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B22C6 - Get the Jump

May 31st, 2021
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  1. Marco's house. Marco's window. Open.
  2.  
  3. Open? Did Marco leave his window open? Yes, if he'd already flown out of it. Maybe that was it. Maybe Marco wasn't home, had already left. Maybe he'd sensed we needed him.
  4.  
  5. But as I wheeled to traverse the back of the house, bringing myself closer to the window, I saw Marco inside, in bed.
  6.  
  7. <This smells bad,> I said to Ax.
  8.  
  9. <You have a strong sense of smell in that morph?>
  10.  
  11. <I meant it, you know, figuratively. Visser Three laid one trap for us. David laid another. I'm done walking into traps.>
  12.  
  13. <Agreed.>
  14.  
  15. <Marco!> I called in thought-speak. <Marco! Wake up! Wake up, now!>
  16.  
  17. I wanted to see him wake up and look around. I wanted to make sure he was alone in the room. He was asleep facedown. He rolled halfway over and gave the blankets a kick.
  18.  
  19. <Wake up!> I yelled.
  20.  
  21. Suddenly he sat up and looked around. He scratched his face. Then he looked around again.
  22.  
  23. <Marco, it's me, Rachel. I'm outside. Are you alone in your room?> He didn't smile or leer. He just nodded. Yes, he was alone.
  24.  
  25. <Okay, let's go,> I said.
  26.  
  27. Ax was ahead of me. He swooped down toward the window. Marco stood watching, smiling almost. His hands were behind his back.
  28.  
  29. Swoooosh! Ax swooped through the window and -
  30.  
  31. Marco pulled his hands out from behind his back. The Louisville Slugger swung in a short, sharp arc.
  32.  
  33. WHAM!
  34.  
  35. The bat hit Ax square in the face. I saw a piece of shattered beak go flying, twirling away like shrapnel from an explosion.
  36.  
  37. Ax fell to the grass outside. Marco laughed quietly. I saw his sides shake.
  38.  
  39. But of course, it was not Marco at all.
  40.  
  41. David. David had morphed Marco.
  42.  
  43. Ax lay on the grass, unmoving. Marco/David held up one finger. Then another. Then another. One, two, three.
  44.  
  45. He was counting how many of us he'd killed. One, two, three: Tobias, Jake, Ax.
  46.  
  47. But. . . it should have been four! What about Marco?
  48.  
  49. Of course! Marco was still alive because Marco had been human. David had said it himself: He would never take a human life. He would only kill animals. A hawk, a tiger, a harrier. Not a human.
  50.  
  51. As I watched, I saw Marco/David begin to blur. The nose and eyes became subtly different. Now he was just David. But he was still morphing when he stepped back out of sight.
  52.  
  53. I had to think. David was wiping us out, one by one. What was his next move? What was his next morph? Jake would know. Jake was the leader, not me.
  54.  
  55. I had to get to Ax. No! That's what David wanted.
  56.  
  57. No, I had to get to Marco. The real Marco, who was probably unconscious inside the house.
  58.  
  59. No, wait, that wasn't right, either.
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