Shapeshifter 2: Running the Risk by Ali Sparkes

Author:Ali Sparkes [Sparkes, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press Children's Books
Published: 2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00

14

He tried hard to think about pizza. A slice of pizza in a pizza oven. A slice of pizza with a panic button. He felt the lozenge-shaped piece of plastic on a flex in his palm, and knew that all he had to do was squeeze the button in its centre and they’d whip him out again in no time.

‘You all right, Dax?’ came Owen’s voice, through his headphones. No music at all today; just Owen, talking him through.

‘Yeah—I’m sure I’ll be fine this time,’ said Dax, working on keeping his breathing steady. Being in the confined space wasn’t really the problem, as long as he had a clear way out. It was second nature to him as a fox to take to tunnels. It was the horrible metallic thudding which had freaked him out before, so like the hunters’ spades. His stomach gurgled musically. He had taken Owen up on the offer of doing the MRI scan again early, while the other Colas were still at breakfast. He wanted to get it over and done with and he was determined to keep control.

‘Good—I’m sure you will be too.’ Owen’s voice was tinny through the headphones, but still reassuring. ‘Best not talk though, now. You know you have to keep your head absolutely still, so they can get the images. I can see your feet. Wiggle your toes if you’re still hearing me OK.’ Dax smiled, and then ordered his face back to neutral; he’d wondered why Owen insisted he take his shoes and socks off before getting into the scanner. He wiggled his toes obediently.

‘Excellent,’ chuckled Owen. ‘Now, hang in there and I’ll just keep talking. We’re ready to go.’

With the first thud, Dax felt his insides clench and he worked hard on his breathing—slow and steady, slow and steady—don’t think about … don’t think about … the thing.

‘You’re the last one in now,’ said Owen, conversationally. ‘We should have some results back soon, so we’ll know whether there are any obvious differences in any part of your Cola brains. It’s amazing science this—just amazing. Like whipping your brain out and putting it through a ham slicer and looking at all the wafer-thin sections in turn. But less sticky! Fantastic. They’ll be checking your blood samples this week, too, to see if there are any abnormalities … well, you know, differences.’

Dax listened hard to Owen through the crashes and thuds and it definitely helped. ‘Wiggle the toes on your right foot if you’re still with me, Dax.’ He did. A flash of the dark hole and the foxhound, slavering, pushed abruptly into his head, like a knife through a low ceiling. His heart pounded and the panic button was slippery in his hand, but Owen was still talking. ‘Stay with me, Dax, stay with me. I want you to think about smokeless fires. What did you learn last week?’

Dax feverishly turned his mind to dry sticks; stripping bark off sticks; steepling them in just the right way to funnel up the heat, not letting the burnt ones slop back into the fire.

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