JTL's Animorph Series! Chapter 8, an animorphs fanfic

Animorphs 34 The Trip (Cassie)

Author James the Lesser

I do not own the characters, Applegate and her many Ghost Writers do! But I do hope any who read this will enjoy, even if I change things up!

Hello. I'm Cassie. Just Cassie. By now any one who is reading this should know why I am just Cassie. The Yeerks. A race of parasitic slugs who crawl in through your ear and wrap around your brain turning you in to a slave. Any one could be one. My, friend, Jake's brother was one until we freed him. My mom is not thankfully. I only know that because she found out about my secret and I'm still free.

I'm a plain looking black girl. Well, maybe not plain but I doubt many people would look at me and go wow. Especially after I got done working in the barn. Jake, my friend, didn't seem too mind though and that is good enough for me.

But right now I was arguing with my best friend at the mall. "What happened Rachel? You just took off for a couple days. Your mom called me wondering where you were."

"I know and I'm sorry but I can't tell you."

"Why not? What did you do? Look for the Pemalite Crystal? I won't be mad about that." I get in her way and she tries pushing me to the side.

"No. Leave me alone. I need new shoes again because of you know what." I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to a changing booth.

"Rachel I'm not letting you go until you tell me what happened."

"I'll make you let go." I pull away but stay in the door of the changing room.

"Rachel please I'm your friend. I worry, we all do, about you."

"Fine. Meet me at my house. I do need new shoes." I back out of the entrance and let her go over to the shoe section.

I flew over to her house and waited. I could see the clock through the window of the house across the street so I could keep track of time. I had a half hour left by the time Rachel got home. (Open your window I need to demorph.) She simply nodded. Since she wasn't in morph she couldn't thought speak back.

I flew in to her room and demorphed. "Rachel are you ok?"

"No, why?"

"I, I should be asking you why."

"Why do you care? You made it clear I'm the nut case. When Erik said I loved killing you didn't defend me. No one did."

"I didn't know it mattered. I know you don't love it and I thought you knew that. None of us love it." She went over to her bed and put down her shopping bag. "Rachel why would you think that? I've never said you loved it."

"You all use me because you think I'm violent. I go and do what must be done and you all look down at me. Kill David? You and the others ignored when I went after him with a fork. But I threaten to kill his parents? Oh gee now I'm all violent."

"Well, that was a little much. His parents are human and we don't kill humans."

"I do! I follow them and morph Hork Bajir and kill them. When others show up with guns I run and hide. Then I follow them to another place and kill them some more. I must go and hide from the others because you'll all think I'm a monster for protecting my family from the Yeerks who were going to grab my mom."

"What happened? Why? Did they attack your mom?"

"I caught them outside my house. They were going to take my mom and make her a host so she'd lose the case. I hunted them down and killed them and any one sent to save them."

"No, how could you? You could have attacked and scared them off with out killing them."

"Maybe. I'll never know now will I?"

"Rachel that is horrible! How could you kill humans on purpose?"

"Easy when it is my family being targeted. I'd hope you would do the same for yours. Or would you let your mom get taken and get us all killed?"

"I, no, I don't, I don't know."

"Or would you come to me begging me to do it because I'm violent and I'm crazy and I would never say no to a fight would I?" I hated what she said. Not because it was wrong but because it was right. I don't know if I could kill a human on purpose. I have a hard time killing Hork Bajir knowing they are peaceful herbivores. "Don't cry just because I'm right."

"You are right." I sat down on the end of her bed. "I would come to you then hate you after for doing it."

"And I'm the monster here?"

"No. This is war and I know some times we can't help it. We disable a Bug Fighter we know has human hosts on it and it crashes we know we killed them. But we don't hunt down human hosts and kill them. We try and free them."

"But we can't save all of them. If it takes killing a few I'm not pulling back. I'm not losing my family because you don't feel like killing some one." I get off her bed and walk to the window.

"I don't want to kill any one. Hork Bajir, Taxxon, Human, none of them."

"And if we all felt that way Earth would be doomed. Now go tell Jake how big of a monster I am for protecting my family."

"I wasn't, I'm not. I have work to do at the barn." I morph back in to Osprey and leave.

Normally flying can make all the stress of life disappear. Floating on a thermal high above the city makes it seem so far away. No Yeerks, no wars, just gliding through the air. But after what happened with Rachel I couldn't think of any thing else.

Instead of going home I did go to Jake's house. (Jake? Is it safe?)

"My parents are at work." He opens the window for me.

After I demorphed I felt a little uncomfortable. You see when you morph you don't morph your clothes. So when you demorph all you can really make are skin tight clothing like a leotard. Standing in his room in just a leotard just a few months ago would have been weird but I don't think as awkward. Ever since we became more than friends every thing just seems too mean more. Like standing in his room in just a leotard. "Did Rachel tell you what happened?"

"Yes. She, the Yeerks went after her mom. She made sure that didn't happen." I couldn't look him in the eye. Rachel was his cousin, his family, but how would he take what she did?

"What did she do? Don't hide it."

"She killed them. She hunted them down and morphed Hork Bajir then killed them."

"Other Hork Bajir?"

"Would they have Hork Bajir in the middle of a neighborhood?"

"No. So that's why she didn't tell us."

"It isn't all her fault. We, she's right when she says we use her. When we need some thing done that I or you might not feel comfortable with we turn to her. We can't use her as our hammer then cry when she hits a nail."

"What?" I laughed nervously.

"I was thinking of an analogy that would work and that was the best I could come up with. I don't know what we should do. We can't punish her for it we need her and I'm not sure what she did was wrong. They went after her mom because of the court case and she stopped them. If she had come to us we might have found another way but she panicked."

"If I found out Tom was going to take our parents I'd stop him and who ever was sent. If it meant killing them I would." He sits down on his bed. "No, I can say that when I know Tom is safe at the Hork Bajir colony but if it had happened? I don't know what I would have done."

"I know." I sit down next to him and hold his hand. "If they came after my parents? I would have to wouldn't I? My mom knows our secret. I couldn't let them take her." He squeezes my hand trying to reassure me.

"I hate this. If the Andalite's showed up and didn't use that Quantum Virus they used on the Hork Bajir we wouldn't be talking about this."

"I know." I leaned my head on his shoulder. "We could be just two normal teens."

"Yeah." I felt him run a finger on my arm. It sent chills down my spine. "Worried about a pimple before a date not if we'll come out of the next mission alive." I turn to him. I wanted to kiss him. We had before but it was usually a so happy we made it kiss. Except for that time at the mall but that was one time. "Jake, I," We hear a door close. "Some one is home."

"Yeah. We'll meet at your barn tomorrow. Tom told me the Hork Bajir freed some more of their kind and they were talking about a new base being built. It might be big I don't know yet." He hugged me then let me go. "I'd help at the barn tonight but I have homework piling up."

"I can handle it. We're still pretty empty after what happened." I morphed Osprey then went out through his window.

The next day every one was at the barn. A weird assortment of teenage kids, a hawk, and a blue centaur looking alien named Aximilli... Well, we called him Ax. Tom was the last one to make it having too fly in from the Hork Bajir colony. (Sorry I'm late.)

"No problem. So what is it the Hork Bajir want us to do? Is it fun? Dangerous? Suicidal? Or even better all of the above?" Marco and his sarcasm. He would do any mission if it might one day lead to freeing his mother.

"Maybe. The Yeerks are working on mass breeding the Hork Bajir. They need more shock troops while the Civil War splits forces between the war with the Andalite fleet and a couple planets they are invading."

"How? Here?"

"On Earth but not near here. Another country where they won't be discovered."

"Where?"

"Not sure. Hork Bajir aren't exactly geography students. Sand, lots of it, and no cities are the description they gave me little bro." Well that narrowed it down.

"Desert. Gobi or Arabian maybe. Nomads or hut villages being the only civilization. Maybe the Sahara but it could be any of those. Any way we could figure out which one?"

