The plan was to morph into fish to enter the Yeerk ship's water pipes. Of course, in order to morph into something, you first have to "acquire" it. Which means being able to touch it.
"Shouldn't be any big problem," Jake said confidently.
"Uh-huh," Cassie said dryly. "And how many times have you gone fishing?"
"Counting this time? Once." He laughed.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Typical suburban boy," she said affectionately. "It isn't all that easy."
"Then you guys better get started," I advised. "I'll go look around."
"Take care of yourself, Tobias," Rachel called out as I took wing.
I watched from on high as they made one failed attempt after another to convince a fish to bite one of our hooks.
It seemed ridiculous, but the entire plan was hanging on the question of whether or not we could catch a fish. And time was running out. The day wore on. Still no fish.
58 Jake was getting edgy. Rachel was downright cranky. And Marco? Forget Marco. "This is ridiculous!" he raged. "We're four - I mean, five - fairly intelligent human beings. And we can't outsmart one fish that probably has an IQ of four?"
Cassie was the only one remaining calm. "Fishing is a matter of skill and luck," she said placidly. "A smart fisherman learns not to become frustrated."
Jake looked at the little watch we'd brought along. "From what we know, the Yeerks will start arriving in an hour to clear the area."
Rachel nodded. "Even if we catch a fish now, we won't have time to test the morph."
"Maybe we should back off for today," I suggested. "You really ought to test out the fish morph. You guys all know how much trouble a morph can be at first." Jake shook his head firmly. "I don't think so, Tobias. We'd have to wait till we had another day off. Tomorrow's no good because I have stuff with my parents. So does Marco. Which means we'd have to wait a whole week."
"So we try again next weekend. What's the hurry?"
"The hurry is that the Yeerks can't keep coming to this same lake forever. Sooner or later the level of the water will start dropping, from them taking so much. They must use one lake for a while, then move on to another. It could take forever for us to find where they move to next."
It made sense. But that didn't make me feel any better about it.
"This is the first water animal any of us have morphed. You don't have any idea what it's going to be like."
"I know," Jake snapped. "Look, Tobias, I know it's not exactly ideal."
"Hah!" Cassie yelped. She yanked at the line she was holding. "I believe we may have a fishy."
It took just a few seconds to haul in the fish.
"Trout," she said, looking it over as it flopped in the shallow water. The hook was poked through its lip. It was about ten inches long, not very big.
The four of them stared blankly at it.
"We have to become that?" Marco asked.
"It's a fish," Cassie said. "What did you expect?"
Marco shrugged. "I don't know. Something more like Jaws. This is just a fish. I mean, we could clean him and eat him with a little lemon juice. Maybe some fries on the side."
The others turned and gave him a dirty look.
59 Cassie reached down into the water and took hold of the squirmy gray thing. She concentrated. Her eyes closed halfway. She was acquiring it. The fish DNA was being absorbed into Cassie's body.
The gift of the Andalite. The curse of the Andalite - the power to morph.
60 CHAPTER 19
"I don't like this plan," I blurted.
Jake looked up at me in surprise. "Tobias, you were in on the planning right from the start."
"Look, don't you guys realize how dangerous this could be?"
"I realize," Marco said. "I realize it plenty. But I thought you were the big, gung-ho Yeerk-killer. Suddenly now you're afraid?"
"I'm not afraid for me," I said. "I'll be flying around safely while the four of you go up into that ship."
Cassie nodded. "It's hard standing by while someone else is risking their life," she said. "I understand how you feel. But there have been times when you were the one taking the risks."
"Look, we don't have time to debate this," Jake said. "We have a plan we've all agreed to.
Let's get on with it before the Yeerks show up." Jake gets peevish when someone questions things after everything has already been decided. Usually it's Marco getting on his nerves.
"We'll be okay," Rachel said confidently. Rachel took the fish in her hand. The fish went limp, as usual, while the acquiring was happening.
Suddenly I couldn't watch anymore. I'd just had a flash of memory, watching the four of them straining to get out of their wolf bodies. What if they were trapped in fish morph?
The idea of being trapped was still not something any of them really understood. I mean, they knew it had happened to me. But people are funny - they never think something bad will happen to them. I knew it could happen.
And to be trapped as a fish? It made me sick just thinking about it. The rest of your life in the body of a fish? Being trapped in a hawk's body seemed downright pleasant by comparison.
"I'm going to go upstairs and see if anyone's coming," I said. I caught a small breeze and flapped hard to clear the treetops.
It was tough work gaining enough altitude to get a good view of the area. It was mostly dead air all around. But I was glad for the workout. It took my mind off imagining what life would be like if my only friends in the world were trapped as fish in a mountain lake.
I would have laughed if it weren't so serious. I mean, come on, how many kids have to worry about all their friends becoming fish? Life had definitely gotten strange since that night when we saw the Andalite landing in the construction site.
I circled higher and higher till I could see the entire lake and most of the surrounding area.
No Park Rangers. Yet. I wondered if Jake was right and maybe the Yeerks would move on to another lake. Maybe they already had.
Then, there, way down below, on a branch . . . the hawk. The female I had freed from captivity.
61 She was watching me. I could see her eyes follow me across the sky. In part, I knew, she was merely watching me for the simple reason that I was in her territory. Hawks are defensive about their territory. They don't want strangers coming and grabbing all the best prey.
But I had the feeling that there was something more going on. She wanted me to join her. I don't know how I knew that, but I did. She wanted me-to fly down to her.
Some people think hawks mate for just a season. Some people think they mate for life, and I don't really know which is true.
One thing I knew for sure: I wasn't ready to settle down with anyone. Especially not a hawk.
And yet there was this feeling in me. Like . . . like I belonged with her.
I looked away. I would be glad when this mission was over and I no longer had to come here to her territory. She confused me.
Suddenly, movement!
I had let myself be distracted.
Trucks! Jeeps! They were rolling down the road. They were within a mile and moving fast.
I looked frantically for my friends. There they were! I shrugged off the wind beneath my wings and dropped toward them.
"Here they come!" I cried. "Get to the cave!"
They ran for the cave. But it was harder to crawl inside in their human bodies. The wolves' thick pelts had protected them against the scratches and tears of the bushes.