Animorphs #47: The Resistance
"They're going to fight with or without us," Cassie said, awed. As if maybe
she'd suddenly changed her mind about what our role should be. "They're
risking everything for their freedom."
"We have to respect that," Rachel said. "And we owe it to the Hork-Bajir to
help."
I still couldn't believe what had just happened.
<This is just plain amazing,> Tobias said to us privately. <These Hork-Bajir
know who they are and what they want.>
"Okay." I sighed. "We'll help you."
Marco glanced at me with a mix of exasperation and resignation. He knew
this was an argument we couldn't win.
Cassie flashed me a look that said I'd done the right thing.
Toby smiled the strange Hork-Bajir smile.
"Tobias, as always, your're our eye in the sky. Check out the area and see if
you can spot an escape route. I have a feeling we're gonna need one. Marco,
get in touch with Erek. See if a few Chee can cover back home for those of
us who need it."
Toby stared at me.
"If we need to escape." I corrected myself and smiled.
I began to draw a rough map of the area in the dirt with a stick. Toby walked
over to where I was crouched down.
"Thank you," she said.
"Yeah, well...I just hope your people understand what they're getting into. It
ain't gonna be pretty."
"They understand much more than you give them credit for, Jake. They've
been called upon to defend themselves before. They've been through a lot."
I nodded sheepishly and looked back at the dirt map.
After a while, I ventured further into the camp to check on the battle
preparations. With advice from Rachel and Ax, the Hork-Bajir were
positioning platforms in the trees.
A Hork-Bajir with a bundle of small tree limbs on his back and a coil of rope
in his hand would scramble up a trunk, using heel and wrist blades to climb.
Like a telephone repairman in fast forward. When he'd get about thirty feet
up, he'd dig his ankle blades in firmly, lock in with both knees blades, and
lean back. With both hands free, he'd lash the branches together. In about
ten minutes, there was an elaborate but perfectly camouflaged platform.
When the builder finished, he'd climb onto the platform to test its strength.
Then he'd descend quickly, move to another tree, and begin again.
Younger Hork-Bajir then climbed to the completed platforms and stocked
them with spears and arrows. Weapons the female Hork-Bajir were turning
out with speed, efficiency, and skill. It was unbelievable to watch.
Hork-Bajir elders, the few who weren't quite as quick at climbing as they
used to be, dug pits and trenches all over the camp. After one was dug, the
very smallest Hork-Bajir children were lowered into it to place pointed
wooden spikes into the dirt. Whoever fell into these holes would come out
looking like Swiss cheese. If they came out at all. With the spikes in place,
the kids were hauled up to help cover the pits. First with twigs that spanned
the opening. Then with leaves that formed a bed to conceal it completely.
Satisfied as I could be under the circumstances, I called the others and
Toby to the map to discuss strategy.
"We're here." I pointed to two long, parallel lines marking the narrow
passage. "On either side of us are steep banks and cliffs. Impossible to climb
without serious time and effort. So I think the Yeerks will come up the valey
this way," I said, pointing. "From the south, uphill."
"That's good for us," Marco said.
<It will slow their approach,> Ax agreed, <but it will also interfere with our
retreat. Tobias said our only escape route will be up the valley to the
north.> Ax pointed to a place where the valley widened, about a mile north
of the camp. <The valley walls become easier to climb at this point, but will
still be slow and difficult.>
I looked at Toby.
"You'd be much better off to climb the valley walls now and fight from up
there."
"We will defend our home."
<We've got another problem,> Tobias said. <I spotted a group of campers.
And they're going to be in the Yeerks' way.>
"I guess we'll have to try to convince them to get out of there," I said.
Cassie put her hand on Toby's arm. "Even if you survive, you'll have to go
into hiding. Where will you go?"
"If we're forced to withdraw temporarily," Toby said calmly, "we'll go to the
hills."
"But the trees in the hills aren't the same kind as the ones in the valley.
And they won't provide great shelter. You'll have to adopt all over again."