"Uh, sneak in, hack a computer, find the location, get out? Unless you have a better Cassie."

"I don't Tom. But sneak in where? The Yeerk Pool?"

"Could ask the Chee. Or would that be too much work for them?"

"Rachel cool it. Cassie if we go to the Yeerk Pool we go there. I don't like it any more than you do but if the Yeerks are force breeding Hork Bajir it affects the whole war. Tom are there any places we could go that aren't the Yeerk Pool that might have what we're looking for?"

"The Sharing HQ but they probably have that locked down. Or the new facility they are building for the alien energy scanner."

"That is barely framework right now and I don't want them knowing we know about it. Ax could you hack the Yeerks from the outside?"

(If they are connected to the internet then yes Prince Jake.)

"Don't call me Prince."

(Yes Prince Jake.)

"Any chance they are connected Tom?"

"Uh, well, Yeerk arrogance might make them think there is no chance of some one trying to hack them. But if it is top secret stuff I doubt they'd let even the slightest chance of the Andalite Bandits from finding out with out going in and risking their necks."

"The Sharing HQ? Great. Because I know I have great memories of it." Marco walks towards the exit. "Maybe we should ask the Chee. They could go in and find it for us."

"That's what I said."

"No you didn't. You gotta sugar coat it first. Try dropping the sneer Xena."

"Shut up Marco. I'll go ask them right now."

"No. Marco or I should."

"Why? Because you let them use us?"

"No Rachel because I am the leader as much as one could say I am one and Marco is friends with Erik."

"And if they say no?"

"Then we sneak in and find it the hard way."

"What ever. I have homework. You go ask the Chee if they'll do us a favor and if they say no order us in but make sure we don't do any thing violent or it might make the rest of you look bad." Rachel storms out of the barn.

"Tobias please keep an eye on her. Things are stressful enough as it is. If she goes off on her own again she could get herself killed or worse."

(No problem.) I watch Tobias leave from the rafters.

"Well that was pleasant." Marco checks the time. "I'm sure Erik is home by now. Wanna go now Jake?"

"Yes. The faster we know what is going on the faster we can stop the Yeerks." Jake and Marco leave.

(I can try hacking the Yeerks and see if there is any useful information. If not on the Hork Bajir breeding then maybe on the scanner. We don't know how long it will take for the new facility too be completed.) I walk to the entrance.

"You're clear." He runs out.

"So, uh, now what?" I almost forgot Tom was here. It was still strange thinking he was a part of the group.

"Um, I don't know. I have some feeding to do if you wanna help."

"Ok, sure. Beats going back to the colony. Ax hooked me up with the same television set up he has but you can only watch so much before it starts burning your eyes."

It was weird working with him. He looked like Jake just a few inches taller and a bit heavier. "So uh, how is the whole colony life going?"

"Ok. My neighbors are all nice if not the best for conversation. Toby doesn't like the other Hork Bajir watching television with me. She doesn't want them learning about humanity from a box she says."

"Well that and television is so fake. Humans don't really act like they do with problems resolved in only thirty minutes."

"Wouldn't it be nice if they were? We need to stop the Yeerks from mass producing Hork Bajir. Twenty five minutes later done."

"With no deaths on the good guy team."

"And a cool theme song for the battles."

"And every thing is black and white. Good or bad."

"Speaking of black and white how are you and my brother doing?" That caught me off guard.

"Huh?"

"I tried talking with him about it but he always downplays it. Even when I was a Controller I knew there was some thing between you two. I didn't think it was working to save the world but I knew there was some thing there."

"Well, um, we're dating kind of. Not a lot of time for it with all the other stuff."

"Keep at it I think it is awesome. He needs that connection so he stays grounded. He seems distant every time I see him but then I see you two sneak a glance or brush hands and it makes me happy he has some one."

"I, I guess. I worry about him."

"So do I. I can't believe the whole Andalite Bandit stuff was him and his friends. You guys have done a ton of damage. Destroying Kandronas, blowing up ships, killing some of the council members, and a few more things I'm sure you already know."

"It isn't enough. They just keep coming and we keep trying but it isn't enough."

"If the Andalite fleet doesn't show up maybe the Civil War will. Have Visser Three so busy fighting off other Yeerk forces he can't stop us."

"It would give us a break."

"Give you and Jake some time for smooching." He laughed. It had been so long since I heard him laugh. Before meeting Elfangor I had met Tom. Rachel was my best friend and he was her cousin. But had it been that long?

The next morning I was woken up by some one who looked just like me. "Huh? What time is it?" I look at the alarm. "I still have time before school."

"You aren't going to school." She holds up a piece of paper. "You have a flight to catch."

"What?" I was out of it. Halfway between sleep and awake.

"We hacked the Sharing computers last night and found where the Hork Bajir breeding facilities were. This is a plane ticket to China."

"China?"

"Gobi Desert. You have a couple hours to take a shower and eat but don't take too long. We're replacing all of you and giving you fake identities."

"Why fake?"

"Well Tom is dead, Tobias disappeared, Ax isn't human, and the rest of you are teens who should be in school. Good enough an explanation for you?"

"What?" Was I still dreaming? Was I really going to China?

"I'll give you a few minutes to wake up." I would need more than that.

I took the fastest shower possible then grabbed a pop tart before going back to my room. "So what are we doing? China?"

"You're going to China where the Hork Bajir breeding facilities are at. The flight leaves in a little over an hour. We have a car to take you."

"But, I, passport I think it is in the safety deposit box at the bank."

"For you Cassandra Olivander." She hands me some documents. "Wife of Jonathan Olivander. His sister Rebecca and her husband Terry Fangden are going with you the vacation of a life time."

"Wait, Rebecca and Terry? Rachel and Tobias?" She nodded. "And Jonathan must be Jake. Huband? I, we, why not just really good friends?"

"The fewer last names we make up the better. We can fake any thing but the simpler it is the better. Markus, Talbot, and Phillip are just three friends who don't know the two newly wed couples."

"Newly weds?"

"When I said vacation I figured you'd prefer that over Honeymoon." She winked at me. Is that what I look like when I wink? When was the last time I winked? Why am I thinking of any thing but that last word?

"Uh, thanks. So I have a ride?"

"And your bag." She hands me my travel bag.

"When?"

"While you were in the shower. I made sure your deodorant and toothbrush were packed as well. If you need any thing while over there we packed you some Chinese money. It should be enough depending on how long you're over there."

"I don't know Chinese."

"Thankfully the Chee know every language spoken for the past few thousand years. Erik is coming with you."

"You guys set this up in only a few hours?"

"We don't sleep, there are dozens of us just in this town, and we can do thousands of processes at once. When we need we can get things done." She patted me on the cheek. "Better get out there. Your parents will be up soon."

"Ok." What else could I say or do? I woke up being told I was going to China. I guess I was going to China.

At the airport I saw Jake. I mean Jonathan. My... Wow.

He hands me a box. "What is this?"

"Open it. Part of our disguise." I opened it and saw a gold ring. A wedding ring. "I already have mine on." He raises his hand and shows it.

"I don't know my ring size." I took it out of the box and put it on. It fit perfectly.

"I don't either but they did. So uh I guess we get on the plane."

"Yeah, first class. I've only flown in coach when my parents took me on vacation." I looked around for our gate.

At the gate I saw Tobias and Rachel. Terry and Rebecca. "Hey uh, nice rings."

"Yeah, I guess you got the same ones." I showed mine.

"Where's the engagement ring?" Rachel shows me hers.

"I didn't get one." I looked over at Jonathan.

"They gave me the wedding rings. I didn't know about an engagement ring."

"The Chee replacing me gave me mine." Rachel, Rebecca, holds it close to her face. "Didn't have a chance to see if it was a real diamond."

"It is." We turn and see Erik. "And here is your engagement ring." He hands me a box. "She forgot to give it to you. Don't worry about losing them if you morph either give them to me before you do or just leave them where they are. We have a couple of our kind running a jewelry store and can get a dozen more."

