I've been a gorilla and a dolphin, and both of those are very smart animals. The parrot wasn't that smart, but there was definite thinking power in that brain. The parrot could think. It could reason. And, I realized, it could feel. It could feel emotions beyond simple instinct.

The parrot brain didn't overwhelm my human consciousness. It was just there. And as I began to realize how complex that brain was, I began to understand why Cassie was so mad.

"Hey. These birds are smart," I said.

"Very smart," Cassie agreed. "Too smart to be stuck out there on a crappy perch and be pestered all day. These birds should be flying free in the rain forest, not stuck in a mall."

"Not that we can really run around freeing every parrot in the country," Jake said pointedly. "We're clear on that, right?"

"Yeah, but we can make the Amazon Cafe wish it never heard of parrots," I said.

A few minutes later, the woman came to carry us back out to the clean perches. I looked around at the crowd gathered there.

"Ah, so many people, so little time to insult

them all," I said. Then I tried something I have never tried with any morph. I tried to make the parrot speak.

Here's a clue: It's not easy talking when you have no lips. All the sounds have to kind of be made in the throat. Like a ventriloquist. But I figured it out, We all did. And then there was nothing left for us to do but talk to all the people standing in line.

And talk is what we did.

"Squuuuaaaakkk! Amazon burgers are made with cat meat! Squuuaaaakkk!"

"Squuuaaaakkk! Try our spaghetti with hair!"

"Squuuaaaakkk! Amazon Cafe nachos and toe jam!"

Tobias was in the crowd smirking as he watched the people turn slightly green. Ax was with him, scarfing a slice of pizza he'd gotten somewhere.

I could only hope it wasn't from the trash.

"Squuuaaakkk! Botulism! Food poisoning!"

"Squuuaaakkk! Enjoy the fried booger strips!"

Oddly enough, many people standing in line decided to go and find another restaurant. The restaurant manager took about five minutes to decide that real-live parrots were maybe not a good idea. But we decided we'd make dead sure he got the message.

"Squuaaaakkk! By the way, is that your nose or are you eating a banana?"

"Squuaaakkk! What's that on your head, a wombat?"

"Squuaaakkkk! It's a toupee! It's a toupee! Squuaaakkk!"

"Squuaaakkk! We should be flying free in our native habitat!"

That last one was Cassie, of course. It was a little talky for a parrot, if you asked me.

After that we were outta there. I spotted Tobias applauding softly and laughing. I was feeling pretty good, pretty cocky. Until I saw another face behind Tobias, way back in the crowd.

I knew the face. Erek.

Erek, the Chee.

Erek the Chee used to be Erek this guy I knew from school. But Erek is a lot more than just some guy.

The Chee are a race of androids. They pass as humans by projecting a sort of holographic energy field around themselves that looks human.

Erek may look like a kid. But he is older than human history.

The Chee came to Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. They were companions to the Pemaiites, whose home planet had been devastated by a violent invasion. The Pemaiites had fled, but too late. By the time they reached Earth, the Pemaiites were finished.

Their deathless androids did all they could.

They gave the essence of the Pemalites a new life. They melded them with wolves. And from this union dogs were born.

If you know how basically sweet and faithful and loving dogs are, you know what the Pemalites were like. And you also know a little of what the Ghee are like.

The Chee are peaceful, but not out of weakness. Erek, all by himself, could have taken on every person in the mall that day, beaten them all, and ripped the mall down around our ears. Literally.

But the Chee are pacifists. It's the way they are. They are also enemies of the Yeerks. They watch the Yeerks and learn about them, and, in their nonviolent way, do all they can to delay the Yeerks.

Erek waited till we were done with our little prank. He waited till I was walking away through the mall with Jake. We had split from the others so as not to look like a "group."

"Hi, Marco," Erek said. "Hello, Jake."

We didn't exactly rush over to throw our arms around him. We'd seen what happened the one time Erek did go postal. It was hard to forget. Hard to treat someone that powerful like just another kid.

"Hi, Erek, how's it going?" Jake asked guardedly.

"Fine. And we know, through our sources, that you have been doing good work against . . . against our mutual acquaintances." He lowered his voice. "I think we'd better have some privacy."

Suddenly, the air around us shimmered. All the noises of the mall were blanked out. And Erek was no longer human. He was a chrome-and-ivory robot, shaped a little like a lean dog, walking erect.

"What did you do?" tasked.

"I extended my hologram out around us all. People walking by are seeing a group of security guards talking. No one will bother or overhear us."

It was a cool trick. But it made my stomach do a little flip. Erek wasn't going to all this trouble just to talk about sports or whatever.

"Rescuing the two free Hork-Bajir was a good thing. They may prove to be the seeds of something very powerful and good. You may have begun the salvation of an entire race."

I shrugged. "We like to keep busy. It's either rescue entire races or play Nintendo."

Erek laughed with his chrome dog's muzzle. Then he was instantly serious again. "I need to talk to you privately, Marco."

"Well, I don't have any secrets from Jake,"

said. "I think that's the basis of a good marriage: openness, honesty."

"It's about someone who was once very close to you, Marco."

My heart stopped beating. I knew instantly who he meant. I started to say something, but my first words died on my tongue. I tried again. "My mom?"