my sizeeagreater-than Tobias muttered. "What's cool is we all have a jaguar morph now. Perfect for traveling the rain forest at night," Cassie pointed out. "Speaking of which, it's late," Rachel said. "Ticktock." less-than We have two of your hours lefteagreater-than Ax said. "Two hours to find the Blade ship, smuggle aboard, and hope Visser Three knows how to get us all back to our normal time," Rachel said. "Wonderful." "The jaguars are predators," Cassie pointed out. "That means senses adapted for hunting in the rain forest. They would be able to find the Yeerks, if any animal could." Marco laughed. "Cassie, you're just looking for an excuse to morph something new." "Cassie's right," I said. "Look how dark it is. I can't even see you guys. No streetlights, no house lights, no car lights, even moonlight and starlight can't penetrate the trees. We're helpless in this dark. Barefoot, lost, and blind. We need eyes. We can morph owls, but we don't know what dangers the rain forest might hold for a plain old horned owl. Jaguars, on the other hand, look like they can take care of themselves." "Let's do it," Rachel said. "We're totally helpless in this darkness." "We need a way to carry the Bug fighter's computer with us," Cassie pointed out. She tore a strip of cloth from her shirttail, twisted it, and threaded it through a small hole in the computer core. "I'll take it," I said. The computer was my stupid mistake. I should carry it. Cassie slipped it over my head. It hung like a big, dorky medallion. I took a deep breath. "Okay, boys and girls and Andalites. Let's morph." less-than Jake, I have to try to fly up above the trees, try to get some moonlighteagreater-than Tobias said. less-than l'm as blind as you guys are down here.greater-than The jaguar was a strange morph for one reason: because it wasn't strange at all. It was just like morphing the tiger. The jaguar is smaller and stockier than a tiger. But it is still one of the big cats. But for the others, it was their first experience with a big cat. As my jaguar eyes came on and the darkness grew much lighter, I could see the final transformations. I saw the long, yellowed teeth grow in Cassie's mouth. I saw the pattern of large, hollow spots spread across Rachel's skin. I saw the claws sprout from Ax's weak Andalite hands. I saw the way Marco fell forward to land on all fours as his tail extended like a snake behind him. less-than 0h, this is beautifuleagreater-than Marco said. less-than 0h, man! Oh, man! Feel the rushffgreater-than less-than Hah-hahffgreater-than Rachel crowed. less-than This is like, so alive! It's so not afraidffgreater-than I knew the feeling. It's different being an animal at the top of the food chain. An animal that doesn't worry much about being killed. It's not arrogance, really. It's an absence of fear. Just like a tiger, a jaguar may be startled, surprised, alarmed, but never afraid. It may run away in the face of humans or loud machinery, for example, but somehow it isn't afraid when it does that. I saw Rachel take a swipe at the air, testing the speed of her paws. less-than Not as powerful as a grizzly bear, but awfully fast. greater-than less-than Excellent senseseagreater-than Cassie said. less-than like smell . . . wow. I smell about a million things. greater-than less-than l'm having a strange desire to eat a monkey caret Marco said. less-than And yet,
I
a monkey a few hours ago. We're all going to end up in the nuthouse someday. You realize that, right8greater-than less-than Tobias? Can you hear me8greater-than I called in thought-speak. less-than Yeah, I hear you. It's much better up here. There's a three-quarter moon and a million stars! I can see well enough to fly, but I'd break my neck if I tried to land. greater-than less-than There are far more than a million starseagreater-than Ax commented. less-than like know, Ax-maneagreater-than Tobias said w ith a laugh. less-than Hey! Hey! There's a glow. Like a town, maybe. Lots of lights. greater-than less-than lf they're still working on the Blade ship, they'd have lights, right8greater-than Cassie pointed out. less-than lt's the only clue we have, and we are running out of timeeagreater-than I said. less-than Let's go. greater-than less-than Go into the lighteagreater-than Marco said. less-than What8greater-than less-than Poltergeist. That old movie. Don't you remember? The little munchkin lady saying, "Go into the light, go into the light"'8greater-than less-than What was this light8greater-than Ax asked, completely mystified. less-than like think it was like . . . death, or somethingeagreater-than