Crossings
Time will always change us
But war changes us too much
We can’t go back to who we used to be
To our Shadows of the Past
Tobias gripped the shredder in his right hand and pressed himself against the wall. The Hork-Bajir patrol passed by and Tobias sighed in relief. He was deep in enemy territory, and he could be captured any moment.
Breathe, Tobias. Breathe.
Tobias took a quick look around and ducked into the building. There was a computer console against the wall.
Tobias smiled grimly to himself. Intelligence was right. The abandoned base did exist.
"Thank you, Visser One." Tobias murmured as he downloaded the data.
Garoff, Visser Three’s staunchest opponent on the Council of Thirteen was assassinated. Rumor was that Visser Three ordered it, mainly because the Visser ordered an open attack on Earth immediately after the death.
The Council did nothing, which lead everyone to speculate that Garoff had been the Emperor.
Visser Three had expected a quick war, but he underestimated humans. Visser One was right. The human population was simply too large.
The town the Animorphs lived in had been Ground Zero, but instead of becoming an important Yeerk base, it was bombed alternately by both sides until almost nothing was left.
The Yeerks instead captured Los Angeles and then moved south.
At first, most of the fighting was in space, but then the Yeerks realized they couldn’t win the war by air and sent in ground troops.
The U.S. became no-man’s-land between the Yeerk headquarters in South America and the human Allies in Canada.
Because of its small size, the division of Europe changed nearly every day to the point where no one knew who was in control of where. At first hotly contested, warfare had now wound down to skirmishes and guerrilla attacks by human resistance forces.
The Yeerk strongholds were South and Central America, while the Allies maintained Canada and Asia.
The Yeerks managed to hold on to Los Angeles and most of Southern California, but the Allies occupied the Eastern Coast down to Washington.
Washington was where Tobias had been before he volunteered for this mission. In Washington. With Rachel.
Jake and Cassie were in the Asian Central Command outside of the heavily bombed capital of Beijing. Ax was in the relatively untouched HQ in Toronto trying to convince generals to use Andalite weaponry (the little he could make from memory) and tactics. Tobias thought it was a lost cause. Generals were rather stubborn, at least, the ones he had met.
One even had the nerve to try to keep him off this assignment, saying, "He’s just a kid," but shut up when Tobias pointed out, "This kid is the reason you don’t have a slug in your head."
The other opposition to him going in was Rachel, but even Rachel had to admit he was the only option. The only one who could infiltrate Yeerk forces without getting caught. Visser One’s supposed secret hideaway was in Hollywood, part of the heavily guarded territory outside of the LA base. Only someone who’s face the Yeerks did not know could get in. That person had to have experience, and preferably be able to morph. After the war broke out, the Animorphs were revealed. The Yeerks knew their faces, except, of course, Tobias’s, who they only knew as a hawk.
Jordan pressed herself against the wall and tried to clear her spinning head.
Please don’t throw up, please don’t throw up. Jordan thought to herself. That oatmeal was the first solid food she had kept down in nearly a week.
Her stomach heaved, then settled. Jordan pulled herself into a standing position and hopped out of the nurses’ office.
The main hallway was filled with people. Most were lying or sitting on the floor, but a few were standing.
Jordan spotted Lawrence bending over a man in military fatigues. "What’s he got?"
Lawrence looked up. "Probably the flu, like everyone else, and this." He showed her the wound.
"Ouch." Jordan winced. The bullet had gone through the man’s thigh and was probably lodged in the bone, since she didn’t see an exit wound. And unless they had gotten more anesthesia than yesterday, they would have to operate without it.
"Is he the worst?" Jordan asked.
"Out here, yeah."
Jordan looked around. "Any of the rooms open?"
Lawrence shook his head. "None."
"Here, or our room?"
"I don’t want the rest to hear him scream." Lawrence paused and looked at Jordan expectantly.
Jordan nodded. "Nurses’ room it is. I’ll prep."
Lawrence nodded. "Brockski should be done soon with his guy. I’ll notify him we’re going into surgery."
Jordan turned and hopped back to nurses’ office. She took some disinfectant and wiped the floor. Then she grabbed the surgery kit from a locker and washed and wiped the contents.
And last she scrubbed her own hands clean.
Tobias stuck the disk into the case on his belt and pulled out the small bomb. He set it to go of in half an hour, then placed it on the floor. The bomb would erase all traces that he had ever been there, or that this base even existed. Visser Three would never get a hold of Visser One’s secrets.
As the ominous numbers ticked away, Tobias exited.
Though it took him a long time, Tobias reached the border with no-man’s-land with no difficulty.
Tobias ran up to the barbed wire and looked around. Where was his contact?
The sand on the other side of the wire, two feet to the left, rose in a small mound. The sand around the mound sank in a circular indention.
