Chapter One -- Cairo

I was running. From what, I didn't know. I was just running.

I was running through the mall, pushing my way past shoppers and squalling babies and tired mothers and annoyed fathers and whiny siblings. I stumbled and almost lost my balance. I was exhausted, I was worried, and I was scared. I didn't know what I was fleeing from, but blind terror is always the most powerful.

"Cairo!"

My name rang out through the mall. I pushed my muscles for every ounce of speed I could get.

That voice! It rang through my mind like an echo reverberating through a canyon. I recognized it -- from where?

I didn't know that either.

I turned and caught a flash of a black haired, green eyed teenager. I gasped in shock and pressed myself even harder. This desperate speed would not last. This crazed run would not endure.

I tripped. I landed off balance on the side of my foot and cried out in pain. I struggled to my feet but felt my ankle collapse under me.

The owner of the dark hair and the brilliant green eyes caught up to me. His face was open, smiling.

Behind the gaze, I recognized that dark evil that emanates from all those who share his fate.

Behind the gaze, I recognized the Yeerk.

"Kilan," I said in as calm a voice as I could manage.

He offered his hand to help me up. I took it, my ankle feeling better already. I could stand on it. I felt like maybe I could run.

That was a good thing, because I was sure I was going to be running very soon.

"Cairo," he replied, sounding for all the world like the guy I'd dated, like the guy I'd loved. For a moment, the dark gaze flickered.

Then it was back.

"I'm free, Cairo," he told me. "I'm free. There's a chance for us aga--"

I nailed him hard across the face.

"You lie!" I roared. People around us turned to stare. I didn't care. I didn't care about anything except the emotions pumping through my system. The adrenalin hit me like a flood. "YOU LIE!"

He stepped closer, closer. I backed away, terrified not only by the natural fear of a Yeerk, but the new emotions inside: longing, hope. I missed him. I missed him so much! He was telling the truth. His gaze was not dark, his eyes--

-- are those of a YEERK! I raged at myself. I recovered my composure and held my ground as he came closer.

But he was not threatening. He was the guy I loved.

Did love, I told myself. Past tense. He's a Controller now!

"Please, Cairo," he said in a saddened, despairing tone. "I want things to be like they were. I'm free, Cairo, I'm free...all I want is for things to be like they were."

Just a Yeerk trick! I knew that! So why did his words hurt me so much?

The adrenalin flood receded. The emotions did not.

"Kilan, you are a Controller," I informed him coldly.

A look of immense pain crossed his face. Even though I knew it was an act, it still cut me to my heart. I knew it was a Yeerk act. I knew it.

Ever since I had escaped...ever since my Yeerk had missed its feeding schedule...I had known that they'd send this Kilan after me. I had known that because I knew the Yeerks, knew their ruthlessness. They would know that he was my weakness.

"Cairo!"

I turned, grateful for the distraction. I tensed when I saw who had spoken.

My twin sister, Cat.

Bad news.

You see, while both of us had been Controllers, I had escaped. She had not.

The creature who looked exactly like my sister was really a Yeerk.

She smoothed her blond hair back. Her dark green eyes glittered as they met mine.

We were identical except in the fact that she had green eyes and I had blue eyes. That was the only difference between us. When we were younger, we often switched clothes to fool our friends. We had told each other everything. We had shared secrets, boy talk...we had been close. So close.

And now we were so far away.

I met her dark green eyes with my own dark blue eyes. I tossed my head, letting my own blond hair fall over my shoulders in the exact same way that hers did.

Kilan touched my shoulder. "Come with me, Cairo," he said. "Come with me. I want to talk to you about --"

"No!" Cat cut in. "No, I want to show you this sale. I walked here for this...sale. Yeah. At the Gap."

There was something in her tone that implied a sense of urgency. Eager to get the host back?

Yeah, right, Yeerk, I thought. Like I don't know about the Yeerk pool entrance there. Uh, no. Thanks, but I'll do my shopping somewhere else.

"Nah," I said coolly. "Hey, Cat, I have to wonder why you moved out. Sick of my company?"

I was curious about that. Of course, it was probably to spy on the Andalite bandits.

"Yeah, that must be it, Cairo," she said sarcastically, looking from me to Kilan. "Look, I really want to show you this...sale."

"I'm going to go get a milkshake," I said icily. A total lie, of course. I was going to run as fast as I could for the exit. The food court could keep their milkshakes.

"I'll buy you one," Kilan offered.

"No," I said. "Just leave me alone." I turned to leave and suddenly got the full impact of the weakness of those words.

They could crush me! Two Controllers, surrounding me! But they couldn't do anything here in the mall, in the open...could they?

Kilan and Cat sized each other up. Cat had never liked Kilan much, even though Kilan had a crush on her at one point. But there was something else in the stares.

I darted away, taking my chance. I was going to get out that exit and I was going to find the Andalite bandits. I was going to free Cat, free Kilan. I was going to...I was going to...

Some inner part of me snorted derisively. Hey, Cairo, worry about staying alive. Then you can worry about the other stuff.

"Cairo!" both of them yelled at the same time. I could hear running footsteps behind me.

I turned around a corner, ducked into a store, and flattened myself against the wall. I was breathing hard. I hid myself in a corner as well as I could.

I was breathing hard. I felt like I couldn't get enough air. I felt like my lungs were going to shut down, like my trachae was going to explode. I was terrified. They were going to see me! They were going to have me infested down in that cesspool.

I watched Kilan and Cat go running past. They were staying away from each other.

Probably keeping up their facades, I thought bitterly.

I had been free for a little over a week. I was still, outwardly, the same girl. No one had figured out that I was no longer a Controller until I was needed at the Yeerk pool (on one of the Yeerk's three day feeding times) for some project -- something to do with Elfangor's hirac delest -- and wasn't there.

That had been three days ago.

Last night, Elfangor's hirac delest had been stolen by the Andalite bandits. I knew that much. I knew that the Andalite bandits had made an appearance at the pool.

What would I do now? I hoped to find them, to find allies in them, to join the war, to fight the Yeerks. To free Kilan. To free Cat.

Now, I was running from my enemies. I had hoped to lose myself in the mall. I had felt someone following me. It had obviously been Kilan.

I knew now what I had been running from.



Chapter Two -- Kilan

Cat ran as fast as I did, searching for her sister. While I and the entire Yeerk empire knew that this Cat person was free, Cairo her twin did not. Therefore, it was necessary to prevent all contact between them.

I didn't see Cairo anywhere. The Yeerk was frustrated. I was relieved.

Run, Cairo, I thought. Run as fast as you can, as hard as you can. Don t let them find you, Cairo.

I'd come close to escape two days ago. I had been inside the Yeerk pool and had managed to make it to an exit. However, I had mistaken Cat for Cairo when I emerged into the theatre, and I had paid dearly for it.

=You thought you could escape me?= Visser Nine purred. =Fool!=

=You have problems of your own,= I said coldly. =After all, you've lost her. Visser Three won't be happy to hear of that, will he?=

=Shut up,= he sneered angrily. I knew that I had gotten to him. I could sense a plan forming in his warped, twisted mind.

I could sense that he would do anything to save face in front of the Visser.

I felt fear.

Not for myself. I was doomed, I understood that now. Escape...any effort to escape...was futile. I was destined to be a host to the murderous creature in my head.

But Cairo was not.

I still loved her, I realized. Even if I was doomed to be a host, I would do anything to keep her from sharing my fate. We wouldn't be together -- either way, we would never be together -- and all I wanted was for her to be free.

=Fool,= the Yeerk muttered. But the statement lacked the fury, the anger, the excitement that his "Fool" often had. Did he realize what he had done to me, to her? Did he feel guilt for it?

Of course not. He was a Yeerk. He was not a peace movement Yeerk. He was a filthy slug.

=And that is what you would leave me as,= he sneered. =You would deprive me of sight, of hearing, of everything -- even, to some extent, freedom -- for yourself.=

=And you would deprive me of the same, for the same reason,= I replied. =I can't help what you are. Why should I suffer just because you're a slug? I have no part in your life! I have nothing to do with you, and yet I am affected because of your murderous plans.=

He was heading for the exit of the mall now. I could feel someone watching us. The Yeerk turned and saw that it was Cat.

=She may be a problem,= he murmured. =In all likelihood, she is allied with those Andalite bandits. After all, she saved them last night, one in particular.=

I listened with interest. At one point, I had liked Cat (before I met Cairo, that is). She hadn t cared about me. She'd never really cared about anyone in that way, to my knowledge. She'd gone out with a lot of guys, but she had always ended the relationship before it really got off the ground.

I didn't understand her. She seemed to hold everyone away from her, to live inside a bubble of her own. Not that she was a recluse or anything, just that she was untouchable.

A very calm, cool, self confident girl. Not quiet, not loud. She seemed to pull away from everyone's standards and formulate her own. Cairo once told me that she did that because she met normal standards. She excelled in school, in sports, in drama. As a result, she set her standards high (almost too high). She was not popular, not unpopular. She didn't care about either. The only being she really seemed to care about was her sister.

Cairo was a little different. She was popular; she cared about other's opinions, though not to an extreme; she didn't inhabit a bubble, but took her chances down on Earth. While she wasn't obsessed with being popular, or a fashion clone -- one of the things that I liked about both her and Cat -- she cared about other's standards as well as her own. She excelled in drama and sports, as well, and was just a half step behind her twin in school.