"Ok. So we just get on the plane?" I looked up at the board. "Here to China direct flight. Are you sure our passport and stuff will pass?"

"Of course. We aren't real people and we've been able to pass ourselves off for longer than mankind had the wheel."

"Where are the others?" I noticed Terry kept squinting.

"Need glasses?"

"No I'm just not used too human vision."

"I saw Markus and Phillip board already and Tolbert was going through security. We can't act like we know them. Don't worry every one we can do this." I saw Jonathan was sweating. This was a big mission. Going overseas for days if not weeks. What if we didn't get back in time for the scanner?

"What about Ax? Phillip, he needs to demorph and remorph." I hadn't thought of that. Good thing Jonathan did.

"I'm here for that. I can throw up a hologram so he can do what he needs. First class has a lot more room so he should be able to do it with out any one noticing. Even better this early in the morning people will be tired and taking naps."

"Well here goes." I grabbed Jonathan's hand and felt his ring. A wedding ring. Maybe he was sweating for the same reason I was and not because of the mission.

The plane finally landed in China. Phillip and Terry, being in morphs, could thought speak to us. They sat in the same row as Erik so he could tell us the upcoming plans. "We get out of the airport, get a cab, and go to the hotel. Just don't get lost."

"Seems easy."

"Then why am I so worried?"

The hotel was small and our room even smaller. I saw a map on the wall. "Wow. It is bigger than I thought." The map showed the desert went up in to Mongolia. "How are we searching all of this?"

"I don't know. Do we have any animals best for this? Birds?"

"Plenty of heat coming off of the sand so we could catch plenty of thermals. But I don't know if we can stay our there for long with out water. And at night the desert will get really cold."

"Sounds harsh. So we'll be staying here?" He looked over at the small bed barely big enough for one. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"I wonder how the others are doing." The floor didn't look comfortable but I wasn't sure both of us in the bed would be any more comfortable. It was small. Yes, a small bed being uncomfortable for two people is a perfectly good reason for him to sleep on the floor.

"We meet with Rachel, er, Rebecca. This is going to be weird. I kept telling myself the new names over and over. Rebecca, Cassandra, Jonathan, Terry, Tolbert, Markus, and Phillip. Gotta remember."

"At least they picked names close to what our real ones are."

"Yeah. We meet her and Terry tonight for dinner. Erik is getting us walkie talkies so we can keep in contact with each other."

"Can't be hanging out with every one. This is so strange."

"Strange nation and on top of it aliens. Why do the aliens seem less strange?" His laugh didn't make me feel any better.

"Because we are weird."

That night we met with Rebecca and Terry. "I wonder what kind of meet they use." Rachel points at a picture. "Any idea what that is?" She shows Terry.

"Cat. You can tell by the, uh, I'm gonna stop."

"I did see some large cow things."

"Yaks. Those were Yaks. But they use them for milk not meat." And they didn't have any vegetarian dishes. I could pick around the meat, maybe. "How do we order?" Terry tapped his head.

"Erik is near by with Phillip. We point at what we want and he tells Phillip the English translation and he tells me and then I tell you." I point at my menu. "Salted Duck Egg with vegetables." I could eat egg if I really tried. Being a vegetarian is hard some times but now that I'm in a different nation I couldn't really be picky. Bleh.

As we ate we talked about what to do with Terry telling Phillip who would tell the others later. "I wouldn't try any night flying."

"Wouldn't that help though? Any lights off in the distance could be a big clue."

"Jake, who flies the most? Even as owls I wouldn't want to try flying at night around here. We could get lost easily."

"Ok so day time. Does your room have a map?" He nods. "We can try using them to mark where we've looked and where we haven't so we don't go over the same areas again." I leaned in and whispered.

"The desert is massive. But there might be places where they can't build. The map didn't show any villages or travel routes. I know people live in the desert. I saw it on National Geographic."

"They could all be Controllers keeping an eye out for us. We must check every where. But be careful. We'll work in pairs. Phillip and Markus will have Tolbert. No demorphing with out the other looking out for you."

"For how long?"

"We wake up, eat, fly, come back, eat, go to bed. Tobias is that possible? Or should we come back and eat lunch?"

"I'll need to eat as a hawk. It is my normal body and eating while human does carry over but not enough. Ax, Phillip explained it before but if you want zero space talk I'm not up for it right now."

"I can carry a small bit of meat since my morph is the largest."

"We'll need more than that. And Phillip can't exactly eat the sand."

"This whole thing is turning in to a bigger and bigger mess." What would we do? "Jake I don't know what we can do. We need to search but we can't go that far unless we find a way we can carry some food." Terry raises his hand. "What?"

"Shh, Erik." We waited. "Erik can carry food. He can carry a Yak as long as one of us can butcher it."

"Uh, that won't be needed. But ok so food is taken care of. This is all last minute if we had more time we'd be more prepared." I put my hand under the table and found his.

"They didn't exactly give us a choice did they? If Tobias wasn't sleeping, I mean Terry, wasn't sleeping as a hawk I don't know how we'd sleep. They couldn't have found a better hotel?"

"I'm sleeping on the floor." Terry made a face.

"I wouldn't eat off that floor and I've eaten roadkill by the side of the road." We let out a laugh then looked down at our food.

"Are we sure this isn't the same thing?" I poked at mine. "I've never had salted duck egg." I took a bite. "And I never will again when we get home." I was hungry and this was what I ordered. Never again.

I changed in the bathroom then stepped out and saw Jonathan was already changed and has the sheet and a pillow on the floor. "Terry's right that floor does look disgusting." I stepped over him and got on the bed.

"Yeah but that bed is way too small." I reached over and turned the light off. "Goodnight Cassie. I mean, well, we're alone. Goodnight Cassie."

"Goodnight Jake." Jake, Jonathan, this is confusing. I've been writing as much as I could get down since the beginning of this war and have kept certain things out like our last names and where we lived. But this whole different name thing is more confusing then changing conversations when I had to. Screw it Jake is Jake and Marco is Marco and I'm Cassie.

Taking a shower that morning was different. The water flow was weak, the hot water disappeared in a few minutes, and Jake was just outside the bathroom. When we first started morphing we had problems morphing clothes. That was embarrassing. This was... Different. I got dressed and stepped out. "Um, there is no hot water. It died after a couple minutes."

"Just like when I'd wake up late. No problem." He went in and soon I heard the water running. He was in there washing up. I should stop thinking about it.

We took a cab and had it take us to where tourists normally went. We skipped the camel tour and went off on our own.

We were met by the others about an hour later. "Ok. Ax, Marco, and Tom go east then loop north. Rachel and Tobias go west then loop north. Cassie and I will go straight north."

"How are you guys keeping time with out Ax?" Jake pulled out two watches.

"Cassie's Osprey can carry one and Rachel's Bald Eagle can carry another."

"Well this should be fun. Any one know the temps for today? Should I bring sunscreen?" We didn't laugh. "Should I try a knock knock joke?" Erik started laughing. "What? I didn't tell the joke yet."

"Back during the time we were building the pyramids one of the workers heard a knocking noise. I said who's there? He replied the ghost of the former Pharaoh mad that the new one was getting a bigger pyramid. It may have been the first knock knock joke ever."

"And they haven't gotten any better since." We got down to our morphing clothes then morphed in to birds.

Osprey are pretty good gliders. But I saw another bird that would beat me every time. One that had an amazing sense of smell. Some thing that the Yeerks couldn't cover with a hologram. A Bearded Vulture. (Jake I have an idea.)

(Yes?)

(What animal has the best sense of smell?)

(Uh, a dog? Wolf?)

(No. A vulture.)

(Are you sure?)

(I read it in a book. Maybe it was best bird not animal but I know a vulture has to smell dead flesh from miles away. The scent of the Hork Bajir facility could spread for miles. Even if they used holograms that could fool our eyes they couldn't fool our smell.)