<And those hills are getting pretty close to the suburbs,> Tobias added. <It
wouldn't be safe to hang there very long. Eventually, you'd run into some
humans.>
"Maybe it's time the Hork-Bajir did run into some humans," Rachel said.
"We can't count on the Ellimist to appear and help out just because we want
him to. If the right people knew what was going on, all sort of things could
happen - good and bad.
Marco smirked. "News flash: Your average suburbanite ain't gonna tolerate a
seven-foot-tall bladed alien for a neighbor. I mean, carpooling? Toby as a
soccer mom? Think about it."
Toby's eyes dropped.
"I'm sorry. We don't think of you as freaks, but the average guy on the
street? Toby, humans can't even deal with other humans who root for a rival
football team."
"Yes," Toby said slowly. "I've learned that humans don't care for groups
unlike their own."
"That's not always true," I said.
<My study of human history suggests that Marco and Toby are both
correct,> Ax said carefully. <Historically, humans are among the least
tolerant species in the galaxy, set apart by the prevalence of violence and
oppression."
"So, what you would you suggest, Ax?" Cassie asked. "Send the Hork-Bajir
to some distant planet?" All because humans are tolerance-challenged?
That can't be the only answer."
"It stinks," Marco said. "But take a look at what humans have done to
animals. If there's a chance to dominate, we grab it. I'd rather be a tiger or
elephant on Neptune than a striped rug or an ivory box on Earth. The
farther away you can get, Toby, the better off you'll be."
For a moment, Toby said nothing.
"But are we really that different from you?" she said finally.
She turned toward camp. Toward a Hork-Bajir who bent low to the ground
and scooped her crying child into her arms.
The child had fallen. The mother carefully raised the child to her shoulder
and gently patted its back.
No, the Hork-Bajir weren't really that different at all.
------------
Animorphs #48: The Return
<Would you by any chance want to know how I got here?> David asked
abruptly.
He scurried along the outside wall of the cube. Nose quivering. Malevolent,
beady rat eyes shining.
Satisfying himself that I was really, truly trapped.
<Would you by any chance want to know what it was like after you
abandoned me on that rock island? What it was like all those months alone?
Barely surviving? Trying not to go mad?>
Suddenly, and certainly, I knew this was not a dream.
Suddenly, I felt dread -- heavy, leaden and cold -- draining down my limbs.
It has to work or we . . . all of us . . . we will have to become killers.
I didn't want to know David's story. Didn't want to hear anything he had to
say.
I could imagine it all well enough. I had imagined it. Over and over. Even
when I didn't want to.
And when I did imagine David's situation, when the grim images of isolation
invaded my brain, I invariably broke out in a cold sweat.
David sat up on his hind legs, his little pink nose twitching in the air.
Searching for food?
<You didn't have the guts to kill me, Rachel. So you left me on a rock and
hoped that nature would do your dirty work for you.>
David hadn't asked who the mastermind of the plan was.
I felt a hot flush cover my neck and face. He was right. We had. David had
zeroed in on the discomfiting truth.
<It was horrible, Rachel,> he went on.
His voice was controlled, but barely. In it I heard incipiant mania. Madness.
<It was horrible being a rat with human intelligence. Do you know what that
means? It means that every time I was forced to eat a piece of putrifying
flesh, my human brain was revolted. Every single day, the rat's need to
survive made me do things my human brain found humiliating. Degrading.
Gross.>
"I feel that way every time I eat in the school cafeteria," I said. Determined
not to let him see he was getting to me.
<Leave the one liners to Marco,> David snapped. <He's good at comedy.
You're good at dirty work.>
I recoiled.
Maybe David was perceptive. Maybe he just had a good memory.
<Yes, I'm smart,> he said.
As if he had read my mind!
<That's what got me into trouble with you Animorphs in the first place. But
it's also what saved my life on that island. And it's what's going to bring me
back and put me on top.>
"What are you talking about?"
Even to my own ears my voice was thin. Uneasy.