Cairo was a little bit more emotional than Cat. Her emotions were strong and powerful, and she didn't care about hiding them as much as Cat did. She didn't shield them at all.

If both of them were mythical beings, Cairo would be a floating, airy nymph and Cat would be a sphinx of liquid steel. Cairo was the bright, singing bird floating in the trees; Cat was the silent, dark cat prowling in the forest below.

The Yeerk continued, oblivious to my thoughts for once. =Cat will be a large problem, when joined with the Andalites. They are still in possession of the blue box, after all. All the more reason to keep Cairo from finding about her sister's escape. The two of them would be unstoppable, balancing each other perfectly.=

Maybe Cairo will make it to them, I thought. I hoped that she would. At this point, they were her only hope. If she didn't make it, she'd be back in the Yeerk pool, back in the cages, waiting for her turn, waiting for the moment when the Yeerk re entered her mind, waiting for the moment when hope died...

The Yeerk walked with a slow but deliberate step toward the suburbs. I couldn't see his plan. I simply knew that he was confident.

All the more reason for fear.

I remembered how the three of us had been captured, and in what order. I had been captured at a meeting of the Sharing, hanging out with Tom, one of my friends. At least, I thought he was a friend. He was a Controller.

Cairo and I had gone out on a date the next night. Of course, the Yeerk had already set the trap up. She was down in the Yeerk pool before she figured out what was going on.

In turn, she had captured Cat. They had been at the mall and Cairo had made up some excuse to try on clothes in the Gap.

There's an entrance to the Yeerk pool in the dressing room of the Gap.

Now, both of them were free. Cairo had escaped first, then Cat.

I was still a host.

No escape for me. But there had been an escape for Cairo. And that was enough. It was enough that she was free, that she had hope.

But it wouldn't be enough for long, because it wouldn't do any good if she was recaptured.

And the Yeerks were after her.



Chapter Three -- Cat


They were after my sister. Not enough that they'd captured both of us, nooo, they had to go back and try to recapture us.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched Visser Nine exit the mall. I'm a match for you yet, Yeerk, I told him silently. I'll always be here for you and your entire Yeerk empire. Try and take me on.

I was too arrogant. Perhaps I should have felt fear, hate, anger, something. I felt nothing. I felt cool, calm, disinterested. I felt that way because I'm used to being able to take on anything and everything. I could handle this.

Yeah, right, I snorted to myself. Me against an empire. Uh huh.

No, not just me. The other Animorphs would be there. They had fought longer than me. They knew the enemy.

But they could never know the enemy as I had. No one can ever know an enemy unless you have shared a mind with them. And I had.

I concentrated hard, trying to divine Visser Nine's plan. Where would he go? What would he do?

Main plan of the Yeerk empire next to defeating Earth: keep the invasion a secret, a.k.a., don't let hosts escape. And if they do, recapture them.

Yes, I was clear on that. But I needed to stay one step ahead of them. To do that, I had to know their plans, or at least have a pretty close hypothesis.

Would I need help? For a moment I considered talking to the other Animorphs. Then I shrugged. I'm a loner. I always have been, I always will be. I do better by myself than in a group.

Or maybe I just enjoy it more by myself.

"Cat!"

I whirled around, then looked over my shoulder. Visser Nine was gone. I was going to lose him if I didn't move fast!

"Cat!" Rachel gasped, catching up with me. "Was someone chasing you just now?"

"No," I said.

"I saw you running. It looked like you twisted your ankle or something."

I laughed a short, grim laugh. "My twin sister, Cairo," I responded. "Not me."

"Cairo?" A moment of confusion passed over her face. "Isn't that the name of the Egyptian capital?"

"Yeah. It's also my sister's nickname."

"Oh. The name that Visser Nine's host was saying when we were at the theatre."

"The host's name is Kilan," I informed her. "My sister's boyfriend. Or at least, was, before they were both captured. Cairo escaped somehow, but now Kilan's after her." My face clouded. "They are not getting my sister."

Rachel nodded. "Need help?"

I almost laughed. Need, Rachel? I need no one. I am a loner, okay? Why would I need you?

On the other hand, backup would be good. If anything happened, it would be good for two of us to be there, ready.

So I nodded. "Yeah. Put your stuff in a locker or something. I have a feeling we're going to be moving fast."

I was wearing my morphing outfit under my clothes. If I had to morph, I was ready. I shot her a quick smile, then started running for the exit.

They were not getting my sister back.



Chapter Four -- Rachel


I stuffed my bags in a locker and locked it. I could sense that danger was approaching somehow. Cat and I were not exactly going to go hang out at the Normal Club. We were going to battle aliens.

My reaction was, COOL!!

I caught up with Cat. I had traded my shoes for some cheap sandals that I had bought for just such an occasion. They were like a dollar fifty.

I could stand losing them.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we ran. Cat threw open the doors of the exit.

"I'm betting that Cairo will not go to our house," she said, thinking.

"Smart," I muttered.

"Definitely. She knows that Aunt Lisa and Uncle Red -- our foster parents -- are Controllers. She won t be going back there. I think she'll go to...hmm...the woods."

"What?"

"We used to hang out at the abandoned house. She doesn't know that I'm staying there now. That's probably where she'll go."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She laughed grimly. "Rachel, in this war, you must never underestimate your enemy or your friend. You cannot be sure of the actions of another. You cannot be certain of the move another will make."

"Are you reasonably convinced?" I said impatiently.

She shook her head in amusement. "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. It's a guess, nothing more."

I felt irritated by the fact that she pretended to know nothing yet seemed to know everything. She read my expression and sighed. "Sorry, Rachel."

I didn't like her searching eyes. They scared me, somehow.

However, I felt captivated. Cat mystified me.

There was a glimmer of a smile in her dark green pools, now illuminated as though by a green fire. The short run had deepened the color in her cheeks. She was somehow wild, free, as though she d already morphed a cheetah and the cheetah had taken control.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," she said again. Something like a smile, yet despairing, played on her lips. She looked up, focusing her searching eyes somewhere else. "There."

I looked up as well, grateful for a distraction. There was an old grey house, two stories, dark shutters on the windows, an old, decrepit porch, two large gable windows.

It looked uninhabited.

"I don't think she's here," I said coolly, wondering why I was helping Cat anyway.

"She has to be," Cat murmured. The fire in her eyes dimmed, flickered until her sparkling eyes became dark green pools instead of torches. I could read something bordering on disappointment, but not quite. Like, "Oh, she's not here. Well. I'll find her; this is just a minor setback."

She cocked her head, considering. "She has to be," she repeated. "If she is, then she d be in the bottom level."

I sighed in exasperation. "If, if, if."

"Look, Rachel, why don t you get the others," Cat said with a sidelong look at me. "I can handle it by myself until you get back. I always do."

"You sure?" I said politely.

"Mmhmmm," she said, looking at the house, her tone implying that I was already gone.

She frustrated me. I liked her, I really did, but she frustrated me, made me feel as if everything was futile, as though I was weakened, drained when I opposed her, as though I was energetic and wild when I agreed with her.

I felt energetic. She wanted me gone, and I was willing to go, and so I felt like a wild horse running.

She was a very strange person. But then, it's a very strange world.



Chapter Five -- Cairo


Convincing, in a way, I noted as I watched Cat from the top story of the house. I knew she'd look downstairs first. I had to outthink my sister and the Yeerk, and outthinking my sister OR the Yeerk would have been hard enough.

Back to the original topic. It was convincing, her little conversation with this "Rachel." She sounded exactly like the Cat that scared most people, that pushed them away while drawing them closer. She sounded exactly like the Cat who I, and I alone, had understood. She sounded like she always had.

Of course, she would.

Rachel ran off, presumably to get "the others." It occurred to me that perhaps she was one of the famed "Andalite" bandits. It occurred to me, as it had so many times, that Visser Three was wrong and that his opponents were merely human.

It also occurred to me that it was a trap that Cat the Controller was setting.

I searched my memory. Was there any way to tell for sure if she was really Cat? Any way at all?

=Cat!=

Cat whirled around, tense, ready. She relaxed. "Hi, Ax," she said calmly.

=I expected to find you here. There has been a...catastrophe...with the Yeerks.=

"What?!" she snapped. "What happened?!"

=The hirac delest is gone.=

"Elfangor's hirac delest? Please tell me you're kidding."

=I am not. Jake had it today in his room, trying to --=

"Jake? Excuse me? What would he want with it?"

=-- figure out what we could do, or something like that. Now, it's gone. They suspect that Tom might have gotten it.=

Cat looked back at the house. Her eyes swept up it, up to the top window. I ducked.

Who was this Andalite? A Controller as well? Surely not. I would have heard about it before I escaped.

"My sister has, apparently, escaped," she murmured. "Cairo. I've not told you of her?"

=No.=

"She escaped from the Yeerk pool. The Yeerks are after her again." A thoughtful expression hovered on her face. "But this...hirac delest...we can take no chances." She nodded carefully. "Okay. Let's go."

I felt almost betrayed. But I knew that, if this was not a trap, she was right. This hirac delest was dangerous to them -- if she was really Cat.

I knew of the hirac delest. I had escaped two days before the Andalites -- if they were Andalites -- had taken it.

I shook my head. Ridiculous. Suddenly the reality I had seen as truth was dissolving into if s.

There is no room for "if's" when your life, your freedom, your world is in danger.