A young woman stood up and brushed the sand from her uniform.
She looked at him and said the first code word. "Animorphs."
"Animal morphers." Tobias responded.
"Rachel."
"Xena."
"Prince Jake."
"Don’t call me prince."
"This is-" The final code.
"-insane." Tobias finished. All the codes were ones only an Animorph would understand.
"Hawk?" she spoke his code name.
Tobias nodded. "I have the package."
"Double-oh-seven." She introduced her code name, enjoying the irony.
Tobias took the disk out. "Here, you take this, then I morph and fly over, and we’re out of here."
"Hey! You!"
Tobias turned in shock to see two Controllers running towards them.
"Damn." He hissed. He could have sworn he timed the patrols perfectly.
"Allied spies! Get them!"
Tobias spun back to 007 and saw fear and panic in her eyes. At that moment, he understood. She was inexperienced. HQ had not expected complication at this point in the mission, so they sent in an unimportant rookie.
Tobias knew there was no time to morph, so he passed the disk through the wires and pressed it into 007’s hand. "Get out of here! I’ll take care of them!"
"But..." 007 began to protest.
"I said, go!"
"I’m not deserting you!"
Tobias leaned close to the wire until their faces were only inches apart. "Listen to me. What’s on that disk is worth more than both our lives. That information could win the war. You hear? Win the war. Run. That’s an order, 007. Run."
007 shoved the disk into the protective depths of her uniform, and, with a nod to Tobias, she turned and ran.
"Tell Rachel I love her." Tobias whispered at the retreating figure. Then he turned and faced the two armed Controllers.
Tobias had had a six-week training course in martial arts and a battery powered shredder that would send alarms blaring if turned on, since the Yeerks were on the lookout for Andalites. It only carried enough energy for one shot at medium power.
As the Controllers entered shooting distance, Tobias pulled the weapon out and locked in the battery. The lead Controller raised his Dracon beam. Tobias aimed at him and fired.
The Controlled fired.
The shredder blast reached its target first.
Tobias jumped to the left and avoided the Dracon beam.
The remaining Controller was now very close.
Tobias rolled forward and jumped back to his feet, landing five feet from the Controller.
The Controller fired, but Tobias lashed out with his foot and caught the man’s hand. The shot went wild and the Dracon gun flew up and over the fence.
Tobias gulped. He had to fight a grown man hand to hand in human morph.
The battle was pretty evenly matched. Tobias had a more formal training, if only a little, but the Controller had the advantage in size and weight.
It was then pure luck that Tobias found the other Dracon beam, the one belonging to the Controller he shot down, and was able to use it to disable the remaining Controller and not vice versa.
They had been fighting for less that a minute, neither side gaining the advantage, until the Controller threw Tobias several feet and Tobias happened to land on top of a Dracon beam.
Tobias had disabled both Controllers, but back-ups were on the way, so Tobias did the only thing he could. He morphed.
Jordan placed a clean blanket on the floor. "Lor, can you carry that guy alone? Want me to help?"
"No thanks." Lawrence grunted as he came in. Jordan noted with surprise that the wounded man was hopping along on his good leg while leaning on Lawrence. "Besides, you can’t exactly help anyway." Lawrence finished as he set the man down.
"Lie down." Jordan said to the injured man, ignoring Lawrence’s comment. She knelt down beside him and examined the wound. "Not too bad. We can get the bullet out and the leg’ll heal. We probably won’t have to amputate. You might walk with a limp though."
The man nodded and grunted with pain.
Jordan studied him. Those eyes... They seemed so familiar. Why? ...But he looked so different... He was so thin... And that mustache... "Tom?"
The man’s eyes widened. "How...how did you know my name?" He hissed between clenched teeth.
"Tom, it’s me, your cousin."
"Rachel?"
Jordan resisted the flare of anger and shook her head. "No, Jordan."
"Jordan? What are you doing here? You look so different, so old! And what happened to your leg?"
"Don’t worry about me. I’m fine." Jordan paused. "Have you..." She wasn’t sure how to ask this. She was always afraid of the answer, but still, she asked it of every soldier that came here. "How’s Jake... And Rachel?"
"I heard Jake’s in Asia. Haven’t heard anything else, but I guess no news is good news. And I think Rachel’s in Washington. Heard she’s gone on some risky missions, but I don’t know how she is now. Sorry, Jordan."
Jordan nodded. "That’s okay. No news is good news, right?" She bit her lip. "Tom, I’m going to have to take this bullet out and sew up you leg."
"You? But you’re—"
"—fourteen, I know. But I’ve spent the last two years performing surgeries. I’m as good a doctor as you’re going to get. Don’t worry, Tom. I know what I’m doing."
"I sure hope you do."
