His upper body and head are more or less the human-looking parts. He has thin arms and many-fingered hands. His face is flat, with slits for a nose and two large almond eyes. He has no mouth at all, which is why thought-speak is the natural language of Andalites.

  From atop his head rise two stalks, each with an eye on the end. He can turn these eyes in any direction he wants. They’re completely independent of his main eyes.

  His body is that of a pale blue and tan deer, or a thin pony. He has four legs that end in hooves. But his back slopes down, so that you would never be tempted to think of riding him.

  And he has a tail. A long, thick, powerful tail that ends in a deadly scythe-shaped blade. I’ve seen him use that tail. He can strike so fast that the human eye sees nothing but a blur.

  “Hey, Ax,” Marco said. “How’s it going?”

 

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Ax gave his strange Andalite smile, an expression he managed even without a mouth.

  Marco rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, Ax and Rachel belong together. The two of you are sick. Someday you could get married while bungee-jumping into an active volcano.”

  I squirmed a little. Not because I minded Marco thinking I was bold. But because I really was not interested in Ax that way.

  “Okay, now that we’re all here, Marco, maybe you could tell us why we’re all here,” Jake said.

  “I have some news,” Marco began. “Actually, Tobias and I have some news.”

  I glanced up at Tobias, sitting in the tree. Of course he showed no expression. He just fixed his piercing gaze on Marco.

  Marco swaggered just a bit as we formed a circle around him.

  “It’s a tale of initiative and courage and, yes, brilliance,” Marco began.

  “No, no, no. Just tell us, Marco,” I snapped. “Don’t try to milk the suspense.”

  “Okay,” he said with an easy laugh. “My fellow Animorphs … and visiting alien … we have found a way into the Yeerk pool.”

  An entrance to the Yeerk pool?” I echoed. “Where? How?”

  I looked around at the others to see their reactions. See, we had already invaded the Yeerk pool in an effort to save Jake’s brother, Tom. Not a happy memory.

  I saw Cassie shudder.

  “Ax is the only one who wasn’t there for our little vacation in the Yeerk pool,” Marco said. “As the rest of you know, the Yeerk pool is in a huge underground cavern. It’s practically a small city down there. It’s under our school, but it’s so big that it also runs beneath the fire station, a couple of gas stations, and most of the mall.”

  Ax nodded.

  “Tobias and I have been working out a pattern of surveillance,” Marco went on. “For the last week, we’ve followed our very favorite Human-Controller, Assistant Principal Chapman, everywhere we can. Tobias tracks him from the air. Then I follow him when he goes into a building.”

  “Why didn’t you let the rest of us in on this?” I demanded.

  Marco shrugged. “It was a two-person job, that’s all.”

  Jake looked as annoyed as I felt.

  Then I realized why Marco had kept this quiet. Jake had just been through the terrifying ordeal of being infested by a Yeerk. For three days he had been a Human-Controller, a prisoner in his own body. Marco had been letting him rest.

  “So?” I asked, a little more patiently.

  “So what?” Marco answered.

  “So where is this entrance to the Yeerk pool? Duh.”

  “Well, I was hoping to amaze and entertain you all with the whole story of our brilliant detective work, but the short answer is — in a dressing room at The Gap. In the mall. That’s the entrance. People go in, looking like they’re going to try on clothes, and they never come out.”

  Tobias added.

  “In through The Gap, out through the multiplex.” Marco laughed. “Are these Yeerks on top of popular American culture, or what?”

  “Good job,” Jake admitted grudgingly. “The question is, now what do we do?”

  Ax said instantly.

  “We tried that once,” Cassie said quietly. “We didn’t exactly win. There were dozens of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons down there. And Human-Controllers. And he was there … Visser Three. That’s when Tobias was trapped in a morph. Like I said, we didn’t exactly win.”

  “We got hammered,” I agreed. “Ax, you know I’m usually all for going on the attack, but the Yeerk pool is just too big.”

  Ax said stubbornly. But he didn’t sound quite as enthusiastic anymore.

  “Attacking the Yeerk pool is out,” I muttered. But an idea was occurring to me. “Hey, Ax? What can you tell us about the Kandrona?”

  He swiveled his head toward me, while his stalk eyes turned slowly this way and that, searching the woods for trouble.

  “So their real weakness is not the pool itself, but this Kandrona,” I said. “This miniature sun.”

  Ax explained.

  “I agree,” I said. “But what if we didn’t attack the Yeerk pool? What if we just spied it out? We might find out where the Kandrona is.”

  Marco laughed. “That’s more like the Rachel I know. You were starting to worry me there. You were sounding so sensible.”

  “How big is a Kandrona?” Jake wondered.

 

  “The size of a car? Surely a bunch of all-American kids like us could manage to wreck a car,” Marco joked.

