Animorphs #55: The Prologue

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I turned to see a woman who looked familiar. She was shorter than me and maybe twice my age. She was black and wearing a white lab coat. In her hands was a typical service pistol. She might have gotten it from one of the security guards I downed.

She was wearing a nametag, but I didn't need it to know her name. "Hello, Michelle," I said with as close to a smile as I knew how to give. "It's been a while."

"Don't even think about morphing," she said. "If I see even one patch of fur I'll shoot. Get on the ground."

"You'd really arrest an Animorph?" I said. "One of your daughter's friends?"

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" she demanded. "Don't play games with me. I know the Animorphs. I don't recognize you."

"Of course not. The last time you saw me, I was a red-tailed hawk," I said.

I saw the gun waver. "Tobias?"

"Got it in one," said. "I'm glad I ran into you, actually. I have a few questions."

"So do I. Like how can you morph from Hork-Bajir to human without going back to your real body," she responded. "Not even Cassie can do that."

There are two limitations on morphing, really. One is that you can't go from one morph to another. You have to go through your original body first. The other is far more serious.

You cannot stay in one morph for more than two hours. If you stay that long, you stay forever. That was why I was a hawk. I was trapped like that in our first mission. The Ellimist gave me back my power to morph long ago, but I stayed as a hawk until Crayak returned me to my human body.

Michelle was Cassie's mom. She was the head veterinarian at the Gardens.

I answered Michelle. "Someone gave me a little help. And I'm looking for some more. I need a list of what animals are where."

"I can't do that," she said. "To begin with, I'm not even sure you are Tobias. You could be anyone."

"If I was someone else, you wouldn't be standing right now," I answered. "I would have killed those security guards instead of just knocking them out. I would have taken their guns. And I wouldn't have come alone."

She lowered her gun. "I can't be sure who you are. But I'm willing to give you this chance to leave now because of who you might be. I suggest you take it."

"Can't do it," I said. "I need some firepower. I could stand here and prove to you who I am. I could answer any obscure question about our Animorph missions that isn't in any history book. But I don't have time for that. I need to get some morphs and find Cassie as soon as possible."

"Why? What morphs don't you have? And why do you need Cassie?" she asked.

"I'm not alone," I told her. "I brought two of Jake's students here to acquire some morphs. I've got an urgent message for Cassie from Jake but I can't give it to anyone else."

"Where are the students?" she asked.

Jeanne and Santorelli stepped out form behind her. They had flown off of me and demorphed the instant they heard her. I was doing my best to buy them time.

"Meet Jeanne and Santorelli," I said. "They need some morphs and we're short on time."

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," she said again. "What you're suggesting is highly illegal."

"I know. But let's face it: I'm an Animorph. I'm above the law. No one's going to arrest you or me. Will you help me or not."

"The answer's still no, Tobias," Michelle said again. "I just can't do it. It isn't right. The law is for everyone, not just those who have to follow it. I can't break the law by helping you."

"Can you at least tell me where to find Cassie?" I asked.

"That I can do. She's out in the valley the Hork-Bajir used to live in. She's trying to introduce Kafit birds into the ecosystem. I told her it's dangerous and a bad idea, but she insists on trying it."

"The valley. Got it. Thanks," I said. "Since you won't help us with the morphs, I guess we'll be on our way." I started to walk away. Jeanne and Santorelli followed.

"The exit's the other way," she told me.

"I'm not leaving," I answered.

"I will stop you. This isn't right," she insisted.

"We both know you won't shoot me, not even somewhere harmless," I said.

"You're right," she replied. Then, I heard the crackle and hiss of a radio. And I heard her voice say, "Security. There are intruders behind the habitats. Please respond at once."

There was no time for the others to morph. We took off running.

It was sort of like being in a funhouse. There were doors everywhere and they all looked the same. I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me. "Turn here," I said as I pulled open a door.

"Shouldn't they lock these things?" Jeanne asked as we ducked inside.

"My father had a saying," Santorelli answered. "When God opens a window, don't complain."

It was dim in the habitat. There were fake trees everywhere. They looked like jungle trees. At least, I think they looked like jungle trees. I haven't been in many jungles in my life.

I thought about what morphs I had for this. I needed something that could see in dim light. The other Animorphs all had owl morphs. I never got one because it would have been really weird for me, as a hawk, to acquire and morph an owl. I had something better, though.

I felt my body shrink. I stopped when I was about rat-sized. My face pushed out into the typical rodent shape. My ears got bigger in relation to my body. My eyes got sharper, though the room didn't get any brighter. My feet turned into little claws. Then came the best part.

My arms shrank first until they were just little jointed sticks of bone. Then flesh covered them. Leathery flesh filled in the gaps. Finally, I had my wings.

I felt the animal's mind surge beneath mine. It was jumpy. I didn't like the two big creatures next to me. But I could escape them. I knew the darkness. I was the darkness. Oh yes, nothing catches a bat in the dark.

I took off, fluttering my wings. I zoomed around and around. From my mouth came tiny clicks and squeals. I heard the sound but I also saw it. Sort of like an etch-a-sketch drawing of my surroundings. Echolocation. One of the hallmarks of the bat.

It took me a moment to get control of the bat. When you morph an animal, you get its instincts along with its body. They could be hard to control at first, but I had a lot of practice.

But all the practice in the world couldn't calm me down when I looked around. I fired an echolocation bust and saw Jeanne and Santorelli. And I saw what was above them, in the trees just over their heads.

((Jeanne,)) I said. ((Do you remember that conversation we had about the ostrich and the leopard? Well, one of them is here, and it isn't the ostrich.))