Marco said. less-than But, hey, I could be wrong. Maybe it was just a big, bright, afterlife McDonald's. greater-than less-than Shut up, Marcoeagreater-than Rachel said. We had two hours left. Then, if Ax was right, the Sario Rip would end, and the universe would have two Jakes and two Cassies, and would eliminate them both. Go to the Blade ship. Get aboard. Hope Visser Three could get us back. Somehow. Even without the Bug fighter's computer. Not much of a plan. But I was the leader, and a leader has to give people hope. Even when he doesn't have much himself. less-than Let's go see what this light iseagreater-than I said. Liven through the eyes of the jaguar, the rain forest was dark. But, oh, the things I saw, gliding like a ghost along the jungle floor. It was like some incredible theme park ride. Like one of those haunted houses, where each turn of the little car you're in brings you face-to-face with a new goblin or ghoul or skeleton. But it wasn't dead spirits that I saw in my trip through the rain forest. It was life. Life in more shapes and types than you can imagine. Huge snakes, twenty feet long and as big around as the branches they hung from. And snakes so tiny they could almost have been worms. Monstrous insects, beetles the size of your fist, and centipedes as big as rats. And rats as big as poodles. At least, they looked like rats. And frogs in bright, warning, touch-me-and-die colors. And ants everywhere, some marching along in columns, with each ant carrying a piece of leaf ten times its own size. Lizards that shot past, flashes of green. And what I assume were salamanders, like lizards but in brilliant, slimy colors. And overhead, birds and monkeys and more birds. We had been blind as bats, stomping through the rain forest in our human bodies. We had seen nothing. But the jaguar saw and smelled and heard everything. A million species of life filled the forest around us. Forms of life stranger than anything that had come from outer space. Incredible, insane, brilliant life, all fighting to stay alive, all working to grab one little piece of the rain forest. It was overwhelming. For a long time, none of us said anything. We were discovering a world we had never even guessed at. It was as if Polo and his people had been transported to a shopping mall at Christmastime. They would have been amazed and stunned at all the things man creates. Now, the reverse was happening. This was the world the jaguar knew. And it was the world that Polo and his people knew. Their shopping mall at Christmastime, filled, not with all the things man makes, but with all the wild, amazing, insane, extreme, shocking creativity of nature. And every time I thought, Well, I've seen it all, the rain forest would answer, Kid, you haven't seen anything. Take a look at this bird! Take a look at that flower! Get a load of this creature! Little human boy, I have more to show you than you could see in ten lifetimes. less-than 0kayeagreater-than Rachel said, breaking the silence at last. less-than like take it back. I don't want to pave over the rain forest. I don't care if it is dangerous and deadly and it's trying to kill us. greater-than less-than You have an amazing planeteagreater-than Ax said. less-than Amazing. greater-than Surprisingly, it was Cassie who reminded us of our mission. less-than We have very little time left. We have to get to the Blade ship. greater-than less-than You're right, Cassie, but I thought you'd be enjoying theagreater-than I said. less-than This is the ultimate nature walk. greater-than less-than Yes, it iseagreater-than she said softly. less-than And the Yeerks want to destroy it, and anything else they can't use on this planet. I'm not going to let that happen. So let's haul butt, find the Blade ship, get back where we should be, stay alive to keep fight- ing, because no one, man or alien, is messing this place up while I'm around to stop them. greater-than less-than Yes, ma'ameagreater-than I said. less-than like see lights up aheadeagreater-than Marco said. From high above us: less-than l'm over the lights now. It's not a village. It's the Blade ship. And guess what? They dragged the Bug fighter here, too. greater-than Something about that fact . . . that the Bug fighter was with the Blade ship, made me uneasy. There was
