They keep going, and going, and going . . .

I pushed off with my feet, flapped my wings, and sprung straight into t h e air. Through the t r e e s . Above the waterfall.

<Hey, this is cool,> I said. <No long, running takeoffs. No flapping along the ground. When t h e duck wants to be in t h e air, he's in t h e air\>

Tobias and Ax followed, and we flew oven The Gardens. Three

identical ducks, morphed f r o m the same DNA. . . .

We decided t h r e e ducks flying by themselves looked a little conspicuous, especially to Controllers who were probably looking f o r t h r e e ducks flying by themselves. So we hooked up with a flock of mallards heading in the direction of the capitol.

We leeched on to t h e back of their V f o r m a t i o n , and flapped off over the mountains.

This wasn't sleek, soaring r a p t o r flight. With our round heads, long necks, and plump bodies, we looked m o r e like bowling pins with wings.

I was the Energizer Bunny with feathers. The Energizer Birdie . . .

The author wishes to thank Lisa Harkrader

for her help in preparing this manuscript.

Thank you to Art Alphin

CHAPTER 1

For Larry, Austin, and Ashley

And for Michael and Jake

Cover illustration by David B. Mattingly

Art Direction/Design by Karen Hudson/Ursula Albano

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this I dove. Tucked my wings. Folded my tail.

book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the Hurtled toward earth!

publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any pay-ment for this "stripped book."

I was a bullet. A bullet with feathers.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored And feeling pretty righteous until Tobias rock-in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permis-eted past. He skimmed the top of the freight

sion of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to train and looped sideways in a corkscrew roll,

Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

wing over wing. His feathers grazed the big gun

ISBN 0-439-11525-6

of one of the tanks.

<Show-off,> I said.

Copyright © 2001 by Katherine Applegate.

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

<Hey, I'm a hawk.> He pulled out of the roll.

SCHOLASTIC, APPLE PAPERBACKS, ANIMORPHS, and associated logos

are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

<l only get so many hobbies, and perfecting my

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6/0

Red-Tail Spiral of Death happens to be my fa-

vorites

Printed in the U.S.A.

First Scholastic printing, March 2001

We pumped our wings and shot past the loco-

motive. Two guys wearing bib overalls and ball

1

caps sat inside. One, the engineer, I guessed,

The M-ls belonged to the National Gu

was driving while the other watched the track

They were chained one to a flatcar, their big gu

ahead.

rotated toward the back. And they were heade

They weren't wielding Dracon beams. Or

toward the city.

weapons of any kind. And they weren't paying

Truck and Humvee convoys had been snaking

any attention to the osprey and red-tailed hawk

into town for days. Battalions of National Guard

who'd dropped from the sky to spy on them.

soldiers from all over the state were bunkered in

<They don't look like Controllers,> said To-

Guard centers around the city.

bias. <Like that means anything.>

Now they were bringing in tanks.

<Yeah. Everything looks normal,> I said.

Ax had been monitoring all the local TV chan-

<Well, except for the tanks.>

nels and the cable news networks, but nobody

I wheeled. Scanned the line of flatcars. Noth-

had mentioned a wide-scale urban training exer-

ing unusual. Nothing that wasn't supposed to be

cise. I couldn't find anything on the Internet, and

there.

the Chee hadn't heard anything from their Yeerk

Still, something prickled at the back of my

sources, either.

brain. Something didn't seem right.

Tobias and I were here to do a little firsthand

Battling aliens every day of my life has fine-

investigation. To find out if our state government

tuned my already rampant paranoia.

had finally realized Earth was being invaded. To

I powered my wings and caught up to Tobias

see if they were mounting a defense.

and the locomotive. A beautiful thermal radiated

Or to see if this was a carefully laid out Yeerk

up the side of the mountain. I fanned my wing

plan. Were all those National Guard troops Con-

and tail feathers and soared on the billowing jet

trollers? Some of them, yeah. But all of them?

of warm air.

We were talking thousands of soldiers. If they

The freight train clattered below. One engine

were all Controllers, we were in big trouble. We

pulling a line of flatbed cars, loaded with military

were talking serious doo-doo.

tanks. M-l Abrams.

But we were betting they weren't. Hoping

Yeah, M-l Abrams. I knew them as well as I

they weren't. Careful prior planning wasn't Visser

knew my own PlayStation. All those hours play-

One's usual MO. He usually jumped in with both

ing Tank Commando had finally paid off.

feet and a lot of noise. And if the details didn't

2

3

work themselves out, he just ripped a sub-

train. If there were, your raptor eyes would've

visser's head off and plowed ahead with his next

seen it a mile off. You're just a paranoid freaks

maniacal plan.

A paranoid freak whose wings felt like they

were going to snap off if I didn't stop flapping

Besides, with a Blade ship and a fleet of Bug

them.

fighters at his disposal, the visser didn't need a

<This is stupid,> I said. <We want to know

bunch of clunky tanks.

where the tanks are going, right? The train's not

On the other hand, Visser One had been

going that fast. Why don't we just land on one

pushing for all-out war. To wage war, you need an

and find out?>

army. And if you need an army in a hurry, why not

I dove toward a flatcar in the middle of the

hijack an existing one? If the highest-ranking Na-

train and swept over the top of the tank. My

tional Guard officers were Controllers, Visser One

talons skidded across the big brass padlock on

could easily round up the rest of the troops for a

one of the top hatches. I locked them around a

mass infestation of host bodies. And if he got the

metal cargo cage, pulled my wings down, and

tanks out of the way, noninfested troops couldn't

hunkered against the bottom of the cage. Wind

use them against him.

whipped the feathers on the top of my head.

Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk.

The freight train rolled along the tracks. It

A shadow slid over me. Tobias latched onto

wasn't going all that fast for a train. About ten

the hull of the tank, behind a big metal ring.

miles an hour. Maybe fifteen downhill.

He hugged the metal. <Okay, this doesn't

But it was plenty fast for sustained, level, rap-

look too weird,> he said.

tor flight. Tobias and I had started out over the

The train groaned down a steep hill. I turned

engine, slippedt>ack to the first flatcar, then the

my head. The column of tanks stretched out

second. Now we were somewhere near the mid-

behind me, chugging through pine trees that

dle and losing ground. My wing muscles ached,

towered above us on either side of the track.

burned, and finally went numb.

Sunlight filtered through the pine needles and

I wheeled again. Studied the train. Some-

flickered over the camouflage green of the tanks.

thing still seemed odd. What was I missing?

I saw no other movement. No life-forms, ex-

Nothing, Marco. There's nothing scary on this

traterrestrial or domestic.

4

5

Normal. Everything looked —

Wait. <No guards. If this is a National Guard

operation gearing up to fight aliens, wouldn't

they have soldiers posted on the train? And if it's

Visser One, you know he'd have Controllers

crawling all over. Thirty-four tanks, and nobody's

watching them.>

<Oh, I wouldn't say that,> said Tobias.

CHAPTER 2

I turned my head.

Another red-tailed hawk swooped around a

curve ahead. Behind it, in formation, flew a

squadron of golden eagles and peregrine falcons.

We were definitely not alone.

The red-tailed hawk shot toward the train.

The eagles and falcons followed, banking and

diving above the tracks.

<They obviously don't have much flight

experiences Tobias directed his private thought-

speak to me. <They're upwind. Flying in forma-

tion. A flock of eagles and the falcons acting like

fighter pilots, taking orders from a hawk. These

are not ordinary birds out for an afternoon of joy-

flyings

The eagles and falcons swooped past the lo-

comotive and perched on the first tank. The red-

tailed hawk hung in the air and watched the train

pass under it. They hadn't seen us.

Yet.

6

7

Tobias slipped down the hull of the tank and

anymore. The Yeerks know who I am. Or know

crept underneath, into the dark cavern between

who I was, anyway.

the tank's tracks. Where he could see without be-

Yeerks. I'm sure you know all about them by

ing seen.

now. If not, here's the condensed version: slimy

But I was on top. On the turret. I couldn't

gray slugs that slither into your ear canal, flatten

themselves out over the surface of your brain,

move without catching the hawk's eye. I pressed

and seize control of your body. Parasitic aliens

myself against the floor of the cargo basket

who are conquering Earth, one human at a time.

and watched. Waited. Hoped my gray-and-white

My mother was a Controller, controlled by one

feathers blended in with the camouflage paint of

of the most powerful Yeerks in the Yeerk Empire,

the tank.

the former Visser One. We rescued her, killed the

Right. We're talking about hawk vision here.

Yeerk who'd slithered into her head, staged a

No such thing as camouflage.

fake death for my dad and me, and evacuated to

The red-tailed hawk kited above the train. Ex-

the mountain valley of the free Hork-Bajir.

amined each car, each tank, that passed below.

Which should've been great. And it was. For

<So, who are they?> I peered through the wire

me personally. And for my family. Okay, so we

cage. Twelve of them. Two of us. <Or should we

were on a never-ending camping trip with seven-

be overly optimistic and hope it's James and his

foot-tall bladed aliens who rarely, if ever, bathed.

gang?>

And no, I hadn't seen an indoor toilet in weeks.

James and his gang. A group of auxiliary Ani-

But I wasn't complaining. I had my mom

morphs we'd recently recruited to help us fight

back. Had my family back. And, as an added

the Yeerks. Disabled kids by day. Superheroes by

bonus, algebra homework was now only a distant,

night. Or something like that.

quickly fading memory.

The Animorphs — originally just five human

But for the Animorphs, and for the war we

kids and one Andalite — are trying to stop the

were fighting, my mother's escape was the begin-

Yeerks. I'm one of the human kids. Marco. That's

ning of a long, terrifying, downhill slide. And we

all I'm going to tell you about me. No last name.

were about to hit rock bottom. Hard.

No address.

A big part of the reason we were struggling

Not that it probably makes any difference

8

9

was that the Yeerks had had better weapons than

their families and flee to the Hork-Bajir valley.

us. Plus, they outnumbered us about three gazil-

Rachel with her mom and two sisters. Cassie

lion to six. But we had a couple of advantages

with her parents. Tobias with his mother.

that helped level the playing field.

And Jake. Alone.

One: We could morph. We could touch an an-

We tried to get Jake's family out. Even Tom,

imal, acquire its DNA, then become that animal.

his brother, who'd been a Controller since the be-

A dying Andalite war-prince gave us that ability,

ginning of the invasion. But the Yeerks got there

and with it we could infiltrate, spy, destroy, and

first. Turned his mom and dad into Controllers,

kick Yeerk butt in ways no human ever could.

too.

Two: Since morphing is Andalite technology, the

Turned Jake into someone none of us knew

Yeerks believed we were all Andalites. The for-

anymore.

mer Visser Three, commander of the Yeerk inva-

Ax moved to the valley, too. It had become our

sion of Earth, had turned the planet upside down

new sort of base.

looking for a rogue band of blue aliens.

Bottom line: We were human kids, and the

But he didn't find us, because he never

Yeerks knew it. And we'd thought that was the

looked in places we might actually be. Cozy sub-

worst thing that could happen to us.

urban houses on tree-lined, Leave-lt-To-Beaver

We were wrong.

streets. Noisy school hallways between classes.

We needed more help. More firepower. More

The food court at the mall. Not your typical An-

Animorphs. So we recruited humans we knew we

dalite hangouts. Well, except maybe the food

could trust. Humans the Yeerks had written off.

court. After this war is over, I fully expect Ax, our

Humans they wouldn't infest.

resident Andalite, to spend the rest of his life in

Disabled kids.

human morph at Cinnabon.

The Yeerks caught on to what we were doing,

After we rescued my mother, though, it didn't

and in the the last battle we lost the morphing

take Visser Three long to figure out the "Andalite

cube. The blue box that gave anybody who

bandits" just might be human. He was promoted

touched it the power to morph. Our one weapon,

to Visser One, and he poured most of his re-

the weapon Visser One had never been able to

sources into finding us.

overcome, had fallen into Yeerk hands. Yeah, we

The other Animorphs were forced to rescue

could still morph. But now the Yeerks could, too.

10

11

Things were very, very bad.

I looked into the sky. The red-tailed hawk cir-

cled. Examined the tanks below. Its eyes locked

onto mine.

Birds do not have lips. Birds cannot smile.

But I swear this one did.

CHAPTER 3

TSEEEEEEEER!"

The red-tailed hawk rocketed from the sky,

eyes gleaming in triumph.

Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk.

The freight train was giving me a free ride

right toward my enemy.

I flapped to the top of the cargo bin and found

a foothold.

<Marco?>

Tobias inched onto the bed of the flatcar. Four

blocks of wood were wedged against the tank's

tracks, two in front, two in back, keeping it from

rolling. Tobias stood beside one of the front

blocks, in its shadow, out of the hawk's line of vi-

sion.

12

13

<You do know a bird of prey is shooting from

Now!

the sky, aiming for you, right?> he said.

I dove. Sideways and down, toward the hull of

<Uh, yeah.> My thought-speak actually

the tank.

sounded confident, like I really knew what I was

Thungk-crack.

doing. <The hawk doesn't have much bird experi-

The red-tail slammed into the steel pipe

ence, remember?>

above me.

I spread my wings. Flared my feathers.

Thump.

Fanned my tail. It's what raptors do when they're

And fell backward into the cargo basket. He

threatened. Make their bodies as large and men-

lay on the bottom of the cage, unmoving, his

acing as possible.

neck twisted back and to the side.

What raptors do not do is plan suicidal fake-

<That was a little on the crazy side, don't you

out maneuvers. No, that was purely a human

think?> Tobias lifted his wings. <Now let's get

move. My wings weren't spread high and wide

away from here before his buddies notice he

just to make me look tough, though I'm sure I

hasn't come up for air.>

was one intense-looking bird. My wings were ac-

The train rattled around a curve. We swooped

tually covering a thick steel tube that jutted up

over the side. Stayed low. And came beak to beak

behind me through the cargo basket.

with the pack of golden-eagle-Controllers.

A steel tube I was betting the hawk, in his

Did I mention that a golden eagle is almost

rush to skewer my guts, hadn't noticed.

three times as big as an osprey? That it's got

I glared at him. Dared him to hit me.

about three times as much attitude and, in my

"TSEEEEEEEEEEER!"

opinion, is wound just a little too tight?

I stood my ground. Held my perch. My tail

And that's just your regular, run-of-the-sky

feathers flicked up and down like a lever, adjust-

golden eagle. Stir in a crazed Yeerk and a terri-

ing my balance to the movement of the train.

fied human host, and we're talking one seriously

Tobias watched from the shadows, wings

demented bird.

tense, ready to blindside the hawk if I failed.

I cut sharply to the right. Tobias was already

The hawk plummeted, his beak aimed at my

ahead of me. We powered our wings and shot

exposed chest.

toward the front of the train, six golden eagles on

Six feet above me. Four. Two.

our tails.

14

15

Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk.

The clatter of flatcars nearly drowned out the

sound of beating wings. We whipped past one

car. Another. We were gaining on the train.

The eagles were bigger. Meaner. But not as

quick. If we could outlast them, we could outdis-

tance them. I flapped my wings. We rounded the

CHAPTER 4

curve.

<Uh-oh,>said Tobias.

Five falcons circled above us. They weren't as

big as the golden eagles. Not even as big as me

or Tobias. But a whole lot faster.

One of the falcons peeled off. Dove!

<0h, man. Not this again. I am so tired of be-

ing dive-bombed by birds.>

The falcon dropped from the sky. Another

But this wasn't just any bird. This was a pere-

peregrine zeroed in on Tobias.

grine falcon. Not a bullet with feathers. A mis-

I pumped my wings. Scanned the rail bed,

sile. A missile shooting toward me at two hundred

searching for an opening. A hiding place. A

miles an hour.

shield.

Which gave me zero time to think up a suici-

Nothing.

dal fake-out maneuver.

A wall of trees on one side. A freight train on

We were absolutely, positively toast.

the other. A flock of psycho-eagles behind.

<Under the train!> I yelled.

I dove between two flatcars. Tobias followed.

Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk.

Metal grated against metal. We dodged under

axles. Between wheels. Around brake boxes. It

was reckless and desperate and stupid. Thou-

sands of pounds of steel zinging along the tracks,

16

17

a fraction of an inch from our wings, our legs, our

I tucked in my wings.

heads. One wrong move, one slight miscalcula-

Tobias swept under the eagle in a Red-Tail

tion, and we'd be chicken nuggets.

