Chapter 6

"What are we looking at?" Jake asked Tobias. "Where do we have an in?"

"Front door," Tobias answered.

"Really? You want us to just walk in the front door?" I asked. "Why don't we just hand ourselves over to the One now and save him the trouble."

"It'll be easy," he said. "None of the windows in the building open, so that's out. There are only the front doors to worry about. They have bug zappers but they don't catch insects on people, just ones that try to get in around the edges. We morph to fly, hitch a ride on someone and we're in."

"What next?" Jake asked. "Where's their mainframe? Where do we demorph?"

"Hard to say," he admitted. "I think the windows have hologram paint on them."

"Hologram paint?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, hologram paint," Tobias confirmed. "You paint a window with it then project an image onto the window. It's good for fooling curious window-washers. Or red-tailed hawks."

"Why would they bother with that?" Jeanne asked.

"Anyone who wants to break into Tri-I would probably be morph-capable," I answered. To Tobias, I said, "So what you're telling us is that you can't see inside the building at all?"

"That's about it," he admitted. "But there are some major updrafts over the western half of the roof."

"Well, that's helpful," I said sarcastically.

"It is," Tobias insisted. "That kind of uneven updraft means that the western side's got something inside it that's producing a lot of heat. Something like a massive computer grid running twenty-four seven."

Well, he had me there. Say what you will about Tobias, but he knows wind better than anyone.

"So," Jake summarized, "we can get through the front door on someone's body. Then we know we need to check out the western half of the building, starting with the upper levels. We find the computer mainframe, hack it"

"How are we supposed to do that, exactly?" I asked.

"Well…I just assumed you could do it," Jake admitted. "You always could in the past."

"No," I corrected, "Ax could always do it. But Tri-I probably has Andalite security. I doubt Ax could crack that and I know I can't. We need another Andalite, and a smart one at that."

"What ever happened to Menderash?" Santorelli asked. "He seemed smart."

"We don't know where he is," Jake admitted. "When Crayak or the Ellimist or whoever it was yanked us out of our ship by the Hork-Bajir planet, we lost him."

"I doubt he could crack Andalite security anyway," Tobias said. "He was an alright guy and a good pilot, but he was just average when it came to computers."

"We have someone better," I said.

"We do?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah. Our good buddy Erek King."

"Who is that?" Jeanne asked.

"He's an android," I answered. "There are a bunch of them. They call themselves the Chee. They're really old and really advanced. Erek cracked the codes of a Yeerk Pool ship in about five minutes. And I've seen Chee go through Andalite security in the blink of an eye."

"I never read about them in any of the history books," Santorelli remarked.

"We promised to leave them out of it," Jake told him. He turned to me. "But Marco, we don't know where Erek is. He's probably someone else by now, somewhere else."

"He won't be easy to find," I admitted. "Still, we found him once before, didn't we?"

"By luck," Cassie answered. "By accident."

"Maybe he left some kind of clue for us," I reasoned. "I think we should go and check out Erek's old house."

"Alright," Jake agreed. "We'll split up. Some will go in and get the layout of Tri-I. The rest of us will check out Erek's old house. I want Marco and Cassie with me to check out the house. Tobias will lead Santorelli and Jeanne into Tri-I. "

Something bothered me about that. Why was he putting Tobias in charge of the new guys? Why wouldn't he do it himself? And was it my imagination or was he putting Tobias and Jeanne together a lot?

"Maybe you and Cassie should check out Erek's house," I said to Jake. "It'll probably just be a simple look around; no reason to take half the army. If things go wrong in Tri-I, we'll need everyone we can get to fight our way out. Half of those agents are morph-capable, after all."

Jake was quiet for a moment. Then he decided. "I'll take Jeanne with me. If a fight breaks out, you'll need Cassie's experience. And Santorelli's got enough training that he'll be helpful."

"And I am useless why?" Jeanne asked.

"Not useless," Jake answered. "Inexperienced."

"And I am to become more experienced by being where there is not supposed to be a fight?" she questioned.

"She has a point," Cassie said quietly.

Jake shook his head. "I've got to go with my gut on this one. I'll go to Erek's with Jeanne; it'd be stupid not to go with backup. Tobias will lead the mission in Tri-I."