no reason for Visser Three to have his people drag the two ships together. There was something wrong there. Something I should see. Something I should realize. But I shook it off. My problem was that I needed a plan. It was time to think, not time to worry about things that made no sense. P.m. We crept, silent as a dream, through the bush. One foot in front of the other, sliding through leaves, our jaguar spots confusing to the eye, invisible. The Hork-Bajir had chopped down a clearing around the Blade ship. There were Taxxons crawling over and around the ship, working feverishly. The Taxxons appeared to have finished work on the Bug fighter. Taxxons are like gigantic centipedes with raw, red circular mouths at one end, and a ring of eyes like red Jell-0. less-than They fit right ineagreater-than Marco said. I was thinking the same thing. The Taxxons could be rain forest natives. Although, even by rain forest standards, they would have been huge. less-than Not enough Hork-Bajireagreater-than Ax said. less-than There should be more. Many more. They should be ringing the perimeter. greater-than less-than like count just five Hork-Bajireagreater-than Rachel said. less-than Wait! Look! Inside the Blade ship. Through that window. Visser Three. greater-than I stared hard and saw the outline of an An-dalite head. less-than Yeah. Good. At least we know where he is. greater-than less-than What do we d8greater-than Rachel asked. She was asking me. And I didn't happen to have any brilliant answers. less-than 0kay, we know Visser Three needs the Bug fighter to get back to our time, right? And we have the computer core, so he can't use the Bug fighter without us. So ... we could bargain with him, but he can't be trusted. Or we could sneak aboard the Blade ship and just leave the com puter core where he can find it greater-than less-than lf he just happens to find the computer core lying around, he's going to know how it got there. And he's going to know what we're up toeagreater-than Marco said. less-than Time is running oueagreater-than Ax said. less-than lf we stow away on the Blade ship but don't give Visser Three the computer core, we're trapped here, along with hmeagreater-than Cassie pointed out. I felt like my head was swimming. Somehow I'd just hoped there would be an answer at the end. But there wasn't. less-than Look, I don't know, all right8ffgreater-than I yelled. less-than like don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't have any magic answer. greater-than less-than Jake, you're supposed to be our fearless leadereagreater-than Marco said. I swear, I almost lost it right then. If we'd both been in human form, I might have punched Marco. less-than like never said I was anyone's leader! I never asked to lead anything. Why do I have to know the answers? You don't, Marco. You don't, Rachel. greater-than less-than 0h, maneagreater-than Marco groaned. less-than Jake, you can't lose it, man. We need you. greater-than I was about to say something very rude when Cassie interrupted. less-than Something has been bothering me. Why is Jake the only one who had those flashes? We all exist in both places at once, right? So why is he the only one who had jungle hallucinations8greater-than The question hit me like a sledgehammer. Of course. It made no sense. I should have seen it. Should have, should have, should have! There were too many should haves! Ax! I remembered asking him if there was some other way to get back. I remembered the way he avoided answering. less-than Ax? What do you know that you're not saying8greater-than less-than What do I know to greater-than he answered evasively. less-than What do you know ... or guess8greater-than less-than Prince Jake, as I said, I know very little about Sario Rips. I was preoccupied by comgreater-than less-than Ax. You call me your prince. Fine, I'm your prince. So answer my questions less-than Prince Jake . . . it's possible that you are ... I mean, it's possible that you are the only real person here. The rest of us may only be memory. greater-than I felt a chill. less-than What are you talking ab8greater-than less-than We may not actually be here. Not really. I mean, yes, we were here in one time line, but that time line was later erased. greater-than less-than Erased? Who erased this time line8greater-than less-than You, Prince Jake. It is possible that only you will escape from this time line. You may go back, alone, and alter everything, so that none of this ever really happens. greater-than less-than ls it just me, or is this truly insane8greater-than Marco asked. less-than Ax, how woul d I be the only one to escape this time line? We think the way to get back to our own time involves repeating the Dracon beam accident that caused the Sario Rip. Right8greater-than less-than Maybe . . . Prince Jake, that may not be the only wayeagreater-than Ax said. less-than There may be another way
.
