hidden Yeerk pool entrance in the kiddie tunnel on the opposite side of the complex.
We were able to tell Jordan a safe route to and from the limo easily enough.
Of course, a dog making a beeline straight for a particular vehicle might have been a little suspicious, so Jordan had to play the part of a real dog.
{Okay Jordan, you can stop chasing the stray cat now,} Tobias called down from above.
{About time,} Marco grumbled. {I almost fell off from all this jostling.}
I felt smaller vibrations as Jordan trotted around the parking lot, stopping to sniff various things.
{Okay guys, get ready to jump,} Jordan said. {The limo will be on your right hand side in about fifteen seconds.}
{You know, Jordan. You should take a leak on it,} Marco suggested. {In the name of acting like a real dog, of course.}
I heard Jordan laugh as she came to a halt.
{Another way you could act like a real dog is to scratch for fleas,} Rachel piped up. {Specifically, on your left side, about two inches behind the base of your neck.}
{Not funny, Rachel!} Marco complained.
{Stop messing around, we have a mission to do here,} Prince Jake called down from above.
{You guys are good to jump,} said Jordan. {Let me know when you're clear.}
I spread my cockroach wings and flew for a split second, before landing on the glossy surface of the limousine.
{Clear,} I announced.
{Clear,} Marco.
{Clear,} Rachel.
I felt some large vibrations that grew further away as Jordan trotted off to go do more dog things.
Rachel, Marco, and I split up and began searching for an entry point into the vehicle.
It only took about fifteen minutes.
{I have found a crack,} I announced.
{Where are you?} Rachel grumbled.
{Rachel, do a 180 and go about one car door length,} Tobias called down from above. {Marco, turn right a hair and then straight.}
One minute later, we were all at the crack.
{I will go first,} I announced.
I squeezed my roach body through the crack. It was no bigger than the width of a human quarter, but it was enough for a roach.
Did you know that if a cockroach is squished down by 50%, it can still run at nearly its top speed?
Also, roaches can live for seven human days without their heads.
Additionally, if a roach gets squashed, their eggs scatter everywhere to help the species survive. This means that every time you step on a roach, you are literally creating dozens more. Not that this helps the original roach, of course.
Roaches are fascinating creatures. Disgusting, yes, but fascinating nonetheless.
I squeezed through a maze of wires, metal and plastic, with the others right behind me.
Soon we entered into a more open area. My roach senses could tell it was dark, but the Andalite in me still felt uneasy.
{I cannot detect any humans,} I told the others.
{Let's stick to the plan,} Rachel said. {Ax demorphs first incase there's cameras.}
{Okay, but I'm going back into the crack,} said Marco. {I don't feel like getting stepped on.}
{Let me know when you're safely inside the crack,} I said.
A few seconds later, they were both safe.
{Demorphing,} I announced.
I was glad it was dark, so I didn't have to watch my body undergo the transformation.
I purposefully made my tail appear first, although it wouldn't have much use if I couldn't see my target.
Soon I could tell I was fully Andalite once more. But it was still pitch black. The tinted windows, combined with it being dark outside, meant that I couldn't see a thing.
I began to focus on my next morph. It would only be a partial morph, so it would go quickly.
Owl eyes, I told myself.
Suddenly, I could see as if it was day. I could feel that my eyes had grown significantly larger in my head. I wished I could morph just one aspect of my eyes, like Marco could.
Unfortunately, the night vision only applied to my main eyes, as owls do not have stalk eyes.
I could see in just one direction, like a human.
But I could see.
I was in a small space, which made me feel claustrophobic. There were two human seats that were considerably more fancy than conventional human seats.
Two more human seats were in the front. There was also a rack that appeared to be designed to hold weapons, but was not holding anything at this time.
{Ax, how is it going?} Marco asked.
{I have demorphed uneventfully and am now searching for cameras or listening devices.}
{Cool, let us know when it's safe.}
{Will do.}
I continued searching, which took a lot longer considering I could only see with my main eyes. I had to turn my head so many times I began to feel dizzy. I don't know how the humans do it.
I bent down to look under the human seats.
{Jordan, there's a security guard looking your way,} I heard Tobias warn from above. {Don't act suspicious.}
{You got it,} she responded.
{I am confident there is a minimal risk of observation devices in this vehicle,} I said. {Go ahead and demorph, but stay alert.}
{Demorphing…} I heard Rachel say. I stepped back to give them room.
As I watched, Marco and Rachel grew out of their insect bodies.
Soon, they were humans with owl night vision. I noticed with a pang of jealousy that both of them retained their human eye shape.
"This is a big limo," Marco commented.
{Is this unusual for a vehicle of this type?} I wondered.
"Yeah, there should be another row of seats on this side," Rachel guestered.
{Most likely they have been removed to allow Visser Three to demorph and remorph.} I said.
"And most limos don't have weapon racks," Marco added.
{Ax, Marco, Rachel. What's the inside look like?} Prince Jake asked.
I gave a brief description of the interior of the vehicle.
{Sounds like we can fit two or three battle morphs inside. I think we have all the info we need, go ahead and bail.} Prince Jake commanded.
Marco, Rachel, and I began to morph roaches once more.
{Jordan, stand by to retrieve the roaches,} Prince Jake said.
It wasn't long before Rachel, Marco, and I were three roaches on the outside of the vehicle.
{All right, Jordan. They're ready. Same side of the limo as you dropped them off on.} Prince Jake said.
{En route,} said Jordan.
Jordan casually walked past the side of the limo. Three nearly invisible roaches jumped onto her with ease, Jordan didn't even have to slow down.
{Flawless, great work everyone,} Prince Jake praised.
Tobias guided Jordan out of the parking lot.
The next evening, we were once again in Cassie's barn.