Chapter Four:
"I'm not kidding," Marco snorted. "The bruise was this big!" He held up his hands, indicating the size of the bruise on Robert's foot.
What were you doing looking at Robert's feet? Tobias asked.
"He was showing everybody in gym. Rachel, next time you want to be left alone at school, just wear those shoes. Dey ah dee intimadaytohs!" he intoned, affecting a Schwarzenegger accent.
"If only they would work on you," I mused.
"Yeah, right. You're talking to the kid who stares Hork-Bajir guards in the eye and laughs. I'm not about to start crying because of your boots."
"I never heard you laughing at them, Marco. Whimpering in terror, yeah. Not laughing."
We were in Cassie's barn. Business was slow in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, so Cassie was mucking out a stall instead of bandaging weasels or sticking needles into unsuspecting ducks. Tobias was, you guessed it, perched in the rafters. The rest of us were scattered around the barn. Since it was Tuesday afternoon and Cassie's dad was home, Ax was in another stall, ready to duck out of sight and morph should it become necessary.
"What I really want to know is how you bent your leg so your feet could get under the book rack of your own desk. Did you half-morph squid or something?"
"Marco," I purred, "some of us just have longer and more flexible legs than others. You're the only one here whose feet don't touch the ground when you sit at your desk."
"Hah. Hah. And here I thought I was the only comedian in the club."
"Actually, Rachel, I was wondering the same thing," Cassie said. "How did you do that?"
"Well, I didn't bring my foot straight down. More like kicked back. And I was in one of those new gray desks, with the book racks farther forward."
"Gotcha."
"For the record, Rachel," Jake said, "you should try to avoid bruising anybody, in the future."
"I didn't mean to give him a bruise," I protested.
"You meant to kick him," Jake reproached, then continued before I had a chance to defend myself. "If we're all finished reviewing the saga of Robert's bruise, we'll return to our regularly scheduled Animorphs meeting."
Do let's, Tobias said dryly.
"I talked to Erek about Megan last night. He told me that she's not a member of the Sharing."
"So she's not a Controller," I said, glancing at Cassie.
"Not necessarily, but we can't jump to conclusions," Jake cautioned. "According to Erek, not all Controllers are part of the Sharing. Most Controllers who have bad reputations or live as criminals aren't part of the Sharing. The Yeerks don't want the negative press."
That makes sense, Ax interjected. While access to the illicit element of society would permit increased opportunities for infestation and nefarious operations, they maintain a respectable surface element to procure influence in higher spheres.
We stared at him. Ax has a tendency to use big words, but this was quite a doozy of a sentence, even for him.
Ax, Tobias smiled, you know how I said you should read the thesaurus to get a better scope of the human language?
Yes?
Forget what I said. I think you picked the wrong words to memorize.
I chose the most interesting words, he mumbled huffily.
"Annnnyway," Jake interrupted, "the deal is, we don't know whether Megan is a Controller or not."
"So what does that mean?" I asked.
Marco leaned forward, smirking. "It means we don't know whether Megan is a Controller or -- ouch!"
The shoes I was wearing weren't quite as good for stomping as my new boots. They were good enough.
"It means that, for now, we've got to act under the assumption that Megan *is* a Controller," Jake said.
"Which means that we've got to invade a wild pool party! Yeehaw!" Marco exulted. Then, at a look from Cassie and I: "I mean, 'Oh, dear. This requires careful planning.'"
"Mm-hmm," Cassie grunted.
"Any plans for keeping Jordan Yeerk-free?" Jake prompted.
"Sure," I shrugged. "We go in with battle morphs, rip up the party, send everybody home screaming."
"I love the elegance of your plans, Rachel," Marco sneered. "*If* we were to do that, and *if* we were to survive, don't you think people might wonder just why the traveling circus decided to crash the gates?"
Driven mad by the heat? Tobias suggested.
"Yeah, right," Marco snorted. "I think a little finesse is in order, Jake. We go in as dogs. Real cute dogs . . . "
"You're ill, Marco," I said.
"Well, at least I have better sense than to alert every Controller on Earth that there was somebody important to us at this pool party!"
Okay, he had a point. I was supposed to admit that? Yeah, right.
Jake, before we can do anything, we need to scope out the situation. We can't decide on a battle plan until we know exactly what kind of defenses we're looking at. And we won't be sure what they'll have up until Friday night itself.
I noticed that Cassie had stopped mucking her stall. She and Ax were standing next to each other quietly. Cassie was obviously waiting for us to quiet down. Ax looked confused.
Prince Jake?
"Yeah, Ax?"
Why not merely prevent Jordan from ever reaching the revelry in the first place?
We all stared at him. Cassie hid a smile.
"Leave it to Ax to take all the fun out of a mission," I faltered.
"No style," Marco muttered. "None whatsoever."
But plenty of brains, Tobias noted. Good call, Ax-man.
I doubt you've ever seen a smug Andalite. Believe me, Ax was as smug as they come.