  “How much would it hurt the Yeerks?” I asked. “That’s the question. Is it worth running the risk of going down there again? Down to the Yeerk pool?”

  We all looked at Ax.

 

  We all sagged with disappointment.

 

  “So what would they do?” Marco wondered. “How would Visser Three react?”

  “Visser Three is totally ruthless,” I said. “He would save as many as he could. But he’d have to let the rest die.”

  Ax agreed.

  “We’d have to find this Kandrona thing first,” Cassie reminded everyone. “And wherever it is, it will be guarded.”

  Right then I guess we all realized we were going to do it. We were going back to the Yeerk pool.

  Jake shook his head slowly. “Down to the Yeerk pool again. I still have nightmares about the first time.”

  “Yeah,” Marco agreed. “Done that.”

  “The Yeerk pool,” Cassie said grimly, and looked away.

  I didn’t say anything. I don’t like talking about nightmares. But I’d had them, too. They were pretty bad.

  Ax said.

  “Good,” I said. “I don’t know if you Andalites believe in places like heaven and hell. But let me just tell you — the Yeerk pool is definitely not heaven.”

  What’s for dinner?” I asked my mom as soon as I got home. The walk in the woods had made me hungry. Being outdoors always does that to me.

  So does fear. I just kept picturing the Yeerk pool. The cages full of involuntary hosts, humans and Hork-Bajir, temporarily free of their Yeerk parasites.

  I kept hearing them. Crying — that’s what most of them did while they waited to be reinfested. Others screamed. Some begged for mercy.

  Or worse.

  My mom was standing by the kitchen counter. She was more dressed up than she usually was in the evening. She was munching nervously on some Doritos and kind of staring off into space.

  “Mom? Hello?”

  She looked like she hadn’t noticed me. “Oh, hi, honey.”

  “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

  “Your father is coming over tonight. For dinner. He said he would pick something up.”

  I felt my stomach clench. Something was wrong.

  Since the divorce, my dad never came over for dinner. My two sisters and I spent one weekend a month overnight at his apartment in the city. Plus the every-other-weekend outing.

  But he did not come over for dinner.

  I wasn’t hungry anymore. “What’s going on?” I demanded.

  My mother got this worried look on her face, which she tried to hide. “Your father has something he wants to tell you girls. He was supposed to tell you the other night at the circus. I guess he forgot.”

  The way she said “I guess he forgot” made it clear she didn’t think that was the truth.

  I took my mother’s arm. “Mom? I don’t like suspense, all right? So just —”

  The doorbell rang.

  I heard Sara running down the stairs. I heard Jordan yell, “Stop running on the stairs, you’ll break your neck.” She sounded just like my mother. It almost made my mom and me smile.

  “That will be your father.”

  I went to the front room. Sara was leaping into my dad’s arms and Jordan was hovering a couple feet away. Jordan shot a quick, questioning glance at me. Unlike Sara, Jordan was old enough to realize something was up.

  I shrugged and shook my head.

  “Rachel!” my dad said. “How’s my girl? Come take this bag from me. Thai food. We have curry. We have pad Thai. We have chicken satay. We have those imperial heavenly whatever-they-call-’em shrimp.”

  He handed me the paper bag. He was being too cheerful.

  My father’s a reporter for one of the local TV channels. He does a lot of investigative journalism. Plus he anchors the news on Saturday and Sunday. So he’s always wearing nice clothes, and always has great hair, and he looks tan even in the total depths of winter.

  I took the bag to the dining-room table and started to unpack the little white boxes of Thai food.

  “Hello, Dan,” my mother said, coming into the room with plates and silverware.

  “Naomi,” he answered. “How have you been?”

  By now even Sara had figured out that this was not going to be a happy evening.

  We ate a little and struggled along with some small talk about nothing. Until finally my mom said, “Dan, just get it over with.”

  My dad looked embarrassed. He sent me a sheepish smile, like some little boy caught doing something wrong.

  “Okay,” he said. He cleared his throat. He sat up straight in his chair. Just as if he were waiting for the cameras to come on so he could do the evening news.

  “Kids, I have something I have to tell you about. I’ve been offered a job. A better job. I wouldn’t just be the weekend anchor. I would have the top spot. I’d be anchoring the six o’clock broadcast and the eleven o’clock. And I’d get to do specials. Maybe do some really important work.”

  Jordan looked at me, confused. It sounded like good news.

  “There’s just one problem,” my father said. “It’s not here in town. In fact, it would mean I would have to move.”

  “Where to?” Sara asked. “To another apartment?”

  He forced a smile. “To another city, sweetie. In another state.”

  “A thousand miles away,” my mother said.

  You know, it’s funny how the mind works. See, I’ve been through more bad things, more terror, more worry, more pain since I became an Animorph than most people deal with in a lifetime. I would have thought I could handle something like my dad moving away.

