Imagine a picture of Rachel morphing into a Bald Eagle
Cover Quote: The Sixth Animorph is back, and he's not happy…
Inside Cover Quote: Rachel's really hit the big time…
My name is Rachel…and I'm an Animorph. I doubt that you're familiar with the term, so I'll have to fill you in on some of the finer details of my life. What you don't need to know about me is that I'm a teenaged girl, that I take gymnastics, and that I'm maintaining a high average in most of my classes in school; things like that are pointless and trivial. Besides, when it comes down to it, things like grades, and boys and being able to bend the body in ways that seem almost supernatural don't really matter. Not when a race of power-hungry, brain stealing aliens are secretly planning to enslave the human race.
I know it's difficult to believe, but it's true. The Yeerks have already started gaining power in North America, and I'm starting to wonder if they've taken other parts of the world as well. And you would think that people would notice the presence of intergalactic aliens, but you would be wrong. Forget all about the little green Martians that you've read about in the sci-fi novels that you've read as a kid. Don't pay attention to movies like Star Wars, or shows like Star Trek and Battle Star Galactica; because, in the world of Animorphs, it's not the Wookies or the Klingons that you have to worry about. What you need to worry about is the Yeerks, and finding them is almost impossible.
In their natural forms, the Yeerks are pretty pathetic looking: greenish-gray looking slugs, no more than an inch or two. But if they manage to get inside your head—if they have their putrid bodies wrapped around your very brain—then you're in for a world of trouble. Once a Yeerk takes control of your mind you lose everything. They can move every part of your body effortlessly, and they can read every thought and view every memory. Nothing is hidden from a Yeerk once it takes hold of your mind. They are masters of disguise, and have no trouble passing off for you; so your family and friends may never know that there is something off about you. And if the thought of an alien slug taking away your freewill wasn't bad enough, here's a worse thought: you're pretty much trapped inside your own head; screaming and swearing and crying, and there isn't a soul out there who can hear you. And the Yeerk will laugh at you. It will tell you how stupid you are for fighting, for screaming when you know that nobody can hear. They will mock the human race; insult your family and friends. And you can't do a damn thing about it.
Sounds depressing, I know; but it's not completely hopeless. Like I said, I'm an Animorph, and our job is to stop the Yeerks from taking over the planet. We aren't ordinary kids, if that's what you're thinking. We're more of a threat than the Yeerks can even conceive. They think we're a group of Andalite Bandits—another Alien race from the far off sectors of the galaxy, and the arch-enemies of the Yeerk Empire. I wonder what they would do if the ever discovered that the opposition to their cause was a group of teenagers; teenagers with the ability to transform into other animals.
My involvement with the Yeerks, and the Andalites, and morphing, and missions that have often left me scarred both physically and psychologically began a few years ago. A group of friends and I decided to take a short cut through an abandoned construction site across from a mall in our home town. Parents have told their kids some pretty strange stories about that construction site, but we were at an age where things like that didn't scare us…well, they didn't scare me. So, being the daring teenagers that we were, we walked through the construction site—we being my cousin Jake and his friend Marco, a lonely kid named Tobias, and my best friend Cassie.
What we found at that construction site was far more terrifying than any drifter or axe-murderer. I remember watching that Andalite space ship land a few feet away from where we had been standing at the time with a mixture of fear and curiosity. And when I caught a glimpse of an Andalite walking out of the space ship, appearing to have been wounded from a battle far off in the deep sectors of space, I felt…sad. And I only felt worse after he told us the story of the Yeerk-Andalite War, and the possible enslavement of the human race. And despite the fact that I had only known Elfangor for a brief moment, I felt as though I had known him my entire life; maybe he felt the same way.
Elfangor gave us the power to morph, through the use of a small blue cube; a box that could just fit into the palm of your hand. And with that power came many rules. We could not morph from one creature to another without morphing back into our human bodies; we could acquire the D.N.A of an animal that was in front of us, not another morph; and, perhaps the most important rule of all, we could not overstay the two hour time limit…Tobias could tell you all about the consequences of breaking that golden rule.