Life is weird. Deal with it. After all, "if's" don't solve anything.



Chapter Six -- Jake


I was seriously furious at myself. I'd only left my room for a moment, sure, but I shouldn't have had it in the first place. I didn't even know why I had it. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it.

Had I just been mesmerized, staring at the device that contained all the memories of the Andalite prince who had turned my reality upside down? Had I just been mesmerized, staring at the device that could blow our cover, let the Yeerks know who and what we were?

If I was so mesmerized, why had I let it out of my sight?

To my surprise, the other Animorphs were not blowing up at me. But I guess they were too worried.

Tobias had gotten Ax. Rachel had gone over to Cassie s about some problem with Cat and Cassie had told her. Ax had gotten Cat. Cassie had called me and I d called Marco.

"Okay, so the fearless leader just blew your secrets?" Cat said calmly.

"Your secrets too, Cat," I retorted. "You're one of us, after all. Don't talk like you're such a disinterested party."

"Okay, Jake," she replied. "So the fearless leader just blew OUR secrets?"

I suddenly comprehended the stupidity of my remark. No, Cat, I didn't just blow their secrets, I blew yours too!

"How about we start focusing on what to do here?" Cassie suggested. I sent her a grateful look.

Cat looked like she had some cool, calm, sarcastic reply on the tip of her tongue, but she just smiled her cool, calm, sweet smile. I glanced at her and found I could not pull my eyes away.

Why not?

What was going on?

Cassie noticed my stare. She looked confused. I ripped my eyes off Cat.

Somehow, I understood that I had not torn them away, but that she had released her hold.

I shuddered. This strange girl scared me.

"So, are we going to do something about it or not?" Marco asked, breaking a suddenly uncomfortable silence.

=If Tom has it, we have to get it back,= Tobias said. =Do you think he has it?=

Silence.

=Jake? Hello?=

"I am not sure if he has it or not," I said, looking away from Cat to meet Tobias's eyes. "Probably, but I'm not certain." I tried out an unnatural laugh. "For all I know, Homer could have it."

=I doubt that,= Ax said. =What interest would a canine have in a tiny device? He would not see the significance of it.=

Cat sighed but I could see a small, genuine smile creep over her lips. "Dogs grab whatever they can," she told him. "Dogs are...annoying."

"Living up to your name?" Rachel said with a laugh slightly more natural than mine. She smiled.

Cat smiled back, something like relief in her eyes. Her eyes flickered from their bright sparkle.

"Dogs are not annoying," I protested.

"You mean you like it when a big mutt slobbers on you?" she said in disbelief.

There was something natural about the conversation. Something normal. Somehow, I would not have expected it of her.

"We did NOT call this meeting to talk about dogs," Marco said sternly. But I could read relief on his face, and on Cassie's, and even Ax's. Tobias's face showed nothing, of course. "Tom must have it. I knew we made a mistake not destroying it."

=You would think that,= Tobias sneered.

"It's of no use to us," Marco said coldly. "No use at all. We can't recreate Elfangor ourselves, and we can't read the memories or we'll annihilate all chance of recreating him. We can't let the Yeerks find it -- or we have to get it back, to put it more accurately -- because then they'll know who and what we are. Therefore, Elfangor's hirac delest is nothing to us except a danger."

"He may be right," I admitted. "I should have destroyed it."

"You should have been more careful with it," Rachel countered.

"He shouldn't have had it in the first place!" Marco yelled furiously.

He was scared. The worry was turning into fear and the fear was making itself known in the form of anger.

That didn't lessen the fact that he was right.

"Hey. People. Cut it out. Let s get something done. Like, storm Tom and find out if he has the disk and if he doesn't tell us..." Cat smiled slightly. "I think I can arrange it."

"You had better not mess with my brother," I growled.

"Jake, get a grip. I'm not going to hurt him. Just convince him to talk."

=I don't trust her,= Tobias said. =No.=

Cat cocked her head and glanced at him, sitting up there in the rafters. Her gaze seemed to melt. "Trust me, Tobias, please," she said in a soft, low voice. "Please, Tobias..."

Tobias jerked and shuddered. Rachel tensed. We all did.

"Please..."

Tobias suddenly straightened. =We should trust her.=

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Rachel roared.

"Just a demonstration," Cat said with a shrug. "That wouldn't hurt Tom, now, would it, Jake? That is all I would do."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Rachel yelled again. "TELL ME OR I LL --"

"Or you'll what, Rachel?" Cat cut her off.

=Cat,= Ax said softly. She turned to meet his eyes for the second time during the meeting.

"Yes, Aximili?" she said coldly.

=What did you do to Tobias?=

She shrugged. "Nothing much. Just fit him into my script."

=Do not do it again,= he said in a harsh yet quiet, pleading voice.

She jerked. A look of fire flamed up in her calm, dark green pools. "You would command me, Andalite?"

=Don't mess with her, Ax,= Tobias said in a mechanical voice.

Suddenly Cat smiled. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I space out like that. Sorry, everyone."

Tobias flapped his wings. =What the...=

"Tobias?" Rachel whispered.

=Huh? What just happened?=

"I'm sorry, Tobias, Cat said with a sincere look of apology. "Sorry, everyone. I just...spaced, I guess."

Everyone nodded. But Ax kept staring at her.

Cat turned ever so slightly. A look of sorrow, despair crossed her face. She looked up into Ax's (main) eyes.

He returned her gaze steadily.

After about a full minute, both of them turned away at the same time.

"Freaky," Cassie muttered.

=Worse than freaky,= Tobias agreed.

I could see something in Ax s eyes. There was a flicker of understanding, and also a small bit of admiration.

=Wonderful tactic,= Ax commented. =However, it seems to be a bit weaker when you deal with Andalites.=

Cat raised an eyebrow.

So did I. "Ax, what are you talking about?"

She sent him a soft, quiet, pleading look. He hesitated.

In that moment, his eyes glazed.

Cat shuddered. Not in fear. Not in a whew, that was close type of shudder. Not in disgust.

She shuddered in regret.

Was it possible, just possible, that she did not wish to hypnotize/control/whatever him? Why him?

There was a lilting laugh from the door of the barn.

"I've seen enough."

With that, Cat stepped in.

No, not Cat.

"Cairo!" Cat yelped.

"I've seen enough," she repeated. A faint smile tinged her lips. "You're definitely Cat."

"You followed me?" she demanded indignantly. "Excuse me?"

"Okay, Cat," I growled. "Who is she?"

Cat smiled. "My twin sister, Cairo."

I glanced at her. She had a manner quite different from Cat's. It was obvious even through her laugh. Cairo was sweeter, more emotional, less cool, less calm. She was...normal.

They couldn't be related.

Cairo stepped back and looked Cat up and down. She looked from Cat to Ax and back again. "Wow."

=Wow, what?= Ax laughed. The glazed look disappeared from his eyes.

"Did he just make a joke?" Marco muttered under his breath.

"What the..." Cairo gasped. "No way."

Cat looked shocked but, somehow, pleased.

Pleased?!

"That is unusual," Cairo said, staring at Ax. "I did so totally not see that."

There was something about Cairo that made me feel as though I d known her forever, as though I could trust her. Totally opposite from Cat, who made me feel like I had to trust her.

"Well," Cat said in a shocked but pleased tone. "I must congratulate you, Andalite."

=You thought that you could hypnotize an Andalite?=

Cat shrugged. "Never tried. To do it, I'd probably have to use the whole claustrophobia thing." Her faint, genuine smile lit her face.

Cairo leaned over and whispered something in Cat's ear. She raised an eyebrow with the classic expression of nonchalance.

I would have traded the world to find out what she'd said.



Chapter Seven -- Cat


I was determined not to let Cairo's words be true. A strange resolution.

She had leaned over and whispered, "Pleased that he was strong? Pleased to find someone...different? Perhaps you ve found the one you look for."

It took all of my willpower to keep from blushing.

I'd gone a little...nuts...controlling the Animorphs. Just slightly. But I was actually glad that Ax had not been touched.

Yeah, I could probably control him using claustrophobia or whatever. But something about him made me want to not.

Cairo was back, apparently. Somehow, I was not elated beyond belief. Nothing had changed. So we were friends, real friends, not Controllers, again -- that was how it had always been.

Or maybe I'm just way too experienced at controlling my emotions.

I could see the suspicion in the other Animorphs faces. Suspicion of me. Acceptance of Cairo.

Cairo was like that. Outgoing, smiling, floating, lilting Cairo. I was, at first glance, all of those. But at second glance, I was secretive, stone-faced, liquid steel, deliberate. I was her opposite.

I paid the price by never having popularity. I didn't want it. I didn't want other humans, I didn't want friends. I guess I lost myself. If I was ever a normal human girl, I had lost that.

But I had so much more. From being...what I had been...I could rip people from their ways of thinking and draw them into mine.

I'd done it to Tobias.

The Andalite was strong. He was what I had always wanted, I admitted to myself. Someone strong, someone gentle; someone made from steel, yet soft; someone carved from stone, never bending, never breaking, yet someone who might care about...

I shook it off. I needed no one! I'd never needed anyone! I'd never needed friends, never needed boyfriends. I had come close to needing Cairo, but I could live without even her.

I would not start to care about this Andalite. I cared for no one. I had cared for no one ever since...

"NO!" I shrieked aloud.

Every eye turned to me. All four of Ax's eyes, in fact.

