"What? But everyone uses that! The car wash? I mean, what are we supposed
to do?" Cassie asked.
.Well, to begin with...if I may, Prince Jake, Ax said, bowing his head slightly to Jake.
"Go for it, Ax-man."
.We should begin with surveillance. Just how the yeerks are going to be transported might not yet be known to the yeerks themselves. Visser Three is not the most patient of vissers, as you all know. He will want this to be up and running as soon as possible, or perhaps even sooner. The yeerks could use portable Kandronas, but the odds of them being able to fit one into the area where humans wash their vehicles are low.
"Yeerks can stay alive for some time in just water," Cassie said. "Maybe they could just have them in a jar or something."
.Yes, that is possible. It would be most unnerving for the yeerks themselves, but it would get the job done.
"Couldn't they just scoop some sludge into a bucket or something?" Rachel asked.
.Yes, I suppose that is also a possibility. Which is why we must scope out this area at once.
"Alright, thanks Ax. So how's tomorrow afternoon for everyone?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, more like this afternoon. It's already 'tomorrow'," Rachel grumbled. She didn't like being deprived from sleep any more then I did.
"Right. So everyone set with that?" We all nodded in unison.
"Marco, will your dad care if we go? He is kind of in charge of me for the next week, I guess." I was about to say he'd have no problem with it, when Cassie giggled.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Cassie said, gaining her composure. Apparently she found it funny, me and Jake sharing a room for a week.
"No, it's something. Tell me!"
.Yeah, what is it? Tobias joined in. Cassie looked at me and Jake, as if begging permission to tell. She wouldn't say one word if either of us told her not to. Jake looked at me, silently asking. I suppose I didn't care if they knew. But what did I tell them? Was Jake my boyfriend? I guess, in a way. I nodded to Jake, who nodded to Cassie. It's not like it's a big deal, and they don't really need to know. But Tobias and Rachel's relationship is no secret, and the supposed Cassie and Jake thing was well known enough.
"Well..." Cassie began. "No, I can't tell them. You have to," she said, nudging Jake.
"You tell them," he mumbled, kicking my shin.
"Ow! You tell them!" I hissed back, rubbing my poor sore shin.
"No way!" Rachel said, looking over to Tobias. He had obviously said something to her in private thought speak.
"What did you tell her?" I demanded.
.Oh, nothing. Just a little something about a new love blossoming within the Animorphs.
"Marco and Jake? Now there's one I never saw coming!" Rachel said, smiling.
"How did you know?" I demanded of Tobias.
.Well I was coming to get you, to tell you about what was going on earlier. But then I saw that Jake was already there. So I figured 'oh good, save me a trip, I can tell them both.' But as I got closer, I saw that...that maybe you wouldn't want to be disturbed, Tobias said, words absolutely dripping with joy. He loved this, being able to pay me back for all my comments about a Barbie dating a bird-boy.
.I'm afraid...I'm afraid I don't understand... Ax said, moving uneasily from hoof to hoof.
"Jake and Marco are dating," Rachel said, obviously immensely pleased at this news. I figured it was due to all my supposed love affairs with hundreds of beautiful ladies all over the school. But I could tell that deep down, she was just happy for us.
.Ah. I see. They are thifests, Ax said.
"We're what?" Jake asked.
.Thifests. There are many of these on the battleships, which are typically single-sex. Most Andalites will find a member of the opposite sex to mate with, and procreate. But not all Andalites desire this. Because our society tends to encourage creating new life, thifests are often looked down upon. But on a battleship, there is no time for a family, quite often, so to have a pair of thifests around is perfectly acceptable. Plenty of Andalites, like myself, don't think there is anything wrong with thifests at all. It has long been a theory amongst Andalites that ones sexual preference is merely caused by society's wish for us to procreate, and that in fact Andalites are attracted to both males and females, with no particular preference.
"That makes perfect sense, when you think about it," Cassie said.
"Yes, but thinking about it makes my head hurt," I said, clutching my forehead. This was all very complicated. But then again, maybe it was far to simple. Me and Jake are dating, and everyone's fine with it. More then fine, almost! Happy about it! This was great! But then I remembered. Ah yes, tomorrow. A mission. Surveillance, yes. But a mission none-the-less. Something could happen to any one of us. And if Jake was hurt, I didn't know what I'd do.