"I'm not kidding," Marco snorted. "The bruise was this big!" He held up his hands, indicating the size of the bruise on Robert's foot.
What were you doing looking at Robert's feet? Tobias asked.
"He was showing everybody in gym. Rachel, next time you want to be left alone at school, just wear those shoes. Dey ah dee intimadaytohs!" he intoned, affecting a Schwarzenegger accent.
"If only they would work on you," I mused.
"Yeah, right. You're talking to the kid who stares Hork-Bajir guards in the eye and laughs. I'm not about to start crying because of your boots."
"I never heard you laughing at them, Marco. Whimpering in terror, yeah. Not laughing."
We were in Cassie's barn. Business was slow in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, so Cassie was mucking out a stall instead of bandaging weasels or sticking needles into unsuspecting ducks. Tobias was, you guessed it, perched in the rafters. The rest of us were scattered around the barn. Since it was Tuesday afternoon and Cassie's dad was home, Ax was in another stall, ready to duck out of sight and morph should it become necessary.
"What I really want to know is how you bent your leg so your feet could get under the book rack of your own desk. Did you half-morph squid or something?"
"Marco," I purred, "some of us just have longer and more flexible legs than others. You're the only one here whose feet don't touch the ground when you sit at your desk."
"Hah. Hah. And here I thought I was the only comedian in the club."
"Actually, Rachel, I was wondering the same thing," Cassie said. "How did you do that?"
"Well, I didn't bring my foot straight down. More like kicked back. And I was in one of those new gray desks, with the book racks farther forward."
"Gotcha."
"For the record, Rachel," Jake said, "you should try to avoid bruising anybody, in the future."
"I didn't mean to give him a bruise," I protested.
"You meant to kick him," Jake reproached, then continued before I had a chance to defend myself. "If we're all finished reviewing the saga of Robert's bruise, we'll return to our regularly scheduled Animorphs meeting."
Do let's, Tobias said dryly.
"I talked to Erek about Megan last night. He told me that she's not a member of the Sharing."
"So she's not a Controller," I said, glancing at Cassie.
"Not necessarily, but we can't jump to conclusions," Jake cautioned. "According to Erek, not all Controllers are part of the Sharing. Most Controllers who have bad reputations or live as criminals aren't part of the Sharing. The Yeerks don't want the negative press."
That makes sense, Ax interjected. While access to the illicit element of society would permit increased opportunities for infestation and nefarious operations, they maintain a respectable surface element to procure influence in higher spheres.
We stared at him. Ax has a tendency to use big words, but this was quite a doozy of a sentence, even for him.
Ax, Tobias smiled, you know how I said you should read the thesaurus to get a better scope of the human language?
Yes?
Forget what I said. I think you picked the wrong words to memorize.
I chose the most interesting words, he mumbled huffily.
"Annnnyway," Jake interrupted, "the deal is, we don't know whether Megan is a Controller or not."
"So what does that mean?" I asked.
Marco leaned forward, smirking. "It means we don't know whether Megan is a Controller or -- ouch!"
The shoes I was wearing weren't quite as good for stomping as my new boots. They were good enough.
"It means that, for now, we've got to act under the assumption that Megan *is* a Controller," Jake said.
"Which means that we've got to invade a wild pool party! Yeehaw!" Marco exulted. Then, at a look from Cassie and I: "I mean, 'Oh, dear. This requires careful planning.'"
"Mm-hmm," Cassie grunted.
"Any plans for keeping Jordan Yeerk-free?" Jake prompted.
"Sure," I shrugged. "We go in with battle morphs, rip up the party, send everybody home screaming."
"I love the elegance of your plans, Rachel," Marco sneered. "*If* we were to do that, and *if* we were to survive, don't you think people might wonder just why the traveling circus decided to crash the gates?"
Driven mad by the heat? Tobias suggested.
"Yeah, right," Marco snorted. "I think a little finesse is in order, Jake. We go in as dogs. Real cute dogs . . . "
"You're ill, Marco," I said.
"Well, at least I have better sense than to alert every Controller on Earth that there was somebody important to us at this pool party!"
Okay, he had a point. I was supposed to admit that? Yeah, right.
Jake, before we can do anything, we need to scope out the situation. We can't decide on a battle plan until we know exactly what kind of defenses we're looking at. And we won't be sure what they'll have up until Friday night itself.
I noticed that Cassie had stopped mucking her stall. She and Ax were standing next to each other quietly. Cassie was obviously waiting for us to quiet down. Ax looked confused.
Prince Jake?
"Yeah, Ax?"
Why not merely prevent Jordan from ever reaching the revelry in the first place?
We all stared at him. Cassie hid a smile.
"Leave it to Ax to take all the fun out of a mission," I faltered.
"No style," Marco muttered. "None whatsoever."
But plenty of brains, Tobias noted. Good call, Ax-man.
I doubt you've ever seen a smug Andalite. Believe me, Ax was as smug as they come.