Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1

I sprinted around a corner—straight into a security guard.

"Whoa," He said. Two strong hands gripped my arms. "Where are you going?"

"The workers came up behind me. They were out of breath. "Tried to break into the hyena habitat," one of them said gasping.

The grip tightened. "So what's your name son?"

I considered telling the truth. Well, obviously not the whole truth. One of these guys could be a Controller. But I considered telling them that I knew Cassie's mom. Only thing was, that might have gotten Cassie in trouble. And it could've brought to much attention to the others. So I said nothing.

He frowned. "We got reports of vandals in the park. Come along with me."

He marched me down the corridor into a small waiting room. There were two policemen there. Great, just what I need, I thought.

"I know that you were called about a disturbance by the snack bar," the security guard said. "But Nemo here was caught sneaking into the animal habitats."

The taller policeman sighed. Obviously he didn't want to be saddled with some kid. "Let's move," he said.

They kept me between them as they marched me outside to a loading area behind the snack bar. A police van was parked there. On the side of the van were the words K-9 Unit.

"Strange for a kid to be sneaking into animal cages," one of the policemen said.

"They aren't cages," the other said. "They're habitats."

"Whatever. Sit here." The taller policeman put a hand on my shoulder and shoved me down onto a bench. "And don't think about moving. Dakota, and Sue won't take it to kindly."

Two German Shepherds bounded out of the police van and sat down in front of me. One of the dogs bared its teeth.

"Stay," The policeman said, and moved off to go talk on the van radio.

I knew I had to get away. In just a few hours I was supposed to meet the others at school to invade the Yeerk pool. My only choice was to morph. I knew that my new hyena and giraffe morphs could easily over power the dogs and get away. But I was smarter than that. The answer was right in front of me.

I reached over to the K-9 dog named Dakota. I pressed my hand slowly against his coat. I seriously didn't want him to bite me.

His eyes closed as once again I absorbed a new DNA pattern into me. The police had their back turned. It was now or never.

I focused on the image of the German Shepherd. There was that strange sensation again, of bones crunching, things growing that shouldn't be growing. I touched my ears and felt fur. I suddenly dropped down onto all fours and noticed that I had paws instead of hands and feet.

I was wearing the sweatpants and T-shirt that I had interrogated as my "morphing outfit". My shoes however refused to morph. I kicked off my shoes and socks under the bench as my morph finished.

The smells hit me immediately. Did you know that various breeds of dogs were chosen for the features that made them better than wolves? The German Shepherd actually has a better sense of smell than a wolf.

I could smell everything! Food! People! Animals! It was overwhelming at first. The other dogs cocked their heads and looked at me curiously. Dakota sniffed me and howled. After all, he smelled himself.

The two policemen looked over.

"Hey Seidel," the taller one said. "Thought you only brought two dogs."

"Must have loaded a third—hey! The kid's missing!"

There was something odd about the way that these two smelled. A faint scent that the K-9 dog mind didn't recognize or like.

I rushed over. I stood alert, tail twitching, like the other dogs. I wasn't just a dog after all. I was a cop. I had good discipline.

It's a good morph, I thought. In a minute, they'll give up on the kid who stuck a toe in the wrong habitat. Big deal. Not like I'm a big bad criminal. They'll load me into the van, take me back to the station, and I can take off from there.

"This isn't good, Finley," Seidel said.

"We're supposed to be on alert," Finley answered, frowning. "Especially for kids."

What?

"Wait here's a shoe." Seidel spied one of the sneakers that I had kicked off when I was morphing. "The dogs can track the kid."

He held the sneaker under my nose. Scent roared in. My scent. The other dogs sniffed then strained at the leashes.

"We'll keep the one off-line, see what happens," Finley said.

The two dogs took off and I followed, my nose to the ground, then in the air. Incredible. I could smell myself. I could follow the air currents, know where I walked and stopped.

The dogs followed my trail too the admission booth. They circled and I did, too. Of course I knew which way I went. So I went in the opposite direction, but the other two took off down the sidewalk. Darn!

I bounded up behind them while the cops held the two leashes. Why hadn't I walked on the sidewalk? That would have confused the scent. Instead, I had stuck to the grassy part near the curb. The dog could smell my trail easily.

"They've picked it up," Seidel said. He sounded relieved. More relived than he should have since he was only tracking a kid.

"Chapman says that at least one of the kids infiltrated The Sharing meeting," Finley said.

It hit me then what the smell lingering around the cops was. They were Controllers.

I knew that they couldn't follow my scent to my home, since I had taken a bus from the mall. I had taken the bus to the Civic Center though, and walked from there to The Gardens. I had left a note on my mom's car windshield. If the Controller-Cops found it…

"I reported that kid who was hanging around the dunes," Seidel said. "I'll go pick her up later. It won't be long before she's one of us."

Cassie. She was the one who'd hung out on the dunes, watching over Jake in his dog morph. Cassie was in danger! I had to warn he. Warn the others.

The other dogs lost my scent. I almost lost it myself. I was in a more trafficked area of town now, near the Civic Center.

I hurried past the Garage, but the other dogs suddenly picked up my scent. They raced into the garage. The cops followed, running after them.

"This isn't good," Seidel said in a low voice. I picked up his words easily with my dog hearing.

"Visser Three won't like it," Finley said in a worried tone

"So we won't tell him."

The dogs lost the scent amid the oil stains and the gasoline. They circled around, confused. But any minute they could find my mom's car. The note I left might still be tucked under the windshield wiper. It wouldn't take the cops long to figure out who I was. This was my only chance.

I leapt forward, barking as if I had picked up the scent. I charged out of the garage. The other dogs followed. I knew that I couldn't lead them completely astray so I headed back to my neighborhood.

I ran flat out so that they had trouble keeping up with me. But I made sure that they kept me in sight.

I got to the Ferret Lady's house and barked furiously outside. I circled the house and found the pet door. I nosed it open and bound inside.

The cops caught up and pounded on the door. The Ferret Lady answered it. But already I'd caused a commotion. The ferrets were running crazily over the furniture. The cat was hissing and spitting. The other dogs were adding to the chaos.

"What is it?" The Ferret Lady shouted over the din.

"We're chasing a kid," Seidel said. "Tall, about 13, black hair, medium skin?"

"Sounds like every kid in this neighborhood," the Ferret lady sniffed. "I don't care if Visser Three himself asks me, I'll say the same."

So far, so good. I'd confused them. Under the cover of the chaos, I snuck next door and grabbed a sweatshirt that I had left outside after doing chores this morning. I grabbed it in my mouth and raced off.

I took the sweatshirt all over the neighborhood, rubbing it against trees and sidewalks and grass. Soon, I saw the cops and the K-9 dogs again. The dogs were barking, running from place to place while the cops strained to hold onto the leashes.

I kept hidden and watched the cops get thoroughly confused. They gave up, and I trotted back home.

I morphed back to human form in my garage. I hurried inside to call Cassie. But everyone had left already. If I rushed to the school now, I knew I might blow their cover.

There had to be another way.