Danger Zone: Part 1

{I'm not going to comment endlessly during this story :: crowd cheers :: but I do want to say one thing. If you're going to give me a review, and you don't like the story, you don't have to type up the same review and rating more than once to get the point across. Likewise if you like the story. It's really annoying. Thank you. :: leaves before she realizes everyone really was ignoring her ::}

Danger Zone

Prologue

2026

"Move. Now!"

A guard roughly shoved a young man back into the line of exhausted prisoners. The man stumbled, lost his balance, and fell to his knees. "Please," he mumbled through chapped lips. "Please, spare us."

The guard grabbed him by the tattered collar of his shirt and forced him back into the line.

Towards the front, another man, many years older than the beggar was, shook his head in disgust. He couldn't believe that people still thought that begging and pleading would change a Yeerk's mind. It's absurd, he thought, that we outnumber them and yet we choose to do nothing about it.

Many prisoners, such as him, had been hiding out in the ruins of New York City. There were others who had eluded capture this time, but Ethan Carruthers knew that eventually their time would come. As his had.

He scanned the other lines for signs of his wife, and their two children. But so many were being forced on this death trek, all with tattered clothing, soot-covered faces, and dismal expressions, that he couldn't make out one from the next.

Ahead, the Brooklyn Bridge approached steadily. Ethan found it amazing that the structure had actually survived the explosions, while other landmarks -- the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Times Square -- had been flattened or defaced so that they were almost unrecognizable. Central Park itself was nothing but a crater. It had been Ground Zero for the bomb.

Ethan took a deep breath and focused on staying calm. There were children in this group, and they were scared enough as it was. The last thing he wanted was for them to panic completely. And he knew they would, once they fully realized what the sight of the Bridge meant. Ethan knew. So did many of the other adults.

The knowledge didn't make it any easier.

But for the sake of the children, he could not let on what lied ahead!

Oh, Anya! Ethan thought, thinking of his beloved wife. She was here somewhere, among the throng of the doomed. His children, both eight, were as well. If only I had listened to you!

They were on the bridge now, steadily approaching the center where the water was the deepest. Ethan watched as the people before him were grabbed roughly, forced to their knees, and tied with rope.

The moment had arrived.

Ethan Carruthers waited.

Then he, too, was grabbed roughly and forced to his knees. He uttered nothing, instead just stared ahead. No amount of begging, pleading, or fighting would change his fate now.

Better than being a Controller, Ethan thought. But he said nothing.

Each prisoner was lined up on the edge of the bridge, facing out towards the water. Each prisoner was tied with rope, tied to each other. No gags were placed -- it wouldn't matter. Men, women, and children were forced to stand there, some knowing what lay ahead, others just beginning to realize.

The commander began the countdown.

"Ten," he said in the interstellar language of Galard.

"Nine."

Once again, Ethan searched for his family.

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Six."

There she was! Anya, waiting sedately just fifteen away. She caught his eye, and nodded. Ethan smiled reassuringly, but the smile was forced.

"Five."

"Four."

One "Three" the ropes that bound Ethan went slack. Something had loosened them.

"Two."

"One."

"Commence."

Ethan looked once more at his wife until she disappeared from his view.

A sharp pain erupted in the back of his skull.

Nothing . . .

Chapter One

Present Day

In the command center of AAA a.k.a. The Andalite-Animorphs Alliance, Force Commander War-Prince Galuit stood sedately in the center of the room. It was almost time for the check-in.

"We're being hailed, sir," Lieutenant Thomas said. "Radio line 47627576."

<Patch it through,> Galuit said, knowing full well who it was.

A face appeared on the screen. <Hello, Galuit.>

<Hello, Breeyar,> Galuit replied. <What is your location?>

Breeyar glanced off to the side of the screen, then nodded. <We're about ten miles from Manhattan at this moment. Right on schedule.>

Galuit nodded. <No changes?>

<Of course,> Breeyar said. <Breeyar, out.>

The screen went blank, replaced with the symbol of the AAA.

Galuit turned away from the screen and stepped over to where a young Andalite was working steadily at a computer. <How are things going, Aximili?> he asked.

Ax looked up. <I'm having a rough time accessing any files, but the information Aci and Tom gave us is very helpful.>

Ax shook his head.

Galuit sighed. <Well, keep trying.> He turned to Chief Taylor. <I'm going to my chambers. Notify me if there are any changes.>

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"Enter."

Nine was not in an especially good mood that day, and the messenger realized that the moment he stepped into the Councilmember's office. Suddenly, the Controller started the think that coming was an extremely bad idea.

"I said, enter!"

The Controller, who's human name was Watson, stumbled into the room. Nine stared shrewdly at him. "What do you want?"

Watson tried to steady himself so that it wouldn't be too apparent that he was scared to death. He didn't succeed.

"I bring news from the Pool, sir," Watson said, his voice shaking almost as bad as his body.

"Yes?"

"The Yeerk Acissej and her host Tom have not been seen for many days. They were due in for Kandrona treatments at 0400 this morning, and did not arrive."

Nine narrowed its eyes. It knew very well that Acissej had once been named Visser Seven, although most Yeerks believed the Visser had been destroyed. And the news of her departure was unsettling.

"Well, what do you suppose happened to them?" Nine asked calmly.

Watson shrugged.

"You don't know?"

Watson shook his head.

"Well, then, there's only one thing to do," Nine said in the silky voice that sent chills through his spine.

"Wha-what's that, sir?"

"Find them!" Nine roared, slamming its hands on the desk.

Chapter Two

"How's it going back there?" Geoff asked, peering into the cargo hold of the transport where most of the platoon were sitting. Aci was in the driver's seat, carefully maneuvering the transport module around the broken rocks and gutted streets.

"It's thrilling," Marco muttered. "Honestly. Tell me, are there any potholes that you're missing? We're just not feeling enough of them back here."

"I'm doing the best that I can," Aci said patiently. She'd been putting up with Marco's back seat -- cargo seat? -- driving ever since they'd left AAA headquarters three days earlier. And she was, needless to say, getting kind of sick of it. However, she was on probation, and she couldn't risk anyone going to Galuit and complaining about her. The AAA was her only chance to survive.

"Shut up, Marco," Jake said tolerantly. "How much longer do you think we have, Aci?"

Aci peered ahead through the fog and the dust. "Well, I can see what looks like the remains of the Empire State Building," she said. "Is that close enough for you?" The Empire State Building had been sliced neatly in half, and the top was lying across several city blocks. The needle was separated from the top, and it was directly in front of them.

Aci stopped the transport.

"Everybody out," she said, pulling back the tarp that covered the others. "There's no way to get around this needle. We'll need to get in on foot."

Marco groaned as he sat up. "Aw, man, now I know what the Genie felt like in Aladdin when he got out of that lamp. Only it took three days instead of ten thousand years."

Rachel gave him a skeptical look. "I don't know what you're complaining about," she said, jumping out the back of the transport. "I'm not stiff."

Marco glared at her. "Yeah, well, that's you, Ms. Gymnast. You're used to folding yourself up like that. Fortunately, I'm not you."

"And never will be, thank the Ellimist," Jake muttered.

Breeyar glanced over the side of the cargo hold. <Coalmeer and I are going to morph,> he said.

Geoff and Aci stepped out of the transport's cab as the two Andalites began to morph. "Exactly how dangerous is this place?" Marco asked, adjusting the neckline of his uniform. He'd had to trade in the AAA insignia for a standard Yeerk suit, and he wasn't enjoying it. While the jumpsuit had been light and comfortable, the Yeerk uniform was heavy and hot.

"There were rumors," Coalmeer said, now human and stepping out of the cargo hold, "that a few years ago Yeerks would round up renegades living in city limits and shoot them off the Brooklyn Bridge."

"They weren't rumors," Aci muttered in disgust.

Jake, Marco, and Rachel looked uneasily at each other.

After an unsettling silence, Breeyar cleared his throat. "Ahem. Does everyone have a weapon?"

Rachel held up the Dracon beam. "Check."

"What about the communicator?"

Geoff was just handing the small device to Coalmeer. "Right here."

"Provisions?"

Marco sighed and hoisted the pack onto his back. "I've got the test tube treats, don't worry."

"What about keys to the transport?"

Aci stuck them in the pocket of her uniform. Breeyar nodded. "All right, then. Let's go."

The group began moving towards the needle that was once part of the Empire State Building. Breeyar was in the front, followed by Aci, Jake, Rachel, Geoff, Coalmeer, and Marco at the end. The needle, which had once been perfectly smooth, now had ridges carved in it. Apparently someone had cut stairs into the metal.

"Come on, Marco," Jake said as Marco began to climb up the stairs.

"Wait for me on the other side," Marco called up, adjusting the pack of "test tube treats", as he put it. "This thing's kind of slowing me down."

Come to me.

The words formed suddenly in Marco's mind. "Huh?" he exclaimed.

"What?" Jake asked from the other side of the needle.

Come to me. I'm here . . .

Suddenly a picture, like a map, appeared in Marco's mind. "What was that?" he muttered.

"Marco, are you okay?"

He shook his head and looked down. Jake and the others were staring up at him. "Uh, yeah," he said. "Just kind of spaced out for a moment." For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to tell Jake about the voice.

One thing about the Third Eye, he said scornfully as he moved towards his friends, sometimes the words are meant only for you.

But who had called out to him?

