The man they were all going to try to extract DNA from, so that they might have the chance to save the world from at least the Yeerks through him.
(Ax!) Jake exclaimed suddenly, drawing Shara's attention away from contemplating the strange, precisely-targeted senses that she'd been granted with this new morph of theirs. (Ax, talk to me!)
(I am fine,) the Andalite said. (I have morphed to mosquito.)
(Good,) Jake said. (Look, I know what you're feeling right now. Don't fight it,) Jake advised. (The hunger stops once you bite.)
(Follow the smell,) Cassie directed. (That's carbon dioxide your palps are smelling. It comes off of animals, including humans. Go for it.)
As their entire, small swarm gathered together, searching out the still form of Mr. Aldershot, Shara found herself wondering just what they were going to do once they had his DNA. Anyone who knew the man was likely to spot the differences in his demeanor, particularly considering the fact that none of her fellow Animorphs had actually met the man as anything more than a coma patient.
Still, there would likely be time to come up with at least some sort of a plan, once this initial stage of DNA collection was over with.
However, just as the last of them had landed somewhere on Mr. Aldershot's slumbering form, Shara felt more than heard – in the same way she'd been aware of the gunfire – a soft pop, and abruptly found herself… somewhere else. The sight of her own body, seemingly peeled open and spread out before her very eyes, brought Shara up short for a moment.
Still, there were more important things to think about, considering the fact that there didn't seem to be any air in this strange, blank space. Closing her eyes, even though she could still see through her own eyelids in this strange place, Shara concentrated. Even as she transformed, however, Shara could see the way the layer of crystal within her body spread out to cover her skin, and she could also see the way that every one of her internal organs crystallized, with only her eyes and vocal chords maintaining the same kind of function as they did before she transformed.
(Shara! Shara, did you see that ship?) Ax – one of the three people who could actually communicate, considering the lack of air in this strange place – called, the urgency in his voice carrying even through the flattening effect of thought-speak.
(What?) she asked, looking past the struggling forms of the rest of the Animorphs, she did indeed catch sight of something that could have been the ship that Ax had been talking about. (Oh, yeah. I see something. Just give me a second,) she said, turning her attention to the strange figures aboard what Ax had described as a ship. (Hey! You guys! We're all out here! Help us! Please!)
(Shara, what's going on?) Slade asked, flying over to her.
She could see him in the same way she could see herself and the rest of the Animorphs, with the same crystalline layers over and inside his body, showing that he'd transformed in that same, instinctive way that she herself had done.
(Hurry up, come on,) she said, reaching out to the other Animorphs. (Take my hand! Slade, help me with this.)
(Right,) Slade said, flying behind the rest of the Animorphs so he could help hurry them along.
Looking at the strange structure in front of them, Shara concentrated on pulling them along, drawing closer to what seemed to be the air lock of the ship. Taking a step forward, Shara found herself suddenly walking into what was clearly some kind of alien ship.