Текст книги "Animorphs - 06 - The Capture"

Автор книги: Katherine Alice Applegate

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"What will Visser Three do to Tom if this great plan is destroyed?"

Tobias said nothing. He knew the answer.

Those who fail Visser Three die.

37 Chapter 9

I saw the lane open up between Juan and Terry. A clear lane to the basket.

Thonk. Thonk. Thonk. My right hand dribbled the ball. I stuck my left arm out, ready to ward off Juan if he came after me. I powered ahead.

Sneakers squeaked on the polished wood floor of the gym. One of the guys on my team yelled, "Go, Jake!"

Juan saw my move and came after me. But I was just a little too fast. Thonk! Thonk! Thonk!

Stop. Pivot my back to Juan. Lock on to the basket, focus, focus . . .

I jumped and arced the ball toward the hoop.

It hit the backboard. It hit the rim. It bounced away. No score.

I fell back against Juan and Terry – the three of us ended up in a tangle on the gym floor, arms and legs everywhere. The ball rolled out of bounds.

"No wonder you never made the team," Terry said, laughing as he helped pull me to my feet.

I had tried out for the team, but I didn't make the cut. At the time it had bothered me. Mostly because Tom had been the big basketball hero when he was at our school. I wanted to live up to that.

Now, I realized I didn't have time for after– school sports anyway. And playing during gym class was enough basketball.

"Yeah? Well, I beat Juan with some of my excellent moves, and he ison the team," I said. I reached back to help pull Juan up. "Although I can't figure out why they would want some guy who looks like he's made out of straws."

"I'm just saving my best stuff for the finals," Juan said. "I don't want to waste my secret, killer moves on you, Jake. And now you practically crushed my legs, you big ox. Man, you ought to be playing football."

"Good idea." I grinned at Juan. He's about five-eleven and weighs like ten pounds. "Let me practice my tackling on you."

Just then the coach whistled, which was the signal to hit the showers.

"Saved by the whistle, Juan," I said.

"You should have inherited some of Tom's moves," Terry said. "That brother of yours has a jump shot."

38 "Man, Tom could have been in college ball easy. At a good school, too. If he would have stuck with it," Juan chimed in. "That boy has the gift."

They were right. Tom did have the gift. But he had dropped out of basketball. The Yeerk who controlled him had other plans, I guess.

I showered and got dressed for my next class. Marco was waiting out in the hallway. He had gym next period.

"B-ball today?" he asked. "Cool. I thought it was going to be more wrestling. I hate wrestling.

Getting up close and personal with sweaty guys? Not my idea of a good time."

"The ancient Greeks used to wrestle with no clothes," I pointed out. "Just be glad this isn't Greece."

"And no deodorant," Marco agreed. "It's going to be next Tuesday."

"What's going to be next Tuesday?"

Marco looked over my shoulder and then, very casually, around the hallway to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. "The governor. That's when he's going in the hospital. I'll bet you a hundred bucks it's for hemorrhoids." He grinned. "That's why it's kind of secret. No one is supposed to know."

"So, how do you know?"

"Well, we know from the meeting the other night that he's going, right? So all I had to do is find out what his schedule is going to be. Turns out it's no problem. I told them I was a reporter and they faxed me a copy."

Marco pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it for me to see.

"See? Saturday he gives a speech. Sunday he goes on a TV interview show. Monday he gives another speech. Tuesday . . . oops! Suddenly on Tuesday he begins a five-day vacation, and they don't say where he's going."

"Why would he keep it a secret, I wonder?"

"Oh, puh-leeze. If it is hemorrhoids? A politician getting his hemorrhoids operated on? The jokes are just too easy. Letterman would be talking about it in his monologue."

I smiled. "Yeah, okay. Good work."

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Marco said. "Should we do it then?"

I guess the expression on my face showed how I felt. Marco cocked his head and looked sideways at me. "You okay, man? You had a close call last night. I've been there, so I know it isn't easy to just get past it."

39 "No, I'm cool," I said. I gave him a push. "Besides, since when are you all psyched to go?"

Marco had always been the most reluctant member of the group.

