CHAPTER TWO

"Well, what is it?" Rachel asked, eager for action.

Cassie hesitated. "Go on," Jake urged.

"Well, we could recruit Animorphs in places where the invasion's growing," she said.

Marco groaned. "I should have known this would be utterly insane. Hello? Does anyone else remember what happened with David? You know, the Animorph we recruited who then betrayed us and tried to kill us!"

"All too clearly," Rachel muttered.

"Making David into an Animorph was a mistake," Cassie agreed. "We didn't know him. And it was a split second decision. It was thrown onto him too fast. And it would be a mistake to do something like that again. But not everyone's like David. We need to find people that are trustworthy, people who will join the resistance for the right cause. Before we give anyone the morphing power, we need to know them, and we need to make sure each person is someone we can trust."

"That sounds a bit better than running around an unknown city yelling, `Hey, anyone want the power to turn into an animal and fight brain-stealing alien slugs? It has great benefits. Extra hazard pay too!'" Marco exclaimed. "But even then, it's still too risky. And how are we supposed to get to these other parts of the country, let alone to other countries?"

"We could, uhh, `borrow' a plane," Rachel said.

"Forget it, Xena," Marco said. "We all remember what happened the last time you `borrowed' a plane. I'm not going through that again!"

How about a bug fighter? Tobias suggested.

"Well, there is the problem of having someone to fly it for us," Jake said, then looked toward Ax. "Unless you think you could control it."

"Although I am familiar with the controls of a bug fighter," Ax said. "I am uncertain as to my ability to fight or escape should we come across a combat situation. I was considered too young to begin training as a fighter pilot by my people. I have little battle experience with fighters. Perhaps it would be in our best interest to find someone with more battle experience to aid us."

"And though none of you experienced it," Jake said. "Or at least not in this timeline, the one time we did try to escape the Yeerks in a bug fighter with Ax as our pilot, we didn't make it very far before the Yeerks caught up with us. No offense, Ax."

Rachel and Marco looked at each other, silently asking if the other had a clue as to what Jake was talking about. Cassie also looked confused and asked, "Uh, Jake. When was that?"

Jake slapped his palm against his forehead. "That's right! I never told any of you about that... well, except for Ax. It's a long story. But to make it short, we captured a bug fighter, got shot at by the Blade Ship, and were all caught in a Sario Rip. But fortunately that timeline was undone when the alternate me got killed. I was the only one to remember it. But I told Ax."

"Yeah," Marco said sarcastically. "I can see how you might forget to mention something as dull as that. But both you and Ax-man seem to think he shouldn't be our pilot for this mission."

Ax nodded. "Yes, it would be risky, riss-skee, for me to attempt to pilot the bug fighter for a mission such as this. We do not know how long we may need to remain concealed in each location. Or if we may need to out-maneuver other bug fighters."

So we would be better off with a more experienced pilot. Tobias said. But who? And how would we get this bug fighter? The Yeerks aren't likely to fall for the same trick twice.

"Guys," Cassie said, gathering their attention. "We're overlooking some allies we already have that could help us. For one the Chee. Their holograms could be useful in hiding an attack. But we also have the Yeerk Peace Movement. We could get one of them to get us information on where to find a bug fighter, and someone to fly it too. If everything goes well, the Yeerks may not even notice the missing bug fighter."

"Cassie, you're a genius!" Rachel exclaimed. "We've got a way now, so let's do it!"

"How come you never call me a genius when I come up with good plans?" Marco complained.

Rachel batted her eyes. "You'd just let it go to your head. And your head's already plenty big enough as it is."

"Okay," Jake said. "Doing this will be extreme. And it definitely won't be easy. But it's worth the risk. If Visser One is going to be bold, we'll have to be bold too. The power to morph has always been our advantage. Having the morphing cube is another advantage we need to use. Giving the morphing power to others and creating a bigger resistance may be what we need to take the upperhand in this war. But if we're going to do this we need a lot more planning. Let's see." He turned his eyes to the ceiling as he started developing a plan. After several seconds he turned back to the other Animorphs. "Marco, I need you to contact Erek. Tell him that Cassie, Rachel, and I are going to need someone to fill in for us at home and at school for a while. We also might need some holographic cover when we take the bug fighter. See if he or one of his people can help us with that. Cassie, I need you to contact Tidwell. Find out if he knows of anyone in the Peace Movement that's real good at flying a bug fighter. We need someone that can avoid the rest of the Yeerks for a while and really knows how to maneuver a fighter if we're spotted. We'll probably also need his help in getting us to the bug fighter. Ax, I need you to come up with some places for us to go. Focus on those where there have been lots of reports, and places we could get to easily without being detected. Tobias can help you. Does anybody have anything else to bring up?" Everyone shook their heads "no."

"Alright then," Jake said, clasping his hands. "Meeting adjourned. We've got work to do."

Everyone started separating to go their separate ways. "I'll go talk to Mr. Tidwell right away," Cassie said, wiping her hands on her pants after securing a fox's cage. "He's told me that he's willing to help any time."

Tobias flew out, as Rachel, Cassie and Ax walked out the door of the barn. Jake started to leave as well. Marco ran to catch up to him before he got to the door. "Uh, Jake, I've got a favor to ask of you," he said, shifting nervously.

Jake stopped, and looked concerned as he faced Marco. "Are you okay, Marco? You seem kind of... nervous. What's up?"

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Author's notes: Did you like it? Can you guess what Marco's favor is? Please read & review. I'd like to hear your ideas and know how I could improve.