Who am I?

  Marco.

  Not Tuan or Kevin or Rasheed.

  You know, "Hi, I'm Marco."

  If you yell out, "Hey, Marco!", chances are good I'll turn around. Respond. "What?" You could also say that who I am is far more than a name. That who I am depends on your perspective. On where you're standing when you yell out to me.

  Like, if you're standing out in the everyday world — in Red Lobster on all-you-can-eat shrimp night, on a downtown street corner, or in the mall — you'll see that I'm a slighty less than tall, All of which makes that "who are you" quesBottom line — we're here to serve. It's not tion a whole lot more complicated for me than for only about us. It's about you, too.

  say, about 99.9 percent of folks on this planet. That's why, every once in a while, it's real nice That remaining .1 percent — those would be to be alone. Shut out the world and do something my friends. The other Animorphs. Jake. Cassie. just for me. Something totally and completely Rachel. Tobias, the guy who lives as a hawk. Ax, self-indulgent and soul-numbing. Something that Elfangor's younger brother.

  requires almost no effort, physical or intellectual. Obviously, there are a lot of issues we have to The house was empty. Dad and Nora were at a deal with. Issues far too complex for the six of us PTA meeting. Euclid was spending the night at to waste a lot of time thinking about. Or maybe the vet, recovering from some minor doggie we've become far too complex for them to matter surgery. Jake and Rachel were off at a family too much anymore.

  thing. Cassie and her mom had gone to some big In almost every way you can imagine, we've veterinary conference at The Gardens. And I pretty much been there. Done that and bought guess Ax and Tobias were doing whatever redthe T-shirt and poster. If anyone from Guardian or tailed hawks and aliens do on an off night. I just Prudential knew the truth about us, we'd never, knew I was blissfully alone.

  ever get health insurance. Forget about life. I lay back on the living room couch. Stretched Me and my friends, we are the definition of like a lazy old cat. Reached for the remote on the extreme living.

  coffee table.

  We are the definition of high risk. We don't Nothing good on the tube. Perfect. I channelneed to sign up for a class at the local commusurfed, past SpongeBob SquarePants and a minity college or pay some slick shrink 150 bucks nor league baseball game. Past Two Fat Ladies an hour to tell us we're not realizing our potenon the food channel. Past a documentary on beetial. tles.

  Our potentials have been realized up the waAh! Unsolved Mysteries. Cool. The Loch Ness Monster. Bigfoot. Aliens from outer space . . . zoo.

  Mr. Fake-Spooky Host looked wide-eyed into See, this war comes down to life or death. the camera. "When we come back after these Freedom or slavery. Dignity or abject humiliation. messages, we'll continue our in-depth investigation Failure is not an option.

  5

  4

  of legendary creatures with an amateur video made just weeks ago, right here in . . ." I hit the mute button and waited. Hummed some Kid Rock. Yawned. Bit a hangnail. Seven commercials later, the show was back.

  And then the world fell apart.

  •Lt was just a blue blur moving across the screen. Not much more than that. A small piece of videotape taken with an unsteady hand in terrible light conditions. But it was enough.

  My foolproof danger alarm went off. Loud.

  "Could this be proof positive of the existence of the magical unicorn of medieval lore?" the host intoned. "Or could this strange blue creature be the mighty centaur of Greek mythology? Let's take another look."

  I hit the power button and the screen went gray.

  One look had been more than enough.

  The image was blurred but unmistakable. 6

  7

  minded as Scully or Mulder. Some were even Andalite!

  Yeerks.

  I scaled the stairs to my bedroom two at a Ax would not be taken. I would make sure of time.

  that.

  This was bad. Really bad. A serious breach in A thousand fears and anxieties ran through security. The beginning of our end . . . my head, almost as quickly as I ran up the steps A good bazillion citizens of the United States and into my room.

  of America, and who knew how many people in I had to get control. Focus. Maintain that fohow many other countries, had just gotten their cus.

  first glimpse of a bona fide alien.

  I went to the bed. Arranged the pillows under Eighty, maybe ninety percent of those viewers the blankets to look like a sleeping kid. So my dad would be excited for about thirty seconds — at and my stepmother wouldn't know I was gone. least until the next silly monster after the next Again.

  silly commercial.

  I stripped down to my morphing suit. Tossed Ten, maybe twenty percent of those viewers jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers into the pit that is would recognize the blue blur for what it was. my closet. Tore open the window. And began to Not a unicorn or a centaur.

  morph.

  An Andalite. Here. On Earth.

  The goal: rapid transportation.

  And it could only be Ax.

  PING! PING!