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"Be careful with that!" Sytsirk 9-1-0 shouted at a few Taxxons. "If that things drops, Nine will have your heads!"

"Ssreeeeuuaaaaeee," one of the Taxxons complained in its barbaric tongue.

Sytsirk narrowed his eyes. "Don't even think about it, you miserable worm. Nine will destroy you far before me. Now be careful with that!"

Once again, the Yeerk was getting an extreme headache as he dealt with the infuriating incompetence of the Taxxon-Controllers. Being in a Hork-Bajir body was much better than the human he had occupied up until a few days ago.

Finally, he was rid of that annoying human. Ever since Tom McCain had found out that his younger brother had been part of the guerrilla squadron that had almost driven the late Visser One mad, he'd been almost impossible to deal with. Sytsirk had indeed caught a lucky break with finding the location of the AAA tunnel and alerting Nine that the Animorphs had returned.

I'll be promoted to Visser in no time, thought the Yeerk smugly. Then he focused on what was happening in front of him. "No, you Taxxon yreve! The generator goes beneath the modulator, not above it! Now get to work! The new Kandrona will be here at any moment, and the last thing Nine needs is to find that we didn't get the base prepared for it!"

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh on them?" Aidualc wondered.

Sytsirk turned to his poolmate. "Harsh?" he repeated. "If anything, I'm being lenient. These fools spend their lives flittering around their Hive like their the rulers of the world. It's about time someone forced them to do a little labor."

"Why do you think this statue was chosen for the new Kandrona Wave/Particle Generator?" Ihsik asked.

Sytsirk shrugged. "I don't know, and I truly don't care."

"Well, look at it," Aidualc said, motioning to the towering hive. "It's one of the largest structures in the city. The torch is perfect for transmitting Kandrona beams. We already know that Nine is planning on dredging the water around this island and removing the remains of those rebels that were executed there, and then refitting the water into more Pools. New York is to be the site of our new base. The Buffalo one is too close to AAA saboteurs for our liking. This is the perfect spot."

Sytsirk nodded. "You're right, of course. It is the perfect spot."

Behind them, a shadow moved into the darkness of an alley.

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Tobias sat on the roof of the large apartment complex where he and the other Animorphs had their quarters. From where he was sitting, he could see the flocks of birds flying around aviary. They weren't even aware of the fact that the habitat they lived in wasn't true sky. Every bird had been born into the facility.

"Hey."

Tobias turned around and saw Cassie coming over to him. "Hi," he said. "How'd you know I was here?"

"What, are you kidding? Where are you every time you don't want to be found? Either up in the sky or on the nearest roof. You weren't in your room, Galuit hadn't seen you -- I figured you'd be up here." Cassie sat down next to him. "Rachel, right?"

Tobias smiled slightly. "Am I that obvious?"

"Only if you know what to look for," Cassie replied. "You know, it's okay to be worried. I'm worried about them myself. Ax is, too, even if he doesn't show it."

Tobias leaned forward, never taking his eyes off the birds. "I'm not really worried," he said. "It's just, well . . . oh, never mind."

"What?" She looked at him. "Come on, Tobias, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else."

He finally turned away from the birds and looked at his friend. "This is a strange world we're in," he said. "It's nothing like the Earth we left behind. I mean, in a way, it's kind of relief. We don't have to hide our identities from people, our lives don't have to be about secrets, but then again --." He stopped and just kind of shook his head.

"Then again," Cassie finished, "the Yeerks are here in force, every time Andalites come they get shot down, we live underground, and the only free humans are refugees who refuse to realize that there's a real danger."

"Unless they're part of the AAA," Tobias pointed out.

"Yeah," Cassie said. "All one hundred and thirty-something of them." She shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so cynical."

"You know what else is strange?"

"What?"

"Every time I see a Chee walking around, I can't help missing Erek. I mean, I can understand why he decided to stay in Elysia, but still." Tobias shrugged. "Things just aren't the same without him."

"I know what you mean."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Would Cassandra Hill and Tobias O'Conner please report to the command center at the first plausible moment? Thank you."

"Only a Chee would turn an order into a request," Tobias laughed. "Come on. Let's go see what they want with us now."

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Silently, the figure moved in the shadows of the ruined building. It wasn't everyday that strangers arrived in Old New York. They wore the uniforms of the Yeerks, and yet they didn�t move like Controllers. They didn't have the arrogant swagger.

And there was something peculiar about the last stranger. A boy in his early teens, with tan skin and short black hair. He seemed to be looking for something.

His gaze fell on the hiding place where the figure stood.

Slowly, the figure melted into the shadows once more.

The boy shrugged, and continued.

Chapter Three

What was that?

Marco was walking behind everyone else. He had been unconsciously mapping out the area they were in, and comparing it to the map that he had seen in his mind's eye. For quite some time now, since they'd arrived in the city, he'd felt as if someone, or more than one someone, had been following him. Watching him.

If there was one thing Marco Sinclair didn't like, it was people spying on him.

"This is it," he muttered to himself, quietly enough so that Coalmeer didn't overhear him. They had reached a T-junction. The route on the mind map pointed off to the left. The route Aci was leading them on went off to the right.

Left, or right?

Marco needed to think fast.

There are six people heading for the Statue of Liberty, he thought. I'm the only one who heard that call. What if someone's in danger? I gotta do this. He tapped Coalmeer on the shoulder. "Hey," he said. "Listen, this thing is getting kind of heavy. Do you think you could take it for awhile?"

"Sure," Coalmeer said easily, taking the pack from Marco.

"Thanks."

The moment Coalmeer's back was turned, Marco turned down the left street.

For moment, he wondered if he was, in fact, crazy.

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"What�s going on?" Tobias asked as soon as he and Cassie arrived in the command center.

Galuit didn't take his eyes off the screen. <The Yeerks are preparing an arsenal,> he said. <It will only be a matter of time before they start searching for the South tunnel.>

"But that thing's been destroyed, hasn't it?" Cassie asked.

<It's been blocked from the base, yes,> Galuit agreed. <However, construction of a new South tunnel has begun a few miles away. Lieutenant-Commander Garcia, could you please fill us in?>

Garcia nodded. "Yes, Captain," she said. A blueprint appeared on the screen. "As you can see, the new South tunnel is being built parallel to the old one. We were hoping for construction to be completed before the Yeerks came, but now we have a new problem. The arsenal the Yeerks are preparing contain several Bug Tanks -- a form of land Bug fighters. If the tanks move over the unstable areas of the tunnel, then the tunnel will collapse."

"If," Tobias said. "Doesn't necessarily mean they will."

"True," Garcia agreed, "but it's better to be safe instead of sorry."

Galuit turned to Cassie, Tobias, and now, Ax. <We will have to shore up the tunnel.>

"With what?" It wasn't a question of whether or not they were going to -- it was a question of how where they going to do it.

<Anything that you can find,> Galuit said.

The three of them nodded. "How much time do we have?" Tobias asked.

Galuit looked at Garcia.

The lieutenant-commander glanced at her screen. "Approximate ETA is in one hour."

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"These guys aren't very bright, you know?" Jake whispered to Rachel as the platoon walked by yet another group of Controllers. "You'd think they'd recognize the enemy when they see it."

"We've still got a couple miles before we can even see Lady Liberty," Rachel replied. "I'm sure security will be more beefed up the closer we get to the statue. After all, if it's supposed to be the new site for the Kandrona . . ."

"Shh," Geoff said quickly, stopping. He nodded towards a Controller who was coming their way. Jake noted that he definitely a military type.

"Who are you?" the Controller demanded, one hand on his Dracon beam.

Aci immediately seized command of the situation. "They're with me."

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"I am Acissej 9-0-1 of the Hett Simplatt pool," Aci said with authority. "They're with me."

Suddenly the Controller's eyes narrowed. Jake started to get a very bad feeling about this.

"Acissej 9-0-1 of the Hett Simplatt pool?" he said in a dangerously low voice.

Aci recognized the difference in his tone. "Yes," she said.

"We've been looking for you," he said. "According to your superiors, you haven't been to the Yeerk pool for three days. Yet you're still alive and in good health."

"I went to another pool," bluffed Aci.

"Then where if your host, the one called Tom?"

Aci gulped. She couldn't say Tom had been killed -- what if someone later saw him? Stupid, she berated herself. Or course they were going to notice you were gone when you didn't show up in the pool.

The Controller took this as a bad sign. "Acissej, you are --" He slumped forward as Breeyar, who had silently demorphed, smacked him in the head with the flat of his blade. The Controller hit the ground, unconscious.

"Andalite!"

"Run!" Jake shouted.

Chapter Four

"Run!"

Marco heard the command from far off, barely more than a whisper. "Jake!" he gasped, whirling around. Instinctively, his hand went to the weapon that he knew wasn't there. He had dropped it somewhere along the way, in order to make it over the debris easier.

He had no idea where he dropped it.

"Come on, Marco," he growled. "Focus, focus." He scanned his memory for the different morphs he could do. Osprey? No, he'd never get off the ground. Gorilla? Maybe, but they're kind of slow. Rhino? Definitely not. They're half blind.

"DAMN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Something pressed up against the back of his neck. Something cold.

"Freeze."

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"Come on, let's get these things moving!"

Several people gripped the sides of the concrete barrier. "On my count," Tom commanded. "One. Two. THREE!" On three they all heaved up. It was a strain on their muscles, but worth it. "Don't drop it," Tom warned as they moved it into the tunnel.