<I'm talking about defeating the Animorphs, the Yeerks, the entire human
race,> David said, gleeful now. <Life, like being the smartest rat on an island
of rock and rodents, is what you make it, Rachel. You Animorphs thought
you were condemning me to a fate worse than death. But I turned the
experience into an opportunity. An opportunity to develop my intelligence to
an almost supernatural level.>
Suddenly, David the rat scampered in a circle. Then another, tighter. Faster.
Then another. Like a rodent whirling dervish. Or like he was trying to throw
off some bad feeling. Or a bad itch.
After about ten revolutions, he came to a rest. Once again facing me.
Briefly I thought of making a snide remark about his getting himself some
Prozac or Lithium or whatever. But I kept my mouth shut.
David spoke. His voice breathless from the manic exertion.
<At first, the monotony, the loneliness, the despair was unimaginable.
Enduring day after endless day on that rock, exposed to the elements, alone
except for thousands of other rats, marooned, somehow, like me. But I
survived, Rachel. Oh yes. And eventually I befriended a few of my more
intelligent brothers and sisters. I promised to lead them off the island if they
would bring me food and obey me. Long story short, they did. How could
they not? They were compelled to obey. They knew a natural-born leader
when they saw one. And now my forces are here.>
"Forces?" I laughed. He really was insane! "What forces?"
David laughed back, mimicking me.
<The Forces of David. You see, I escaped the island with a few select
lieutenants.>
"I thought rats couldn't swim."
They just drown, get stuck in your shirt, weigh you down.
Terrify you.
<Some can. Some can't,> David said. <But it never came to that because
not long ago a group of naturalists came out to the island to count the bird
population. They came, of course, in a boat. You hadn't foreseen that
possibility, had you?>
I hadn't.
<I was smarter than any of you.>
It hadn't occurred to any of us that anybody would find a reason to visit
that godforsaken pile of rock.
<There was some miserable little species of bird on the island. Stupid birds
but their eggs were delicious. Anyway, while the naturalists were clopping
around counting nests, I boarded the boat with my lieutenants and hid. A
few hours later, we were back on dry land.>
David paused. If he was waiting for applause, he'd have a very long wait.
<I sent my lieutenants out to recruit,> he went on, voice growing more
excited with each syllable. <They did an excellent job. I now have a force
over two hundred strong. But I'm not finished yet. Oh no. Not by far. Do you
have any idea how many rats there are in the world, Rachel? Billions. Maybe
trillions. And I, David, will lead them all.>
Okay.
"So now what?"
<You saw what my forces can do, back at the barn. With armies of rats, and
a few more like these two,> David said, gesturing toward the punks with his
twitching nose, <no one can stop me.>
I looked at the two witless thugs. David's willing hands and feet. Maybe I
could stir up a little dissension.
"You guys realize you're working for a rat, don't you?" I said.
Tattoo shrugged.
"He pays good."
"He pays good?" I snorted. "What are you talking about? He's a rat. You're
working for cheese?"
David laughed wildly.
<A rat can go many places a human cannot, Rachel. You should know that.
Into banks. Into businesses. Places where money is kept. Lots of money. I
steal it. A few bills at a time. It's hard work but it's paid off. Over the last
few months, I've accumulated two hundred and twelve thousand dollars.>
I saw Tattoo and Grease exchange a glance. Tattoo swallowed hard. So did
Grease. Just thinking about money was making them salivate.
<The money is safe in a place no human could possibly find,> David said. To
them as well as to me. <And there's more where that came from.>
"So what am I doing here?" I asked. "If you're poised to rule the world, what
do want with me?"
David laughed.
<Can't you guess? I want justice. I want poetic justice. I'm going to do to you
what you did to me. Trap you. Take away your freedom of choice.>
NOOOOO!
David stopped his nervous twitching and pacing. Came to sit perfectly still,
tiny black eyes on mine.
<I'm going to force you to become a rat. Permanently.>
---------------
Animorphs #49: The Diversion
"Let me get this straight." Marco shredded a piece of hay. "They wanted
blood samples. Not cash. Not drugs. Blood."
We were in Cassie's barn. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. Sort of a
homeless shelter for wounded animals. Cassie's parents were both
veterinarians. Her mom worked at The Gardens, a combination
zoo/amusement park where we'd acquired most of our battle morphs. Her
dad ran the clinic here on their farm. Cassie helped him out.