Jordan smiled. "Age doesn’t matter anymore. You’re not even old enough to drink and you’re eating bullets. Jake’s barely sixteen and he’s leading a war. Times change, Tom. Times change."
Tom nodded. "Okay, I trust you on this one, little cousin."
Jordan looked at the wound closely. It looked like a nine-millimeter fired at a pretty far range. "So how did you get a bullet wound anyways?" Jordan asked, trying to distract Tom, who must have been in great pain. "I’ve been seeing Dracon burns mostly."
"Asshole killed James and took his gun. I guess his Dracon got dropped somewhere. Took a shot at me. I managed to kill him before he could get off a second shot, but he got my leg pretty bad." Tom explained, wincing at the memory.
Jordan nodded. "Lawrence, hold him."
Tom blinked. "What?" There was a trace of panic in his voice.
Jordan grimaced at Tom. "Sorry, we’re out of anesthesia."
"What? But-but you can’t do surgery now!"
"I have to."
"Can’t you wait ‘til you get more?" Tom asked his voice rising with fear.
"That could takes weeks. You could lose your leg."
Tom turned whiter than Jordan had thought possible.
Jordan handed him a towel. "Here, bite down on this."
Tom stuffed it inside his mouth and Lawrence grabbed a hold of his legs. Jordan reached in to hunt for the bullet.
Tobias hid under an outcropping as a Bug Fighter flew by overhead, obviously looking for him.
He didn’t know if he could escape. He didn’t know if 007 had made it to HQ. He didn’t know if he would live or die.
Tobias morphed to human and rested for five minutes. His hawk felt like it was about to explode. Then he demorphed back to hawk and continued north.
"Lor, get Brockski." Jordan ordered. The bullet was out and Tom had fainted. Lawrence ran off and returned with Brockski, one of the head surgeons, a minute later.
Brockski hurried over. "What is it, Jordan?"
"Check this out. I’ve removed the bullet, but I’m no expert on bones. Will it heal properly?"
Brockski examined it for a minute or two. "It should. He shouldn’t have any problems after it heals."
Jordan nodded. "That’s good. Thanks, Brockski. I’ll go ahead and close."
"No, I’ll close. Stevens wants you two. He’s in 214."
Jordan looked at Lawrence. "Wonder what he wants. We better go see." She turned and hopped to the door. "Tell Tom I’ll be back to check on him later." She called back to Brockski.
They found Stevens finishing up. He passed the needle to the fifteen-year-old next to him who Jordan recognized as Jack. "Finish closing. Jordan, Lawrence, follow me."
They walked to the main supply room and Stevens unlocked the door and show them what was inside.
Jordan gasped. "A Skimmer!"
"Yes." Stevens nodded, his face grave. "A Yeerk Skimmer."
"Where did you get it?" Jordan whispered in awe.
"Justin found it. It had flipped over. Both riders were dead. He brought it back here."
"What are you going to do with it?" Jordan asked.
"There’s a makeshift hospital on the outskirts of town. About forty minutes on this thing. The man running it is a vet, but there’s no one else there with medical training. They need supplies and a couple of good doctors. I want you two to go."
"You mean... You want us to go?" Jordan looked at Stevens with confusion.
"You’re one of the best ‘untrained’ doctors we have and I’d hate to give you up, but I think you’re needed."
"You want me to...stay."
"Yes, at least for a few months. You may be able to train someone to replace you. And I want Lawrence to go with you too. He may not be a natural with a scalpel, but his memory is impeccable. He probably knows the name of every drug we have."
Jordan nodded. "If you think it’s best, Doc, I’ll go."
"Me too." Lawrence agreed. "I’m not letting Jordan go alone."
"Good." Stevens smiled. "I’ve loaded the Skimmer with some supplies. "Good luck, you two."
Tobias flew. He flew as fast as his wings would carry him. The hot sand provided thermals for him to glide on.
He flew for several hours before finally landing from pure exhaustion. Tobias didn’t know if the Yeerks had followed him or not.
He morphed human again with the intent of demorphing to a refreshed hawk body, but he was too worn out, his energy spent flying and morphing.
With his hawk eyes he had seen a strangely familiar building in the distance. If they were Allies, they would give him food, water, and shelter, so he began to walk.
He was only a hundred feet away when he heard a whining noise overhead. He looked up. Bug Fighter.
Tobias began to run but the Bug flew right over him and headed for the building.
"We’re almost there." Jordan called to Lawrence, who was driving.
"Yeah I see it on the...scanner-radar-like-thingy."
Jordan almost laughed. "How far away is it."
"Four, five minutes."
"Lawrence," Jordan had a sudden idea, "where would this building be on a map of the city?"
Lawrence frowned at the nature of the question, but pulled up a map on the Skimmer’s computer screen. "Here." He pointed to a dot.