I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure. And
- greater-than less-than Heyffgreater-than Tobias interrupted sharply. less-than Visser Three in the window over there? I just saw him wobble. Like a TV picture with interference. It's not him! It's a projection caret less-than A decoyffgreater-than Rachel said. Suddenly, I saw my terrible mistake. Visser Three knew that eight fifty-four was the cutoff. He knew. And he figured we knew, too. So he knew that we'd show up, either at the Bug fighter or the Blade ship, trying to beat that deadline. He knew we'd try to hide out aboard one of the two ships. That's why he had his creatures drag the Bug fighter through the forest to be alongside the Blade ship. So we'd have only one place to go. So he'd know exactly where we'd be before eight fifty-four. less-than lt's a trapffgreater-than I yelled. less-than lt's a trap! He's ex pecting uffgreater-than And at that very moment, we heard his voice in our heads. less-than Five cats and a bird. Hah-hah-hah. This will be too easy. greater-than less-than That backslash un! lt's a trapffgreater-than I bolted. But a vine reached up and snagged my front paws. I tumbled, head over heel. Instantly the jaguar was up, but again a vine grabbed me, wrapping around my neck. The vines were alive! Like a snake, it wrapped around my jaguar throat and tightened. I couldn't breathe! I writhed with all the jaguar's strength and broke free. I ran, then ... it hit me! I'd been wearing the Bug fighter's computer around my neck. It was gone! less-than lt's a Lerdethak to greater-than Ax yelled. less-than The vines! It's Visser Three in a morph. It's a creature from the Hork-Bajir home world: a Lerdethak. It comgreater-than Suddenly Ax was silent. The darkness was erupting around me in a tangle of vines. It was like being in a storm of snakes. The vines shot through the air, reaching, grabbing, wrapping themselves around me. I saw a flash of a jaguar -- maybe Ax, I couldn't be sure -- being lifted in the air by one of the living vines. Lifted by his neck, with three more vines wrapping around his legs and body. I wanted to help, but the snakelike things were everywhere! If I hesitated even a second, they would have me. less-than Jakeffgreater-than I heard Marcoyell. less-than lt's got meffgreater-than Cassie's thought-speak voice just screamed. less-than Aaaaahhhhffgreater-than less-than Cassieffgreater-than I yelled. less-than Marcoffgreater-than less-than Jake! It's hugeffgreater-than Tobias yelled down from above. less-than Can't see well, but like a ... like an octopus but with a thousand tentaclesffgreater-than A slither of tentacles slapped against me, wrapping around my legs. I leaped ... a split second away from being caught. I ran. What else could I do? I ran! less-than lt's swallowing themffgreater-than Tobias cried. less-than 0h, no! NO! It has a mouth. Huge! Help themffgreater-than less-than like can't! I c'tffgreater-than I cried. The vine-tentacles were less numerous now, smaller, weaker. less-than l'm inside somethingffgreater-than Rachel said. less-than Smotheringffgreater-than less-than Prince Jake, we've been swallowed by the Lerdethak backslash greater-than less-than backslash can't get to yffgreater-than I yelled. less-than like can't even see you! Claw your way ouffgreater-than less-than Can't . . . can't move . . disgreater-than Cassie moaned. less-than like can't just watch thffgreater-than Tobias yelled. less-than l'm going downffgreater-than I was reeling from sheer shock and horror. I was running in panic, running flat out. The tentacles no longer surrounded me. But when I paused, panting, to look back, I saw it. It was like some gnarled old tree come to life. Like Medusa's head, alive with snakes. I saw it outlined against the bright lights around the Blade ship. It was rising from the ground, growing taller and taller. Tentacles like bullwhips! A maze of snakelike arms, all surrounding a dark core. Through the tentacles I could see a wide, drooping, blue-