Ax was at the tunnel entrance, guiding traffic so that no one got hurt. Tobias was at the other end of the tunnel, making sure things were being held in place.

"All right, people, we've got ETA in forty-five minutes!" Cassie shouted into a bullhorn. "Let's keep it moving. If anyone gets hurt, report immediately to the nearest medic. If you can walk, you can help."

Tom and his crew carried the heavy barrier down to the weakest area. "Slowly, slowly," Tobias said, motioning them forward. "Okay, let's get it on its side. Careful now! We don't want to cause the tunnel to collapse ourselves."

"How are things holding up in here?" Tom asked as he worked to turn the barrier end up.

Tobias shook his head. "I'm not so sure this is going to work. Every time we stick a barrier in, another area needs shoring up. Unless we fill this entire tunnel, I don't think we're going to succeed." He said this quietly so that the other workers couldn't hear. "I'll tell you, though -- this would go a lot easier if we had Rachel and Marco here."

"Why Rachel and Marco?" Carson asked in his muffled voice. He'd been hanging onto Tobias' every word.

"Rachel's got her elephant morph, and Marco's got the gorilla," Tobias replied. "Both of them are extremely strong."

"Too late now," Tom replied as they pushed the barrier in place. He glanced up at the ceiling, and sure enough, another section started to sag in. "Man, I just hope this doesn't come down on us."

Behind him, another crew came with another barrier. "Easy!" Tobias said when he spotted them. "I can't talk now, Tom -- think you're up to carrying more?"

"Like Cassie said, if I can walk I can help." He headed back down the tunnel, with Carson hot on his trail.

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Marco put his hands up in the air. "Please don't kill me," he begged.

The gun -- because that was what it was -- moved away from his neck. "Strange, for a Yeerk to beg," the voice said.

"I'm not a Yeerk," Marco replied indignantly.

"That's what they all say."

The voice was definitely female. A female with an attitude, Marco could figure out from the tone she used. Someone who was afraid, but covered it up with words. He knew it well.

Slowly, he turned around and looked at his attacker. If it hadn't been for the voice, he wouldn't have been able to figure out what gender she was. Her entire body was encased in a black hooded robe. In her hand was a modified Dracon beam. "Who are you?" he asked.

The gun went up a little. "I should be asking you the same question," she sneered. "What are you doing in my home?"

"Your . . . home?" He looked around. He was in the basement of what looked like an old apartment building. He remembered following the directions on the map, and walking inside. "I followed the directions."

"What directions?" she demanded.

"The ones on the map," Marco replied. "The ones that I got through a vision."

That seemed to visibly shake her up. At the very least, it persuaded her to put her weapon away. "You saw the vision?" she whispered. "How? I was sending that out for someone else!"

"Well, it's pretty easy to intercept things if you're psychic," Marco answered, folding his arms across his chest.

Immediately, Marco felt something probing his mind. He automatically blocked it with his own power. "You are psychic," the girl whispered. "No Yeerk can tap into that power. They block it instead." For a moment, she seemed to relax. Then she tensed up. "If you're not a Yeerk, then what are you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm an Animorph," he said. "I work for the Andalite-Animorphs Alliance."

"I've heard the Yeerks talk of such a place," she said thoughtfully. "I never knew it actually existed."

"Look, were you the one who sent out that message?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Are you in trouble?"

She shook her head.

"Fine. Then I'm going. My friends are being chased by a bunch of Controllers, and I'd like to find them in one piece." He turned to leave.

"I know an easier way," she replied. "Follow me."

Marco looked at her. He tried to access her memories, to see if she was a Controller, but he was easily blocked. "Don't try that again," she said coldly.

"All right, all right," he said, backing off. "By the way, my name's Marco."

She paused uncertainly. "You may call me Cat. This way."

He followed her out of the basement.

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"Sytsirk!"

Aidualc hurried towards his boss. "What is it?" Sytsirk asked, turning away from the construction to look at the new arrival.

"One of the patrols caught spies inside the city limits," he said, trying to catch his breath. Humans tire so easily, he thought. "Six of them -- four humans and two Andalites."

"The AAA," Sytsirk growled. "How did they find out about the Kandrona?"

"One of them claims to be Acissej 9-0-1," Aidualc said. No more explanation was needed.

"We will have to alert Nine to this," his boss said. "Where are the prisoners?"

"At the base of the statue."

Sytsirk turned to his workers. "Continue working!" he commanded. "Any slackers will be fed to the workers once this project is complete!"

Meanwhile, at the base of the statue, Breeyar, Geoff, and Aci stood helplessly in the center of a large group of Controllers. Sytsirk pushed his way through. "I thought you said there were six of them!" he growled.

Aidualc immediately sensed his mistake. "Yes, well, it appears that the other three may have . . . morphed. Two of them were Animorphs, and the other an Andalite."

Sytsirk glared at him. Then he motioned for two guards. "Take him to a transport, and make sure Nine deals with him."

Aidualc gasped. "But . . . Sytsirk! No! Put me down! Put me down!"

Everyone ignored his cries.

Breeyar glared at the contemptuous Yeerk. <You'll never get away with this,> he snapped. <There are still more of us out there!>

"Yes, well, once we're through with you, there'll be three less than there were before. Where are the rest of the spies?"

"We don't know of any other spies," Geoff said.

Sytsirk pressed a blade against Geoff's throat. "I know you're lying, boy," he growled. "I have eyewitnesses who said that there were six of you."

"Your eyewitnesses were wrong, Sytsirk," Aci said coldly.

He turned away from Geoff and stared at her. "What have they done to you, Acissej?" Sytsirk asked incredulously. "Why have you turned your back on everything you've ever believed in?"

"You have no idea what it is I believe in," she spat.

His face hardened. "Lock them up," he commanded. "And put out an all-points bulletin for the other three spies. I want them found."

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"So, do you often walk around on rooftops?" Marco asked as he moved steadily behind Cat.

"Whenever there's a rooftop to be found," she replied coolly.

"Ah." Marco thought for a moment. "You live alone?"

"Yes."

"Where's your family?"

"I have no family," she answered.

"What about your parents? Come on, you can't be much older than me. You must have parents somewhere. Brothers, sisters?"

Cat stopped and spun around. "I told you," she hissed. "I have no family. And I don't really want to answer anymore of your questions. You're lucky I'm offering to take you to your friends. So shut up and be grateful."

Marco stared at her, taken aback. "Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hands. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious. It's a condition I have -- I can't seem to quit while I'm ahead. So sue me."

Cat stared at him for a few minutes, then shook her head. "Whatever."

Something moved behind her.

"Look out!" Marco shouted as a Hork-Bajir came leaping down from the roof behind her, Dracon beam out.

Cat whirled around and pulled her own gun out. In less than a second, she aimed and fired a point blank shot to the heart. The Hork-Bajir stopped, shuddered, and fell to the ground.

"Wow," Marco breathed, stunned.

Cat turned up the power on the weapon. "That was stun," she said. "We better get out of here before he wakes up and calls for help."

"Lead the way." As he walked past the unconscious alien, he couldn't help but shudder.

This girl was dangerous.

Chapter Five

<Any word from Breeyar and the others?> Galuit asked as he entered the command center.

Lieutenant Thomas shook his head. "There have been no incoming or outgoing calls since the last transmission."

Galuit gazed worriedly at the screen, then turned to Garcia. <How's the ETA?>

"We're at thirty minutes and counting down, sir," she replied briskly. "How is the tunnel going?"

<Thirty minutes?> he asked, ignoring her question. She nodded. <We'll be lucky is we get half of it completed. Every time one area gets fixed, another falters. It's starting to look like an impossible task.>

"Without the South tunnel, though, we're completely shut off from the city," Ensign Bernstein said, overhearing the captain's words. Bernstein was in charge of the sonar and security systems.

Galuit, of course, knew this. <Would you rather risk cutting the base off the city, or having the Yeerks find our base and shove an alien slug in your ear?> he asked calmly, turning to the Ensign.

Bernstein nodded briskly and turned back to her screen.

<Good choice.> Galuit turned to Thomas.

"I'm sure nothing's wrong," Chief Taylor said as Galuit resumed his position in the center of the room.

Galuit just shook his head. <They were supposed to be in the city limits by five o' clock,> he said wearily. <It's five forty-five now. Breeyar's always on schedule.> He glanced up at the blank communications screen. <Something's happened, and I don't like it.>

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On a planet far from Earth, twelve people sat around a large room. The Council of Thirteen was awaiting news from Nine, their confidant on the planet Earth. The Emperor, especially, was waiting.

A small area in the center of the room began to glow and take shape. "Welcome, Nine," the Emperor said.

"Welcome," the rest of his followers said in complete monotone.

Nine nodded. "Thank you."

"What is the status of Earth?" the Emperor asked.

"We are beginning the attack on the AAA base," Nine replied. "The new room for the Kandrona is almost complete. However, I've been informed that the AAA got wind of the Kandrona and sent spies to destroy it. We have captured three of those spies, and our forces are tracking down the remaining three. We believe there are six in all. Four humans and two Andalites."

"How did they hear about the Kandrona installment?"

Nine's eyes narrowed. "Acissej 9-0-1, my liege. She has somehow allied herself with the AAA. Since she was once a high ranking Yeerk, there's no telling what she might know."

