I peered ahead with my hawk sight. I saw no helicopters. I did see a few shaking treetops. Large beasts were moving beneath those trees. Taxxons and Hork-Bajir.
I flew on and soon saw the tail end of the Yeerk search army.
Human-Controllers, their human bodies wearing out, staggered up the hill.
Ahead of them, Hork-Bajir warriors. They were stronger and faster than the humans. Their
sergeants had to keep holding them back so they wouldn't leave the human-Controllers behind.
And out in front of them all, the Taxxon trackers continued their search.
I flew hard and fast. And then, at last, I saw the helicopters. They were low to the ground. They were spread out in a line abreast. And unless I was totally mistaken, they were past where my friends would be.
I felt a chill of fear. I knew what they were going to do. This time it wasn't the Ellimist telling me what would happen. It was my own predator's instincts. I knew my friends were being hunted. And I knew how the Yeerks would do it.
The helicopters were a mile away, maybe a little more. So I heard nothing of them. But as I watched, I saw the sudden red spear that shot down to the ground.
Again and again and again the helicopters fired their blazing Dracon beams down at dry trees and even dryer underbrush.
They were starting a forest fire!
Within minutes, a wall of smoke was advancing through the trees. The wall of smoke had to be a mile long, end to end. It would block Jake and Rachel and the others. It would stop them and turn them back. Back toward the waiting Taxxonsand Hork-Bajir warriors.
As I watched, a flutter of pale brown. Some bird escaping the flames.
A stab of red! The bird flamed and burned in midair!
Had it been one of my friends in morph?
"What am I supposed to do?!" I yelled at the Ellimist. "This is impossible! I can't stop those helicopters. Are you just going to stand by now and do nothing?"
There was no answer. I was not surprised. As Ax had said, the Ellimist was playing his own games. He didn't care if I thought it was fair.
I dropped down, down below treetop level to avoid getting Draconed myself. The wind wasn't as strong down in the trees, but I had the worse problem of having to dodge branches.
And then, just a glimpse below me! A pale blue deer with a scorpion's tail.
"Ax! Ax, it's me, Tobias!"
"Hello, Tobias," Ax said as calmly as if nothing were happening.
"Where is everyone?"
"They are nearby. We seem to be in a trap."
"No kidding," I said. Then, aiming my thought-speak at all my friends, I said, Everyone keep your heads down. Don't try and fly or anything. The Yeerks are shooting anything that rises above the trees."
I came to rest on a rotting log. I was so exhausted I almost missed my landing and crashed.
A huge brown bear about the size of a mini-van came lumbering up.
"Rachel, I really hope that's you, because I've had all the close calls I can stand for one day."
"lt's me, Tobias. Chill. Take a rest. We figure we have maybe five minutes before this whole thing closes on us."
The two Hork-Bajir appeared, accompanied by Jake in his tiger morph.
Cassie and Marco came running from the direction of the helicopters.
Cassie's thick gray fur was singed. I could smell the reek of burned hair.
"More helicopters coming up to join those three!" Marco reported. "0h, hi, Tobias. There you are. I figured you'd flown off to somewhere safe." I decided not to take offense. I was just too tired to care what Marco said.
"Jake, there's no way around that wall of fire," Cassie said breathlessly.
"No Yeerks!" Jara Hamee said fearfully. "Jara Hamee and Ket Halpak free!"
"We'll have to fight!" Rachel said. "We go straight at those Taxxons, blow past them, catch the Hork-Bajir by surprise, no problem. We can . . ." She stopped. Even she didn't believe what she was saying.
"They won't stop till Jara and Ket are dead," Jake said flatly. "The Yeerks are not going to give up. They are flat-out never going to allow two Hork-Bajir to escape."
"l guess it would set a bad example," Marco said. But he wasn't making a joke. "lf two get away, who knows? Maybe others will try. The Yeerks can't allow that. They need the Hork-Bajir to be without hope. They need them to be convinced there's no way out"
"Marco is right," Cassie said. "Look at the risks the Yeerks are taking!
I mean, geez, they've started a forest fire. They have Taxxons and Hork-Bajir all over this forest. They've gone nuts."
"Jara Hamee and Ket Halpak free!" Jara Hamee said again. It was as if he was trying to convince himself.
"Wait a minute," I said. "Wait a minute. What you said, Jake! What you said - they won't give up till Jara and Ket are dead."
"Yeah? So?" Jake asked. Then I guess he realized what I was thinking.
"Hey! Rachel has already morphed Jara. Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah," I said. "At least I think I am. When I was flying I saw a deep ravine. We should still be
able to reach it! It should be perfect. But we'll need Marco in gorilla morph."
"We will? You lost me there, dude," Jake said. "But, okay. If you say so, Tobias. Marco in gorilla morph. What else?"
"And we need someone to acquire and morph Ket," I said.
"l'll do it," Jake said without hesitation.
"No, Jake. Not this time," I said. "l'll do it."
No one said anything for a good thirty seconds. They just stared. They stared with wolf eyes and bear eyes and tiger eyes and all four An-dalite eyes. They were trying to decide if I was crazy.
"You will?" Rachel asked. "you will?"
"Yeah. I will. I'll morph Ket. I'll morph a Hork-Bajir."