Chapter 7

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1941

7:55 A.M.

They were coming!

Skipper leaped wildly around as energy surged through her. She whimpered at the violent sounds now filling her ears and the smoke that was burning the inside of her sensitive nostrils. The masters had finally noticed, too, and they were running around trying to get ready for the enemy, but already the flying machines were raining fire on them.

She’d tried to warn them, but it was no use. The humans’ ears and noses just weren’t powerful enough. Now the flying machines were attacking, and the humans were hopelessly unprepared.

Skipper wasn’t surprised—she’d always known the flying machines weren’t their friends. Whenever they’d come roaring overhead or buzzing down near the docks, Skipper couldn’t help but feel fear that drove her to hide under the dock or make her body small and low in the sand of the beach. The masters thought it was funny at the time, watching her get frightened, and they’d make their “aww” sounds whenever the flying machines passed overhead.

Well, they weren’t laughing now.

All around her were running, screaming humans and more explosions, more bursts of smoke and fire, bits of grit and metal flying everywhere. The man in the shiny coat who had made Joe and Danny smell so scared was shouting orders.

Skipper tried to get her bearings, but it was nearly impossible. Between the flying machines, the fire, and the human chaos, she couldn’t calm down! She wanted to fight back and stop the flying machines. She wanted to make it all stop.

Then, over the burning smell, she caught Joe’s scent and whirled, looking for him. She had to find him. Had to protect him. She didn’t know why, it was just in her mind.

There!

Joe and Danny were crouched on the deck, Joe’s eyes wide with disbelief. Skipper tried to run toward them, but there were too many humans in the way, too much noise and excitement. Every time she went for them, a new pair of legs hit her in the snout.

Skipper barked her emergency bark, hoping they’d hear her. Get up! she barked. Get inside! Danny, get Joe home to his family! It was no use. Her bark was swallowed by the noise, and Joe’s attention was swallowed by fear.

Skipper darted this way and that, trying to find a break in the running humans. She needed to get to Joe. She wouldn’t rest until she did.

That’s when it hit her: this was why she was here. There had been something about Joe that she’d liked, something about his scent and his smile that had drawn her out of the alley. She’d told herself it was just the smell of the shells in his basket, but deep down she’d sensed something else. Now she understood it perfectly. She was always meant to protect him. He was her pup, her Joe.

Overhead, the flying machines buzzed low again, and other ships around them began lighting up with balls of fire and billows of smoke. Tiny bursts cracked, sending grit into to the air and knocking down some of the other humans. She needed to get Joe out of here, back on land and out of sight of the flying machines. She could hear other things in the sea besides the bubbling of water—strange beepings and whirrings, far off and powerful. She sensed other strange things approaching. If they were anything like the flying machines, then she had to get Joe out of their way.

There! A break in the running humans! Skipper darted toward Joe. She would get to him. Protect him, get him out of here, whatever it took—

KABOOM!

Noise ripped through Skipper’s ears, and everything smelled like burning at once. A wall of heat lifted her off the ground and tossed her across the deck of the ship.