"You know since when," he said softly.

I nodded.

Marco was no longer reluctant to fight the Yeerks. It had become a very personal battle for him.

"Yeah, sorry," I said.

"As far as the others are concerned, I'm still the same old Marco," he said. "I don't want them thinking anything is different. I don't want them feeling sorry for me."

"Now, Marco, how is anyone ever going to feel sorry for you? You're so totally obnoxious."

"And I plan to stay that way."

The bell rang, signaling the next class.

"Okay," I said. "Tomorrow. We'll need to think of some way to get inside that hospital, though.

They'll really be on the lookout."

"Actually, Cassie already suggested some thing to me," Marco said.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, man. You know, I like Cassie. But this is the girl who suggested we try an ant morph."

Marco started to head into the gym. I headed toward class.

"Not ants," he said over his shoulder.

"I don't even want to know."

"Think dog poop."

"What?" I demanded. But by then he was through the door and gone.

40 Chapter 10

Something nice, but for fifteen bucks or less," I said. "My dad's birthday is in two months, so I have to spread my money pretty thin."

It was after school. We had headed to the mall. Me and Cassie and Rachel. My mom's birthday was coming up. I had about fifteen dollars to buy her something, and the last time I'd bought her a present it hadn't turned out all that well.

Who would ever guess that she wouldn't appreciate a classic Spiderman #3 in almost mint condition?

Okay, so I was a year younger then. Plus, I had asked Marco to help me find something.

This time I asked Cassie if she would help me shop. Which was almost as dumb, since Cassie isn't really into clothing and cute little stuff.

So Cassie had asked Rachel to help.

"How about that store?" I asked, pointing at one that had women's clothing.

"Yeah, right. Good choice, as long as you have at least a hundred dollars to spend," Rachel said.

"Okay. How about ..." Cassie began.

"Uh-uh. Cassie, think about it," Rachel said, looking slightly perturbed by our stupidity. "Look at the name of the store. It might as well scream 'fat, middle-aged ladies.' Jake? Do you want to tell your mom you think she's fat?"

"No." I shook my head vigorously. But then I thought it might be a trick question. "I mean, I don't, do I?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "No, you don't. Duh. Have you two ever shopped for anything? I feel like I'm dealing with Ax here. I mean, are you two from this planet? We're looking for something on sale. Something that says 'Mom, I still think of you as being young and cool.' Something classic, understated. Most likely, we're talking a department store." She pointed. "That department store.

Second floor. Toward the front, on the right. That's where we want to be. Look for sale signs.

They'll be red with black letters."

Cassie grinned at me. "See? Rachel owns this mall."

"Shopping and kicking butt. Rachel's specialties," I said affectionately.

We cruised the department store and in about ten minutes, Rachel had found a silk blouse.

"It was thirty-three dollars originally," Rachel crowed. "Thirty-three, marked down to twenty-five. Then, a thirty percent discount for this one– day sale. We got it for seventeen fifty! Do you 41 realize that's almost half off the original price? Seventeen and a half bucks! For that blouse! Yes!

She shops, she scores!"

"Yeah, but I was only going to spend fifteen," I said meekly.

"You didn't spend too much. Don't you know anything? You saved fifteen dollars and fifty cents.

You came out ahead by more than fifteen bucks!"

"Wait a minute. How did I save, if I spent?"

Cassie put her hand on my arm. "No. Don't ask. Rachel uses a whole twisted math involved in shopping. Don't even try and understand it."

Rachel ignored Cassie's teasing. "Hey. While you pay, I have to go check something in Juniors.

Meet you at the food court."

Rachel peeled off, leaving me and Cassie alone in the racks of clothing.

"So when are you going to tell me your idea?" I asked.

"I thought Marco already told you."

I shook my head. "Nope. He just said 'think dog poop.' I did. I got a very bad feeling as a result."

Cassie looked a little pouty. "Look, it was the only animal I could think of that could get in and out of a hospital without getting stepped on or poisoned. We wouldn't even be seen, probably. I mean, they go everywhere. Who even notices them?"