She said nothing, I communicated through my body language, my eyes. I reached inside their minds and told them it was false, I had not spoken, they had heard nothing, nothing at all.

Their eyes glazed slightly. All except the Andalite's.

He had heard me. He knew that I had screamed. He did not know why. But he knew that it had happened.

Tight walls, closing in. No space to move. No space to run. No sky.

This was the message I communicated. I had to know. I had to know if he was truly strong, or if it was just an approach in the wrong way.

Terror rose in his eyes. I could see it. Wild terror -- panic -- the need to escape --

Then it dimmed. He looked around, sweeping the room with his stalk eyes.

His gaze fell on me, no longer afraid, no longer startled. It was...cocky? Arrogant? What was the word for those jade eyes that stared into mine?

I returned the gaze.

I knew.

The Andalite was strong.

He would have to be. He had to be, to fight this war. But the Animorphs fought the same war, and they were all staring at each other like spaced-out idiots.

Suddenly Rachel snapped out of it. She was strong, for a human.

Then Jake.

Then Tobias.

Then Marco.

Then Cassie.

I had expected that order. Rachel was strong from...everything. She was strong from surviving her parents' divorce, strong from the war.

Jake was strong from the decisions he'd made. A leader has to be strong.

Tobias? The hawk inside him, the predator that fights back, had joined forces with the more intelligent human mind.

Marco? His skepticism, his intelligence perhaps, had rescued him. For all of that, he was still not the strongest or close to it.

Cassie? She had snapped out of it last, but more completely. The others blinked a few times, rising to reality. Perhaps from...I didn't know about her.

Cairo? I had forgotten about her. Had she even been affected, knowing me?

Yes. She had. I determined that. But she had beaten it even before Rachel, having had her experience dealing with me.

The Andalite was the strongest.

And yet...

His gaze did not condemn me. It did not renounce me. He did not explode in private thought-speak, open thought-speak, or at all.

Was that understanding in his gaze?

No. No one had ever cared about me. No one except maybe Cairo.

No one understood me, not even Cairo. Cairo strongly believed that she did, but she didn't see the depths that there were to me.

I narrowed my eyes slightly and met Ax's. I would not look away. I never looked away.

Understand me, I pleaded silently. Please. I need someone.

I knew that I had simply thought that. Nothing in his expression changed. They were thoughts, not...not manipulations. I would never have spoken the words I need someone. I didn't need anyone. I had never found anyone as strong as I was. I had never met anyone who could triumph over my stares, my body language. I had never met anyone who could ever hope to be a suitable foe. I had never met anyone (human) that I wanted for a friend other than Cairo, and even she could not beat my stare, my language of manipulation.

I had never met an equal in that way. I'd never met someone who could meet my eyes unaffected.

I never would...would I?

Or had I just found my nemesis, my ally, my enemy, my friend, in the first being ever to return my gaze?



Chapter Eight -- Ax


She was strange. She did not seem human, and yet she was. I saw more of the feline in her than the human. Her gaze was not normal. It planted suggestions of her thoughts. It captivated me, pushing me away, pulling me closer.

She was definitely a strange creature.

Yet something in her gaze, deep behind the eyes, was despairing. She seemed to shield some sort of hurt inside.

I shook my head slightly. Had I absorbed something of her? Was that how I could suddenly read her expressions?

I somehow knew that she saw...something...in me. Perhaps she saw a friend. Perhaps she saw a foe. Perhaps she simply smiled on me because I had not adopted the glazed look that even Jake had, even Rachel had.

Did she simply recognize me as an enemy?

No. Her eyes did not look angry. Her eyes looked...longing. Like she d waited for me all her life and now she saw me and I was too far out of reach.

I looked from her to Cairo. Cairo looked like a replica of Cat, and yet, nothing like her. Nothing at all like her.

There was an inner laughter in Cairo. Her entire outlook on life was summed up by her lilting, singing laugh. Her smile spoke volumes.

There was an inner strength in Cat. Her entire outlook on life was summed up by her neutral, indifferent, nonchalant expression. Her smile seemed to say everything, and yet said nothing.

The other Animorphs seemed to accept Cairo, to like her. They were suspicious of Cat. Both accepted it with a smile (whether open or secretive).

I felt my gaze linger on Cat. A strange yet fascinating human.

She did not seem to feel it. If she did, she gave no sign.

I had heard her scream. A loud NO! Had she screamed in terror, in horror, in despair, in anger? Impossible to tell. I had caught the hint of desperation, though. Why?

Perhaps the other Animorphs forgot that they had heard it. Perhaps they simply didn t care. But in that one shriek I heard an emotion that drew me still closer than any manipulation, any trick.

What was that emotion? Was it sadness? Was it the reflection of my own sadness, here on this strange planet?

Or was it just a cry of horror at being resisted?

"So you're not Andalites," Cairo said, pointing out the obvious.

"We hold her for three days, or what?" Cassie asked testily, but not without a slight smile at Cairo.

"We have bigger problems," Cat said quickly. Her eyes seemed to bore a hole into Jake.

"We have bigger problems," he repeated mechanically. "She is right. Cairo is...one...of...us..."

"Jake?" Cassie said in concern as his voice slowed, as though the machinery of the mechanical voice had slowed down.

"She is one of us."

=Jake, you sound like a robot that hasn't been oiled for a while,= Tobias said in concern. He shot a suspicious glance at Cat.

=What are you doing?= I asked her in private thought-speech. =What are you doing to him?=

She shrugged slightly. A slow smile tinted her face.

"THAT'S IT, CAT!" Marco yelled. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BUT YOU HAD BETTER STOP IT, RIGHT NOW!"

She raised an eyebrow innocently. "Me? Marco, I don't know what you think you're saying, but you had better stop it, right now."

His eyes glazed. Cat smiled in satisfaction.

"Cat," Cairo said in a warning voice. "Cut. It. Out."

=Cat, what are you doing?= I asked again.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked with a smile. It was a sweet, innocent smile -- which only added to the horror I already felt.

"We should trust her," Jake insisted.

"You are not to be trusted," Rachel snapped. "I don't know what she's doing to you, but you can't be trusted now."

"I'm the leader of the group!" Jake roared. He sounded exactly like himself now.

Then it occurred to me.

What was the difference between Cat and a Yeerk?

=Cat, stop it!= I yelled.

She looked surprised. Surprised that I had challenged her. "Why?" she said a little sadly. "I have nothing else."

Cairo grabbed her by the shoulder. "Cat, listen to me. You can't do this to them. Don't you know what they are? They are the ones resisting the Yeerks. You can't control them."

Cat gestured to Jake. Cairo got the message. "I mean, you can't just waltz in and start controlling the ones resisting the Yeerks! They're Earth's only hope."

"How does she know all this?" Rachel grumbled.

Cairo rolled her eyes. "Maybe because there's an Andalite here?"

Cat cocked her head. "Okay. Fine. You're right. I'm letting my own need to control get in the way."

"What's going on?" Jake demanded suddenly. "Cat, what did you just do to me?"

"Nothing, Jake," she said sweetly. "Search your memories. I have done nothing."

He nodded slowly.

He didn't remember it?

Just how innocent was this Cat person?

And how dangerous?



Chapter Nine -- Cairo


What was she, a lunatic? These people were the only hope for planet Earth, and she was trying to control them?

Okay, so she was capable of it. But it didn't feel right. After all they'd done, after all the battles they'd fought, how dare she even try?

I could see the other Animorphs drawing back from her. I wasn't surprised. Everyone drew back from her.

"Cat, I'm disappointed in you," I said quietly. The others couldn't hear. Maybe the hawk could, I wasn't sure. "How could you do this? They aren't your puppets."

She ignored me.

"She's gotta be in here!" a voice yelled. "I saw her!"

I gasped in fear. He'd followed me? He'd seen me?

"Kilan!" I cried in a low voice.

"Oh, great," Cat muttered. "Wonderful. Just wonderful." She turned to the Animorphs. "Better run. That's Visser Nine."

"Visser Nine? What is he doing here?" Cassie asked angrily.

"He must have followed me," I said grimly. "I'll...lead him away...or something."

"Wait," Cat said. She turned to me. "I'm sorry, Cairo. But we can't risk it."

ZAAAPPPPP!

"Ah!" I yelped. I could see no one but her. Her eyes, staring into mine. I could hear nothing.

One mintue I'd been running out of the mall, and the next I was here! What was going on?

"Take care of yourself, Cairo," she murmured. "Okay?"

"Cat, how did I get here?" I demanded, afraid.

"Run, Cairo," she whispered. "Please, just run. I'll...do all I can for you, Cairo..."

I nodded. I still couldn't see anything except her eyes. "I understand, Cat. I understand."

I was...leading them away? Was that it? Was there someone else in the barn?

I opened the door and ran out.

"THERE SHE IS!"

Kilan!

Visser Nine!

Can't think of him as Kilan, I reminded myself. He's Visser Nine, no matter how much you want him to be Kilan.

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!

"CAIRO!" a voice screamed from the barn. It sounded like Cat, exactly like her, where was she? Where was the girl with the brilliant green eyes?

None of my concern, I told myself. My concern is staying --

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!

This time, the Dracon beam hit its mark.



Chapter Ten -- Cat


I felt Jake clamp a hand over my mouth to silence my scream. I could see Cairo falling, could see the human-Controllers dragging her away. I knew that I could do nothing for her.

