gun at all.
But a beam of intense red light lanced from me to the bridge. It burned a hole through the window, sliced through a fat Taxxon, and began slicing up control panels and instruments like a hot knife goingthrough butter. I squeezed that trigger for as long as I could.
At last, exhausted, I could do no more.
The Dracon beam slipped from my talon and plunged toward the earth below.
But I had done it.
It was an incredible and terrible thing to see. The ship, big as a skyscraper, vast beyond belief, shuddered as though it had hit a speed bump.
Still it rose, sharply upward into the sky, as if it were a whale breaching. It aimed for space, its natural home. But it was clear that it was no longer under control. It rolled suddenly onto its side.
BOOM!
A ball of orange flame!
The out-of-control ship had smashed recklessly into one of the helicopters. The chopper fell in ruins.
The Bug fighters and the Blade ship scurried quickly out of the way. But too late.
KA-RUNCH! BA-BOOM!
One of the Bug fighters had slammed into the side of the ship. The Bug fighter was finished. The Blade ship and the remaining Bug fighter withdrew quickly.
And then I saw the hole.
A tear a hundred feet long had been opened in the side of the truck ship. From the hole, the waterof the lake gushed. It was a waterfall from the sky. Millions of gallons hemorrhaging out.
I whispered.
We were maybe seven hundred feet up over the forest now, when I saw them.
Cassie first. Then Rachel and Marco together. And Jake. They fell, fully human, from the torn side of the ship.
They plummeted, helpless, doomed, to the uprushing ground!
I knew there was nothing I could do. I
knew
it. But still I hurtled after them. Hurtled with all my speed to them as they fell, arms flailing, mouths open in screams of terror.
CHAPTER 26
T hey fell.
But as they fell, they began to change.
Cassie was the first. Feathers sprouted from her skin. One of her morphs was an osprey. A distant cousin of the red-tails.
She fell, and as she fell, she became less and less of a human.
Marco had previously morphed an osprey as well, and Rachel a bald eagle. Bald eagles are huge birds, much bigger than red-tailed hawks.
As I watched, long wings replaced their flailing arms.
Jake had morphed a peregrine falcon. Peregrinesare so fast they make redtails look like they are standing still.
As I watched, a peregrine’s beak grew from Jake’s mouth.
Not enough time. Not enough time! They would hit the ground before—
Shwoooop!
Cassie opened her wings and skimmed above the treetops. Rachel barely made it. She fell down into the forest, out of sight. I was sure she had been too late.
But then, up from the trees floated a bird with a six-foot wingspread and a proud white head.
I cried.
In the sky overhead, the huge truck ship stopped climbing. It rolled again, onto its back this time, and plunged back to Earth.
I heard Marco yell.
I told him.
With the truck ship out of the way and falling to Earth, the Blade ship and the Bug fighters came after us.
I yelled.
Like a well-trained fighter squadron, we swooped down into the forest. Down below the tops of thetrees, where the Yeerks could no longer see us.
BOOOOOM!
An explosion like a bomb going off. The truck ship had hit the ground.
The concussion rolled us over like a tidal wave of air.
I rocketed into a tree, but was able to avoid being hurt. I yelled.
One by one they said yes.
But the explosion had disturbed every animal in the forest. The birds had all either hidden or flown away during the earlier fighting. Those few birds still left now took wing, startled.
I saw her take off. The hawk. She was scared and wanted to run to the sky.
But the sky was not a sanctuary for her.
I don’t know which ship fired
But a beam of intense red light lanced from me to the bridge. It burned a hole through the window, sliced through a fat Taxxon, and began slicing up control panels and instruments like a hot knife goingthrough butter. I squeezed that trigger for as long as I could.
At last, exhausted, I could do no more.
The Dracon beam slipped from my talon and plunged toward the earth below.
But I had done it.
It was an incredible and terrible thing to see. The ship, big as a skyscraper, vast beyond belief, shuddered as though it had hit a speed bump.
Still it rose, sharply upward into the sky, as if it were a whale breaching. It aimed for space, its natural home. But it was clear that it was no longer under control. It rolled suddenly onto its side.
BOOM!
A ball of orange flame!
The out-of-control ship had smashed recklessly into one of the helicopters. The chopper fell in ruins.
The Bug fighters and the Blade ship scurried quickly out of the way. But too late.
KA-RUNCH! BA-BOOM!
One of the Bug fighters had slammed into the side of the ship. The Bug fighter was finished. The Blade ship and the remaining Bug fighter withdrew quickly.
And then I saw the hole.
A tear a hundred feet long had been opened in the side of the truck ship. From the hole, the waterof the lake gushed. It was a waterfall from the sky. Millions of gallons hemorrhaging out.
We were maybe seven hundred feet up over the forest now, when I saw them.
Cassie first. Then Rachel and Marco together. And Jake. They fell, fully human, from the torn side of the ship.
They plummeted, helpless, doomed, to the uprushing ground!
I knew there was nothing I could do. I
knew
it. But still I hurtled after them. Hurtled with all my speed to them as they fell, arms flailing, mouths open in screams of terror.
CHAPTER 26
T hey fell.
But as they fell, they began to change.
Cassie was the first. Feathers sprouted from her skin. One of her morphs was an osprey. A distant cousin of the red-tails.
She fell, and as she fell, she became less and less of a human.
Marco had previously morphed an osprey as well, and Rachel a bald eagle. Bald eagles are huge birds, much bigger than red-tailed hawks.
As I watched, long wings replaced their flailing arms.
Jake had morphed a peregrine falcon. Peregrinesare so fast they make redtails look like they are standing still.
As I watched, a peregrine’s beak grew from Jake’s mouth.
Not enough time. Not enough time! They would hit the ground before—
Shwoooop!
Cassie opened her wings and skimmed above the treetops. Rachel barely made it. She fell down into the forest, out of sight. I was sure she had been too late.
But then, up from the trees floated a bird with a six-foot wingspread and a proud white head.
In the sky overhead, the huge truck ship stopped climbing. It rolled again, onto its back this time, and plunged back to Earth.
With the truck ship out of the way and falling to Earth, the Blade ship and the Bug fighters came after us.
Like a well-trained fighter squadron, we swooped down into the forest. Down below the tops of thetrees, where the Yeerks could no longer see us.
BOOOOOM!
An explosion like a bomb going off. The truck ship had hit the ground.
The concussion rolled us over like a tidal wave of air.
I rocketed into a tree, but was able to avoid being hurt.
One by one they said yes.
But the explosion had disturbed every animal in the forest. The birds had all either hidden or flown away during the earlier fighting. Those few birds still left now took wing, startled.
I saw her take off. The hawk. She was scared and wanted to run to the sky.
But the sky was not a sanctuary for her.
I don’t know which ship fired
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