The next time there will be no mistakes. Whoa. Visser Three, and in human

  morph,"; Marco said nervously.

  Definitely something major going on."; Two human doctors came into the room.

  They spoke to the Visser. They spoke

  respectfully. Fearfully. Shaking. I could not hear them through the glass, but clearly they knew who and what Visser Three was.

  Visser Three began to demorph. To return to Andalite form. From the human head, the twin stalk eyes appeared. From the human

  chest, the front two legs began to grow. From the base of the human spine, the long, swift,

  dangerous Andalite tail began to extend.

  To my left, a swift flash of brown and tan with a hint of red. Tobias, swooping past. I kept my other eye focused through the glass. The blue and tan fur rippled across the formerly human skin. Visser Three was on four legs

  now, tail cocked and ready.

  He is very sure he's safe in this

  place,"; I said. Otherwise he would never demorph like this.";

  The doctors aren't too happy, though,"; Marco observed.

  The doctors were shaking. Obviously, something was wrong. Then in a flash, Visser Three

  pressed his tail blade against one doctor's throat.

  One twitch would send the doctor's head

  rolling across the floor.

  Now that he was back in his Andalite body, we could hear Visser Three's unguarded

  thought-speak. I gave orders that this human be cured!"; he raged. There is no point

  placing one of our people in his head if he's unable to move.";

  The doctor said something. Something very respectful, very careful.

  I don't care about his brain stem, I

  want him repaired! Do you have any idea how useful this human would be to us? He is the number two man in the organization that guards their president. He would have access to half the secrets on this planet. That's why I arranged for him to be injured and brought here."; Prince Jake and Cassie flew by, both

  in seagull morph.

  What's up?"; Prince Jake asked.

  Visser Three, Prince Jake.";

  Don't call me "prince." Yeah, I hear his thought-speak. I meant, what do you see?";

  The Visser is busy terrorizing a pair

  of human-Controller doctors,"; I said. Just then, Visser Three withdrew his tail blade. The doctor collapsed and fell to his knees on the floor. His fellow doctor

  looked at him with pity, but made no move

  to help him.

  ally leave me with no choice: If

  I can't use this creature as a host, I'll have to acquire him and morph him. I can't spend all my time in his form. I can't live his life. But using him, I can get close to his

  superior. I can use this morph to seize her instead!";

  The doctor who was still standing spoke. He smiled. He looked encouraging and enthusiastic. The Visser flicked his tail, hit the doctor with the flat of the blade, and knocked him across the room.

  Don't tell me "It's all worked out for the best,""; Visser Three sneered. I still want this human repaired. That's the only

  reason I let you live. Three days from now this human will be well, or the two of you will be very, very

  ... very ... sick.";

  Then one stalk eye turned to stare directly at me. The second stalk eye followed. And

  I began to have a very bad feeling.

  Visser Three moved away, out of sight. Was he eyeballing us?"; Marco asked. Then he answered his own question. He was

  eyeballing us.";

  Prince Jake,"; I said in thought-speak only my friends could hear. What should we do?"; What's happened?"; Prince Jake

  asked.

  He eyeballed us, that's what happened,"; Marco said.

  The Visser has moved out of our sight,"; I said.

  Okay. Look, he may suspect you're

  not real seagulls,"; Prince Jake said. So don't behave suspiciously, or like you notice him. One of you fly off. The other one wait a few seconds, then fly off. Like normal--";

  CRASH!

  The glass window exploded outward as something came blasting out through it. Marco was knocked from the sill and went tumbling, out of control, toward the ground.

  I was too shocked to react at first.

  Then I saw what had come bursting through the window. A kafit bird! A six-winged

  kafit bird!

  It had to be Visser Three in

  morph. But how?

  Impossible!"; I cried in total shock. The kafit bird only lives in one place in

  the universe: the Andalite home world.