My fault! All my fault. I should have done something. I should have...

I knew that I could...ah...convince Jake to let me go, but I knew that if I was free I would do something insanely dangerous. I would put everyone at risk. And while I was fine at playing games with them, these Animorphs were important to the future of the planet. I couldn't endanger them.

I deemed myself calm. They were not out of sight yet, but I was okay. Jake backed away, then lunged forward, knowing that he had not let go, knowing that he had been forced to let go.

"Calm down," I muttered. "I'm fine. Go away."

=She knows who we are!= Tobias yelled.

"She doesn't know," I returned, my eyes still on the Yeerk carrying my sister away. I couldn't run out there. They'd come in the barn, wondering if anyone else was in here...I couldn't put the others and Cassie's entire family at risk. "I erased her memories of coming here. The last thing she remembers is...is leaving the mall."

My voice caught in my throat as Cairo disappeared from sight. She'd be a Controller again soon.

=Erased her memories?= Ax said blankly. =How could a human do that?=

I finally lost it and whirled. "You idiots think I'm just a human?!" I roared. "Are you that blind?!"

"You're not human?" Marco said with an uncertain look at me.

"I guess you are that blind," I muttered. "You want my life story? Too bad, you're not getting it. The Yeerks themselves couldn't see that deep into my memories. It's my personal secret and I'm not sharing it with any of you."

"You can't just play games with us like that," Jake growled. "You're one of us -- or so we --"

"Jake? I just lost my sister. And you know what I am capable of. Do you really want to mess with me right now?"

He didn't shut up. He was brave. Or maybe just stupid. Or maybe just blind. "I've lost a brother, Cat, I know what's it like, now cut the crap and tell us what you think you're doing!" His voice rose until I considered just knocking him out just to cut the strain on my eardrums. "You think you can just play games with us?! You think you can endanger us, not tell us what you are, hypnotize us or whatever it is you do, have the capability to erase memories and still be one of us?! Who do you think you are?! Do you think that you're benefiting us? Do you think that you're indispensable to us? What do you think, Cat?!"

"Nah, I don't think I'm indispensable," I said smoothly. "How about this: If I have any proof that I can trust you, I'll tell you who I am and how I can do this. But if not...well...you're not indispensable to me, either."

That unspoken-yet-implied threat seemed to shut him up.

To my surprise, it was Aximili who placed a many-fingered hand on my shoulder. =All we want is to know that we can trust you, Cat. All we want is a proof that you will not turn on us. We don't have that. Maybe I'm the only one unaffected, but I have seen what you can do. We can't trust someone with that much power who threatens us. We can't trust someone who thinks that we are merely puppets to be played with.=

I smiled ever-so-faintly. "Okay. Fine. I won't pull the whole puppet thing again on any of you." I turned to Jake. "We have to attack the Yeerks and retrieve the hirac delest. Right, oh fearless leader?"

My words were basically an implication that yes, I would consider him my leader. For now. I would follow him until I had cause not to.

He seemed to accept that. He nodded slightly with a small smile.

"But Cat, what about Cairo?" Cassie asked me.

"There are bigger problems," I said coldly. "All of us have problems. The Yeerk invasion doesn't stop for a personal reason. The hirac delest is the big thing now, not my sister."

Cassie seemed about to speak, but Jake cut her off. "Okay, then. We need a plan."

"You better believe it, General," Marco muttered under his breath.



Chapter Eleven -- Jake


So. For now, maybe, we could trust her. Maybe not. Maybe we were all under an illusion.

For that reason, I kept looking to Ax. It was kind of weird. He considered me his "prince" and it was me looking to him for reassurance.

But either he was under the illusion, too, or there was none.

She scared me. But if she was on our side, and she could turn her strange powers against the Yeerks...we would be powerful. So much more powerful.

Of course, they didn't work against Ax.

"Tom," Rachel said. "He's the key. We have to find out what he knows."

"That can be arranged," Cat said quickly.

"No way," I cut in. "No. Way."

"And why not, Jake?" she asked. "What do you have against it? What is your problem with it?"

"He's my brother, Cat."

"And Cairo was my sister," she said coldly. "I could have manipulated all of you to run out there like idiots to save her. I didn't do it because I recognized that the war was more important. And yet, you -- you don't even have a plan, for heaven's sake! -- would put your brother ahead of everything else. Besides which, it doesn't hurt him anyway."

I hesitated. I didn't want her to do it. But why? It was no good listening to an irrational fear.

"Okay, Cat," I said finally. "We don't have a better plan."

She nodded. "Got it."

"But I think we have a right to know what you are," I said, unable to let well enough alone.

She smiled a faint, amused smile. "Maybe you do," she said nonchalantly.

I waited for her to explain. But she said nothing.

I was sick of her game, all of them, sick of her puppetry, sick of her secrets, sick of her mysterious attitude, sick of it all.

Would she care about us? Would she care if she walked us into a trap? Would our deaths matter to her?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

"Okay. Fine. So we set Tom up," she said finally. "When? And who?"

"A Sharing meeting," Rachel said immediately. Noticing our skeptical expressions, she said, "What? No other way. Jake would have to suggest something to Tom, and then Tom gets ambushed? Don't you think he'd put two and two together?"

"She's right," I said, knowing that Cat could just erase his memories of it but not willing to go that far. "Sharing meeting. Only three of us are going. Me and Cat are in. We need one other person."

=I will go,= Ax said. =I could not be recognized.=

"He's right," Cat said just a little too quickly. We glanced at her in surprise. Her face betrayed no emotion. It was just a logical answer, that was all.

"Ax, Cat, and me," I said. "Fine." Personally, I was thankful that Ax was coming. That way we'd know if she pulled the stupid hypnosis thing.

Of course, he'd be in human morph. Could she control anyone as long as they were in human morph? With Visser Three, that would be excellent. But with us...

This was crazy. Absolutely crazy. I was a kid. I didn't need to be dealing with this. I didn't need to be the leader of a group that could get torn apart by a new member. I didn't need a repeat of David. I didn't need some kid with hypnosis coming in and controlling us.

She'd promised to stop. But...could we trust her on that?

She smiled at me. Trust me, Jake, her eyes said. Trust me.

It wasn't hypnosis. I knew that because I did not trust her. There was no force behind it. It was just a normal facial expression.

I still shivered with fear.



Chapter Twelve -- Ax


I was in human morph. It was the one I had acquired recently, the one that I had used in the theatre.

Jake was in a midmorph of Marco. The result was a little like a Frolis maneuver. It served the same purpose -- he was unrecognizable.

Cat was in a midmorph of Rachel, Cassie, and herself. The result was a tall, African-American girl with brilliant green eyes and strands of blond and black mingled, with Cat's facial features.

The three of us were "hanging out," as they put it. The meeting was actually a barbecue on the beach, and it was easy to blend in with the other teenagers.

=We have to move soon,= Cat said. =Tom is starting to recognize my face. He knew Cairo pretty well, since he was supposedly Kilan's best friend. And we're twins. He knows that he's seen my face before, but he knows I didn't look like this.=

=Fine,= Jake said tersely. =Go try and find Kilan and Cairo -- they'd probably be hanging out together, to keep up the cover, right?=

=Probably.=

=Go find them, and Tom will probably come over with the excuse that he's Kilan's friend.=

The three of us trotted over to the place where Cat's sister ad Visser Nine were sitting. Cat nodded to Cairo and immediately started chatting with the two. Jake and I hung back.

Sure enough, Tom showed up.

"Hello," he said, offering his hand to Cat. "I don't believe we've met."

"You'd be surprised," she said in a cool tone. She took his hand and suddenly her eyes focused in on his.

Jake and I held our breaths, waiting. Did this hypnosis work on Yeerks?

Tom said a few words, sounding like he was far, far away and trying to call out from a chasm. Cat nodded, released his hand, and walked back towards us.

"He doesn't remember the conversation. And he said that he took it back down to the Yeerk pool," she said grimly, then remembered that she could thought-speak. =Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.=

=Back down to the Yeerk pool,= I said quietly. =We have no choice.=

I blamed myself. But for me and Tobias, Jake would have destroyed it and the problem wouldn't have existed at all.

=Should have gotten rid of it,= Jake muttered.

Cat shrugged her shoulders. =We can get it back. Right, Jake?=

Her eyes met his and glowed. Suddenly I realized that keeping her own eyes was deliberate.

His eyes began to glaze. My human heart beat faster. Was she breaking her promise?

=Sorry,= she said suddenly. =I...zoned out. I totally forgot. Sorry.=

She released her hold and his eyes cleared. I had the feeling that he'd forgotten it. She sent a pleading look to me, asking me not to tell him.

Would she try her tricks on me? Would they work, since I was morphed?

Her eyes stayed in their deep green shade, without lightening.

I was relieved.



Chapter Thirteen -- Rachel


"So?" I demanded impatiently. "Where's the hirac delest?"

"It's...down...in...the...Yeerk...pool," Marco said slowly. Evidently he'd already talked to Jake. I hadn't.

"Marco, are you okay?" I said, shooting Cat a suspicious glance.

"I'm fine, Xena," he said with a small smile. "But you know, we just get out of there, and now we're going BACK?!"

I shrugged, trying not to reveal my own apprehension. "So?"

"Cat didn't try any stupid controlling moves, did she?" Marco asked Jake. Cat wasn't there yet, but everyone else was.