"And has the traitor been caught?"

"Not to my knowledge," Nine lied. It knew full well that Acissej was among the three spies captured, and it was in no hurry to reveal that knowledge. It had plans for her.

The Emperor, however, seemed satisfied with the report. "Is that all, Nine?"

"One more thing," Nine replied. "The terrorist within the limits of New York may still be around. According to Sytsirk, who I have put in charge of the Kandrona overseement, one of his troops was found stunned from one blow, at a very accurate range."

The Emperor's eyes glowed a brighter red, showing his unhappiness with the report. "If that terrorist is indeed around," he growled, "then we have more problems than suspected. If she allies herself with the remaining spies --"

"I doubt that will be a problem," Nine interrupted. The other Councilmembers drew in sharp breaths, knowing that the Emperor didn't tolerate interruptions.

"And why is that?" growled the Emperor.

Nine grinned its wicked and terrifying grin. "If there's one thing I know about the terrorist, it's this: The Cataluna is not one to trust another. Especially if that another is human."

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"How'd you get the name Cat?"

Marco was still trying to get this girl to talk, and she was still dodging all his questions.

"It's my name," she replied.

"Well, what's it short for?"

"The rest of my name," Cat replied slyly.

Marco rolled his eyes. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely," she said, rolling her eyes. What was with this boy? she wondered. Why couldn't he just be satisfied with yes and no answers? Did she have to tell him her entire life story before he shut up?

No, she thought vehemently. I will never tell anyone about my past. That part of me is dead and gone. It will never return. I won't let it return.

Suddenly Marco grabbed her arm. "Look," he said, turning her to look at him. "I'm grateful that you're helping me find my friends, but I have this unwritten rule of not trusting someone until they prove they deserve my trust. You haven't done that yet. I'd like to be able to trust you, though, and in order for me to do that you can't keep dodging my questions. For all I know, you might be working for the Yeerks. You might be leading me straight into a --" But before he could say the word 'trap', Cat grabbed his wrist, pulled it off her arm, spun him around, pinned his arm to his back, and shoved his up against a wall.

"Let me be clear on this," she said smoothly. "I will never, and have never, work for the Yeerks. Don't ever believe that. As for trust, well, trust is something that no one deserves. You put your trust in a person, and that gives that person the ability to hurt you. I had to learn that the hard way. I've stayed alive because I don�t trust anyone.

"Not even if they prove they deserve it."

She released her hold and stepped back. "I will help you find your friends," she said, not looking at him. "But I will not trust you. And I will not open myself up to you. Know that now, and know that your efforts to get me to speak are futile."

Marco rubbed his arm gingerly. "I got it. Off limits, right?" She nodded curtly and began walking. Marco grinned. He'd get her to open up sooner or later.

Most likely later, he thought as he continued to follow her through the city.

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Jake was not in a good mood. He'd just been chased by five different Hork-Bajir, been forced to morph into a cockroach in order to escape, and then, when he demorphed, found himself in the midst if what had once been a shipyard. Most likely the marina.

"Yuck," he said, almost stepping in a pile of goo. He didn't know what the goo was, but he definitely didn't want it to be one with his sneaker. He didn't want to know what it was.

The entire marina seemed abandoned. In the distance, half covered by a murky fog, he could make out what had to be the Brooklyn Bridge. It was in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the city.

"Rachel?" he called. "Coalmeer? Marco?" He was about to start shouting when he heard something moving around near the water. Quietly, Jake crept forward.

A figure, dressed entirely in rags, was kneeling on the edge of a platform that stopped at the water's edge. He/she was sifting through the water, which was now a rust color. The color looked familiar, but Jake couldn't place it.

The sun, which felt as if it had been set on stun, was beginning to go down. Jake knew that at night, everything cooled down. He needed to find shelter before then. He'd discarded the Yeerk suit, and was now wearing just the white T-shirt and navy blue pants that he had underneath it.

Cautiously, Jake crept forward. He tried to be perfectly calm and quiet, but he must have given himself away somehow. The figure suddenly froze, looked around frantically, then dashed away. "No, wait --" but the figure was gone.

Strange, he thought. Who was that? He didn't look like a Controller. And what was he looking for?

His curiosity piqued, Jake walked towards the spot where the person had been searching. He couldn't see anything underneath the murky rust-red surface of the water, so he slid his hands into it. He wondered what had made the water that color. Once again, the color looked familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Jake's hands brushed against something smooth and hard, and he drew in a deep breath. He grasped the object and began to pick it up. At the same time, he noticed something unusual about the rocks the water had washed up.

They were all the same color -- white. Some were tinged slightly with water, showing that they had washed up recently. Many of them were in the same shape, although they ranged in size. Jake looked closer at one. Still holding the object he'd picked up with one hand, he used to other to pull the rock out of the sand.

He looked at the rock. Then he looked at it again. A picture popped into his mind, from health class. He remembered the large skeleton model that his teacher had placed in the front of the room.

This 'rock' was identical to the skeleton's upper arm bone. Jake quickly dropped it, at the same time looking at what he'd picked up.

"Ohmigod!" he gasped, dropping it the ground and standing up.

The skull grinned up at him.

Those aren't rocks, he realized, they're bones. Hundreds and hundreds of bones. And the water --

He realized why the water was tinged red.

It'd been stained by blood.

Jake stood there, completely frozen. And, for some reason, he stared at the shadow of the bridge in the distance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where am I?

Those were the first words that popped into Rachel's head when she opened her eyes. The last thing she remembered was losing the guards and demorphing. She'd gone to find Jake, but had tripped over a large rock.

I must have been knocked out, she realized. But how did I get here?

"You're awake."

Startled, Rachel looked over at the person. It was an old woman. No, not so old. She was probably in her late forties or early fifties, but the tiredness on her face made her seem older. Rachel tried to sit up, but her head hurt too much.

"Don't try to get up," the woman said gently. "That fall you took was pretty bad. You've been unconscious for a few hours. Are you hungry?"

Rachel realized that she hadn't eaten anything since early that morning. "Yes," she said.

The woman nodded and started spooning something from a pot into a bowl. "Here," she said, propping up Rachel and handing her the bowl. "It's best if I don't tell you what it is."

"I don't really care what it is, so long as it's edible," Rachel joked as she shoved a spoonful of the broth into her mouth. As she ate, she thought of some questions to ask the woman. "Where am I?"

"You're at my home," the woman replied, "in the basement of what used to be Julliard." Rachel's eyes widened, recognizing the name of the famous ballet school. "What's your name?"

"Rachel," Rachel replied. "And yours?"

"I'm Kristy," the woman replied. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you a new Controller?"

"Huh?" Rachel glanced down at the suit she was still wearing. "Oh. No! I'm not a Controller. I'm a spy, actually."

Kristy's eyes lit up. "A spy?"

"Are you a Controller?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

Kristy shook her head. "Just a refugee who takes pity on any poor soul. You seemed to be in danger, so I decided to help you. If you had been a Controller, I would've held you until the Yeerk died, and then adopted you."

"You do this on a regular basis?" Rachel wondered. Kristy seemed pretty certain about what she was saying.

"A few times," Kristy answered impishly. Rachel found herself immediately liking this person.

"Do you live here alone?" Rachel asked.

"No," Kristy said, shaking her head. "Shane lives here with me."

"Who's Shane?"

"I'm Shane," a voice said from the doorway.

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"How many times do I have to say it?" Tobias demanded. "Go slowly! The last thing we want is this place to collapse. Now take it easy. Steady, steady! There! Now get it on its end."

Tobias looked up to see Ax making his way along the side of the tunnel. "Huge fun," Tobias said sarcastically. "Added to the fact that I'm starving, and I'd say this would be the equivalent of when my uncle used to come home drunk and mistake our house for a gym and me for a punching bag."

Ax laughed. <Go eat then,> he said. <I'm here to relieve you.>

"What's our time?" Tobias asked.

<About twenty-five minutes,> Ax answered. <Now go.>

Tobias, relieved, thanked his friend and made his way out of the tunnel and down to the cafeteria. There, he found Tom and Carson, as well as Cassie, eating hurriedly.

"Slow down before you hurt yourselves," Tobias said, setting his tray down next to Cassie's and pulling up a chair. "We've got hundreds of volunteers -- you guys can take a break."

"Where's Ax?" Carson asked.

Tobias looked at him. "He relieved me in the tunnel. I guess Andalites don't need to eat as often as us humans."

Tom was the only one not eating. "Do you know if there's been any word from the platoon?"

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked, taking a sip of water.

Tom straightened up. "They didn't send a transmission on time," he said. "I'm worried."

"I'm sure they're all right," Tobias said, but deep down inside he started to get worried, too. Had something happened to the platoon? Had something happened to Rachel?

"There's Imoteo," Cassie said suddenly. "Maybe he knows something." Quickly she got up and hurried over to the Andalite.

Carson, Tom, and Tobias looked at each other silently. Then Tobias glanced at the food on his tray. He picked up an apple. "You know what?"

"What?"

"Marco's right," Tobias said. "This is an abnormal apple. No soft spots or anything. In fact," he used a knife to slice it in half and held it up for inspection, "there aren't even any seeds."

Tom and Carson just rolled their eyes, but they were both grinning. Tobias was smiling, too, until Cassie came over. Her expression made all of them solemn. "What did Imoteo say?" Carson asked.