I tried not to show how surprised I was by that. I didn't get it. Why Tobias? Jake was up to something. I knew him well enough to know that. I needed to find out what.

Jake wasn't acting like Jake anymore. In a normal world, that happens to people. In my world, it meant that someone could quite possibly be a Controller. Even Jake could have been one. I'd have to find out, one way or another.

If Jake was a Controller, he had to go. It was as plain as that. And if he had to be…terminated…I would have to be the one to do it. He was my best friend; no one else could do it. If Jake had to die, I would have to be the one to kill him.

Chapter 7

We all morphed to birds and flew home. Jake was a peregrine falcon and I was an osprey. He was much faster but I was able to catch up with him. I guess he was waiting for me.

((Wondering why I chose Tobias?)) he asked me.

He knew me too well. ((Yeah. I don't get it, dude. I'm your best friend, your right hand man. I mean))

((I know,)) he interrupted. ((You're the cold one. The calculating one. You don't get the mission mixed up with emotions. Believe me, Marco, I know all that. I was there when you planned your own mother's assassination. I know all about you.))

((So why?))

((Because, for one thing, the new guys don't trust you. Not really. They'll do what you say and they don't think you'll get them killed, but they don't really trust your judgment.))

((Tell them to read a history book,)) I grumbled.

((It isn't that they don't think you know what you're doing,)) Jake corrected me. ((It's more like…if some Andalite had shown up and started giving you orders back during the first war, would you have listened?))

((I'd have done as I was told, probably,)) I answered. ((But no, not really. I wouldn't trust him.))

((Exactly. The new guys know Tobias better. He led them on their first mission, remember. They know they can trust him.))

I was quiet for a minute. Then I said, ((Jake? Cut the crap, man. I know you. This isn't about trust. What's going on?))

((What do you mean?)) he said evasively.

((I mean, why are you delegating so much responsibility? In the old days, you'd die before you heard of someone else leading the Tri-I mission. Now you're putting one of us in charge of a vital mission while you take the blow-off job. What's the deal?))

Now it was his turn to be quiet. ((You don't know what it's like to have the death of a friend on your hands,)) Jake answered. ((It's so different from killing an enemy. A friend… Knowing that what you decided cost them their life… I don't think I can go through that again.))

((You were ready to a couple of months ago when we started chasing Ax,)) I reminded him.

((I thought I was,)) he said. ((But I was wrong. When it came time to actually make a decision, I froze. I said the first thing that came to mind. If the Drode hadn't shown up…))

((So you're afraid to fail? Is that it?)) I prodded.

((I'm afraid I'll get another friend killed. I don't think I can go on with this, Marco.))

((So you'll rest up this mission, get your bearings,)) I said. ((You'll be back for the next one.))

((No. No, I can't do it. Not for a whole other war.))

((Jake, you're just a little stressed. Just think about))

((YOU DON'T GET IT!)) he shouted in my head. Jake never lost his temper like that. When he was angry, he got quiet. This was something new. He was beyond his usual range of emotion. This was frustration, anger, fear, and pain all at once.

((You don't get it,)) he continued, quieter this time. ((Every day I wake up and know that I got my brother killed. That I got Rachel killed. That I basically got Tobias killed, too. The Tobias we knew…he's dead now. He died on that bridge with Rachel. I've already lost three people I cared about. How can I be responsible for any more?))

I knew he just wanted to speak, so I kept quiet. I may not be Mr. Sensitive but I could sense a mood.

((You can't understand it,)) he continued. ((It's because you're the cold one, the smart one. Because you're Marco. You're a good guy, but you just can't understand some things. I might as well be the one who killed them. I might as well have put guns to their heads and pulled the triggers. And now that I might have to do it all again…now that I might get more friends killed…))

((So you're just going to give up?)) I demanded. ((What happened to the old Jake? You never gave up before. That's why you beat the Yeerks. Because you never, ever gave up.))

((Yeah. But I think…I think part of me died with Rachel and Tobias and Tom,)) he said. ((Now that I see where everything led me…))

((So you're done, is that it?))

((No, not done. I'll still fight. But I don't think I can lead anymore, Marco. We're all different than we were back then. I'm not the same Jake. I just don't have it anymore.))

