March 18, 1999 8:40 AM
It was Thursday.
Cassie and Jake assembled all of us in the forest near Tobias' meadow. We couldn't hang out at the barn because Mr. Verenda would be working all day there.
Cassie and I were walking toward Tobias' meadow when Jake, Rachel, and Marco flew in toward us.
Cassie! David! Jake called from above in falcon morph. Let's pick it up. We have a mission to accomplish.
Yeah. Mission Impossible. Marco muttered.
"I have an idea for getting past the security at the resort." Cassie yelled out to them. "But it would probably creep you out."
Uh-oh. Marco said.
"Oh ye of little faith." I yelled.
The two humans and three birds met up with a fourth bird and an Andalite. Three of the birds became humans. So here we were, five humans, one hawk, and one Andalite, all of whom were children, discussing how to infiltrate a hotel being watched by security from the United States, England, France, Japan, and Russia, and not to mention some parasitic slugs called Yeerks.
I felt like throwing up.
"Okay, Cassie. What's your idea?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, what's the problem?" I asked trying to sound all gung-ho with limited success.
"See, the problem is, anything bigger than a bug is going to be noticed by the Controllers who are in the security teams, but all the insect morphs we have are wrong for this job." Cassie started. "Too much distance to cover for a cockroach. Same thing with a fly or an ant." I noticed a couple of the animorphs shuddered at the mention of the ant. Why? What's so bad about an ant? "Too much distance with senses that are not much good at dealing with faraway objects."
"Uh-huh." Marco nodded. "And so what have you come up with, I hesitate to ask?"
Cassie then pulled out a jar from her backpack and held it up. It contained a long green insect with four large wings and humongous eyes. Well, by bug standards they were humongous.
"What is that, a dragonfly?" I asked.
"Yeah. Dragonfly." Cassie nodded and smiled. I love it when she does that. "Look closely and you'll notice the eyes. They are huge, relative to the size of the body. They completely cover the dragonfly's head."
It began to dawn on me. "No way." I said.
"The housefly morphs we have feed on garbage, carrion, so on. So their sense of sight doesn't have to be great. But dragonflies eat other flying insects. They snag mosquitos right out of the air. And since we know they don't have echolocation like bats have, they must be using the sense of sight to hunt."
"Wait a minute." I said, pleadingly. "When we became cockroaches we almost got stomped!"
"Seven dragonflies all flying in there together?" Marco asked cynically. "What happens if the Controllers realize there's this sudden plague of dragonflies?"
Cassie winced. "Well, I thought of that. So see, only one person would morph the dragonfly. That person would get inside, find a place for the rest of us to demorph, and then morph something else to go spying around."
I'm not understanding this. said the Andalite. How will the rest of us get inside with this single dragonfly?
"Well . . ." Cassie said. "That's the part that is either beautiful or gross, depending on your point of view." I had a feeling it was going to be a little of both.
"Oh, I so don't want to hear this." Marco moaned.
"See, the dragonfly is so big, and such a powerful flyer, he can carry passengers."
Passengers? What kind of passengers???
What kind of passengers, Cassie? Tobias asked echoing my own thoughts.
"Well . . . I think you could get six fleas lined up on -- "
Fleas?! "Okay, okay, that's not happening!" I said firmly.
"One of morphs a dragonfly, the rest of us morph fleas and climb on board like we're flying Delta?" Rachel demanded. "How would we even hold on? It'll be like being on a jet. On the outside of a jet!"
Cassie grinned. "Oh, the holding on part is easy. Fleas are excellent grippers. Besides, for extra safety, you just have to bite the dragonfly and not let go."
We all just kind of stared at Cassie. This sweet person thought of something that was not really beautiful and wholly disgusting. But also very brilliant.
"You're a very disturbing person sometimes, Cassie." Marco said.
Rachel gave a resigning sigh. "Who's the lucky dragonfly who gets to have six fleas attached to him or her?"
"We can draw straws." Jake said.
"Wait a minute, we're doing this?" I protested. "Are you nuts?"
Marco stuck a thumb at me and said. "For once, I'm with him." Which should have clued me in to how wrong I was, but I was too busy being annoyed at Marco.
Jake picked up some pine needles off the ground. He counted seven and broke one short. "Short needle morphs the dragonfly."