(So we take one down and acquire it? I could gain some height and knock one down.)

(Try not to kill it.)

I watched him gain some air. A Peregrine Falcon is small so the thermals weren't as much of a help for him. (Jake you should morph it. I can morph a Hork Bajir so you can gain my smell and the vulture will be a much better glider.)

(First I need to take out the vulture.) He started his dive.

If you never saw a Peregrine Falcon dive it is an amazing thing. The fastest animal in the world. Or was that bird? When you spend as much time reading about animals as I have some times it runs together.

He hit the vulture on the left wing. The vulture rolled in the air and started falling. But before it hit the sand it started recovering. I started my own dive. I wasn't as fast as he was but the vulture was already hurt. The watch was throwing me off so I let it go we could find it in the sand later.

The vulture had almost fully recovered when I hit the same wing. I aimed for the feathers but caught part of the side and a talon ripped it open. Jake was already on the ground demorphing. (Sorry! If you get it quick enough you should still be able to acquire it.)

He couldn't respond since he was now in human form. I looked for the watch as he acquired the vulture. It didn't take long with my bird of prey eyes. We still had another half hour but I was demorphing any ways so I could morph a Hork Bajir.

The desert sand was hot on my feet. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah. I broke its neck after. I couldn't let it suffer any more."

"I didn't mean to. The watch threw me off so I dropped it but I couldn't correct in time."

"So ready?" I saw him almost running in place.

"The sand that much hotter over there?"

"I guess. I can't believe you can just stand there this sand is roasting my feet."

"I guess I'm just tougher then you are." I started morphing the Hork Bajir as I laughed.

My Hork Bajir feet barely felt the burn of the hot sand. (Get a good whiff?)

(Yeah.) He sniffs my shins. (I think if I smelled it again I could figure out where it was coming from.) He spreads his wings and takes off.

I had to demorph then remorph. One of the few weaknesses of morphing was we couldn't go from one morph to another directly.

By the time I was back up in the air he was about half a mile away. Thankfully my eyes easily found him.

We landed again when we were almost at the two hour limit. "I know where Erik is. I can small the rice he is carrying."

"We have half an hour before we're meeting the others for lunch."

"We can search for a few more minutes but I am getting hungry. A vulture doesn't care for it but the rice is about the only thing I've seen since we've landed that looked edible."

"Don't try the duck egg. Horrible." We start morphing again.

We landed near Erik and demorphed. All the morphing I was doing was wearing me out and lunch sounded better than usual. Even better Erik brought some blankets we could sit on so we'd be off the sand while we ate.

Marco was the first one to speak. "So far I've seen sand, more sand, and some tourists."

"The one couple looked like they were having fun." Marco and Tom shared a laugh.

"Ax?"

"They were in the middle of what Marco explained was a sort of human mating ritual Prince Jake."

"Don't call me Prince and Marco we are on a mission maybe focus on that and not what ever some tourists are doing." This time Marco replied with Ax's usual line.

"Yes Prince Jake."

"We found the same thing. Sand. What if the Yeerks are using cloaking devices like they did at the world leaders meeting?"

"Cassie thought of that. She told me vultures have really great senses of smell. So we took one down and I acquired it. It was how I found Erik so easily."

"I smell?"

"No but the food did. We'll keep going until five and then turn back. Tobias do you know if vultures are good at soaring at night? Don't need your vision just smell."

"I never saw any at night. Cassie?"

"Don't know they didn't say in the book I was reading." Or did it? It was awhile ago. "Maybe they have a library here."

"They do." Erik tapped his head. "What am I looking for?"

"Information on vultures. Bearded Vultures live around here and I'm pretty sure that is the kind Jake acquired."

"One second." Normally that was just a saying. With Erik I don't even think it was a second. "No. Vultures rely mostly on thermals so they don't fly at night. And no owl has any great sense of smell either. So it looks like you'll be sleeping at night."

"Great. Tonight you sleep on the floor Tom."

"I'm older and bigger."

"I'm a veteran of this war and we agreed you'd get the bed one night and I'd get it the next."

"Why not just share the bed? Or is this a human custom of one person for one bed? I saw on television people stay in bed together."

"Ax this is different. The people on TV are couples. Like Jake and Cassie."

"So they share a bed but you must change who has it?" I nearly choked on my rice.

"I, we, he slept on the floor."

"Why? Temptation too great? After all you two are on your Honeymoon." Marco looked at my hand. "Even if you don't wear your rings all the time."

"We, this isn't a Honeymoon this is a mission. And those beds are too small for two people."

"No one is using the one in our room. Ax sleeps on the floor and I stand in the corner."

"Dibs!" Marco spit food all over the blanket.

"Nice Marco."

"Oh you and Bird Boy aren't sharing a bed?"

(I sleep as a hawk.)

"Wow. The four of you are on Honeymoons and nothing? I'm a little disappointed in you Big Jake."

"We're on a mission. We are a bunch of teens, an alien, a bird, and a super advanced robot in the middle of the Gobi desert looking for a place the Yeerks are force breeding Hork Bajir. Just because you aren't focused doesn't mean I'm not."

"Hey I had too leave Melissa behind. If I was on my Honeymoon it would be so much better. Demorphing on the sand sucks."

(The sand is insufficient for me as well.) Ax was trying to step on the grass Erik had brought for him.

"Finish up so we can get back to searching." I saw Jake try shoveling the rice with his chopsticks but he spilled some.

"Try morphing in to a pig before you do that." The others laughed as Jake cleaned up his face.

We searched for two days and found nothing. I was getting sick of rice and stir fry vegetables. I was also missing my family, my animals, my bed. "Jake are you sure? Switch with Marco for a night in Erik's room or I'll sleep on the floor."

"No I'm fine. It isn't as bad as it looks."

"It is worse. The Chee packed us enough clothes for six days. Tomorrow I'm out of fresh clothes. Which is strange because I only wear them at night for dinner and in the morning for breakfast. The rest of the time I'm wearing my sleep stuff."

"Maybe Erik can find a cleaners. Or a river to do it the hard way while we search."

"We make Erik do all the work."

"They owe us. I've kept the Pemalite Crystal safe for them."

"You lost it in the ocean on purpose so no one could find it."

"I went and found it again. I couldn't risk Rachel finding it."

"When did you do this?"

"I wanted to give Tom experience with a dolphin."

"You got him a dolphin morph with out me?"

"I didn't think it would be that big a deal. We found it and I hid it at the Hork Bajir colony. Well, I had Toby hide it so I wouldn't know the exact whereabouts. I told her hide it some place that even if the Yeerks got me they wouldn't find it."

"That's good but you should have told us."

"And if Rachel found out? She'd be tearing the Hork Bajir colony apart. What if the Chee helping with hiding the colony thinks he should be more involved? He could spend every minute looking for it."

"Well, ok, but you could have told me."

"The fewer who know the better. I get caught or now you get caught it gives them an idea of where to look or who they should grab. If Toby gets caught now she would be forced to tell them."

"The Pemalite Crystal would give them a huge advantage. I don't know for sure but the way Ax talks about it the Yeerk Empire steals technology. So they might be advanced in our eyes compared to the Andalite Fleet they aren't."

"Probably why they never flat out attacked the Andalite homeworld."

"But if they get the Pemalite Crystal that all changes. I won't tell any one else."

"Good." We stood together a couple feet apart. In our room barely lit by the lamp. In our sleepwear.

"Uh, goodnight." I went to my bed with thoughts racing through my head.

The next day we flew as hard and fast as we could north. We had covered miles of desert but there were hundreds if not thousands of square miles to go. (Jake can you smell any thing?)

(The same as yesterday. Sand, a few dead animals, and a few birds not native around here.)

(Would I be Marco if I asked again in a minute? And the next?)

(No. I'll tell you if I smell any thing that smells like Hork Bajir. The faster the better.) I flew up a little higher. I could only see more sand.

After lunch we were back up in the air. (I smell some thing.)