Spiral of Death. His talons slashed the eagle's

But it was our only chance.

feathered legs.

We shot between the rail bed and the floor of

"KYEEEEEEER!"

the flatcars above. Lost an eagle. And another. A

The eagle screamed. Banked. Turned to face

bird with a seven-foot wing span has no business

his attacker.

under a moving freight train.

But he wasn't as quick as Tobias, and he was

But the falcons kept coming. From the front.

weighted down by an uncooperative osprey.

From behind. Raking. Slashing. Pummeling.

"TSEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

<Did you ever see that old movie The Birdsl>

Tobias slammed into his throat.

I screamed.

The eagle veered. Raked a talon at Tobias. My

<Not funny, Marco!> Tobias screamed back.

neck fell from its clutches.

I jetted out from beneath a car, two falcons on

I spun, my butt clenched in one eagle claw,

my tail. I shot up. Around the tank. In. Out! Lost

my head and shoulders flopping in midair, while

one of the falcons. Spun around the big gun.

Tobias and the eagle threw down above me.

Lost the other.

Tobias circled. In. Out. Over. Around.

<AAAAAAAHHHHHH!>

The eagle whirled and dodged.

Talons the size of meat hooks clamped

<ls there a barf bag on this flight?> I said stu-

around my back, pierced feathers, then flesh, as

pidly.

a golden eagle plucked me from mid-flight.

Tobias ripped his talons across the eagle's

I thrashed. Tried to wrench free. My skin

back.

ripped beneath the eagle's viselike grip. Claw

The eagle lashed out, both feet open.

scraped bone.

I was free!

The eagle beat its wings and rose above the

I fell. Just plummeted toward the freight train

train. I dangled from its talons like a helpless

below. Toward solid steel and jutting periscope

field mouse, twisting and writhing.

housings.

<Marco! Get your wings out of the way!>

Fly. I had to fly! I focused. I pulled my wings

A flash of brown.

up. Out.

18

19

Air filled my wings, like I'd opened a para-

chute. Somewhere above me an eagle screamed.

I had to circle. Get back to Tobias and help him

fight off the eagle. I swept over the train. Around

a tank.

<Marco, look out!>

Smack.

It hit me from below. A falcon that came out

CHAPTER 5

of nowhere. I lurched backward, end over end.

Thunk.

And landed on the bed of the flatcar.

I lay on my back, wings splayed across rough

wooden planks, belly exposed. Wind whipped my

feathers. The flatcar swayed beneath me.

The falcon circled above. Flapped its wings

and climbed. Gained altitude for another hit.

I closed my eyes. Shut out the clacking of the

train, the screams of hawk and eagle. Ignored the

crippling pain shooting through my body. Forced

one image into my head: Marco. Healthy human

Marco.

I felt my feathers liquefy. Felt them melt and

dissolve into my skin. My legs thickened. Shot

out to human length. The armored-plated scales

covering them softened and smoothed into hu-

man skin.

20

21

But I was still bird from the legs up, and I still

My hands grew to the size of catchers' mitts. My

couldn't move. Pain burned through my wings. I

fingers swelled to sausages.

refocused the image: arms.

Currrrreeeeeeeek!

Currrrrrrunnnnnnch!

Human bones thickened. Arms shot out. My

My wings straightened, stretched. The pain

skull shifted. Back, then up. My face flattened.

stretched, too. Longer. Thinner. Faded to a tin-

Jaw jutted forward. My skin darkened to a glis-

gle, then disappeared as fingers popped from the

tening black, and waves of coarse dark hair

ends of my arm-wings.

swept down my body.

I flexed them. Opened my eyes.

I was Big Jim.

I jerked to the side. Kicked at the falcon!

I leaped to the hull of the tank. The falcon

Talons skidded across my thigh and locked

dove and raked my arm. Another swept over my

onto my flesh. The falcon squeezed a mass of

head, talons bared. A golden eagle swiped at my

muscle between its dagger-sharp toes and kept

face.

flying.

But I was a gorilla. The eagle was merely an

" AAAAAAAAAAAAAH H H H H H!"

annoyance. A pest. As fierce as a mosquito but

A golf ball-sized chunk of meat was ripped

as easy to swat. I batted them away, like King

from my leg!

Kong swatting airplanes from the top of the Em-

In human form, I could fend off the falcons.

pire State Building.

In human form, I'd survive. Well, I'd survive

I turned and scanned the rail bed. The trees

longer than I would as an osprey.

had thinned. The ground was leveling out. We

But why volunteer for that kind of carnage?

were getting closer to the city.

I crawled to the tank. Sat with my back

Closer to Yeerk reinforcements.

against the hull. Shoved the human image from

Tobias shot around a tank three cars back, a

my brain and thought of a different one: gorilla.

golden eagle breathing down his neck. Two fal-

Want to bulk up? Forget bench presses and

cons buzzed and jabbed around him, taking

power shakes. Morph a gorilla.

whatever shots they could get.

I concentrated.

<Tobias!> I yelled. <Time to bail.>

My chest and shoulders bulged. Stomach rip-

<You think?>

pled. Biceps, deltoids, pecs. I was beefy. Buff.

He flapped. Banked. Dove beneath the train.

22

23

The rail bed had been cut into the side of the

One block was airborne.

hill. On one side the ground lay even with the

WHAM!

bed of the f latcar.

The other flew into the trees.

Even with the tank's treads.

I grabbed one of the big metal buckles and

Four chains, as big around as my arm, ran

gave it a twist. The chain loosened. I twisted

from huge steel loops welded to the tank to more

both buckles till I had plenty of slack, then

huge loops welded to the flatcar, two in front, two

leaped onto the tank and unhooked the chains

in back. Each pair of chains criss-crossed and

from the steel loops.

were locked down tight by giant steel buckles in

CLANG!

the middle of each chain.

The chains slid to the floor of the flatcar.

Tools. I needed tools. Easy. I'd been to Level

The big gun was locked down into a bracket

10 in Tank Commando. I knew where to get

on the rear of the tank's hull. Since I was back

them.

there anyway, I ripped it free and leaped to the

I leaped to the tank's hull. A big lockbox was

front of the tank.

built into the fender, the lid bolted shut with a

WHAM! WHAM!

brass padlock.

Wood blocks flew.

Simply not a problem for a gorilla. I ripped

I twisted. Leaped. Unhooked. The front

the lock loose, the brass folding in my fist like

chains fell away.

Play-Doh. Banged open the lid.

The tank was free.

Yes! Ax. Shovel. Mondo-huge wrench. Pointy

<Tobias! Let's go.>

chisel-looking bar.

I leaped onto the turret. Knuckle-walked to

Sledgehammer.

one of the hatches leading inside. Twisted the

I pulled the sledgehammer from the box.

padlock off and hurled it at the eagle on Tobias's

Leaped to the back of the tank.

tail. Ripped the hatch open. Tobias shot through,

The wood blocks were still wedged against

into the tank.

the tank's treads, anchored by steel spikes driven

I swatted the eagle away, then heaved the

through the blocks into the bed of the flatcar.

sledgehammer at the train's engine. It sailed end

WHAM!

over end, over the flatcars.

24

25

Slammed onto the roof of the locomotive and

bounced.

EEEEEEEEEE!

Brakes squealed. The flatcar lurched.

I barreled into the tank and slammed the lid.

Bye-bye birdies.

CHAPTER 6

< Okay. Good.> I squinted in the semidark-

ness. The train had stopped. <We're safe.>

<Uh-huh.> Tobias flapped up onto a metal

box. <Sealed inside a tin can, with Yeerk-infested

birds nesting on top, waiting for reinforcements

who will peel the lid off and kill us. We're not

safe, Marco. We're dead.>

<Dead? I think not. You underestimate the

power of this particular tin can.> I patted the

mesh wall behind me.

The inside of the turret was a round metal

basket. Everything in it — walls, floor, storage

bins, equipment — had been painted white.

Seats and storage bins filled the front and mid-

26

27

die. My knees banged against a big metal box.

"Ah. Video games and cable. How reassur-

An ammo rack jabbed my shoulder.

ing." He pulled a helmet from a hook on the side

The tank just wasn't built for a gorilla.

of the turret. "I should probably wear this."

I demorphed and climbed into one of the

"Probably. That piece in front is a micro-

seats. I peered through the vision block mounted

phone," I said. "And the ear thingies are speak-

above me. It was the gunner's site. Computer-

ers.

ized. Equipped with night vision and infrared

The mike was attached to a thick wire that

sensors. Just like the video game.

curved down from the side of the helmet, like a

I could see the eagles and falcons. They were

telephone headset. Tobias adjusted it in front of

perched on the hull of the tank, waiting. The rail-

his mouth.

road guys were hiking along the tracks, searching

"I feel like Britney Spears," he said.

the cars, searching under the cars, searching the

"Unfortunately for me, you don't look like her.

trees. One of them was carrying the sledgeham-

Sit here. Plug the cord in and push that little

mer. Both of them looked really confused and a

switch forward so you can talk to me."

little ticked off.

I climbed through the crawl space between

I climbed from my seat. Stood in the center of

the turret and the driver's area. Everything down

the basket and tried to figure out what to do first.

there was painted white, too. I slid into the seat.

"I assume we'll be taking this buggy for a joy-

It tipped back so far I was almost lying down. I

ride." Tobias had morphed into his human self.

slipped my helmet on. Plugged it in.

"If we can figure out how to start it."

And took a deep breath.

"What do you mean, /Ywe can figure out how

I'll let you in on a little secret. Gunning down

to start it? You happen to be sitting next to the

enemy troops in a video game does not actually

Tank Commando master of the Hork-Bajir valley."

prepare you to operate a real-life, sixty-ton tank. I

"Right. Video-game expertise." He glanced

mean, yeah, the controls looked familiar. I

around at the switches and levers. "So, what, we

gripped the handlebar in front of me. And the

just rev it up and barrel off the side of the train?"

equipment was all in basically the same spots as

"Yeah. The train's stopped. The ground's al-

it was on my PlayStation screen.

most level with the flatcar. Should be easy. I saw

But this was the real deal. If I flipped the tank

a tank crew do it on the History Channel."

over, I couldn't hit ESCAPE and start again.

28

29

"How's it going down there?" Tobias's voice

Okay. I could do this. I gripped the handlebar

crackled into my helmet.

thing. Right grip, throttle. Left grip, transmis-

"Cool." I studied the instrument panel.

sion. Gear switch under my left thumb.

"Everything's cool. Got it all figured out."

I took a breath. In about a minute we'd either

Which, I realized, was almost true. Because

be off the flatcar, ripping over the hills, or we'd

here's another little secret: Tank controls are

be flipped over on the rail bed, like a big old

amazingly well-marked. FUEL. START. MASTER

metal bug on its back.

SWITCH. It didn't take a genius to figure out how

I kept the transmission in neutral and turned

to get it rolling.

the handlebar a sharp left, it was sort of like rid-

Was the army aware of this? Did they realize

ing my bike. Sort of. Revved the throttle. The

that, with a little trial and error, a third grader

tank rotated sideways on the bed of the flatcar.

with a limited vocabulary could probably steal an

Its treads hung out over the edge, facing the

entire tank?

cutout section of hill.

I settled back into my seat. Pushed MASTER

I straightened the handlebar. Shifted to drive.

SWITCH. Heard a little hum as the instrument

Pulled back on the throttle.

panel lit up.

And we lunged forward into empty space.

I peered through my vision block. It wasn't a

whiz-bang computerized periscope like the gun-

ner's sight. It was more like a window. A slit of a

window fitted with thick, bulletproof glass. The

eagles and falcons were still perched on the

tank. And they obviously knew something was

up. They fluttered their feathers and stared at

each other.

I pushed START.

RrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrrmmmmmm.

The engine spun up and fired. Out on the

hull, our friends the birds screeched and flapped

their wings.

30

31

mg in the line of trees, and we rattled off through

the woods.

"Cake," I said.

I was very impressed with the tank. And, of

course, myself. The M-l clipped right along. It

was a tank, but it could move. Anywhere. Up

hills, over boulders, across ditches.

CHAPTER 7

I bounced along in the driver's seat. Bushes

crumbled and disappeared under my treads.

Okay, and a couple of trees, too. And the corner

of a railroad storage shed. It took me a while to

get used to the steering.

The bird-Controllers had settled back onto the

tank, their talons locked around hinges and han-

The front of the treads rolled over the edge of

dles, their wings bowed down against the hull.

the flatcar, supported by nothing. I could see

My helmet crackled. "Call me crazy," said To-

level ground ahead. I held the throttle steady.

bias, "but when we abort a mission, I don't think

The tank tipped, nose down. The falcons and

we should bring the Yeerks home with us."

eagles bailed. They obviously had no confidence

I heard a rattle above and behind me. The

in my tank-driving abilities.

tank's big gun whipped to the front of the tank.

"Uh, Marco?" Neither, apparently, did Tobias.

Knocked a golden eagle out cold. He fell from

WHOOOOOOMPH!

the tank. The gun swung to the rear and then

The tracks hit solid ground.

around to the front again. The other birds took to

The tank hung halfway on the flatcar, half on

the skies.

the cutout part of the hill.

"Tobias? That was you, wasn't it?"

Then the treads grabbed onto the dirt and

"Yeah. I found an operating manual back

pulled us from the flatcar. We crawled across the

here. Pretty dry reading, but there's some stuff in

cleared area next to the tracks. I found an open-

it we can definitely use."

32

33

We thundered across a clearing. Slogged

My helmet sputtered. "Uh, Marco? Does this

through a stream. Climbed the steep bank on the

thing have reverse?"

other side like it was downhill. Rattled through

I glanced at the gear switch. "Yeah."

the underbrush and back into the trees. The bird-

I pressed the switch with my thumb. Gave it

Controllers swooped overhead.

gas. The tank started to roll. Forward.

Tobias spun the gun again. The eagles and

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tobias

falcons screeched and flapped toward the sky.

screamed in my ear.

I thundered along, the turret basket whirling

I slammed on the brake. The tank stopped.

inches behind my head, trying not to get the gun

Chunks of earth crumbled beneath the treads

tube stuck in the side of a hill or caught in a tree.

and plummeted from the cliff.

Trying to keep my eyes focused through the

"Not reverse," I said.

vision block. The woods flashed by in a blur.

"No kidding."

THUNNNNNG.

I pressed the gear switch again. Twisted the

The tank tipped sideways. Kept rolling.

throttle toward me a fraction of a centimeter.

Thumped back to level ground.

The tank inched backward.

"This is way cooler than a tank sim," said To-

I cranked the throttle. Backed to the edge of

bias. "Think Jake'd let us keep an M-l up in

the woods. Sat in the shadow of the trees and let

the . . . Marco! Watch out!!"

the tank idle.

"Watch what? I can't see very well."

The "cliff" was a hill the highway department

"I know. But I can. Stop. Stop!"

had blasted through when they built the Inter-

I pushed down on the brake. The tank jerked

state. It sloped down on either side till it was

to a stop. I bounced forward, then back. I peered

level with the road.

through my vision block.

I cranked the handlebar. Turned the tank. We

And all I saw was sky. Acres and acres of

thundered down the hill. I turned again. Plowed

empty air. We'd left the woods and were perched

through the ditch and up onto the highway.

on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Interstate.

"Uh, Marco? You sure you know what you're

The falcons and eagles had disappeared.

doing?" Tobias said.

Smart birds.

"Sure. This puppy can do sixty-five, no sweat."

34

35

"Yeah, sixty-five in the wrong direction!"

"He doesn't know that."

I stared out at the highway. It was divided,

The cannon rattled again. Up, this time.

with a concrete barrier between the two sides.

Straight at the truck's window.

And our side was going the wrong way.

The trucker's smile froze. He cranked his

Not much I could do about that but keep go-

steering wheel and swerved into the next lane.

ing. And hope the other vehicles were smart

"That'll learn him," I muttered.

enough to get out of the way.

They were.

A brand-new Lexus shrieked off to the side of

the road. A rusty old pickup filled with wood

planks followed it.

A minivan driven by a soccer-mom skidded

after them. An SUV driven by a guy in a suit

swerved right behind.

So far, everyone was working with us.

Except for the eighteen-wheeler.

It kept on barreling toward us. I slowed down.

Veered toward the shoulder. Plowed over a bank

of road signs. Veered back onto the highway to

avoid a stalled-out jeep.

Still the truck bore down on us. We were close

enough now so I could see the driver's face. He

was smiling. No, he was laughing.