"But that...that’s Cassie’s barn!"
The Bug Fighter fired. Its blood red Dracons lashed into the building. A fiery explosion followed.
Tobias felt a sudden stabbing pain. Then nothing at all.
Jordan screamed as the barn disappeared into fire.
Lawrence nearly lost control of the Skimmer. "Oh, God..."
"Jordan looked up and saw the Bug Fighter heading for them. "Holy shit! We’re next!"
Lawrence looked at Jordan with fear in his eyes. They both knew there was no out-running a Bug.
But to their amazed relief, the Bug passed harmlessly by.
"They think we’re Controllers Lawrence realized. "Because we’re on a Yeerk Skimmer!"
Jordan let out a sigh of relief. "Come on. Head for the hospital. We need to check for survivors."
Lawrence pushed the thrusters to the maximum and a few minutes later, they were at the edge of the smoking ruin that was the barn.
"No one could have survived that." Lawrence whispered.
Jordan looked around. "This is horrible!"
"If you want, we’ll wait for the fire to die down, then we’ll go in."
Jordan nodded. "Okay let’s drive around and see what we can see from the outside."
Lawrence maneuvered the Skimmer in a wide circle around the barn. Halfway around he stopped. "Jordan look there!"
She peered where he was pointing. "That shadow?"
"Might be more than just a shadow." He turned the skimmer towards it.
As they got closer, Jordan could make out the form.
It was a young man in his teens, lying unmoving on his back. He was wearing only a pair of skintight gray biking shorts.
His face was pale with dirty blond hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He had an innocent childlike effect, as if his mind had grown far too fast while his body never had a chance.
And then she saw something that made her chest tighten. There was a deep bloody wound in his abdomen.
"Lor!" Jordan gasped, jumping off the slowing Skimmer. "Get the surgeon kits in the back!"
Jordan knelt next to the man. God, that wound was deep.
"Here." Lawrence raced over with a surgeon kit in his hand.
The man’s eyes opened. "Rachel."
"He’s delirious." Lawrence told Jordan.
Jordan gulped. "No, I’m Jordan, her sister."
The man didn’t seem to hear. "Rachel..." He grabbed Jordan’s hand and hung on to it tightly. "I love you."
"What do I do?" Jordan looked frantically to Lawrence for help.
"Pretend to be Rachel."
Jordan swallowed her envy and pride. This man was going to die. She could at least make him die happy.
"I love you, too." Jordan whispered. And then she felt something. Something that had nothing to do with envy or pride.
"Is it safe?"
Jordan thought this was a rather unusual question, but answered. "It’s safe."
"It was quiet for a moment, then, quite suddenly, a feather popped out of his arm. Then another. And another.
Jordan was so shocked she didn’t even scream.
The skin over the wound began to merge, healing before her eyes. The process was disgusting. Jordan recalled she was still running a slight fever and hoped the contents of her stomach would stay put.
"My god..." Lawrence whispered. "He’s an Animorph!"
"Animorph..." Jordan remembered very well the first time she heard that word, right after the first wave of attacks. The way Rachel said it...So serious, as if the word itself was deadly...
"Listen to me, Jordan. Me and my friends, we have the power to change into any animal we can touch. We call ourselves the Animorphs. What’s happening now is an all out attack by the Yeerks, but there’s been a secret invasion for years. We’ve been holding them back. Now that they’ve come out, Jake figures it’s time we did, too."
"Jake? Our Jake?"
"Yeah, look, we’re going to Washington to find the president. We might not be back for a while, so don’t worry. I love you, Sis." Rachel left Jordan’s room and Jordan heard a flutter of wings. The next day, Rachel was gone.
Jordan shook her head to clear away her memories. The body in front of her was now a giant bird.
Suddenly, he began to shrink. Jordan watched with morbid fascination as the flesh twisted and shrunk.
<Ahhhhhhhhh!> The scream echoed in Jordan’s head.
The body began convulsing. The changes stopped.
"What’s wrong?" Lawrence demanded.
Jordan pointed at the man’s chest, which was bulging as if there were something inside trying to get out. "Look!"
"There’s something caught inside. Shrapnel or something. Whatever caused that wound."
"He’s too small for it!" Jordan realized. "Turn back!" She screamed. "Turn back to human! Morph! Morph!"
There was an eerily long moment as everything became still.
Then the changes began.
Jordan sighed with relief as the bulge disappeared.
Lawrence frowned. "How did that shrapnel get inside his chest? The wound was in the abdomen."
Jordan shook her head. "I don’t know..."
The man opened his eyes. Jordan saw fear in them.
"Yeerks!" He gasped. He tried to sit up and collapsed in pain.
"No, no." Jordan tried to calm him. "We’re not Yeerks. We’re doctors."
