It'd taken a bit of work, though not so much as he'd thought it might, to convince Jake that the Animorphs had to break up whatever new operation the Yeerks were running around Royan island. Whatever they were trying to do out there, they couldn't be allowed to finish their work. Still, just because the Animorphs were all going to be heading out to deal with a Yeerk plan that was being overseen by Visser One, that was no reason to tell the others anything they didn't need to know.

No reason at all.

It wasn't really something that any of the others needed to know about; they would only pity him if they did. Pity was the one thing he hated more than anything else, the one thing he couldn't deal with. Especially from people who were as close to him as the other Animorphs.

He'd just have to make sure that none of the others found out.

He was just glad that today was a Saturday; there wasn't much chance of them getting to do this kind of a mission on a weekday. Especially since they had to keep up the illusion that they were all just a bunch of normal kids. That included getting good enough grades that their various parents wouldn't think to watch them too closely.

The barn's door had been left open, he was thankful for that since the thing was heavy, and when he saw that all of the others were gathered in there – minus Shara and Slade, of course, since no one was supposed to know about them – Marco closed the thing.

"Tobias?" Jake called, looking up to the rafters where the Animorphs' resident bird-boy kept watch over them all.

If the bird-boy had anything to say in response to what was a pretty cryptic request as far as Marco could tell, he didn't hear it. But a few seconds later, Slade and Shara climbed down the ladder and made their way over to one of the hay bales to sit down. Just one over from Jake on the right, which had to be intentional on Slade's part.

"All right," Rachel said, drawing the attention of pretty much everyone in the room. "Now that all of us are here, what did you want to talk to us about?"

She was looking at Jake, and Marco wondered for a second if Jake would be the one telling the others about what they had both discovered. He'd remember his promise of course, so there was no need to worry about that.

"Erek the Chee contacted us two days ago," Jake said seriously, drawing the attention of everyone in the room the way he usually did. "What Marco and I found out is that the Yeerks are conducting a secret operation from the waters around Royan Island. Even Erek couldn't find out what they're trying to do, but this plan is big enough to be overseen by Visser One."

"You want me to tell you who Erek is, Shara?"

"Cassie already told me," the girl in question said, smiling. "But thank you for the offer, Rachel."

"All right," Marco said, clapping his hands once to draw attention to himself. "Here's what I've found out: Royan is a small, private island about twenty miles off the coast. It's about four miles long, three miles wide and is shaped like a crescent moon."

"Very poetic," Rachel broke in. "Crescent moon."

"Hey, it's a quote from the guidebook, all right?!"

"Take it easy, Marco," Shara said, even as Marco winced internally. "No one's making fun of you."

Taking a breath to steady himself – he really should have had a witty comeback ready for that, snapping made him look tense – Marco sat back further on his haybale to help him look more relaxed. "Anyway, Ax says these Leerans are psychic. So we'll have to be very careful around them; none of us should get too close."

"So, what do you think would be too close?" Jake asked Ax.

(I don't know,) the Andalite admitted. (I think within a few feet, but I can't be completely certain.)

"How will we even get to the island?" Cassie asked reasonably. "By air or by sea?"

(Twenty miles is a long way to try and swim,) Tobias pointed out.

"So we'll do a combination," Jake said, more in the tone of one giving a suggestion than an order. "Fly out there, rest, then morph to dolphin."

(Not all of us have dolphin morphs. Shara, Slade and I could probably fly cover on this one.)

Jake winced; he'd completely forgotten about that. "I guess we could do it like that."

"Well," Cassie said, obviously considering what she was going to say. "The Gardens are kind of on the way to where we're going. We could take Slade and Shara out there so they can acquire a dolphin to morph. And if Tobias wants to sit out this mission-"

(I didn't say anything like that,) Tobias said quickly. (It's just, it'd be kind of obvious for a Red-Tailed Hawk to land on a dolphin all of a sudden.)

"You two have been awfully quiet over there," Cassie observed. "Don't you have anything to add?"

"I don't think Slade has much to say," Shara said, looking to her brother for confirmation even as he nodded. "And you all seem to have things figured out. I don't think there's much either of us could contribute right now."

"You both know it's your choice if you want to acquire dolphins," Cassie said. "It would be useful to have two more sets of eyes in the water."

"All right," Slade said, nodding and not even looking over at Shara to see what she thought. "We'll head down to The Gardens and acquire a dolphin."

Jake looked like he wanted to say something to them, but then he turned and spoke to Tobias instead. "You've said before that flying over water is hard for you. Are you really sure that you want to fly cover for this?"

(I already said I'd go dolphin with the rest of you,) the hawk pointed out. (Twenty miles out over water aren't my best flying conditions, you don't get many thermals out that far. It's mostly just dead air. I'll be heading out with the rest of you. I'll acquire a dolphin like the rest of you. Okay. I'll definitely do that. And then, hey, it'll be no problem right? I mean, a dolphin in the water is like a bird in the air, right?)

Everyone who knew Tobias was staring at him like he was crazy. Shara for her part was slightly confused, Slade was just impassive.

"Tobias, are you afraid of the water?"

(Water? Afraid? Me? why would I be afraid of water?) he asked, not fooling anyone.

"Well, I'd say that's a yes," Marco said, chuckling. "You're not afraid to be miles up in the air, but you're afraid of water? Does that strike anyone else as being, I don't know, crazy?"

"Marco, don't be a jerk," Shara said, prompting a reproving look from Slade which she ignored.

(It's not the water,) Tobias said, sounding annoyed. (It's just… there's no air in the water. It presses in all around you.)