"Is the guy a total idiot?" Tobias cried. "He's playing chicken with a tank. A tank!"

"He is bigger."

"Yeah? Well, we're better equipped."

The big gun rattled. Swung to the right.

"You can't shoot him, Tobias!"

36

37

smarter than the average Hork-Bajir. Meaning

two-plus-two actually held some meaning for her.

So did quantum physics.

The second new member was my mom.

"The tank." I took a breath. "Well, you know

Chapman's house? Nice two-story?"

Jake sighed. "How many stories is it now?"

CHAPTER 8

"Uh . . . " I glanced at Tobias. "Zero? But the back deck will give Chapman a nice supply of

firewood this winter. It's already piled up for

him."

Tobias smiled. "Too bad he doesn't have a

fireplace anymore."

"Excuse me?" said Rachel. "You flattened

Melissa's house?"

Jake frowned. "So, where did you leave the

She stared at me. She and Melissa Chapman

tank?"

used to be friends. Back before Melissa's dad be-

Tobias and I looked at each other.

came a Controller and Rachel became an Ani-

We were back in the Hork-Bajir valley, seated

morph.

around the campfire outside my parents' cabin.

She turned on Tobias. "And you went along

Crickets hummed. The setting sun bathed the

with it?"

valley in amber rays. Champ, Tobias's mom's

"Whoa. Down, girl," I said. "You're just mad

dog, drowsed at our feet. It was peaceful. It was

because you didn't get to drive a tank. Nobody

nice.

got hurt. Nobody was home. Not even Fluffer Mc-

It was a council of war.

Nutter or whatever that stupid cat's name is."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff were all present. Me,

"Fluffer McKitty," she said.

Tobias, Rachel, Cassie, Jake, and Ax. And, since

"Oh. Excuse me. Fluffer McKitty. That's so

we'd moved to the valley, we'd added two more

much better. Anyway, they're all fine. Melissa,

members.

her parents, her cat."

Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer. Seer, meaning

38

39

Tobias nodded. "They're just, well, homeless."

my mom was back. Happy that she and my dad

Rachel shook her head. Looked to Jake to

were still nauseatingly in love. My best friend

back her up.

had lost everything that had ever meant anything

Jake said . . . nothing.

to him. Meanwhile, I practically had to tie myself

We waited for his reprimand. For his poorly

to a tree to keep from running up and down the

concealed amusement. For his: "That's not ex-

valley, arms spread wide, belting out show tunes.

actly what I meant by low profile, Marco." All the

I glanced at Cassie. She sat on top of the old

normal Jake stuff.

picnic table Ax and I had found and dragged to

The fire popped. Somebody's nylon jacket

the camp. She sat away from the fire. Away from

squeaked. Ax nailed a mosquito with the flat of

the whole group.

his tailblade.

I figured if anybody could get through to Jake,

Jake sighed again and poked the campfire

Cassie could. I mean, she's Cassie, for pete's

with a stick.

sake. But since our last mission, since the Yeerks

I frowned. Looked at Ax. He shrugged, one of

had stolen the morphing cube, Jake was more

the many human gestures he'd picked up.

distant from her than from anybody. Distant? Ac-

Since we'd moved to the valley, Jake had

tually where Cassie was concerned, Jake had

been on autopilot. I didn't know how to talk to

completely closed down. Like an iron door had

him anymore. This was Jake. My best friend

slammed shut.

since second grade, and I couldn't even have a

"But did you get any information?" Toby

superficial, meaningless conversation with him.

looked at Tobias, then me. She was crouched in

Let alone try to get into his head.

the grass, the light from the smoldering logs in-

Part of it was me. My guilt. Yeah, big news

tensifying the fire in her Hork-Bajir eyes. "Did

flash, call the Associated Press, Marco feels

you discover anything useful?"

guilty. Well, wouldn't you? My family was safe,

Tobias scratched Champ's ears. "You mean

recovered, together, while Jake's had been torn

before we stole government property, endangered

away from him. There was only a very slim

innocent motorists, and leveled a moderately

chance he'd ever get them back.

priced suburban home?"

But that wasn't exactly why I felt guilty.

"Yes." She nodded.

I felt guilty because I was so happy. Happy

"Well, we did manage to get a good look at

40

41

the train," I said. "The National Guard wasn't

soldiers into the city. They'll all be infested.

moving those tanks. Not the regular, uninfested

Soon. We can't let that happen."

National Guard anyway."

<But how can we be sure we can stop it?> Ax

"The uninfested National Guard." Jake nod-

asked. His blue fur gleamed in the firelight.

ded. Stirred the fire. "We've been assuming there

<Even with James and the other new Animorphs,

still is such a thing." He turned to my mom.

are we big enough?>

"Eva, is there any chance we're wrong?"

"No. We're not. We need help." Pace. Pace.

"No." Mom shook her head. "If Visser Three

Poke. "So, we split up. One group is the in-your-

had taken over the National Guard while I was

face group." Jake glanced at Rachel. "That

Visser One's host body, I'd have known about it.

group creates a diversion with the National

What am I saying? Everybody would've known

Guard troops. Keeps them away from the Yeerk

about it. Visser Three would've made sure."

pool as long as possible. They're stationed all

"What about since then?" said Jake. "Since

over the city, so we'll have to keep moving to hit

he was promoted to Visser One?"

all the bases. But it'll also split Visser One's re-

"No." Mom shook her head again. "Not

sources, trying to stop us. It'll keep him busy.

enough time. We're talking thousands of sol-

Buy us some time."

diers, spread out over the entire state. And

"We have been planning to liberate the group

they're not on active duty. They're weekend war-

of Hork-Bajir that guard The Sharing headquar-

riors, so most of the time they're not even with

ters," said Toby. "We can be ready to go in the

their units. This is a huge operation. It'd take

morning."

months to plan, months more to execute."

"Good. That'll be one more fire Visser One

"Okay." Jake paced. Poked his stick at the

has to put out. Group Two will be smaller, qui-

fire. "With all the troop movement over the last

eter. They'll need to show a little more finesse."

few days, we can assume the planning stage is

"Finesse?" Rachel shot me a sideways look.

done. So I'm assuming the execution stage is be-

"Oh, yeah. Some of us are so good at that."

ginning. We can also assume at least some of the

"We'll have to be," said Jake. "Because only

highest ranking officers are Controllers. Other-

one person has enough authority to stop the

wise, the visser wouldn't be able to get all those

movement of National Guard troops. The gover-

42

43

nor. Group Two has to travel to the capitol. Get to

side. If the governor is free, you have to find a

the governor somehow. Convince him to work

way to convince him. If he's a Controller, well,

with us."

we'll have to figure out Plan B."

"I'll go," Cassie said.

"Oh. Well," I said. "As long as there's no

"No," Jake replied, practically before the

pressure."

words were out of her mouth.

"And try to keep things down. We don't need

Cassie froze. Stared at him.

Visser One figuring out what we're up to." The

Jake didn't even look at her.

half-smile again. "I'm counting on you guys to be

Instead, he gave me a sarcastic half-smile. A

cool. And to handle this the best way you know

glimpse of the old Jake. "If anybody can handle a

how."

politician, it's Marco. And Tobias can get to the

"Be cool? Handle this? Marco?" Rachel shook

capitol without getting lost. We also need to

her head. "We are in serious trouble."

make sure the governor isn't a Controller, and Ax

is the most qualified to judge. So that's the sec-

ond group. Marco, Ax, and Tobias."

That's when he finally looked at Cassie.

Locked his gaze on her.

"I can trust them," he said.

Silence.

Jake turned back to us and continued, "I'll be

with Group One. Rachel. Cassie. Toby and some

of her people. James's group, too. We'll try to stir

up some major chaos before midnight. Marco,

you need to reach the governor some time tomor-

row. Doesn't matter exactly when, just get there."

He stopped pacing. Stopped poking the fire.

Looked at me. At Ax and Tobias. "I know this

sounds melodramatic, but we can't fight this war

alone anymore. We need the authorities on our

44

45

normal bird-of-prey morphs wouldn't do the job.

We needed distance flyers. Ducks. Our plan was

to get in, acquire the necessary DNA, and get out

before The Gardens opened for the day.

And at the edge of the water, near our cattail

hideout, swam a family of mallards.

We hunkered down and waited for them to

CHAPTER 9

drift closer.

"Anybody know the best way to catch a

duck?" I whispered.

Ax peered through the cattails. <l have been

observing these animals very closely.> His main

eyes studied a group of ducklings, while his stalk

eyes followed a big male duck that bobbed near

Weeds slapped at our faces. Mud sucked at

the cattails. <They are quick and agile, but they

our feet — well, two of us anyway. We waded into

spend a great deal of time with their heads un-

the swamp and crouched behind a stand of cat-

derwaters

tails. Me, Ax, Tobias perched on Ax's shoulder.

<They're eating,> Tobias explained.

Group Two. The ones with "finesse."

<Ah.> Ax nodded. <You see how much safer

We were at The Gardens, in the wetlands sec-

and more efficient it would be for them if they

tion that divided the zoo from the amusement

fed through their feet? Capturing a member of

park. The sun was rising behind the Ferris wheel.

this species while its front half is submerged

An early morning fog rose from the water.

should be relatively simple.>

Birds filled the big, marshy pond. Ducks,

Simple. Right. When was the last time any-

geese, swans, pelicans, cranes. Flamingoes.

thing in our lives was simple?

<Hey,> said Tobias. <We can morph lawn or-

The male paddled into the cattails. I could

naments.>

tell he was a male, a drake, by his shimmery

The capitol was over two hundred miles away.

green head, his cinnamon-brown chest, and the

The fastest way to get there was by air, and our

band of white that divided the two like a neck-

46

47

lace. In the duck world, the boys get to be the

I lunged. Grapped the duck around the mid-

pretty ones. All the girl ducks were a drab,

dle. Held her wings tight to her body and pulled

splotchy brown.

her from the water.

The drake swam closer. Dipped his beak into

She thrashed and quacked. The other ducks

the water.

squawked and flapped away.

I raised my arms. Slowly. I tensed, ready to

I turned toward shore. The frog slid down my

grab him as soon as he dove for food.

face and over my eyes.

Sploot.

I flung my head, tried to shake him loose.

Something heavy and wet landed on my head.

Kept my grip on the duck. Reeled blindly in the

Part of it slid down my face and latched on to my

water.

cheek.

"QUAAAAAAAAAACK."

"Gree-deep," said the heavy, wet thing.

The duck let out a cry and wrenched a wing

Great. I lifted my hand. Started to shove it

from under my grip. Beat it against my arm, my

off. The drake drifted closer. I froze.

face. Lashed out with her feet.

<Marco, do you realize that there is a large

You think just because they're webbed, duck

amphibian on your head?>

feet don't have claws? They do. And they're

<lt's a bullfrog, Ax-man,> said Tobias.

sharp. Two kicks shredded my forearms.

"Gree-deep," said the frog.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The mallard turned. Watched me. Paddled

I screamed. The pond erupted in quacks,

away.

honks, and screeches. Water sprayed over me.

I poked the bullfrog.

Cattails sliced at my face.

"Oh, man." I groaned. "I think it just peed

The bullfrog stayed planted on my head.

on me."

I stood totally still and concentrated on the

I started to poke him again, then stood very

duck in my hands. On the duck that was kicking,

still. One of the female mallards had paddled

flapping, flailing. I had to focus. Had to acquire it

into the cattails.

before it got away.

She nipped at something in the water.

"QUAAAAAAAAAACK."

Floated. Nipped again. Plunged her head be-

Something small, hard, and sharp clamped

neath the surface. Her bottom bobbed on top.

down on my nose.

48

49

" AAAAAAAAAAAAH HHHHHHHHH!"

Ducks and geese quacked, honked, and thrashed

I screamed. The duck had bit me! She gave

over the pond. I sloshed after him, into the path

one more major thrash and slipped from my

of oncoming birds, trying to nab one as it flapped

hands.

by. I could hear the field trip kids shouting be-

"QUAAAAAAAAAACK."

hind me.

Her wings beat against my face as she

"Hey, what's that kid doing in the water?"

flapped away.

"Looks like he's target practice for those

"Gree-deep."

birds."

The frog leaped into the cattails.

"Can we go swimming, too, Mrs. Duncan,

"Oh, now you decide to leave," I said. I

please?"

slogged toward the bank.

I dove. Ax lunged. Ducks skidded across the

<Stay still, Marco. I believe I have one.> Ax

water.

vaulted into the pond in a beautiful, perfect arc,

<l'll handle this,> Tobias said.

his Andalite form clearly outlined in the morning

He took to the sky and circled. Spilled air

sun.

from his wings and dove. Swooped over the water

"Daddy, Daddy! Look! It's a unicorn."

and landed easily on a mallard's back. The duck

I whirled.

squawked and splashed and tried to fly away. To-

A little girl was pulling her dad toward the

bias sank his talons into its feathers. The duck

duck pond. A group of grade-school kids on a

relaxed. It had fallen into an acquiring trance.

field trip jostled along the sidewalk behind them.

<Marco. Your turn,> said Tobias.

"The park's open," I yelled to Ax and Tobias.

I splashed out to the duck. Grabbed him

"Let's get what we came for and get out!"

around the middle. Pressed my hands against his

"A blue unicorn, Daddy. Look!"

feathers. Had to start acquiring him before he

"There's no such thing as a unicorn, sweet-

snapped out of it.

heart. That's a, well, it's a . . . an antelope. Yes,

I shut out the squawks and squeals around

an antelope. That's it. Probably from . . . Africa.

me, the shouts and laughs from the shore. Con-

An African antelope."

centrated on the duck.

Ax, the blue Andalite/African antelope,

"Ax. You ready?" I sloshed toward him, duck

splashed through the water, chasing the mallard.

in hand.

50

51

Ax reached for it.

"Andalite!"

I spun. One of teachers pushed her way

through the mob of field trip kids. She knocked a

zoo guard onto the concrete and pulled a gun

from his holster.

CHAPTER 10

Ax! Get back!"

Ax dove into the cattails.

I dove after him, still carrying the droopy

duck.

Wooooooooosh.

What I guess was a tranquilizer dart pierced

the weeds.

I handed the duck off to Ax in a weird DNA

water relay.

TSSSSSEEEEEEEEW-buh-loooooosh.

A Dracon beam vaporized the water beside

me. Human-Controllers leaped into the pond and

splashed toward the cattails.

Others, still on the bank, began changing.

Shrinking, shifting . . . morphing. A leopard

52

53

emerged from a security guard, a golden eagle

bank. I was Marco the gorilla. And I was looking

from an ice-cream vendor.

to kick some Controller butt.

<Man, I liked it better when only we could do

TSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEW!

that,> I said.

A Dracon beam fried the cattails. I whirled. A

<l've got the eagle,> Tobias called from over-

human-Controller stood at the edge of the water.

head.

He raised his handheld Dracon and aimed it at

"TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

my chest.

He dove. Hit the eagle before it had finished

I leaped. Knocked the Dracon into the water

the morph. Circled for another shot.

with one fist. Slammed the Controller uncon-

" RoaaAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWR."

scious with the other.

The leopard leaped at Ax, teeth bared.

More human-Controllers charged me from be-

Fwap! Fwap!

hind. Jumped onto my back. Beat me with sticks

Ax, still holding the duck, struck back with

and rocks and cell phones. One of the Controllers

his bladed tail.

jabbed at my eyes with her car keys.

TSSSSSEEEEEEEEW-buh-loooooosh.

I whirled. Flung the Controllers away, one by

Human-Controllers charged through the

one. One by one they sailed over the sidewalk

pond, firing Dracons.

and —

I took a deep breath. Filled my lungs with air

CRASH!

and dove into the shallow water.

— flattened a slush stand.

I focused. Tried not to move. Tried not to

"HONNNK. HONNNK."

make waves or bubbles.

A goose flapped up from the pond. It flew low,

And then it started. I felt my muscles bulge.

straight at me.

Bones realign. Felt pin prickles as fur popped

Another Controller? I lifted an arm, ready to

from my skin.

swing. Ready to fend off its claws and beak.

But I was running out of air! My lungs burned.

But the goose just continued to beat its

My eyes burned. Still, I concentrated. Felt my

wings. It flew over my head toward the zoo. Not a

skull bulge. My jaw jut forward.

Controller. Just a goose.

