Just beneath me, the other Controller from the Jeep kicked Farrand, who was struggling to get up. That was too much for me. I wheeled in the air and went back for a second run.

"Cassie!" Tobias cried a warning.

The front door of the building flew open and they began spilling out -- a half dozen human-Controllers, each armed. And worse ... far worse, four big Hork-Bajir.

But it was too late to back off. I was already diving.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

I heard the first two bullets go whizzing past me.

I felt the third bullet hit my wing. It went straight through my right wing, and I tumbled from the air, suddenly as ungainly as a chicken.

I fell. Helpless, I fell.

WHUMP!

I slammed hard into the ground.

Dizzy and confused, I thought I saw Jake leap toward a Hork-Bajir warrior. But I couldn't be sure. I was fading. Fading . . .

My world grew small and dark. I could no longer see anything far away. I could focus only on the ground right before me. An ant was marching by, carrying a dead bug. Maybe I was 76 just imagining things, as I sank into unconsciousness. Maybe my brain was making up things that weren't there. But I could almost have sworn that the ant was carrying the dead, dried-out husk of the termite queen.

And then everything went black.

77 Chapter NINETEEN

I woke up in a sort of large box. It was dark, but not totally without light. There were small round holes drilled in the sides of the box. Airholes. I could see the commissioner, Farrand, unconscious on the floor beside me.

He looked old. He was mostly bald and had hair growing out of his ears. There was blood trickling from a shallow cut on his forehead.

"Turn on the perimeter defenses!" Visser Three yelled.

I could hear him clearly. I was still an osprey, but ospreys have good hearing. It was strange, being able to hear the Yeerk Visser's voice. We always encountered him when he was in his own stolen Andalite body. Then he communicated only in thought-speak.

"You! And you! Keep your eyes on that box," Visser Three snapped. "If anything . . .

anything, no matter how small tries to get out of there, destroy it! There's an Andalite bandit in that box, and there had better be an Andalite bandit in that box when this is over. Or I'll destroy you both!"

Andalite bandit. That was me. Of course, if I didn't get out of the box, I would have to demorph eventually and Visser Three would see the truth -- that I was a human.

And I would have to demorph soon. My wing felt like it was on fire. The pain was terrible.

"Visser! The Andalite bandits have turned the heavy equipment toward us!" someone yelled.

"Then turn on the force field!"

"But ... but Visser... our own people will be trapped outside of the force field."

The Visser's voice suddenly became very quiet. A very dangerous kind of quiet. "Did I just hear you question my order?"

"No! No Visser! I'm turning on the force field!"

Farrand moaned. He moved his head a little, but then became quiet again. Okay, Cassie, think. Think.

Obviously, my friends were still fighting. They must be winning, or the Visser would not turn on the force field.

They had seized control of some of the machines and turned them against this building. As soon as the force field went up, the heavy equipment would be useless.

And time was on the side of the Yeerks. Visser Three would have called in more help. The Bug fighters full of fresh Hork-Bajir could be landing any minute. When that happened, all would be lost.

We were done for.

No! Think, Cassie!

78 This was the game of predator and prey. This was war. What was the Yeerks" weakness?

What did they need that I could take away?

Farrand moaned again.

Of course!

I took a deep breath. I began to morph quickly out of the pain-wracked osprey body, back to my own human form. Morphing works on DNA, and DNA is not affected by injuries. My reconstructed human body would be normal.

It was cramped in the box, with two humans in there. I was hunched over Farrand when his eyes fluttered open. I was already beginning my next morph. What the man saw was the face of a girl. But a face that was sprouting luxuriant black-and-white fur.

His eyes closed again. He would think it was all a dream. Hopefully.

"Hah!" I heard Visser Three crow. "The force field has stopped them!"

"Visser! The first Bug fighters will land here in fifteen minutes."

"Got them!" Visser Three said. "This time, I've got them!" He was using thought-speak. The Visser had demorphed.

I focused all my thoughts. I knew what I had to do. But it was dangerous. I had to communicate with the Visser in thought-speak. And I had to do it without giving him any hint that I was a human.

No long conversation. Monotone voice. As few words as possible. No images of any kind.

"Visser," I said. "I'll kill the human. "

That was Visser Three's weakness -- he needed Farrand alive. That was the pressure point.

By threatening to kill Farrand, I threatened the Visser's plan.

See, you can't make a Controller out of a corpse.

The Visser instantly understood.

"Everyone in this room! Weapons on the box! Be prepared on my command to shoot the Andalite without hitting the human! It may be in any sort of wild, deadly animal morph! Do not let it escape. "

I got into position. The human me was scared. But the skunk me was perfectly calm. The skunk knew it had the ultimate weapon.

Suddenly, the door of the box flew open.

79 Visser Three stood there in his Andalite body, with his deadly Andalite tail cocked and ready to strike.

Beside him, on either side, stood half a dozen armed human-Controllers. And in between the humans, towering above them, five huge Hork-Bajir warriors.

The human-Controllers leveled their weapons.

The Hork-Bajir had weapons, too, but they didn't need them. Hork-Bajir are weapons, seven feet of ankle blades, knee blades, elbow blades, forehead spikes, and armored tail-- like Stegosaurus meets Klingon.

All this awesome deadly destructive power stared down at me.

Visser Three aimed his Andalite stalk eyes at me. His main eyes were already staring in amusement.

"This is the best you could do, Andalite scum?" He laughed. "Such a terrifying beast you've morphed!" He laughed again.

He laughed at the chubby, cat-sized black- and-white animal in the box. Laughed at the way I stood with my back to him, tail raised, looking over my shoulder.

A skunk can fire its scent with amazing accuracy up to about fourteen feet.

The Visser was only six feet away.

"Kill it," Visser Three ordered coldly.

But I fired first.

80 Chapter twenty

A skunk can fire its scent in five to seven shots.

I fired once and hit the Visser in the face.

I fired again and hit the nearest Hork-Bajir on the left. Again and hit two human-Controllers.

Again and again, all within about three seconds.

"Aaaarggghh!"

"Oheaguheaguheaohhhhh.ohhhh!"

"Heruntgahal! Stink! Arrrr!"

The Visser staggered back, blinded and reeling from the mighty stench. The human-Controllers covered their mouths with their hands. Some even dropped their weapons.

The Hork-Bajir I was worried about. I didn't know if Hork-Bajir even had a sense of smell.

Turns out they do.

Turns out they have an excellent sense of smell. Too bad.

The Hork-Bajir were the first to panic. One fired his Dracon beam wildly.

"Don't shoot, you fools!"

Visser Three screamed. "You'll hit the human! Or me!"