(Hork Bajir?)

(No. Humans.) I turned to my left and saw smoke.

(A village.)

(They're burning some thing strong. The wind just changed and started blowing it this way.)

(Any idea?)

(No but it is strong. Overwhelming. I think I'm changing morphs.)

(Ok I'll watch out for others.) I scanned the area, did a couple circles, and found no one. (You're safe.)

We flew closer to the village after he had changed morphs. (I'm not seeing any thing strange.)

(What are they burning? Think we could ask?)

(I doubt it Jake. They probably don't speak English.)

(Neither does Ax but he speaks it. Does it work the same for us?)

(He has an implant if I remember right. That way all of his thought speak translates in to a language the person he's speaking with can understand. Or was that a Star Trek episode?)

(Probably both. We should ask him later.)

We circled the village a couple of times but I couldn't see what they were burning. (Cassie to the left of the red roof is that person wearing a watch?) I looked for the person he was talking about.

(Yes)

(Doesn't it look extra fancy? I think I've seen a doctor my dad works with wearing the same one.) I flew down lower and landed on a window sill.

(And he is really white.) Jake landed on a window below me.

(That is him. What is he doing here?)

(Jake, he's a Controller. I wonder how smelly a Hork Bajir breeding facility is. Maybe that's why they're burning that stuff.)

(And it is underground but they must be pumping oxygen down in there and the stale air back out. That would be a way down.) I flew up to a different roof. (I don't see where an entrance could be.)

(Keep looking. When we go back and meet the others tonight we'll tell them about this.)

(If all of us look at the same time won't it look weird? A bunch of American birds flying around.)

(So all of us get vultures? Except they didn't have any where near as good of eye sight.)

(Erik. He can help us sneak around. I hate using the Chee but this is safer.)

(Why?)

(Well we can use his holograms or he can go in and find it himself.)

(No, I meant why do you hate using the Chee? They're there for us too use. They can't fight but we can. We can't throw up holograms but they can. They use us for our powers we use them for what they can do.)

(Yes but they're peaceful beings. They shouldn't be involved in any war. How many thousands of years have they been here? How many wars have they avoided?)

(How many involved aliens invading? Cassie I'm sorry you feel bad or what ever about it but the Chee have powers we can use and I'll be using them as much as I can. If there wasn't a war going on sure leave them be but we are fighting for Earth's freedom I can't turn down help.)

(I know. I just wish there was another way some times.)

(Don't wish. The last time Rachel made one she ended up corrupting the Chee and killed me so she could change what she did.)

(I would never make a deal with Crayak.)

(Maybe. I would like too think that way but what if some thing happened that left me no choice? Kind of like what Rachel did about her family. Since my family wasn't being targeted for infestation I could say I wouldn't kill humans. But if I saw them outside my house planning on infesting them? I might do what she did.)

(Same here. Especially since my mom knows our secret now. I wouldn't have a choice.) I saw the time on the watch of the Controller we spotted earlier. (We have twenty minutes.)

(We can head back to the hotel a little early. Now that we know where the entrance is or at least a good idea where it is we can stop searching.) We took off from the village.

That night we sat down with Tobias and Rachel. "We found it."

"You did? Where?"

"A village. I spotted some one my father works with. Why else would he be here? And they're burning some thing foul. I think it is covering up the smell of what ever they're doing underground. Tobias we're thinking Eric can go in using a hologram so no one sees him and find the entrance and check for security." We stare at him and wait for a response. I wonder what it was like using thought speak while a human. For him it was a morph so he could do it. I would have to morph Rachel or some one else if I wanted too use it while a human.

"He says he can do it. Maybe we could go out and do tourist stuff and not just pretend we are." That would be weird. Doing tourist stuff and not searching for aliens would be the weird part of this trip.

That morning I took my shower and got dressed. "Jake what are you doing?" He had a walkie talkie that Erik had brought.

"I tried contacting Rachel and Tobias but they aren't answering."

"So go down to their room and check on them. I need to fix my hair still."

"Ok, I'll be back in a minute." I had to back in to the bathroom so he could get around me the room was so small.

I pulled the brush through my hair. I didn't have my usual shampoo or brushes. I didn't do much with my hair but it did need some care.

I was still dealing with it when Jake got back. "What's wrong?" He was red in the face.

"Uh, they'll be ready in a few minutes." He went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face.

"Are you sick?"

"No, not sick. Uh, if you go down there and knock and they don't answer don't go in." He grabbed the walkie talkie. "And make sure this stays on." He sat down on the bed. "Uh, we have a few minutes." I sat down next too him.

"Um, yeah, I guess." A few minutes alone in our hotel room. "How long do you think it will take Erik?"

"Let's not talk about that. Today we are just tourists not Animorphs." He put his hand on mine. He leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back.

When there was a knock on the door we pulled back from each other. "Who is it?"

"Hope we're not interrupting any thing."

"Uh, no." I looked at the clock. Had that much time passed? Had we, kissed, that long? "One minute." Good thing they didn't open the door.

We met up with Rachel and Tobias outside of the hotel. "Now what? We haven't really planned for doing actual tourist stuff."

"What would two newly married couples do in this place?" Tobias looked through a window. "Huh. Rat doesn't look so appealing through the eyes of a human."

"I'm not doing any desert tours. I've had enough of the sand and heat. Do they have any swimming pools?" Rachel staid near a terrace hiding in the shade.

"I don't remember any swim wear in my suitcase." I hadn't really looked in the area what they might have. Would they have a zoo with animals from America instead of Pandas or Tigers? "Maybe check out a zoo?"

"They don't have any. They did have a small museum to the Khans that might be cool."

"How do you know that?"

"When I was hunting I looked around the city Cassie. Also don't eat at any restaurant outside the immediate tourist area."

"Why?"

"Jake you know how that one restaurant back home got shut down because they found an old rats nest?"

"Yeah. Marco loved going there."

"The places around here serve the rats they catch. Just the ones they catch. The rest make a nice home in the kitchen." We all made faces of disgust. "At least in the tourist areas they try keeping the rats out. And some times they actually do."

"Tobias please stop talking. We have too eat around here." I hope I didn't get sick from some rat disease. I like animals don't get me wrong but rats are not my favorite.

The Khan museum was pretty cool. They had English translations so we knew what was what. They had old weapons and clothing and other cool stuff.

But the coolest part was a giant mural covering the entire back wall with a time line. From the birth of the first Khan to the downfall of the empire. The mural showed battles in really good detail. Rachel was getting a little too interested. "Hey just like when we attacked the Kandrona the first time and I lost an arm." I looked at where she was pointing.

"I wonder how effective their bears were." Poor things. Humans could be so cruel. "At least they gave some of them armor." If this mural was accurate.

"I wonder if I could get some bear armor fitted for me. Have Marco put it on me when he was a gorilla. Except I doubt it would deflect a Dracon Beam."

When we were done it was almost lunch time. "I guess we should go and get food. I forgot Erik wouldn't be getting us..." I saw him. The man Jake said was a doctor back home. And he saw us.

"Jake? What are you doing here? You can't be here." Oh crap oh crap we were dead.

"Huh? Who are you and who is Jake?" He pulled me closer. "I'm Jonathan and this is my wife Cassandra."

"No, and you're Rachel, Steve's niece."

"I, I'm Rebecca. I'm from England." Her British accent was horrible.

"I knew it. I saw two American birds yesterday. The rumors, the theories, why Tom was targeted. You're the Andalite Bandits! We tried telling Visser Three but he wouldn't listen." He grabbed Jake by the arm. "But I know it was you. One of those birds I saw yesterday."

"Hands off." I stomp on his foot.

Jake pushes him to the ground. "I don't know who you think we are but you're crazy."

"I'm not crazy. We have a whole base of Controllers I'll have on this city in a few minutes."

"No, you won't." I saw Rachel start growing larger. Brown fur started spurting from her skin.

"Rachel don't."

