Actually, what they had hit was the floor. A big, smoldering hole appeared in the wood.

"Reeking fernallgahall" one Hork-Bajir kept bellowing in the odd mix of English and their own tongue.

Then the Hork-Bajir lost it completely. They turned and ran for the door.

Personally, I didn't see what they were so excited about.

It didn't smell bad to me.

They ran. The human-Controllers, the Hork-Bajir, and Visser Three. They ran from the horror of my skunk smell.

I waddled as far as the doorway.

I saw an amazing scene. The force field was still on. Three massive tree-cutters, diesel engines roaring and billowing smoke, were straining against the force field like mad dogs on a leash.

Inside the force field, the totally demoralized Yeerk forces.

81 Outside the force field, a bizarre zoo -- a tiger, a grizzly bear, a gorilla. And something no human zoo had ever held -- an Andalite. Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Ax.

Around the clearing, a handful of human- Controllers and Hork-Bajir warriors sat nursing wounds. Some were just lying in the dirt.

It was a weird and tense scene. If the force field came down, the tractors and tree-cutters would hit the building within seconds.

On the other hand, even though they were reeking of skunk smell, and staggering and half-blind, the forces inside the field were stronger than Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Ax.

Of course, if the tree-cutters hit the building, they would probably kill Farrand. The Yeerks didn't want that. Neither did we, but Visser Three didn't know that.

"What happened?" Jake asked me in a private thought-speak whisper.

"I sprayed them," I said. "They didn't like it. "

I'm pretty sure tigers can't normally smile. But I could have sworn Jake did.

Jake must have privately told Ax what happened. Ax was the only one we could trust to speak to Visser Three. He was the only true Andalite.

"Visser," Ax said.

"It seems to me that we have a standoff."

"Don't try to bargain with me, fool," Visser Three sneered. "I have forces on the way. " Ax nodded. "I wonder how your Blade ship will smell after you spread your newly acquired stench through it?"

"The smell ... it will go away," the Visser said.

"Visser, my human host has a memory of -" one of the human-Controllers began to say.

The Visser's tail blade snapped through the air. It pressed against the human-Controller's throat. A twitch would send the Controller's head flying.

"Do not interrupt me," the Visser said calmly. "You were saying?" he asked Ax.

"The smell would go away in about seven Earth days ... if you were in the open air," Ax said calmly. "In a spacecraft? Airtight, closed up, cramped? You'll never lose the smell. Ever.

However. . . thanks to Andalite chemical technology there is a way to remove the stench. Let the human Farrand go free. He's unconscious and hasn't seen what you are. Let him go, we'll give you the secret of neutralizing the stench, and we all walk away."

"I'll dispose of you myself!" the Visser shrieked. "Andalite filth!" 82 "Visser, we both know how impossible it is to remove a smell once it gets into a spacecraft.

You would need a full refitting at a major space dock. Your Blade ship would be intolerable.

"

Visser Three just stood there. Just stood there and stared. His stalk eyes drooped a little. "Get the human," he muttered to his Hork-Bajir.

"Visser..." one Hork-Bajir moaned, clearly reluctant to go back where the smell was even stronger.

"This has not been a good day for me," Visser Three said. "Would you really like to feel as bad as I do?"

The two Hork-Bajir went back inside and very quickly reappeared, dragging Farrand. They dropped him in the dirt.

"Have one of your men drive him to the nearest human hospital. When he is safe, we will tell you the secret. And no tricks. We'll be watching caret Ax rolled his stalk eyes skyward.

Visser Three followed the direction of his gaze, and saw, high in the sky, a bird of prey with a rust-red tail.

"You do realize that one day I will have you all," Visser Three said. "With all your clever tricks, I will still find you."

"No, I do not think so," Ax said. "We are sure to smell you coming. " 83 Chapter twentyone

The Yeerks drove Farrand to the hospital. Once we knew he was safe, Ax told Visser Three how a certain kind of juice would help get rid of the skunk smell.

The Visser was still screaming when we disappeared into the woods.

The next day, Jake, Marco, Rachel, Ax, and I were able to bring the skunk mother back to her den. She waddled inside, and a few minutes later, waddled back out followed by Joey, Johnnie, Marky, and C.j.

They ignored the four humans and the Andalite completely. After all, mother skunk was back with her kits. And mother skunk wasn't afraid of anything.

"They grow up so fast," Rachel said, as they shuffled and snuffled and waddled past us in single file.

"I guess the real mother skunk will give them different names," Marco said. He was joking. I think.

"Well, anyway, the forest is safe for baby skunks now," Jake said.

Jake had morphed a housefly to spy on Farrand in the hospital. The commissioner was fine.

The first thing he did when he regained full consciousness was make a phone call to say that he was voting against logging in the forest.

In fact, according to Jake, Farrand swore he'd never, ever even listen to another word from Dapsen Lumber. And there was a good chance he'd press charges.

It also seemed, according to Farrand, that even the animals of the forest had risen up against the loggers. He claimed that he himself had been visited by the spirit of a giant skunk with the eyes of a human girl.

"Have a good life, little skunks," Marco said to the skunk family. Tiny, furry little masters of the forest.

Everyone was smiling and looking pretty pleased with themselves. But I was still confused.

As we walked toward home back through the forest, Jake hung back with me, letting the others move ahead.

"You don't seem all that happy," Jake said. "You miss being a skunk mommy?"

I smiled. "No. I mean, yes, a little. But that's not it."

"So? So what's bothering you?"

I shrugged. "Nothing makes sense to me. Tobias eats one of the skunk kits, then he helps save the rest. I kill the termite queen to save myself and my friends, then I feel bad about it.

But when it came down to it again, I went after Visser Three without hesitation. One minute I was a rat being chased by guys with sticks, the next minute I'm bringing dead mice to Tobias, 84 who's guarding skunks he would normally have tried to eat. Somehow it's part of the same big system. How does it all make sense?"

Jake looked like he was sorry he started the conversation. "Urn ... boy, Cassie, I don't know."

"Okay, just tell me this. Am I a part of nature, so I should just live by the laws of nature, kill to eat, kill or be killed? Or am I something different because I'm a human?"

We walked in silence while Jake thought it over. I felt sorry for him. I know he'd rather have been discussing Spiderman versus Batman with Marco.

"Well, I guess you're both," Jake said at last. "I mean, you are the person who got rid of the termite queen. You're also the person who went out of her way to save a bunch of skunks.

Just like Tobias ate a skunk kit one day, then saved them the next."