outlined mouth. As I watched, a struggling jaguar was tossed inside. And one thin tentacle reached, whipped, and wrapped around a bird that was diving toward it. less-than Hmmmeagreater-than Visser Three said. less-than Just five little Andalites inside my craw. That leaves one still free. But don't worry. Plenty of time to find you. greater-than He had them all. He had them all but me. less-than Settle down, my Andalite friends. Relax. I won't kill you, yet. But you won't morph your way out of this. My Lerdethak morph will hold you tight till I decide your fates. greater-than He had them. Visser Three had won. I was the only one left. I was their only hope. Some hope, I told myself bitterly. I was the one in charge. And I had walked them into Visser Three's trap. Don't feel sorry for yourself, Jake. Find a way out! The huge, thousand-tentacled creature moved easily and swiftly through the rain forest. And now, on both sides of it, I saw the Hork-Bajir warriors. Behind me! All around me! A ring of Hork-Bajir penning me in as Visser Three slithered toward me. Then . . . FLIT! Even my jaguar eyes couldn't see the spear fly. I could only see it when it stuck into the back of a Hork-Bajir. FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! Spears appeared from nowhere. Hork-Bajir began dropping! Polo stepped into view. He looked past me and launched his spear at the Lerdethak. Launched it at Visser Three. But the Visser's morph was far too quick. One vine reached out, snatched the spear from the air, and contemptuously tossed it back. It stuck in the ground where Polo grabbed it. There was no way to stop the Lerdethak. It was safe, surrounded by its vine-tentacles. The only vulnerable part was the head, and it was surrounded by a forest of the - Wait a minute! Not like vines! Not like tentacles! Wrong way to think, Jake, I realized. Branches. Like branches! I dove into darkness and even as I ran, I began to demorph. I heard the flit of spears flying and the cries of Hork-Bajir. But nothing was stopping the Lerdethak. The Visser kept coming. I was human now, blundering blindly through slapping leaves, my bare feet cut and bruised. But at least I had a plan. I ran and focused on a quick morph. I ran and shrank, but still I ran, even as my legs became bowed and I bent forward to use my knuckles like extra feet. And when I was fully monkey ... I turned. The Lerdethak loomed huge above me. Its thousand bullwhip tentacles slashed the air. less-than ls that you, my last Andalite8greater-than Visser Three crowed. less-than ls that little creature your final morph? Pathetic. greater-than Maybe so, I thought. But as far as I'm con cerned, you're just one big jungle gym. I leaped through the air. Leaped for the nearest tentacle. I grabbed it, swung, and flew! No other animal could have penetrated that maze of swinging, snapping, slithering tentacles. But to the monkey, it was all vines and branches. Swing! Fly! Catch! Swing! Fly! Catch! All at hyperspeed! All at warp factor ten! But the monkey could do it! I grabbed one especially big tentacle. It swung me far up in the air, trying to snap me loose. But I held on. And now, down below, I could see the Lerdethak's head. I could see the drooping blue mouth that had just swallowed the others. I glanced aside. Polo! Yes, he was standing with his spear in his hand. less-than Your spearffgreater-than I cried in thought-speak. less-than Your spearffgreater-than In a flash, Polo understood. He threw with all his might. The spear flew straight and true. And from high in the air, holding to the whipping tentacle with my tail alone, I reached with both hands and snatched the spear out of the air. Did you know that one of the reasons humans can throw is because we once swung through the trees? Yep. The shoulder design that makes it possible to swing from branch to branch makes it possible to throw a spear. Very possible. I threw. The spear hit home! It sank into the flesh of the Lerdethak, delivering the poisons of the rain forest into the deadly alien creature. But I had used up all my luck. A tentacle whipped toward me. Like a snapped high-tension wire, it wrapped itself around my neck, and -