(I'll do what must be done. Or should we let him tell the other Yeerks who and what we are? And then let a Yeerk army come down on this town and kill every one?)

"Run. She'll kill you." Tobias started demorphing. "And if she loses you I'll make sure she fi-" his lips melded in to a beak.

"Don't do this. We can capture him and hold him."

(And they won't look for him? He's dead.)

"I'll turn you all in and be made a Sub Visser!" He starts getting off the ground but Rachel pounced on him even before she was fully morphed. "Get off of me!"

"Rachel stop!" I try pushing her off but she was already too large and heavy. "No!" She knocked me down when she raised her right paw. "Jake make her stop!"

"Rachel stop while you still can." She struck the Controller. "Rachel he's out. We can hold him now and wait three days. Erik can cover for us."

(We can't force him to tell us where the entrance is or what his part in all of it is.) She raised her paw again.

"Stop!" I wrapped my arms around her arm. She was stronger then I could ever be but I wasn't trying too use my strength I was hoping she would care more about me then killing this Controller.

(Let go of me Cassie. You can't stop me.)

"You'll hurt me if you swing."

(Then I won't swing.) She lowered her head and bit his throat.

"No!" I pulled on her arm and she shoved me down.

(Now we're safe.)

"Rachel if you're done we must get his body out of here before any one sees us."

"You can do it on your own." I took off for the hotel.

I waited in the room for Jake too get back. What else could I do? Back home I would work in the barn or go flying. But this wasn't home. This was thousands of miles from home. My best friend had just killed a human. We could have captured him but she killed him. He could have told us so much. Even if we waited for the Yeerk too die first the man who was controlled could have told us once he was free.

And she wouldn't be punished. How could we? We needed her. Marco would probably agree with what she did. Tobias would defend her. Ax would probably say it was part of war. Tom... I didn't know him well enough. I just hope Jake is on my side.

When he got back he had some blood on him. "Sorry we were almost caught by a couple locals."

"Where? Where did you put him?"

"Rachel and Tobias took care of it. I came back here so I could check on you."

"I'm here. Nothing else I can do. We can't do any thing now. He's dead."

"There is. He, he didn't, if you staid you would have seen the Yeerk crawl out of his head."

"So?" He sat down on the bed next too me.

"So he was alive long enough that he gave us any information he could. It wasn't much but I also asked if I could acquire him." Jake put an arm around my shoulders. "He said yes and hoped we could stop them."

"And then he died. Oh sorry I should just forget what happened."

"No. She was a bear we couldn't stop her unless we had morphed and by then if he had told any one else we'd be dead." I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I know. But she shouldn't have done it."

"We could have captured him and held him. Even if the Yeerk didn't talk he would have. But Rachel didn't give us a choice."

"And she'll get away with it." I hugged him. "We might have done it by accident or when you lost control of the Howler but we never did it on purpose. She didn't think and when we told her another option she ignored us."

"Like you said she'll get away with it. We can't suspend her or expel her or fine her. In the military she could be court martialed. We can't exactly throw her in the brig." His laugh made me feel a little better.

"No one could throw us in prison with out a force field sealing off all the exits."

"And who would throw a tiger in prison in the first place? Or a wolf?" He squeezed my shoulder with his hand and held me closer. "Maybe after the war we could do some thing but right now we need her."

"What if she keeps doing it? Jake she's losing it. The war has been hard on all of us but she is losing control."

"Crayak. Ever since she saw the war won in a world made by Crayak she has gotten more and more violent. I don't know if he did some thing to her or just seeing a world where the Yeerks lost changed her mind. She killed me in that world."

"And she didn't know for sure it would fix things. If she came after you in this world what would you do?"

"Run, hide, fight. In that order." We lied back on the bed. "And hope I could find you or Marco or some one who could help me stop her long enough to find out why she was doing it."

"And then what? Tell her she was a bad girl and send her to her room? She needs help. Serious psychological help."

"We all do."

"Yeah. I wonder if the Chee have any shrinks?" I snuggled up against him. We both had a stressful morning and it had been hard sleeping at night with every thing hanging over us. "Normally I would be joking but that might be a good idea."

"Especially for her. No, for all of us. Marco dealing with his mom or you balancing being caught in a war and killing when you won't even eat meat. Tobias being stuck as a hawk but he seems too like it more then being human."

"And you. Almost killing your brother and then saving him by faking his death. And your brother probably needs help. He spends years as a slave and now lives with the Hork Bajir. His parents are alive but he can't see them because they think he is dead."

"We all need help. I wonder if the Chee have multiple shrinks." He brushed my hair with his hand. "I'll ask Erik tonight. As soon as we get back Rachel should start seeing some one. If we can't trust her and she goes off the deep end we don't need another David."

"She won't turn in to David." She would be worse. "Let's forget about it." I closed my eyes and buried my face in to his chest. "Can we just forget this morning happened?"

"Every thing after we left the hotel until right now." He kissed my forehead then held me closer. "This bed is a lot better than the floor."

We woke up when some one knocked on the door. "Who is it?"

"Erik's back." Tobias. Where was Rachel?

"Is Rachel there?"

"She's back at the room. Erik is waiting for us out in the desert near the camel tours. Meet us there before night fall." I looked at the clock.

"We have a couple hours."

"We might as well go now." I put my arm on him holding him down.

"Or in a few minutes." I put my head on his chest so I could hear his heart beat. "Some times I wonder if you just like me after a big mission."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm stupid some times. After a big mission you kiss me and hug me. The rest of the time we might hold hands but we hardly ever do any thing else. This trip, this morning, was the first time we'd really kissed. Not just for the trip but like really kissed, and stuff."

"Cassie I like you even when it isn't before a big mission." He kissed me lightly on the lips. "But we have too go meet up with Erik. Maybe tonight we could talk and stuff."

"Stuff. Ok." We got off the bed and left the room.

We met Erik and the others in the desert. "Tobias told me about what happened this morning. You have his DNA Jake?"

"Yes."

"Good. He is a lead member of the project. His medical experience helps with the mutations."

"Mutations? I'm guessing you don't mean wall crawling and web shooting."

"No Marco. Extra limbs, no eyes, that kind. The forced breeding leads to DNA damage. The Yeerks are actually working with the mutations hoping they can breed new Hork Bajir with extra arms and blades."

"And the stuff they're burning?"

"The Hork Bajir rejects and other things. But the entrance is wide open. They're thousands of miles away from those pesky Andalite Bandits. The entire village is under Yeerk control. They have a small Yeerk Pool and a Kandrona running at the base."

(And you found all of this in less then a day?)

"Yes. Unlike morphing I can become completely invisible. I can hack any thing the Yeerks have and go through security." His smirk annoyed Ax. An Andalite face doesn't show much but if you hung with them long enough you pick up on the subtle changes. "But I could only find what was on the computers and what was being discussed."

"If we had kept him alive and gotten the Yeerk out of his head we could find out every thing." I looked over at Rachel who was glaring back at me. "So what do we do now?"

"I morph him and go in with all of you on me as flies or fleas. I find a bathroom and you all demorph then uh, Erik are there any Hork Bajir walking around freely?"

"Controller Hork Bajir yes. The ones kept for breeding are in different chambers."

"So I get every one in as fleas while I'm human and then you all demorph in the bathroom and then morph Hork Bajir."

"I'll follow and try and shut down the defenses. They are using actual manual locks on the breeding pens so I can't just unlock them all from one computer." I thought that was strange and thankfully so did every one else.

"Why?"

"Because they did Jake. If you want a theory I'm guessing they were worried about Andalite Bandits hacking the computers and unleashing dozens of pissed of Hork Bajir."

"They aren't infested?" If we unleashed them they could help us.

"The Yeerks have found the process unpleasant. Why you don't see human hosts with new children. They find the act disgusting."

"So some slugs think that is disgusting but not crawling in through some one's ear and taking over? I wonder what they think of what we've been eating here. Because that my friends is disgusting."

