I had morphed into a human. The DNA came from samples I had long since acquired from Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco. I would have liked to have Tobias's DNA, but that was not possible since he is a nothlit.

My human friends have some differences, but each has only two legs, two arms, and two eyes. They each have one mouth.

Prince Jake is large and pale in color with brown hair. Cassie is shorter and darker in color, with darker brown hair. Marco is also shorter and medium color, with long brown hair.

Rachel is taller and pale and has yellow hair.

None of them has any sort of tail.

"This always makes my skin crawl," Marco said, staring at me in a sideways fashion. "It's like the four of us were run through a blender. I swear he has my eyes."

"What's gross is I'll look at him and think, 'Wow, is that guy cute,'" Rachel said. "Then I'll see something that looks like Cassie. Or worse, like me!"

"What? Rachel in love with her own looks?" Marco said, using an inflection of his mouth-sounds that humans call sarcasm. Then he looked troubled. "I'm still not sure this is a good idea. The Controllers could - "

"Uh-uh," Prince Jake interrupted. "We're not talking about Controllers, Yeerks, or Vjsser Three. We are taking a break. We've fought one battle after another. We destroyed the Kandrona. We beat that Veleek monster of theirs. And now we are taking some well-deserved vacation time. Ax wants to learn more about humans, so that's what we're doing."

10 I was never exactly a great student, but I could just imagine how my fellow Andalites would act when they finally rescued me. They'd ask, "So, Aximili, what did you learn about Earth?" And I'd have to say, "Um, well, not much."

The trick would be to learn about the humans without letting them learn too much about Andalites. There were things I could never tell the humans. Things that might make them turn against me.

"We should hit the Yeerks again while they're weak," Rachel growled. "We know the Yeerks won't get a new ground-based Kandrona for another week. They must still be starving for lack of Kandrona rays. We should hit them!"

Yeerks are a race of parasitic slugs. They live inside the brains of other species. They completely dominate the host body, making it a "Controller." There are Hork-Bajir-Controllers, Taxxon-Controllers, and more and more human-Controllers. Any human you know might be a Controller. There is no way to tell - unless you are an Andalite.

I sympathized with Rachel. But I also understood Prince Jake's caution. No warrior can fight all the time.

"Look, you guys," Prince Jake said. "We hurt the Yeerks. It was a good job. But we also know that they have a replacement Kandrona being set up, so don't assume they're weak.

Besides, if they are weak, they sure haven't shown it. I expected to see Yeerks dying left and right, and former Controllers walking free again. Hasn't happened. Somehow they've maintained."

"We can't know what is going on with the Yeerks," Cassie pointed out. "Just because we haven't seen them suffer doesn't mean they haven't."

"Okay, look, here we are again, talking about Yeerks," Jake said impatiently. "We have just come from a very, very unpleasant battle. And we came very close to ending up dead. And it's not the first time. So we are going to relax and be normal. We are going to the movie. And we are going to have fun. And no one . . . Rachel ... is going to look for a fight."

"Don't you love it when he gets all forceful like that?" Marco said to Cassie. "He's just so Schwarzenegger sometimes."

"Okay, Ax," Jake said. "Time to get dressed."

"Prince Jake, I am already wearing this garment," I said, pointing to the thing that covered my body. "Wearing. Ing. Ing-uh."

It is an amazing sensation, making sounds with your mouth. Actual words are formed by vibrating your throat and positioning your tongue. But some sounds are better than others.

"Ing" is a wonderful sound to make.

"Don't call me 'Prince,'" Prince Jake said.

"Ax, you're dressed like an escapee from the Ice Capades," Marco said.

11 "You can't go out in public wearing tights and a spandex top," Rachel said. "It's a major fashion 'don't.' Here."

She handed me a bag. In the bag were items of clothing. It took several minutes for me to dress successfully. There is a lot to remember, and every bit of clothing can only go on one way. Socks go on the feet and not on the hands, for example.

When I was done, they all stared at me. Even Tobias flew down to stare.

"Rachel, he looks like he's going to the country club to play polo," Marco said. "I knew we shouldn't let you pick the clothes. He's like a bully magnet. Even I want to beat him up."

"It's a classic look," Rachel said angrily. "Like you're Mister Fashion? A person who dresses like Beavis?"

"I think he looks cute," Cassie said.

"Well, that's the kiss of death," Tobias remarked from his perch in the tree above.

"It is?" I asked.

"Just an expression, Ax-man," Tobias said. "You'll have fun." Ax-man. That's what Tobias calls me some times.

"Come on, Ax," Prince Jake said, smiling. "Let's do this. If anyone tries to beat you up, we'll protect you."

12 Chapter TWO

I did not understand the plot of that story," I said.

We were in the movie theater. I was "sitting." This involves bending your body and resting on the fat deposits halfway down the back of your body.

"That was a preview, Ax," Prince Jake said. "It's just to give you an idea what the whole movie will be like when it comes out."

"Yes. I see. Why is the screen flat and two- dimensional? Flat. Flat-tuh."

"Because that's how movies are."

"Ah."

"You want some popcorn?" Marco asked. He held one of the open boxes they had obtained.

He moved it close to me.

"Is it food?" I asked.

"Well, sort of," Prince Jake said. "But, Ax? You know how you get around food, okay? So remember - don't get carried away."

I watched Marco eat some of the popcorn. I did as he did. I stuck my large human fingers into the box. I removed a handful of the food and stuck it in my mouth.

I chewed.

The texture was rough and strange. And the flavor! It reminded me of a food called pizza.

But there was just a hint of cigarette butts, which I also enjoy. Although Prince Jake had told me never to eat cigarette butts again. They are bad for you.

I took another handful of the popcorn. I chewed it. Another handful.

"This is excellent!" I cried.

"It tastes like it's about a week old," Marco said.

"What are these flavors? What are they called?"

"I don't know. Salt? Grease?"

"Salt!" I said, savoring the very sound of the word. "Salt! And grease! Greee-suh!"

"Hey, hold it down," someone behind me said. "The movie is starting."

"Salt. Salt-tuh. Grease. Greeeesss."

"Ax, don't talk so loud, okay?" Prince Jake suggested.

"Here, just take the box," Marco said.

13 He handed me the box of popcorn. I quickly ate the rest of it.

"Not the box," Marco wailed. "You don't eat the box\"

"It tasted of salt and grease," I pointed out.

"Oh, man. Is it time to leave yet?" Marco asked Prince Jake. "Tell me it's time to leave."