At the moment she was inside a big wire pen, doctoring a doe that had been
shot in the thight. The rest of us were trying not to focus on the hypodermic
needle in her hand.
"The rest of us" could've starred in a one of those weepy movies on
Lifetime. Jake: Rachel's cousin, Cassie's true love, and the leader of our
little band of misfits. Ax the alien: Elfangor's little brother and, strange as it
sounds, my uncle. Marco: Jake's best friend and Ax's part-time roommate.
Rachel, of course: Cassie's best friend, the girl dating out of her species.
And me: Tobias. The Bird-boy. On lookout duty in the rafters.
Cassie stroked the deer's neck. "It's okay, girl."
Ax reached into the pen and stroked the animal. He was in his natural
Andalite form. It wouldn't have surprised m if the doe viewed him as a
distant cousin. An eccentric distant cousin who ate through his hooves.
Cassie closed the pen and turned to face us. "All I know is what my mom
said. Two men broke into her veterinary ward last night. It wasn't the usual
smash and grab, and no, they weren't after drugs, which surprised Mom, too.
They wanted blood samples, specific blood samples. Tiger. Elephant. Eagle.
Rhino and grizzly. Gorilla and wolf."
Rachel stared at her. "Our battle morphs."
"Right." Cassie nodded. "They showed no interest in the warthogs or
baboons. One of Mom's lab techs stumbled in on them. They really roughed
him up, especially -" She glanced at me. "Especially when he told them The
Gardens didn't have a red-tailed hawk."
Seven pairs of eyes, including Ax's stalk eyes, gazed up at the rafters. I
turned away to preen a wing.
Cassie went on. "The lab tech said they'd been cold and methodical up to
that point, but when they couldn't get the hawk sample, they just went nuts.
Like they were afraid to leave without it."
"Yeah, I bet," said Marco. "I bet they were peeing their pants wondering
how to explain the concept of failure to Visser One."
Visser One. Evil incarnate. The Yeerk in charge of the invasion of Earth,
recently promoted from Visser Three.
Elfangor's murderer. Actually, he was responsible for a lot more deaths than
we even knew about.
Rachel nodded. "Our battle morphs? The Gardens? Nutso thieves on a
mission for hawk blood? Definitely Yeerks."
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "But the Chee haven't heard anything, not even
rumors. And we haven't intercepted Yeerk communications about a new
project. Whatever they're up to, it's at the highest level. We don't want to
do anything stupid. We need really to think this through."
"Okay, so we'll think it through and then we'll do something stupid," said
Marco. "First question: Why do the Yeerks need animal blood? Have they
invented a new way to morph?"
Ax's stalk eyes narrowed to slits. <Yeerks do not invent. They steal.
Everything they have, they've taken from other species. Most notably the
Andalites. They do not have the intelligence - or the integrity - to invent a
morphing technique of their own.>
Did I mention Andalites can be a wee bit arrogant?
Cassie looked at Jake.
"They're after something bigger. I think Ax is right," he said.. Tom brought
home a flyer yesterday. The Sharing is sponsoring a huge blood drive."
Tom was Jake's older brother.
Tom was a Controller, a high-ranking member of The Sharing. The front
organization for the Yeerks.
Cassie took a deep breath. "Here's what I think. There's only one reason the
Yeerks would suddenly be interested in blood. DNA. They're collecting
samples of our morph animals, and they're collecting as many human
samples as they can." She looked at us. "They're searching for humans with
strands of animal DNA in their blood."
Silence.
"Which means - " Marco sighed.
"They know we're human," said Rachel.
---------------
Animorphs #50: The Ultimate
Rachel's sisters gathered protectively around their mother. Jordan took her
hand. "I don't think you're useless, Mommy," she whispered.
A tear rolled down Sara's cheek.
Naomi swallowed hard and lifted her chin. Her eyes hardened and she looked
at the two Hork-Bajir guards. "Don't touch me again," she said coldly.