It seems impossible when you start thinking about the consequences and the rules. I mean, how could five humans possibly stop an entire race of aliens from taking over the world? I wonder, sometimes, if Elfangor would have given that box to just about any human, if we had never walked through the construction site. And if he had managed to find a group of kids who happened to be just as naïve and trusting as we were, would they have done a better job at saving the world?
Unfortunately, where our new lives began Elfangor's came to an end. Moments after Elfangor gave us the power to morph, Visser Three arrived; and he arrived with friends. Visser Three seemed to have a personal vendetta against Elfangor, and I could understand that: apparently, Elfangor has caused the Yeerk Empire a great deal of trouble. The Visser didn't think twice about killing Elfangor; and he did so in the most horrifying way. Rather than wound Elfangor to the point of death, the Visser morphed into some sort of monster and…and ate Elfangor whole. I think that's when I knew that the entire night hadn't been a twisted dream; watching another man die, human or alien, is just too real to be a dream. And I knew right then that I had to fight; to defeat the Yeerks and avenge this great man.
So how does Rachel the Animorph spend her free time? When I am not risking my neck fighting Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and other fellow humans, what am I doing?
I shop. I spend time with Cassie at her family's rehabilitation clinic. And I live life.
This was one of those days where, miraculously, the Animorphs did not have to save the day. We have ways of gathering information on the Yeerks, so we would definitely know if something was up. But we haven't heard anything from our friend Erek, or any of the other Chee. Tobias and Ax haven't found any new entrances to the Yeerk Pool, and we haven't seen any known human controllers acting in strange ways. For me, that was a good thing; now I could focus on things like school, or family…or maybe my questionable relationship with Tobias. But for some of my friends—like Marco and Jake—it meant that we had to be on constant alert. Marco's interpretation of the phrase "on constant alert" meant twitching and bitching every five seconds. Jake just looked around the food court every five minutes.
"I do not like this," Marco said, shaking his head like some lunatic. "Something's off about this whole thing…the Yeerks don't just take the day off."
"Can't you just take advantage of a day without Yeerks and lighten up?" I asked, stealing a fry from Jake's plate. "When was the last time you were able to sit back and relax?"
"Well, if my memory is correct, I would say…around Thursday night, one year ago." Marco mumbled bitterly. "The next night, I watched a furry blue centaur get eaten by another, evil furry blue centaur. The next few months after that were a blur."
"Well…it's not like we haven't done anything over the last few months." Cassie said. "We've given the natives of Hork-Bajir a fighting chance."
"We've taken down some of the more obvious Yeerk fronts while Jake was on vacation" I reminded him.
"We've taken down the Anti-Morphing Ray." Tobias added.
"And we've got allies in this war now." Cassie continued. "The Yeerk Peace Movement will doubtlessly come of some use."
"Oh sure, we've done a lot." Marco mumbled. "But, if I remember correctly, your leadership nearly got Cassie killed. We haven't heard anything positive from Hork-Bajir since our little adventure with Quaj…Quaj….whatever that little guy's name was. And that little morphing ray was more trouble than it was worth.
"And when we aren't fighting the Yeerks, something else comes along to ruin our lives: some merpeople with a grudge against humanity; some fanatic Andalites plotting to unleash a deadly virus upon the entire human race…and let's not forget the constant interference from the blue dude, and everybody's least favourite purple dinosaur.
"Face it guys…every time we score a point against the Yeerks, they just come back with something else…and this is just too weird for me; the way everything has been so calm over the last few days…something is definitely up."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Jake asked. "I know what you're talking about, Marco; I agree with you. Things have been going too…smoothly lately. I don't like it, but there's not much we can do. Erek is positive that the Yeerks aren't up to anything just yet. Maybe we should take advantage of this day and be…kids.
"So I'm supposed to shop for clothes and go nuts over cinnamon buns, pretending that nothing is wrong for the time being?"
"If it will shut you up." I smiled.
