Chapter 8
Prince Jake had ridden his bike to Cassie's barn, and was wearing a backpack and strange artificial skin that I had never seen before. Additionally, his artificial hooves seemed to be about two sizes too big. Very peculiar behavior.
Before I could inquire about it however, the meeting began.
"All right, here's the plan I made," said Prince Jake. "It's a rough outline, and I'm open to suggestions."
"Let's hear it," said Rachel eagerly.
"The Sharing's meetings are posted on their website. The next meeting is tonight in about two hours. The meeting is at their leadership building, you know the place where we first saw Visser Three in his human morph?"
"No," Jordan muttered.
Prince Jake gave her a look, but continued. "We sneak into the limo the same way as we did last night, but this time it's Ax, Marco, Cassie, and Hannah as roaches. Still Jordan as the dog. Tobias as overhead lookout. Tobias, Jordan, and Ax, did you time the route today like I asked?"
{Yes Prince Jake, we timed it. It takes an average of four minutes and fifty-one seconds for a vehicle to travel from The Sharing's community center to the parking garage. However, we could not time how long it would take to reach the parking garage's top floor due to most humans parking on the bottom two floors. Additionally, there is a margin of error of thirty three seconds, depending on the behavior of your human traffic lights. But, due to this limousine being a larger vehicle, we expect it to take a time on the larger end of the spectrum, but this may be countered by controllers driving fast and fewer vehicles on the road at the time of…}
"Okay, Ax, thank you. That's good enough. We'll call it four and a half minutes just in case. Once the four are inside, they will demorph. Marco will go gorilla, while Ax, Cassie, and Hannah will stay in their natural forms."
"That's risky," said Cassie.
"Yeah, I know. But it's necessary. Hold on and I'll explain," said Prince Jake. He took a deep breath then continued. "Tobias will be flying overhead, so he will tell us how many human controllers are approaching the limo, and from what sides. Because there are only two seats in the back of the limo, we are assuming there will be a maximum of three humans, two in the front, and one in the back, and then Visser Three takes the last seat once he gets on at the parking garage."
"Visser Three might make his guards sit on the floor," Marco pointed out.
"True," admitted Prince Jake. "But yesterday he only had a handful of guards. And, even if he has more, they're just humans, so Marco's gorilla and Ax should be able to handle them easily enough."
"If any of the human controllers see Cassie or Hannah's faces, our cover is blown," Jordan warned.
"Don't worry, I thought of that too," said Prince Jake with a slight smile. He opened the backpack he had brought with him. Inside were two black masks with two small holes in them, along with several other items.
"Ski masks!" Marco exclaimed. "I want one!"
"Too bad," Prince Jake said. Prince Jake handed the masks to Hannah and Cassie.
"We look like we're going to rob a bank," Hannah commented.
"No, we're stealing something far more important: information," Prince Jake smiled. "Cassie, Hannah? I need you two to incorporate these masks into your morphing suits. As a matter of fact, start morphing now to practice, just keep listening to the plan. And Hannah? I'll need you to tuck your hair into the back of your shirt."
"You got it," said Hannah. She and Cassie slipped on the masks and started morphing.
"This is the most tedious part of the plan," said Prince Jake. "Again, Tobias will be giving us continuous updates on the number and positions of human controllers. If there are two, we wait for them to enter the limo. The guys inside will hide behind the seats as best as they can."
{A gorilla, an Andalite, and two humans hiding behind two car seats?} Tobias asked. {That sounds difficult, if not impossible.} I was inclined to agree.
"I know, but it only has to work for a couple seconds," said Prince Jake. "Once they are inside, Ax, Cassie, and Hannah will acquire them to put them in a trance, and then Marco will pull them into the back of the limo and sit on them, or hold them down, or whatever he has to do to subdue them. Ax can also use the flat of his tail blade to knock them unconscious. Cassie and Hannah will immediately climb into the front of the limo, morph the two controllers, and prepare to drive the limo. I picked you two for this role because you're the fastest morphers. Cassie drives because she drove while in Yeerk morph, infesting Mr. Tidwell."
"I could drive," Marco suggested.
{Absolutely not!} Cassie, now a squirrel, exclaimed. {You totaled my dad's truck, and you almost got us killed driving the delivery truck at the meatpacking plant!}
"In my defense, I was in my gorilla morph at the time," said Marco.
Rachel made a snorting sound. "That's no excuse, a real gorilla could probably drive better than you."
Everyone laughed at that, even Marco.
"We need Marco in gorilla morph for the next stage of the plan," said Prince Jake. "Cassie, do you feel confident driving?"
{Yes,} said Cassie. {Not only did I drive Mr. Tidwell's car, but my dad has been giving me driving lessons on our farm.}
"Great," said Prince Jake. "Any questions so far?"
"Yes," said Rachel. "Where do I fit into all this?"
"I'm going to get to that in a second," said Prince Jake. "Anything else?"
"What if there's more than two controllers?" Jordan asked.