Cassie sat down. "There's no sign of them," she said. "Lieutenant Thomas has been trying to contact them for almost an hour.

"Just a few minutes ago, the signals stopped altogether. Not only were they not answering, but the communicator has been destroyed."

Suddenly no one felt like eating.

Tobias pushed his chair back. "I'm going to have a 'talk' with Galuit."

"I'm coming with you," Cassie said.

"Me, too," Tom replied. Carson just got up and followed them out of the cafeteria.

Chapter Six

"Why didn't you tell us our friends were missing?" Tobias demanded. The four of them had just stormed into the command center, and Tobias practically had smoke coming out of his ears.

Galuit looked at him calmly. <At this moment we're not entirely sure what happened. And, as you can see, we've got our own crisis at this moment.>

"I don't care about some stupid tunnel!" Tobias growled. "Rachel, Jake, and Marco, not to mention Coalmeer, Breeyar, and Aci, are lost somewhere in a Yeerk controlled territory! They could be in Yeerk hands at this very minute! They could be being forced to tell the Yeerks everything they know about the AAA!"

"Why?" Cassie asked. "Why do you doubt that?"

<Because,> Galuit said, <every member of the AAA had taken a solemn oath of silence. To break that silence is to be dead.>

"You mean that, rather than answer questions, Breeyar would have them all killed?" Tom asked in low voice. Carson's eyes were wide.

"Sir!" Garcia shouted. "There's a problem with the South tunnel."

Galuit immediately forgot about the four angry people in front of him. <What's the problem?>

"It collapsed," Garcia said. "No one was buried, but there's a chamber inside. And there are at least a dozen people inside that."

"The person calling in the collapse was Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil."

Tobias ran out of the room.

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Rachel looked at the person calling himself Shane. "Hi," he said, stepping into the room. "I see you've met Aunt Kristy."

"She's your aunt?" Rachel asked. It was the only thing she could think of, because she couldn't help noticing that Shane was incredibly cute. Right away, though, she discarded the thought. The last she wanted was to be thinking about someone other than Tobias.

Shane laughed. "Not really. My parents were killed in the massacres of 26 when I was ten. My mother hid me in a cupboard when the Yeerks came for us. Aunt Kristy found me when I was twelve, and took me in. So I guess you could say she's my 'adopted' aunt."

"Oh," Rachel said. "So, uh, how old are you now?"

"I just turned sixteen last week," Shane replied. "How about you? Where're you from, what's your name, how old are you?"

"Like I was telling Kristy, my name is Rachel," Rachel said. "I'm fourteen, and I'm a spy."

"For or against the Yeerks?" Shane asked.

"Against," Rachel said automatically. "That's why I'm wearing this hot thing."

"I have something you wear instead of that," Kristy said quickly.

"That's okay," Rachel said. "I've got something on underneath." Quickly she discarded the uniform. She felt a lot more comfortable in the navy blue pants and white shirt.

"So, if you're not a spy for the Yeerks, who are you a spy for?" Shane asked, setting the bag he'd been carrying down.

"I work for the AAA," Rachel replied. "In Buffalo. I came here with a platoon in order to destroy the Kandrona that's being installed, but we were discovered. I think three of us were captured. I'm here. That leaves Jake, Coalmeer, and Marco unaccounted for."

Kristy looked at Shane. "Perhaps we can help you find your friends," she said. "I know of an excellent tracker who despises the Yeerks. Shane knows how to contact her."

"Do you think she can help?" Rachel asked eagerly. "My friend Marco might be kind of hard to find. He separated himself from the group shortly before we were discovered."

Shane nodded. "If anyone can find your friends, she can. I'll be back, Aunt Kristy. Nice to meet you, Rachel."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel said as he left.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They've been moved," Cat said. She and Marco were standing at the spot where the platoon had been discovered. "Three were captured. The other three moved off in separate directions."

Marco didn't ask how she knew this. After all, she was psychic, like him. And he was certainly picking up on what had happened. Unlike her, though, he couldn't figure out the details. "I'm picking up on something, but I'm not very trained at this. Powerful, yes -- trained, no."

Cat sighed. "I have no way of knowing who was taken and who escaped, or where they ended up. We'll have to follow the separate trails."

"You mean, you'll still help me?" Marco asked, surprised.

She looked at him. He found it increasingly annoying that he still didn't know what she looked like, since she still wore the hood and cloak. "I promised that I would help you find your friends, didn't I?"

"Yes --"

Suddenly she looked off into the distance. So did Marco. A light was glinting off something about a mile away. "Come on," Cat said, grabbing his arm. "Someone's calling me."

"What, like the Bat signal or something?"

"What?"

"You've never heard of Batman?" Marco asked. "Never mind."

Cat sighed. "Just, come on!"

Chapter Seven

Marco wasn't entirely sure where Cat was leading him to, but eventually he found himself on a roof. In the center of the roof was a large mirror, the sides jagged and broken, and a flashlight in front of it. He realized that this must have been where the signal came from.

Cat leaped nimbly onto the rooftop, and Marco followed not-so-gracefully. In fact, he cried out in pain when his kneecap colliding with the concrete roof. "You should be more careful," Cat said without looking at him. "Who's here?"

A boy only a few years older than both of them appeared. "Thanks for coming, Cataluna," the boy said.

Cat relaxed. "Hello, Shane," she said, and for a moment Marco thought she actually sounded pleasant. But that was against her religion, wasn't it? He got to his feet. "Has your aunt found another person in need of help?"

"This time, it's only a girl a couple years younger than me," Shane replied. "She says she's a spy for something called the AAA, and that she was separated --"

"Was her name Rachel or Aci?" Marco quickly interrupted.

"Rachel," Shane replied.

"Friend of yours?" Cat asked dryly.

"You could say that," Marco said, grinning. "Where is she?"

Shane made a "follow me" motion and headed for the door that lead from the roof of the building to the interior.

Something moved behind Marco. Cat glanced over her shoulder.

"Get down!" she shouted, shoving him aside as a Dracon beam sliced through the air. It barely missed her shoulder, and she and Marco collapsed in a heap.

Behind them, a couple dozen Hork-Bajir and other assorted Controllers drew their weapons and charged onto the roof.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake wanted to get as far away from that marina as possible. As he ran, he remembered something Coalmeer had said earlier that day -- had it only been that morning? -- about Yeerks shooting and killing hundreds of people, then throwing them off the Brooklyn Bridge. Aci had said they weren't rumors.

Now Jake had proof.

And all he wanted was to get away from the horrific site of hundreds of thousands of bones, and the blood-stained river.

He was so into running that he didn't notice the large rock in front of him until he tripped over it. "Ooof!" he cried, throwing out his hands to block his fall. "Ow!"

<Jake?>

"Coalmeer?" Sure enough, the Andalite scientist was crouched down between two slabs of concrete and sheet metal. Jake quickly picked himself up. "Are you okay?"

Coalmeer said weakly.

"I don't know," Jake said truthfully, making his way over to Coalmeer. "I think Aci, and possibly Breeyar and Geoff, were captured. Rachel and I got separated, and who knows where Marco ran off to? He practically disappeared the moment we were in the city."

Jake knelt down beside Coalmeer and wished that Cassie was here. She'd know more about this stuff than he would. "Ever since Marco found out he was psychic, I've learned that he always has a good reason for everything he does."

<You mean he's got a good reason to complain about the food?> Coalmeer laughed, then cried out in pain as Jake touched the break. <Broken,> he gasped. <Definitely broken.>

"Okay," Jake said quickly. "Can you walk on three legs?"

"Let's get you up," he said. "We can't stay here."

From somewhere nearby, a barrage of shots were being fired. "What the --?"

<Someone's in trouble!> Coalmeer said. <Leave me here. I'm going to see if I have enough energy to morph, and then I'll catch up with you.>

"I'm not leaving," Jake said automatically.

<Yes, you are,> Coalmeer insisted. <You're an Animorph. A warrior. I'm just a scientist. I can hold my own one-on-one, but in battle I'm useless. If someone's in trouble, you have to go.>

Jake sighed. The last thing he wanted was to get into a battle where he was probably going to be outnumbered. Then again, what if it was Rachel or Marco or someone else who needed his help? "I wish I didn't have a conscience," he muttered as he took off, concentrating on his tiger morph even as he ran.

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While all this was happening, three very unhappy members of the AAA were being kept locked up in a cold, dark cell in what must have been a prison once, but was now a temporary Yeerk headquarters.

"Why don't they just kill us?" Geoff grumbled.

<They want to know what information we have,> Breeyar replied.

"Then why don't they just infest us?"

Breeyar didn't have an answer to that.

However Aci, who was leaning against the wall of the cell, said, "This is a temporary base. There's no actual Yeerk pool in New York, just a small portable one. Big enough for Yeerks to reenergize in -- not big enough for Yeerks without hosts to wait. Chances are one of two things is going to happen -- they'll import some Yeerks for us, or they'll send us to Nine. We'll either be tortured or infested."

All this was said very calmly, without a hint of anger or fear or resentment or any other emotion that a person could possibly have. Aci was still basically getting used to showing emotion in her new body.

"So you're saying we just wait for them to destroy us?" Geoff demanded.

"No."

<Then what do we do?> snapped Breeyar. <You're the only one who might have any idea what's going to happen.>

"We wait," Aci replied calmly.

"For what?" Geoff growled.