"Doctors?"
"Yes. Now, what’s your name?" Jordan’s professionalism took over.
"Tobias."
"Okay, Tobias. Now, listen to me. There’s something in your chest. Can you feel it?"
<It’s too difficult to talk, so I’m using thought-speak. I can feel it. A sharp pain. In my heart.>
Lawrence’s jaw almost hit the ground. "In your heart?!"
"His inferior vena cava. It must have been sucked into his heart along with his blood." Jordan whispered.
"But that means..." Lawrence looked at Jordan uncertainly. "We have to take it out."
Jordan nodded slowly. "We have to do open heart surgery." Jordan felt strangely calm, as if now that she had accepted her situation and what she had to attempt, she knew she could do it.
"Jordan," Lawrence hissed, "you’ve never done open heart surgery!"
"I’ve watched twice and assisted once." Jordan whispered, trying to convince herself.
"You don’t know how to do this!"
"All we have to do is cut him open. As soon as it’s out he can morph."
"God damnit, Jordan you have to stop his heart. You’re supposed to bring down the temperature of the brain so it won’t die!"
"Don’t you think I know that? But we don’t have the resources or the time. In and out, Lawrence. It’ll take less than a minute. The brain can live that long!" Jordan argued.
"But..."
"Lawrence, he’s going to die if we don’t do something. We might as well try."
Lawrence swallowed. "Can you do this, Jordan?"
Jordan wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t tell Lawrence that, and she most certainly couldn’t let Tobias hear that. "I can do this."
Lawrence winced. "Jordan, you know we have no anesthesia."
Jordan swallowed. "I know."
"Tobias, this is going to hurt like hell. Don’t faint and when I tell you, morph."
<Okay.>
Jordan held out her hand. "Scalpel."
Pain. painpainpainpainpain…
Taylor. Rachel.
Night. Twilight.
Pain.
Visser Three. No. No...
Elfangor. Dangling.
The mouth wide open.
The screams
Murder...
Nonononononono...
Pain. So much pain. Why? Where?
Taylor.
The button.
Red. Blue.
Pain. Pleasure.
Not again...please, God, not again...
She’s dead...she’s dead. She must be dead!
Screams.
A Taxxon. I swoop down and slash at its side. It turns and begins to eat itself.
Toby. Toby smiling up at me. "Welcome, friend Tobias."
Aria. The fake. She said she wanted to be my family. I believed her. A lie. All lies.
Blue.
Mr. Feyroyan. Smiling as he read my poems. Telling me I should submit them to the school magazine.
Red.
Riiiiiiiiiip! My uncle tears the neatly written pages in two. Then again. And again. "What do you need this crap for, huh? You think you’re special, writing all that hogwash? Is that it? I don’t know why that goddamn government thinks you lousy kids need to be in school. What you need is hard work so you can make money. All this time you lie around doing nothing and wasting all my money! If I ever catch you with this bullshit again, I’ll beat the crap outta you. You hear me?"
Not again...I can’t take this. I can’t survive this again...
Father! Where are you, Father? Where are you when I need you...
Pain.
My chest. Stabbing. Squeezing. Choking the life out of me. Everything so dim. I’m dying. I know I’m dying.
Why? Whywhywhywhywhy...
Taylor. Laughing. Laughing like the maniac she is.
Insane. Insane...
"Join me. Join me in my madness."
No, she’s dead! Dead!
Rachel. Kissing me. Her mouth warm on my lips. So sweet. So tender. I love her. I love her...
A light. No, I don’t want to leave. I can’t leave. I can’t leave Rachel...
A voice. Morph! Morph! Morph...
Jordan tossed the piece of metal on the ground. "Lawrence!"
He reached for the vein clamps. Jordan grabbed the artery ones. "Tobias, on the count of three, morph! One... Two... Three!"
Jordan and Lawrence jumped back at the same time, releasing the clamps.
Blood spurted out as if a geyser had erupted, splashing Jordan with its sticky redness.
"Morph! Goddamn it, Tobias," Jordan screamed. "Morph! Morph!" Her insides turned into ice. If he didn’t morph, he would bleed to death within seconds.
Then as suddenly as it had started, the flow of blood stopped.
Seemingly unconscious, Tobias began to change. He shrank. The other changes didn’t begin until he was two feet long. A delicate tattoo pattern wove its way across his skin, and with a slight pop the tattooed feathers became real. The legs thinned, stretching into deadly slashing talons. The arms rearranged into wings and his face became that of a bird’s.
The bird’s wings flared and it righted itself vertically. A large golden eye opened and looked at Jordan with its piercing stare. For the longest time, he stared at her. <You’re Rachel’s sister.> It was not a question.
Jordan nodded. "Yeah, I’m Jordan."
