The cheeseburgers had broken up some of the monotony that comes with stakeouts, but the boredom was kicking in again and the thermals were starting to die down as the sun moved toward the horizon. Even though it annoyed me to have Ax seemingly dodge my last question, I was relieved to hear him say, ‹I'm sorry, Tobias, but I have an idea that may move this mission along. Can we discuss the intricacies of morphing at a later time?›

‹Sure thing, Ax-man. What's your idea?›

‹Do you remember that unfortunate experience when our excess masses in Z-space were struck by an errant spaceship, which dragged us into a war on the Leeran planet?› he asked. ‹I believe you were one of the first to be returned to Earth, but some of us, myself included, acquired Leeran DNA.›

‹So, you can morph into a Leeran?› I asked. ‹I thought we couldn't morph things that we acquired in a Sario Rip.›

‹It was not a Sario Rip. We were really there, and we all remembered the events. As for the Leeran morph, I have not attempted it since we returned to Earth,› he admitted. ‹But I'd like to try now.›

‹Why a Leeran?› I asked.

‹You may recall that they have a special proclivity for…mind reading,› He sounded uneasy. ‹I'm hesitant to even suggest it, as it would be a huge invasion of privacy for the residents of these dwellings, but I do think it would help us locate this Yeerk, both faster and more accurately.›

‹No, you're right, Cassie,› I said, mockingly. ‹We had better let this guy keep trapping innocent people as Yeerks instead.›

I swear Ax laughed at that, and said, ‹Your point is made, and I am acknowledging that as your approval.›

I stayed in the air, watching the area, as Ax flew down to the same Dumpster that I had used earlier. My amazing hawk eyes watched his blue Andalite fur change into the yellow reptilian skin of the psychic frog-like creature from another world.

Before long, Ax reported, ‹I can hear the thoughts from dozens of different minds, all coming from a very small area.›

‹Well,› I said. ‹Someone's either throwing a very quiet party, or we've found our Yeerk. Should we check it out?›

I joined Ax in his Dumpster. He pointed out where he heard all the thoughts coming from, and we became mosquitos.

‹Amazing that our mosquito morphs and Leeran morph are so closely tied to the same Z-space mishap,› said Ax.

‹Wait a minute, Ax,› I replied. ‹Is that a possible option? Zenguh is accumulating so many morphs, his Z-space mass must be huge. Maybe he'll get pulled off Earth entirely like we did?›

‹That could be a long wait, Tobias,› he answered. ‹Besides, we all popped back to Earth eventually, anyway, so it would be a temporary solution at best.›

Bummer.

We flew up to the apartment and found a gap between the balcony door and the door frame. We squeezed through, and were suddenly inside. I looked around. My mosquito eyes, though weak compared to a hawk's, were able to see that this place was definitely strange. There were racks of clothing in every room. No refrigerator, no pantry, not even a bed. It looked like what I imagined Rachel's apartment would look like when she eventually moved into her own place.

There was a man rummaging through one of the racks in what I would have called the master bedroom.

‹I found him,› I told Ax.

I demorphed to hawk, as Ax demorphed in the master bathroom. Ax popped out of the bathroom, and shouted, ‹It's over, Yeerk!›.

The man fell over, terrified and surprised. He scrambled across the floor, into the living room, and into the kitchen until he was near the front door. I thought we might have had the wrong guy, until he snarled, "Andalite!". Poor Yeerks, they just can't help giving themselves away. The man, obviously Zenguh, reached into a drawer by the sink, pulled out a Dracon beam, and pointed it at Ax. As he aimed, I flew across the room, aiming for his face.

"TSEEEEEER!"

Oh…I get it now.

I couldn't get the gun away from the man, but it distracted him long enough for Ax to close the distance and knock the weapon out of his hand with a smack from the blunt side of his tailblade.

We made the classic mistake of watching the gun clatter to the ground, which gave him the opening to run out the front door.

Ax started out the door, but I stopped him.

‹Ax!› I shouted. ‹This is a crowded apartment building. We shouldn't have an Andalite running around where people could see.›

He nodded, and began morphing into an adult man.

‹Who's that?› I asked.

‹The man in a suit, who was guarding your American President on our mission with David,› he answered. ‹I regret that I no longer have the suit. I liked it.›

I nodded my approval and took off after the Yeerk, as Ax picked out some clothes from one of the racks. I saw Zenguh running across the parking lot, but there was something strange going on. His hair was growing longer, and his clothes were growing looser. In moments, he had become a woman with long brown hair, that we had never seen before.

I relayed the information to Ax, who was just exiting the apartment door. Zenguh ran past an outdoor shopping center, and wove his way into a small crowd that was leaving a restaurant. He looked over his shoulder as he ran around the corner of the building. I thought-spoke his location to Ax, who was running as fast as he could.

‹How do people run with only two legs?› he asked for about the hundredth time, steadying himself on cars and walls as he ran.

I turned the corner, and he was gone. There was no one but a man locking his car door.

‹Ax, I lost Zenguh!› I groaned. I flapped higher, straining my eyes for any sign of him, as the sun dipped low in the evening sky. I looked all around the building, between cars in the parking lot, the walkway to the beach behind the shopping center, but I couldn't find him.

A man's voice rang out. "Ow!"

I turned to see Ax lying flat on the ground next to the man I had seen locking his car. I landed on the restaurant's roof.

‹Ax, what happened?› I yelled down.

‹I was turning the corner, and I collided, full speed, with this man,› he thought-spoke, as he groaned with his mouth.

"I'm sorry, sir," Ax said to the man. "I should have been watching where I was going. Are you hurt? Urt?"

The man picked himself up off the ground and started to speak, but then he got a good look at Ax.

"Hey!" he yelled. "That's my shirt!"

I looked at him again, and realized that I recognized the man! It was the same man who had given the speech at the birdwatching convention! That shouldn't be possible, that man was a Yeerk inside a Yeerk inside of who knew how many Yeerks.

The man, clearly Zenguh, realized that he had given himself away and took off running again. I could see the long brown hair returning as he, or possibly she at this point, rounded the corner of the grocery store, two buildings away from the restaurant. I had taken off when he started running, but by the time I got to the back of the grocery store, Zenguh was gone.

Ax jogged up.

‹Did we get him?› he asked.

‹No,› I responded. ‹How is this Yeerk so slippery?›

‹Ha! Ha!› Ax said. ‹Earth humor!›

‹Oh, I guess it was, Ax,› I said as I landed on top of another Dumpster to think. ‹Hey, Ax, he keeps reverting to the brown-haired lady in between the other human morphs. She must be the most recent host, right?›

As I was finishing my thought, the Dumpster lid exploded upwards beneath me. I was launched into the air, as an antelope burst out of the garbage and ran through the parking lot toward the street.

‹Tobias, are you well?› asked Ax.

‹I'll be okay. Morph something fast! We've got to catch him!›

I recovered, and flew after him. I morphed into my other hawk form for a bit of a speed boost, but I wasn't sure it would be enough. I could see the antelope, but it was fast, and it was getting difficult to keep it in focus as the sky grew darker. Zenguh was headed north, toward the park. Hopefully I could keep up, or he would lose me in the thick trees.