The majority of the sensors, however, were focussed on the cubelike structure behind and to the right of he sword. It was a light, spring green, covered in tubing and strange, almost runic-looking symbols. The cube was eight-and-a-half feet on each side, and some of the Animorphs could just make out the inside of the cube through an opening that was large enough to walk a tall man through. The inside of the cube was a lighter green than the outside, lit by soft blue lights, and a few of the Animorphs could just get a glimpse of some kind of instrument panels on the far side of the wall.

Marco was one of those people. (There they are!) he shouted. (Those are the two most carefully guarded secrets on the entire planet!)

Slade was another, but he wasn't nearly as excited as Marco. (So, we're in. What do we do now, Jake?)

But Jake wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around him anymore, he was far too absorbed in studying the sword that the Air Force had found. It was over three feet long, and slightly curved. Jake thought that it looked a lot like those Japanese katanas that he'd seen on display when his family had gone on that trip to the museum the week before last. Blue, there's something about the color blue… Jake paused, as a sudden thought struck him. It couldn't be… his… could it?

(Jake? Jake!)

Slade's call broke Jake out of his musings. Jake noticed that he had been the only one staring, transfixed, at the sword on the table. The others eyes had all been focussed on the cubelike thing up on the pedestal, behind the glass. The Horse-Controllers in particular looked fascinated by it.

"Cullem fallat?" one of the Horse-Controllers asked.

(What are they saying, Ax?) Jake asked, turning away from the sword to look at the cube.

(The leader was questioning one of his subordinates about the object in front of us, Prince Jake. He wanted to know if they knew what it is,) Ax informed the rest of the Animorphs.

"Jahalan fornella."

This time, none of the others required Ax's translation skills, they could read the answer in the Horse-Controllers' body language: none of them knew what it was that they were looking at. Jake, losing interest in the cube up on the pedestal, turned back to look at the sword. If… if it did belong to him, then maybe Jake should take it, just for safekeeping.

Picking up the sword's hilt with his mouth, Jake was caught by surprise when another pair of soldiers came stomping into the room.

"SERGEANT get those HORSES OUT of this facility RIGHT NOW!"

"Yessir!" the Sergeant snapped off a smart salute. "Horses! About face!"

It came as rather a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, when the large group of horses did exactly as they were told. They all turned at once, and the Sergeant couldn't help thinking that these horses were acting more like human soldiers than normal animals.

"You!" the Colonel snapped, catching sight of the sword in Jake's mouth. "Put that down RIGHT NOW!"

Surprised, Jake opened his mouth. The sword fell, but instead of clattering noisily on the floor when it hit, it stuck point-down into the floor and stayed there. Looking for all the world like Excalibur sans the stone. Not looking back, since he didn't want this to look any more suspicious than he was sure it already did, Jake turned and followed his friends out into the swiftly falling night.