No one said anything until Tobias morphed back to his human body.
He studied Jordan. "Rachel’ll be glad to know you’re alive."
"When you see her, tell her..." Jordan paused. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to her sister. "Tell her I love her."
Tobias nodded. He looked at the Skimmer. "Where’d you get that?"
"Stevens said Justin found it." Lawrence answered.
Jordan jerked her head at the still burning ruins. "I guess we’ll have to head back now."
Tobias looked too. "That’s Cassie’s barn."
Jordan nodded. "A vet, probably her dad, turned it into a hospital."
"I’ll have to tell Cassie her dad’s dead."
Jordan looked away.
"Jordan, I need to ask a favor. Can I have the Skimmer?"
"Well... It’s not really mine...Why?"
"I need to get back to Washington. Katie’s probably gotten back by now, but only I know where the important stuff is on that disk. It’d take them months to find it."
"Who’s Katie?"
"007, but I know her name’s Katie. I’ve seen her files. If I didn’t already know her, I would never have trusted her after only a few code words. But I didn’t let her know that. Didn’t want to scare her. She’s a smart kid, but new at this stuff. I want to get back and take care of those files as soon as possible."
Jordan bit her lip. "Well, alright, as long as we get a ride back to the hospital first. I won’t tell Stevens what happened to the Skimmer."
Tobias nodded. "Let’s go."
Tobias sat on Jordan’s shoulder deep in thought. A Skimmer was built for two humans, so Tobias had to ride on Jordan’s shoulder in his natural predator form.
Tobias thought about Jordan. About what to tell Rachel. Rachel hadn’t heard of any news of her family since she left, except that their house had been destroyed. He would have to tell her that her sister was alive but missing a leg.
<Jordan?> Tobias asked privately. <What happened to your leg?>
Jordan stiffened. "Our house crashed on me." She whispered in an barely audible voice. Tobias was pretty sure only he, with his hawk hearing, could have detected any sound.
<Have you heard from the rest of your family?>
Jordan shook her head.
<Jordan,> Tobias hesitated before asking the next question, <would you like to come with me?>
"Go where?"
<To Washington. You might be Rachel’s only family left. They’ll let you stay at the base. The conditions are a lot better than this.>
"No. I have a family here too. Stevens, Brockski, Justin, Jack, Kyla, Amy, Jess, the nurses, Dr. Miene... And Lawrence." The way she said the last name, Tobias could tell he was more than family.
"Besides," Jordan sighed. "this is my job, my place in this war. You have your fight, I have mine."
Jordan hopped off the Skimmer. Tobias glided to the ground and began to morph.
They had stopped half a mile from the hospital so Jordan could just say they lost the Skimmer.
Tobias finished his morph and got into the driver’s seat of the Skimmer.
Lawrence and Tobias shook hands.
"Win this war."
"We will."
Tobias turned. "Goodbye, Jordan.
"Goodbye, Tobias. Tell Jake Tom’s alive and he’ll be fine."
"I will." He fired the thrusters and was gone.
Jordan watched the trailing dust. "Let’s go, Lawrence."
They walked back to the hospital. Jordan forgot her plans to lie and told Stevens the entire story. Instead of being mad, he was proud of how they handled the situation.
Two months later, the Yeerks retreated from Earth and the war officially ended. Jordan was reunited with her family. She left the hospital to try to return to the life she had once lived.
Tobias perched on his favorite branch, Rachel next to him. <Rachel, you know the ship leaves tomorrow.>
<I know.>
<Have you decided?>
<Oh, Tobias. I want to go.>
<But your family.>
<I can’t desert them, Tobias.>
The ship would leave for space and deposit it’s occupants on various bases scattered across the galaxy. To fight the War.
<Rachel, you know I decided to stay in my hawk body and continue the fight.>
<Yeah.> Rachel whispered bitterly.
<But there’s something else I didn’t tell you. I just found this out from Ax. My human morph ages.>
Rachel looked up.
<Normal morphs only age the amount of time you spend in them, but the Ellimist must have done something, ‘cause I’m exactly as old as I should be.>
<Oh, God, Tobias...>
<You turn sixteen in three hours and 17 minutes, Rachel. Tomorrow you’ll be officially an adult. You can leave. We can be together.>
<Tobias, you know I love you.>
<Think about it, Rachel. Think about it.>
Jordan woke up in a cold sweat. Another dream. She was dying, and Rachel...Rachel was walking away, laughing. Rachel. Jordan got up and headed for Rachel’s room.
The door was locked. Jordan knocked.
Rachel opened it after a moment, looking harried, wearing only a spandex suit.
"Where were you?" Jordan knew her sister had been out morphing again.
"Out." Rachel said shortly. She began to close the door.
"Wait." Jordan held her hand up. "We need to talk."