"Cassie, so far I have done three insects. Flea, that was okay. Ant, that was definitely not okay.

And roach. I'm starting to feel jealous of Tobias. I mean, he's stuck as a hawk, but at least he doesn't have to go around turning into bugs."

"Do you have a better idea, Jake? Because I respect your feelings. I was just trying to help. It's just a suggestion."

I drew a deep breath. "No, I don't have any great suggestions. I'm just ... I mean . . . it's just, whatever happened to the good old days when we would be tigers or wolves or something fun? I don't want to be a fly. I saw that movie. The Fly. Both versions. The old one, and the new one with Jeff Goldblum. I mean, a fly? A fly?"

"The movie. I forgot that movie," Cassie said.

She made a face. "The one where the guy has a tiny little human head stuck on a fly body and he's trapped in a spiderweb and he's going 'h-e-e-e-l-p m-e-e-e' in this little tiny voice? And that guy is so grossed out he just crushes him?"

We both just stood there, looking kind of sick.

42 "Moths?" Cassie suggested.

"Too slow," I said. "And too big. They would spot us."

"Okay ... um ... bees?"

"No way. No social insects ever again. Bees could be as bad as ants that way. No social in sects.

No hives. No colonies." I shuddered at the memory of the ant morph. It had been like dying. The ant had no individual self. It was just a part of a bigger machine.

"Flies aren't social," Cassie said.

"Can I help you?" a saleswoman asked.

"No," Cassie said. "Thanks, anyway."

We started walking, heading to the food court to hook up with Rachel.

"It would just be to get into the hospital," I said, thinking out loud. "If they are using the hospital to transfer Yeerks into hosts, it will mean they have some kind of a Yeerk pool in there. That's what we are after. Find that Yeerk pool, wipe it out."

"So we would just be in fly morph for a brief time," Cassie said. "I mean, if we decided to do it.

We'd have to demorph to do any damage."

"And then, if we create enough confusion, we can escape in some other way. We wouldn't have to do flies again."

"True," Cassie agreed. "We'd probably only be in the fly morph for a few minutes."

"Yep."

"So it's flies," Cassie said.

"Yep."

Then, both of us, at the same time, said "H-e-e-e-l-p m-e-e-e! H-e-e-e-l-p m-e-e-e!"

43 Chapter 11

Here's the thing about flies.

Being a fly is fun. It really is.

Turning into a fly ... that is a whole different story.

I guess it's no big secret that I kind of like Cassie. I think she's really pretty. But when I saw these two huge, glittering, bulging, compound eyes come popping out of her eye sockets, I screamed.

I mean, I screamed like a baby.

"Yaaaaahhh!"

"Great, Jake. That's going to make her feel good," Marco said.

"Marco, you have your eyes closed," I pointed out.

"And they're staying closed, too."

"Excuse me," Rachel said. She raced for the door of the barn and ran outside. A few seconds later we heard the sound of barfing.

You have to understand. Cassie was mostly still human at the point where the fly eyes showed up. She was about two feet tall and shrinking fast, and the extra legs had already popped out of her chest, and the gauzy wings were growing from her back, but her face was still a human face.

Until the eyes popped out.

Oh, man. You think you've seen scary stuff? Maybe in movies or on TV? You haven't seen any thing scary till you've seen fly eyes pop out of someone's head like a pair of balloons.

She was pretty small by the time her fly mouth appeared. I was grateful for that. Because later, when I became a fly, I saw what a fly mouth looks like.

The eyes were bad. But if I'd seen that long, tubular, sucking, tonguelike thing come rolling out. .

. that thing that spits on the food, then sucks the spit mixture back in ...

Rachel came back inside. "Sorry," she said shakily. "Anyone have some gum? A Tic Tac?"

Ax was puzzled. "Does the morphing process disturb you?"

"Sometimes," I said, still fighting the urge to look away as Cassie shriveled down to a few inches. "Some animals give me the willies."

"The willies? What are the willies?"

44 "Well, it's just this feeling of being grossed out. Sickened. Nauseated. Creeped. Like your skin is crawling. Willies."