  The kafit shook off the glass shards and banked sharply back toward me. Its

  razor-sharp, killing beak was aimed at me like a missile.

  I dropped from the sill, wings folded. The deadly beak missed me by a feather! I opened my wings, caught air, and flapped hard.

  The kafit was on me! The six wings gave it terrific speed.

  Ax, what is that thing?"; Cassie cried. I didn't have time to answer. My human friends didn't understand. The kafit lives by spearing tree-living creatures. It is fast,

  accurate, and deadly to small creatures.

  And at the moment, I was a small creature. Everyone on that bird!"; Prince Jake roared. He can't take us all. Tobias!

  Where are you?";

  Too far away,"; Tobias said grimly. I turned my head to look for the kafit.

  Stupid! My head acted like a rudder and made me turn. Right into the path of the kafit!

  I flapped wildly, crazily. Too slow!

  The kafit's beak sliced through the underside of my wing.

  Aaaahhh!"; I yelled.

  I turned and flew in abject panic. I

  flapped my wings and skimmed twenty feet above the ground. I knew the kafit was faster. Was it more agile, too?

  But part of my mind just kept asking, How, how, how?";

  How had Visser Three acquired the DNA

  of a kafit bird? Had the Abomination actually set foot on Andalite grass?

  I was flying over a major street now. What the humans call fast-food restaurants were below me. The Visser was inches behind me. He'd have me in three ... two .... I flared, killed my

  speed, twisted my tail and head to shoot me sideways, and the kafit bird blew past.

  He was faster. I could out-turn him, but only when I had the benefit of surprise. How many more times could I trick him that way?

  A nice maneuver, Andalite,"; the

  Visser said, his thought-speak suddenly in my head. Why not try it again?";

  I was almost angry enough to answer. But of course Visser Three could not be sure I was an

  Andalite in morph. He was guessing. If I

  remained silent he might decide I was just an innocent seagull who happened to be on the sill. I saw Prince Jake and the others racing

  to catch up.

  Prince Jake! Do not help me. If you

  help me he'll know for sure that we are not just birds.";

  Stop being a hero,"; Prince Jake said. Tobias!";

  I'm doing the best I can. I got dead

  air here!"; Tobias yelled.

  I caught a flash of the big red-tailed hawk laboring to get altitude for a killing dive. But he was no more than ten feet above me and too far off to the side to help.

  I was on my own.

  Fine. So much the better, I said to myself, trying to sound braver than I felt. I flapped madly toward a large golden sign in the shape of two conjoined arches. Let's see just how fast the kafit bird can turn.";

  I aimed straight for the hole in one arch, shot through it, and instantly turned. Visser Three rocketed past, outside the arch, and turned to come back toward me. But now I reversed and went back through the second arch. The kafit was after me, but now his greater speed was useless. And his broad wingspan made it tough to fit through the arches.

  Visser Three circled at blazing speed, but I threaded my way again and again through the arches. Good job, Ax-man!"; Tobias cried.

  Hang in there. I have him in my sights!"; Humans were gathering beneath us, gaping up at the bizarre spectacle.

  "Hey, that bird has too many wings!" one yelled.

  "Must be a mutant bird. Go seagull, go!" Whap! My wing tip caught the edge of an

  arch. I stuttered through the air. I missed my turn.

  Aaaaahhhh!";

  The razor-sharp beak cut an inch from my wing tip! I fell. I hit the black roof of the

  fast-food restaurant. I staggered and hopped into a narrow space between two large, loud cooling units.

  I saw the Visser swoop by low overhead and I knew that he had landed on the roof, too. I began to demorph as fast as I could. The roof was surrounded by a raised wall. The humans on the ground could not see us. And once I was Andalite again, the bird would pose no more threat. From my talons, hooves began to grow. My tail feathers melted together and formed the beginnings of my tail blade. But as I grew, the space

  became tight. I was wedged in between the cooling units, with fans blasting me with greasy smells. I forced my way out, half Andalite, half bird, staggering on misshapen legs. Out into the open center of the roof. And there I saw him. Like me, he was demorphing. Like me, he was part bird, part Andalite.

