68 "Not as sorry as Homer is," Jake said. "But we have bigger problems. Look, Cassie, we came to find you and Tobias. That guy Farrand? Ax and Marco tapped into the Yeerk computer at the logging camp."

"Yeah," Marco grinned. "The Ax-man knows his way around computers."

"Yeah, well, we found something out. Farrand isn't arriving this weekend. He's coming early.

He's coming to cast the final vote on the logging in this forest. In fact, he'll be here in about an hour."

We have an hour to make plans and get ready," Jake said. "One hour. Less, since we have to get into position."

"Okay, what do we know?" Marco asked. "We know this Farrand guy is the one who makes the final decision on the Yeerks going forward. We know he's not a Controller or he would have already voted to let the logging begin."

"We know the Yeerks won't leave it to chance," Rachel said. "He's coming here to the site.

They'll be ready to do an involuntary infestation. They have some slug sitting in a vat right now, waiting to crawl in the man's ear."

"They may just try to persuade this human," Ax suggested. "They prefer voluntary infestations. And if they can get this human to give them his vote, they may simply let him go. "

"So what do we do, attack?" Rachel asked. "Just storm in and mess everything up?"

"Hey. Shhh," Tobias said.

"What?" Rachel asked him.

"Don't you guys hear that? Even human ears should hear that. " We all listened very intently. Then it came, carried on the breeze -- the sound of diesel engines.

"Probably just our friends the Yeerks, moving their heavy equipment around. Putting it in nice, neat rows for the commissioner," Jake said. But then he thought it over and added, "Tobias? You mind going up to take a look?"

Tobias flapped his wings and soared above the treetops and out of sight.

"Okay, back to business," Jake said. "One way or the other, this Farrand guy is the key. If he votes yes, the Yeerks can log in this forest. If he votes no, they can't. Not without attracting way too much attention."

"Assuming they let Farrand live long enough to vote no," Rachel said.

"That's our job, then," I suggested. "We have to keep Farrand alive, and keep them from making him a Controller."

69 Everyone nodded.

"Too bad I have no idea how to do that," I admitted.

Just then, Tobias came rocketing down out of the sky. "They've already started!" he yelled as he shot past to land on a branch.

"Started what?" I asked.

"The Yeerks. They've started cutting trees. And they are coming this way!"

"Well," Jake said. "I guess that settles the question of whether the Yeerks are going to infest this guy."

"They don't care what this guy sees when he gets here," Rachel said. "They don't care about convincing him. This poor man already has a Yeerk slug with his name on it."

"You wouldn't believe how fast those machines can rip through trees!" Tobias said, obviously shaken up. "They're cutting trees like a farmer cuts wheat. "

"And we have one of your hours to help this commissioner," Ax said. Then, he focused his two stalk eyes on the skunk burrow. "The small ones are right in the path of the loggers, if Tobias is correct."

I expected Marco to make some snide remark about how no one cared about the skunks at a time like this. But to my amazement he said, "Hey, no one messes with the skunks. Those skunks are under official Animorph protection." He winked at me and gave me a mocking clenched fist salute. "Save the skunks, Earth Sister!"

Marco is such a pain in the butt. But then, just when you think he's going to drive you crazy, he'll come through big time for you.

"Yeah, these are our skunks," Rachel said. "No one messes with our skunks."

"Excuse me? Hello?" Jake interrupted. "A plan? A plan, please?"

"Well ..." I began.

"What?" Jake asked me.

I shrugged. "If Farrand is the key, we need to grab the key. Right? Chances are they'll have to turn the force field off in order to get him into the camp. That's when we get him away from the Yeerks. No matter what it takes."

"Grab Farrand," Marco said. "Simple. Elegant. And yet, given the Yeerk power in that compound of theirs, completely suicidal. I'm surprised at you, Cassie. Usually Rachel's the one to come up with a totally suicidal plan."

"You have a better idea?" Jake asked Marco.

"We could go home and watch TV."

70 "I'll take that as a no." Jake rubbed his hands together. "Okay, then. We snatch this Farrand guy as soon as he shows up. In the meantime, we have to slow down those tree-cutting machines."

Rachel grinned. "Cool."

I felt sick.

71 Chapter Eighteen

There was only one way for a person to reach the Yeerk logging camp by car. They had to drive down the long, dirt road that the Yeerks had cut through the forest.

Jake wanted me to go with Tobias and see if we could spot Farrand coming in.

Jake made some quick decisions. He, Marco, Rachel, and Ax took off, leaving me with Tobias.

I looked up ruefully at Tobias. "You and me, I guess."

"I'm always glad to have you along," Tobias said.

I began to morph into an osprey. It was my bird of prey morph, and the only thing I had that could keep up with Tobias in the air. "Look, Tobias? This has been bothering me. And since .

. . you know ... I want to get this off my chest. I'm sorry I got mad at you over the skunk kit.

You were just doing what you had to do," I said.

I could feel my bones thinning and hollowing out. Gray feathers began to paint their patterns on my arms.

"I could live off food you guys brought me," Tobias said. "I don't have to hunt. "

"Okay, then why do you?" I asked, just before my mouth mutated into a beak.

"Because I'm not just a human. I'm also a hawk. Hawks hunt live prey. Would it be better if I let you do my killing for me? Is it more moral if I eat a frozen mouse you get from some supplier?"

"Look, Tobias, I know all about how nature works. I know about predators and prey. It's just.

. . it's just confusing. I mean, where does right and wrong come into it?" Snowy-white feathers were growing all down my front, replacing the fabric of my morphing suit. My feet were becoming pale gray talons.

"I don't know. I guess if I were running around killing animals I didn't intend to eat, that would be wrong. But hawks have a right to live, just as much as a mouse or a skunk." My human eyes were giving way to the incredibly amazing hawk vision. There was some color distortion because these eyes were adapted for seeing through water. The osprey eats fish. Nature designed them to see fish, even below the shimmering surface of a lake or river.

"Ready to fly?" Tobias asked.

I flapped my wings a couple of times.

"Let's g," I said, trying to sound like Rachel.

Tobias flapped his wings, caught a headwind, and suddenly shot almost straight up. I opened my wings and contracted the tireless flying muscles. Flap, flap, flap, and I also caught the breeze. I flapped to get above the trees, then a stronger breeze came up and I soared high.

72 It's like stepping on a very fast escalator. Zoom! I flapped hard, wanting the sensation of speed.