"Is she done?" Tobias asked. "I'm not coming in there until she's done."

"Tell Tobias it's okay, will you, Ax?"

"Tobias. Prince Jake says it's cool."

I smiled at Marco, who was now peeking through his fingers. Ax was learning to sound semi-normal. At least in thought-speak. When he was in human morph and spoke out loud, he still played with every sound and drove everyone crazy.

Tobias flew in through the open hayloft above.

"Can you hear me, Cassie?" Rachel asked.

"Tobias. Do you see her?" Cassie was a true fly now.

"Got her."

"Keep a sharp focus on her," I said. "Don't lose sight."

"Relax. It's broad daylight, she's ten feet away. At this distance I can see the hairs on her little fly legs. Unfortunately. Ooooh. Oh, man. Oh, that's just not even slightly attractive."

"Cassie?" Rachel asked again.

"Tobias? Try her with thought-speak."

"Cassie? Cassie, can you hear me? There she goes! She's flying!"

"Don't lose her, Tobias. Don't lose her."

"She won't go far," Marco said. "All the horse manure in this barn?

Where would she go that's any better for a fly?"

Suddenly, in my head I heard "Yeeeeee haaaaahhhh!"

"Cassie?"

"Cassie?"

"Whooooo hoooooo!"

"Cassie! Answer us!"

45 "Cassie? You okay?"

"Oh, man! Man! Can this thing fly! You guys have got to try this. This thing flies like a rocket.

Yaaaah haaaahhh!"

"Are you able to control the fly brain?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry, you guys. I'm fine. Sorry. But it's just such a complete, insane rush!

Come on, let's go, time's a-wasting."

I sucked in a deep breath. I had been hoping everything would be fine. That Cassie would not have any problems. But at the same time, I was utterly disgusted at the idea of becoming a fly.

And now she was saying it was okay.

You'd think it would get easier, slipping in and out of strange shapes. But you'd be wrong. Gross is gross, and always remains gross.

"Okay, guys. It looks like we're doing this," I said, trying desperately to sound cheerful and optimistic.

"Oh, goody," Marco said.

"Yes! Goody!" Ax said, totally unaware that Marco was being sarcastic.

"Sounds like Cassie's having fun," Rachel said.

"Uh-huh," I said. "Let's just do it."

We did it.

Morphing was as gross as we'd expected.

But Cassie was also right. Once you were in the morph; once you got used to the fact that your vision was like a thousand tiny TV screens, each showing a slightly different picture; once you got done freaking about the way your nasty fly tongue stuck out; once you got past the bizarre combination of hooks and bristles and hairs that made up your fly leg; once you got past the fact that nothing looks right or familiar when you're only about an eighth of an inch long; and mostly, once you stopped thinking about that stupid fly movie . . .

Well, then, it was cool!

I have flown before. As a peregrine falcon and as a seagull.

Both are cool. I mean, the falcon can go like 175 miles an hour in a dive.

Faster than a stock car. Faster than small planes.

But flying as a fly is totally, completely insane.46 A housefly beats its wings 200 times per second.

Say "hello, there" out loud. In the time it took you to say that, a fly's wings beat 200 times.

A fly moves at about four miles per hour. Which doesn't sound very fast, compared to a falcon hitting almost 200 miles per hour. But trust me, when you're only an eighth of an inch long, four miles an hour is like warp factor nine.

And what's really cool is you can do that going down, going left, right, or straight up.

And you can change directions in no time. One minute you're shooting straight ahead like a bullet, the next tenth of a second you're going straight up.

Cassie was right. It was gross, but it was fun.

"Yeeeee haaaaahhh!" Ax yelled.

"Whoooaaaa hooaaahhh!" I cried as I blasted straight up at what felt like the speed of light.

"We are ugly as sin, but we are so cool!" Rachel exulted.

"Let's go find some dog poop!" Marco said. "Kidding," he added a second later. "Just kidding."

"Okay, okay, we have important stuff to do," I said after we had all spent a couple of minutes getting used to the fly's simple instincts and pretty decent senses. "Time to get on the bus." Tobias was the bus. The hospital was a couple of miles away. Flies are fast in relative terms, but in actual speed, Tobias was a lot quicker. It would have taken us hours. Tobias could carry us there in a few minutes.