"Him." She pointed towards an approaching Controller. No one was paying attention to him as he knelt down.

"Acissej?" the Controller whispered. "My name is Mada. Anad sent me."

"Hello, Mada," Aci whispered back. "What do you have for me?"

Mada glanced around, then slipped a sheet of paper between the bars. "These are the directions through the air duct that leads outside. There should be a vent in your cell. Do you see it?"

Aci nodded. She was sitting in front of it.

"Good. Both your guards are on our side. They will keep others away as you make your escape. Once outside, you have ten minutes before the motion sensors go off."

"Thank you, Mada," Aci replied. "May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you."

"And you, Acissej," Mada whispered. He nodded to the guards, and hurried away.

Geoff and Breeyar stared wide-eyed and (in Geoff's case) open-mouthed at her. "What are we waiting for?" Aci asked, oblivious to their shock. "Let's get this grate off of this thing and get out of here."

Chapter Eight

"Get off of me!" Cat growled, shoving Marco aside.

"You're the one who jumped me!" Marco snapped. "Come on -- we have to get out of here!"

Cat let out a throaty growl and rolled to her feet. She pulled part of her robe aside and pulled out a large gun. Marco grabbed her arm. "This is no time for a fight!"

"This is a perfect time for a fight," she retorted, pushing him aside and aiming the gun.

Marco cursed under his breath. If they moved now they could get inside the building before those things reached them. But no -- Senorita Psychopath had to stay and blow them away with a bazooka. She's crazy," Marco muttered. "I guess this means I have to save her butt."

Marco dove behind the remains of a large wooden crate and gritted his teeth. Glancing once more around the crate, he saw Cat fire once. The shot sliced through one Controller, hit another point blank, and caused such an explosion that about ten more fell to their knees after getting blind-sided by shrapnel.

"Dammit," he swore. "She's gonna blow us all up if she doesn't quit it." Another shot, another explosion. Marco began to morph.

His arms doubled, tripled in size as course black fur spread over his body. His clothes were tight enough that they morphed along with him -- thank goodness -- and the red Yeerk suit that he was still wearing suddenly turned black. Leathery skin grew across his chest, his hands, his feet, his face. His eyes shrank slightly, his forehead grew out until he almost couldn't see past it. His nose flattened out, and his mouth grew in size.

It was a morph he'd done before -- the silverback gorilla. He was used to the changes. But still, he was glad that he didn't have a mirror.

Meanwhile, Cat was taking shot after shot when suddenly her gun ran out. When she pulled the trigger, all she heard was a soft click. "Great," she groaned. She reached into her cloak and tried to find another clip.

She wasn't aware of the person sneaking up behind her, Dracon beam in hand.

Suddenly, a vision flashed in her head, and she spun around so fast that her hood slid off her head. But the gun was already aimed, there wasn't time for her to dodge. For the first time she stood there, frozen. Completely frozen.

"Huurrrruuuuaahhh!" The deep, muddy voice echoed through the silence of the moment as a large gorilla came charging out from behind a pile of wood. He grabbed the gun, yanked it out of the Human-Controller's hand, then connected his other fist with the Controller's chin. The Controller's head snapped back from the impact, and he slumped to the ground. Cat couldn't tell if he was dead or not, and frankly, she didn't care.

The remained dozen enemies started to reach for their weapons, but suddenly thought twice about it when they spotted an extremely large (and extremely mad) grizzly bear pushing its way through the roof doors. Turning around, they tried to retreat, only to find that their only escape route was blocked by a very bored looking tiger. But when the tiger drew back his mouth and revealed two rows of large, sharp teeth, every single person recoiled and began to shake.

Cat calmly walked over to each one, and with a quick slam to the head, knocked them all unconscious. "Shane," she said to the boy hiding behind Rachel the bear, "go get your aunt. We can't stay here."

"Yes, Cataluna."

She turned back around, and her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Marco, who was eliminating the last traces of the gorilla. Jake and Rachel were also beginning to demorph.

Slowly, Cat drew in a deep breath. "What are you?" she asked cautiously.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tobias, where are you going?" Cassie exclaimed, running to catch up with her friend. "Ax is trapped in that tunnel collapse, and the Yeerk line will be here in ten minutes!"

Tobias turned and looked her in the eye. "Ax has plenty of people looking for him. At this moment, Rachel and the others have none."

"So you're going to do what? Run to New York and try to find them? It took them three days to get there, you idiot." Cassie's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe how stupid Tobias was being. "Three days. Even if you fly, it'll take you a day at least. We need you here. Right now."

Tobias' eyes flashed. "Rachel needs me, too. She could be in danger!"

"But you don't know that," Cassie snapped. She breathed deeply. "God, Tobias, don't you think I'm worried about Jake, too? The thought of not knowing where he is, or what he's doing, or even if he's controlling himself is terrifying me. But we made a promise to the AAA that we'd help them. We can't break that promise."

Tobias opened his mouth to argue, but suddenly he snapped it shut. "You're right," he muttered. "We did make a promise."

"We have to help with the tunnel," Cassie said softly, putting her hand on his arm. He just looked at her. For a moment, they were silent. Then Cassie said, "Something else is bothering you. What?"

"It's nothing," Tobias started to say, but he was stopped when he saw the expression on her face. She knew something was up. "It's Galuit," he said finally.

"What about him?"

"He offered me -- us -- a job," Tobias replied. "He wants us to join the AAA permanently. I told him I had to talk to Jake first."

"And did you?"

Tobias shook his head. "It's been chaos ever since."

"You're not sure if you want to join, are you?" Cassie spoke softly, her gaze never wavering.

"I'm not sure if I want to spend the rest of my life fighting the Yeerks," Tobias clarified. "I mean, I know I was all for it back before the Elysia thing and all that, but ever since I came face-to-face with my parents, I don't know. I'm not sure if I could handle a combat situation."

Cassie wasn't sure what to say to this. She'd always expected Tobias to be willing to fight for a cause he believed in. Now he was having the same doubts that she, and possibly Marco, had been having from the very beginning. And something about his change in attitude made her wonder what she wanted as well.

"Would all immediate personnel come to the bridge at this time? I repeat, would all immediate personnel come to the bridge at this time?"

Cassie glanced at the bridge. "You know, maybe it won't be so bad," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, these guys seem to know what they're doing."

Tobias looked at her. She shrugged. "We don't need Jake to decide everything for us."

"You're saying --?"

"I'm saying that they just called for immediate personnel," Cassie replied. "I'm curious about what they want. And when you think about it, and Animorph is the perfect person to join the Andalite-Animorph Alliance."

"Jake'll kill you."

Cassie shrugged. "It's my choice."

"I can't let you do this alone."

"That's your choice."

Tobias glanced over at the entrance to the command center. Tom and Carson were standing outside it, trying to look like they belonged there, but they kept stealing glances over in their direction.

"You're right, it is my choice," Tobias replied. He thought for a minute. "Okay. Let's go."

Cassie looked at him. "Are you serious?"

Tobias nodded. "If Rachel and Jake and even Marco can risk their lives going on a seek-and-destroy mission, then the least I can do is help protect this base."

Together they walked towards the command center.

Chapter Nine

<This has got to be the most humiliating thing I have ever experienced,> Breeyar complained as he, Geoff, and Aci moved through the air duct.

"How do you figure?" Aci asked.

<Well, look at this. I'm following behind two humans, one of who used to be a Yeerk, on my hands and knees -- which, I have to admit, isn't at all comfortable. If anyone finds out about this -->

"Relax, Breeyar," Geoff called back. "I won't tell if you won't. Besides, there are worse things."

"How about having a slug shoved in your ear?"

"I think we're there." Aci stopped crawling and felt along in the darkness. Her fingers touched a metal grate. Air was filtering in through it. "There are air currents here. This is it."

"Back up," Aci said. Geoff and Breeyar somehow managed to back up several feet. Aci turned herself around so that she was feet first towards the air duct. "The minute I hit this thing," she said, "we're going to have exactly ten minutes to get to the water. We're on an island, remember?"

"Yeah," Geoff said.

"Breeyar, can you swim?"

"Okay then. On my mark." She took a deep breath. "One. Two. THREE!" On three she kicked out both her legs, using as much of her strength as she dared. Her feet connected with the flimsy metal grate. Almost immediatley the screws gave way and the entire grate popped off the wall. Bracing herself, Aci glanced out the hole.

"The water's directly below us," she called back. "We're going to need to start swimming the moment we hit. It's about a twenty foot drop."

"Oh, great," Geoff muttered. "Good thing I learned how to swim."

<Will you just move already?> Breeyar shouted.

Aci nodded and glanced down again. Taking a deep breath, she jumped feet first out of the air duct. For a few seconds, there was nothing but air. Then her feet sliced through the water. Her body disappeared without so much as a splash.

<Go!>

Geoff jumped after Aci, forming a perfect swan dive into the red water. He took a breath just before his head was submerged. Above him, Breeyar was rapidly morphing to human.

WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO. The sirens blared noisily as guards began racing around to the side. Breeyar, now human, breathed deeply and jumped. He couldn't see Aci or Geoff, and he wondered if they had survived the drop.

WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO.

The guards reached the side of the building seconds after Breeyar disappeared beneath the surface. "They must have jumped!" one of them exclaimed. "Fire at the water!"

Every Controller let loose with a rapid series of shots.

