am scary. Should have seen me a little while ago with tusks sticking out of my mouth and a three-foot-long nose. What I really said was, "So, what's for dinner?" My mother winced. "Pizza? Chinese? Any thing else you can order over the phone? I'm sorry, but I have this brief and I have court in the morning." "Mom," I told her for maybe the thousandth time, "I don't mind pizza. Sorry, but your cooking isn't all that great, so it's no big deal ordering pizza." "Well, at least get some veggies on it," she said. After dinner I called Jake. "Do you want to come over?" I said. "I got that new CD, if you want to listen to it." There was no CD, of course. It's just that we always have to be careful. Like I said, Jake's brother, Tom, is a Controller. He could be listen ing on the extension. Then I called Cassie and Marco and told them the same cover story. When they arrived I told them about Melissa, and then I told them about my little run-in with the creep. I did not tell them about Chapman driving me home. I don't know why. But when I saw the way Marco exploded, I was glad I hadn't told them the whole story. "Oh, that was dumb! Dumb! DUMB!" Marco said. "What if that guy is a Controller?" "He wasn't a Controller," I said scornfully. "Why would the Yeerks want to make a Controller out of a punk? They want people in positions of power." "We don't know that for sure," Jake said. "Tom isn't in a position of power." "And how about people driving by in their cars, or looking out of the windows of their homes?" Marco asked. "And what if he runs and tells someone about this girl who suddenly sprouted a trunk and tusks?" "No one is going to believe a lowlife like that," I said. "His friends won't believe him," Marco said poisonously, "but a Controller would believe him. A Controller would know what it meant." Yes. A Controller would know what it meant. A Controller like Chapman. Or even Melissa, if she was one of them. I felt sick. It was like my whole life was nothing but lies. Lies to Melissa. Lies to my mother. Now I was lying by not telling the others the whole truth. "Okay, I screwed up," I muttered. "You sure did!" Marco crowed. "You screwed up so -- his "Marco, let it drop," Jake said. "Rachel knows she made a mistake. We all make mistakes." Marco rolled his eyes. Cassie gave me an encouraging smile. "It was dumb putting yourself in that position, Rachel. You need to be more careful. But still, I'd have paid my next ten allowances to see the look on that guy's face." "The important thing is that it doesn't sound like Rachel can use Melissa to get close to Chap man," Jake said. "Not if she's a Controller herself. And not if she's going to continue being weird to Rachel." "I guess we'll have to find another way," I said quickly. "I mean, we know where Chapman's office is. We know where his house is. Maybe we could just morph into some small animals and hide out." "Small animals like what?" Marco asked. "When Jake turned into a lizard he got stepped on. He lost his tail. Besides, what are you going to morph into? A cockroach?" We all shuddered at the thought. The small est, strangest thing anyone had morphed so far was when Jake had done the lizard. It creeped him out big time. A roach would be even worse. "The problem with being a cockroach," I said, "aside from the fact that it is too gross to believe, is that roach senses might not even be useful to us. Can a roach "hear" in a way that would make it possible for us to understand what we're hearing?" We all looked at Cassie. She's sort of our ex pert on animals. Cassie held up her hands. "Oh, come on. Like I know how a cockroach sees and hears? We don't take care of roaches at the rehab clinic." We all sat there feeling glum for a few minutes. But I wasn't going to let it drop. This was about more than just striking a blow at the Yeerks. I had to find out if Chapman suspected me. If he did, we were all in terrible danger. I happened to glance over at my desk. There was my math homework, still not done. That didn't make me feel any better. But then I looked at the photos I had mounted in one of those big frames with six different holes. One was of me with my mom and dad on a whitewater rafting trip we took. One was of me visiting my dad at his job -- he's a weatherman on TV. We were grinning in front of a map of storms. Another picture was of Cassie and me riding horses side by side, with Cassie, as usual, looking like she'd spent her entire life in the saddle, and me looking like a total dweeb. But the picture that got my attention was one taken a couple of years ago of Melissa and me. I got up and went over to take the frame down. I stared hard at the picture. "What?" Jake asked. "What is it?" "It's me and Melissa," I said. "It was like her twelfth birthday, or some birthday, anyway, and we were out on her lawn playing with the present her dad gave her." "So what?" Marco asked. "So ..." I passed him the photograph. It showed me and Melissa in shorts. And