"I don't think so," Jake replied. "Not that I'd remember."

Ax looked up, an amused expression on his Andalite face.

The door opened soundlessly. I saw it open, but even then I saw nothing.

Cat stepped into view and shut the door just as soundlessly. "Hello, everyone," she said carelessly.

"Hello, Cat," I said politely.

Maybe I just dislike what scares me. Maybe I just disliked her because I felt her strength and felt it overpower mine. Maybe I just disliked her because I knew...or did not know...what she was.

"What are you?" I asked the question without meaning to. My eyes narrowed. Had she programmed that into me?

"What? Very clever, Rachel. You ask what instead of who."

"Cat, it's down to this," Marco said suddenly. "Tell us, or you are no longer one of us."

"Who do you think that hurts, Marco? Me? I think not. It hurts no one. I don't care if I'm one of you or not."

"Well, then, Cat, it's down to this," Marco sneered. "Tell us, or you will no longer live."

Cat actually smiled. "How do you think you'll kill me?"

We hesitated. I knew that Ax could do it. I knew that. But I didn't especially want to kill her.

A paradox.

=Cat, what would it take for you? What would it take to prove us worthy of your trust?= Ax asked her.

She cocked her head. "More than what I've seen, that's for sure," she muttered. " 'Cat didn't try any stupid controlling moves, did she?' 'I don't think so. Not that I'd remember.' "

We gaped. I wanted to say something but I figured that "You heard that?" would be slightly dumb.

She nodded. "Yes, Rachel, I heard that."

I gasped. What...

"Don't act so surprised. It's not like I'm reading your mind. Just reading your eyes." She laughed, a laugh lilting and delighted but so unlike Cairo's... It was dark, delighted in its own accomplishments. Too dark for my taste.

She turned to Ax. "Have you ever heard of Xaralites?"

Ax looked surprised. He involuntarily took a step forward. =Xaralites? Of course. Who in the universe has not heard of them?=

"Us," Marco countered.

Ax stared at Cat like he'd seen a ghost.

"Keep it in mind," she said with another dark laugh. "Just keep it in mind."

=But you...Cairo is one of them, as well? You are identical.=

"Not so identical, Andalite. Think of the eyes. Remember the eyes."

I remembered that Cairo had deep blue eyes. That was the sole difference between them.

The eyes.

"What are Xaralites, Ax?" Jake asked.

Cat met Ax's eyes. Her eyes glowed, brighter, brighter...

What the...

"Hi, everyone," Cat said gaily.

I shook my head. I had the uncomfortable feeling that I'd seen her just a second ago, but no. I looked at Ax. If anything was going on, he'd know.

His main eyes glanced around as if nothing was wrong. His stalk eyes focused on Cat. But then, she'd just come in.

Or was something else going on?



Chapter Fourteen -- Cat


I hadn't been thinking. That was my excuse. I should never have said a word.

The Andalite only remembered the word "Xaralite." It had been weakening, the blast of power, but it had worked.

Hadn't it?

His stalk eyes were focused on me. It made me uncomfortable, as though he knew something I did not.

Or at least something I didn't want him to know.

Did he?

No, no, no. I did not do "doubts." I did not do "if." I did certainties. I simply keep an eye on this Aximili.

My...my life was not to be an open book. My life was to be mine, and mine alone. No one else could see inside. No one else could be allowed to see the hurt I'd endured.

For a moment, I wished I could erase my own memories. But no. I had a job to do.

After all, I was the only surviving member of my race. I had to carry on for them.

No, not the only surviving member. I had forgotten the other. I suddenly did not feel quite so alone, remembering the other.

We had to carry on. For them. And one day, perhaps what was gone could be...brought back.

I cursed the Ellimist silently. It was all his fault. He could have done something.

One day, I would repay him for what he had done. But for now, we were both on the same side. For now, both the Ellimist and I were on Earth's side. For now.

But after this war was over...oh, he'd pay a price. He'd pay a terrible price for what he had done to my world.

I'd find out if this "hypnosis" worked on Ellimists. And if it did...

I was stirred from my dark thoughts by Aximili's reproaching eyes. His main eyes were on me now as I leaned back onto a hay bale.

Sorry, already, I thought. Eek. I had nothing else I could do, okay? Is that okay with you, oh mighty Andalite?

I rested my chin on my hands. My green eyes were darker than usual. I was lost in a memory. I was lost in the memory that haunted me always.

But no one could know. No one except the other survivor. She would always know.

I smiled to myself. No matter what happened with these Animorphs, I'd always have an ally.

"Trip to the Yeerk pool tonight," Marco said. "Anyone else looking forward to it?"

=You're crazy,= Tobias said irritably. =Looking forward to it?=

"Looking forward to battle with the Yeerks?" Marco continued, oblivious. "Xena?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it so," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Looking forward to --"

I was tempted to hypnotize him into silence. I reverted to a more primitive method. "Shut up, you babbling moron," I snapped.

A short silence fell. I sighed. My emotions were going haywire -- as they always did when I remembered the --

They were going haywire, let's just leave it at that.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Bad mood."

A sarcastic remark was on the tip of Marco's tongue, but he swallowed it.

"Nah, go ahead and say it. Whatever it is, I probably deserve it," I said with a small smile.

"Okay. Why don't you shut up, for once, and just go away and take your hypnosis powers with you?!"

"Yup, I deserved it," I said. "I could fire a few at you, but I won't. After all, every insult I could think of about you would probably be true."

"Ouch."

The tension had evaporated slightly. I sighed in relief.

I could still feel Ax's eyes on me.

I raised my green eyes to his. I met them with a stony gaze. I knew that he could not read as deep into my eyes as I read into his.

Yes. He remembered. That much was clear. I still had no power over him.

But I'd find the way. Yes, I'd find the way.

I'd find the way and I'd become invincible, because none of them would be able to touch me. None of them would understand.

But then, none of them did. None of them understood me. Ax only knew that I was...something else. And all of them knew I was powerful.

But none of them understood me.

And, if I had my way, none of them ever would.

I am still untouchable, Aximili, I said silently. No matter what you know, just remember that.



Chapter Fifteen -- Jake


We were all morphed, tense, ready to go and ready to go fast. We were using the famed mole-tunnel to enter the Yeerk pool. Rachel was less than thrilled, being claustrophobic, but it was the only way.

=I've only been in this morph two minutes and I hate it already,= Cat complained.

=Don't cats eat rodents? Specifically, moles?= Marco wondered.

=I think cats eat short people,= she retorted. =Didn't you read the paper this morning? Some cat with GREEN EYES murdered a short person for complaining too much and making bad jokes. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?=

=At least it wasn't your horoscope,= he muttered.

=Wouldn't matter if it did,= she shot back. =They're not real.=

=I'm sick of listening to you two babble,= Rachel snapped.

=Don't push me, Rachel,= Cat said morbidly.

Rachel started slightly. Her mole body jumped. =Rachel, what's wrong?= I asked her in private thought-speech.

=Jake, that is the exact same thing David said,= she said in a startled voice. =The exact same thing he said when we were a rats in a tunnel just like this one.=

=Freako,= I muttered.

Nothing much was said after that. We emerged into the bat cave with a round of "plops" as we hit the bat...guano...mattress.

=You didn't warn me about this,= Cat growled. She demorphed quickly, then moaned. "I hate this place."

"Join the club," I said harshly.

Suddenly I gasped. Her eyes were still a bright yet deep green. I couldn't see any thing else. They illuminated her face in a green glow. They looked exactly like emeralds.

They were not human.

Now I could see what had agitated me about her face so. I could see the reason for her nickname. I could see it in the light of those glowing eyes.

Her pupil was a black slit. I mean, yes, it was there, but the black part was shaped like a slit. The iris was...was...

"Cat?" I gasped.

"Yes, Jake?" she said in a voice that was human and yet not, normal and yet strange, a voice of paradoxes.

"Your eyes..." Rachel murmured.

I could see her smile in the light of her eyes. "My eyes? I've always had these eyes. They're just not so...visible...in the daylight."

=Xaralite,= Ax said harshly.

There was a flash of light that emanated from her eyes. A bright flash that I was sure the Yeerks must have seen...

I had just demorphed. That was the only explanation. I didn't remember demorphing, but I remembered being a mole.

There was something strange about her eyes, her face, but my eyes seemed to slide away from it. I nodded in the dim light. My logical brain had just enough time to think, Dim light? LIGHT? Huh? Excuse me, how did we get light in here?

"So, let's do it," Rachel said. "Cat, you need to acquire a bat."

She reached for a bat. Her hand touched it lightly and she left it there, resting on the bat's wing for only a few seconds. She pulled her hand away.

"The rest of us have the morphs, right?" I said, stating the obvious. In the dim light I could see them nod. Again my brain struggled to see where the light was coming from, but I couldn't find it. I felt like I was staring right at it when I looked at Cat, but my brain couldn't make the connection.

I saw Cat look straight at Ax and shake her head slightly. I concluded that he had sent her a private message. I didn't know what it was but I wanted to find out --

Cat jerked her head towards me. Suddenly I didn't want to know.

"We're ready," Rachel said impatiently. "Any time, oh fearless leader."

"Yeah. Let's get it over with," Marco said shortly. I could hear apprehension in his voice.

"Watch out for the hunter robots," Cassie reminded us.

