They'd managed to make their way to what seemed to be the Yeerk pool's cafeteria, and Tommy found himself even more uncomfortable; he remembered that Tobias had told them that voluntary Controllers, those people who had chosen to hand themselves over to the Yeerks for one reason or another. He didn't know just what would drive someone to want to do something like that, but he still didn't like the place. This place in particular, over and above how uncomfortable the Yeerk pool as a whole made him.
(If this really is some kind of lunch room or something, this would be a good place to listen in on conversations,) Cassie said, sounding like she was trying to keep the rest of them from being too uncomfortable. (Maybe we can get closer,) she continued, and he just managed to see her moving closer to one of the legs of the table. (We should be able to-)
Cassie cut herself off, as a massive shadow – at least, something that looked massive compared to the small bugs they all currently were – fell over their group.
(Now that, that is not a human smell,) Ax said
(I smell it, too,) Rachel said, sounding unsettled; not quite as unsettled as Tommy himself felt, at the moment. (It's familiar; I don't like it.)
As Rachel tried to recall just what it was that she was smelling, Cassie realized that the shadow hovering over them was actually a Taxxon. However, before any of them could make a run for it, the Taxxon's tongue came down on all of them. Stuck to the tongue and being swiftly pulled into the alien's mouth, Tommy tried to keep himself from screaming.
The rest of his fellow Animorphs were screaming, now, and Tommy was trying to hold himself together so that he could at least try to help them all to calm down so that they'd be able to find at least some way out of this. Though with the Taxxon's glue-like saliva holding them all so tightly to its tongue, seeping into the gaps in their cockroach exoskeletons, Tommy didn't know just what they could do in a situation like this.