between us a small black-and-white kitten. "So her pres ent was a cat." L ook! A kitty door!" Jake pointed. "Where?" Marco asked. "See the lines of light? At the bottom of the regular door?" "Oh, yeah," Marco said. "I wish the moon were out. I can't see a thing." The four of us were cowering behind a hedge that bordered the Chapmans' lawn. They lived in a pretty normal-looking suburban home. You know: two stories, a garage, a lawn. Nothing to make you think that the person who lived there was part of a huge alien conspiracy to take over the world. "Let me just ask you this," Marco whispered. "Why did it have to be Chapman? I was afraid of Chapman even before we found out he was a Controller." "You're not still upset over that detention he gave you?" I asked. "Look, if you're going to lis ten to your CD player in math class with an earphone hidden under your hair, you have to remember not to start singing along." "Yeah, that was only slightly stupid, Marco," Jake agreed. "I still say Chapman never would have given me a whole week's detention if he was totally hu man." "I have a question," Cassie said. "How do we get Melissa's cat to come outside?" We all looked at her. "Good question," I admitted. "I mean, we could hide here in the bushes for a long time. But sooner or later the neighbors are going to notice." less-than What does the cat look l8greater-than Tobias was sitting perched on a nearby tree branch. He was close enough to hear us. I tried to remember. "It's name is Fluffer, I re member that much. Fluffer Me Kitty." "You've got to be kidding." Marco, of course. I tried to remember back to when I used to hang out with Melissa. "It's black and white. You know, in patches." less-than l'll look around. Maybe it's already outside. greater-than Tobias spread his wings, swooped silently down over our heads, and flapped away into the night. "You know what we need?" I said. "We need another kitty. We should have thought of that. Then we could have the second cat call out to Fluffer." Marco turned to stare at me. "Meowfluffer, comeoutmeow, meow come and play meow?" "Tobias morphed a cat very early on, didn't he?" I asked. "Yeah," Jake said. "His first morph. The first morph any of us did." "Rachel, you need to remember if you go in there tonight that you have to stay in cat charac ter," Cassie said. "Most people would just think it was weird if a cat acted strangely. But Chapman may be able to guess what's going on if Fluffer suddenly starts acting un-catlike." "So you're saying I shouldn't try eating with a fork or changing the channels on the TV?" Everyone laughed -- quietly and nervously, but it was laughter just the same. Suddenly Tobias dropped out of the sky, then drifted over us in a lazy circle and called down, less-than Got him. greater-than He settled back on the branch. He was really an amazing animal, when you just looked at him as a bird and didn't think about him being a boy trapped in there. I mean, the gaze of a hawk when it is looking right at you is incredibly intim idating. Gentle Tobias now had an expression that looked totally ferocious. "You're kidding. You found Fluffer?" I asked. less-than Hey, it's easy. Spotting prey is what I do. Or what a hawk does, anyway. Actually, there are maybe six or eight cats running around the neighborhood. Also, three dogs and an amazing amount of rats and mice. greater-than "Rats?" That got Marco's attention. "Rats? Here? This is suburbia. I mean, it's a lot better than where I live. They have rats?" less-than There are rats everywhereeagreater-than Tobias said. less-than Rats and mice and all kinds of plump, juicy . . disgreater-than He fell silent, embarrassed. "Get a grip, Tobias," Marco said. "Don't start eating rats, all right? I don't know if I can have someone who eats rats for a friend." Sometimes Marco is funny. Sometimes he goes too far. This was one of those times. "Shut up, Marco," I growled. "I ate a live spider," Jake pointed out. "Does that mean you an
d I can't be friends?" From his tone of voice I could tell he was angry, too. None of us knew what Tobias was going through. None of us had ever been in morph for more than two hours. Tobias had been a hawk for more than a week. Marco realized he'd been a jerk. "Well, yeah, I guess you're right," he muttered. "Besides, I've been known to eat eggplant. So I guess I can't criticize." That was an apology, or as close as Marco could get to an actual apology. less-than The cat we're looking for is just a half block awayeagreater-than Tobias said. less-than Follow me. greater-than He flew off, but kept low. We took off after him. Even flying at minimum speed, Tobias was too fast for us to keep up with, so he had to circle back again and again. We had a hard time keep ing him in sight. "This doesn't look too strange," Cassie joked. "The four of us running down the street looking up in the sky." less-than Thereeagreater-than Tobias called down. less-than See that yard with the two