"Hunter robots? Oh, yes. Them. Don't worry, they'll stay away," Cat said with a faint smile. I nodded.

We morphed rapidly, eager to get out of Bat Poop Land. One of the bats looked odd. I couldn't place it at first.

=Let's go!= Rachel said with enthusiasm. I knew she wasn't really looking forward to it, but she said it anyway.

We flapped our wings and fired our echolocation bursts. I could sense a hunter robot.

=Hunter robot!= Marco snapped before I could.

One of the bats turned to it and suddenly the eyes glowed. The robot turned and smacked itself into the wall of the cavern.

That was it.

Cat had kept her eyes.

I didn't say anything. But she was going to tell us everything after this trip. Everything.

Suddenly I realized why I didn't remember demorphing. She'd done it again!

Traitor!

What was it that she didn't want us to know? What was it that she didn't want us to remember? What had happened? I pushed my panicked brain for the answer, but none came.

This was insane. Not even a Yeerk could erase a host's memories. She wasn't inside our head. She was outside us, not a part of us, and she had control?

No, not control. Never control.

=We have to find the hirac delest,= I said, not willing to let Cat know what I had figured out about her. =I'm sure that thought hadn't occurred to anyone.= A lame attempt at humor. A very lame attempt at humor. =Branch out. Ax and Cat, you're in a group. Cassie and Rachel are in a group. Me and Marco and Tobias are in a group.=

I sent Ax a private message. =Keep an eye on her. And Ax? There's something you're not telling us, or else you're just as vulnerable as us. You better tell us if she starts pulling those stupid stunts. I mean it.=

He didn't respond. He did not say, =Yes, Prince Jake.= He didn't say anything.

Was he covering for her?

Why?

Was he affected too? Or was there something else going on?



Chapter Sixteen -- Cat


Smart leader. He'd paired me with the Andalite. He knew that the Andalite was not affected. And he'd almost certainly sent him a private message. It's what any smart person would have done, and Jake was smart.

=I appreciate you not telling them about my...identity,= I said rather coldly.

=You have to stop this,= he said angrily. =I'm not going to keep this secret if you start doing this. I've been silent as you broke your promise, but I will not stay silent when as you erase their memories. I will not --=

=Look, I know it was my fault. I just didn't want them to remember the...word. Okay? No one can know, Aximili. NO ONE. I slipped up. Are you okay with that? Or are Andalites so mighty and perfect that they can't understand a shortcoming in another being?=

I was surfing the edge of the chasm. If I pushed him too much... He held my secret in his hand.

I could probably erase his memories. He was in morph. Should I try?

No. If his memories stayed intact, he'd go straight to the others. I couldn't risk it.

But oh, I longed to know the extent of the powers I retained. I felt a flash of anger at the Ellimist. All of this was his fault! All of it!

=Xaralites,= he said with contempt. =All the same.=

=You'd be surprised,= I said very coldly. =You'd be surprised. Go ask your Ellimist friend the story. Go ahead. He'll tell you, unless he's too ashamed.=

He fell silent. I searched with my echolocation and my eyes -- I still had my vision, after all -- for the hirac delest. When I found it, I'd destroy it. I could not be endangered. Not by some stupid device. Not by some stupid memories. No. My plans were too great.

=Do you see it?= Jake called from wherever he was in the Yeerk pool.

=No,= Ax replied. I said nothing. It occurred to me that he could be telling Jake in a private message as I searched the cavern. It occurred to me that the private thought-speak could be a horrible weapon against me.

It occurred to me that I could probably kill Ax. We were both bats, both of equal strength. But my eyes...I had an advantage.

I could kill him, and my secret would die with him. The only being that could resist me in the little group would fall, fall, fall and he would die.

No.

Why would I resist it? Why would I care?

No.

=I see it!= Cassie yelled.

=We have it, Jake,= Rachel said after a moment. =But we can't carry and fire echolocation, and we --=

=I'll take it,= I said, then realized the idiot logic of the statement. I had made sure that no one (except Ax) knew that I had retained my eyes. But they wouldn't know if I didn't want them to.

Plus, I'd have an opportunity to destroy it.

I could see Rachel. I could see the shiny device in a panel in a room. There was a clear covering over the panel.

No problem.

I flapped my wings and flew towards her. =It's Cat,= I said coolly. =Let me try to open it.=

=There's a red button, but it wants a code,= Cassie told me.

=I can probably decipher it,= Ax said from behind me. Of course he'd follow me. Of course!

I seethed but kept my tone calm. =Then do so,= I said.

He cocked his bat head towards me, a silent reminder that I was not his leader. I didn't care.

=Ax, open it,= Jake said, flying over. Four bats were gathered there. I could see Marco and Tobias hanging back. Rachel flapped away, trying to thin out the group. Cassie followed her.

Jake, Ax, and me alone were there. I had a feeling neither Jake nor Ax would trust me with that hirac delest. Jake because he was the leader, Ax because it meant so much to him.

Too bad. I was going to destroy it.

Ax hit a few small buttons with his bat feet. The covering slid away.

I dived!

Jake blocked me before I could get to it. =What do you think you're doing?= he said very calmly.

=Wouldn't you know, oh fearless leader?= I said in a tone just as calm. =It's a danger to us, Jake, isn't it?=

My eyes glowed.

=Yes,= he repeated mechanically. =It--is--a--danger--to--us.=

=No!= Ax cried as I grabbed it in my mouth. He moved in front of me as I turned to flap away. =No, Cat. You remember Cairo, don't you? You remember the sister that you lost to this war. And I remember the brother that I lost.=

I shivered somehow. I wasn't used to being given a good reason to back off. I didn't back off. But his words were so true.

I hesitated, torn between my resolution and the truth. I sighed. =Fine. For Cairo.=

I dropped it back in the panel. Ax grabbed it before Jake could say anything.

=Thank you.=

=You're welcome,= I sighed. He had kept my secret. I could not turn on him.

But oh, how I wanted to. If my plans for the Ellimist were halted because of some long-dead Andalite prince and his brother, I would...

I glared at Jake. His eyes glazed as he flapped away slowly. He'd remember nothing of it.

=Cat,= Ax said warningly.

=You know what, Ax?= I said, my tone calm but beginning to rise with the next words. =You leave me alone. Okay? I don't care what you think you are, I don't care if you can resist my power, I don't care what you think, I don't care what you do, but you back off, right now. Or I'll grab that hirac delest and throw it into the Yeerk pool faster than you can blink. And you won't be far behind.=

=You cannot outfight me.=

=You want to test your theory?!= I screamed. =Do you know what I've lost?! Do you know what a risk I'm taking by letting you live?! If the Yeerks discover what I am -- if the Animorphs find out exactly WHAT I am and what it means -- Nothing is worth that! I don't know what keeps me from just killing all of you! I don't care anymore! I care for nothing! I DON'T CARE about anything else except my goal! I DON'T CARE!=

I was going crazy, that was it. That was why this calm manner abandoned me. That was it. I was going insane...I was slipping away...

=Do you know what happened to the Xaralites?!= I screeched. =DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO US?!=

He didn't answer. I didn't know if it was because he was shocked at my screams, if he was silent because he knew full well, silent because he didn't know, or if he was silent because he was busily telling the other Animorphs what I was, what I'd done to Jake, what I'd been doing to them.

I was losing my mind. That was all. Nothing else... I wanted to slip away. I wanted to fall. I wanted to throw myself into the pool and drown.

But no. If I did that, my goal would be impossible to attain. If I did that, then there would only be one warrior left. Only one of my race. And she'd be powerless to do anything in the form she was in.

I calmed myself. I couldn't lose it. No. No. No.

I couldn't apologize. I couldn't even speak. I was furious at myself. I was furious at Ax. I was furious at Jake and Rachel and Tobias and Marco and Cassie and even Elfangor. I was furious.

I could see the bat cave. I didn't care about anyone else's fate in the Yeerk pool. I didn't care about the hunter robots that were beginning to fire at me. I didn't care anymore. I didn't care about anything.

I flapped up and I found the exit where the bats leave every day at twilight. I flapped out.

I didn't care about anyone else. I didn't care about myself. All I cared about was...was getting out.

All I cared about was throwing myself into a tree and ending it all. But I had a destiny. And not even my desperation could change what I was. Not even my desperation could change what I had to do. Nothing could change that.

I escaped into the cool air. I flew toward the abandoned house, demorphed, and ran up the stairs. I stared out through the window, wondering if it would be so wrong to just throw myself out of it.

Mrrrrowww?

"Cheetah," I murmured. The tabby cat with her huge green eyes crawled into my lap. She purred and stared up at me.

I felt the desperation melt.

Only the destiny remained.



Chapter Seventeen -- Ax


=What do you mean, she bailed?= Rachel demanded as we flew toward the exit. Our mission was accomplished, and we were definitely leaving.

=She left,= I said for the third time. =I don't know why.=

A lie? I had heard her screams. I had heard her desperation. I had seen her break her promise. I had seen all of that -- and still I did not know her motive, her goal.

No. Not a lie.

=Why would she do that?= Tobias wondered.

=Because she's a coward,= Marco said coolly.

=She is not a coward,= I said unexpectedly. I didn't know why I'd said it, really. I didn't know why I was defending her. I didn't know why I was allying with...a Xaralite? Was she even a Xaralite? Or was she just a human?

Was she even telling the truth?