Rachel drew a straw. A long straw. She actually looked disappointed. Aximili drew next. Long. Marco drew. Long. I drew. Long. Cassie drew. Long. Tobias drew. Long. There was one straw left in Jake's hand. The short one. He would morph the dragonfly.
Cassie opened the jar and Jake stuck his hand in and acquired the dragonfly. Then Cassie said something that scared the shit out of me.
"Okay, who doesn't have a flea morph?"
Rachel, Marco, and Tobias didn't have flea morphs. Neither did I. After they acquired the flea, Marco handed it to me. A speck half the size of a period on a piece of paper landed somewhere on my hand. I kept my eye on that tiny thing. That super-small animal that had nestled itself into a tiny crack in my skin. I didn't want to think about what it was doing now. I acquired it. Then I scratched my hand raw.
One problem. How does Jake get us to the resort? We have to be far away enough to morph without being seen. Tobias pointed out.
Cassie's face scrunched together in an expression of "d'oh!". "I guess I didn't think about that."
"How about the bird flies there and carries us and then releases us and help guides us."
"The bird has a name, it's Tobias!" Rachel said angrily.
"It's a good plan, David." Jake said. "All right. That's what we'll do. Now, let's morph."
"It's morphin' time!" I said with power ranger intensity.
Two unreadable hawk eyes, four confused Andalite eyes, and eight fish-eyed human eyes looked at me.
"Sorry. I had to get it out of my system."
"Okay, I morph the dragonfly. Everyone else except Tobias morphs flea and attach yourselves to me."
Morph a flea. Yeah fucking right. "This can't even be possible." I complained. "I mean, a flea? Look how big we are! The flea is like . . . like a grain of sand."
It is possible. the Andalite said. The extra mass is extruded into Zero-space. Our minds and brains are pushed into Zero-space and maintain contact with the morph by means of a-
"What, the fuck, is he talking about?" I asked.
"We don't have any idea." Rachel added helpfully. "But he's right: It works. So just relax with it."
"I'm going to become a flea and I should just relax. A fucking flea!"
"I'm ready." Jake said prompting the rest of us to shut up.
Jake closed his eyes and started to morph. Then boom! His eyes were not only open but ten times their normal size, compounded and very iridescent.
"Oh. Oh, no." Cassie said in disgust. "Oh, oh, guh."
"Man, I didn't need to see that." Rachel agreed.
"Okay, now that is gross." Marco added. "This is seriously gross."
"Ahhhhh!" Jake said. I guess even fearless leader had his limits. On the other hand, this was nothing compared to horror and terror of war. This was just creepy. And creepy is soothing after war. The others were probably all used to creepiness by now.
But I wasn't. "That does it, I'm outta here!" I yelped. But I didn't move. I didn't dare move. I would not freak.
Jake started to shrink. "I can't see except a blur!"
"You still have a human brain." Cassie said. "You need the dragonfly's visual cortex to interpret the dragonfly's eyes." She said pointing to her forehead.
I didn't bother explaining that the visual cortex in most animals is in the back of the head, not the front.
Jake was almost bug-sized when his human legs grew spikes and started reforming. A second set of legs hatched from his chest. His shoulders grew larger and turned green. His ass stretched out into the dragonfly thorax. Four wings grew from his back. Then he just kept shrinking.
All of the sudden he just took off and kind of hovered in the air.
"Jake?" Cassie asked with worry in her voice. Lucky punk.
Jake, get grip! Tobias yelled.
Yikes! Jake finally said.
What is the matter? the Andalite asked.
I swallowed a bug.
"Okay. Flea time." Rachel said. "Ax, Cassie, anything you want to warn us about?"
"Not particularly. It can't see, barely hear. Mainly it just senses warmth. And blood."
"Uggh." I shared.
The flea morph was simple and I had very few problems morphing one. Of course, I was on the blade ship at the time. So, my mind was also a bit occupied. The Andalite shared.
Rachel and Cassie started their morphs. While Cassie's skin started going gray, Rachel's teeth suddenly grew very long. The long hyper dermic teeth of a flea.
"Oooo I aaaaaa!" Rachel said. When you have teeth as long as your forearms, you only speak in vowels.
Marco and the Andalite started their morphs. I started mine. First thing to change were my eyes. They went black all of the sudden. Part of me freaked. Part of me was glad that I didn't have to watch the others and myself morph. I felt myself shrink. My arms and legs segment. I felt my body grow armor. All the while, I was getting smaller, really fast. I felt antennas grow. Then my teeth grew.