Rachel backed away and let Jordan in. "What do you want to talk about?"
"You. Me. Our family."
"So, talk."
"You want to leave again." It was not a question.
Rachel hesitated, then nodded.
"Then go."
Rachel looked up. "What?"
"I said, go. We can’t keep staying here living a lie. It doesn’t work that way. We’ve all changed. We’re not a family anymore."
"So you think that way too."
"Rachel, if you want to try to piece us back together again, I’ll give it my best shot. If you leave, I’ll go my own way too."
"Jordan..."
"I’m not your little sister anymore, Rachel. I’m my own person now. I’ve seen as much in this war as you have. I don’t like living like this, pretending everything’s okay when it’s not! I’m only staying for your sake, Rachel. You leave and this family’s over!"
Rachel looked away. Finally she walked to her window. "Listen, Jordan. I made my decision earlier tonight, and your words have convinced me I made the right decision. If I stay, we’ll be a family, but we’ll all waste our lives being miserable. I’m leaving. I’m leaving with the Andalites. With Tobias. Don’t tell Mom. It’d kill her, and she’d try to stop me. She might even stop me. I don’t want that."
Jordan nodded. "Okay."
"Promise me you won’t tell her ‘til after I’m gone."
"I promise."
Tobias gripped Rachel’s hand as the Andalite ship descended.
Rachel squeezed back.
"Rachel?" Tobias whispered. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you marry me?"
Rachel looked up. "Really?"
"Will you?"
"Of course I will!" She threw her arms around him and kissed him.
Around them people cheered as the ship landed.
Jordan watched through the cracks in the masses. She could see Rachel kissing some boy.
Jordan recognized that boy. She met that boy three months ago next to the ruins of a burning hospital. She saved that boy’s life.
Her heart twisted with envy. Rachel. It was always Rachel.
At that moment, Jordan understood. She understood why she had left the hospital she loved, why she had not answered when Lawrence asked if she would wait for him, why her heart ached when she saw Rachel and him together.
She knew. Jordan knew she had fallen in love with Tobias.
Rachel looked around for the mayor. She spotted him fifteen feet.
"George!" She called, pushing her way over while pulling Tobias along after her. "George!" He had insisted they call him by his first name.
The mayor looked up. "Rachel!" He gave her a warm handshake. "Tobias!" The man smiled as he spotted Tobias behind Rachel. He shook Tobias’s hand as well. "How are you two?"
"Wonderful!" Rachel flashed her famous smile. "George, I need a favor."
"Of course, anything!"
Rachel smiled mischievously. "I need a marriage license."
"Rachel...?"
Rachel leaned close and whispered. "Don’t tell anyone, but I’m getting married!"
"When?"
"Today, if you can get that license."
"Today!"
"Yes, before we leave with the Andalites.
The mayor hesitated. "That’s in six hours!"
"I know, which is why I need your help."
"What are the names?"
"Me and Tobias."
The mayor smiled and patted Rachel’s hand. "Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. All you’ll have to do is sign."
Rachel grinned. "Great! Thanks, George!"
"And congratulations." The mayor shook both their hands again.
Tobias could only beam.
Rachel grabbed the priest’s arm. "Father, can you marry us?"
The man stepped back with surprise.
Tobias put a calming hand on Rachel’s shoulder. "Father, we are leaving Earth today, and we want to marry before we go."
The priest slowly nodded. "Do you have a marriage license?"
Rachel nodded and took it out.
"Have you finished your pre-marital counseling?"
Rachel blinked. "What?"
The man smiled and asked a different question. "Are you even Catholic?"
"No."
The priest frowned. "Well, I can’t-"
"What do you mean, ‘you can’t’?" Rachel demanded.
"Well, you’re not Catholic." The man said timidly
"What does that have to do with anything?" Rachel snapped. "We want to get married and you can marry us. Who cares if we’re Catholic or not?"
"Er...in the eyes of God-"
"God won’t be bothered by little things like that." Rachel waved the protest away.
"Young lady-"
"Look, are you marrying us or not?"
The man shrank back. "Well..."
"‘Cause if you won’t," Rachel shook her fist, "I’ll-"
"Rachel," Tobias hissed as he tried to pull her back, "you really shouldn’t threaten a priest."
"All right, all right!" The man held up his hands. "I’ll marry you, I’ll marry you."
Rachel smiled. "Good."
"Now let’s see..." She looked around then snatched a scarf from a woman’s hand and tossed it over her head. "Okay I’ve got a veil. Now we need flowers. Tobias!" She pointed to the grassy ground. "We’ll pick dandelions!"
Tobias blinked, then decided it was pointless to argue and picked the dandelions.
That chore done, the two straightened up and stood side by side in front of the priest.
The priest coughed. "Er... I suppose you want to say your vows."