Marco looked just about ready to say something else, when Rachel spoke up. "Why don't we stop busting on Tobias?" she said, pinning Marco with a glare so there could be no doubt about who she was talking to. "If he doesn't want to come with us than he doesn't want to come."

(No; I really should come. Flying out over the water is really something I like to avoid unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll go dolphin with the rest of you. And- hey, it'll be fine. I mean, dolphins live in the rater, right? a dolphin in the water would be like a bird in the air, right?)

There was more than a hint of desperation in Tobias' voice when he asked that question. Marco was smirking, getting ready to needle the hawk a bit more, when Shara dug her elbow into his side. Smiling sweetly, she elbowed him again just as he was about to say something.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," she said, smiling up at him.

"Okay, then," Jake said, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Tobias, Slade and Shara need to acquire dolphins at The Gardens. So let's get in the air and hope we get lucky. Shara?"

"What is it, Jake?"

"You can do that invisibility thing that Slade does, right?"

"I can," she confirmed, wondering briefly where he'd learned about that power, then deciding it wasn't important. "Don't worry, we'll both make sure we stay out of sight."

"That's good," Jake said, nodding calmly. "Let's morph."

Knowing that Ax didn't have a seagull morph, Cassie took him over to the row of cages to acquire one. Then the seven Animorphs not in avian form changed with varying speed into a flock of seagulls. No one, save Marco perhaps, would have suggested that Tobias acquire and morph a gull after it had been revealed how much he disliked the idea of going into the water.

Cassie felt it would have been insensitive in the extreme, and most of the Animorphs – save for Slade – would have agreed with her.

Once all of the seven who would be traveling in seagull form had morphed, they took off from the barn and powered their way into the air. It was more of a struggle in these forms than it had been in their bird-of-prey forms, since seagulls were not made for the kind of flying that birds-of-prey were capable of.

They did, however, have the advantage of ubiquity. Everyone would have noticed a flock of predatory birds, not only because of that fact that predatory birds didn't travel in flocks very often in the first place but because those kinds of birds would never be seen in the company of so many others who were not of their own kind.

Seagulls, however, did not have that particular problem.

(I can't believe I'm flying with a flock of seagulls,) Tobias grumped good-naturedly. (I could get kicked out of the hawk fraternity for hanging out with lowlifes.)

(I'm sure your hunting-buddies will find it in their hearts to forgive you,) Shara said, laughing softly.

The seven seagulls weren't really close enough to Tobias to be considered actually 'hanging out', since that would have drawn the attention of far too many people, but for Tobias it had been an opportunity to have a bit of fun. That had been enough.

(Ah, our brothers and sisters await,) Marco stated, as The Gardens – and the large flock of seagulls flying around both the park and the zoo area of same – came into view.

(They probably already got all the good food,) Rachel grumbled.

Shara laughed, while Marco was left to sincerely hope that Rachel had,in fact, been merely joking.

The eight of them rode a following breeze over the gate where they would have been required to pay if they had been in human form when they passed it.

(Let's go this way!) Marco shouted, feeling a sudden, impulsive need for something a bit more thrilling than simply flying.

(Which way?) Jake asked.

(This way! Follow me!) Banking left, Marco headed for the large, wooden roller-coaster that had once been one of the things he had enjoyed most about The Gardens.

At least before he had become an Animorph and discovered that there were far more thrilling things in the world.

There were two boys in the car; both about the same age as Marco and Jake. Both of them had their arms up in the air, clearly waiting for the moment when the car they were riding would go over the hill they were just about to crest. Landing on the front railing of the car just as it crested the hill, Marco clamped down on the metal with all the strength in his seagull's feet.

(Marco, what do you think you're doing?) Jake demanded. (We're not here to play around.)

Still, Jake landed next to Marco on the railing of the car. Just as Marco had known he would. Ignoring the efforts that the two guys made to shoo them away, Marco turned to look at the empty air in front of the car. Just then, their car slid up and over the top of the hill and plunged down into the valley in front of it.

Keeping the momentum it had gathered from its trip over the first hill, the car roared over the next at almost full speed. Marco opened his wings just after the car had reached the top of the second hill and had been hurled from the railing of the car as easily as an artillery shell being fired. Screaming with equal parts fear and exhilaration, Marco and Jake flew a perilous course through the supports of the coaster itself.

(Come on, that was cool, admit it!) Marco said, laughing.

(Yes, that was very cool,) Jake conceded.

(We're still our old selves, aren't we? I mean, we haven't really changed from who we were before all this started, have we?)

(Sure, Marco,) Jake said easily.

(No, I mean it,) Marco pressed, suddenly realizing just how important this was to him. (We're still just the same as we always were. Nothing that happens is going to change who we are, right?)

(Marco, I'm not really a philosopher, you know?)

(Yeah. Well, no one had better be expecting me to be changing any time soon, that's all I'm saying. No matter how many morphs, no matter how many battles we face, I'm still just going to be plain old me. Everyone just better get used to it.)

(Marco, if it makes you feel any better, you'll always be just a punk to me,) Jake said, laughing.

Marco laughed as well. (Thanks; I appreciate it.)

Rejoining the others above the tank that held the four dolphins, Marco stared down at the tank.

(Well,) he said, laughing. (This is certainly going to be interesting. A hawk making actual, physical contact with a dolphin? I mean, at least Slade and Shara can turn invisible,) he chuckled.

(You know about that?) Shara asked.

(We found out during the last crazy adventure we Animorphs had.)

(You mean the one with the horses and Area 51?) she asked, a note of incredulous amusement in her voice.

(Yeah,) he laughed. (That's the one. Cassie told you about what we found there?)

(Yeah,) Shara laughed. (She definitely did.)