Cassie was right. The flea didn't have much in the way of instincts. It was just kind of there.
No blood. No blood. Jump to blood.
Which was precisely what we had to do. We had to jump on Jake's back and then we would take off toward certain doom and a long, painful death.
The landing on Jake's back took almost an hour. Which meant we had about an hour to get to the resort fly in and find a place safe for us to demorph. Or we will be trapped as fleas. So I understood why Jake had to haul thorax. Even if others didn't.
Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Would you slow down? Marco yelled.
I'm not going that fast. Jake countered. Besides, how can you tell how fast I'm going? You're a flea. You can't see squat.
I can feel the wind off your wings! It's like a hurricane. If we fall off we'll have to demorph right in the middle of the beach.
Hey, I want to get there, all right? You think I like having five fleas with their bloodsucking mouthparts stuck into me?
You're complaining? We're the ones sitting here while you go zipping around playing Top Gun.
Aww, shut up, Marco. Rachel said good-naturedly. It's kind of fun. The whistling through the chinks in my body armor, rustling the spikes on my legs . . .
You people are all crazy. I said.
At one level, it's kind of fascinating, you know? Cassie said. I mean, did anyone ever read the Miss Spider books? Miss Spider's Tea Party, Miss Spider's New Car? This could be Miss Spider Goes Flying.
You people are all crazy. I repeated.
Dragonfly Airlines. Rachel said.
Keep your legs and mouthparts inside the bug at all times. Buh-bye!
We cannot go any slower. The Andalite pointed out. It took a long time for all of us to get aboard this insect. Added to the time it took for Tobias to fly us here, we have no more than twenty minutes left in morph.
"Buh-bye!"? What the hell was that? Marco asked me.
What? No one watches "Saturday Night Live"? Uncultured swine. I countered.
Please. Don't tell me your into that dinosaur-John-Travolta-disco crap.
I wasn't quite sure what he meant. John Travolta was never a regular on SNL. And as for the disco, well SNL premiered in 1975. Wait a minute . . . . .
That's Saturday Night Fever, dumbass!
How are we doing, Tobias? Jake asked.
You are wandering a little to your left. Tobias said.
Straighten up. Yeah. That's good. You're on target and closing in fast.
It's like watching tapes from Desert Storm. Rachel said. You know, like Tobias is the jet pilot, and we're the "smart" weapon going for the target.
You put your wars on television for people to watch? the Andalite said, sounding shocked. Humans!
Actually Desert Storm wasn't a war, it was just a conflict. I explained. I figured I should just play my part as one of the Animorphs. Since I didn't know what my part was, I just did what the others did which was put my two cents into everything. And besides, you should see some of the other stuff we put on TV. Sex. Violence.
Sex?
Go ahead, David. Explain it to him. Rachel teased.
But I knew just how to. In a way it would understand. Human coitus, Andalite.
It was pretty quiet after that. I'm not sure if it thought the idea was good or bad, but it chose not to elaborate. My fellow humans, on the other hand, chose to put in their two cents.
David! Cassie said, semi-shocked.
Hey, you should be proud. Marco said. David was able to explain sex without using the word "fuck".
Wall coming up. Tobias reported.
I see the trees. Jake reported back.
I don't see a thing. Marco said. But I'm bloated on dragonfly juice.
That's disgusting. I shared.
So says Mr. Human-coitus
Hey, sex is a beautiful thing. I said faux-romantically. Nothing romantic about sipping dragonfly blood.
Okay, I'm going higher. I want to get out of range of that bald guy with the killer eyes. Tobias said.
Tobias, Jake summoned again. Can you see any open windows?
That's what I've been looking for and no, I can't.
We can drop down and go in through the front door. Rachel suggested.
The lobby will be full of people. Jake replied. We're small, but we're not invisible.
I have a crazy idea. Tobias said. The bellmen and all? They have these kind of tall hats as part of their uniforms. And they keep tipping their hats to the guests before they pick up their bags.
That's very polite of them. Who cares? Marco asked.
Well, they raise their hats off their heads . . .
Don't even! Marco protested.
You want us to zip in under some guy's hat? I asked. It would take split-second timing. And then he'd have to not notice this two-inch-long bug on his head.
Dragonflies can hover. Cassie pointed out.
Let's do it!Rachel asked.