"Don't touch anyone in my family. If you do, I'll..." She broke off. Swallowed,
gulped and tried again. "If you do I'll..."
Finally, the reality was dawning on her. It was a slow seep, but the truth was
finally penetrating.
Rachel's tough-as-nails lawyer mother was realizing how incredibly
vulnerable we all were.
I heard Marco swallow a laugh and turn away. His were the only set of
parents that had accepted their position as guerilla warriors -- and as
refuges.
Tears trickled down Naomi's face. It felt wrong to be watching her and doing
nothing to help ease her pain. But would Naomi take comfort from her
daughter's accomplice?
From a kid?
Then Eva joined the awkward group. Put her arm around Naomi's shoulders.
"It takes a while to accept," she said softly. "Come on. Let's talk."
Slowly, the two women walked toward Eva's cabin. Jordan and Sara followed
closely.
"Can you talk to Rachel?" I said quietly to Jake. "She explodes at her mom
and it just makes Naomi more determined not to deal with this."
Jake's voice was impatient. "I've tried to talk to Rachel and she won't
listen. So, no, I won't talk to her again. And no, I don't want to talk to you
about my feelings."
I stood perfectly still, not trusting myself to move. I felt as if I'd been
slapped.
Jake lowered his eyes, turned and walked away.
I stalked after him. "Jake! Things are falling apart."
He whirled on me. His eyes were wild and dark. For the first time since I'd
known and loved Jake, I felt afraid of him. Afraid of what he might become.
"You think I don't know that? I know we're slipping up. Making mistakes. I
know we're at each other's throats. And I know that if it weren't for Toby,
this whole camp would probably be just a scar on the ground by now. What I
don't know, Cassie, and this is the hard part . . . What I don't know is what
I'm supposed to do about it."
I'd heard the expression, 'my heart almost broke'. Now, I knew what it meant.
I put my anger aside and fell into step beside Jake.
"It's going take time," I said calmly. "These people, our parents, have been
dragged into this -- into a refuge camp -- against their wills. Their world
has been torn apart. We have to respect their reluctance to fight alongside
us. But, Jake, somebody's got to take charge."
"Fine. You take charge."
"No," I said firmly. "I'm not a leader, Jake. You are. You're going to have to
talk to my parents. And to Rachel's mother and sisters. Even Tobias's mom."
"Why should they listen to me?" Jake countered. "Look at the situation.
We're hiding in the forest, living on the charity of the Hork-Bajir. If you were
a adult -- or even another kid, not Cassie -- would you listen to me? No,
you wouldn't. So why don't you just leave me alone?"
He looked at me. Then turned his head.
"Please, Cassie."
Jake quickened his step and left me behind.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," I called after him. Desparate.
He didn't stop.
"You're a coward!"
The moment the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them.
Jake stopped. Turned. His face was a stranger's. "What did you call me?"
He'd heard me. Too late to take back the words. "A coward," I repeated,
flinching. "Now that it's the final crisis, you're turning chicken on us."
I didn't expect his weary laugh. "I'm not chicken," he said. "I'm just trying to
give everybody a fighting chance. I'm not going to insist people do what I say
when I don't have the slightest idea what's right or wrong. What's smart or
stupid. Cassie, it's my fault we're on the run. You can't deny that."
I took a deep breath and tried to sound reasonable. Reached for his hand
and held it tight.
"Maybe you're right, Jake. And maybe you're wrong. Maybe you are a great
leader, afterall."
He tried to pull away but I wouldn't let him go.
"No, Jake. Listen to me. If that's the truth, you have to take charge. And if
you really are a failure and it really is all your fault, then it's your
responsibility to get us out of here. We need a leader, Jake. Either way, it
has to be you."
It was a cheap shot. Jake's Achilles' heel has always been his sense of
responsibility. I could see him weakening.
"Marco can be in charge," he said helplessly. Again he pulled his hand away.
This time I let him go. "He's smarter than I am. Or Tobias. Or Ax. Or you.
Rachel. Anyone. Anyone but me. You know why I was even in charge in the
fist place, Cassie? Because once upon a time, a long time ago, Marco said I
was."