((So you're resigning.))

((The only reason I was the leader in the first place…do you remember why it happened?))

I thought back to that night in the construction site. ((It just seemed natural. Destiny or something,)) I said.

((I was the leader because I went into that ship. But it could just as easily have been Tobias. We both stood there, at the foot of the ship. The only reason it was me was because he wanted to stay with Elfangor. If he had gone inside instead of me…))

((So you're trying to set him up to take your place? Jake, Tobias is a good guy but he doesn't have what it takes. Like he always said, he's no one's leader.))

((Yeah? I always thought that too. But he's what we need. This war can't break him like it did me. He'll never, ever give up. And like you said, that's what won it the first time.))

((Jake, do you really think any of us will ever give up?)) I asked.

((Cassie gave up once. You wanted to quit until you found out about your mother. Jeanne and Santorelli…they don't have the same kind of stake in this that we do. But Tobias has more reason to fight than anyone else. And there's something else.))

((What?))

((Have you ever really spoken to him? No, I didn't think so. If you've ever seen into his heart, you'd know that there's something dark inside him. I know it. And more importantly, Ax knows it.))

((So what?))

((Ax knows better than anyone what Tobias is capable of. Probably better than Tobias himself does. And with access to Ax's mind, Esplin will fear Tobias. He's the ultimate enemy for Esplin, really.))

((How do you figure?))

((He's the son of Esplin's archenemy, Elfangor. And now Tobias has some revenge to get for Ax, so Esplin has that to fear. And whatever dark thing lived inside Tobias, it's starting to wake up, and his contact with Crayak is only going to make it stronger. Ax knows all this, so Esplin does too. And I want Esplin to be afraid. If I can't finish this war, I want to leave him that. Something to keep him up at night.))

Chapter 8

I was kind of ticked with Jake. It was one thing for him not to want to be the leader any more. That was his decision. But why Tobias instead of me?

So what if Ax knew Tobias better. He could learn to fear me. Like Jake said, I was the cold one. I tried to kill my own mother once. She was Visser One at the time, but still…

I was sure I was the better choice. I was smarter. I know it sounds arrogant, but it was true. In terms of pure brain power, I was the smartest of the Animorphs, the one who could see the line from A to B the quickest.

Would I ever give up now? Not a chance. I knew that. During the hardest times of the first war, wasn't I there along with everyone else, still fighting on?

I decided I had to talk to Tobias about what Jake told me. I'm not one for feelings talks and I'm also not one to give away what someone told me privately. But Tobias needed to know what Jake was planning to do.

I checked back at my mansion first. He wasn't there. Santorelli told me he and Jeanne were out flying around. Again, I felt spark of jealousy. I decided I'd ask Tobias about it.

I knew some of Tobias's favorite places to fly and, sure enough, he was in one of them. A pair of red tails was hovering over the mall parking lot. The heat from the sun baked the blacktop forming big cushions of hot air that would lift you up a mile high without any effort.

((Tobias!)) I called. ((I need to talk to you alone for a minute.))

I don't know if you can shrug while flying but I think he did. He peeled away from Jeanne and came to meet me. ((What's up?))

There are two types of thought-speech, open and closed. Open was like shouting so everyone could hear you. Closed was like whispering. I was using closed.

((Jake's losing it,))I told him bluntly. I could be subtle when I wanted to, but this wasn't the time.

((How so?))

((He doesn't think he can make any more important decisions. He's afraid to get someone else killed. He's afraid he'll freeze up at crunch time.))

((And?))

((And what? That doesn't sound like a problem to you?)) I demanded.

((I just thought that was the way it always was. It can't be easy to put your friends in harm's way. Didn't he have a problem with it from the start?))

((If he did, he never told me. But that doesn't matter. He used to be able to do it without freezing. Now he doesn't think he can. And I'm not sure either. He's lost his confidence.))

((So we'll have to give it back.))

((How?))

((You're the smart one, )) he said.

((And the good looking one. And the funny one,)) I reminded him.

((And don't forget humble.))

((Always humble.)) then I realized I got distracted. ((There's something else.))

((What?))

((Jake's planning to hand everything over to you.)) He stopped flapping for a moment. He spread his wings and let the hot air carry him up. I followed.