Finally, I erupted from the water. Gulped in

This was insane. Birds were starting to make

air. Tore through the cattails and leaped onto the

me jumpy.

54

55

The battle had spilled into the amusement

the jungle was fiberglass and plastic, whatever. I

park section of The Gardens. Tobias and the ea-

tore through it anyway. Reached the top of the

gle were locked in aerial combat above the roller

waterfall in fifteen seconds flat. The Controllers

coaster.

stood on the edge of the man-made river, peering

Ax galloped toward the merry-go-round. The

out over the park. I ripped through a tangle of

leopard lay beside it, trying to drag itself under-

fake vines and leaped onto the edge of the river-

neath on three legs.

way.

Ax stood above the leopard, tail blade poised.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

" RoaaAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWR."

They screamed. I hammered.

<Ax! Watch out!>

BAM!BAM!

A cougar vaulted from the top of the merry-

Spuh-LOOOOOOOSH!

go-round. Sunk teeth and claws into Ax's back.

They plunged into the river.

Fwap! Fwap-fwap!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaahhhhhh . . ."

Ax's tail blade lashed out.

And shot over the waterfall.

Wooooosh.

"KYEEEEEER!"

Another tranquilizer dart shot past my head.

A golden eagle's scream. I was above the

Rippled the fur on my shoulder. I wheeled. Two

roller coaster, and I could see down over the

human-Controllers stood at the edge of the log

track, where an eagle and Tobias were still at it.

ride, on top of the waterfall. One held a gun.

The eagle screamed again and pummeled To-

TSSSSSEEEEEEEEEWWW!

bias.

The other wielded a Dracon.

Tobias fell, one wing flapping, the other hang-

I knuckle-leaped toward the log ride.

ing limp at his side.

TSSSSSEEEEEEEEEWWW!

Hespiraled. Down. Down.

The concrete beneath me exploded.

<Tobias!>

I bounded over the wooden fence that sepa-

Thump.

rated the log ride from the sidewalk. Climbed

And landed on the elevated track of the roller

through the synthetic jungle up the man-made

coaster, in a dip at the bottom of a steep hill.

mountain.

A roller-coaster car filled with passengers

I was a gorilla. This was my territory. Okay, so

clanked up the other side of the hill.

56

57

1

<Get up! Tobias, get up!>

I bounded along the edge of the fiberglass

river.

The eagle hurtled toward Tobias, ready to fin-

ish him off.

The roller-coaster car reached the top of the

hill and shot down the other side. It picked up

CHAPTER 11

speed as it traveled. Passengers squealed and

flung their arms above their heads.

Tobias fluttered his good wing. His body

flopped pitifully against the steel track.

He was too weak to get out of the way. It was

too late!

<Tobias! No!>

KYEEEEEEEEER!"

The eagle plummeted.

The roller-coaster car shot down the tracks.

Hurtled toward the badly injured body of my

friend.

<Tobias!> I skidded down the side of the wa-

terfall, from tree to vine to bush.

The eagle was directly above him now.

The roller-coaster car almost on top of him.

Wuuuumpf.

<What the . . . !>

The roller-coaster car slammed into the eagle!

Brown and golden feathers spewed over the pas-

sengers.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH H H H H H H!"

58

59

Women screamed. Kids cried. Men shouted.

His back hooves flattened and webbed out as his

But I wasn't interested in the passengers.

arms broadened into wings. He slipped from the

More brown feathers flashed below. Then, a

cougar's grasp and flapped toward the sky.

red tail. A hawk had dropped through the bottom

<NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!>

of the elevated tracks.

The cougar's thought-speak echoed through

<Tobias?>

the park. He writhed, twisted, tried to get all four

He flapped and swooped toward the sky, both

feet beneath him. He dropped through the trees

wings strong and healthy.

into the Siberian tiger exhibit.

<What happened?!> I asked.

"RrrrrrrrrrOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAWWWWWW

<No big deal.> He climbed above the tracks.

RRR!"

<l just stole your suicidal fake-out maneuver,

Big kitty battle cries erupted from the pen.

that's all.>

<That should keep him busy for a while,>

<That's all? Can a gorilla have a heart attack?

said Tobias.

Because I think I'm having a heart attack. I'm

He and Ax landed beside me in the man-

not breathing right. You know that was com-

made jungle. Tobias went mallard. I demorphed

pletely insane, don't you?>

then concentrated on the duck.

<lnsane, yes. But it worked.> He flapped over

I'd morphed birds before. A seagull. And an

the waterfall. <Where's Ax?>

osprey, of course. The osprey and mallard were

BANG! CLANK!

roughly the same size. But they were built a

A tram car rocked and swayed overhead, on

whole lot different.

its way from the amusement park to the zoo.

The ground shot up as my body shrank. I put

WHAM.

out a hand to steady myself, but my fingers were

The door banged open, and Ax leaped out, a

already thinning, shifting. My first two fingers

cougar wrapped around its neck.

shot out. My pinkie and ring finger dissolved into

They dropped, a ball of cat and alien, free-

nothing.

falling to Earth.

Sploooooooooot.

Ax began shrinking. His blue fur melted into a

My bones snapped, realigned, and became

shimmering swirl of green and chestnut feathers.

hollow. Internal organs moved, re-formed. New

His stalk eyes shriveled. His front legs dissolved.

ones sloshed into existence. My shoulders

60

61

shifted up. My hips shifted back. My whole body

my shimmering green head. <Ora big, full-bodied

tipped forward till I was lying on my face.

quack.>

<Well, this is comfortable,> I said.

<The quack's not the big problem,> said To-

My mouth and nose melded together and jut-

bias. <What I'd really like to know is, who

ted into the ground. My nostrils slid to the top,

thought up this leg/tail arrangement?> He wad-

and my neck shot straight out, scraping my

dled between two fiberglass trees. <Look at my

nose/mouth combo through the dirt. The combo

butt.>

flattened out. Hardened into a long, broad bill.

<Uh, thanks, Tobias. I think I'll pass.>

Sccccuuuurreeeeech.

<Seriously,> he said. <Pm sure it's great for

Orange scales shot down my legs. Claws

swimming, having the motor in the rear like

erupted from my toes, and the skin between

that, but walking? My legs are so far apart my

them webbed together.

whole back end bobs up and down every time I

I was a duck. Short, squat, steady. Alert.

take a step. Up and down. Side to side. Like

Tense. A little skittish, maybe, but ready to stand

a . . . like a . . .>

my ground, to defend my territory. In your face, if

<Like a duck?>

I had to. And — this part is gross — suddenly

<Yeah. It's humiliating.> He swept a wing

overcome by a craving for mosquito larva.

over his flat duck bill. <And this is just wrong.>

<Ewwww.>

<Tobias, you've been a hawk way too long.> I

I shuddered and tried out my new mallard

lifted my wings. <Let's go find the governors

voice: "Kwek." It didn't sound right. Too low. Too

raspy. I tried again. "Kwek. Kwek-kwek-kwek-

kwek."

<l think we acquired a defective duck,> I

said. <My quack's not coming out right.>

<l know a little something about birds,> said

Tobias. <And when it comes to mallards quack-

ing, the females are better at it.>

<Ah. So it's a trade-off. A pretty face.> I tilted

62

63

fend ourselves. The gulls dove for a Frito bag ly-

ing behind a trash can. Not Controllers. Just hun-

gry scavengers. We headed back on course.

<l don't believe I'm saying this.> Tobias.

<But I can almost sympathize with Visser One.

Now we know what he's been going through all

this time. Dodging every animal he sees, thinking

the boogeyman in morph is lurking around every

CHAPTER 15

corner.>

We decided three ducks flying by themselves

looked a little conspicuous, especially to Con-

trollers who were probably looking for three

ducks flying by themselves. So we hooked up

with a flock of mallards heading in the direction

of the capitol.

I pushed off with my feet, flapped my wings,

We leeched onto the back of their V forma-

and sprung straight into the air. Through the

tion, and flapped off over the mountains.

trees. Above the waterfall.

This wasn't sleek, soaring raptor flight. With

<Hey, this is cool,> I said. <No long, running

our round heads, long necks, and plump bodies,

takeoffs. No flapping along the ground. When the

we looked more like bowling pins with wings.

duck wants to be in the air, he's in the air.>

I was the Energizer Bunny with feathers. The

Tobias and Ax followed, and we flew over The

Energizer Birdie. I flapped and flapped and

Gardens. Three identical ducks, morphed from

flapped. Fifty miles an hour on a straight, level

the same DNA.

flight.

A flock of seagulls flitted about the food

<Here's a questions I said. <Why haven't we

court. We watched them. Listened. Two of the

morphed ducks before? All those times we had to

birds suddenly took to the sky.

fly long distances, like trying to keep up with the

Controllers? We beat our wings and veered

train yesterday, Tobias. Or that time Jake got his

away, looking for a place to land. A place to de-

65

64

guts squashed on the ceiling when we were stow-

reached the outskirts of a city just before noon. A

ing away in fly morph on an airplane. Why didn't

large white dome gleamed in the distance.

anybody say, "Long distance? Let's go duck"?>

<This is it,> I said. <l recognize the capitol

<Yes,> Ax agreed. <This is a useful morph.

from our third-grade field trip.>

I'm not tired after quite a bit of time in the air.>

<A domed building?> Ax's thought-speak was

<Exactly. Plus we're flying in formation, and it

filled with awe. He has a thing for domed roofs.

looks normal. None of that bird-of-prey stuff

<Excellent living quarters! Well-suited for an im-

where we have to fly miles apart and pretend we

portant government leader.>

don't know each other. No offense, Tobias. I like

<That's not where he lives, Ax-man. It's just

swooping and gliding and riding the thermals as

where he works.>

much as the next raptor, but every bird can't be a

<And it's Saturdays said Tobias. <So

fighter jet. Sometimes you need a steady, reliable

chances are, he's not there.>

747.>

<So chances are, he'll be at home,> I said.

I scanned the rocks and treetops below. The

<Which is . . . ?>

duck had decent eyesight. It didn't have binocu-

I didn't say anything.

lar vision like an osprey, so I couldn't judge dis-

Ax let out a raspy quack. <We traveled all this

tances very well. I couldn't scope out a fish from

way, and we do not know where we are going?>

half a mile away and know exactly when to dive

<No big deal,> I said. <We've got finesse, re-

and at what speed and where to plunge my talons

member? We'll ask directions.>

into the water to catch it.

We discreetly peeled off from the flock and

But hey, the mallard didn't need that kind of

landed in a big mud puddle behind a truck stop.

information. Mosquito larva and barley seed

Ax and Tobias dabbled in the water. I waddled

don't move very fast.

across the gravel to the men's room, waited until

We left the mountains behind and flew over

it was empty, and demorphed.

fields and rivers, highways and small towns. We

I circled to the front of the building and went

took a mid-morning pitstop on a marshy farm

inside. A skinny woman with teased orange hair

pond, then the flock headed back to the sky. We

sat behind the cash register, leafing through a

flew high to take advantage of a nice tailwind and

magazine.

66

67

"Urn, hi," I said. "I'm from out of town, doing job got me back on my feet." He pointed his bur-a little sight-seeing, and I'm wondering how to

rito at the front window. "This highway out front

get to the governor's mansion."

here? Take it east till you come to the cloverleaf."

She didn't look up from the magazine. "Beats

I nodded. Tobias would know where east was.

me. The governor's never invited me over."

"Then head north," he said. "About a mile,

She flipped to a page of makeup tips. I wan-

mile and a half. Governor's mansion sits on a

dered through the side door to the truck stop's

bluff overlooking the river. You can't miss it.

diner.

Freaky-looking place with towers and little bal-

None of the waitresses knew where the gover-

conies. Like something straight out of The Ad-

nor lived. They hollered back to the kitchen, but

dams Family."

the cook and the dishwasher were clueless, too.

"Thanks anyway," I said.

I headed toward the door.

"Need directions?"

I turned. Two bikers were eating lunch at the

counter. The big one was looking at me. He bit

off a mouthful of burrito and watched me as he

chewed.

Did I say he was the big one? I take that back.

He wasn't big. He was huge. His left bicep was

bigger than my whole head. His body nearly swal-

lowed the stool he was sitting on. He wore a ban-

danna around his head and a leather jacket with

the name "Chopper" embroidered across the

back.

Chopper picked something from his teeth.

"Did a drywall job there once."

"At the governor's mansion?"

"Yep. The governor's a real nice person. That

68

69

"Man. We should've brought our trick-or-treat

bags," I said.

<We need to find your governor quickly,> said

Ax, <and convince him to speak to us alone.

What does he look like?>

"I'm not really sure," I said. "Tobias?"

Tobias blinked his beady hawk eyes.

CHAPTER 13

Ax frowned. <But he is the most important

government official in your state. Isn't his picture

placed prominently in all your educational facili-

ties?>

"Maybe." I shrugged. "I never really paid

much attention." I looked at Tobias.

<Don't ask me,> he said. <My education has

We'd followed Chopper's directions. We found

taken place mostly outside the established facili-

the governor's mansion and landed in the shrubs

ties^

in the middle of the circular drive at the front of

Ax studied Tobias, then me. He shook his

the house. We demorphed and were now staring at

head, puzzled. <Perhaps it will not matter. Once

the front door, trying to figure out how to get in.

we are inside, we will most likely hear someone

I peered through a gap in the bushes. Thorn

call him by name.> He narrowed his stalk eyes.

bushes. I hadn't noticed the thorns when I was

<You do know his name?>

standing underneath them as a duck. But now I

Tobias and I looked at each other.

was human, and I noticed.

Okay, so I should've done an Internet search

And Chopper was also right about the place

before we left the valley. Or picked up a state

being freaky-looking. Towers and turrets loomed

map at the truck stop. The governor's picture

above us. Vines crept up the dark stone walls and

would've been right there on the inside flap, with

circled the stained-glass windows. Pointy black

his name printed underneath.

wrought-iron railings lined the balconies and the

Or I could've asked Chopper. He would have

roof.

known.

70

71

<So I take it we're back to the finesse thing

"Well, whatever we do, we have to stay small,"

again?> said Tobias.

I said. "We can't let anybody see us except the

I shrugged. "It's been working for us so far."

governor."

Except here I couldn't just casually stroll

We went over our list of possible morphs.

through the door and ask directions. Too much

Rat?

security.

Same problem as the fly, only worse. We'd be

I peeked through the thorns. A tall stone

more likely to be seen. And exterminated.

fence, topped with iron spikes and fitted with an

Flea?

alarm system, enclosed the house and grounds.

Blind and deaf. And not very mobile unless

The driveway twisted through a canopy of trees

we caught a ride in somebody's hair. Plus who

and ended at a gate in the fence. A state trooper

wants to put up with the overwhelming need to

manned the guardhouse beside the gate. Another

suck blood?

trooper stood watch outside the front door to the

"Wolf spiders?" I said.

mansion. More troopers were probably stationed

<People see spiders and go insane,> said To-

inside. Not to mention all the maids, cooks, sec-

bias. <l don't want to end up on the bottom of

retaries, and personal assistants we'd have to get

somebody's shoe.>

past.

"So . . . what, then? Bat? Chimpanzee? In-

Maids, cooks, secretaries, and personal assis-

conspicuous, friendly looking Hork-Bajir? What

tants who could be Controllers.

else have we got?"

"We use our fly morphs," I said. "Buzz past the

<We have a very large black automobile,>

guard and into the house. Nobody'll notice us."

said Ax.

<Perfect,> said Tobias, <if we were looking

He pointed toward the guardhouse at the end

for garbage cans and bathrooms. It's just a

of the drive. A stretch limo had stopped at the

guess, but I doubt he'll be spending large

gate. The guard checked his clipboard and mo-

amounts of time in either of those places. We

tioned the driver through. The limo crunched up

could fly around that mausoleum all day and

the winding drive toward us and pulled into the

never run into him.>

circle in front of the door. The driver got out, said

Ax snorted. <Or recognize him if we did.>

something to the guard at the front door, then

Okay. We deserved that shot. I let it go.

stood by the limo, waiting.

72

73

"He's not here to pick up the butler," I said.

"The governor must be going somewhere."

<Somebody with finesse would probably go

with him,> said Tobias.

I nodded. "Yup."

CHAPTER 14

RUN!

It was the only thought in my little cockroach

brain: RUN! OUT OF THE LIGHT! NOW!

