(We have to find a safer place for you two,) Marco said, as soon as the Teknoman who'd once been Fritz had left Cassie's family barn.
Presumably on his way back to Darkon, but Shara didn't like to think about that.
(Where would you suggest?) she asked, as their group hopped down from the rafters and fluttered back to their usual places on the ground. (I thought that this was the only place we wouldn't be at risk of discovery from any of your people.)
(Yeah, but that was before Darkon's people started trying to track you down,) Marco said.
(There's still Mr. Aldershot,) Cassie said, though Shara had the feeling that she wasn't particularly happy about being essentially pulled in two different directions at once.
(Yeah, I know,) Jake said, and he didn't seem any happier than Marco.
With the Teknoman who'd once been Cain's friend Fritz gone, she and Slade were allowed to demorph from their respective bird forms, and Shara settled herself back down on the hay bale she'd been previously sitting on after she'd finished putting her clothes back on.
"Ax, how deep in the forest is that place you've been staying in?"
(My scoop is far enough not to be seen by humans who might come into the area,) Ax said. (However, I do not think either of them would have the protection they would need if one of Darkon's other Teknomen tries to track them down.)
"Well, we can't send them to the Chee," Jake muttered, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes. "They'd be too far away, and none of the Chee would stand a chance against even one of Darkon's Teknomen."
"It looks like we're going to have to stay here," Shara said, not wanting to endanger any of her and Slade's fellow Animorphs' other allies, even though she hadn't met any of the Chee yet.
She wouldn't have wished a Radam attack on anyone, honestly; not even the Yeerks.
xxxxXxxxx
Once he'd returned to Darkon's base in the forest, Gunnar found his mind forced open nearly as soon as he'd crossed the invisible line that separated the Radam's claimed territory from the rest of the forest. He hadn't been expecting the Warlord to be that impatient, but he supposed that he should have been prepared for something like that.
It was the first, concrete piece of evidence they'd found about where Slade and his sister were staying, after all.
Forcing himself to keep moving, even as Darkon's will tore his way through his recent memories. Gunnar let go, not thinking of anything in particular, until he found himself standing next to the teknopod he'd slept in ever since he'd had the bad luck to survive the Radam's transformation process to begin with. Just breathing for a long moment, steadying himself as Darkon cut the connection between them, Gunnar came back to himself.
(It seems as though my missing soldiers have found some kind of shelter in that barn,) Darkon said, his annoyance coming through more clearly than any other emotion the Warlord might have been feeling.
Biting his lip, forcing himself not to wonder just what the Warlord might have him do in response to what the both of them knew now, Gunnar waited.
(Gunnar, I wish for you to monitor that place,) the Warlord ordered, and for a moment Gunnar found Darkon's interest projected into his own mind. (There may very well be someone of interest to us there.)
(Yes, sir.)
xxxxXxxxx
With nowhere else that they could safely hide the siblings but her barn, and the urgency of their mission to help Mr. Aldershot before the Yeerks could do anything more to him, Jake had decided that they would move as soon as they could. Though, the fact that they were still going to have to wait for the three days that remained before the weekend came up made Cassie more than a little uneasy.
To say nothing of the stalking presence of the Teknoman who she'd realized had to be Gunnar as soon as he'd pulled out that bow of his.
Shuddering, even as she made her way down to the kitchen to prepare some more food for Slade and Shara, Cassie paused for a long moment to make sure that neither her mother or father were down in the kitchen yet. Once she'd managed to determine that she was in fact alone, Cassie quickly prepared some more oatmeal for the siblings to eat this morning and then made her way out to the barn to give it to them.
However, while she was walking, Cassie had the unsettling feeling that someone was watching her. Listening as hard as she could, even as she continued on her way into the barn where she'd left the siblings under what dubious protection that the pair of them could claim, Cassie swallowed as she began making her way back up into the hayloft where Slade and Shara slept.
xxxxXxxxx
Narrowing his eyes as he considered the girl that he'd been tracking, Gunnar settled himself back down in the tree he'd staked out. He'd been sitting in the thing since Darkon had sent him out, before the sun had even risen, and for that he'd been provided with greater stores of personal energy than he'd ever had before. Even greater than the one time he'd been pushed to transform and fight, that night when he and Slade had fought each other in the remains of that mansion.
And, even with as many times as Gunnar had tried to empty himself of thought and feeling, he still found himself thinking back on that night more often than not.
And so, now that he'd found himself seeing that same girl who had appeared for a few moments in that destroyed mansion, staring at him with nearly the same expression on her face as she'd worn that night in the mansion… Gunnar couldn't help it: he was curious. He wanted to know more; not for Darkon, not for the cause, and certainly not for the Radam, but just for himself.
Still, he couldn't find out anything for himself; given what he was, and what he'd been sent out for, Darkon would know everything he did, just as soon as he did.