"ENOUGH!" The command was heard even above the loud gunfire. Sytsirk pushed his way through the crowd. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he roared.

"The prisoners escaped," answered the guard who had given the command to fire. "We had to shoot them."

"You don't even know where they landed!" Sytsirk shouted. "Did it occur to you that, while shooting the prisoners, you might accidently hit the equiptment stored down there? Without that equiptment, we don't stand a chance of refitting this water body into the Pool. Without the Pool, the plans for the New York Base are useless!"

"Yes sir," the guard muttered.

"Now get back inside and get back to work!"

"What about the prisoners?"

Sytsirk glared at the Hork-Bajir that had spoken. "I will deal with them," he sneered. "Now follow your orders!"

Slowly, the crowd desipated. Soon Sytsirk was left alone on the cliff.

He looked out over the water. "I will find you, Acissej," he whispered. "I just don't know what I'll do with you when I do."

He turned and entered the prison.

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The water was calm near the ruined marina. A rag-clothed figure sat on a large rock, staring dully at the water.

Suddenly the surface began to churn. The figure watched, stunned, as a head burst through the water. It was immiedeately followed by another, then another.

The figure stood up and hurried to its hiding place. Peering uncertainly around the wall, the figure could overhear the conversatoin.

"So, Breeyar. What do we do now?"

Chapter Ten

Cat stood in the middle of the roof, listening patiently as Jake explained the Animorphs to her. Marco was keeping an eye on the hostages, which Shane had tied up and gagged. They kept glaring at everyone.

Actually, Marco was only half paying attention to the hostages. He was mostly staring at Cat's face, now that he could actually see it.

She was about five foot three, with pale skin, auburn hair that came downt to about the middle of her neck, and eyes that seemed to see more than just what was visible. He recognized the look: Loren O'Conner-Shamtul, Tobias' mother, had the same look in her eyes. Marco's Grandmother Elena had also had the same look. And, whenever he looked in the mirror, Marco saw the look in his eyes as well.

It was the look of the Third Eye -- the look of psychics.

She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but there was a certain aspect of her than drew Marco. The way she carried herself, like she was telling the whole world that she could take care of things on her own, that she didn't need any help.

"Hey, Gorilla Boy, wake up."

Marco blinked, then noticed Rachel next to him. "Huh?"

"If you stared any longer you'd be burning holes in the back of her head," Rachel commented. "What'd you do with that suit?"

"Threw it over the side of the building," Marco replied, finally managing to turn his attention away from Cat. "What's up?"

"According to Jake, Coalmeer's injured. Shane went to go see if he was all right -- he should be back shortly." Rachel looked over the side of the roof. "Look at this place. I still can't believe that this was once one of the largest cities in the world."

"Yeah, well, the world's changed," Marco sighed. "For better or for worse, I haven't figured it out yet. In fact --"

FLASH!

"Oh no, not again," Marco groaned, opening his eyes. Rachel was looking at him. "How long was I out for?"

"A few seconds," Rachel replied. She looked over Marco's shoulder. "Here comes Wondergirl."

Cat didn't seem to acknowledge Rachel's presence. She focused her gaze on Marco. "You felt it." It was a statement, not a question.

Marco shuddered. "I saw it," he whispered.

"Saw what?" Jake asked, coming over.

"Hundreds of people," Marco said in a soft voice. "Crying, panicking, screaming. Then silence. Eerie silence. A minute later, hundreds of splashes."

Jake looked grim. "The massacre," he said. "Coalmeer and Aci mentioned it earlier, remember?"

"I thought it was just a rumor," Rachel commented.

Cat shook her head. "It's no rumor." Her voice took on an strange, faraway tone, as if she were ten miles away instead of ten feet. Her gaze focused on the location of the Brooklyn Bridge, although it was no longer visible in the dark of the night.

"Why'd you get a vision from some long-dead death trap?" Rachel wondered.

Marco bit his lip. "I think -- I think we're supposed to go there. Something is supposed to happen, and we need to be there when it does."

"Be where?" Rachel snapped.

Cat answered, "The final resting place. Where the bodies washed up."

"Only we don't know where it is," Marco sighed.

Jake looked like he was sick. "I do," he managed to say.

Chapter Eleven

<The situation has reached a critical standpoint,> Galuit said from the front of the command center. <The Yeerk forces are due to be passing through in ten minutes, at least. There is no way we can successfully reach the chamber that a dozen of our personnel and citizens are trapped in. Therefore, there's only one possible way.

"I thought that wasn't up yet," someone said.

<It's halfway up,> Galuit replied. <The inner mechanisms aren't in operation, but the door can be opened from the outside.>

"Where is this door?" Tom asked.

<I'll let Officer Kishi explain.>

A young Japanese-American nodded. A diagram was placed on the screen. "As you can see," she began, "the new Southern tunnel was placed directly seventeen miles from the old tunnel. It is about nine miles shorter and eight feet wider, so the doorway is considerably larger. We have concealed the doorway within an old, run-down tool shed just behind the remains of the former Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic."

"The Yeerks' base is in the downtown sector of Buffalo. The line of arsenal will pass directly over the chamber at about approximately 2115," Garcia said. Tobias frowned, glancing at his watch. "For those of you not used to the Zarinian 30-hour day that this base runs on, that's equal to 6:15 PM."

"I need a new watch," Tobias muttered. Cassie smiled slightly.

Galuit resumed control of the meeting. <We're going to need to work fast on this one, team,> he said. <We have to somehow keep the arsenal line away from the tunnel in enough time to get our people out of there. So we need two groups of volunteers: one for a distraction, and one for a rescue mission.>

Tobias raised his hand. <Yes?>

"Um, just to be on the safe side, how much time do we have to get them out of that chamber? I mean, how much air do you think they have in there, and how long will it last them?"

Galuit stared. He hadn't fully thought about that part of the problem. He turned to Kishi, who was in charge of the structural intake of the base. "According to Aximili, who we've been maintaining contact with via radio, the chamber is about twenty feet long. He also said the sides collapsed in, so we have about a one and a half mile width. The ceiling is ten feet from the floor. Take that and divide it equally among twelve people, and they'd have about thirty minutes before they have to go to emergency supply. There are only six oxygen tanks in that part of the tunnel, so they'd have to have two people at a time. A standard tank has thirty minutes of air in them for one person."

"So they have about forty-five minutes," Tobias said.

"Less," Kishi interjected. "They've been in that tunnel for about ten minutes now."

A murmur rose up from the crowd.

Galuit clapped his hands for attention. <You heard the lady,> he said. <We've got thirty-five minutes to rescue our people. We have ten -- no, eight minutes to head off the arsenal. Split yourselves into three teams -- one to stay here, one to rescue, and one to distract. And try not to waste too much time. Once you've decided where you think you'd be the most useful, report to the following officers: For base command, Chief Adam Taylor. For rescue team, Cadet Cassandra Hill. And for distraction attack, Cadet Thomas McCain.> He glanced at the clock on the wall. <You have one minute.>

Chapter Twelve

Coalmeer had successfully managed to morph and demorph, so although his leg was a little sore, it was no longer broken. He and Shane ran into the rest of the group about halfway to the building.

"What's going on?" Coalmeer asked, having morphed to human.

Jake sighed. "Marco had a vision," he said. "We have to go."

"Where are the hostages?" Shane wanted to know.

"You're aunt and Cat stayed behind to keep an eye on them," Rachel replied. "For some reason, Cat refused to come with us."

"Strange," Shane commented. "That's not like the Cataluna at all."

"How'd she get that name?" Marco asked as they began to walk towards the marina. "I mean, it can't be her real name."

Shane shrugged. "That's what everyone called her. She came to Old Manhattan about two years ago. No one knows where she came from or how she survived, but she certainly seems to know how to take care of herself. And she seems to have dedicated her life to making the Yeerks miserable."

Marco raised his eyebrows. "Interesting," he commented under his breath. No one heard him.

The trek to the marina was even harder than before, since the sun had gone down and the temperature had dropped significantly. Not to mention that practically none of them had had anything to eat. "What I wouldn't give for a meat byproduct right now," Marco grumbled.

"Don't start," Jake warned. He'd heard Marco's complaints about the artificially grown food supply that the AAA made in their laboratories. He'd also gotten quite annoyed with his constant complaining. At least he and Rachel aren't fighting, Jake thought. That was one thing, at least.

"I wonder how to base is holding up," Rachel commented a moment or two later. "Do you think the Yeerks have started searching for the South tunnel?"

"The former South tunnel," Coalmeer corrected. "And I'm not sure. Everything seemed calm when we left. Then again, that was almost four days ago. Anything could've happened."

Shane listened curiously. "Do you all work for the AAA?"

Jake nodded. "Well, sort of. Coalmeer's one of their doctors, and Marco, Rachel, and I are kind of acting personnel."

Coalmeer looked surprised. "I thought Galuit offered you a position," he said.

"He didn't talk to me about it," Jake said, confused. "Did he mention it to you guys?"

Marco and Rachel shook their heads. "Maybe he said something to Cassie, Tobias, or Ax," Rachel suggested.

"Maybe," Jake said.

Suddenly Shane stopped. "We're here," he said. They could just make out the sound of water lapping gently against the sides of the piers and the shoreline.

"Oh, goody," Marco commented sarcastically.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you mean, the prisoners have escaped?" Nine shouted at Sytsirk's hologram. Sytsirk found himself incredibly grateful that Nine couldn't touch him. "All three of them?"

