CHAPTER 14

Okay,” Jake said. “Here’s what we know. Or at least, what we think we know.”

We were all at Rachel’s house again. It was a few hours after I had gone to see Marco. Tobias was perched on the windowsill. He didn’t feel all that comfortable being inside for long. He liked the feel of the wind and the open air.

“First, we believe that somehow a surviving Andalite, or maybe more than one Andalite, is trapped out in the ocean.”

“Hopefully Andalites can hold their breath for a really long time,” Marco joked.

“Second, Cassie believes she can find this Andalite, thanks to the information from the whale.”

Everyone kept a straight face for a few seconds. Then, all at once, everyone cracked up.

“Information from a whale,” Marco repeated, giggling.

<Have our lives gotten really weird, or is it just me?> Tobias asked.

“Weird? Weird?” Marco crowed. “The talking bird wants to know if getting information on the location of an alien from a whale, that you’ve just saved from sharks, by turning into dolphins … You’re suggesting that’s weird?”

Jake smiled. “Well, stay tuned. It just gets weirder. Cassie and I have been going over maps. She says the location we’re looking for is pretty far out to sea. Too far for us to swim and still have any time left of our two-hour limit.”

“Well, that’s the ball game, isn’t it?” Marco asked.

Jake nodded at Rachel. “I was talking to Rachel earlier and she has an idea.”

Rachel stood up. She’d been lounging on the bed. “We hop a ride on a ship. First we morph into something like a seagull.”

Marco groaned. “I hate plans that begin with the words ‘first we morph.’ “

“We morph into seagulls,” I said, picking up the plan we’d worked out. “Then we fly out into the shipping channel. We land on a tanker or a container ship or something that’s going the right direction. We morph back to human, rest up, let the ship get us closer, then jump over the side, morph to dolphin, and go the rest of the way.”

“Oh, well, when you put it that way, it sounds so easy,” Marco sneered. “How about if we just walk over to Chapman’s house and tell him to call Visser Three to finish us off? It’s so much easier, and the results will be the same.”

Jake sighed. “It is dangerous and risky, and there are about a hundred things that could go wrong. Plus, as Marco has told us, we have reason to think that Controllers will be out there, searching for the same thing we’re searching for.”

“This idea just gets better and better,” Marco said.

“Let’s put it to a vote,” Jake suggested.

“I’m in,” Marco said instantly.

A split second behind him, Rachel said her usual “I’m in.”

Everyone stared openmouthed at Marco.

“Just once I wanted to beat Rachel to it,” he explained.

“Tobias?” Jake asked.

<I don’t think I should vote. I have to sit this one out. I can’t stay up that long with nowhere to set down. Sorry.>

“You had the dreams, just like Cassie,” Jake pointed out. “Do you think we should do this or not?”

Tobias fixed his fierce glare on me. <Yes, Cassie and I both had the dreams. I think they’re real.>

“Okay, looks like we go,” Jake said briskly. “Tomorrow. First thing in the morning. We can’t wait any longer. The longer we hold off, the greater the chance the Yeerks will beat us to it.”

We left Rachel’s house. Marco split off in one direction. Tobias flew off to some unknown destination. Jake and I walked together for a while, even though it was out of his way.

“I think Tobias is feeling kind of left out,” I said. “You should talk to him later, remind him of how many times he’s helped us out.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jake agreed.

We walked a little farther in silence. It’s one of the nice things about the relationship Jake and I have. We can be quiet together and feel okay about it.

“This is really dangerous, isn’t it?” I asked him.

He nodded.

Suddenly I stopped walking. I don’t know why, but I had this need to tell him something. I took his hand and held it between both of mine. “Jake?” I said.

“Yes?”

It was on the tip of my tongue, but then it seemed ridiculous to say it. So instead I said, “Look, don’t ever get hurt, okay?”

He smiled that smile. “Me? I’m indestructible.”

The way he said it, I almost believed him. But then, as he went his way and I headed toward home, I glanced up at the sky.

Against the blaze of sunset I saw a flash of russet tail feathers. Tobias. Our friend, who had been trapped forever in a body not his own.

None of us was indestructible.