He asked, ((Why me?))

((Because Esplin will fear you. Because you're not going to give up. Because…))

((Because I wouldn't have a problem getting any one of you killed if it stopped the Yeerks?)) he prompted. It was weird the way he said it. It was so calm, so casual. Like a simple fact I should have already known.

((Yeah, maybe.))

((Or maybe it's because I'll listen to the rest of you,)) he said. ((Do you remember what happened when he put Rachel in charge?))

I heard his voice crack when he said her name. I didn't mention it. ((Yeah. She didn't take my advice and things got really out of hand.))

((She didn't take anyone's advice,)) he answered. ((And you wouldn't have either. Both of you are so sure you know best. Am I wrong?))

I was about to tell him he was wrong, but then I thought about it. I had automatically assumed that I would be the best person to take over if Jake quit. But was it true? Sure, I had some good leadership qualities, but I had some bad ones, too.

I was a bad listener. I was inconsiderate of others. I was kind of arrogant. I was really sure of myself. Those were all liabilities in a leader, I realized. Maybe Jake had a point. Still, I couldn't help but asking, ((So why not Cassie?))

Tobias turned to look at me with his hawk's eyes. ((You know why not.))

Yeah, I knew. Cassie just didn't have what it took. She would break. None of us liked to think about that happening to any of us but it could happen, especially to Cassie. She was the most naturally kind, considerate, and gentle person I ever met. Exactly the kind of person Esplin would walk all over. She was strong in a lot of ways, stronger than anyone I knew, but she wasn't a general.

((So you're all that's left?)) I asked.

((Well, I think he would have preferred Ax, but he's not an option. So yeah, I'm the only other choice.))

I didn't have anything to say to that. So I changed the subject. ((So,)) I said casually, ((what's the deal with you and Jeanne?))

((What do you mean?))

((I mean, the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. Do you have something…going on?))

((Nothing like that. I need to get to know her. I need to know what she's capable of. It's hard to know who to rely on in a combat situation and I need to know if I can count on her.))

((You're not spending as much time with Santorelli,)) I pointed out.

((I already know Santorelli. He's a solid guy, brave in a fight, and smart, too.))

((And Jeanne?))

((I'm not sure about her. She doesn't really get the point of what we're doing.))

((Example?))

((She didn't get why we had to be so secretive at Tri-I earlier. She doesn't get why no one can know she and Santorelli are back on Earth. And she doesn't understand what any of this is going to be like.))

((No?))

((No,)) he confirmed. ((She doesn't realize just how bad a fight is. She thinks this sounds like fun. She wants to go out and fight every Kelbrid she can find.))

((Sound like anyone we used to know?)) I asked lightly. Then I remembered who I was talking to. ((Sorry,)) I muttered.

((No, you're right. I think that might have been part of why Jake picked her to come with us. That's why I'm trying not to get too close.))

((Yeah? Doesn't look like you're trying very hard,)) I commented. I knew I shouldn't have said it but I did anyway.

((Do you think this is easy for me?)) he demanded. His voice was quiet in a scary way. ((The last time I got involved with you people everything I ever cared about or came to care about was taken away from me. I've got nothing left.))

((So what, you want to take everything back?)) I demanded. ((Nothing you do can bring her back, Tobias. No one can raise the dead.))

((Are you so sure?)) he asked in a creepily quiet voice. ((How do you know?))

((Because it just isn't possible.))

((And our lives so far have been totally plausible,)) he answered. ((That hope is all I have, Marco. Don't you dare try to take that away from me.))

He peeled away from me. I knew better than to follow. We'd meet up with him later and he'd be alright. He just needed time to cool down. He was a pretty cool-headed guy. And if he didn't show up later, if I pushed him away, so what? Then I'd get to show Jake that I could take over.

Chapter 9

We went that night. Jake and Jeanne had left for Erek's house an hour ago. The rest of us were in an alley three blocks away from Tri-I. We would have preferred a closer spot but Tobias assured us that everything within two blocks of Tri-I was heavily monitored.

"So just how are four flies supposed to find their way to Tri-I?" I demanded. "It's hard to make anything out with fly eyes. How can we make it three blocks?"