  A thousand miles away.

  “Congratulations,” I said, trying not to show any emotion. “It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

  My dad wasn’t fooled. He knew I was upset. “It’s the job, Rachel. It’s the way it is. It’s not like I won’t see you kids. I know it sounds like a long way and all, but that’s why we have jets, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s why we have jets. I think I’ll just go upstairs and do some homework now.”

  “Wait, I need to …” my dad protested.

  I didn’t slam any doors. I didn’t throw anything.

  I just left.

  Let him feel what it’s like, I told myself. Let him feel what it’s like to have someone just walk away.

  I went up to my room and locked the door behind me. I couldn’t breathe. I kept clenching my fists and wanting to pound something. I think I would have cried, but I was just too angry.

  “Rachel?” It was him. He knocked lightly on my door. “Can I come in?”

  I couldn’t say no. It would have sounded like I was upset. “Sure. Why not?”

  I unlocked the door, and he came in. “I’m guessing you’re a little upset,” he said.

  I shrugged and turned my back to him.

  “I see. Rachel, you didn’t let me finish what I had to tell you downstairs. Rachel … Jordan and Sara are still too young to consider this. But you’re older. You can look after yourself when I have to work late. They can’t. And … anyway, look, the thing is, I’ve talked to your mother about this, and she’s not happy about it, but she says it’s up to you.”

  I turned to look at him. “What’s up to me?”

  He smiled uncertainly. “Well, it’s like this. Carla Belnikoff teaches in the city I’m moving to. You know, she takes in three or four promising gymnastics students every year. If you wanted … well, it would be the best thing in the world, as far as I’m concerned, if you came to live with me.”

  I almost asked him to repeat it. I couldn’t believe I had heard right the first time. Students of Coach Belnikoff have won two gold medals and a bunch of silver ones.

  “Dad, Carla Belnikoff isn’t going to take me on as a student. She handles professional-level gymnasts. I’m too tall, and not good enough to … besides, you’re saying I should move out? Leave Mom and Sara and Jordan?”

  “You’re the only one who can decide that,” my dad said. “But as for Coach Belnikoff, you’re wrong. You have the talent. I know. If that’s something you want to do, if you want to make that your life, you could go places in gymnastics.”

  I shook my head. Not to say no, just to try and clear out the confusion. “Dad, are you asking me to go with you when you move?”

  “Yes. I know it would be hard on you and your mom and your sisters, but we could make it work. I mean, this job pays a lot of money. You could fly back here any time you wanted. Every week if you wanted.”

  Was he serious? It sounded ridiculous. Was he actually serious? I sat down on the edge of my bed. My thoughts were everywhere all at once. Leave? Leave my mom and my sisters?

  This was just because my dad felt guilty. He felt bad about leaving. This was about pity. He felt sorry for me or something.

  “And I know it would mean changing schools,” he said, “but, gee, Rachel, I think it could be okay, you know? I mean, for one thing, they have serious mountains there. We could do some rock climbing together on weekends. Go hiking. And it’s a huge sports town. I need someone to go with me to games. It would be like in the old days.” Then he winked. “And, hey, it’s a much bigger city, so think of all the shopping.”

  No, it wasn’t pity or guilt, I realized. At least not completely. I think my dad was feeling lonely. He was picturing himself lonely in the new town.

  “Oh, man,” I said. “I don’t know what to say.”

  My dad nodded his head. “Don’t decide now. I wouldn’t want you to. Talk to your mom. And Jordan and Sara, too. You think about it. I think … you know, I’ve just missed you, sweetheart. We have fun trash-talking the umpires at games, don’t we? And hiking? Remember the time we got lost?”

  “Of course, I remember,” I said. “I just … I have to think it over. You know.”

  I wanted to say, Dad, you don’t understand. It isn’t just about Mom and Sara and Jordan. I have a date, Dad. To go back to the Yeerk pool. My friends are counting on me. See, I’m supposed to be Xena, Warrior Princess. I’m supposed to go back down there … down into the last place on Earth I want to go.

  “I have to think it over,” I repeated.

  “Yeah. So. Anyway, I’m gonna go now.”

  “Okay, Dad,” I said.

  “I love you, Rachel.”

  I wish he hadn’t said that. I was doing fine till he said that, and then the tears started.

  After my dad left, I talked to my mom. She said what I expected: She wanted me to stay. But it was up to me. She trusted me to think it through.

  Up to me. Great. I could hurt my mom and my sisters, or I could hurt my dad. Perfect. Isn’t divorce fun?

  After I went to bed, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling. My brain kept churning like a computer you can’t turn off. Too many things to think about. My dad. My mom.

  And the big, huge, massive thing I didn’t even want to start thinking about: my friends. The Animorphs. The war against the Yeerks.