"Jake, that's not the whole truth..."
"Well, now my term of office is over," he continued bitterly. "So how about
for once you guys figure things out and tell me what to do."
Then he turned and walked away.
And just kept walking.
-----------
Animorphs #51: The Absolute
Jake frowned. "So, where did you leave the tank?"
Tobias and I looked at each other.
We were back in the Hork-Bajir valley, seated around the campfire outside
my parents' cabin. Crickets hummed. The setting sun bathed the valley in
amber rays. Champ, Tobias's mom's dog, drowsed at our feet. It was
peaceful. It was lovely.
It was a council of war.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff were all present. Me, Tobias, Rachel, Cassie, Jake
and Ax. And, since we'd moved to the valley, we'd added two more members.
Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer. Seer, meaning smarter than the average Hork-
Bajir. Meaning two-plus-two actually held some meaning for her. So did
quantum physics.
The second new member was my mother.
"The tank." I took a breath. "Well, you know Chapman's house? Nice two-
story?"
Jake sighed. "How many stories is it now?"
"Uh . . ." I glanced at Tobias. "Zero? But the back deck will give Chapman a
nice supply of firewood this winter. It's already piled up for him."
Tobias smiled. "Too bad he doesn't have a fireplace anymore."
"Excuse me?" said Rachel. "You flattened Melissa's house?"
She stared at me. She and Melissa Chapman used to be friends. Back before
Melissa's dad became a Controller and Rachel became an Animorph.
She turned on Tobias. "And you went along with it?"
"Whoa. Down, girl," I said. "You're just mad because you didn't get to drive
a tank. Nobody got hurt. Nobody was home. Not even Fluffer McNutter or
whatever that stupid cat's name is."
"Fluffer McKitty," she said.
"Oh. Excuse me. Fluffer McKitty. That's so much better. Anyway, they're all
fine. Melissa, her parents, her cat."
Tobias nodded. "They're just, well, homeless."
Rachel shook her head. Looked to Jake to back her up.
Jake said . . . nothing.
We waited for his reprimand. For his poorly concealed amusement. For his:
"That's not exactly what I meant by low profile, Marco." All the normal Jake
stuff.
The fire popped. Somebody's nylon jacket squeaked. Ax nailed a mosquito
with his wicked Andalite tail.
Jake sighed again and poked the campfire with a stick.
I frowned. Looked at Ax. He shrugged, one of the human gestures he'd picked
up.
Since we'd evacuated to the valley, Jake had been like a robot on autopilot.
I didn't know how to talk to him anymore. This was Jake. My best friend
since second grade, and I couldn't even have a superficial, meaningless
conversation with him.
Let alone try to get into his head.
Part of it was me. My guilt. Yeah, big news flash, call the Associated Press,
Marco feels guilty. Well, wouldn't you? My family was safe, recovered,
together, while Jake's had been torn away from him. There was only a very
slim chance he'd ever get them back.
But that wasn't exactly why I felt guilty.
I felt guilty because I was so happy. Happy my mom was back. Happy that
she and my dad were still nauseatingly in love. My best friend had lost
everything that had ever meant anything to him. Meanwhile, I practically had
to tie myself to a tree to keep from running up and down the valley, arms
spread wide, belting out tunes from The Sound of Music.
I glanced at Cassie. She sat on top of the old picnic table Ax and I had
found and dragged to the camp. Back from the fire. Back from the whole
group.
I figured if anybody could get through to Jake, Cassie could. I mean, she's
Cassie, for pete's sake. But since our last mission, since the Yeerks had
stolen the morphing cube, Jake was more distant from her than from
anybody. Distant? Where Cassie was concerned, Jake had completely closed
down. Like an iron door had slammed shut.
"But did you get any information?" Toby looked at Tobias, then me. She was
crouched in the grass, the light from the smoldering logs intensifying the fire
in her Hork-Bajir eyes. "Did you discover anything useful?"
Tobias scratched Champ's ears. "You mean before we stole government
property, endangered innocent motorists, and leveled a moderately-priced
suburban home?"
"Yes." She nodded. "Before all of that."
