"L)m . . . yeah. Uh . . . okay. Sure. Sorry. I got kind of caught up there for a minute. I'm not getting Jara Hamee's thoughts or memories, but I definitely got a big bundle of Hork-Bajir instincts."
"Jara Hamee? Back in the cave," Jake said. "Do not come out. Everyone get ready. We just want to lead the Yeerks away. We are not looking for a fight. Rachel? You hear that about not looking for a fight?"
"Mmm-hmm. Sure," Rachel said, even as she slashed at the air, trying out the Hork-Bajir blades. "Whatever."
"Rachel, you can still back out of this," I suggested.
"l'll bet you ten bucks she says, "Let's do it,"" Marco said quickly.
Rachel turned her snakelike head toward Marco and grinned what I think was a Hork-Bajir grin. "Let's ... go for it."
"0h, man!" Marco complained. "She cheated."
And then the enemy arrived. Suddenly four human-Controllers armed with guns crashed clumsily into view. And with them, two Hork-Bajir.
They saw Jake and Rachel and me.
They did not see Marco. He lumbered up behind one of the Hork-Bajir, tapped him on the shoulder, and the instant the Hork-Bajir turned, Marco landed a punch that would have split a telephone pole.
Ka-BOOM!
The Hork-Bajir went down hard.
"Whoa!" one of the humans cried.
And suddenly the Controllers weren't chasing us. We were chasing them.
I flapped hard and landed on Rachel's forward-swept horn blade. I gripped the bone blade with my talons.
"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.
"Just hitching a ride," I said. "l'm not going to be left out. Not this time."
"Cool. Let's go."
"Yee-hah!" I yelled with totally, totally fake enthusiasm.
We took off through the woods. Rachel's Hork-Bajir body had an easy, loping run that was faster than it seemed at first.
I sat there holding on tight. I was tense and scared and ready for trouble. But at least I was in
for the fight, you know? At least I wasn't off somewhere safe while the others ran all the risks.
"You guys!" Cassie called down from above. "Stop chasing those Controllers! They're setting up a trap. They're leading you right between two bunches of bad guys!"
"0ops. Time to turn around," I told Rachel.
"Yep."
She turned and started running in a new direction. She was like some big tank, and I was the hood ornament.
Then . . .
"Yaaahhh!" Rachel cried. She pitched forward. I pitched forward. We hit the ground hard, and rolled through a juniper bush.
"Sorry. I tripped. You okay, Tobias?"
"Yeah. I think so."
I was caught in the branches of the bush. I couldn't fight too hard to get out or I'd damage my feathers.
Slice!
Slice!
Suddenly the juniper branches were gone.
"AII right! I like these blades," Rachel said. "Excellent!"
I fluttered my wings and hopped up to get back on Rachel's horns. But I must have overshot my goal because suddenly I was flying through the air.
No, wait! Hold on! I was up above the trees! Impossible!
How did I get here? I hadn't even flown. I'd barely hopped and now I was up in the sky? What the . . . ?
I did a quick turnaround, trying to figure out where I was. The sun was setting fast and there wasn't enough light for me to use my full powers of sight. But I wasn't blind, either. I saw a horned owl floating just at treetop level. Cassie. But she was so far away. Maybe a quarter mile!
"No way," I said in total confusion.
Then I heard gunfire. Quite close. In fact, just beneath me.
BLAM! BLAM!
A human voice yelled, "Freeze! Freeze or I put the next shot in your second heart."
There was a small clearing below me. I knew the meadow. It was the territory of a Swainson's hawk. Not as nice as my own meadow, but a nice territory, anyway.
But I wasn't looking for mice in this clearing. I saw three humans, each well-armed, surrounding a single Hork-Bajir.
Rachel?
No. Couldn't be. She was back . . . back where I should be. Was it Jara Hamee himself? What was going on?
I noticed that one of the human-Controllers
seemed to be sick. He was doubling over, like he was having a spasm.
No, wait! He was morphing!
It took a few seconds for me to be sure. But when I saw the extra stalk eyes appear and the sharp-tipped tail, I knew. It was an Andalite.
There are only two Andalites on planet Earth. One is Ax. The other is not a true Andalite at all. It's a Yeerk who uses an Andalite body.
The only Andalite-Controller in all the galaxy.
The only Yeerk to have the power to morph.
Our greatest enemy, leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth, murderer of Ax's brother, Elfangor.
Visser Three.
Andalites always look like they're right on the borderline between cute and dangerous. But with Visser Three, that line doesn't even exist.
It's not that he looks any different outside. I mean, he looks like an older Andalite is all. But there is some dark, evil glow that shines from within him. And when you meet him you have no doubt ... no doubt at all that he is dangerous.
Deadly dangerous.
"Guys?" I called in thought-speak. "Um, Jake? Rachel?"
No answer. I was too far away from them.
The Andalite body emerged fully from the human form it had morphed.
"Well, well, Ket Halpak," Visser Three said.