"I have a plan," Tobias answered. "Cassie's got an owl morph. She can guide us there and keep an eye out outside just in case."

"And how are we supposed to find our way around inside?" I asked.

"I scoped the place out some more earlier today," he answered. "The lower windows are just regular glass. I located a bathroom we can use for a demorph if we need one."

I nodded. "Sounds good so far. What do we do once we're inside?"

"We make our way to the top floor, west side of the building," Tobias told me. "We start up there and work our way down. We look for something like a computer mainframe, some place where we could find some information."

Well, at least he had a plan. "Then lets go," I said. It looked like it was going to start raining and, trust me, you don't want to be a fly in a downpour.

It didn't take us long to get into our morphs. Mine felt almost instantaneous. First I shrank. Shrinking feels like falling. Only, instead of you getting closer to the ground, the ground is getting closer to you, like it's reaching up to hit you. I've gotten used to it.

Next came the antennae. They shot out of my head and wiggled around like hyperactive worms. I could sense every vibration of the air with them.

Then there were the wings. They came out of my back, two pairs of them. I buzzed them happily. I couldn't fly yet, but the wings were still way cool. Then came the not so cool parts.

Little dagger-like hairs sprouted from all over my body. Black chitinous plates covered my body. My eyes bulged out like balloons about to burst. My vision fragmented into thousands of little pictures with the color weirdly off.

I couldn't see my mouth and I didn't want to. It turned into a long, curling proboscis. That was the worst part of the fly. A fly would land on something, spit on some food, and then suck it up through the proboscis. Disgusting even to me. I wanted to swat myself.

Finally, the fly brain kicked in. I felt the urge to buzz around and around, eating the garbage from the dumpster at the back of the alley. But I fought that urge down. I was used to the fly. I could handle it.

All of this took about thirty seconds. Tobias and I were flies while Santorelli was still about the size of a toddler. When he finally was a fly, he had a surprisingly easy time controlling it.

((We used flies before,)) Tobias told me. ((He knew what he was getting in to.))

I guess Cassie was an owl because she started to give us directions. ((Okay, guys,)) she said. ((Fly ahead about ten yards or so and take a right. That'll lead you around the side of the building. Just go straight until I tell you to stop.))

We did as we were told, more or less. What you have to understand is that flying as a fly is fun. You can do anything you can imagine. Fly backwards, upside down, or even land on a slick surface; upside down. So we played around a little bit.

((Turn left,)) Cassie told us. We did. A moment later, she said, ((You're at the entrance. There's a guy near you, looks like he's about to go in. Hitch a ride on him and you'll be in.))

I landed on a green-grey blob beneath me. ((Am I on?)) I asked.

((You're on,)) she confirmed. ((Tobias and Santorelli are, too.))

((Good. Now we're one step closer to walking into a heavily guarded building that, with our luck, is probably full of Yeerks and Gleet BioFilters and Hunter-Killer robots and Kelbrid and probably Esplin and Ax, too,)) I said brightly. What can I say? I'm a positive person.

Chapter 10

The lobby was pretty full. That surprised me, since it was nearly ten at night. But there you go: Tri-I never sleeps.

((Anyone know where the stairs are?)) I asked.

((Stairs?)) Tobias laughed. ((There's a dropshaft, Marco. We just fly up that to the top floor. I don't know when Tri-I decided dropshafts were a good security idea, but whatever.))

((Dropshafts have killed more Vissers than Dracon beams,)) Santorelli remarked. ((First lesson of Yeerk bodyguard training was that dropshafts were a deathwish. I mean, they're just open tubes anyone could go through. Give me a good old human elevator any day.))

Santorelli used to be a Controller. And a bodyguard for Visser Six. He knew a thing or two about security. It occurred to me he might be able to hack into Tri-I. He was sort of an expert.

((Santorelli,)) I said, ((do you think you can hack a computer?))

((Tobias and I already talked about this. I could do any Yeerk system, probably. But I don't know if Tri-I uses Yeerk, Human, or Andalite systems. Probably Andalite, which means I couldn't do it.))

So Tobias though of that already? Maybe I wasn't giving him enough credit.