"Hop on the big feathery guy," Cassie said. "Aim for the back of his neck. We don't want his wings or tail knocking us off."

"It's just a good thing I know you guys," Tobias said. "My own little necklace of houseflies. It's enough to gag a maggot."

"Gag a maggot?" Marco echoed, "Gag a maggot? Hey pal, don't be dissing our kids that way."

"Yuck," Tobias commented. And then we were off.

47 Chapter 12

I clung to Tobias's feathers. It was easy enough to do. Fly legs can grab onto glass, or hang upside down on a ceiling.

I could feel the wind whipping around me. It rattled my wings and actually whistled through the chinks and joints of my tiny exoskeleton.

An incredible array of aromas assaulted my sensitive antennae. Unfortunately, the main things my fly brain seemed interested in were anything sweet, anything rotting, or anything decayed and putrid.

"This is a little like that shrew morph I did early on," Rachel pointed out. "The same interest in dead meat."

Suddenly, a monster! It loomed huge in my compound eyes. Smaller than me, but still way, way too big.

"What the . . . !" I yelped.

"What? What is it?" Cassie asked.

"Oh, man. I think it's a flea. It looks about the size of a poodle. But not even slightly cute."

"Wait a minute!" Tobias cried. "Are you telling me I have fleas?"

"Just one that I've seen," I answered. "Now he's gone. He probably jumped off." Actually, I was lying. The flea was working his way along Tobias skin, beneath the feathers, looking for a good place to sink his penetrating, bloodthirsty tongue.

But somehow I didn't think Tobias would want to hear that.

"Okay, we're at the hospital," Tobias said. "I'll take a low pass, then tell you guys when to jump off. Kind of like an old war movie. You guys are the paratroopers."

"Good example," Marco said. "Ever notice how in those old movies the paratroopers mostly get shot?"

"Jake?" Cassie whispered to me in thought-speak so that no one else could hear.

"Yeah?"

"You could still drop out of this mission," she said. "Everyone would understand."

"Thanks. But no. Tom or no Tom, the Yeerks have to be stopped." That's what I told myself, anyway. I guess it was true.

48 "Okay, everything looks fine to me," Tobias said. "I see an open window on the third floor. No screen."

"You're sure?" Marco asked.

"Marco, in light this bright I could tell you if there was a single strand of spiderweb across that window, let alone a screen."

"He said spiderweb," Rachel moaned.

"H-e-e-e-l-p m-e-e-e!" Marco mimicked.

By absolutely terrible luck, the old version of The Fly had been on TV the night before. Like fools, we'd all watched it.

"I don't understand what this means," Ax grumbled.

"Get ready," Tobias said. "Three . . . two . . . one . . . bail!" I leapt from his back. I opened my wings. The slipstream was so fast it sent me tumbling, end over end through the air. But as my speed dropped I quickly gained control.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yee hah!" Rachel said.

"I see the window opening," Ax said.

I saw him fly past me like a buzzing, wobbling, careening jet fighter. At least I think it was him.

I fell in behind, following his wake.

It turned out Ax was wrong. What he'd thought was a window was actually a small sign on the side of the building. With fly eyes you had to get pretty close to see anything. So we blazed along the face of the building for a while, trying to spot it.

"Keep going," Tobias called to us. "You're almost there." Suddenly, I could feel a rush of cooler air, billowing out at us.

"Here we go," I said.

I turned into the current of air and seconds later was in the relative darkness inside the building.

"Okay. We're looking for anything that might be a miniature Yeerk pool," I reminded everyone.

"Everyone except Ax has been near a Yeerk pool, so try to remember that smell, and see if your antennae pick up anything similar."

49 "I'll tell you one thing. I'll bet I know where the maternity ward is. I smell large numbers of dirty diapers," Rachel said.

"Okay, let's split up, like we planned. Ax and Cassie, you're with me. Rachel and Marco, be careful."