I skittered across the pavement toward the

long, dark shadow beneath the limo. Every tiny

black hair on my cockroach body trembled. Every

nerve cell stood at attention. Two other cock-

roaches, Ax and Tobias, darted alongside me.

The beauty of being a cockroach — well, rela-

tively speaking — is that suddenly you're Super-

man. You can be dropped, drowned, blown up.

But do you die? No. You simply dust yourself off

and scurry away. Get sprayed by a little insecti-

cide? Not a problem. Cockroaches adapt to bug

75

74

spray. If you are a cockroach, you are nearly inde-

<That would be my guess,> I said.

structable.

WHAM! WHAM!

I jumped. Squeezed into a crack, a corner

And indestructable was exactly what we

between the pavement and something big and

needed at the moment.

dark rising up from it. Ax and Tobias huddled be-

My six legs motored over chunks of gravel

side me.

that, to my bug body, were the size of garbage

<lf those are car doors,> Ax said, <three of

trucks. Through cracks in the pavement that

them have now closed. Which means — >

were like canyons. My complex eyes shattered

The air exploded around us. Noise. Vibration.

the world around me into thousands of tiny im-

Heat.

ages. But I couldn't stop to piece the picture to-

<lt means the driver started the car,> I said.

gether. The cockroach recognized light and dark.

<Let's go! Move, move!>

And it wanted dark.

I scuttled up the vibrating black hulk that

WOOOOMPH! WOOOOMPH!

towered above me. A rear tire. I climbed, the

The ground quaked.

claws on my feet like spikes gripping into the

Footsteps? The cockroach brain didn't have

rubber.

time to wonder. It just propelled my legs. Out of

Up. Over. My feet hit metal. And something

the light. Into the shadow.

else. Thick. Sticky. Axle grease. I slogged

Darkness! Yes!

through it, six tiny feet dragged down with every

I was under the limo. My nerve cells relaxed.

step. I had to get across it. Had to get to some

The roach brain released its grip on the crunchy

nonmoving part on the underside of the car. Had

little roach body. But only for a second.

to find a safe place to —

WHAM!

<AAAAAAAAAAH H HHHHHHHH!>

I didn't hear the noise as much as feel it. The

The axle began to move. It was turning. Pick-

roach's body reacted before my human brain had

ing up speed. I clung to it, my feet mired in goo.

time to register what the sound meant. I shot

The axle spun round and round. Faster and

toward the darkest corner of the shadow.

faster. Like a washing machine on spin dry.

Ax and Tobias darted behind me. We quivered

<AAAAAAAAAAH HHHHHHHHH!>

in the dark.

Another scream. Not me this time.

<Car door?> Tobias.

76

77

<Tobias?>

me on the bottom. I'm wedged between rubber

<l'm still on the tire. In a crack in the tread. I

and pavement.>

think I'm upside down now. No, right side up.

The limo edged forward. Stopped again. I

No, upside down. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh. Do cock-

heard a whirring noise.

roaches hurrrrrlllll?>

<He's waiting for the gate to open,> I said.

Now that was a good question.

<Can you move, Tobias?>

<ls Ax with you?> I said.

<l already have.> He sidled up beside me in

<No, I am over here. I do not know where over

the grease.

here is exactly, but it is hot. Very hot. And it is

Another cockroach — Ax — crawled up be-

getting hotter. Eeeeee-YOWWWWWWWWWW!>

hind him. <The bottoms of my feet are numb. I

The limo hurtled down the drive. It probably

may have fried them completely off.>

wasn't going more than twenty miles an hour, but

<Let's go,> I said. <We don't have much

when you're half an inch long, twenty miles an

time.>

hour might as well be the speed of light. Boul-

I scurried along the axle. Ax and Tobias fol-

ders of gravel pummeled me. The axle spun. The

lowed. My antennae hit a thick rubber-coated

limo jounced up and down over the bumps in the

wire hanging down from the underside of the

driveway.

limo. I gripped it with my front claws and scram-

And every hair on my cockroach body

bled up. Ax followed.

screamed: GET OUT. TOO MUCH MOVEMENT.

The limo started to roll. The wire swayed. To-

TOO MUCH DANGER. RUN!

bias lunged for it. Caught Ax's back legs instead

But my human brain told me to hang on.

and hung on.

Hunker down in the grease and wait until it was

The limo picked up speed.

safe to move.

<l have a bad feeling about this,> said To-

The spinning and bouncing slowed. The limo

bias.

rolled to a stop.

<We're cool,> I said. <We're cockroaches, re-

<We must be at the gate,> I said. <You've

member? Indestructable. Our hearts can stop

gotta get off the tire, Tobias.>

beating, and we won't die. Our heads can get

<Uh, yeah. Tell the driver. He stopped with

chopped off, and we still won't die. Well, at least

78

79

r

not for a week or so, anyway, until we waste away

from thirst and starvation because we don't have

a mouths. But hey, that gives us plenty of time to

demorph.>

The car swerved. Thumped through a pothole.

Our cockroach bodies banged against the under-

CHAPTER 15

belly of the limo. Tobias was still hanging from

Ax's back legs.

<AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!>

We swung back. Banged again. I lost my grip.

Twirled around the wire by one leg.

<Forget our hearts and our heads,> Tobias

croaked. <lf our guts get squashed all over the

I swung around. Snagged the wire with a

pavement, it's pretty much over.>

second leg. And a third. Pulled my remaining

legs in and around.

Ax hung on below me. Tobias scrambled over

Ax's back and grasped onto the wire between us.

We clung to it as we shot down the highway at

sixty-five miles an hour. Rocks pelted us. Mud

puddles drenched us.

Thud-thud-thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud-thud.

The limo thundered through potholes and

bumped over metal plates and asphalt patches.

We swung from the rubber wire like suicidal

trapeze artists.

Thunk.

81

80

Banged against the limo above us.

corted the High Heel across the pavement and

Crunch.

through a glistening glass door.

And bounced against the axle below.

They strode across a wide room. A hotel

<lf we get out of here alive,> I said, <l'm writ-

lobby? I hung on, my back end dipping down be-

ing a letter to the highway department. These

tween thick rug fibers, then flying through the

roads are terrible.> No one laughed. I guess it

cool air every time High Heel took a step.

wasn't the time for a joke.

<Wherever we are,> I said, <it's someplace

The limo slowed again. Turned. Thudded over

nice. The carpet is cushy. And everything

a speed bump and rolled to a stop.

gleams. Brass, probably. Marble. Some kind of

dark, polished wood.>

WHAM!

A cockroach poked his head up from the cuff

<Car door,> I said. <We must be wherever

we're going. Let's move.>

of Wing Tip's pant leg. Ax. <And everything

smells lemony fresh.>

I dropped to the asphalt. Motored to the edge

Wing Tip and High Heel entered another

of the shadow.

room. Crowded. Noisy. Bright. I'd been in enough

<AAAAAAAAAAAAH H HHHHHHHH!>

of them to guess it was a ballroom, the dance

And was nearly speared by a lady's high heel.

floor in the center, surrounded by tables.

Another high heel extended from the limo and

They wound their way through the crowd of

thumped to the pavement beside the first. The

people and stopped at a table at the front of the

governor's wife? I darted toward the pair of heels

room. Wing Tip pulled out a chair for High Heel,

before she could get away. Scrambled up. Clung

then sat down next to her. A thick white table-

to the soft leather as the high heels stepped away

cloth draped itself around their legs.

from the car.

We sat there for a very long time. Human

Suddenly, a man's leg shot from the limo. The

voices murmured and laughed. Dishes and silver-

governor? Two cockroaches scrambled across the

ware clanked. High Heel crossed and uncrossed

asphalt, over the man's wing tip dress shoe, and

her legs several hundred times. Wing Tip

up the ankle. Then dove into the cuff of the pant

dropped his spoon once. He leaned down to get

leg.

it, and three cockroaches dove for cover.

The other leg emerged, and the Wing Tip es-

82

83

<Ax, how long have we been in morph?> I

<Finally,> I said.

But High Heel stayed where she was. The or-

said.

chestra began playing again. A slow song. She

Approximately ninety-seven minutes.>

stepped closer to Wing Tip. Her feet swayed.

<Man. We're running out of time, and all

Stayed closer to the ground. Other dancers' feet

these two want to do is eat dinner. Think we can

stayed closer to their own bodies. Away from me.

demorph and remorph under the table without

Except Wing Tip's. His big, gunboats scuffed

anybody noticing?>

up against High Heel's gray pumps. Trounced on

The clanks and murmurs quieted. A micro-

her toes. I hid on the inside of her heel, under

phone squealed, and a man's voice boomed

her instep. About the fourth time he mashed her

through the room. I couldn't make out all the

foot, she kicked his shin. I was starting to like

words. Something about being honored and wor-

this woman.

thy cause and thank you all for coming. I heard

Ax's head poked up from the tweed cuff.

clapping, then music erupted from the front of

<One hundred and six minutes have passed.>

the room.

<So, what, that gives us fourteen minutes?> I

High Heel pushed her chair back and strode

scanned the sea of legs around us. <We can't de-

past tables, chairs, waiters. Wing Tip followed.

morph on the dance floor.>

They left the cushy carpet and thumped across a

Wing Tip trounced again. I dove for cover.

wooden floor.

High Heel gave him another swift kick, turned

High heel tapped her toe. Stepped forward.

and strode away. She wove her way across the

Back. Twirled.

ballroom, through chairs and dessert carts. Wing

<WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!>

Tip and two sets of men's plain black dress shoes

I twirled, too. By one leg.

followed.

In. Out. Forward. Back. We spun round and

A door opened, and we entered another room.

round. I dug my claws into the leather and hung

Smaller. Darker. Quieter. A conference room. The

on. Other feet kicked and stomped around us,

door closed, and both sets of black dress shoes

inches from my little cockroach head. I scram-

positioned themselves in front of it. High Heel

bled for shelter on the inside of the heel.

sat in the chair at the end of the long conference

The music ended. High Heel stopped spin-

table. Wing Tip paced.

ning.

84

85

"I hate this," he said. "Smiling. Shaking

hands. Begging for campaign contributions.

Makes me feel like a dancing poodle."

Campaign contributions? That's all I needed

to hear. Wing Tip was definitely the governor.

And it was show time.

CHAPTER 17

Ax and Tobias stayed hidden in the tweed

cuff. I crawled down the high heel and into the

thick carpet under the conference table.

I began todemorph.

My roach body swelled. Up, then out. Like a

crunchy brown beach ball. The shattered image

of table legs and gray high heels smoothed into

one unified picture as my compound roach eyes

melded into two human eyes.

<Governor.> My thought-speak rang out.

<You might want to sit down. You're about to see

something that will scare the pee out of you.>

Silence.

Then: "Who said that?"

"I don't see anybody."

86

87

"Is there a microphone in here? Speakers?"

legs and arms, the other two shrivel away into

A woman's voice. "I thought you said this

nothing.

room was secure, Frank."

Wing Tip followed her gaze. A strangled cry

I dragged my bloated body across the carpet.

bubbled up from his throat. "Omigod." He

Out from under the table, where I could see . . .

grabbed one of the security guards by the arm

and be seen.

and shoved him toward me.

<Please be careful, M a r c o Ax's thought-

Both security guys stared. Reached for their

speak was no more than a whisper.

guns.

As I grew, I kept a close eye on the people in

<Governor!> My sideways cockroach mouth

the room. The dress shoes turned out to be two

melted into lips, teeth, and tongue. "Governor!" I

plainclothes security guys. Pistol handles bulged

was human now. I stepped toward Wing Tip, my

beneath their suit jackets.

hands in the air. "Tell them not to shoot.

Wing Tip was tall. Distinguished. Like a TV

Please."

news guy. Chiseled cheek bones. Aristocratic

"No. Don't shoot. Just watch him. Closely."

nose. Perfectly styled hair, fashionably gray at

It was an order. But it didn't come from Wing

the temples.

Tip. It came from High Heel.

High Heel was just the opposite, short and

I turned.

plump. Everything about her was frumpy, lumpy,

"I am the governor," she said. Her face was

and gray. Her dress. Her shoes. Even her face.

white, her body tense. But her eyes remained

Everything but her eyes. Gray, yes. But a quick,

steady. "And who are you?"

intelligent gray.

The governor? I stared at her. It didn't even

She turned those eyes on me. On the black

occur to me that the governor could be a woman.

lump of boy/insect growing from the carpet.

<l won't tell Rachel if you won't,> said Tobias.

And pulled back in horror. Maybe even revul-

"I — I'm an Animorph," I said.

sion.

A sharp intake of breath. One of the security

"Frank?"

guards? I glanced toward the door, where the two

She spoke to Wing Tip, but kept her eyes on

of them stood in front of Wing Tip. Was one of

me. Watched four of my legs bulge into human

them a Controller? Both of them?

88

89

The governor frowned. "Excuse me? An

tell him to. Or unless you attack me. In fact, he'll

Ani—what?"

take his itchy little finger off the trigger right

"I'm one of the good guys."

now." She watched the short guard until he did

I still had my hands in the air. I lowered them.

as she said. "And Collins?" She looked at the

Slowly. Took a step toward her. Mustered up all

other guard. "Make sure he keeps it off."

my charm. My sincerity. My finesse.

Collins nodded. He backed up a step toward

Click. Click.

the door, obviously relieved to be watching an-

I heard the security guys release the safety

other security guard instead of the amazing

Roach Boy.

catches on their pistols. I kept my eyes on the

If he only knew the horror that was wrapped

governor.

around Short Guy's brain.

"You have to believe me," I told her. "The en-

"Ax? Tobias?" I said.

tire state — no, the entire planet — depends on

Two cockroaches crawled from Wing Tip's

it. And you're the only one who can help."

cuff, down his ankle, and over his shoe. One of

The governor studied me. "Flattery, huh?

the roaches began growing. The other turned

Okay, I'm listening."

blue, then it ballooned out, too.

I watched the security guards. The tall one

Quietly. Inconspicuously. Nobody noticed

stood open-mouthed. The pistol in his hand

them at first, two enormous mutant insects half

trembled. He clearly wanted to run screaming

hidden behind Wing Tip's legs. Tobias's exoskele-

from the room.

ton melted into his bulging body, and feathers

But the short one glared at me, his finger

popped out. Ax's claws turned into hands and

steady on the trigger of his gun. Hatred twisted

Andalite hooves.

his face.

Tobias spread his wings and flapped onto a

"That guard." I pointed at the short guy.

lampshade in the corner of the room.

"That guard is not going to follow your orders,

"Oh!" Collins gawked. "But. . . where . . . ?"

Governor. He's going to shoot me. Then he'll

"A hawk?" The governor stared at him. Stared

probably shoot you, too. And your husband. And

at me. Frowned.

the other security guard."

"Yes. A hawk!" Short Guy leveled his pistol at

"Don't be ridiculous," said the governor. "His

Tobias.

job is to protect me. He won't shoot you unless I

90

91

Then he saw Ax. Tall. Blue. Almost com-

rowed her eyes. "And Frank? Don't say anything

pletely demorphed.

else."

"Andalite!"

Wing Tip nodded and slipped out the door.

Short Guy whirled. Aimed.

I watched him leave. He seemed so calm un-

"NO!"

der the circumstances.

I dove. Missed. Short Guy squeezed the trig-

Yeah. Too calm. Any normal person would

ger. Collins knocked the pistol upward.

have been amazed, fascinated, creeped out.

BLAM!

Wing Tip hadn't even been shocked by a full-

The paneling above Ax's head shattered.

fledged Andalite. I glanced at Collins and the

Fwap.

governor. They were still staring at Ax's stalk

Ax nailed Short Guy with his tail blade. Held

eyes, deadly tail and mouth less face.

him against the wall.

But Wing Tip had been more concerned with

Collins stared at Ax. "Who . . . wha . . . ?"

wiping Collins's footprint off his shoe. As if a

<His firearm,> Ax ordered.

four-legged alien were nothing unusual. Nothing

Collins nodded. Pulled the pistol from Short

new.

Guy's hand. Backed away.

Nothing he hadn't seen before.

Tromped on Wing Tip's foot.

"Governor," \ said, "we have to move. Fast.

Wing Tip shoved him aside. "Idiot." He

Tobias? Firepower. Now."

leaned down to rub the footprint from the top of

his shoe.

"Okay, now if everybody can stay calm, we've

got a little story to tell." I looked at the governor.

"It might take a while."

The governor considered this for a moment.

Studied me. Studied Ax. Studied Short Guy.