.Well, to begin with...if I may, Prince Jake, Ax said, bowing his head slightly to Jake.
"Go for it, Ax-man."
.We should begin with surveillance. Just how the yeerks are going to be transported might not yet be known to the yeerks themselves. Visser Three is not the most patient of vissers, as you all know. He will want this to be up and running as soon as possible, or perhaps even sooner. The yeerks could use portable Kandronas, but the odds of them being able to fit one into the area where humans wash their vehicles are low.
"Yeerks can stay alive for some time in just water," Cassie said. "Maybe they could just have them in a jar or something."
.Yes, that is possible. It would be most unnerving for the yeerks themselves, but it would get the job done.
"Couldn't they just scoop some sludge into a bucket or something?" Rachel asked.
.Yes, I suppose that is also a possibility. Which is why we must scope out this area at once.
"Alright, thanks Ax. So how's tomorrow afternoon for everyone?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, more like this afternoon. It's already 'tomorrow'," Rachel grumbled. She didn't like being deprived from sleep any more then I did.
"Right. So everyone set with that?" We all nodded in unison.
"Marco, will your dad care if we go? He is kind of in charge of me for the next week, I guess." I was about to say he'd have no problem with it, when Cassie giggled.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Cassie said, gaining her composure. Apparently she found it funny, me and Jake sharing a room for a week.
"No, it's something. Tell me!"
.Yeah, what is it? Tobias joined in. Cassie looked at me and Jake, as if begging permission to tell. She wouldn't say one word if either of us told her not to. Jake looked at me, silently asking. I suppose I didn't care if they knew. But what did I tell them? Was Jake my boyfriend? I guess, in a way. I nodded to Jake, who nodded to Cassie. It's not like it's a big deal, and they don't really need to know. But Tobias and Rachel's relationship is no secret, and the supposed Cassie and Jake thing was well known enough.
"Well..." Cassie began. "No, I can't tell them. You have to," she said, nudging Jake.
"You tell them," he mumbled, kicking my shin.
"Ow! You tell them!" I hissed back, rubbing my poor sore shin.
"No way!" Rachel said, looking over to Tobias. He had obviously said something to her in private thought speak.
"What did you tell her?" I demanded.
.Oh, nothing. Just a little something about a new love blossoming within the Animorphs.
"Marco and Jake? Now there's one I never saw coming!" Rachel said, smiling.
"How did you know?" I demanded of Tobias.
.Well I was coming to get you, to tell you about what was going on earlier. But then I saw that Jake was already there. So I figured 'oh good, save me a trip, I can tell them both.' But as I got closer, I saw that...that maybe you wouldn't want to be disturbed, Tobias said, words absolutely dripping with joy. He loved this, being able to pay me back for all my comments about a Barbie dating a bird-boy.
.I'm afraid...I'm afraid I don't understand... Ax said, moving uneasily from hoof to hoof.
"Jake and Marco are dating," Rachel said, obviously immensely pleased at this news. I figured it was due to all my supposed love affairs with hundreds of beautiful ladies all over the school. But I could tell that deep down, she was just happy for us.
.Ah. I see. They are thifests, Ax said.
"We're what?" Jake asked.
.Thifests. There are many of these on the battleships, which are typically single-sex. Most Andalites will find a member of the opposite sex to mate with, and procreate. But not all Andalites desire this. Because our society tends to encourage creating new life, thifests are often looked down upon. But on a battleship, there is no time for a family, quite often, so to have a pair of thifests around is perfectly acceptable. Plenty of Andalites, like myself, don't think there is anything wrong with thifests at all. It has long been a theory amongst Andalites that ones sexual preference is merely caused by society's wish for us to procreate, and that in fact Andalites are attracted to both males and females, with no particular preference.
"That makes perfect sense, when you think about it," Cassie said.
"Yes, but thinking about it makes my head hurt," I said, clutching my forehead. This was all very complicated. But then again, maybe it was far to simple. Me and Jake are dating, and everyone's fine with it. More then fine, almost! Happy about it! This was great! But then I remembered. Ah yes, tomorrow. A mission. Surveillance, yes. But a mission none-the-less. Something could happen to any one of us. And if Jake was hurt, I didn't know what I'd do.