"If there are three or four, Ax and Marco can knock them out and then drag them inside, while Cassie and Hannah keep the two in the front in perpetual acquisition trances. If there are any more than four, Tobias, Jordan, and I will morph elephant, rhino, and rhino respectively and get you guys out. Oh yeah, that reminds me, Jordan, after you drop off the limo team, you'll go to the alleyway across the street, demorph, and stand by. Be ready to go rhino or owl."
"Roger," said Jordan.
"Assuming we get control of the limo without setting off any alarms, Cassie will pull out of the parking lot and make that first right onto the main road. I'll be on the sidewalk with this backpack, ready to pass it through the window of the limo. Inside are ropes, blindfolds, and duct tape. They will be used to bind the human controllers, and later Visser Three."
"Will you get a ski mask too?" Marco teased.
"No need," said Prince Jake with another grin. "You know that part at church where you shake everyone else's hands? Well, I acquired eight different people and performed a frolis maneuver. The result is a thirty year old man who looks nothing like me."
{Impressive,} I commented.
"Thanks. Anyway, if we leave the community center without raising suspicion, Tobias and Jordan will immediately fly towards the parking garage. I'll catch up, don't wait for me. Rachel will already be there, in bald eagle morph, having done a quick fly around to search for danger. The limo goes to the top floor, and picks up Visser Three. Rachel, it will be very important to provide constant updates on the Visser, we'll need to know exactly when he approaches the limo, what side, if he has any additional guards with him, stuff like that."
"Don't worry, I can handle it," Rachel said.
"Right, we're counting on you," said Prince Jake. "In the meantime, Tobias, Jordan, and I will land in the alleyway behind the parking garage. We'll morph something big and be ready to stop any vehicle that follows the limo out."
"Where will I be driving after we pick up Visser Three?" Cassie asked.
"We might have to make adjustments on the fly, but I think the best place to go is due north, towards the woods. Once we're confident nobody is following the limo, Ax will morph Yeerk and infest the Visser, and then turn away so Marco can demorph and remorph horse, while Cassie and Hannah ditch the limo before making their own escape." Prince Jake continued.
{Any particular reason I will be morphing the Yeerk, Prince Jake?} I asked, trying to make my voice sound casual.
Trying to hide the fact that morphing a Yeerk terrified me.
"Yes, several reasons actually," said Prince Jake. "First, if Ax has to demorph for any reason, he'll be an Andalite, not a human. And Ax and Marco's gorilla are the only morphs we have that can reliably knock out a human without killing them, so they need to be in the limo."
"Someone else could acquire a gorilla morph," Cassie suggested.
Prince Jake shook his head. "Not enough time. We've got about an hour to get into position, and Marco has the most experience."
"We could have a fifth person in the limo, just to morph Yeerk," Jordan suggested.
"No, four is already a tight fit," said Prince Jake. "We need firepower standing by outside, and we need Rachel to make sure the parking garage isn't a trap."
"We could…" Marco began, but Prince Jake cut him off.
"NO!" he yelled. Everyone jumped, since Prince Jake almost never yells. "I've been over this and over this in my head! It has to be this way! There are also two other reasons, Ax needs to have his own internal clock. I realize Jordan could read Ax's during practice, but Visser Three is a much more experienced Yeerk and might be able to hide it, so it's about eliminating risk. And if the Yeerk is anyone other than Ax they might let it slip that they're human and then it would be game over, and I have to catch a bus in like 20 minutes so we have to stop arguing and do this RIGHT NOW!"
Prince Jake stopped talking suddenly and I noticed he was breathing hard, a sign of the human chemical adrenaline pumping through his body.
I spread my hands, a human gesture of being honest. {My friends, I realize you are trying to make excuses so that I don't have to morph a Yeerk. And I thank you for that. But Prince Jake is correct. It has to be me. I will face my fear and accomplish the mission. I have to do my duty. I will morph the Yeerk.}
"Thank you, Ax. Before I forget, Rachel, go. Start your recon. If anything seems off, immediately start flying towards the community center to let us know." Prince Jake said.
"Got it," said Rachel. She began morphing her bald eagle morph.
"Any final questions?" Prince Jake asked the group.
{I have…not a question really, but a concern. What if the controllers have radios or like a coded message periodically? We wouldn't know what to say,} Tobias said.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," said Prince Jake. "If something seems off, we'll bail."
"Where do you want us to hide the limo?" asked Hannah.
"Anywhere discrete," Prince Jake responded. "Just not somewhere that identifies us, we have to assume it has a tracking device and that the Yeerks will hunt it down and scour it for evidence."
Hannah nodded.
"What if there's an escort vehicle or vehicles?" Marco asked.
"Again, we'll have to play it by ear. Yesterday Visser Three didn't have one, but often he does. Tobias, Jordan, Rachel, and I will just have to be prepared to stop them." Prince Jake said. "Anything else?"
Nobody said anything.
"All right, well I have a bus to catch," said Prince Jake as he slung his backpack onto his shoulder. "I'll see you guys at the community center in an hour. Cassie and Hannah, make sure you guys incorporate those masks into your morphing outfits, and Ax, practice your Yeerk morph."
{Yes, Prince Jake,} I said.
Prince Jake walked out.