She turned to Wing Tip. "Go back in to the

ballroom. Make my apologies. Tell everyone I'm

not feeling well. Assure them it's nothing serious.

A cold or something." She glanced at me. Nar-

92

93

"Oh!" The governor stared at the smoldering

wood. Then at her husband. "Frank! What are

you — ?"

A Controller grabbed her.

Tobias vaulted over the pieces of the table.

WHACK!

Struck the Controller with his wrist blade.

CHAPTER 17

"AAAAAAAAAAH H H H H H H H!"

The Controller screamed. Dropped the gover-

nor. Stared at his fingerless hand.

The other Controllers charged. Tobias sliced.

Ax's tail lashed out.

FWAP! FWAP!

I was fully morphed, fully gorilla now. I stormed

Tobias swooped from the lampshade and

through flying bullets, blades, and Dracon beams.

landed on the carpet. Blades began to erupt from

Collins had crawled to the governor and was

his feathers.

shielding her with his body. He held his pistol

I concentrated. Focused on the gorilla.

with both hands, aiming first at a Controller, then

Too late!

at Tobias, then at Ax, not sure what or who to

The door burst open. Wing Tip barreled

shoot.

through, followed by four waiters wielding Dra-

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

con beams.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Hork-Bajir!"

Dracon fire seared Collins's shoulder. Blasted

Wing Tip pointed at Tobias, now almost fully

a hole in the wall behind him.

morphed. One of the Controllers leveled his Dra-

<Go!> I told him. <NOW! There's nothing you

con at Tobias's leathery gut. Tobias dove.

can do here. Governor! Time to bail!>

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

I wrapped one gorilla arm around her.

The conference table sizzled in two. Both

Wing Tip reached for her. "Honey! Take my

halves dropped to the floor.

hand. I'll save you."

94

95

The governor grabbed a chair and swung it

der a table. Pulled the heavy tablecloth down to

over her head. I thought she was aiming at me. I

hide him.

ducked.

<Stay here till the smoke clears,> I said.

CRASH!

<Don't even try to be a h e r o

Wing Tip crumpled to the floor.

"There! Get them!"

"Save me, huh?" she said with a frown.

Wing Tip's voice! I whirled. Controllers burst

I leaped over Wing Tip's motionless body.

from the conference room.

<Let's go, let's go!> I yelled at Ax and Tobias.

"Don't let them take the governor," yelled

"Collins!" the governor cried.

Wing Tip. "Kill her if you have to."

I turned. Collins lay on the carpet, stunned,

The governor stared at him. "What is he say-

his shoulder a lump of charred meat.

ing?"

I grabbed him in my free arm and leaped

<Don't worry,> I said. <We'll get you out.>

through the smoke and chaos. Charged through

Wing Tip and his buddies charged from be-

the door. Into the ballroom. Ax and Tobias

hind. More Controllers streamed through the

bounded after me.

ballroom doors and beat their way through the

"AAAAAAAA!"

fleeing crowd.

"Omigod!"

<Service entranced Tobias directed.

Women screamed. Men screamed. Chairs,

He bolted toward a tangle of waiters push-

dishes, serving trays crashed to the floor as the

ing through a small door at the front of the ball-

well-dressed crowd scrambled for the doors.

room. I knuckle-walked after him. Knocked over

A waiter charged forward. Leveled a Dracon at

a huge coffee pot. Hurdled a dessert cart. Ax fol-

lowed. Across the dance floor. Around the or-

the governor.

chestra pit.

"No!" Collins.

He aimed his pistol.

A Controller leaped from behind a bass drum.

BLAM!

I grabbed a tuba. Shoved it over his head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Tobias reached the door, shoved the waiters

The waiter fell, blood gushing from his thigh.

aside and crashed through. I followed. Down a

Collins collapsed against me. I rolled him un-

short hallway. Into the kitchen.

96

97

A state trooper and a guy in a chauffeur's uni-

The concrete exploded beneath my feet.

form were sitting at a small table, munching

I swung over the side of the dock. Ripped

party food and playing poker with the chef.

open the back door of the limo. Dumped the gov-

Tobias vaulted over them.

ernor inside.

"Wha — ?" The trooper half rose from his

<Sorry. I have better manners when Yeerks

chair. Fumbled with the holster of his pistol.

aren't shooting at me.> I jumped in after her.

I barreled past, the governor tucked under my

<Keep your head down.>

arm.

Tobias squeezed into the driver's seat.

"Governor!" The chauffeur scrambled to his

Banged his wrist blade into the tinted window

feet. "Where are you going, ma'am?"

that divided-the front seat from the back. The

"I'm not sure," she called back.

glass shattered.

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

<Ooops.>

Dracon fire blasted through the kitchen.

He folded his knees under the steering wheel,

Fwap. Fwap-fwap.

his arms around it. His neck was twisted over,

I heard Ax behind me, his hooves clicking on

the side of his leathery Hork-Bajir face crushed

the tile floor, his tail striking again and again.

against the top of the limo.

We kept going. Around waiters, busboys,

<Not comfy,> he said.

cooks. The pastry chef pulled a Dracon beam

But also not a problem for a guy with blades

from his jacket and leveled it at the governor.

growing from his skull.

She flattened him with a cutting board.

Thump. Scuuuuurrrrr-UUUUNNNCH.

We slammed through one set of doors. Then

He tore through the top of the limo like he

another. Finally, outside. Around a Dumpster.

was opening a tin can. <Sun roof.>

Across the loading dock.

He poked his head through the hole, cranked

<Limo!> Tobias bounded toward the long

the key, and the limo revved to life.

black car parked by the dock, the same limo that

<Ax!> I yelled. <Let'sgo!>

had brought us here. <Doors unlocked. Keys in-

Ax downed two Controllers, clattered across

side! Oh come on. This is way too easy.>

the loading zone, and leaped into the backseat of

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

the limo. I yanked the door shut.

98

99

<G0! GO! GO!>

Tobias floored it. We screeched across the

parking lot and into the street.

We had now added yet another kidnapping to

our crimes.

CHAPTER 18

We squealed across four lanes of traffic.

Thundered up over the curb on the other side.

Dropped back down onto the pavement. Side-

swiped a delivery truck. In. Out. Around. Weaving

through cars, trucks, SUVs. All I could see of To-

bias were his shoulders and elbows. His head jut-

ted up through the hole in the roof.

I bounced along on the rear seat. Watched out

the back and side windows, my gorilla skull

thump-thump-thumping against the ceiling of

the limo. The governor sat in the seat opposite,

trying not to slide back and forth as the limo ca-

reened first left, then right. Her fingers dug into

the leather armrest on the door beside her.

Ax struggled to gain a foothold on the floor in

100

101

between the banks of seats. He gazed at the gov-

"Very reassuring," she said.

ernor. His Andalite eyes radiated warmth and . . .

The limo hurdled a median strip.

joy.

The governor gripped the armrest. "I mean

Yes, joy. We were doing ninety in heavy traffic

that sincerely, Aximili."

with clumsy Hork-Bajir hands at the wheel, and

<As do I, Governors

Ax looked like he'd just found the secret to inner

<And Jake thought you were the one with

peace.

charm, Marco,> Tobias said dryly.

<Madam Governors He bowed low. Stretched

<Just keep your eyes on the road,> I said.

his front leg out in front of him. His head nearly

<And I don't ever want to hear another word of

criticism about my driving.>

touched the floor. <l am Aximili-Esgarrouth-

Isthill, and I am honored to be in the presence of

The limo skidded around a corner. Leveled a

row of newspaper vending machines.

a great leader.>

"A great leader?" The governor thumped

A police siren! Red and blue lights flashed

behind us.

against the side of the limo as Tobias screeched

<Trouble,> I said.

sideways into a bank parking lot. "Me?"

<You think?> Tobias.

Ax nodded. <l only regret that our meeting

was not under less difficult circumstances.>

I turned. More sirens. More flashing red and

Difficult. Yeah. Okay. Tobias plowed around

blue lights ahead. Three, maybe four cars.

the bank. Through the drive-up lane.

Tobias jerked the wheel. We slid sideways into

a pickup. Tobias gunned the engine, and we shot

Over a curb. For three full seconds, the limo

down an alley, the pickup's bumper trailing from

was airborne —

ours.

WOOOOMPH!

The limo thundered through potholes. Around

— before slamming down onto a side street.

Dumpsters. Shot across the next side street and

Tobias screeched sideways and kept going.

into the alley in the next block.

"Aaaahhhlllp!" The governor swallowed a

<Oh, man!>

scream. She managed to wrench her right hand

The brakes squealed. I plunged forward, then

free from the armrest and hold it out to Ax.

slammed back against the seat. Ax crashed into

He shook it, then bowed low again. <l will

my lap.

guard your life with my own.>

102

103

"Ooomph."

SsscccuuurrrRRREEEEEEEEE.

<Hey, watch the tail!>

We scraped against the trash truck on one

The limo had stopped nose to nose with a

side, the loading dock on the other.

trash truck. The governor was sprawled on the

And spit through into the alley beyond. A po-

floor. She struggled to pull herself back onto the

lice car screamed into the narrow opening ahead.

seat.

Came barreling toward us!

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

Tobias gunned the engine. Sideswiped the

Dracon fire shattered the window next to

police car and shot out into the street!

where the she'd been sitting. Incinerated the

Cranked the wheel. Dodged oncoming traffic.

headrest that had been behind her.

Sped the wrong way down the one-way street,

<Stay down, Governor! On the floor!>

warehouses towering above us on one side, the

She nodded. Stared up at the smoldering

riverbank dropping away from us on the other,

headrest. "No arguments here."

chased by an army of sirens and flashing lights.

She pulled her knees up to her chest,

City police, county deputies, state troopers.

wrapped her skirt and her arms around them,

Some of them were Controllers. Some proba-

and hunkered down between the seats. Her face

bly weren't. But it didn't matter. As far as the

had lost all color, but her eyes were still bright.

non-Controllers were concerned, lunatic mon-

Steady.

sters had kidnapped their governor. They were as

Tobias threw the limo in reverse and started

determined as the Controllers to stop us.

to back up.

THWOK! THWOK! THWOK! THWOK!

A police car turned into the alley behind us.

I looked up. A helicopter thundered overhead.

BAM! BAM!

I could see it through the sun roof. The real sun

Gunfire!

roof, not Tobias's emergency hatch. The pilot

Ax and I hit the deck again and crouched be-

pitched the helicopter forward in a steep dive.

side the governor.

Sunlight glinted off something in the passenger

Tobias threw the limo in drive. We lurched

door.

forward. Squeezed past the trash truck. The right

A Dracon beam.

wheels thumped over the bottom two steps of a

The governor saw it, too.

concrete stairway leading up to a loading dock.

"Time to ditch the limo," she said. "We're too

104

105

big. Too easy to spot. We'll have a better chance

on foot."

Good thinking. Behind those alert gray eyes

lurked the brain of a combat general.

<l know the perfect place,> said Tobias. <Get

ready to bail.>

An intersection loomed ahead. A main thor-

oughfare crossed our one-way street and led to a

CHAPTER 19

bridge.

Tobias floored it and quickly turned the

wheel. The limo skidded around the corner and

hurtled onto the bridge. He slammed on the

brakes and the limo screeched sideways. Plowed

into a concrete pillar and lurched to a stop,

blocking traffic from both directions.

<Let's go, let's go!>

Cars honked. Skidded. Slammed into each

Tobias bounded up over the hood of a sports

other.

car. I followed. Leaping from hood to roof to

Tobias dove from the driver's door. I threw the

trunk. From car to truck to minivan. Over a jack-

governor over Ax's back, flung the back door

knifed eighteen-wheeler.

open, and we ran out into the chaos.

Ax stayed on the ground and galloped be-

tween the vehicles. The governor hugged his

shoulders and squeezed her knees into his sides

to keep from falling off.

Police cars skidded onto the bridge behind

us. Cops streamed from the cars and barricaded

themselves behind the limo, weapons drawn.

<Stay low!> I shouted.

I leaped from the top of an SUV to the back of

a jeep.

106

107

The jeep's driver climbed from the front.

Cops swarmed over the limo. Raced across

Stared at his crumpled bumper. Cursed, kicked

the bridge behind us.

his tire, and started punching numbers on his

<Go go go!> I yelled. <We can make it. We're

cell phone.

closer to the other end of the bridge than the

I vaulted over him.

cops are to us!>

He stared at me. "Oh my . . . oh my . . .

THWOK! THWOK! THWOK! THWOK!

AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He tossed the phone to the

The helicopter was back. It hovered over the

road and sprinted toward the other end of the

bridge, just above the tall suspension cables.

bridge.

More sirens! Flashing lights. Not from behind

BAM!BAM!

this time, but from in front. Police cars screamed

Bullets whizzed past. Bounced off steel and

onto the other end of the bridge. Cops leaped

concrete.

from the patrol cars.

Drivers screamed and dove under their cars.

We dove for the pavement again. Crouched

I dropped and hugged the ground. Tobias

low between a Frito delivery truck and a TV repair

crouched beside me. Ax skidded behind a UPS

van.

truck, the governor still on his back.

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

A man's voice boomed out over bridge. "Hold

The delivery truck exploded. Fritos rained

your fire. HOLD. YOUR. FIRE. They've got the

down on us as we rolled under the van.

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

governor. And innocent motorists are trapped on

A concrete pillar in front of the van shattered

that bridge."

into dust.

Thank God. The guy with the bullhorn was a

SSSCCCUUUURRRRENNNNCH.

legitimate, uninfested cop. With a brain.

The steel beam it had been holding swayed.

BAM! BAM BAM!

The suspension cable whipped through the air.

But the Controllers obviously weren't taking

" AAAAAAAAAH H H H H H H H!"

orders from the sane guy.

The remaining motorists fled from their cars

I walked between cars. Tobias followed and

and ran screaming toward both ends of the

Ax, still carrying the governor, galloped behind.

bridge.

"They're getting away!"

I inched out from under the van. Raised my

"After them!"

108

109

1

head. Cops in front. Cops behind. Chopper over-

head.

And below us, the river.

A few barges in the distance. Some fishing

boats. And a sailboat. Did I say sailboat? Make

that a yacht, slowly cruising toward us.

<You scared of heights, Governor?> I said.

CHAPTER 20

"As opposed to what? Bullets? Laser beams

that vaporize solid concrete? A bridge that might

collapse under me at any moment?" She shook

her head. Took a deep breath. "Let's do it."

"Let's do it?" A vision flashed into my head,

the governor when she was a kid. She looked

like . . . Rachel?

I shook the image from my mind. <You heard

We dropped. Straight down.

the governor. Let's do it.>

The governor held on tight. She dug her fin-

I pulled her from under the van and climbed

gers into my fur and didn't even scream. Not

onto the bridge rail.

even a whimper.

I liked this lady.

The yacht skimmed through the water. I could

Down, down we fell. The yacht loomed larger

hear music and laughter. Could see people

and larger, I kept a tight grip on the governor with

crowded on the deck. A party.

one arm. When we were close enough, I reached

The boat neared the bridge. Close. Closer.

out with the other and grabbed the yacht's mast

NOW!

in my gorilla fist and hung on.

I wrapped one massive gorilla arm tight

The mast bowed, groaned, and bent almost

around the governor and leaped into space.

double. The sail beat against me. My feet

brushed the bow of the boat, then bounded into

the air again as the mast sprang back and we

swung over the cabin.

110

111

I spun around. Gripped the bottom of the

said. "The impact could have broken his legs. Or

mast with my fingerlike toes and held tight.

his ribs. Maybe knocked him unconscious!"

The yacht slid under the bridge. The music

<There!> Tobias tipped his wing.

and laughter continued. Party guests danced.

A dorsal fin broke the surface of the water and

Munched crackers. Refilled their drinks. They

skimmed alongside the yacht.

didn't even notice the gorilla hanging from the

My heart started beating again.

sail, clutching their governor in one arm like a

<Hey, Ax-man. Glad you could make it. He's

rag doll.

fine,> I told the governor. I motioned toward the

Didn't even notice the Hork-Bajir drop over

fin. <He morphed a shark.>

the edge of the bridge above them. A strange,

"Morphed . . . a shark." The governor nod-

shrinking Hork-Bajir, sprouting feathers. Tobias.

ded. "That's good. I think."

