Six of us. All with morphing power but very little else to oppose the Yeerk invasion of Earth.
It is an impossible situation, of course. But it has been impossible from the start. And we are not dead yet. If I were dead, I could hardly be expected to be communicating.
That was humor.
I believe.
«Meat? What do they want with meat?» Tobias demanded from his perch in the rafters.
18 "What, you're asking me?" Marco said. "Like I know? Erek just said they have this lab where they do animal testing and this meatpacking plant. That's all I know."
"Well this is just stupid," Rachel commented. "Meat? Animal testing? Why?"
"They're cleverly infiltrating Mickey D's to learn the secret of 'special sauce,'" Marco said.
"Mayonnaise, catsup, and relish," Rachel grumbled. "Big secret."
"Poison the food supply?" Cassie suggested as she forced a medicine down the throat of a goose. "Kill a lot of people?"
«No,» I said. «lf the Yeerks wished to kill a lot of humans they could simply use their Dracon beams from orbit to ignite the atmosphere and incinerate all life on the planet.»
Everybody turned to stare at me.
"Well. There's a happy thought," Marco said with what I believe is a tone of voice called "sarcasm."
"We won't get any answers sitting around here guessing," Prince Jake said. He sighed. "Rachel? I am messed up in old lady Chambers's class. Did you take decent notes?"
"Yeah. I can E-mail them over to you after we get back. But it's like a whole bunch of stuff."
Prince Jake sighed again and rubbed his eyes. "Okay look, let's go get this over with fast or
19 I'll end up spending the weekend doing a makeup paper, which would seriously stink."
"What exactly are we doing?" Cassie asked.
"We're just going to take a look at this animal testing lab. See what's what."
«What is animal testing?» I asked.
"They get a bunch of animals together and give them quizzes from magazines," Marco said. "You know, like 'How Shy Are You?' and 'Is He Mr. Right?'"
I hesitated before responding. It was probably humor.
«l suspect you are making a joke. But I am not certain.»
"No one ever is," Rachel said with a laugh.
"Animal testing labs are facilities where humans use species similar to our own to test the effects of drugs or whatever," Cassie said. "They have to see if something is safe for humans, so they see first if it's safe for animals."
«That sounds prudent -» I began to say. But Cassie was not finished.
"They are also about as close to hell as anything humans create," Cassie said.
"Uh-oh. Here we go." Marco groaned. "Quick! Everyone find a tree to hug."
"Look, I'm not a fanatic on this," Cassie said. "I'm not against testing some new AIDS drug or a cancer cure. But there are labs where makeup is
20 tested, only they test it in ways that cause the test animals to go blind. And even when they test for serious stuff, they should try to make the animals' lives a little less horrible."
"Yeah, get them TV," Marco said. "No, wait, that might be cruel."
Cassie's eyes flashed and she bit her lower lip. Cassie is seldom angry. But I believe this was a display of anger.
Rachel saw the same thing. "Marco? Try: Shut up. Cassie? I love you, but this isn't about saving the lab rats. We have a mission here. So let's just go and get it over with."
"Rachel's right, we can debate animal testing some other day," Prince Jake said. "Let's just do this. In, out, and right back."
«After These Messages.»
21 We morphed to birds of prey. My own is called a northern harrier. Birds of prey are especially useful for observation because they have incredibly acute vision as well as excellent hearing.
Once morphed, we flew toward the animal testing laboratory.
The sun was going down, causing the wild effusion of colors, primarily red and gold that sometimes occurs at sunset or sunrise.
I was afraid of what I might find at the animal testing laboratory. Sometimes, when exposed to what humans consider science, I inadvertently offend my friends. I am often tempted to explain human errors.
22 We flew over a large street called Broad, above a park called Willow, and beyond, toward an area where many buildings had transparent windows replaced by opaque sheets of wood.
Few humans were visible. But we saw a great deal of garbage. Garbage is an important human product.
Marco kept grumbling about the online chat with the cast of The X-Files he was missing. "Online" is a primitive human method of communicating in short, truncated, interrupted sentences with anonymous individuals.
Humans have several means of communicating in uninterrupted form with known persons, but many prefer "online."
Like much of human technology, it is inexplicable.
«Yeah, well, I'm missing precious time trying to figure out how quadratic equations work,» Cassie answered.
«ls that it? Is that the place?» Rachel asked. She was above me, to my left.
«That's the right corner,» Tobias said. «Must be.»
«Doesn't look too sinister. Yeah, I can see a sign. That's it,» Prince Jake said. «Your basic office park.»
We flew to the edge of the large empty area where humans place their cars. The cars were
23 gone. It was the time of day when humans leave their work and go home to consume food.
Several groups of young trees had been planted around the empty lot, so we perched among their branches.
Most of the buildings seemed empty. But one, set apart from the others, was surrounded by a ten-foot-high fence made of ingenious inter-looped metallic strands and topped with spirals of sharp-spiked wire.
Across a small parking area sat a plain, two-story brick building, deep in shadows cast by the low slanting rays of the sun. Behind it, parallel to Broad Street, was undeveloped land thick with mature trees.
The windows of the building were all closed and protected by vertical bars. The doors were heavy steel. An armed guard sat in a structure that looked like a miniature human house, just behind a gate that was set into the fence.
«Security,» Rachel said with a derisive laugh.
«Some small morph would be the way to go,» Prince Jake said. «But what? Even a fly can't get through a locked metal door.»
«And you know the Yeerks inside are going to be suspicious of any kind of animal,» Cassie added. «Even the ones they're testing.»
«And we do not know . . .» I paused for a long moment, the way I had seen Victor Newman
24 do. Whenever he does this, the TV camera zooms in on his face. «. . . what kind of animals are being tested in there.»
Five bird-of-prey heads turned to look at me. They stared at me the way Marco and Erek had earlier.
«Ax? You okay?»
«Yes, but I must maintain silence till we go to These Messages.»
«He's been watching soaps,» Marco explained.
«0hhhh. He's doing a soap-take!» Rachel said.
«A what?»
«A soap-take. At least that's what I call it. At the end of a scene. You know how the actors all just freeze and stare and wait for... well, for "these messages"?»
«Those are my favorites,» I said. «These Messages. »
ZAAP!
We all jerked in surprise.
Tobias said, «A rabbit.»
The animal was dead. I could see that its breathing had stopped.
«Electric fence,» Cassie said.
«Electric?» I laughed. «l doubt it very much. If this facility is run by the Yeerks, then it is certainly a shock-front force field. The fence is
25 merely incidental, a deception. The force field will extend in an unbroken dome over the entire facility. A large energy expenditures
«He's right,» Tobias said. «Look around. Dead sparrow over there. A rat. Too much road-kills
«Great,» Rachel muttered
.
«That means the only way to get onto the grounds is past the security guard, right in the front door. And I don't know how we're going to do thats
«Look!» Cassie said. A large white truck, probably thirty human feet long, passed the trees where we were hidden and pulled up to the gate.
I could not see the contents of the truck, although I was sure it contained some sort of "stuff."
«l'll listen ins Tobias opened his wings and flew to a solitary tree just outside the fence.
The truck driver rolled down his window and presented the guard with a rectangular board with paper affixed. The guard scrutinized it for a moment before pushing a button in the little building where he sat. The gate opened with a rusty whine.
The truck started down the drive and disappeared behind the building.
«Let's follow the fence around and see what he's unloading,» Rachel suggested.
26 «Wait.» Tobias returned, landing on a nearby branch, and regarded us with his intense hawk's eyes. «The truck's loaded with chimpanzees. There's no window between the cab and the back so I couldn't actually see them, but I heard the driver say he had the six chimps they called for.»
«Chimps?» Prince Jake frowned. «Why chim-panzees?»
«Chimpanzees would maybe be used for some kind of behavioral research,» Cassie said. «lf it was medical they'd probably use rats or rhesus monkeys.»
«Perhaps the chimps will be transferred to the meatpacking plant?» I asked innocently.
«0h, gee, let's hope not,» Prince Jake said.
«You never know,» Cassie said darkly.
«Yeah, where do you think they get jerky from?» Marco asked.
«The driver said something about being back around four tomorrow,» Tobias added.
«Six more chimps?» Rachel wondered.
«0n their way to nothing good,» Cassie said thoughtfully. «But that's our way in. We go as the chimps.»
«Can we acquire chimpanzees at The Gar-dens?» Prince Jake wondered.
«AII we know is that they have "chimps" in that truck. But that may not mean specifically chimpanzees. I mean, the driver may not exactly
27 be a primatologist. Could be rhesus monkeys, could be howler monkeys, could be bonobo chimps or some other subspecies, so -»
«Wait. Here comes the truck.» Rachel trained her eagle eyes on it. «Hey! It has a parking sticker from the university. Maybe that's where it starts out.»
«0kay, so they come down the highway, get off across from the new mega-mall, come up Broad Street, right?» Prince Jake said. He was silent for a while, deep in thought. Then, «l think I've got an idea. Could work.»
«ls it an insanely dangerous, nearly suicidal idea?!» Marco asked brightly.
«Yep. Sure is.»
28 he others had spent the day in their human school. Tobias and I had spent the day watching TV, and then watching cars go along a road and into and out of a tunnel.
A tunnel is an underground road. Humans build them to pass beneath rivers, or to pass beneath roads or buildings whose presence evidently surprises them.
Planning ahead is not a great human virtue.
The road was lined with restaurants named Wendy's, Taco Bell, and Fuddruckers. There were also areas where automobiles were displayed for sale. And there was the store where one would not pay a lot for that muffler.
29 Prince Jake and the others arrived to meet us already in seagull morph, wheeling down from above. They were almost invisible against the clouds. White on white.
I had been in that same morph all afternoon, except for necessary demorphing. Tobias was in his own red-tailed hawk body, resting atop a nearby denuded tree hung with wires. Tobias could not manage to stand directly on the wires.
It had been a long day. Prince Jake had impressed on us the need for precise planning. And it had been necessary for me to demorph and remorph several times. In a Dumpster, which is a large box filled with stuff humans no longer want.
«We all set?» Prince Jake asked as he swooped down to join me.
«Yeah,» Tobias said. «lf you need to demorph there's a delightful Dumpster that Ax has been enjoying.»
«No, we're good. Although . . . Whoa! Dori-tos!»
«Forget it. Empty bag. Ax already ate them. I'm going topside so I can give you all a heads-up.»
Tobias opened his wings and flapped away above the road, above the bright signs of restaurants that served delicious grease and salt.
30 Seagull morph is very useful since it is ubiquitous. Like the birds called pigeons, seagulls may go almost anywhere unremarked.
But there is a downside: The seagull has a relentless, obsessive interest in any food that has been thrown away. It is almost as distracting as being human.
«Everyone clear on the plan?» Prince Jake asked.
«Yeah. We pretty much hurtle to our deaths, right?» Marcosaid.
«0h, quit your whining, you big baby,» Rachel said.
We waited near the Dumpster till we heard faint thought-speak coming from high above. «The truck is en route. Passing Church Street.»
«What was the time on the tunnel, Ax?» Prince Jake asked.
«Between four and seven of your minutes, Prince Jake,» I said. «We timed it repeatedly. With this degree of traffic we estimate transit time through the tunnel will be closer to seven minutes.»
«Ax? Don't call me Prince. Everyone set?»
«Here it comes!» Cassie said.
The truck appeared, coming down the street toward us.
«We catch him at the light,» Prince Jake reminded us. «Everyone careful, okay? This
31 could go bad on us pretty easily. So pay attentions
«Especially if he doesn't get stopped for that light,» Cassie said. «Come on, light, change! Change!»
«lt will change from green to yellow in exactly four seconds, Cassie, and I am of the opinion that the light mechanism does not respond to thought-speak pleas.»
The traffic slowed as the light in the intersection changed to yellow.
Yellow is the color of warning. I do not know why.
The delivery truck we had seen the night before was behind a smaller green truck. I heard noises indicating that the truck driver had engaged the pitifully primitive braking system.
«Now!» Prince Jake said.
One by one we flapped and caught the air current.
My legs tucked beneath me, I opened my wings wider and began to rise as a gusty breeze hit me. Even in the midst of a dangerous mission, I am aware of the fact that when I fly I feel even more free than I do when running across an open meadow.
«Down, Ax! Now!» I heard Rachel say.
Angling sideways to tack against the breeze, I watched as first Prince Jake and then Cassie
32 swept their wings forward to slow down. Marco, Rachel, and I were right behind them, killing airspeed as we headed for the rumbling truck. Tobias was plummeting from high above, ready to follow.
The roof was smooth. I slid into Rachel as the indicator light changed and the truck began to pick up speed.
I felt the uneven vibrations of the engine as the truck proceeded through the intersection. I felt the pressure of the wind as the truck accelerated.
Suddenly what had seemed fairly simple began to seem troublesome.
«0kay, the tunnel's only two blocks away,» Prince Jake said, crouching to maintain his balance. «Start demorphing.»
«This is crazy!» Rachel shouted happily, squinting her beady seagull eyes as the truck's grime swirled around us.
«l am slipping,» I said.
«You and me both. More fun every minute,» Marco complained.
My bird legs were essentially useless at holding on in the face of a powerful wind. I collapsed my legs, opened my wings, and shaped them so as to create a downdraft. The downdraft held me down. But still I was sliding toward the back of the truck.
33 I needed to morph. Cassie had already started, and the additional weight helped to stabilize her position.
> I focused on the demorph. My feathers melted into a gelatinous coating that began to sprout my natural fur. My stalk eyes sprouted from the top of the gull's small head. My beak shrank and withered to nothingness. The sliding stopped.
I looked back over the very close edge of the truck. A small car was nearby. The driver had apparently noticed the shifting mess of feathers, fur, and skin. His mouth hung open as he leaned forward to watch.
And just then, my tail sprouted to its full length.
WHAM!
The small car sideswiped a limbless tree used to elevate wires.
Screeeee!Cuh-RUNCH!
The small car came to a halt very suddenly, having run directly into a stopped car.
I turned my emerging stalk eyes forward again. I could see the dark arch of the tunnel just ahead. Cassie was fully human already. The others were mostly human, with a dusting of white feathers here and there. Tobias was also mostly human, although for him it was no longer his normal form.
34 Suddenly, we were in the tunnel. Darkness closed around me. The yellow tile ceiling was only inches above me!
I had not realized it would be so close. No room! If I raised an arm, it would be scraped along that soot-blackened ceiling.
And if I raised my head?
Woosh!Woosh!Woosh!Wooosh!
The ceiling made a sound as we passed beneath it.
I fought down the claustrophobia that is a part of any Andalite's heritage. There is sufficient room, I told myself. There is sufficient air.
And yet I did not feel that there truly was enough air or enough space. I could feel the pressure of tons of earth weighing me down. We were underground. Soon we would be underwater!
I lay there, my legs curled up beneath me, tail extended flat, upper body pressed low, and stared at the tiles flashing by above me.
And the noise! My head was reeling from the cacophony of magnified, echoed noises of engines and brakes and radios and horns.
I lay still and concentrated on breathing. There was plenty of air. Plenty of room. Plenty.
But I could not just lie there. We had to enter the truck. I would have to move.
35 "Okay, human chain time!" Cassie yelled to be heard above the constant shriek of noise.
It was the only way we had thought of to get into the back of the truck: by grasping hand to hand, hand to ankle. It is something humans, with their much stronger arms and more linear bodies, can do.