"That hurts, Xena." Marco said. "After all we've been through, that really hurts. I think I just might cry."
"I think I'm getting tired of Marco's jokes." Tobias muttered. "I think I've heard this one already."
"Et too, Birdy?" Marco joked. "I guess you're just going with whatever Xena says now. Xena and Bird-Boy, a match made in Olympus."
"I think Marco's finally snapped." Jake said.
"Well. If we're going to play make believe today, I think I'm going to play the role of above average hunk that beat his good pal Jake's butt at Space Invaders at the arcade. Care to join me, fearless leader?"
"Only in a world of make believe could you whip my butt at anything, Marco." Jake grinned. "What do you say boys, want to be ordinary for the day?"
"It would give me the opportunity to expand my knowledge on Earth traditions and culture." Ax agreed.
"And if anybody's going to whip anyone's butt at anything, it's going to be me." Tobias said, rising to his feet and following Jake, Marco and Ax to the Arcade. "I'll catch up with you later?" He said to me.
"If you must," I sighed, watching my supposed boyfriend walk off to play…video games. "I don't understand any of them, Cassie. I really don't."
"They're only boys, Rachel." Cassie reminded me. "And I think they deserve to have some fun."
"What, we aren't fun?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I doubt if Jake and Tobias really want to follow either of us around while we shop." She said, walking away from the table to throw away our leftovers from lunch. "And, to be honest, I'm not too big on the idea either."
"Don't you want to look nice for Jake?" I said. I must have had this conversation with Cassie a dozen times.
"Jake thinks I look fine the way I am."
"Same old arguments." I muttered.
"So…are you upset about what Tobias said?" Cassie asked.
I shrugged. "I guess I should be, but I'm not surprised." I wanted to change the subject. I knew that I felt a certain way about Tobias, but I'm not exactly the sort of person who openly discusses her feelings. That's more Cassie's style. So I said, "Do you think Marco has a point?"
"He's definitely right when he says we should watch our backs." Cassie nodded. "Things have been quiet lately. Jake's worried, he's told me. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't the least bit worried…maybe something is up. But, really, what can we do?"
Cassie reluctantly agreed to join me for some good old fashioned shopping, as long as I refrained from getting her to try anything on. Sometimes I think Cassie is a lost cause. But that doesn't usually stop me from trying to help her out. But I found myself thinking a lot about Tobias. What was our relationship exactly? We've decided long ago, perhaps at different times, that we were more than friends, but I'm the one who has to do all the work. I'm the one who suggests the dates, who makes the first move. Tobias just wants to go out flying. Not that there's anything wrong with that; flying is probably the second greatest feeling a girl can experience, but you can only take so much. Hell, Jake kissed Cassie before Tobias and I finally got around to that point in our relationship, and Jake's…well, he's Jake. He's as clueless as a Hork-Bajir when it comes to these things. And Tobias…well, Tobias is just as bad, if not worse.
Eventually, Cassie and I decided to call it a night and went home. There was a nature special on lemurs that Cassie was dying to tape, so she took off, leaving me to my thoughts. And I had a lot to think about: my relationship with Tobias, the lack of activity from the Yeerks, Marco's stupid jokes, my relationship with my parents—which seems to be just as rocky as my relationship with Tobias—Sara's upcoming art project, Jordan's latest school boy crush, and…well, the list just goes on. I had been thinking so much that I hardly heard Jordan call my name when I entered the house.
"Rachel, there's a boy waiting for you in the kitchen." She paused to smile before adding, "He's cute!"
My first thought was that Tobias felt guilty for leaving me to play Space invaders with Marco and Jake. I pictured him sitting there with flowers in one hand and chocolates in the other, though that really wasn't Tobias' style. And Tobias never used the front door when he wanted to see me. He'd swoop into my room through the window, and he would ask me to go flying. So who could possibly be waiting for me?
"Hey there Rachel," a blonde haired, brown eyed boy said from the kitchen table. "It's been a long, long time. How's Jake?"
David….