I scanned the horizon repeatedly as we flew out over pure ocean. This would be the kind of flying that any other time I would absolutely have loved, the kind where there's nothing but you and the sky and the sea (and your adoring, almost complete flock), where you could swoop to the water's level and dip your hand in as you fly. But here's the cinch with me, I can't explain why, but there's a massive bunch of bulging erasers after us, they have my (for all intensive purposes) little brother in captivity in Hawaii (of all places why Hawaii?) and so every few seconds I'm scanning and checking over my shoulder, just being paranoid and waiting for them to appear out of nowhere.

Fang caught my eye and gave me an understanding, soothing look, catching sight straight away of what was up and how to help me. His looks went deeper than any glances I'd ever caught in my life. It was among his many talents, which made me feel all the less equal to him. He had Sarah on his back, and she looked so content and relaxed up here that it soothed me a little.

"Max?" Angel called. I gave her an answering look. "I think I can hear Gaz," She grinned. What? We couldn't even see land yet, and she could hear his thoughts already? "Not exactly," She muttered, answering the thoughts in my head. Now she'd got me, that child never ceased to amaze me, what the heck was she going on about. "Well, I can't make his thoughts out yet, but I can hear lots of thoughts all at once, thinking exactly the same thing." Did this girl need to get any more cryptic? "They, uh, smell something…" Ok, that was enough said.

"Which direction?" I asked straight away, knowing that the only time that a big bunch of people are worried about a smell, was either a catastrophic explosion at a rubbish dump, or the Gasman. Angel adjusted course slightly, only tilting her feathers just so, as we'd learnt from the time spent on the cliffs near my mother's house, living among birds. We all followed suit, with suitable instructions for Iggy and within fifteen minutes I could make out a small land mass on the verge of the horizon.

"So since when have you been able to hear thoughts from so far away?" I quizzed Angel as we flew closer into land. But Angel was frowning about something or other.

"Later, Max. You know how I taught you guys to mind block?" Uh oh. This can't be good. "You're right Max. I'm not the biggest threat here. You guys need to put up your shields NOW. And be on the lookout for other crazy stuff too. These guys are…different, they're prepared for us, they may even be better than us at our own tricks."

The following is not in Max's POV, due to her mind-block not letting me access her thoughts

The flock begun their descent carefully, not that there was ever any way they could hide themselves and their entry to the small island (certainly not one of Hawaii's largest). They found a suitable place to come into land on the beach and landed very stylishly, considering they'd had two years off 'long-haul' flights anyway. It was somewhat like riding a bike to the flock, only much more natural.

Fang snapped Sarah round to his front, glancing worriedly at her and exchanging concerned glances with Max. After that, it was stealthily goes it, Max tapped Iggy's hand, and they crept silently (or as silent as you can be on sand, where only your blind flock member can hear you) towards a cave at the far end of the beach, staying as close together as possible. There really didn't seem anywhere else to go on this island, give or take a few trees, and there wasn't likely to be any evil hostage-holders inside those.

Angel reached for Max's hand, trying to put on a brave face, and almost totally failing. That was certainly never a good sign, considering she was generally one step ahead of the rest of them. The cave loomed up darker and darker, the depths seemingly never-ending, gradually heading down further and further, until they were no longer beneath the island itself, just the "pure ocean", and still it went on further, with no apparent signs of life. Even raptor vision was failing down here, so the flock were stumbling over the slightest pebbles on the ground and bumping into one another, but afraid to speak. Max had grabbed Fang's hand for comfort, and he held Iggy's shoulder, beginning to 'see' how it felt to be in the dark all day like him, and Nudge was holding Angel's free hand. It seemed more like a procession than anything else.

Suddenly, the procession slammed into something hard and solid, knocking them backwards because they'd not been anticipating it. "Ow!" Murmered Nudge, just as the whole tunnel was flooded with bright lights and there was a loud ominous, familiar, droning noise, right where an Up and Away was implausible.