Rachel nodded. She turned to Tobias and smiled. "Tobias, you have kept me sane all these years. You have been my friend, comrade, and soulmate." She slowly caressed his cheek. "I have waited all my life to say these words. I vow to love, cherish, and adore you, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, here on Earth, or elsewhere, fighting or at peace, free...or not, forevermore, because nothing, not even death, can destroy our eternal love."
"Do you, Rachel, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"Tobias?"
Tobias took Rachel’s hand. "Rachel, I loved you from the moment I saw you." He whispered. "You were like an apparition of a goddess, and when I learned you were real, my life became better than a dream. I love you. I will always love you." He became solemn. "We have been through everything, and more. Our love has been tested time and time again, and it has always prevailed. I promise you, only when all the seas dry, and heaven and earth meet, would I stop loving you."
There was a moment of silence, and a lot of noses were blown. Even Iron Rachel had tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Do you, Tobias, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"The rings?" The priest asked softly.
Tobias reached inside his pocket and took them out.
Two tiny circlets of braided hair sat in the palm of his hand. One golden, the other slightly darker.
Rachel picked up the golden ring.
"With this ring, I marry thee." Her hand shook as she slipped the circlet around Tobias’s finger.
Tobias took Rachel’s hand. "With this ring, I marry thee." He slowly put it on the ring finger of her left hand.
Rachel threw off her veil, wrapped her arms around Tobias’s neck, and kissed him passionately.
The crowd around them cheered.
The priest smiled. "You may kiss the bride."
Rachel broke away from the kiss and waved her bouquet. She wound up her arm and hurled it as far as she could.
Without waiting to see where it landed, Rachel and Tobias ran into the waiting ship.
Jordan watched as those leaving boarded the Andalite ship. There was only an hour left before the ship left. They would be finished boarding soon.
Jordan saw her sister standing at the edge of the platform. She was wearing a T-shirt and denim shorts. She had thrown a gauzy scarf over her head, and she was holding a bouquet of dandelions.
Tobias was next to her in what looked like a Polo golf shirt and Tommy shorts. There was a dandelion between the buttons under his neck.
And as Jordan watched, her sister and the man she loved were married.
Jordan closed her eyes and willed the threatening tears away. Rachel’s life was set, and so was hers.
Jordan turned and, stepping over a bunch of dandelions someone had left on the ground, went home.
Tobias looked around, slightly blinded by the shine of the metal walls.
Rachel gripped his hand. "This is our new home."
Tobias kissed her. "I’m glad you decided to come."
Rachel smiled. "I love you, Tobias. I wasn’t about to let you go."
"But what did your mom say?"
"Nothing. She doesn’t know."
Tobias turned, surprised. "You didn’t tell your family?"
"Jordan knows, and I made her swear not to tell Mom. I guess she kept her word."
Tobias slowly nodded. "Well, we’re here." He looked at his new wife and smiled. He loved her more at that moment than ever before. "I love you." He whispered.
Rachel laid her head on his shoulder. "I know."
Jordan watched as her mother paced beside the phone. She wondered if she should tell her where Rachel was.
Rachel had been gone for two days, and her mom was going crazy. She had called everyone they knew, and then the police, but the police were too busy dealing with the aftermath of war to care about a missing teenager.
Jordan thought her mother was over-reacting. She knew Rachel could take care of herself. After all, she could morph.
Jordan thought maybe her mother knew where Rachel had gone, but was in a state of self-denial. After all, Rachel had told them several times she was thinking about joining the Andalite fleet.
Jordan sighed. Her mother was driving her crazy. She might as well tell her mother the truth. After all, Rachel was deep in space by now.
"Mom." Her mother didn’t seem to hear her. "Mom!" Jordan yelled.
Her mother looked up. "Yes?"
"Mom. I know where Rachel is."
Jordan’s mother grabbed Jordan by the shoulders and shook her. "Where?!"
"In space."
"No...no...Rachel wouldn’t do that. No..."
"Mom! She left!"
"Why didn’t you tell me before?!"
Jordan decided it would be a bad idea to tell her mother how she knew.
"She told us!" Jordan screamed. "She told us she wanted to go. She said that over and over! You just didn’t want to listen!"
Her mother let go and sank to the floor like a deflated balloon. "No... Rachel... No..."
Jordan looked away. She knew at that moment she couldn’t stay.
She had made an effort to keep their family together and to return to their lives, but now she knew things had changed too much.
The next day, Jordan left. Left for a boarding school set up by the doctors for the kids who had spent the war in the bombed out hospital. Most of them were orphans, so they had nowhere else to go. Jordan wasn’t an orphan, but she didn’t have much of a home left either. Rachel had taken the tattered thread that held them together with her when she left.
Shadows of Ra -Part 3
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