What is a hat? the Andalite asked.
Okay, let's give this a try. Jake said.
Again, I have to ask: What is a hat?
A hat is something people wear on their heads. Rachel explained. A type of clothing.
Ah, yes, clothing. the Andalite said as if it didn't approve. Head clothing. Of course. Is there any part of a human that cannot be clothed?
Yeah, the face, which is too bad when you consider Marco's face. Rachel said.
Hey, you know I'm the cutest flea you've ever seen. Marco shot back. No one has prettier mouthparts than me.
Jake kicked into turbo suddenly without warning.
Whoa! Cassie cried.
Then we felt shadows. We also smelled heat. And heat meant blood. The guy's head. Obviously, Jake had succeeded in his suicidal mission.
I really had to squash the urge to jump on the guy's head. The others were experiencing similar problems.
I'm fighting this overpowering urge to jump. Cassie said. The flea is smelling the guy's head!
Me, too, but we have to maintain. Rachel said. No jumping, no biting!
After a while, Jake finally reported that we were inside.
Now what do we do, Prince Jake? the Andalite asked.
Wish I knew. We need to get a look around this hotel. Jake answered back.
Our time is running out.
We can't demorph with this guy in the room. Cassie said.
We have to find an empty room fast. Jake said. I think I know the way. Jake kicked into turbo again and my flea senses noticed we were in a much colder place. Jake on the other hand was playing cowboy. Yee-hah!
What yee-hah? What are you yee-hahing about? Marco asked.
It is chilly. Cassie remarked.
We must demorph very soon. the Andalite said in fair warning. Prince Jake, there are only five of your minutes left.
What the . . . . ? Jake said suddenly.
What is it? I asked. Can we demorph?
No. We definitely cannot demorph here. We have to get out of here.
I am not getting trapped in flea morph. Rachel said.
We have three minutes. the Andalite warned.
Aaaaaahhhh! Jake yelped.
What's happening?! Rachel yelled.
It's a spiderweb. Jake said. We're caught in a web.
Two minutes, Prince Jake. the Andalite said.
Fuck this! I'm demorphing! I yelled.
No! Jake commanded. You'll be crushed inside this duct.
We were in a duct? The ventilation system. Which explains why it was chilly. Suddenly the skin below me started to stretch. Jake was demorphing! And when he told me not too! Bastard.
What are you doing? Rachel yelled.
Aaaaaaahhhhh! Cassie screamed suddenly.
Cassie's hurt! I yelled.
After a while the skin below me started to shrink again. Jake was reversing the morph.
One minute, Prince Jake. the Andalite said with an unmistakable tone of dolor in his voice.
I felt like demorphing. I had to. I was going to get stuck. Become a what was it called . . . nothlit.
But I didn't. Even though I didn't trust Jake, Cassie did, so I had some faith in him. When Jake said "sing", then and only then can I say "name that tune." I can only hope he got Cassie, and wouldn't get us killed. I would remain fully-flea until Jake gave the command.
Finally the command came.
DEMORPH! Now! Now! Now!
Four fleas catapulted off of Jake's back. We demorphed as we fell.
Cassie! Demorph! Jake yelled. I guess he got her.
First thing that changed was my size. I started to grow larger. I felt myself land. I still grew larger. And larger. And larger. Oh shit.
I can't get out of morph! I yelled.
Me either! Help me! Marco yelled.
No, no, no! Marco, David, keep trying! Keep trying! Jake yelled.
But still I grew and grew only. No change. My eyes were flea eyes. My legs were flea legs. I had to be by now a fifty-pound flea.
Marco! Jake yelled. David!
Oh, please, help us! Help us! Marco yelled.
Cassie, help me! I yelled.
Marco! David! Jake cried again. MARCO!
I felt a hand on me. My instincts told me to jump, but I could not. I had grown too large. Strange, even though I couldn't have possibly known, I knew. I knew the hand at my side was Cassie's.
"Marco. David. Clear your mind of the fear." Cassie said calmly. Despite my growing hysteria, I noticed I could hear her just fine. Fleas, even fleas the size of basset hounds, hear the same way a cockroach hears. Through vibrations through the floor. "You can do this. You will morph. Focus on the picture of yourself. Form the picture in your mind. Let go of the fear and focus on the picture of your own body."