"Marco if we release them they'll help us. I think that is our main goal. We open the gates for them and they help us tear the place down."

"And then what? We can't get them plane tickets back home to the Hork Bajir colony. Just a few dozen Hork Bajir, first class, no baggage." I didn't like Rachel's tone.

"We make one here."

"The Ellimist made the last one. Have him on speed dial? Or maybe I should try Crayak. I wonder what he'd want in return." I clenched my right hand in to a fist when she looked over at Jake.

"We have help. Erik?"

"Well I could help but China has a strict government. You can't just build some thing with out them noticing."

"Then how did the Yeerks build the breeding facility?" I had barely asked the question when I realized the answer. "They have infected a lot of powerful people here."

"Yes."

"And a desert isn't their native land either. They need forest."

(I am not familiar with this area but while on the plane over here I remember seeing forests east and south of here.)

"Yeah I remember them too but there are tigers and hunters. It isn't like home where you have the valley the Ellimist made."

"Siberia has forests. But also freezing cold weather. Can we buy them a bunch of sweaters and snow shoes?"

"I doubt it Marco. We didn't think about this. I thought they'd all be Controllers. We would just blow the place up or some thing." I got closer to Jake and put my hand on his.

"The Hork Bajir are smart enough too hide but they aren't exactly Copernicus. I could get some friends over here and we could cover them but we can't fly them on a plane." I was lost but Tobias had a great idea.

"Steal a couple Bug Fighters and fly them out. If they don't have any at the base have the Chee commandeer a couple and get them out here."

"Brilliant. Can the Chee steal enough though? Or would that violate some rule they have?"

"It isn't a rule it is programming and for good reason. But no we can steal Bug Fighters as long as we aren't hurting or killing any one while we do it."

"So we wait until the Bug Fighters are here then go in get them out. Erik can you go in and tell the Hork Bajir what we are planning? So they don't think the Bug Fighters are there for attacking them?" Erik nodded. "Good."

"Is that it? Can we go now?"

"Rachel what is your problem? You killed some one today and you act like we're the ones who did some thing wrong." She gets up and gets in my face.

"Because he would have gotten us all killed. Oh capture him? Leave him where? If you hadn't noticed we have some one come in and clean our room every day. We don't have choices like we do at home."

"It wasn't right we could have hidden him somewhere else!"

"And waited three days? Like the Yeerks wouldn't get suspicious. I think we should go right now and tear the house down."

"And what about the free Hork Bajir?"

"Tell them to go east or south and hide in the forests there. If they get caught by the Chinese government then great they can't hide aliens being here any more."

"Except we know the Yeerks have infiltrated the government. Rachel we can get them to the Hork Bajir colony back home and have dozens more free."

"Which makes it more likely it will be found. All you need is one lost hiker and suddenly dozens if not hundreds of people will be scouring the area."

"We could help. Use bird of prey vision or wolf smell. Find them before any one finds the colony."

"Or move them some where else. South America has trees and hell they have tribes that have had no contact with the outside world. Put the Hork Bajir there."

"That's not a bad idea but only the ones here. That way we have two colonies in case one is found we'd still have free Hork Bajir." Jake finally pushes us apart.

"You two can fight it out when we're home. As long as we're here we're on a mission and we will focus on that."

"Like you'd let us fight after." I saw it for a second. A tear in her eye.

"Let it go Jake. She won't fight any of us."

"We have bigger things." And it was gone. "I'm going back to our room. Let me know when the Chee get here."

"It won't be long. Get some sleep now because they could be here by tomorrow morning." Rachel started morphing.

"We were taking a nap before you got us so we're not tired. Erik any chance of getting us getting some food that is clean? And vegetarian for Cassie."

"I've been getting it and I can get more. Your room?"

"I guess. Cassie?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, our room sounds good."

"Meet you there in an hour." The rest of us got up and left.

Back the hotel I told Jake what I saw with Rachel. "When Erik gets here we'll ask him to get her help." He hugged me. "But what if she doesn't want it? We can't make her."

"She will. I know it. She's crying for help she just won't show it." He kissed me.

"See? Not before a big mission, not after a mission, just because." I laughed a little.

"Like I said it was just stupid thoughts."

That morning Erik woke us all up letting us know the Chee were ready. "Any point in taking a shower? We'll be morphing soon." I looked in the mirror. "My hair is a mess. No one will see it." Except for Jake. I guess I did need a shower.

We ate and left for the desert. Erik was there with a Bug Fighter. "We'll fly in with all of you as fleas on Jake. He goes in and you all demorph and then remorph Hork Bajir. Then go to the pens and unlock them. The Hork Bajir there will attack on the code word Garresh. Get them outside and we'll get them on the Bug Fighters and use our holograms too keep them hidden."

"And then dodge lasers and Hork Bajir Controllers and Taxxon and ninjas and what ever else they throw at us. What do you guys think?" Marco looked from one to the other.

"Let's do it."

"I'm ready. This will be the first real mission I've been on. I've been stuck sneaking and peeking around and haven't had any real action." At least Tom was enthusiastic.

(If they do not see any animals or myself then the Yeerks would not suspect us. We must make sure they only see Hork Bajir.)

"Why we're going Hork Bajir Ax." I felt Jake's hand on mine. "If every one is ready then we better hurry. The longer we wait the more chance they have of finding some thing out."

Morphing a flea was easy. Landing on Jake was a little harder. A flea can't really control where they land. They just leap in the air and hope they land near where they aimed. I finally found what I think was his hand. (Is every one on?) I bit him. (Ok starting too itch in six places so you must all be on.)

I couldn't see any thing past a few inches. I couldn't tell when we were on the Bug Fighter or going through the entrance of the facility or when we were in the bathroom. (Ok every one demorph.) I leapt off of Jake and started demorphing before I hit the floor.

The bathroom was big enough for a few people and one Andalite but soon we would be a few Hork Bajir. "Don't poke an eye out or no one will be having fun."

"Very funny Marco." I focused on a Hork Bajir. The blades, the talons, the tail, and the over all build. I started getting taller first. Blades soon appeared on my arms. I saw the others morph beside me.

Tom accidentally broke a sink when one leg grew before the other and he fell over. Water started pouring out of some pipes. (Every one get ready!) Jake reached for the door.

He peeked out first. (Go for the pens and get those Hork Bajir ready.) He hurried out and we followed him.

They didn't give us a second look. We were just walking around like we belonged. After a couple minutes we heard some shouts about a flooding bathroom. (Don't react. Hork Bajir wouldn't care.)

(Where do Hork Bajir go? Tom?)

(In the woods Marco. Like a bear.) The two of them laughed in our minds. It was nice having the two try and lighten the mood. We were deep in enemy territory and I was really nervous.

We entered the breeding area. They were lightly guarded. They weren't worried about us Andalite Bandits. "What are you doing in here? Moving some of the stock?" Oh crap what would we do?

Tom stepped forward and spoke a language I heard the Hork Bajir speak before. "Oh well we didn't get any orders." Tom got closer then struck the nearest guard and grabbed his Dracon Beam. He pointed it at the two other guards.

"Crap." They both raised their hands. "Releasing them? What, because your host makes you feel sympathy." I'm guessing what ever Tom said was yes. "Pathetic. More and more of you keep doing this. You should all go back to the pool."

(Set it to stun.)

(Sure lil brother.) He fired it and took the remaining guards out.

We walked from door to door and undid the locks. Tom shouted "Garresh!" The doors opened and about forty Hork Bajir poured out. He kept talking too them in the alien language used before.

(Tom?)

(They're ready for a fight.)

(We aren't looking for one.)

(I told them there were ships waiting for them outside. They said no this place must burn.)

(Any idea of how we could do that?)

(Uh, no. But they won't just run away.)

(I like it. We have three Dracon Beams right here.) Rachel picked one up. (There must be more.)