Rachel and Marco peeled off and soon disappeared from sight.

The three of us flew out into what we figured was a hallway, since it seemed very long and had bright lights all along it.

"I smell poop. I smell a banana. At least, I think it's a banana. And, I smell more poop," Cassie said. "Say one thing for flies. If you ever need to find poop, hire a fly." Below us, barely visible, we occasionally caught sight of big, moving oval shapes – the tops of people's heads. But with our limited sight, they seemed like floating islands of hair moving on a blurry sea.

"How's our time, Ax?" I asked.

"We have used twenty percent of our time," Ax reported.

"Good. That's right on plan," I said, trying to reassure myself as much as the two of them.

"Yaaaahhh!"

"What is it?"

"That human tried to reach up and hit me!" Ax said. "But he was very slow."

"Hey," Cassie said. "Hey. Do you guys smell that?"

"More poop?"

"No. Similar to poop, but different. A strange smell. My fly brain doesn't know what it is. I'm trying to remember . . ."

"I too am smelling something," Ax reported. "But not very strong."

"I'm thinking we turn right," Cassie suggested.

"Right turn," I agreed. Now I was getting the scent, too. A dark, deep, rich aroma. Sweet and oily.

"Marco, Rachel," I called to them in thought-speak. "You guys have anything?"

"Barely hear – : – must – away. Nothing – "

50 "We are at the limits of the thought-speak range," Ax said.

Now the scent was more powerful than be fore.

"In there," I said. "I think that's a door."

We landed. My six legs, each armed with sharp talons and sticky pads, gripped the smooth surface of the door.

"Here's a question," Cassie said. "How do you open a door when you're like an eighth of an inch long?"

"Down to the floor. We can walk or fly under the crack."

Seconds later, we were on the linoleum, marching jerkily forward. We passed beneath the door, then instantly took flight again.

"Oh, man, there is definitely something in here," Cassie said. "Over there. Do you see a big, shiny-looking superdome kind of thing?"

"Yeah. I agree. I think that may be it. Does anyone see anyone in the room? Any humans?" No one did.

"Okay, Ax. You demorph first. If someone barges in, your Andalite body will be more useful than the two of us as humans."

"Yes, Prince Jake."

"Ax? You really, really don't have to call me that."

"Yes, Prince Jake. I am beginning the change."

"Cool. Cassie and I will hang out on the ceiling."

A few moments later I saw a vast eyeball, stuck on the end of a long stalk, come shooting up toward us where we hung upside down. One of Ax's extra, stalk-mounted eyes. The eye turned to look at us.

Then, a violent vibration in the air. The eye disappeared from sight.

And a second vibration, like something heavy falling.

"Ax? Are you okay?"

"Yes. There was a human here. But he is un conscious now."

51 Chapter 13

We demorphed as quickly as we could. When my human eyesight returned, I saw Ax, standing calmly in his Andalite form. Against the far wall was a man in a white coat, holding a clip board.

He was crumpled and unconscious, but alive.

"Knowing your brother is a Controller, I did not kill this creature," Ax said. "I feared it might be him."

"No. It's not. But that's a good instinct, Ax. Whoever this guy is, he's someone's brother or son or even father."

I took a look first at my own body. I was barefoot, like I always was when I came out of a morph. And wearing only my silly-looking bike shorts and tight T-shirt. (Even Ax can't figure out how to morph anything more than the most minima! clothing.) But I seemed to have all my usual legs and arms.

"You okay, Cassie?" I asked.

"I'm fine." She pointed at what had looked like a shiny superdome to us as flies. It was a stainless steel vat about eight feet across.

I laughed. "You know what this is? This is a whirlpool. A Jacuzzi. Someone just put a lid over it.

Why would they have this in a hospital?"

"For therapy," Cassie said. "You know, for people with muscle strains or back problems."

I stepped to the side of the whirlpool. I grabbed the handles on the lid and lifted. It opened easily on hydraulic hinges. I looked inside. I recoiled.

The water was sludgy, brown, and viscous.

And roiling with slugs.

Yeerks. In their natural state.

"Well, well, well," I said.