I held on Cassie's words. If meditation can work for karate and cancer, it can work for this. I focused on that and on Cassie's words as my mind went into the meditative trance I used to do when I studied karate.
And I changed.
My mouthparts retreated. My legs changed to human arms and legs. My armor softened into human flesh. My eyes, which had no eyelids, morphed into closed human eyes. When next I opened them, I was sitting cross-legged with my arms stretched and back erected. My exact meditation pose. Weird. I looked at Marco. The final traces of flea were just then disappearing. Then Marco and I did the same thing at the same time. We hugged Cassie and cried.
I'm sure it looked ridiculous to anyone else: two boys each crying on one of the shoulders of a girl who was their size or smaller, but Marco and me, we didn't give a shit. We got off of Cassie and looked at each other. His expression of relief and lingering horror most likely mirrored my own. Maybe we didn't like each other. Maybe we even hated each other. But it's hard to hate someone who just survived the same horrible ordeal you did right by your side. All by the grace of the same magic woman. In that moment, Marco and I were comrades. Brothers. And it would be different between us from now on.
I snapped out of my trance and looked around. We were standing in a ballroom. Rows of rectangular tables in white tablecloths. Crystal chandeliers on the ceiling. Red carpet with floral fractal patterns. In each corner of the room stood a massive ornamental marble pillar about four yards in diameter. Except in the corner which we were standing in. Instead of a pillar stood a table with some device and a covered stainless steel tub the size of a hot tub.
I looked at our comrades. Jake and Rachel had strange twisted smiles. Post-horror happiness. The Andalite had strange expression with its face. Or more accurately, its eyes.
It was almost like it was smiling.
I always said Cassie had a talent for morphing. And yet . . . this is something I have not seen before. the Andalite said.
"What I want to know is how David morphed out looking like some meditating Buddhist monk." Rachel said.
Perhaps David too has more talent in morphing than he is sharing.
"Anyone bothered to notice where we are?" Marco asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Yeah." Jake said snapping out of his trance. "I noticed before when we flew past earlier. That's why I didn't come here. Until we had no other choice. Ax! Stay alert, keep your tail ready. Rachel? We may need some firepower."
"What the fuck? What is all this stuff?" I asked as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "And look at this room! It's like, fucking huge!"
This, unless I am mistaken, is a small-scale, portable Yeerk pool.
Yeerk Pool. Tobias and the Andalite told me about this. Yeerks have to be in their natural state every three days to feed on Kandrona rays.
"No way!" Rachel said as she started growing brown fur in places where a blond girl would not have brown fur. "Someone would have noticed, duh. There are security guys everywhere." That's when her mouth jutted forth and became a snout.
"Rachel's right." Jake concurred. "There's no way to hide all this here. Unless . . . " He looked to the Andalite.
It nodded. A very human expression. Yes, Prince Jake. I believe we are standing inside a hologram.
"Inside a hologram." I repeated. Made sense. Of course, a week ago, holograms were something I read about in Marvel Comics. Mysterio and the X-Man Danger room. Now, they were the weapons of a very real alien invader.
"See the pillars in each corner? There should be a pillar her, right where we're standing. There isn't. Instead there's this Yeerk pool. And . . . and that thing."
On the table where Marco and I demorphed stood a device. It looked like a some kind of weird gun.
Interesting. said the Andalite. It's a holographic emitter. But it's only a relay. Not the basic emitter. Not what is causing this hologram we're in.
Jake rubbed his head. Trying to make sense of it. Meanwhile, Rachel was starting to hog up all the room. "Rachel? Sorry, I changed my mind. Demorph." Jake commanded.
Are you sure? There could still be a fight. she said. Sounding disappointed at the thought that there won't be a fight. Sick fuck.
Let's see. When the X-men needed their holograms to have more substance to them, they used force fields to back them up. Almost like true matter. Wouldn't the Yeerks do the same?
"What happens if someone happens to lean on this column or pillar or whatever the hell it is?" I wondered aloud. "They'd have to be using a force field, too, not just a hologram."
Yes. The Andalite agreed. Here is what I believe is happening. The Yeerks precisely targeted a dracon beam from a cloaked ship overhead. They burned down through the roof and through the column, precisely wiping it out. Then they aimed a holographic emitter of enormous power down through the hole to replace the pillar they vaporized. A hologram strengthened by a force field. The force field directs its force outward, of course. We can step out of this hologram at any time. But we would not be able to step back in.