  But this was no true Andalite.

  Give yourself up, Andalite,"; the Visser sneered. And I may even let you live."; Let's see how good you are tail

  to tail,"; I said, once more trying to sound far more confident than I was.

  His tail emerged. My tail emerged.

  And we stood, seemingly two Andalites,

  preparing for a battle to the death.

  I looked into the eyes of the Abomination. And there I saw evil.

  And then I saw something that made my hearts leap. Because I also saw fear.

  It had been a very long time since any

  Andalites fought tail to tail, except as part of military training or as a sport.

  And this was no sport.

  There, amid the blowing fans and the smell of grease and fried meat, Visser Three and I

  stood face-to-face.

  Two seagulls fluttered down to land. Then two more. My stalk eye noted the predator's outline of a hawk on the wing overhead.

  Let's demorph,"; Rachel said,

  directing her thought-speak to include me. I hoped she'd remember not to let Visser Three hear it. Humans sometimes forget that thought-speak can be targeted to everyone or just a list of people. We can't demorph,"; Prince Jake said to me. We'd have to pass through our human forms first. We can't demorph unless we are absolutely sure Visser Three is not going

  to walk away from this.";

  If we demorph, he won't walk

  away,"; Rachel said grimly.

  I kept my eyes trained on the Visser.

  My tail was on a hair trigger. The slightest movement and I would strike.

  I said, Prince Jake, we can't take the

  chance. If he ever learns you are humans, your lives will be worthless. I can avenge Elfangor alone.";

  This isn't the place,"; Cassie said reasonably. People down below saw a six-winged bird come up here. Someone is probably on their way.";

  I barely heard her. The Visser was edging sideways, looking for an opening. I arched my tail blade high, ready to block his attack. Ax, can you back off without getting hurt?"; Prince Jake asked. Cassie's right. We

  don't want this fight here.";

  Part of me wanted to say, yes, yes, we can let the Visser escape. He was bigger than

  I. His tail would have a half-foot advantage in reach. He was taller, which made it easier for him to strike my eyes, my head.

  But another part of me had seen that look of fear in the Visser's eyes. He'd realized he was in a trap. He'd realized he was facing a

  battle to the death where the odds were not all that favorable to him.

  I wanted to see more of that fear from him. I wanted to see the terror as I pressed my tail blade against his throat and said, This is for my brother.";

  Sudden movement!

  I struck! My tail blade missed its

  target, but slashed the Abomination across his shoulder. In the confusion, I didn't understand at first. Everything happened at once: his sudden movement, my strike, and then, the graceful flight as his leap took him over the wall.

  He fell from sight. I ran to the edge and craned to look over.

  A human girl below was crying, "I swear I saw a blue horse jump off the roof!"

  "You're crazy. Where'd it land, then?" her friend said.

  I could see where he'd landed. In a

  large square trash bin.

  "In that Dumpster," the first girl said. I glared down at the Visser. His left rear leg was broken from the fall. He was morphing to human as fast as he could. He looked up at me with eyes blazing hatred.

  I wanted to say something. I wanted to shout some threat. Make some dire promise. But all I

  did was stare eye to eye with Visser Three. And then, as his human mouth appeared, he sneered.

  Come on, Ax,"; Prince Jake said.

  We're done here.";

  That night I ran across the far pastures of Cassie's ranch and tried to figure out my

  emotions.

  It was a wet night. Rain was falling, although not hard by Earth standards. The grass was wet and moist. I could feel my hooves picking up the worms that come out of the ground when it's wet. There would be extra protein in my diet, which was the last thing I needed. Too much protein keeps me

  awake.