(No. Get the Hork Bajir out of here first. I won't be blasting at other Hork Bajir when I can't tell who is free and who isn't. In the chaos of them escaping we can grab more and then shoot this place up.)

(Got it.) Tom spoke to the Hork Bajir some more. (As long as we promise the death of this place they'll listen.)

(Get them out of here. Rachel, Ax, and Tom will go first with the Dracon Beams and cause as much damage and terror as possible. We'll lead the Hork Bajir to the entrance then double back and help.)

(I should stay with them. I'm the only one who can speak Galard.) Tom hands me the Dracon Beam.

(I guess I'm going with Ax and Rachel.) We walked towards the door. (Be careful every one.) I opened the door.

I aimed at the ceiling and fired. Rock fell down smashing the computers below. "Attack! The Hork Bajir are attacking!" I saw several human Controllers rush toward a small door. It wasn't an exit but a weapon storage cabinet. I aimed and fired at it.

"Kill them! If they release the other Hork Bajir we'll be overrun!"

"Too late!" Another Controller saw the free Hork Bajir pour out of the breeding pens.

"There are more weapons on the level below."

"You have fun grabbing them I'm not sticking around for this." Some Controllers ran for the exit others went for the elevator shafts. I fired at the doors making them bend in so they wouldn't open.

The three of us blasted any thing we could. We had the Yeerks running around in panic. None of them cared about the free Hork Bajir escaping.

I ran outside with a group of free Hork Bajir and saw several vehicles pulling up filled with armed troops. They had human guns so I didn't know if they were Controllers or Chinese military. (Jake we might have a problem!)

(I see them.)

(Any way of knowing who they are?)

(Sure.) He ran towards the group.

"You! Who is responsible for this? The Andalite Bandits?" Some one ran by me, another Hork Bajir, I couldn't tell who it was.

(Jake I got this!) Phew, it was Tom. He spoke to the men. I couldn't understand every thing he said since Galard was mixed with English.

"Some one released them? Why?" Again Tom spoke mixing English with Galard. "Visser Three will have our heads for this."

I went back and saw the Bug Fighters. Most of the free Hork Bajir had gotten on already. (Jake how are we escaping?)

(In the Bug Fighters with the others.)

I ran for a Bug Fighter and got in. Soon it lifted in the air and went above the clouds.

We were five Bug Fighters high above Earth. The Chee piloted us towards South America. (Guys we have company.) The Chee piloting the Bug Fighter I was in turned on a monitor. Behind us were three more Bug Fighters coming in fast.

(Jake we can take them out. Ax you can control the weapons of your ship right?)

(Yes Tom.)

(Why haven't they fired on us yet?) I kept watching the monitor.

(They may not be sure who we are or what we're doing.) Rachel was probably right.

(So we can take them out before they have a chance. Ok so just take control and fire on them.)

"No Jake."

(What?)

"No. We won't let you have control of the weapons." Oh no the Chee were getting us killed. But it made sense it would violate their programming.

(Stop piloting and let us do it then. If you don't we'll be killed.)

"I could do that."

"As could I."

(I can help too.) A Hork Bajir that must have been Marco walked over to the control Bug Fighter. (Uh, with help.)

(On three turn the ship, aim, and fire. Keep firing until all three enemy ships are destroyed. If that sounds good Jake.)

(Go for it Tom.) I waited watching the screen.

(One.) Our ship slowed. (Two.) I saw March grip the controls tighter. (Three!) Our ship and two others turned and fired on the Bug Fighters behind us. We surprised them and they never had a chance of firing back.

"More are coming."

(Could you guys throw a hologram over the ships so they can't see them?)

"It won't be perfect as we'll be expanding them quite a bit but it should confuse them."

(Then please do it.)

(I hope it works. I doubt they will let us get the drop on them again.) Oh crap this was bad. If it didn't work we'd be shot up with no chance of escape.

"Take us lower. If we're in the atmosphere you have a chance of living if they get a lucky shot." I noticed how he said you, not us. The Chee would probably land in the ocean and just walk along the bottom to the nearest shore.

(You can take control back.) Marco backed away from the controls and the Chee took over again.

We were over the Amazon river when we finally landed. I demorphed with the others as we walked off of the Bug Fighters. "Well that was pleasant."

(Yes Marco I found the flight pleasant as well.) Ax was being smug. Out of all the others, except for maybe Rachel, he liked killing the Yeerks.

"Now what?" The Chee were helping the Hork Bajir and talking in a language I couldn't understand. "Do we just let them go?"

"We'll keep a couple Chee here and make sure the Hork Bajir are protected." Erik walked over to a Bug Fighter. "This is your ride home."

"Keep us cloaked and keep us low. I don't feel like another air battle." We all followed Erik back on the Bug Fighter.

As we took off I looked down. There were maybe thirty Hork Bajir in total. We now had a second free colony. We didn't kill that many Controllers either. Except for those on the other Bug Fighters and the doctor Jake knew it was almost blood free. I hate this war and I hate killing and the kind of missions where we get a big payoff with little blood were the best.

We landed in the mountains and got off the Bug Fighter again. "Home sweet home!" Marco kissed the ground. "How I missed burgers and fries."

(The grass is also thicker and more nutritious.) Ax stomped a hoof down on the grass.

"I'll just be happy when I am taking a hot shower and sleeping in my bed." Rachel yawned. "A good long nap." She started morphing her Bald Eagle.

(I must check on my meadow and make sure no one moved in on my territory while I was gone.) Tobias took off.

Soon every one had left except for Jake, Erik, and me. "So about the stuff for Rachel is any one available? Cassie and I are really worried about her."

"Yes. We have taken hundreds of professions over the years. I can talk with one who I think would be perfect for what you want."

"Thank you Erik. We need all the help we can get and not just with fighting." I felt like hugging him but I knew he was an android.

"I understand." I hugged him any ways. "Thank you Cassie." I pulled away.

"For what?"

"You treat me like I'm an equal. You don't care I'm not human."

"Of course not. You're our friend even if it is mostly because we are dealing with an alien invasion." Jake got next to me and grabbed my hand.

"We better get going. I miss hot water and my bed."

"And I miss my animals. I know the Chee replacing me does a great job but I worry about them."

"I'll move this Bug Fighter some where no one will find it. You two stay safe." Jake and I morphed and finally went to our separate homes. Our separate beds.

Being overseas as long as we were it was weird getting back our rhythm. Going to school studying for end of year exams, taking care of the animals, and other normal things.

I kept thinking of the Hork Bajir in South America. How were they doing? Were they having a bad effect on the environment there? Has any one seen them yet? I hope the Chee will give us updates.

I was cleaning a stall when I heard wings. I looked up and saw a Peregrine Falcon. "Hi Jake." He flew down from the rafters and started demorphing.

When he was done he walked over to me and started kissing me. "What was that for?"

"Nothing." He kissed me again. "I missed you. After spending all that time together the past couple days with out you have sucked."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I looked down at my clothes. My overalls were stained with mud and other things. My boots were also covered in mud and other stuff. And I am used too the smell of every thing in the barn. "I have some more stuff to do but if you wanna hang out later we can."

"I'll help."

"You don't have to."

"I want to help you out. It means you get done faster and we can go flying faster."

"Ok, thanks." This wasn't weird. This is what was right.

Flying over the city we went near Rachel's house. An older looking woman was leaving and Rachel was behind her. (Uh oh this could be trouble.) I flew lower.

Rachel and the woman got in a car. (Rachel are you in trouble? Nod or shake your head.) She shook her head. (Who is she?) I could see Rachel talking with the woman and the woman changed. She wasn't a woman she was a hologram hiding a Chee underneath. (Oh, ok. Good luck.) I flew back up.

(A Chee? I guess she accepted.)

(I knew she would Jake. I hope it helps her.) We continued flying enjoying the thermals.

A/N Dang that was a long one. That's what she... Anyways. Go overseas and free some Hork Bajir while they wait for the Alien Energy Scanner to be placed on Earth. I hope you all enjoyed this and will review!