"So why doesn't the roof fall down?" Marco asked.
"Maybe the pillars are just for decoration." I said. "They probably don't really support the roof. They're just here to look cool."
"So what's the point?" Jake asked. "The force field is in place. How do the controllers get in here?"
My guess is that this arch, Aximili said as it pointed to a thick wire in the shape of an arch above part of the hologram, blocks the force field. There must be some kind of control device in here. They would simply blank the force field whenever they needed to enter the column.
The andalite fooled around with the controls. Jake stepped out into the banquet room. He put his hand toward us and hit something. His hand looked like it was on the other side of a glass window. He was touching force field. He moved his hand around the force field till he was able to stick back into the little room we were in.
"It's open." He said as he joined with us. "Very weird. The force field may be off, but the hologram is till totally real. You'd swear you're walking through solid marble." Jake stepped through again. Then he dove under a table.
"What the hell's he doing?" I asked. I soon found out why.
Three people came into the room. Two men (one twenty-something, one mid-forties) and one woman. I could hear voices, but not distinguish them. Could not make out what they were saying.
The hawk could though. The younger guy is someone named Tony. He's arguing with the other two about how POTUS and the HOS's should approach the stage.
I didn't know if he was reading lips or actually hearing them. Neither would have surprised me.
"What's POTUS and HOS's." Cassie asked.
"POTUS is the President Of The United States." Marco said, proud of his obscure knowledge. "But I don't know what HOS is."
"Heads Of State." I said without any pride or humility in my voice.
Tony wants them to go around this pillar before approaching the stage. Tobias reported.
A yeerk! the Andalite said, angrily. Well duh. Just some stupid foot soldier probably. Nah, most likely a Yeerk Intelligence Agent, assuming they had those. Still, the slug was just doing its job. Of course, so was I. So were all of us.
The three arguing people sat down at a table. The table Jake was under.
"Uh-oh!" Marco yelled.
"Oh no!" Cassie said, covering her mouth in fear. I don't think I could have turned more green if I acquired and morphed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
"Are you sure you don't need me to morph?" Rachel said gritting her teeth, then licking her chops in anticipation of new blood.
"Just hold tight, Wackie the Pooh." I muttered.
This is interesting. Tobias said. Tony is the White House Chief of Protocol.
"Which means what he says goes."
After a while the three people left and Jake rejoined us.
Prince Jake, the andalite addressed, I believe we may have a way out of here. The hologram and the force field seem to be weaker higher up the column.
"That would make sense." Jake replied. "They need it reinforced down low in the strong light, down where people might touch it. That's how I was able to see through the illusion when I passed by in dragonfly morph."
"No, you're wrong." I popped in. "I think you saw through the illusion because it was meant to fool humans, not bugs who can see ultraviolet light."
Rachel and Marco gave me strange looks. Like I stepped over some line. "What?!" I yelled defensively.
Anyhow. the andalite said, breaking the tension. I think we could escape by going straight up. Straight through the roof.
"Fine. Let's get out of here." Jake said.
The Yeerks are probably already in place. Do we . . . . do we leave them?
I knew what he was suggesting. It was then I realized something. Sure, I said in war you get your hands dirty, but I didn't realize how. I had not yet killed anyone. The others probably had. These slugs would not be the first Yeerk deaths at their hands. And definitely not the last.
So here it was. Now I will find out what kind of a leader Jake is. Is he an only-do-the-necessary-to-win Patton-type? Or a genocidal-the-only-good-yeerk-is-a-dead-yeerk Hitler-type?
Jake shook his head. "Let's fly."
Good. Jake was a good guy, and he hadn't turned into the bad guy.
Yet.
Tobias! Are you able to hear us? the Andalite called. No answer. The hawk was too far away.
"If we fly up, it will look like we popped out of the roof. The roof is probably being watched by a dozen security guys. Yeerk and non." Marco said.
"Not to mention the bald guy with the killer shades." I brought up.
"We need a distraction." Jake said.
"The fire alarm." I suggested. "I did it once at my old school to . . . um . . . get out of a taking a test."
Actually the reason I did it was to cut school with Stephanie so we could make a concert in Atlanta. This is the third time I have avoided talking about Stephanie. And the first time I just outright lied to do so.
"Okay." Jake said. "Good idea."
"I'll do it."
"Everyone start to morph to seagull. David? You have to throw it and come running straight back."