=Of course she is,= Marco retorted. =Running from a fight?=

=I didn't see a fight.=

=We have what we went down there for,= Jake said, interrupting the possible fight. =Let's just chill, okay? Try and find out what she's up to. If it means pretending to be her best friend, fine, but we have to know more about this girl.=



I ran through the woods, enjoying the speed. I pressed myself for every ounce of speed I could muster.

It was night. The stars were bright above me. I watched them with my stalk eyes, wishing I was back on my planet.

I was keeping secrets from my prince. I was allying with a possible enemy, an enemy who had threatened me.

And why? What reason did I have? She had lied to us. She had an excuse, yes, but I couldn't help wondering if it was a good one. I wondered if she was just testing her power. I wondered if she was only testing the boundaries, pressing them, expanding them. I wondered how long it would be until she attacked me in the same way. I wondered if she'd ever be able to.

I wondered if the question was "if" or "when."

Why was I keeping this secrets? What kept me from killing her? She could not stop me. She could stop the others. And we would be so much safer.

What was the difference between Cat and David?

Between Cat and a Yeerk?

Something...I suppose it was me, because it wasn't her, I could feel it...turned my steps toward the abandoned house. It wasn't so far away.

She was sitting on the old, decrepit porch, shivering in the cold, yet unwilling to go inside. She was staring at the stars.

Probably for the same reason I was: Looking home.

"Ax," she said in surprise. A cold look crossed her face.

=Hello,= I replied. =You left the Yeerk pool quickly, no?=

She snorted derisively. "You can't know what I'm going through, Andalite. You can't know my motives, or my goals."

I jerked. Those were the thoughts that I had had. I recalled them... I had heard her screams. I had heard her desperation. I had seen her break her promise. I had seen all of that -- and still I did not know her motive, her goal.

=What happened to the Xaralites?= I said finally.

She stared up at the stars, making no reply.

=Cat?=

"Andalite fool," she said harshly. "What would you care about my planet? What would you care about it? What difference does it make to you?" Her tone lowered to little more than a whisper. "There's hope for you, you know. One day this war will be over. You'll get back to your planet, back to your family. And where is my family?" Her voice broke.

I wanted to ask what had happened. But I could not. I could see the tears threatening to flow. I could see those emerald eyes, see the fire burning behind them.

She stood up. The wind blew her hair around in a funnel of gold. "You know what I am, Aximili," she said in a whisper. "Why not just destroy me? Why not?"

I stood my ground. But that fire in her eyes was boiling up. I felt fear.

Her eyes...

"Did you ever hear of it, Andalite?" she hissed, her voice surprisingly catlike. "Do you know what the Ellimist did to us? Do you know what the Andalites did to us? Do you know what we were? Do you know what we suffered? Of course you don't know what happened. The Andalites are a cursed race, working their plagues and never breathing a word of it. It's all their fault that the Yeerks are loosed on the galaxy. It's all their fault that the Hork-Bajir, Sstram, Nahara, Mak...it's their fault that all of them fell! It's all their fault that..." She caught her breath and looked away.

I felt anger, now. The fear was gone. =The Xaralites' fate isn't our fault! Those species were --=

"You don't even know what happened to them!" she shrieked. "You don't even know what happened to them!"

So far, the conversation had not gone that well.

=I would if you would deign to tell us,= I snapped. =You're not above us, Cat. You can't go on with your little games. You can't --=

"I know what I can and can't do," she said, her voice having gone from whisper to hiss to shriek to calm. "And, judging by what I've seen, I can. You can't stop me, Andalite." She said the word "Andalite" like a curse.

=We were hasty in making you one of us.=

She barked out a laugh. "One of you? One of you? Excuse me? You think I'm one of you? You think I ever will be? Guess again, Andalite. As arrogant as your race ever was."

=You would know much about arrogance, would you not?=

"I have a reason," she said, her voice in a low tone. "I have a reason. Think about it."

I did. I thought a little too much about it. I thought about what could happen to the Animorphs because of her.

And still my tail blade did not move.

=All we want is trust, Cat,= I said, anger fading. =You would be one of us if you were willing to be one of us.=

"And as smart as any of your race, I see," she said with a nod. "Of course. You go straight to the heart of the problem. I am not willing to be one of you. I don't want to be one of you. I never will be one of you."

=Why?=

"Because I refuse to ally myself with one from the race that aided in destroying my world," she said, deathly calm. "I thought, once, that we could be allies. I thought that, both of us so far away from our homes, we could be friends. I thought that perhaps you were different from the rest of your race. And I was wrong."

=You cannot judge an entire race by the actions of a few,= I responded.

"And you cannot judge my story without knowing what it is."

I hesitated. =Enough of your games. What is your story?=

"Wouldn't you love to know? Wouldn't you love to have yet another bargaining chip? Wouldn't you love to have my story as you have my identity?"

=What I'd like to know is if you are a nemesis or an ally. Although you've made it clear that you are a nemesis.=

"The same that I'd like to know about you. And you have done the same." She laughed slightly. "Call me a nemesis. An ally in the fight, and a nemesis in the greater purpose. This war for Earth is but one of many. The Hork-Bajir fought back. The other races fought back. And what is left of them? What is left of the races that the mighty Andalites should have helped?"

=We tried to help the Hork-Bajir!=

"And you failed. As your race fails in everything."

=We failed, but we tried,= I said coldly, wondering why I'd bothered to speak to her at all.

"You can admit failure?" she said, surprised. "More than I'd have expected." She cocked her head at me, considering. Was I to be trusted?

Or was she considering whether or not she could control me?

"Okay, Andalite -- Ax. Here is my story. Betray it, and you won't live to betray it a second time."



Chapter Eighteen -- Cat


I leaned back, supporting myself with my arms until I sat down on the porch again. The night air was cold, biting. I loved it.

"You know of the Xaralites, don't you?" I asked him. "Yes, of course you do. You know of us. We were a catlike people, intelligent, graceful. Our intellect rivaled -- if not surpassed -- that of the Andalite. Our inventions, if I may use so primitive a word, surpassed the inventions of almost any other race. Besides that, we were beginning to gain a knowledge of the Ellimist's power and what, exactly, made it work. We knew that if we understood a little bit more of it, we could reach it. Artificial power, but we already had a certain degree of power. I'm sure you've noticed that," I said with a short laugh. "Well. Listen, Aximili. Listen to the story of a race so despised because of their power." I took a breath, wondering why on Earth I was --

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!

What the...?

Dracon beams! My brain made the connection instantly. Cairo and I used to hang out there. Of course they'd search every possible place for me!

Would my sister be with them?

I was frozen, startled, not knowing what to do. What could I --

Ax grabbed my hand. =RUN!= he cried, pulling me to my feet. I wondered how he had managed it with those weak arms.

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!

Suddenly the porch roof simply fell. The beam had lanced through one of the wooden poles holding it up!

If I had moved a second later...

I started to move towards the gaggle of Controllers. Was Cairo there?

=Cat, this isn't the time!=

"I have to see if she's there," I whispered.

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!

The beam missed me by inches. I had a flash of another beam, another time, another kind, another war...the war for Xarila...

TSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!

"AH!"

The beam missed me by less than inches. A Hork-Bajir dived forward.

"DON'T LOOK AT HER EYES!" a female voice shrieked just before I made eye contact with the beast.

I snapped my head up. I could see the girl who had spoken.

"Cairo!" I whispered.

FWAPP!!

The Hork-Bajir hit the ground hard.

=RUN!= Ax yelled. =You can't win anything if you're killed!=

Cheetah suddenly ran out of the house, startled by the sounds outside.

I ran, Cheetah close at my heels, Ax slightly behind, keeping an eye out for anyone who might follow.

As I ran, I turned.

I turned just in time to see a Hork-Bajir fire at the house on low power. I saw the flames burst from the old, rotting wood.

I turned away, unable to watch what had been my home as it burned, on fire.



Epilogue -- Ax


I wondered what her story was. I wondered about the facts that I had almost learned. What had been the end of Xarila and its people? How had this Xaralite girl become human?

She spent the night in Cassie's barn. There was no need to wake Cassie up, since the barn was unlocked.

Her home was gone. She didn't seem to notice at all. She said nothing of it to me afterwards.

The next day, I saw her near the barn.

She smiled slightly. "Thanks for the other night," she said quietly. "I would have been dead if I'd been alone. One way or the other, I would have been dead."

I shrugged as a human would. =You're welcome.=

"Perhaps my opinion of Andalites was...wrong. Perhaps you were right, and I can't judge all of them by what a few did."

=What did they do?= I asked curiously.

She smiled in the same way, but there was a little more sadness in the expression. "They doomed us," she responded. "But...it was to be expected. A race does not attain so high a status in the galaxy without attaining enemies as well. Although it is...unfortunate...that the Andalites had to be among them."

=Perhaps we are not to be enemies.=

"Perhaps not." She hesitated, as if wondering whether she could say more. She was still held apart, mistrustful. She still did not want to pour out her secrets.

=Ax, you coming?= a voice called from above. I looked up with my stalk eyes to see Tobias, wheeling in the air. We were going to go flying.

=Yes, Tobias,= I called back. It was private thought-speech. Cat had not heard our conversation.

=I'll see you later,= I told her. =Goodbye, Cat.=

A glimmer of a smile passed over her countenance. "Xilite," she said. "My name was...is...Xilite." She nodded slightly. "Goodbye, Ax. See you later."