"Well, we did manage to get a good look at the train," I said. "The National
Guard wasn't moving those tanks. Not the regular, uninfested National
Guard anyway."
"The uninfested National Guard." Jake nodded. Stirred the fire. "We've
been assuming there still is such a thing." He turned to my mom. "Eva, is
there any chance we're wrong?"
"No." Mom shook her head. "If Visser Three had taken over the National
Guard while I was Visser One's host body, I'd have known about it. What am
I saying? Everybody would've known about it. Visser Three would've made
sure."
"What about since then?" said Jake. "Since he was promoted to Visser
One?"
"No." Mom shook her head again. "Not enough time. We're talking thousands
of soldiers, spread out over the entire state. And they're not on active duty.
They're weekend warriors, so most of the time they're not even with their
units. This is a huge operation. It'd take months to plan, months more to
execute."
"Okay." Jake paced. Poked his stick at the fire. "With all the troop
movement of the last few days, we can assume the planning stage is over.
The execution stage is beginning. We can also assume at least some of the
highest ranking officers are Controllers. Otherwise, the Visser wouldn't be
able to get all those soldiers into the city. They'll all be infested. Soon. We
can't let that happen."
<But can we stop it?> said Ax. His blue fur gleamed in the firelight. <Even
with James and the other new Animorphs, are we big enough? Strong
enough?>
"No. We're not. We need help." Pace. Pace. Poke. "So, we split up. One
group is the in-your-face group." Jake glanced at Rachel. "That group
creates chaos with the National Guard troops. Keeps them away from the
Yeerk pool as long as possible. They're stationed all over the city, so we'll
have to keep moving to hit all the bases. But it'll also split Visser One's
resources, trying stop us. It'll keep him busy. Buy us some time."
"We have been planning to liberate the group of Hork-Bajir that guard The
Sharing headquarters," said Toby. "We can be ready to go in the morning."
"Good." Jake nodded. Paced. Poked. "That'll be one more fire Visser One
has to put out. Group Two will be smaller, quieter. They'll need to show a
little more finesse."
"Finesse?" Rachel shot me a sideways look. "Oh, yeah. Some of us are so
good at that." "We'll have to be," said Jake. "Because only one person has
enough authority to stop the movement of National Guard troops. The
governor. Group Two has to travel to the capital. Get to the governor
somehow. Convince him to help us."
"I'll go," Cassie said.
"No," Jake replied, practically before the words were out of her mouth.
Cassie froze. Stared at him.
Jake didn't even look at her.
Instead, he gave me a sarcastic half-smile. A glimpse of the old Jake. "If
anybody can handle a politician, it's Marco. And Tobias can get to the
capital without getting lost. We also need to make sure the governor isn't a
Controller, and Ax is the most qualified to judge. So that's the second group.
Marco, Ax, and Tobias."
That's when he finally looked at Cassie. Locked his gaze on her. "I can trust
them," he said.
Silence. Like he couldn't trust Cassie? Okay, so Cassie would probably want
to rescue an old-growth forest or two on the way to the governor's mansion.
That didn't mean Jake couldn't trust her. Cassie was the most trustworthy
person I knew.
But Jake just turned his back on her. "I'll be with Group One. Rachel. Toby
and some of her people. James's group, too. We'll try to stir up some major
chaos before midnight. Marco, you need to reach the governor some time
tomorrow. Doesn't matter exactly when, just get there."
He stopped pacing. Stopped poking the fire. Looked at me. At Ax and Tobias.
"I know this sounds melodramatic, but we can't fight this war alone anymore.
We need the authorities on our side. If the governor is free, you have to
convince him. If he's a Controller, well, you have to find a way to replace
him with the lieutenant governor. The entire outcome of the war depends on
your succeeding."
"Oh. Well," I said. "As long as there's no pressure."
"And try to keep it quiet. We don't need Visser One figuring out what we're
up to." The half-smile again. "And the capitol city doesn't need more
firewood. I'm counting on you for a little self-control."
"Self-control? Marco?" Rachel shook her head. "We are in serious trouble."