  Okay, Visser Three and every other Yeerk with I winced. The beginning of talons, where my a host knew of the "Andalite bandits." The ones toes had been only a few seconds ago. I watched who formed the small but unrelenting resistance as the rest of my feet and ankles withered, shrunk, to the Yeerk movement.

  and suddenly became the bird's incredibly strong, But others — humans not controlled by

  gripping feet. Three long fleshless talons facing Yeerks — didn't know. And they couldn't. front, one facing back.

  Shouldn't. It was too dangerous, too risky. Bad No way those feet could support my thick hufor Ax to be taken prisoner by the visser. Worse man legs. I was going down.

  for him to be taken for study by the government.

  THUMP!

  Not everybody in "the agency" was as fair9

  8

  I was definitely down. But I'd fallen on my to the carpet to see boulders of cookie crumbs back. I lifted my head and watched as my legs and single strands of curly poodle hair. Ugh. blackened and shriveled up into my body like two I was an osprey. The animal that had become sticks of beef jerky being sucked up by a gnarly one of my earliest morphs. Not a bird with the old cowboy.

  greatest night vision but vision a heck of a lot Right then I vowed never ever to eat a Slim better than a human's. Vision good enough to get Jim again.

  me where I was going.

  In spite of what you might think, morphing Ax's scoop.

  doesn't hurt. It's just disgusting.

  I hopped up onto the windowsill. Glanced But still, I watched. As if I could hurry the sharply around with beady eyes to be certain the process by witnessing it. Fingers — curling into house wasn't being watched. And flapped into my palm. Tanned human flesh lightening to the night air.

  gray and then disappearing under a flat, threedimensional tattoo of feathers. Then arms sprouting feathers in a fury. At the same time, arm bones shrinking, hollowing, reshaping. Becoming wings. My mouth and nose melded together, hardened to form a curved and deadly beak. Internal organs? I felt approximately twentyfive feet of human intestines smoosh and squish down to a bird's tiny digestive tract. My slow and steady human heart surge into the manic, pulsing heart of the bird of prey. No longer human. No longer tall enough to see the unopened notebooks scattered over the desk. The handful of empty bubble gum wrappers I should probably throw away. Close enough 10

  11

  But I did have eyes. Ax's TV was on. But not on the station I'd been watching.

  As soon as my lips were formed I looked directly at Tobias. Then at Ax. "Our buddy Ax here is a star," I said brightly, brushing dried-out pine needles off my bike shorts, wincing when a sharp stone bit into my tender human foot.

  I told them what I'd seen. When I'd finished, there was silence.

  It was Tobias who spoke first. His thought-speak was hoarse. Almost anxious.

  Ax hesitated. Turned his main stalk eyes to look behind him, toward the deeper woods. Ax was at "home."

 
  And he had company perched on a nearby

  That was not what I wanted to hear.

  branch.

 
 

  episode,> Tobias said.

 
  "D'ya think? Really?" I said, rolling my eyes. this?>

  "Okay. Listen. We don't have time to wait around

  I flared my wings and landed for the rerun or to send a check to the station in on the soft grass and dirt. Started demorphing. order to buy a copy. We just can't risk waiting."

 
  Ax said as he stepped to his shows up, all unexpected?> he added. television setup. I didn't answer. Tobias has been big on rhetor"Did I miss something? 'Cause I'm definitely ical questions lately.

  not understanding you."

  Besides, at the moment, I didn't have any of

  Tobias explained.
  13

  the VCR —or something like that. Anyway, it

  "Ax-man. Is there any way to fine-tune the works. >

  image?" I asked.

 
  original piece of film or v i d e o

  Ax stepped back from his small pile of equipTobias swooped off his perch and landed, ment. With a remote, he fast-forwarded through gracefully, a few feet from the television screen. the thirty-minute show until he reached the

  he said. segment.

  "So it's the visser," I said. "Well, that's a little All twenty seconds of it.

  beyond weird."

  Ax froze the final frame.

  Tobias turned his inMore silence. This time, I broke it. credibly intense hawk eyes on us.
  "Is it you, Ax?"

  we've just discovered another Andalite.> Ax briefly focused all four eyes on the screen Ax pulled his shoulders back. before sweeping those on stalks around the

  perimeter of the scoop. Wary now.

  "Alrighty then. Who?"

 

  Tobias sugous distinguishing feature. He's got only half a gested.

  tail.>

  Ax did. To me it still didn't make any differ There was disbelief in Ax's voice. Something else, too. More than his normal, well, ence.

  arrogant tone. It sounded like disgust. It could have been Ax.

  "Excuse me?" I asked.

  It could have been any Andalite.

  But the only other Andalite we knew of on

  Ax answered Earth was Visser Three. No way would he ever be coldly.

  film. Besides, he was never without a phalanx of

  "Yeah," I agreed, looking back to the hazy imbodyguards. age on the screen. "The Yeerks get ahold of him, they've got another morphing Andalite on the Unless . . . unless he wanted to be seen by team. Not good."

  thousands of couch potatoes. But why?

