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  is Visser Three."

  "V isser Three?" the woman repeated skepti cally. It took me a few seconds to track. What was Tobias talking about? Why was he saying Ax was Visser Three? Fortunately, Ax caught on more quickly. He immediately began to demorph and return to An- dalite form. And as soon as the Andalite stalk eyes appeared, the woman began to tremble. "But ... but ... you said Visser Three. Only Visser One has an Andalite host body!" Great. