"Yes, Visser. And the woman as well. She is not as strong as this one, but she was able to gain control of one hand. Perhaps she has deeper strengths than we knew." He hesitated before going on. I could still smell the fear on him. "I am of more use with a passive, voluntary host. But I am your tool, Visser. I will do as you com mand."
"Yes, you will certainly do as I command," Visser Three said. "But you have brought me the Andalite bandit." He nodded down at me. "And this will occupy my time for a little while.
Leave the girl, for now. Now get out. You tempt my patience. " Chapman didn't need a second invitation. He jumped in the car and tore out of there.
Melissa was safe. As safe as she would ever be with Chapman as her father. That was some thing. Not much, but something.
"Move out," Visser Three yelled. I saw the Hork-Bajir respond instantly to his command.
The nearest one snatched me up and suddenly we were moving fast toward the Blade ship.
In seconds it would all be over. I would be aboard the Visser's ship. I would leave Earth. The only thing in my future was pain. Maybe I would die before I betrayed my friends. A depressing kind of thing to hope for.
"So. What's happening now?"
"Mrrraaaoww!"
I jumped and spun around inside my cage.
"Jake? Is that you?"
"Who else would it be? You know anyone else who would be a talking flea riding on your back?"
88 "Jake, you were supposed to get away and be safe!"
"Yeah, right. Like I was going to abandon you. Listen, I could hear Visser Three's thought-speech, but I don't know where we are."
"We are about ten feet away from being loaded into Visser Three's Blade ship. And I have about fifteen minutes left before I'm trapped in this morph. "
"Fifteen minutes? Great, if you have fifteen, I have ten. I had to morph earlier than you, remember."
"Jake, get out of here! You can't be trapped as a flea!"
The door of the Blade ship slid open silently. I could see dark red light inside. I could see a handful of Taxxons that seemed to be standing over control panels of some sort. Hork-Bajir stood at attention.
"I'm not getting out of here." Jake said. "None of us are. "
"None of ... You mean the rest are fleas, too?"
"No, but they should be around somewhere. Tobias was supposed to follow us and lead the others to wherever we ended up. "
"They can't do anything. "
"Oh, really? Well, I bet they'll try. "
Just at that moment I heard a strange sound. My cat brain didn't recognize it. But the human me did. It was an engine. A big engine. Like a big truck. Or maybe a tractor. Or - An earthmover.
The Hork-Bajir carrying me saw it, too.
He ran into the Blade ship and tossed me down.
Then he ran back to the Visser, who waited in the doorway.
"I think they've started one of the earth-movers," I told Jake.
"Then I guess it's time for me to get into this fight," Jake said. "I'm going to try a quick double- morph. Hope it works. Here goes nothing. Yeeee-haaah!" All at once, through the open door of the Blade ship, I spotted the earthmover. It lumbered at a painfully slow speed. But it lumbered right toward the Blade ship.
"Get us into the air!" Visser Three shouted.
The nearest Taxxon said something in their slithery snake-speech. It sounded like "Sssree shway 89 snerp snerrrrup ssreet."
"Two minutes to liftoff? Too long!" Visser Three said. His tail whipped forward. I saw a huge gash open in the flesh of the Taxxon. Greenish- yellow goo poured out.
The other Taxxons all looked kind of excited. They were waving their little upper arms and snapping their little claws.
"You and you. " Visser Three pointed at two of the Taxxons. " Get us off the ground! The rest of you may feed on this fool. "
The wounded Taxxon emitted a wailing, slithery scream. Three other Taxxons rushed at him.
Their circular mouths fastened onto their fellow Taxxon's writhing flesh and began chewing and tearing at him.
The sound of the diesel engine grew louder. Visser Three was rapping out orders. Hork-Bajir ran through the door and back outside.
Then I saw something happening in the dark corner of the cabin, over past the horrific Taxxon feeding frenzy. Something was growing. A human being was growing out of nothing.
"Jake!"
"Can't talk. Don't distract me. "
Visser Three was in a rage. You could feel the waves of his anger radiating around the small space. "Destroy that machine!" he ordered.
Outside, two Hork-Bajir took aim at the five tons of slow-moving steel.
Jake was still cowering in the corner, but he had begun to change once again. In the darkness my cat eyes could see the beginning of a pattern of stripes. Black and orange. The stripes of a tiger.
It was time for me to do my part. I concentrated. I felt the change begin. The cage grew small around me.
Rumble rumble rumble. The earthmover closed in.
The near-dead Taxxon screamed as his fellow Taxxons ate him alive.
Suddenly I saw a brilliant red light.
There was a sizzling sound. I saw the earthmover disintegrate. My heart was in my throat.
Marco! Cassie! Had they gotten away?
I had to concentrate. I had to ignore the Taxxon's screams. I had to stop wondering whether Cassie and Marco had been on that earthmover when it was hit. I had to control my morph.
Not too far, Rachel. Not too much. I could not become human. Not totally human. I looked down at my paw. Short stubby fingers had appeared. I stuck my stubby half-human fingers through the bars of the cage and found the lock.
90 One of the feeding Taxxons looked away from his meal just long enough. "Yeerss srenn ssseere!" It waved its creepy front legs in my direction.
Visser Three snapped around and glared at me with ferocious hatred.
I opened the door of my cage.
"Rrrrraaawwwrrr!" Jake leaped through the air, his huge claws outstretched.
I flew out of the cage, a clumsy mass of fur and skin, a creature that was half-cat and half-human.
Jake hit Visser Three in the side.
"This time, you're mine, you jerk!"
Visser Three fell over, tangled up in tiger. His deadly tail flashed but missed. Jake ripped the Visser's flesh with claws infinitely bigger than mine.
"Aaaaarrrgghhh!"
It was a great pleasure hearing Visser Three scream that way. But I had other things to worry about.
I couldn't move in my half-morph. I concentrated on regaining my cat form. I had only minutes left before the two hours would be up.
Jake rolled off Visser Three just as a handful of Hork-Bajir rushed to the Visser's defense.
"Run!" Jake yelled.
"Run!" I agreed.
We ran. I was back fully in Fluffer's shape. I could do thirty miles an hour, as fast as the fastest human being could run.
Unfortunately, Hork-Bajir are faster.
Jake was faster still, for short distances. Fast enough to outrun the Hork-Bajir that were after us. But he wasn't going to leave me behind.
Jake turned and came for the closest Hork-Bajir.
I saw him flying over my head, a huge beast, orange-and-black striped. The Hork-Bajir went down hard.
"Get outta here, Rachel! You're too small to fight these guys. " But there was still another Hork-Bajir on my\tail. Faster than me. Too fast!