trees8greater-than "Yeah. Just to our left?" less-than That's the one. The cat you're looking for is stalking a mouse, right behind the trunk of the nearest tree. greater-than "Okay, we can't all go traipsing over some stranger's yard," I pointed out. "I'll go with Cassie." Marco held up the kitty carrier we had brought along. "Don't you need this?" "Not yet. I'll grab Flutter and bring him back over here. You two guys just stand here, looking casual." Cassie and I stepped onto the lawn. The house was dark. Maybe no one was home. That would be good. "Go left," I suggested to Cassie. We circled the tree. "Hey, Flutter," I said in a high, talking-to- animals voice. "Here, kitty kitty. Remember me?" "There he is." "I see him." I squatted down and held my hand out toward the cat. "Hey, Flutter Flutter. It's me, Rachel." Flutter flattened his ears back along his skull. He looked from me to Cassie and back again. "Come on, Flutter, it's me. Come on, boy." "He's a male? He's a tomcat?" Cassie asked. "Yeah, I think so." "Oh, wonderful," Cassie moaned. "Please tell me he's been fixed, at least." "Have you been fixed, Flutter McKitty?" I cooed. "Why do we care?" I asked Cassie. "Because pound for pound, a tomcat is like one of the toughest, most dangerous little things around." "Who, Flutter? My little kitty friend Flutter?" "Even if he is fixed, a male cat, out at night in hunting mode?" Cassie shook her head. "We should have worn gloves." "Oh, come on. He's a sweet kitty cat." To demonstrate just how sweet Flutter was, I reached a hand for him. "Hhhhhhssssss!" In a movement too fast for my human eyes to see, Fluffer swiped out with one paw. Three bloody scratches appeared on the back of my hand and Fluffer shot straight up the tree. "Owww!" I stuck my injured hand to my mouth. "Gloves would definitely have been a good idea," Cassie said. "How are you guys doing?" Jake whispered, just loudly enough for me to hear him. "Wonderful," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm bleeding and Fluffer is up the tree." I heard Marco giggle. I expected that. But then I heard Jake giggling, too. I looked up and saw two glittering yellow- green eyes glaring down from the dark tree. "This was supposed to be the easy part," I said. "I figured, okay, we go and acquire Flutter's DNA, and then the hard stuff begins." "We have a cat up a tree," Cassie said dolefully. "You know how hard it is to get a cat down out of a tree?"
"I have a plan," I said. "Tobias, are you up there?" less-than Right above you. But I'm not going to try and snatch an angry tomcat down out of a tree. greater-than "That's not what I was going to ask," I said. I took a deep breath. This night was turning weird real fast. "What I need is a mouse." less-than Go ot something for you. A baby mouse.
A mean baby mouse. It keeps trying to bite me. greater-than Tobias flew in a low, tight circle overhead, disappearing behind the tree branches, then reappear ing. less-than Are you ready8greater-than I took a deep breath. I gave him a wave. Sure, I was ready. Why wouldn't I be ready to have a hawk hand me a mouse? Just your normal kind of thing to deal with. Tobias flew low and slow. I held out my hands, cupped together. With amazing precision and perfect timing, he deposited the mouse in my hands. "Don't let it bite you!" Cassie warned. "Rabies." "Wonderful," I muttered. "Just one more fun aspect of this night." Actually, I was glad for the warning. The mouse was squirming in terror, try ing to get away. I could feel its tiny little mouse legs scrabbling against my palms. "You should all get rabies shots," Cassie said. "Seriously. I already have mine. But if we're going to be handling wild animals ... In the mean time, be careful to keep his teeth away from you." "I wasn't planning on feeding him my finger," I said. "Hey, wait." Cassie pried open my hands to get a better look. "That's not a mouse. That's a shrew. See the eyes? They're too small. And the tail is wrong. That's not a baby mouse, Tobias, it's a full-grown shrew." less-than Sorry. Is that bad8greater-than Cassie shrugged. "I don't know. I just know it isn't a mouse." "Wait a minute," Marco said, beginning to grin. "Rachel is going to become a shrew? How will we know when she's changed? How do you become what you already are?" Everyone was too nervous to find the joke very funny. We felt kind of stupid, standing around on some stranger's lawn playing with rodents. I mean, there are times when the whole thing just seems so utterly insane, you know? "Okay, I have to concentrate on acquiring, so everyone shut up," I said. Acquiring is what we call it when we absorb a sample of the animal's DNA. The DNA is the stuff inside the cells that sort of serves like a how-to manual for making the animal. When you acquire, you have to think hard about the animal, focusing on it and blocking everything else out. Then the animal kind of goes limp, like it's in a trance. It takes just about a minute. It