Walking into the barn, Cassie saw that Slade was just stepping down off the ladder. The other Animorphs had all finished demorphing by the time Cassie had gotten finished with her meal, and now they were just starting to sit down on the hay bales that were scattered around the far side of the barn. Slade waved to her, and then took a place on one of the hay-bales that wasn't being used by anyone else.
Once Cassie had taken a seat herself, Jake stood up and addressed the Animorphs as a whole.
"Okay, so we're all here, does anyone want to talk about what went on last nigh?"
"I just have one question," Rachel spoke up. "Don't you guys think that in all fairness, in all decency, in all kindness, we should try to somehow tell Torrelli and his people that they're all guarding an alien toilet?"
"No, Rachel," Cassie said. "That wouldn't be kind to them at all. All of those people have a meaning to their lives now. Who are wee to destroy all that and make them feel trivial and foolish?"
As was usual, it was Marco who broke the silence that had descended on the Animorphs after that statement. "Ooh wisdom," he mocked with gentle good-humor. "Very deep."
"So, The Most Secret Place on Earth remains a secret," Jake mused. "Maybe that's for the best."
"Could be," Slade said, backing up his leader.
(The Yeerks are going to keep trying to find out what the Air Force is hiding out there,) Tobias reminded them all.
"I know, but Captain Torrelli will be even more on his guard now," Jake said. "It'll be that much harder for Visser Three and his forces to get inside."
"Maybe it really is all for the best," Rachel said thoughtfully. "After all, something like this might just be able to keep Visser Three and his people from doing something dangerous." She shrugged, a contemplative look on her face. "Everyone needs a hobby, some hopeless quest that they can pursue. A purpose in life. A mission."
As Rachel said the last words of her sentence, Rachel looked over at Cassie's jeans. At how short they were.
"When did you buy those things, Cassie? When you were four years old?" Rachel asked, shaking her head at her friend's absolute lack of fashion sense.
"These jeans are perfectly fine," Cassie shot back.
"They would be perfectly fine, if you were expecting a flood," Rachel said smugly.
"Wait!" Cassie exclaimed, holding up her hand to forestall the argument she could see coming. "Isn't that how this whole thing started?"
"Leave Cassie alone," Jake laughed. "There's no way I want to start all of this over again."
"Well… Except for the horse-racing thing," Marco said hopefully. "See, we could have some of us morph into horses. And then the rest could place bets on the people who were---"
Slade clamped his hand over Marco's mouth before the younger boy could go any further. "I think we've all heard more than enough of that, thanks."
Cassie, who had been filling a bucket of water to dump on Marco's head, laughed at the expression on Marco's face. So did Jake, for that matter. In fact, most of the other Animorphs were laughing at the look on Marco's face, as Slade continued to hold his hand over the other boy's mouth.
(Okay, I think Marco gets the idea by now, Slade,) Tobias said, snickering. (You can probably let him go now. Though if he starts talking again, you have my permission to clobber him.)
The rest of the Animorphs laughed, and Slade took his hand away from Marco's mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Marco smirked. "But I still say my idea's a---mmff!"
Before Marco could say another word, Slade had again clamped his hand over the other Animorph's mouth.
"Give it up, Marco," Rachel laughed. "This is one game you're not going to win."
Marco rolled his eyes, not being in a position to do much of anything else.
"Okay, now that we've all decided what we're going to do, I guess we can leave now," Jake said, standing up.
Slade let go of Marco and turned to go back up to the hayloft without another word. Marco stuck his tongue out at the older boy as he was passing by, and Slade gave Marco a playful shove in retaliation. The rest of the Animorphs, minus Cassie and Slade of course, began to morph back into birds.
As he climbed back up to the place where he spent most of the day, Slade heard the grinding of bones that meant that his allies were changing back into the bird forms that they had used to get here in the first place. Slade felt no desire to watch as they changed, since having it happen to himself was weird enough. He watched the odd flock fly out, and grinned as the Osprey who had to be Marco tipped a wing to him. Climbing to the top of the hayloft just in time to see the last of the morphed Animorphs disappear out the window, Slade smiled.
It was good to have a purpose in life, even if you didn't know who you were.