  The clouds overhead hid the moon and the stars. This made me sad. I like to find the home star at night. It has become a sort of unofficial

  ritual. Something I do for myself. To remind myself that there is a place for me in the galaxy. I may not be there, but the place does exist. Or am I just fooling myself? Yes, I have a home planet. And a home on that planet. And a people like me. But will I ever fit in there again? Have I changed too much, been with humans too long?

  I saw the lights of Cassie's home.

  Once I had morphed into Prince Jake and

  gone there for dinner with Cassie's parents. I have Prince Jake's DNA from the time when he

  became infested by a Yeerk.

  It's a treasured memory. Dinner with

  Cassie, I mean, not morphing Prince

  Jake. Sometimes when I'm alone in the woods and thinking about home, I find myself thinking about that evening instead.

  I ran faster now, no longer concerned with eating, but just wanting to feel the impact of raindrops on my face and my chest. If I

  could run fast enough, all the drops would hit my face and chest and none would fall down on my back.

  I saw a wooden rail fence. Almost too

  high to jump. But I ran straight at it,

  kicked, tucked my front legs, and sailed

  over.

  There was a "thump!" as one hoof nicked the top rail.

  I landed easily and realized I was panting. I slowed down and trotted back toward the

  woods.

  I could have beaten him, I told myself.

  I could have forced the fight. I could have struck again before he had a chance to get away.

  Another part of my mind answered, No, you would have lost. He's taller, bigger. He's more experienced. The Andalite body Visser Three controls used to belong to a great warrior. Visser Three has all of that warrior's skill and

  experience.

  You went tail to tail with Visser Three and let him get away.

  I went tail to tail with Visser Three and at least I didn't run away.

  You wanted to. You were frightened.

  I'd be a fool not to be frightened. But I didn't run. He did.

  I realized I'd come to rest, standing beneath a particularly tall pine tree just back from the edge of a meadow. Tobias's meadow.

  What's up, Ax-man?"; he called down from the darkness above.

  Are you awake?";

  all yeah. I have this slight tendency to wake up when big, blue, scorpion-tailed alien

  centaurs go crashing around in the woods like a herd of ruptured elephants.";

  Tobias is sometimes harsh when awakened. It is a human characteristic that he has not lost. I apologize for waking you. How do

  elephants come to be ruptured?";

  Tobias sighed. He floated down to a lower branch, then sailed over to a fallen log.

  ally're stewing, aren't you?";

  What?";

  Stewing. Going over things again and again in your head. Around and around in circles, asking yourself the same questions again and again, then starting it all over again.";

  How did you know?";

  Look, Ax, the first time I saw Visser

  Three ... and you know when that was ... I cried, I was so scared.";

  He was an alien. He was unfamiliar

  to you.";

  Elfangor was an alien. He was

  unfamiliar. He didn't scare me. Visser

  Three did. Not because of what he looked like, but because I could feel something coming from him. Like a dark cloud. Like a smell, almost. This feeling, I don't know any other word for it. Like I was looking at something that needed to be destroyed. He was evil. I felt it. And I had this horrible

  understanding, this knowledge, that one way or the other, that evil was going to touch me and change me. So I just cried.";

  I have met Visser Three before,"; I said stonily. I should not have been afraid."; What could you have done?";

  I could have forced the fight.";

  What if you'd lost?";

  What if I'd won? It would have been a

  terrible blow against the Yeerks. I would have avenged Elfangor. I would have done a great service for my people.";

  Look, Ax, you went up against him. He

  backed down. Not you.";

  He was surrounded and outnumbered. He thought each of you was another Andalite warrior ready to demorph and attack. He retreated with

  honor.";

  Honor,"; Tobias said derisively.

  He's a cold-blooded killer. He's an

  invader in someone else's land. He's just another gangster. Murderers don't have honor."; I should let you go back to sleep."; Ooookay. You want to drop it, it's

  dropped."; He looked around, blinking, almost as blind as a human in the darkness. Hard to sleep when it's raining, anyway.";