was easy to focus on the shrew, what with it squealing in terror and squirming to get out of my hand. But it was gross, definitely gross. I know there's nothing really wrong with shrews, but still. They freak me out a little. When I was done, I opened my eyes. "Okay, little shrew, thanks for your help. You can go now." "I'm not sure this is a good idea," Jake said doubtfully. "Really?" Marco was sarcastic. "You're not sure it's a good idea for Rachel to turn into a shrew in order to lure a vicious cat down from a tree so she can morph into that cat and sneak into the assistant principal's house? What worries you about that plan?" Cassie looked worried, too. "You know, Rachel, usually a cat will play with a mouse a little bit. But sometimes they don't. Sometimes they go right for the neck bite. The mouse -- or the shrew -- dies instantly." less-than Be careful, Racheleagreater-than Tobias said. less-than l'll be watching, but be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. greater-than He "said" it so only I could hear. I could tell, because nobody else reacted. I looked up at Tobias and winked. I knew he would see it. I rubbed my hands together. "Okay, let's do this." I concentrated once more on the shrew. The shrew was now a part of me. I don't know how it works, but it does. Somehow, thanks to the Andalite technology, the DNA of that shrew was stored away inside me. It was like having a map to guide me as I transformed. Not that I had a clue how I was able to do it. The first sensation was of shrinking. It's a long, long trip down from being five feet tall to being less than an inch tall. It's like falling. Ex cept that you can feel the ground under your feet the whole time. One minute I was looking Jake and Marco and Cassie in the face. The next minute their faces seemed to be zooming high up above me. I was falling down the length of their bodies. It was like they were huge skyscrapers and I had jumped off the roof or something. My outer clothing fell around me like a big, collapsing circus tent. It made a slight grinding noise as my backbone collapsed into a size smaller than my little finger. There was the disturbing, not-quite-pain sensation that goes along with some morphs. Like you knew it should hurt, but it didn't quite. I could feel the tail sprout from my tailbone. A long, hairless tail. Not at all attractive. My legs practically disappeared, they were so small. I was a chubby little ball of fur no more than two inches long, with four tiny feet. Then the fear kicked in. The shrew's fear. It hit me so hard I began to shake. I rattled with terror. I quaked with terror. I was surrounded! Predators everywhere! I could smell them. I could see them -- huge, looming, slow-moving creatures standing over me. "Rachel? You okay down there?" It was Cas sie . She lifted the folds of my clothing off of me. I heard the voice and sort of understood it, but it was more like distant thunder. It didn't re ally mean anything. At least not to the shrew. I
t was looking for a way out. Its brain might have been terrified, but it was also amazingly smart. It was evaluating every possible escape route. It was measuring the distance between the three sets of legs. One set of legs moved slightly. I was off like a shot. Running! Running! Blades of grass seemed six feet tall. Twigs were like fallen trees that I had to scramble over. My little feet moved with incredible speed. I scooted past a beetle that seemed to me to be as big as a dog. "Rachel, you have to get control!" I knew they were right. I even sort of understood what they meant. But the terror was so strong. The urge to survive was so powerful. And at the same time there were other feelings. Hunger. I smelled nuts. I smelled dead flesh. I even smelled the maggots squirming on the dead flesh. And I wanted them. I know it's too gross, but I wanted to eat those maggots. Heavy pounding footsteps behind me! I turned sharply and ducked under a bush. The steps went barreling by before stopping and turning back toward me. They were faster than I was, but not as agile. I could get away. I could get away and find that dead smell and gorge! less-than Rachel, it's Tobias. The shrew is in control. You have to assert yourself! Tell it to stop run nings Fear! Hunger! less-than Rachel, listen to me. You're getting away from us. You have to take charge. greater-than Fear! Hunger! Run! Grass and twigs and dirt. Low scratchy branches over my head. The smell of food. The smell of a dog that had urinated on this bush. More loud footsteps and far-off rumbling voices yelling. They were trying to catch me. But I was fast! I was clever! But not clever enough. I ran out from under the bush. Like a shadow inside of a shadow, I felt it descend on me. Terror like nothing I'd felt before swept over me. Something deep, deep inside my shrew brain cried out. It was the ultimate fear! The ultimate horror! It was the enemy I could not defeat! And it was coming for me!