His blades shriveled. His serpent neck receded

The yacht had cleared the bridge and was

into his bird body. Just before he hit the water,

sailing in open water.

his arms melted into wings. He flapped hard and

I slid down the mast, vaulted over the cabin

just skimmed over the surface of the river.

and onto the top deck.

Ax dropped from the bridge behind him, his

"Wha — ?" The yacht's captain backed up.

Andalite body sharply outlined against the set-

Stared at us.

ting sun. He kicked. Flailed.

I leaped over the rail and onto the hors

Kuh-SPLAT!

d'oeuvres table. Left a giant gorilla footprint in a

Belly-flopped into the river and sank.

bowl of bean dip.

I waited. Saw nothing. No stalk eyes peaking

And landed in the middle of the party.

above the surface. No tail blade slicing through

" AAAAAAAAAH H H H H H H H!"

the water.

The party guests screamed and scrambled to

<Ax? Ax!>

safety. A woman backed up against the railing

The governor scanned the river. "Can Aximili

and toppled, head over heels, into the river.

swim?"

"I can't swim! Somebody help. I can't swim!"

<Yeah.>

Tobias swooped over the yacht, plucked a life

We watched. Searched the waves. Still no Ax.

jacket from the deck and tossed it out to her. She

"We have to do something," the governor

grabbed hold.

112

113

A dorsal fin broke the surface of the water be-

The party-goers shrieked and scrambled to

hind her as Ax nudged the woman to shore.

the back of the boat. Pushed each other aside

All while cops raced from the bridge and

and clambered over the railing and leaped into

along the banks.

the water. Even the yacht's captain abandoned

"There!" A Controller motioned to the heli-

ship. He dove from the top deck into the river.

copter. "On the boat!"

It was madness.

The helicopter dove after us.

Police cars sped along the riverbanks, guns

THWOK! THWOK! THWOK! THWOK!

and Dracons blazing.

The downdraft from the rotors whipped the

Party-goers bobbed in the water, a sea of

water into waves. The yacht pitched and rolled.

arms and legs, life jackets and fancy clothes,

The party-goers screamed even louder.

splashing and struggling toward shore.

Grabbed onto the railings and deck chairs to

The captainless yacht spun wildly, forced

keep from being tossed overboard.

downstream by the current.

The helicopter hovered now. A Controller

The governor crawled from under the wet bar.

leaned from the passenger door, weapon in hand.

<No!> I said. <Stay down.>

<Get down!> I screamed. <Everybody!>

"Somebody has to pilot this boat. We'll cap-

I dropped to the deck. Rolled the governor

size. Or run aground. We're too close to shore."

under a table.

<Oh. Okay.>

Tobias circled above. Zeroed in on the Con-

The governor climbed up onto the second

troller's outstretched arm and dove.

deck and grabbed the wheel. The boat stopped

The Controller spotted him. Beat him away

spinning. The bow straightened and turned. We

with the Dracon beam. Then took quick aim.

headed toward open river.

TSEEEEEWWW-ka-BLOOOOOOSH!

The helicopter banked and circled for another

"OH MY GOD! WHAT WAS THAT?"

shot.

"ARE THEY CRAZY?"

On deck I grabbed pitchers and margarita

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US! PLEASE!"

glasses and hurled them at the helicopter.

TSEEEEEWWW-ka-BLOOOOOOSH!

Specifically, at the Controller with the Dracon.

Another shot! The water boiled. The yacht

Hey, you use what weapons you have.

reeled.

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

114

115

A deck chair disintegrated.

I flung a bottle. It clanked off the glass bub-

ble in front of the pilot. The chopper dipped and

rocked.

Then it straightened and pitched forward in a

steep dive.

THWOK! THWOK! THWOK!

CHAPTER 21

The helicopter hovered now only a few feet

above my head. The noise was deafening. The

downdraft churned the water and whipped chairs

and life preservers around the deck. I held tight

to the railing to steady myself as the boat pitched

and rocked.

The Controller leaned from the helicopter and

steadied his Dracon against the hull.

Chunks of fiberglass pelted my hide. Smoke

burned my nose and lungs.

Tobias! I saw him flap to gain altitude. Turn.

I coughed. Brushed debris from my face.

Dive!

<Governor?>

Too late!

No answer. The yacht tipped. The bow

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

glugged then slipped beneath the waves. The

Ka-BOOM!

stern shot from the water into the air.

The bow of the yacht exploded.

I wedged my feet against the wet bar to keep

from sliding toward the bow. Pulled my face level

with the top deck. The wheel was already sub-

merged, a gaping hole blown into the deck be-

neath it. Water lapped at the shattered wood and

poured into the cabin below.

<Governor!>

<Marco! Watch out!>

116

117

I turned. Tobias hurtled toward the helicopter.

The governor had fallen through from the

deck above. She was slumped facedown across a

The Controller leaned from the door, Dracon

table, submerged to her waist. Her gray dress

beam leveled at the sinking boat. At me.

floated around her. Her wet gray curls lay plas-

Tobias zeroed in. Raked his talons forward.

tered against her skull. I turned her over. Blood

Nailed him!

streamed from a gash on her forehead.

The Dracon plummeted toward the river.

<Governor.> I felt for a pulse. <Can you

Tobias dove. Nabbed the Dracon beam in

hear me?>

midair and lobbed it to me.

Her eyelids flickered. She nodded weakly.

I gripped it in one gorilla hand. Raised my

"I'll be okay."

arm. Aimed. The pilot saw me and his face

I pulled her from the water, hoisted her onto

twisted in terror. The helicopter whipped up and

my back, and climbed from the submerged

around.

cabin.

And jetted away.

The yacht listed sharply now, the stern stand-

I waited until he was down river, away from

ing nearly straight in the air. The wreck of the he-

the yacht. Then I held my arm steady and

licopter burned downriver. Black, choking smoke

squeezed the trigger.

engulfed us.

TSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

<Marco!> Ax circled the sinking yacht. <We

Ka-BOOOOOOM!

are seriously running out of time.>

The helicopter burst into flames. Thick black

<They're bringing in speedboats,> said To-

smoke rolled over the river.

bias. <l can see them on the highway. Let's go!>

I hurled the Dracon beam into the water.

I lay the governor over the wet bar. She gripped

<Gotta bail, Marco.> Tobias swooped over-

the rail behind her and struggled to sit up.

head. <Let's go, let's go!>

I was already demorping. Gorilla hands

<You go,> I shouted. <You and Ax. I have to

shrank to human hands. Gorilla fur melted into

find the governor!>

human skin.

I climbed over the wet bar. Ripped the cabin

The boat groaned. Water crept over my an-

door open and crawled inside. Waded into the

kles. My knees.

murky water that filled the cabin.

119

118

My jaw pushed back and my nose pushed for-

ward. Arms shrank. Legs grew. I stood upright. I

was human.

But I wasn't finished.

"Governor." My face shot out into a bot-

tlenose. "How do you feel about marine mam-

mals?"

The governor stared at the fin growing from

CHAPTER 22

my back. "Well, I wouldn't marry one." She man-

aged a weak smile.

My head and neck melted into one stream-

lined unit. Legs fused into a tail. Arms shrank to

flippers. Two hundred extra teeth erupted from

my jaws.

The governor stared at me. "Parasitic aliens

The water edged over the cabin door and

are invading Earth." She kept her voice even.

lapped at the wet bar. The governor climbed onto

"And my husband is controlled by one."

the back rail.

I nodded. "Yeah. Basically, that's the story."

Tobias swooped overhead. <Ticktock, Marco.

"Thank God." She sank back into her leather

Ticktock.>

chair and ran her hand through her damp gray

My skin thickened and faded to a light bluish

curls. "I was beginning to think something

gray. Finally, I flopped into the water. I was a dol-

much, much worse was happening. Aliens we

phin.

can fight."

I floated above the sinking yacht. The gov-

She refilled her coffee mug from the pot on

ernor straddled my back and held tight to my

her desk. We were in her office on the top floor of

dorsal fin. Together we slid through the water,

the governor's mansion. We'd bolted the door

through the smoke and confusion of the heli-

and shoved a heavy bookcase in front of it. Ax

copter blast.

stood guard, tail poised. Tobias was perched on a

And the yacht sank into the river.

windowsill, watching the back of the mansion.

120

121

Posted at the other window, watching the front,

"I want all units to stand down," she told

was Collins.

him. "Take no action whatsoever. None. Yes,

Yes, Collins.

that's a direct order. From your commander in

We'd found him in the bathroom off the

chief, that's who."

governor's office. He was crouched in the tub

She slammed the phone down.

waiting for the governor to return, his charred

<He resisted orders from his commander?>

shoulder wrapped in the shower curtain. Ax and I

Ax glanced at me. <He must be a Controllers

helped him out into the office, and the governor

"Maybe. Maybe not," said the governor. "He's

cleaned and bandaged the wound as best she

a cantankerous old coot who can't stand taking

could.

orders from a woman. He doesn't need an alien

Now she sat at her desk, slugging down cup

wrapped around his brain to make him hard to

after cup of coffee. She'd changed into sweats

get along with. Okay, who's next?" She ran her

and a snazzy pair of Nikes. Her gray fund-raising

finger down the roster. "The commander of the

dress lay in a soggy mound on the bathroom floor,

Air National Guard."

and she'd lost her high heels somewhere be-

She punched in the number and gave the air

tween the limo and the yacht. She paged through

commander the same orders she'd given General

her day planner and scribbled names and phone

Sherman. Then she phoned the next officer, and

numbers on a pad.

the next, making her way down the roster.

I sat across from her, studying a roster of Na-

I paced from window to window to bathroom

tional Guard officers. I slid it across the desk.

to desk. Even fixed myself a cup of coffee, heavy

"Call every officer on this list," I said. "Some on the sugar and nondairy creamer.

of them will be Controllers. Some won't. But if

"Ugh."

you can get enough non-Controllers to listen to

It tasted like motor oil. Creamy, sweet motor

you, Visser One's operation will collapse."

oil. I shuddered and set the cup on the win-

<For now, anyway,> said Tobias.

dowsill.

The governor nodded, picked up the phone,

The governor hung up the phone. Ran her fin-

and punched in the number of the first name on

ger down the list to the next officer. And froze.

the roster. General Sherman, the commander of

"Lieutenant Colonel Larsen." She stared at

the Army National Guard.

the name. "His battalion just rolled back into

122

123

town this morning. They've been on a military ex-

"Well. I guess that's it. We've done everything we

ercise in the desert." A slow smile spread over

can do."

her face. "For the past two weeks."

"Not quite," I said. "You're a target now. You

"Two weeks?" I blinked. "That means—"

need some personal security. Bodyguards."

<lt means we've got an entire battalion of cer-

"I've got Collins," said the governor.

tified Yeerk-free soldiers,> said Tobias.

"That's good, and no offense, Collins." I shot

The governor nodded. "Roughly six hundred

him an apologetic smile. "But —"

troops."

"But one security guard with a bad shoulder

"This is . . . this is great." I pushed the

isn't gonna do it," he said. "I'll do everything I

phone toward her. "Call him. Tell him to keep his

can, Governor. You know that. But you need more

troops together. Have them bunker down some-

people."

place where the Yeerks can't get to them."

I nodded. Looked at the governor. "Can you

"I think I know just the place."

think of anybody else? Somebody you can count

She took the phone from me and punched in

on? Somebody who can keep you safe? Is there

a number.

anyone that you know for sure has been far away,

"Colonel Larsen?" she said. "This is the gov-

maybe even out of the country, for more than

ernor. And I've got a little emergency."

three days?"

The call took about a minute and a half. The

The governor frowned. Rifled through her day

governor told the lieutenant colonel what she

planner. "Yes!" She tapped her finger on a page.

needed, and the lieutenant colonel's voice boomed

"Major MacDonald. Deputy director of the state

back through the receiver. "Yes, Ma'am."

police. He just got back from a week-long Inter-

She hung up. "We're converting the grounds

pol conference in Paris, and I think he took a

of the governor's mansion into temporary head-

couple of other officers with him."

quarters. Colonel Larsen's battalion can set up

She picked up the phone, punched a number,

camp on the lawn." She shook her head. "My

and told MacDonald what she needed.

gardener's going to have a stroke."

"He's on his way," she said as she hung up.

The governor ran her finger down the list and

"He lives on this side of town, so it shouldn't

punched in the next number. She called every of-

take long."

ficer on the roster, then pushed the phone aside.

"I hope not," said Collins.

124

125

He pushed the heavy drapes aside so we

could see.

"We got company, Governor."

Yes, we certainly did.

A column of Humvees and military trucks

were rolling up the highway.

CHAPTER 23

The lead Humvee was about a mile away. The

line of military vehicles behind it stretched over

the next hill.

"Any chance that's Colonel Larsen's battal-

ion?" I said.

The governor shook her head. "He hasn't had

time to muster his troops. They won't be here for

hours." She peered through the window. "Be-

sides, this unit's too small. I count six Humvees

and eight trucks. Maybe a couple more at the

back that we can't see. It's not big enough for a

battalion." She frowned. "But I didn't order any

other units to report here."

Ax watched the convoy. <lf those troops are

126

127

not following the governor's orders, they must be

The governor picked up the phone. Made one

following someone else's.> He turned his stalk

more call. This time to the guardhouse.

eyes toward me.

"Open the gate," she said. "A state police car

"Yeah," I said. "Visser One. Governor, we

will be approaching in a matter of seconds. Let it

have to get you out of here. Fast. We'll go out the

through. Don't stop it. I repeat. Do not stop it.

back. Use the river again."

I've given the police officer clearance."

<Don't think so.>

The turnoff to the the governor's mansion lay

Tobias motioned his head toward the back

in a dip between two hills. A Humvee topped the

window. Police boats patroled the river beneath

hill on the convoy side. The police car flew over

the mansion.

the hill opposite. It streaked over the last stretch

"Great." I stared at the boats. Then at the

of highway and squealed into the turnoff, spray-

convoy. "There's gotta be a way out."

ing dust and gravel over the Humvee.

A siren wailed. I turned. A police car

Then the car shot through the open gate, bar-

screamed down the highway from the opposite

reled up the drive, and skidded to a stop at the

direction, lights flashing.

front entrance to the mansion. The doors banged

"Geez, Governor." Collins's voice edged

open. Three officers leaped out.

toward panic. "They're coming at us from all

"That's him. The tall one." The governor

sides."

pointed. "MacDonald."

"No." I watched the police car speed toward

The officers bolted inside. Seconds later,

us. "Not this one. The Yeerks wouldn't send one

footsteps thundered down the hall. We shoved

car by itself."

the bookcase aside and unlocked the door. Mac-

The governor nodded. "MacDonald. It has to

Donald burst into the office, followed by the

be MacDonald."

other two police officers. I bolted the door behind

<Let's hope he gets here before the Humvees

them.

do,> said Tobias.

"Ma'am." MacDonald nodded at the gover-

The convoy rolled down the highway, half a

nor. His gaze swept over the other occupants of

mile from the mansion. The police car hurtled

the room. Me, your average good-looking kid.

toward it, a streak of red and blue.

Collins, one shoulder inexpertly bandaged. The

128

129

hawk on the windowsill. MacDonald frowned and

out of here, can you keep her safe until Colonel

shook his head.

Larsen's battalion arrives?"

And Ax.

"Yeah," MacDonald said. "Not a problem."

"Ahhh!"

"Good." I turned to the governor. "I can't tell MacDonald reached for his pistol.

you where we're staying. You won't be able to

"No!" The governor grabbed his arm. "This is

contact us, but we'll contact you. Soon."

Axi m i I i-Esgarrouth-lsth i 11. He's an Andalite. A

"How?" she asked.

friend."

"I'm not sure. But we'll find a way. We al-

Ax stepped forward and bowed his head. Kept

ways do."

his stalk eyes on MacDonald's pistol and his tail

<We haven't thought through this superhero

blade poised.

business very well.> Tobias flapped down from

MacDonald narrowed his eyes. Studied Ax.

the windowsill.

His hand hovered near his holster.

MacDonald stared at him. "That bird did not

"I'll explain everything when we have more

talk," he muttered. "That bird did not talk."

time," the governor said. "Right now you need to

Ax took the governor's hand and bowed low.

know that those troops —" She pointed out the

<lt has been an honor,> he said.

window. The convoy was winding its way up

"For me, too," she replied.

through the canopy of trees lining the drive.

