I flopped down in the mud and rested my back against a tree.

"Right here, man. Right here."

Cassie came and sat beside me. The noise of the falling rain made our conversation private.

"How are you doing?" Cassie asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

She looked at me skeptically. "Jake, I know you. I can see it on your face. You're worried. And you're mad. Since I don't think you're mad at any of us, I'm guessing you're mad at yourself."

I looked away. "Everything will work out," I lied dully.

"You know, it was kind of funny seeing you and Polo together."

"Yeah? Why?" I didn't really care. I was too tired to care.

But Cassie was being kind, and I needed some kindness.

"Because you're the same, you and Polo. He's you, and you're him. The leaders. You know, he took a risk putting down his spear. We might have killed him and his people. There was no way he could know if it was the right thing to do. He just made the best decision he could. That's all anyone can ask from any leader."

I felt for Cassie's hand in the rain. It was too dim and gray to see her face well.

"I'm so tired," I said.

Cassie laid her head on my shoulder. "I know, Jake. Rest. Just rest."

6:49 P.m.

I woke up suddenly, with the feeling that I had slept too long.

I opened my eyes.

Black night. Night so black it was like being smothered in black felt.

But not everything was dark.

Six inches away from my face, two eyes glowed green and gold.

I could smell foul breath. I could feel its breath on my face.

Jaguar!

The big cat stuck its nose closer to me, trying to decide who I was, and what I was doing in its forest. I might have wet my pants right then from sheer terror. I don't know, because I was soaked to the bone from the rain, which had finally ended.

I was sitting in mud, feeling the adrenaline pump into my veins. Feeling fear again.

I was going to live or die depending on what the jaguar decided. Was I food? Or was I not? If the cat was hungry, and if I smelled like prey, it would sink its massive yellow fangs into my neck and it would all be over in a second.I wouldn't even get the chance to scream.

Then, a faint memory of hope! There was one thing I could do.

No time to morph, but . . .

As slowly as I could, I raised a trembling hand to touch the jaguar's spotted fur. I focused my mind. I concentrated fervently on acquiring the jaguar. And I prayed the jaguar would act like most animals act when they are acquired. I hoped it would go into a trance.

When I opened my eyes, the jaguar closed his.

"Marco!" I hissed. "Cassie! Rachel! Ax! Tobias! Somebody!"

"Wha? Huh?" Marco said groggily. Then, "Whoa! Whoa! Wake up, you guys! Jeez, Jake, what are you doing? That jaguar could chomp you."

"Really? I hadn't thought about that, Marco. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Now, look, I'm acquiring him to keep him calm. Here's what we do. One after another, we acquire him, then we move off. Ax?"

"Yes, Prince Jake." Ax said.

"You think you can outrun this big kitty?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then Ax, you acquire him last, and run for it. Just in case he's in a bad mood."

Five minutes later, we were all a safe distance away.

"You know, you were probably fairly safe, Jake," Cassie said.

"I doubt jaguars eat prey your size."

"I'll bet they eat prey my size." Tobias muttered.

"What's cool is we all have a jaguar morph now. Perfect for traveling the rain forest at night," Cassie pointed out.

"Speaking of which, it's late," Rachel said. "Ticktock."

"We have two of your hours left." Ax said.

"Two hours to find the Blade ship, smuggle aboard, and hope Visser Three knows how to get us all back to our normal time,"

Rachel said. "Wonderful."

"The jaguars are predators," Cassie pointed out. "That means senses adapted for hunting in the rain forest. They would be able to find the Yeerks, if any animal could."

Marco laughed. "Cassie, you're just looking for an excuse to morph something new."

"Cassie's right," I said. "Look how dark it is. I can't even see you guys. No streetlights, no house lights, no car lights, even moonlight and starlight can't penetrate the trees. We're helpless in this dark. Barefoot, lost, and blind. We need eyes. We can morph owls, but we don't know what dangers the rain forest might hold for a plain old horned owl. Jaguars, on the other hand, look like they can take care of themselves."

"Let's do it," Rachel said. "We're totally helpless in this darkness."

"We need a way to carry the Bug fighter's computer with us,"

Cassie pointed out. She tore a strip of cloth from her shirttail, twisted it, and threaded it through a small hole in the computer core.

"I'll take it," I said. The computer was my stupid mistake. I should carry it. Cassie slipped it over my head. It hung like a big, dorky medallion.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, boys and girls and Andalites.

Let's morph."

"Jake, I have to try to fly up above the trees, try to get some moonlight."

Tobias said. "I'm as blind as you guys are down here."

The jaguar was a strange morph for one reason: because it wasn't strange at all. It was just like morphing the tiger.

The jaguar is smaller and stockier than a tiger. But it is still one of the big cats.

But for the others, it was their first experience with a big cat. As my jaguar eyes came on and the darkness grew much lighter, I could see the final transformations.

I saw the long, yellowed teeth grow in Cassie's mouth. I saw the pattern of large, hollow spots spread across Rachel's skin. I saw the claws sprout from Ax's weak Andalite hands. I saw the way Marco fell forward to land on all fours as his tail extended like a snake behind him.

"0h, this is beautiful." Marco said. "0h, man! Oh, man! Feel the rush!"

"Hah-hah!" Rachel crowed. "This is like, so alive! It's so not afraid!"

I knew the feeling. It's different being an animal at the top of the food chain. An animal that doesn't worry much about being killed. It's not arrogance, really. It's an absence of fear. Just like a tiger, a jaguar may be startled, surprised, alarmed, but never afraid. It may run away in the face of humans or loud machinery, for example, but somehow it isn't afraid when it does that.

I saw Rachel take a swipe at the air, testing the speed of her paws. "Not as powerful as a grizzly bear, but awfully fast."

"Excellent senses." Cassie said. "I smell . . . wow. I smell about a million things."

"I'm having a strange desire to eat a monkey"Marco said. "And yet, I was a monkey a few hours ago. We're all going to end up in the nuthouse someday. You realize that, right?"

"Tobias? Can you hear me?" I called in thought-speak.

"Yeah, I hear you. It's much better up here. There's a three- quarter moon and a million stars! I can see well enough to fly, but I'd break my neck if I tried to land."

"There are far more than a million stars." Ax commented.

"I know, Ax-man." Tobias said with a laugh. "Hey! Hey! There's a glow. Like a town, maybe. Lots of lights."

"If they're still working on the Blade ship, they'd have lights, right?" Cassie pointed out.