"No shit."
"Okay. Ready? Go!"
Jake and the others started to morph. I ran for the switch. I pulled it and ran back.
BRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG! WHAM!
The first sound was the alarm. The second was me tripping over a chair leg and hitting the floor.
And that's when the guards came into the ballroom. I did as Jake did and ducked underneath the table.
They were controllers. Yeerks. I was sure. The ordinary guards would be disoriented trying to find the source of the alarm. The Yeerks wouldn't give a shit. They'd just go straight to their miniature pool and secure their people.
Battle mode time.
I felt the mane grow on my neck. Jake came and joined me then. He looked terrified. Good. He mouthed the word "no" silently. I just grinned, which gave him a good look at my new feline teeth that just grew in.
"Bar the door!" a controller said. "Push a couple of tables up against it. I'll use the secure link to contact our people. We can't have any of the other security forces barging in here."
"Okay, if we have Andalite penetration, they could be anything." A second controller said. "Even flies. It's probably just a false alarm. Nothing to do with us. We'll know as soon as we check the pool. If it was Andalites . . . Well, our friends in the pool will not be alive."
Okay. Jake had commanded the yeerks in the pool to be left alone. So maybe the controllers will leave. Still, I have to be ready just in case.
Jake was crawling toward me. Shaking his head and mouthing the word "no". Why? Did he think I would outright attack? Does he think I'm an idiot? Jake better morph too. If the yeerks look under the table, they'll see me and assume I'm an Andalite in morph. They see Jake, and, well, it will be a chess game to the others with only one possible outcome.
I kept morphing. Jake was being tactically stupid.
"Turn off the hologram." The first controller said.
"They're okay!" Said a new controller.
"Okay." Said the first one. "One way we have Andalite penetration then. They'd never leave our people alive. Clear the doors. I'll notify the others. Hologram on."
I was now a completely lion. And the instincts kicked in.
Creatures! All around! Food? Challenge?
Small creature! Grabbing me by my mane. A Challenge?!
"David." The small creature said silently. "Don't. Do. Anything."
It was odd. I didn't notice it at the time, but the transition from lion mind to human mind was nearly seamless, which never happened to me before.
Immediately, I knew that the small creature was Jake. He was my leader. We were fighting the Yeerks, the enemy that was in that very room.
But I couldn't shake the instinct/feeling that Jake was challenging me.
Well, maybe I could and didn't want to.
I drew my muzzle back slowly and reveled my powerful teeth.
"Okay, let's go." the first controller said. "Nothing here."
The enemy was gone. Only me and the small creature. Jake.
He was still holding on to my mane. I could crush him. I could kill him. I could say the Yeerks almost got him and had me kill him rather than be taken. No witnesses.
Had you worried, huh? I said finally to him.
"No, I knew you were cool."
Just being prepared. You know, in case there was any trouble. I was surprised you didn't go into your tiger morph.
"Yeah. Well, I didn't see the need."
Fool. I could win against him. I could be a better leader. I would lead the pride. Take his lioness. Hey. You ever wonder who'd win in a fight between a lion and tiger? Jake didn't answer. He was scared. Good. Lion. That's what I think. But it would probably never happen. It's just interesting to think about. I think that's when my human mind finally separated itself with the lion mind. What the hell was I saying? I better demorph.
When it was safe, with me human, Jake explained his escape route. "I think the best way out of here now is te same way we came in. Just one difference. We don't have time to waste having you leaping around in flea morph trying to land on me."
"So what are we going to do?"
"David, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but bite me."
"Excuse me?"
"Bite me on the back. We'll morph together. Hopefully when your flea mouthparts replace your human teeth, you'll remain latched on."
"Okay."
His plan worked. We eventually got outside where Tobias snagged us and took us back to Cassie's barn. But throughout all that time, I was left alone with my thoughts. Why had I acted as such? Who was in control: David the Lion or David the Human? Why was I so intent in fighting Jake? For what? His "pride"? His "lioness"? The pride was the Animorphs. The lioness was Cassie.
I loved Cassie now. Is this something I would have to worry about? Whether some male morph of mine will try to kill Jake? For control? For Cassie?
Am I a megalomaniac?
Or just a jealous suitor?
You already have a lioness-Stephanie! But for some reason. That stopped being such a powerful argument.
I don't think fleas have this ability, but still . . . I felt like throwing up.