  14

  15

  Ax us an Andalite. Oh," I said, looking blandly at Ax. waved his frail hand in a dismissing motion.

  "Let's not forget one other possibility here. In

 

  might be a trap for us unsuspecting, bighearted

  "So, Ax, how do you really, really feel about humans, who respond to creatures less fortunate this guy? Let me take a wild guess." It sounded than us with empathy and kindness." nasty. I meant it to.

  Ax said, while staring back at

  Tobias said.

  way. He's got to have information the visser wants. >

  "Which means wherever he is, we get to him first. Unless we're too late. Which I'm not even going to think about."

  Tobias agreed.

  Ax made a sound that was way close to a snort. I grinned. Folded my arms across my chest.

  "No, Ax. It wasn't meant to be 'humorous.' What's with you? What's your problem with this guy?" Tobias interrupted,

  I took a deep breath. Gave my hair a good 16

  17

  We circled above the clearing, Tobias, the most experienced flyer, swooping as close to the ground as he dared. Alert to every movement. Every twitching blade of grass and swiftly disappearing tail of mouse or vole or whatever skanky creatures run around after bedtime.

  I said. The world was lit up before me, amazingly clear. But I didn't see anything that shouted "danger!"

  Tobias said.

 

  But there was nothing. If anyone, man or beast, had made tracks there in the last few Tobias led us to the clearing that he was days, they'd since been swallowed by the ground, pretty sure was the same place the Andalite had which was still damp from the previous night's been caught on tape.

  heavy rain.

  Something about the slope of the field and a No evidence of foul play.

  pine tree partially destroyed by lightning had After almost twenty minutes of futile searchgiven him a clue. If Ax is our personal clock, Toing, I suggested we head home. Get some sleep. bias is our personal cartographer and wilderness Get in touch with Jake and the others.

  guide.

  Ax suggested. others first. Waited until morning. But we didn't. I'm not big into taking unnecessary risks. The idea of morphing in such a dark and lonely place. Didn't even discuss the possibility of delay. It Especially without having the others around to was starting to get dark. So, I went owl for some watch our backs. Nope. The thought did not thrill serious night vision capability and we were off on me.

  what was intended to be a simple reconnaisI was even less thrilled by the idea of getting sance mission.

  18

  19

  Its gray fur began to turn blue, almost like the stuck with a flea-and-tick problem for the rest of color was being poured down each strand from a my days.

  zillion small vials. Or like one of those goofy pens So while Tobias kept aerial guard, I landed on that change color when you tilt it back and forth. the ground, close to the west rim of twisted It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize this pines, and quickly began to demorph. Ax, on the was no ordinary possum.

  other hand, was still descending, several yards It was an Andalite.

  away. We thought it safer to stagger our morphIt was not Visser Three. ing.

  And it was not the one we'd seen on televiSCHLOOP! SCHLOOP!

  sion, either.

  Okay. No wings. But no arms yet, either. This Andalite had a monstrous tail, long and Great.

  thick. And at its end, a blade that, to my terrified

  SPLOOT! SPLOOT!

  eyes, looked a lot like that scythe thing the Grim Shriveled arms. Little stubs of fingers at the Reaper carries.

  tip. Slowly, slowly filling out.

  I was barely finished demorphing when the With my still-owl eyes I saw Ax beginning to Andalite started to walk toward Ax. His tail sliced demorph.

  the night air menacingly, blade glinting in the Decided I'd rather not watch.

  light of the almost full moon. Each hubcap-sized Flipped my eyes to the right. Saw a furry old hoof clomping the dewy ground, sending little possum. And . . .

  clods of soil flying. Field mice scurrying.

  Tobias called frantically.

  Bigger than any Andalite I'd ever seen. Bigger Too late. I was three-quarters human.

  than Ax's brother, War Prince Elfangor-SirinialIt had finally happened. We'd been too careShamtul. Bigger than Aloth-Attamil-Gahar. Bigless. Underestimated the enemy. ger even than Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, host body We were really dead.

  to Visser Three.

  And for some reason, I looked over at the posShoulders like a fullback. A chest that was sum.

  cut like a competition-level bodybuilder. Arms It doubled in size.

  that, except for the blue fur, could pass for those Doubled again. Again!

  21

  20

  of a middle-weight champion. Even the usually

  he said, his thought-speak calm small and delicate many-fingered Andalite hands and low.

  were broad and toughened. Like those of a carToo late!

  penter or construction worker.

  "TSSEEER!"

  Most disconcerting: From the almost human Tobias swooped down from the night sky! In waist to the rounded, deer or horselike haunches, the white light of the moon, talons suddenly exthe guy looked like a Clydesdale. A really big one. tended for attack, he looked like a hellish feathered demon. No way was Ax, a kid, an aristh, a match for

 

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