Tobias already knew where the dropshaft was from his surveillance earlier. He led us there easily enough. We flew up for what seemed like forever. We couldn't judge distance or see more than a few inches in front of us. The only way we knew we were at the top was because we hit the roof.

((Uh…which way's west?)) I asked. Ax always kept track of direction for us.

((I'm facing west,)) Tobias told us. ((I had Cassie orient me on the way in and I've kept the same direction the whole time.))

Well, wasn't he just Mr. Prepared. At least we weren't wandering around like clueless idiots.

Tobias led us forward quickly. Almost as though he knew where he was going. I decided to ask. ((Tobias, where are you taking us?))

((Santorelli, explain it to the man.))

((Top floor is usually for security,)) he explained. ((At least, it is in human buildings. All sorts of cameras and monitoring systems are run from a single room, almost always at the top of the building where it's hardest to reach. We figure we can probably find the mainframe from there.))

((I don't like being left out of the planning,)) I warned them. ((That isn't how we operate.))

((I just thought of it earlier today and Santorelli's the only one I saw before we met up in the alley,)) Tobias told me. ((I wanted to talk to you about it since you're good with plans, but there wasn't time.))

Maybe he was telling the truth. Or maybe he wanted to show Jake he was smarter than me. But there wasn't time for that now.

((How do we know which door leads to the security room?)) I questioned.

((It'll probably be the hardest to enter,)) Tobias said. ((I'm betting the door will have bug zappers around the edges, or something to keep us out.))

((How do we get in, once we find it?))

Santorelli answered me. ((In most places, guards change shifts around twenty-four hundred. The door's likely to open and then we can get in.))

((So we fly around looking for a door that will kill us when we try to get through it?)) I said. ((How's that going to work?))

Nobody had an answer for that. ((See,)) Tobias said, ((this is why I wanted to talk to you earlier. Any ideas?))

((We could acquire an employee and morph them,)) Santorelli suggested. ((That way, ))

((No,)) I said. ((We've got a rule against that. We never morph any sentient being unless we can avoid it. There's got to be another way.))

((Nobody here would recognize Santorelli,)) Tobias began. ((If we could find him some cloths, he could walk around, pretend he works here.))

((Where do we get the cloths?)) Santorelli asked.

((An employee,)) I answered. ((We just have to get one alone, grab him, take his cloths, and send you to work.))

((Where do we find the guy?)) Santorelli questioned.

Tobias and I answered at the same time. ((Bathroom.))

Tobias thought aloud. ((So we go into the bathroom. Then what? Have someone morph something big. I'm thinking Marco goes gorilla. He knocks the guy out and we give Santorelli his cloths. Sound good?))

I thought. ((Yeah, sounds like it would work. Provided no one walks in and sees a gorilla and a naked dude.))

((It's better than a lot of our other plans,)) Tobias reminded me. Well, he had me there.

Being flies, it was really easy to find the nearest bathroom. We just let our fly instincts guide us there. I landed on the floor and was about to demorph when I heard Santorelli tell me to wait.

((Might be security cameras in the room,)) he explained.

((Is that legal?)) I wondered.

((Tri-I watches everyone else. Why wouldn't they keep an eye on their own bathrooms?)) he answered. ((Paranoia's their business. I worked for them for two years, actually.))

((Really?)) I didn't know that. ((What happened?))

((They sent me to join Jake's training program.))

((What did you do?)) I asked.

((Don't worry about it.)) He said it in a way that I knew meant it was time to drop it.

((So how do we avoid the security cameras?)) I asked.

Santorelli told me, ((There's usually only one, keeping an eye on the door. Small thing, hidden in the wall. Lens would probably look like a drop of water on the wall. It'll probably be small enough that Tobias could block it with his body.))

A few moments later, I heard Tobias say, ((Found it. Go ahead and morph, Marco.))

I was human in about thirty seconds. I didn't pause to rest; we didn't know if there was anyone in here and I didn't want to waste time. About another thirty seconds later, I was fully gorilla.

And right then, a stall door opened. A guy walked out. He kept his head down as he went to the sink. He washed his hands. Finally, he looked up into the mirror over the sink. He saw me standing behind him.

His eyes went wide and I clapped a hand over his mouth. He struggled but without any effect. I got my other arm around his throat and pulled him towards me. After a few seconds, he passed out.