"Yes, my liege," Sytsirk said. "It appears that they escaped through the air ducts. Someone must have given them a map or a diagram."

Nine narrowed its eyes. "Who?"

Sytsirk shrugged. "We are questioning everyone under my command," he replied. "If there's a leak in the department, we'll find it. As you know, Acissej was last considered to be a ringleader for the YPM."

Nine glared at him. "That speculation will never leave this room," it growled. "You know that there is no concrete evidence that the Yeerk Peace Movement even exists. Therefore, we are not to say anything pertaining to its existence."

"We all know it's there," Sytsirk protested.

"We all think we know," Nine interjected. "However, we're having a hell of a time proving it. Every time we think we get an informant, that informant winds up missing. Witnesses to the Peace Movement are disappearing. Some of our hosts are walking out right under our noses, and we never see them again!"

"Including my former host, Tom," Sytsirk muttered.

"What was that, Sytsirk?"

"Nothing, sir," Sytsirk said quickly.

"Good." Nine leaned back in its chair. "The Kandrona is on enroute to your location," it said. "Are you prepared to receive it?"

"Yes."

"Then this report is finished." Nine leaned forward and reached to press a button. "May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you, Sytsirk."

"And you, Nine of the Council," replied Sytsirk just before his hologram disappeared.

Nine leaned back in the chair once again and rested its hand on its chair. "I must find the YPM," it muttered. "I must prove its existence."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sytsirk closed the channel between him and Nine, then motioned Ihsik forward. "The Kandrona is on its way," he said to his friend. "Prepare a team to go and meet it at the dock."

"The ship is arriving at the dock?"

Sytsirk nodded. "Near the site of the bridge."

"There are reports that the remains are beginning to wash ashore."

"Do you think I really care about some long-dead bones of refugees?" Sytsirk growled.

Ihsik shook his head, "No sir."

"Good. Have all the search teams reported in?"

"All except Team 18."

"Where were they last located?"

"It's impossible to say."

"Find them."

"Of course." Ihsik saluted his commander and hurried away.

Sytsirk continued to stare out the window. He could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, as well as the Brooklyn Bridge. Both places of death and destruction.

Then, for some reason, he couldn't bear to look anymore.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cat calmly kicked one of the hostages. "This has got to be the most boring thing I've ever done," she commented.

Kristy was sitting calmly on an old chair. "Then why did you stay?"

"Oh, yeah, like I really wanted to go visit some old graveyard." Cat growled. "Sorry, but that's just not for me."

"You had the vision has well as the boy," Kristy reminded her. "Perhaps you are meant to visit this 'old graveyard', as you put it."

"Whatever." Cat continued to kick the hostage. There wasn't anything he could do about it, since she was also pointing a Dracon beam at him. "Do you think we can get these Yeerks out of these people's heads?"

"We can certainly try," Kristy replied.

Cat glanced out towards the marina. She tried to focus on something other than the bridge. "I wonder if they're all right," she whispered.

Then, suddenly, she spotted something in the distance. "What is that?"

Chapter Thirteen

"Why couldn't we have at least brought flashlights?" Tobias grumbled. "I can't see a thing."

Cassie sighed. "Because, Tobias, if we brought flashlights, than the Yeerks would see us. This is a rescue attempt, not a lead-them-to-us attempt. We're trying to be inconspicuous."

Tobias glanced over at Carson. He tapped the map to let him know what he wanted. "About . . . we should be there."

Cassie stopped. "Hold up, everyone." She turned to Carson, who looked up. His face was just barely visible, since he had a small light to read the map by. "There's nothing here," she said.

Carson shrugged. "This is what the map reads," he pronounced. "Not my fault."

"I didn't say it was," Cassie muttered. Tobias glanced at her. Cassie very spoke like that.

Garcia pulled out her radio. "Kishi, this is Garcia," she whispered. "We're at the spot. Where the heck is it? Over."

The radio crackled, then hissed. "There should be a large oak tree next to the shed," Kishi replied. "It should be just to your left. Over."

Tobias walked to the left. "I'm going left. Guess what? There's no -- ow!"

"SHHH!"

Tobias rubbed his arm gingerly. "Never mind. I found it."

"We found it," Garcia relayed the message. "What's the code?"

Kishi quickly relayed the code. "You get three tries at opening it, then it shuts you out completely," she reminded them. "Don't worry. As long as you know the pattern, you'll be fine. Kishi, out."

Garcia flipped off the radio and slipped it back into her belt. "Carson, shine that light over here," she said. "Everybody, be ready when this thing moves. I don't want anyone getting crushed." She knelt down in front of the door lock. "Let's hope this works."

Chapter Fourteen

Another shower of dirt fell from above. Ax blinked several times to try and avoid getting more soil into his stalk eyes. <How's everyone doing?> he asked.

A young seventeen-year-old citizen coughed loudly. "It's getting harder to breath," he whispered weakly. "How much air do we have left?"

Ax tried to calculate quickly. He glanced at the boy. <About five more minutes,> he said apologetically. <We're going to have to start distributing the air tanks soon.>

"I'll help," the boy said. He motioned to the girl next to him. "Come on. We have to help Ax."

Ax slowly lifted the first tank off the side of the tunnel. <I'm afraid I don't know much about human oxygen tanks,> he said sheepishly.

The girl took it from him. "Don't worry," she said softly. "My father helped design these, so that they would hold more air. I know how to turn them on."

The boy, who's name was Charlie, turned to everyone. "Come on!" he said. "I know everyone's tired and scared, but we need you to partner up and come get a tank. Don't start them until we say so, though. You don't want to run short."

As they began distributing the tanks, the girl, Stacey, said, "Make sure you take even breaths with your partner. This is no time for any of us to get greedy. We have to make this last as long as possible."

Ax was the last person to get a tank. Suddenly he stopped. <Who didn't get one?> he called. He had realized that there was no one for him to share with.

A hand went up. "I didn't," a weak voice said. Ax looked a spotted a kid sitting in a wheelchair. "They wanted me to help because I'm real good a lifting things," the boy explained. "All that upper body physical therapy."

Quickly, Ax settled himself next to the boy. <What's your name?>

"Jackie," Jackie said, coughing loudly.

<Well, Jackie, I'm Ax. Here. Why don't you take the first minute?>

Jackie smiled and gratefully let Ax put the mask on his face. "Thanks," he said, his voice muffled. He gripped Ax's hand.

Ax nodded, and once again dirt sprinkled down from the ceiling above. They had fifteen more minutes.

Chapter Fifteen

At the marina, Geoff, Breeyar, and Aci had taken up shelter in a large box. "Why do you think the water was red?" Geoff asked uncertainly.

Breeyar just shook his head. <I'm not sure,> he replied. He'd stayed in morph for most of the two hour limit, but had needed to resume his Andalite form, or else risk getting caught.

Aci remained silent.

"Aci?" Geoff asked. "Do you know?"

She nodded.

"What happened?"

She turned to look at Geoff, and smiled humorlessly. "It's nothing for your ears," she whispered.

Geoff suddenly looked indignant. "I had to watch my mother die," he growled. "I've had to watch my friends be turned into Controllers. I think I can handle it!"

Aci looked at him. "Do you really want to know?"

<Just tell us,> Breeyar said sharply.

"Your choice," Aci sighed. She closed her eyes. "Six years ago, there were many refugees living in the basement shelter of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and so on. The Yeerks began to round them up in groups."

Breeyar nodded. <They were made into hosts. We know. We heard about it.>

Aci shook her head. "They were not made in hosts." She glanced out towards the water. "They were shot and thrown off the bridge."

"The Brooklyn Bridge?" Geoff squeaked.

Aci nodded.

<How do you know this?> demanded Breeyar.

"I was there," Aci replied. "I tried to free some of them, but only managed to release one. A young girl, about eight years old. I don't know if any others made it out.

"It was truly a terrifying ordeal."

Breeyar and Geoff glanced at each other. Geoff looked slightly sick.

<You asked for it,> Breeyar reminded him in private thought-speech. Geoff nodded, but looked no better.

Suddenly Aci tensed up. In the distance, the sound of engines could be heard. As the trio watched, bright lights appeared overhead. The engine sounds got louder. A spotlight scanned over them. Suddenly it moved back.

"They found us!" Geoff shouted.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

{I'm back. Okay, so I didn't endlessly chatter in this one. Sorry that it's a TBC -- I honestly didn't plan it that way. However, it's the longest fanfiction I've ever done, and I start school in three days. I wanted to put something up before then. The next part's coming soon -- as soon as I can get it finished. Until then . . . check out the preview below. Adiamo!}

Danger Zone: Part 2

The situation has become critical. The platoon has been split in half, leaving three unaccounted for. The South tunnel has collapsed, trapping Ax and eleven others in there with a very limited supply of oxygen.

Now, thanks to a vision Marco had, the platoon (led by Jake) must go to the very marina where thousands of innocent men, women, and children lost their lives. They don't know what they'll find -- but they know it can't be good.

Meanwhile, the Yeerk arsenal is moving steadily closer to the rescue attempt on the tunnel. Will they be able to evacuate in time? They don't know. But they'll definitely try!

IN A WORLD OF FEAR AND SLAVERY, THEY ARE THE ONLY HOPE

Danger Zone 2
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