Has that been enough, or shall I show you more? it was a simple question, asked in the tone of one who did not care too deeply about what the answer would be.
"No. No, I think that's enough, Starfire," Cassie said, shuddering.
The rest of the Animorphs agreed with that sentiment, and so Starfire took them back to where they had been before.
There is much more to know about the Radam, but I trust that you are intelligent enough to find the rest of it out on your own.
There was a sparkle of bright blue light; the entire area wavered like it was a liquid; and… the Animorphs were suddenly right back in the barn where they had started, if they had really even left at all.
"Who here found that just a little too strange to handle?" Marco asked.
Most of the Animorphs raised their hands, but Ax seemed to be considering something.
"Ax, what are you thinking about?" Cassie asked, noticing that Ax was being uncharacteristically silent.
That was some form of telepathic contact, the Andalite said, sounding as if he had just glimpsed the secrets of the universe.
"Telepathy?" Rachel asked, not sounding nearly as enthused. "How is that any different than thought-speak?"
As you have already learned, thought-speak diminishes in intensity with distance, somewhat like spoken speech, Aximili explained. But distance would not be an issue if we Andalites had somehow developed true telepathy. There is also a theory that some telepaths, particularly strong ones, can enter a person's mind and control their thoughts.
"Like the Yeerks?" Cassie asked, looking worried.
In some respects, yes, Aximili admitted reluctantly. But telepathy would not require a physical connection to their victim, unlike what the Yeerks have to use with their hosts.
Rachel sat up suddenly. "Slade's eyes glow green when he uses his telepathic powers, right Cassie?"
Cassie nodded. "Yeah. Do you think Slade could have been using his telepathic powers when he fought Tobias last night?"
"Maybe they were using him," Marco suggested.
"This isn't the time for joking, Marco," Rachel said impatiently.
"What made you think I was?" Marco shot back.
"Some more information would be helpful," Jake said, cutting into the argument between Rachel and Marco before it could really start.
"Okay," Marco started to explain. "From what Starfire told us, these Radam are a super-powerful version of the Yeerks. With what we know from Cassie's experience with Slade, we know or at least can guess that most of the Radam are telepathic. And judging by what Jake and I saw down in that pit, Slade isn't the only one of his kind here on Earth. I think it would make sense that one of the other ones was controlling him, given how Tobias said he didn't seem like himself."
"Marco, that was… remarkably insightful," Rachel said, nodding in approval.
Marco smirked. "I have my moments."
"Okay, so now that we know what happened to Slade, what are we going to do about it?" Cassie asked.
"Why should we do anything?" Rachel asked.
"Cassie has something there," Marco said, ignoring Rachel. "Now that we know how dangerous Slade can be, maybe we shouldn't be so quick to trust him."
Jake shook his head. "On his own, he hasn't made any moves against us. I don't think we should let our guard down entirely around him. But until he proves himself one way or the other, we'll treat him like any other member of the Animorphs."
