(I think I understand what a racetrack is now,) Aximili said suddenly, having finished processing his hectic thoughts. (A place where horses chase each other in circles as humans scream at them. But you still have not told me what this Area 51 is.)
(I'll bet you know all about what's going on at Area 51,) Marco said.
(Area 51 is supposedly where the government is keeping a spaceship that some people think they recovered from the desert in New Mexico,) Jake explained.
(Who are 'some people'?) Ax asked, curious and a little confused.
(People like Marco,) Rachel said derisively. (Nuts. Crackpots. Crazed conspiracy freaks. People who hang around on the 'Net and call themselves DarkTruth, or Phantom Warrior, or Cyber Shade, or something stupid like that.)
(Ah.) Aximili didn't understand much of what Rachel was talking about, not really, but since he suspected that this was some kind of human thing – and therefor inexplicable by logic – Aximili decided to 'drop the issue' as the humans said.
(If you want to infiltrate a heavily guarded Air Force facility, what better way could you find?) Cassie asked rhetorically, watching as the oddly mismatched herd of horses kept on walking. Slowly and inexorably they made their way toward Area 51. (I saw a bunch of horses wandering around inside the base when we flew over it yesterday.)
(And, conversely, if you want to keep tabs on a herd of known Horse-Controllers, what better way than to morph a horse?) Jake asked. (Fly on ahead, everyone. Then land and morph into whatever horse you acquired at the stables.)
(Well, if that's what we came here to do, let's get on with it,) Slade said.
(Power those wings, people,) Tobias said cheerfully. (We've got some serious flying to do.)
And so fly they did, flapping hard for the next ten minutes, which was almost exactly how long it took for them to get enough distance between them and the herd of Horse-Controllers that they wouldn't be seen while they were demorphing and remorphing. Once the seven Animorphs were far enough ahead of all the horses, including the strays that had joined up with the main herd, they found a suitable pile of rocks to demorph behind.
The same pile of rocks that four of the Animorphs had taken shelter in when they had first come to Area 51, in fact. So Cassie, Slade, Marco and Tobias knew that they would have to morph quickly to avoid being spotted again. They told this to the rest of the Animorphs, who readily accepted this conclusion. The seven of them demorphed – or in Tobias' case just morphed – and remorphed into the racehorses they had acquired earlier that day.
Once they were all done, Cassie saw two problems. But only one of the problems would affect the whole group: (We look about a hundred times too perfect to be a bunch of scruffy wild horses,) Cassie said, looking around at the other Animorphs. (We need to roll around in the dirt, or run through some brambles. Something to make it look like we've been living out in the wild, not being groomed every day in a barn.)
As the mixed herd of normal horses and Horse-Controllers came trotting ever closer, Cassie and the other Animorphs headed off in the opposite direction, kicking up dust and running through long patches of grass, thickets and anything else that would dirty their coats and make them appear as if they lived in the wild.
Once the herd the Animorphs were going to join up with got close enough to see the seven of them clearly, the Animorphs could easily be mistaken for a small herd of wild thoroughbreds. The Animorphs blended in with the herd almost seamlessly, the only suspicion was on the part of the uninfested horses, who looked up at them and smelled them. The Horse-Controllers ignored them entirely.
Even before the seven Animorphs had fully integrated themselves into the herd, they were off and walking. Walking slowly, inexorably, into Area 51. Cassie took this opportunity to address her personal issue with Slade:
(Of all the horses, in all the stalls, why Slade, oh why did you have to pick that one?) Cassie asked, after enduring almost ten minutes of Slade's horse morph's obnoxious scent.
(It was the closest?) Slade said uncertainly.
(I know it's not your fault, Slade,) Cassie sighed. (It's just that the scent of your horse morph is making mine a bit… uptight.)
(Oh. I'm sorry Cassie,) Slade said contritely, ducking his big horse head in as close as he could get to an apologetic gesture while in his currant morph. (Would you like me to move away?)