"Yeerks," Ax said, with that combination of disgust and pure hatred Andalites always showed.

"A portable Yeerk pool. There must be a small Kandrona nearby." Yeerks must leave their host bodies every three days to return to a Yeerk pool. In the Yeerk pool they feed by soaking up various nutrients, but especially Kandrona rays, which are like the rays of their home sun. Kandronas are artificial sources of Kandrona rays.

"Can they see us? Now, I mean?"

52 "No, Prince Jake. In their natural state they are blind."

I walked slowly around the whirlpool. My foot hit something solid. The pump for the whirlpool action. It was disconnected, with a wire pulled out of the wall socket. The control panel had been ripped away, exposing bare wires.

"Ax? What do you think would happen to all those Yeerks in there if the temperature of the liquid suddenly went up to say, one hundred twenty degrees? And the liquid was all agitated?"

Ax looked puzzled. "I believe the heat and the agitation might destroy them."

"Well. That would be a pity." I made a quick decision. "Ax? Watch the door to the hallway.

Cassie? We may need you in some more dangerous morph. What have you got?"

"Wolf?"

"Perfect. But no howling."

"What are you going to do?" Cassie asked.

"We came here to stop this sick operation, right? Well, wiping out a hundred or so Yeerks might be a good way to start. I'm going to hook this thing back together, and Jacuzzi these filthy creeps to death."

There were no tools in the room. But I did find some tape and a pair of tweezers. That was all I needed. I began reconnecting wires, red to red, blue to blue, green to green. Without the switches, the settings would all automatically be at maximum. Maximum heat, maximum jets.

But all the while, in the back of my head, was this nagging feeling.

It couldn't be this easy.

I connected the last wire.

Cassie had finished the transformation into her wolf body. She stood by patiently, like a very big, very tough-looking dog.

"Okay. Time to boil some Yeerks."

I reached down and stuck the plug in the outlet.

It took a few seconds, then the boiling sound began. The familiar Jacuzzi bubbling.

The door opened. A man and a woman, both wearing white lab coats. For a split second they just froze and stared.

"Andalite!" the woman yelped.

53 Cassie was on her in a flash. She leapt, hit the woman hard, and knocked her to the floor.

Ax moved toward the man, but the man was fast. He dodged, staying out of range of Ax's tail.

I was still behind the whirlpool, out of sight. I was trying to focus on morphing into tiger form for a fight.

But then, two more men, dressed in uniform as guards, came plowing into the room. The first one leveled a gun.

"Ax!" I shouted. "A gun!"

Ax's tail flashed.

"Aaaargghh!" the Controller screamed.

The hand that had been holding the gun was no longer attached to the man's arm.

"Get backup to the pool area! Andalites!" the second guard screamed into a walkie-talkie. Then he drew his gun.

BLAM! BLAM!

They told me later there was a third shot. But I didn't hear it.

A sledgehammer blow struck the side of my head. A ricochet. For a brief second I clung to consciousness. But then, I swooned. I fell.

Facedown in the whirlpool.

Facedown in the bubbling, boiling mass of dying Yeerks.

54 Chapter 14

"Facedown, unconscious, in the superheating Yeerk pool.

I don't know for how long.

When I woke I had two terrifying, overwhelming feelings. One was suffocation. I had breathed in a lungful of the liquid from the pool.

I came to, gasping and hacking and gagging. I was alive, but I could hardly breathe. Each breath was a struggle. I coughed and I think at one point I threw up.

The second feeling was of pain in my head. Pain like nothing I had ever even imagined be fore.

It was like someone was drilling a hole in my ear, drilling straight into my brain.

I wanted to scream, but I was still choking. I was on my knees on the floor of the hospital room, wanting to cry from the pain and gasping for every half-breath of air.

All the while, a battle raged. They were trying to get in the doorway. But it was too narrow for more than one or two human-Controllers at a time to attack. Ax's tail and Cassie's long wolf teeth were enough to hold them off.

BLAM! Another gunshot!

"Stop firing, you fool!" someone shouted. "The pool is in there! Visser Three will eat your guts!"