(Yeah,) Cassie said, as if she was surprised by that, too. (I didnt really think about that. Do you think there was something different that you were thinking when you transformed then, as opposed to when you transformed just now?)
(Aside from the fact that I was out in the open ocean as opposed to diving into an oversized fish tank?) she asked, only semi-serious. (I dont really know, myself.)
(Well, there would have had to be something, I think,) Cassie said, sounding like she was trying to think of what that very thing might be. (I mean, otherwise you probably would have ended up naked both times.)
(I really dont want to think about that,) she said, chuckling from sheer embarrassment at the very idea.
(Yeah,) Cassie said, chuckling a bit herself. (Thats why we started training ourselves to morph clothes in the first place.)
(Maybe something like that could help me, do you think?)
(I dont know,) Cassie said dubiously. (When we tried to morph clothes, they usually just ended up falling off; the only times we ended up losing them was when someone got careless and tried to morph something bigger than ourselves without taking them off first. Even then, they would only rip, not disintegrate.)
(Okay, so maybe that was a bad idea,) she said; not particularly relishing the prospect of learning something like that by trial-and-error, but knowing that it was probably her only option.
(Well, I think I could find some old clothes you could work with in the Give Away box,) Cassie said. (I dont think it would be fair if you ended up having to get new clothes each time you had to use that transformation of yours.)
(I think that would be a little too embarrassing even for me,) she said, laughing in mildly strained good-humor.
(Yeah,) Cassie said, chuckling softly. (Ill help you with it in the afternoon, after school, or after weve finished this next mission, whichever comes first, all right?)
(Thats fine,) she said, genuinely grateful for the consideration. (Thanks.)
They were silent the rest of the way back, since there wasnt really that much they could say after what had happened and she didnt really want to think about that anymore and so Shara focused on getting herself back to the barn. It wasnt home, but it came as close as it could.
XXX
Having tried and failed to draw his errant Hunter back to him, Darkon immersed himself in the workings of his teknopods. While he was not going to allow one of his Hunter Teknomen to run free, he had to know if something like this was likely to happen again. He would make preparations regardless, but it would be useful information in any case.
He could not afford to take chances, now that it was clear that someone had indeed been tampering with his plants; one failure could have been classed as the consequences of his crop acclimating to this alien soil, but two failures of the same type made it abundantly clear that someone was acting against him. Who, he didnt know, but he was going to ensure that their little ploy failed.
The first thing he was going to do was order the pods to take deeper root and start growing a crop of Galia; Gaurugana in particular. He would also begin cultivating a select crop of Taranthi. All of this would, of course, draw off too much energy for him to create another group of Teknomen, but it was a small price to pay to see that none of his other warriors were stolen from him the way that Ness Carter and his sister had been.
He was also going to make a far more concerted effort to draw the little Carter girl back to him so that he could complete her transformation into a proper Hunter Teknoman. The Carter boy was not so much of an issue; he was an Enforcer, bred and conditioned to follow orders without question. He would be useless without a Warlord to command him.
He would likely return even before the girl herself had been drawn back into their ranks.
XXX
The next day, Marco found that there was a front-page headline about the two missing guards from Ocean World. The official story was about some kind of mysterious disappearance, and Marco couldnt help wondering just what they would be reporting once they actually managed to find the corpses of those guards. Or if there would be anything left to find once those sharks were done with them.
There was even a TV news report on CNN; they sent a camera crew and some reporters over there, in spite of the fact that there hadnt been anything much to find.
When he finally made it to the end of the first day back to school, he handed in the report that he had banged together while he was riding on the bus. Of course, it had nothing at all to do with the book that hed been assigned to read, but he was hoping that no one would pick up on that.
Finally heading home after what felt like an eternity, Marco plopped himself down on the couch and picked up the remote. He was in the mood to find something mindless and veg out for awhile, which was what he was going to do until either his dad kicked him out, or his butt fell asleep.
Whichever came first.
XXX
Settling back down in the hayloft after a day of nothing much happening though she had managed to get in a shower, which she had enjoyed immensely Shara looked over the dozing form of her brother, before yawning widely and settling herself down to sleep. Just as she was starting to drift off, though, Shara felt a strong compulsion attempting to take hold of her mind.
Walling her mind off with her telepathic powers, she hurriedly turned to check on Slade. He would obviously be more susceptible to these kinds of things, given that he was obviously so much more far-gone than her in terms of what the Radam had done to them. But no; oddly enough, Slade seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She would have stopped to think about that, maybe wondered just why that was happening, but the psychic force hammering away at her defenses left no time for those kinds of questions to be posed; let alone pondered.
She knew that it had to be Darkon attacking her like this; no one else knew she existed, and none of the Animorphs had this kind of power. She knew the why and the who, and even had a fairly good idea about the how. None of that changed the fact that she was going to resist until he either gave up or shattered her mind trying.
She knew from her experience that Darkon wouldnt bother with her if he couldnt make immediate use of her body; this was another way to deny him victory, though she personally hoped that things wouldnt come to that.
Thankfully, after a few more attempts at breaking through her hardened mental defenses, Darkon withdrew. She knew his kind too well now to believe that she had won anything but the most temporary, transient of victories, but it was enough for her to sleep. That would have to be enough at this point.
XXX
The little female was apparently stronger than he himself had given her credit for. In a way this was good; strength of mind was what set Hunters apart from their larger, bulkier counterparts. The girl was truly one of the stronger minds it had been his pleasure to encounter. What made that strength such an annoyance was the fact that it was not being put to use in the service of the empire that they were both a part of.
He could see now that it would take a bit more time for him to get the little quasi-human to return to her proper place. Hammering at her mental defenses constantly, the way he had once thought to do, would only drive her to strengthen them. He would have to employ other measures to get his lost Hunter back.