I shook her hand next and held it for maybe a

"Those troops have been taken over by enemy

second too long.

forces. Extraterrestrial enemy forces. We must do

The governor's head bobbed. Her chin

everything we can to stop them."

dropped to her chest. She almost seemed to doze

"Extraterrestrial?" MacDonald gaped at her.

off while leaning against her desk. I released her

"Aliens? You've gotta be joking!"

hand, and she blinked herself awake.

<She is not joking,> Ax said, slightly of-

"Oh!" She rubbed the circles under her eyes.

fended. <My presence should prove that.>

"Guess the coffee's not working."

MacDonald considered this. Rubbed a hand

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It's been a

over his face. "Aliens. Okay. So what do we do?"

long day. Okay, I need to make a quick pit stop

"The governor is our main concern right now,"

before we leave."

I said. "If we can get the Controllers, the aliens,

I darted into the bathroom and gathered what

130

131

I needed. Then I strolled back into the office, my

arms folded tightly across my chest.

Armstrong unbolted the office door. "All

clear," he said.

Ax, Tobias, and I stepped into the hall. No-

body seemed to notice the soggy gray lump

tucked under my shirt.

CHAPTER 24

I pushed the front door open and strode out

onto the porch. Alone. My damp dress clung to

my legs.

Hummers and National Guard trucks sur-

rounded the governor's mansion. Soldiers in

camouflage fatigues hunkered down behind the

governor's well-tended shrubs, weapons drawn.

I peered out into an ocean of gun barrels. Pis-

tols, rifles, howitzers, Dracon beams.

All pointing at me.

I steeled myself. Flashed what I hoped was an

elected-official smile. "It's lovely to see the

young men and women of our armed forces gath-

ered here. However, I think—"

I shivered. It was too weird. The governor's

132

133

voice coming from my body. Then I reminded

formed that a military exercise would be taking

myself. The body wasn't mine, either.

place on my front lawn today."

It was the governor's.

His face twisted into a sneer.

I'd acquired her DNA when I shook her hand,

"This isn't an exercise," he said. "It's a well-then morphed in the hall outside her office. Now

orchestrated operation, and it's proceeding bet-

I was standing barefoot on her front porch, wear-

ter than I could have dreamed. What is it the

ing her ragged fund-raising dress, trying to con-

newspapers call you? Tough-minded? I thought

vince lunatics with automatic weapons that I was

our tough-minded governor would put up more of

the real thing.

a fight. If I'd known it would be this easy, I

I cleared my throat. "As I was saying, I think

wouldn't have brought so many friends." He

we may have had a small miscommunication, be-

swept one camouflaged arm toward the troops

cause I don't have any National Guard events

and trucks. "Seems like overkill, doesn't it?"

listed on my schedule. Could I speak to your

His lips stretched across his teeth in a cold

commanding officer, please?"

smile.

The door of one of the Hummers swung open.

And suddenly I knew. I was looking into the

A man in crisply pressed fatigues climbed out.

eyes of Visser One. He wasn't in the human

He was short and tan and built like a bulldog. He

morph he usually used, but it was him.

strode across the drive, sunlight glinting off his

I forced an indignant-governor frown onto my

spit-polished boots.

face. I couldn't let Visser One see that I recog-

He stopped in front of me. His cold, hard eyes

nized him. That I knew what he was planning.

bored through my skull. "That's me," he said.

That I was anything other than the governor of

"I'm in charge here."

this state.

"Good." I nodded. Had to keep up the act.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I

"Well, then, Col — Capt—"

said.

I frowned at the shiny gold eagles on his col-

"I'm sure you don't." He turned to the troops.

lar. What rank did that make him? Colonel? Cap-

"Corporal!"

tain? Extreme Exhaulted Emperor?

One of the soldiers scrambled forward. "Yes,

"Well, then . . . sir," I said. "I was not in-

sir."

134

135

"Would you escort our governor to her vehi-

and began winding it around my ankles. He

cle?"

wrenched each loop tight. The rope burned into

"Yes, sir."

my skin.

"My vehicle?" I said. "But I'm not going any-

These guys did not know how to treat a lady.

where."

"Owwww! What is your name, son? I demand

"Oh, but you are," said Visser One. He turned

to know your name, rank, and social security

and strode toward the Humvee. "Someplace very

number. Uh, serial number. I'm suspending your

special."

pay as of this moment. You will be brought up on

The corporal grabbed me by the upper arm.

charges." I glared at the three soldiers. "All of

you."

"Watch it!" I started to jerk away.

Keep up the act, Marco. Keep up the act.

"Oh, no." The corporal smirked. "Not

charges!"

I took a breath. "Young man," I said, "you are

hurting me."

"I'm trembling," said one of his buddies.

"Look at me, I'm all a-flutter."

"Really? Good." The corporal hauled me

Great. I got stuck with comedians. Lousy

across the driveway.

ones, too.

The other troops began to pack up their

The corporal finished tying my ankles to-

weapons and load them into the trucks. They

gether. His two buddies scrambled up into the

were getting ready to leave.

back of the truck and held the canvas open.

I almost smiled.

"I really don't understand you boys," I said.

The corporal shoved me face first against a

"I just don't understand what's going on here."

big canvas-covered transport truck. He twisted

"Don't worry. You will." The corporal lifted me

my arms behind my back and snapped handcuffs

over his shoulder. "You'll understand everything

around my wrists. Two of his buddies dragged me

real soon."

to the back of the truck.

He heaved me headfirst into the back of the

Visser One's Humvee rumbled past. I watched

truck, climbed in after me, and snapped the can-

it go. Scanned the drive. Were Ax and Tobias in

vas shut.

place? I couldn't tell.

We were on our way.

The soldiers shoved me to the ground. The

corporal pulled a rope from the back of the truck

136

137

The canvas sides whipped in the wind. My face

thumped against the cold metal floor.

"Are these ropes and handcuffs really neces-

sary?" I said.

I rolled to my side and swung my bound an-

kles around in front of me. My feet were purple

and numb from lack of blood flow.

CHAPTER 25

"I'm not stupid," I said. "I won't try to es-

cape."

I rocked, trying to get into a sitting position.

Fell on my face and tried again.

"I'm perfectly aware that a middle-aged, out-

of-shape woman is no match for three well-

trained — aah!"

I lay on my stomach. I could see the floor,

I sat up.

the toes of a Controller's boots, and a stack of

And came face-to-face with the barrel of a ri-

ammunition crates in the corner.

fle. The corporal and his two buddies surrounded

RRRRRRRrrrrrrmmmmmm.

me, M-16s aimed at my head.

The truck roared to life. Shuddered as the

"Oh, honestly," I said. "Aren't you boys going

driver shifted gears.

a bit overboard? As I said, I'm not in a position

RRRRRRRrrrrrrmmmmmm.

to —ulllmph."

The driver gave it gas. We lurched forward,

The corporal stuffed the corner of a filthy duf-

stalled out, then lurched again.

fle bag into my mouth.

BAM!

"Shut up already," he said.

An ammo box banged to the floor.

"Huuulph." I choked on loose threads, bits of

"Ooooooph."

grit, and something foul and sticky clinging to

Somebody heavy landed on my back.

the fabric. An old Coke spill.

The driver floored it, ground the gears, and we

I glared at my captors. They could've been

thundered down the drive. The truck bed rattled.

clones. Same haircut. Same wardrobe, camou-

138

139

flage fatigues and combat boots. Same sneer

The corporal's M-16 clattered to the bed of

pasted across their faces.

the truck. One Stripe dove for it.

A second Hork-Bajir — Ax — dropped through

The only difference was the little collar pins

the canvas.

that showed their rank. Like Visser One's gold ea-

And pinned One Stripe's hands to the floor

gles, except these were dull black stripes. The

with his tyrannosaur feet. Ax doubled his leathery

corporal had two stripes. One of his buddies had

fist.

one stripe. And the other didn't have any.

WHAP!

Stripeless jabbed the barrel of his M-16 in my

One Stripe was out cold.

face. "What are you looking at?"

The corporal had dropped to his knees. Now

"Ur-uuhl." I shrugged and shook my head.

he whirled. Lunged toward the fallen rifle. Tobias

We rumbled down the drive. Sunlight filtered

seized him in one clawed hand and jerked him

through the trees and flickered against the can-

into a stranglehold. Blood poured from the cor-

vas roof.

poral's arm.

<They took the bait.> Tobias's thought-speak

Stripeless had been slowly inching away from

sounded strong. He was nearby. <They're all

the fight. Now he jammed the muzzle of his rifle

headed down the drive. Every last truck and

into my skull. "Let him go," he told Tobias, "or Humvee.>

the governor here gets it."

I glanced up. A jagged shadow loomed above

Ax and Tobias froze.

the canvas.

The truck jolted as the driver shifted to a

Rrrrrrrrrriiiiiiip.

lower gear. We were approaching the end of the

The roof split open.

drive.

Thummmp.

"Are you deaf?" Stripeless screamed. "I said,

And a Hork-Bajir dropped into the back of the

LET HIM GO!"

truck.

The truck shuddered to a crawl.

"Hey!" The corporal swung his rifle around.

I looked at Tobias. Caught his gaze and held

The Hork-Bajir — Tobias — lifted his knee

it. Shook my head. Slowly, slightly, so Stripeless

blade.

wouldn't see.

" AAAAAAAAAA AH H H H H H H H!"

140

141

Tobias nodded. Tightened his death grip on

Oh, good. Ax picks now to finally get human

the corporal.

sarcasm.

"You think I'm kidding? I'm not!" Stripeless

<Yeah.> Tobias nodded. <That's what I

jabbed my head for emphasis. "You either let

thought he said.>

him—"

I banged my feet again. "Uh-uhl-ur-ULUPH!"

The truck lurched.

<Okay, okay. Don't get your skirt in a wad.>

"AAH!"

Tobias pulled the duffle bag from my mouth.

Stripeless tumbled backward, slammed into

"Uuuuh." I wiggled my jaw. My mouth felt

an ammo box, and slumped to the bed of the

like sandpaper. "Thank you. Now, can you do

truck, unconscious.

something about the handcuffs?"

<They could all use a little nap,> said Tobias.

Tobias turned me around.

WHACK.

<They're a little cranky.>

One wrist fell free.

He doubled his fist.

WHACK.

WHAP!

The corporal dropped to the floor.

Then the other. The handcuffs clanked to the

floor.

Ax and Tobias rolled the Controllers together

in a heap. Then they gathered the M-16s and be-

I untied my feet and helped Ax and Tobias

gan hacking the barrels off with their wrist

bind the Controllers together with the rope.

blades.

I stood back. Pushed a wiry gray curl from my

I thumped my feet on the floor. "Uh-ur-ulph."

face and straightened my dress.

Tobias turned. <Did you say something,

We demorphed, then remorphed. Wings. To-

Marco?>

bias and I guarded the prisoners. Ax perched on

an ammo box and played lookout.

"Uh-ur-ulph. UH. UR. ULPH!"

Ax looked at me. Tilted his head. <l believe

<We are approaching a tunnel,> he said.

Marco is trying to tell us that while he is ex-

<Perfect.> I hopped up beside him. <Get

ready. >

tremely happy to see us, he enjoys being trussed

up, and could we please not remove the filthy

The back of the truck grew dark. Three mal-

lards flew through the hole in the canvas and

satchel from his mouth, as he finds it quite

flapped toward home.

tasty. >

142

143

along with a few of Toby's finest fighters, at-

tacked. The battle quickly became bloody and

desperate, and Group One realized they were los-

ing. Badly. But they knew they couldn't give up.

They couldn't bail and let hundreds of soldiers

become infested with Yeerks.

Sometime after midnight, another National

CHAPTER 26

Guard unit made an appearance. The colonel in

charge ordered the Yeerk commander to free the

uninfested troops and surrender. When the Yeerk

commander didn't, the colonel and his unit at-

tacked. Again the battle was bloody and desper-

ate, but the colonel had seen battle before, and

he knew how to win. He hadn't stopped Visser

One last night. But he had definitely slowed him

" Hey, look, Cassie!" I said. "You're a TV star."

down.

I pointed at the TV screen, where a wolf was

leaping into a crowd of National Guard troops.

Ax flipped from a local channel to CNN.

The wolf growled, bared its teeth, and sank them

"Hey, go back," said Jake. "I want to see

into a burly soldier's butt.

that."

We were back home, in Ax's scoop in the

Ax clicked back to the local channel. A blond

Hork-Bajir valley. We were crowded around Ax's

reporter was interviewing a grim-looking military

officer on the steps outside the governor's man-

TV, watching news footage of last night's battle.

sion.

Jake and the others — Group One — had dis-

covered the main Yeerk headquarters for troop

"That's him." Jake pointed at the screen.

infestation. When the Animorphs showed up,

"The guy who kicked butt last night."

Controllers were herding hundreds of National

Ax turned up the volume. The interview was

Guard soldiers at gunpoint toward a temporary

almost over.

Yeerk pool.

". . . thank you for that detailed account,

Colonel Larsen."

Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and James's group,

144

145

"Colonel Larsen? That's the governor's guy," I

copter explosion and a slow-mo shot of a yacht

said. "The one who just got back from two weeks

sinking into the river.

in the desert."

"So." Jake looked at me. "You kept it all

pretty quiet, huh?"

The reporter turned to the camera.

"That was Lieutenant Colonel Jacob P.

"Hey, we were showing a little finesse there,"

I said.

Larsen, the newly appointed head of our state

<Yeah,> said Tobias.

National Guard, giving us a chilling account of

last night's violent clashes within National Guard

"Hey, guys, quiet," said Cassie. "I want to

hear this."

ranks. Back to you, Dave."

She leaned forward and turned up the volume.

The camera switched to the news anchor. He

An announcer's voice blared from the TV. "We in-

flashed a TV-news-guy smile.

terrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring

"Thank you, Patricia. In a related story, the

you late-breaking news from the capitol."

governor got a bit of a scare yesterday afternoon.

The picture went fuzzy for a second, then fo-

During a fundraiser at the Ambassador Hotel, she

cused on Patricia, the blond reporter, talking to a

was kidnapped by three suspects who, witnesses

plump gray-haired woman.

say, were wearing Halloween costumes. News

<lt is our governors said Ax.

Channel Five brings you exclusive footage of this

Rachel stared at the TV. "She's a woman."

bizarre incident."

"Well, yeah, she's a woman, Rachel." I

Dave's image was replaced by that of a limou-

glanced at Tobias. "You didn't know that?"

sine screeching from a parking lot, a leathery ser-

Rachel was too impressed with the governor

pent head poking through the limo's roof. Then

to be annoyed with me. "This is so cool. The

the camera switched to a scene of the governor

highest elected official in our state is a woman."

galloping along a bridge on the back of a furry,

She peered at the screen.

blue, four-legged creature. A gorilla and another

The camera zoomed in on the governor. Her

creature — the one with the serpent head —

hair was a mess, her face pale. She was wearing

leaped over stalled cars and wrecked delivery

the same sweats she'd had on yesterday, only

trucks while police officers gave chase.

now they were a lot more rumpled.

The newscast ended with footage of a heli-

146

147

But when she looked into the camera, her

panic," she said. "It is the time for each of us to

steady gray eyes were still bright. Still focused.

reach into our souls and pull out the courage we

Patricia pushed a microphone into her face,

may not even know we possess. Our enemy is

and the governor began to speak.

strong. But we are stronger, because we are fight-

"I won't beat around the bush," she said. "I

ing for our lives and our freedom. For our very

have declared a state of emergency. I repeat: a

existence."

state of emergency. This is not martial law. Our

"Thank you, Governor." The camera switched

police, and even our National Guard forces, can-

to Patricia.

not be trusted." She glanced at the reporter.

Ax clicked off the TV. We sat in silence, star-

"The news media cannot be trusted. You may not

ing at the blank screen.

even be able to trust your friends or your own

family."

She explained about Yeerks. About how, like

an invisible disease, they have been infesting

and slowly taking over the population.

"I know this sounds fantastic," she said.

"Like something out of Hollywood. But by now

you've seen the news footage. You know what I'm

telling you is true. Our state, our nation, our en-

tire world is under attack. But we are already

fighting back. I have requested help from Wash-

ington, and the president has agreed to send

U.S. troops."

"U.S. troops," I said. "It's what we've wanted

from the beginning. Why am I not ecstatic?"

<How can you get ecstatic about all-out

OCRed By Arpit Nathany

global war?> Tobias said.

The governor shuffled her notes. Looked into

the camera again. "This is not the time for

148

149

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26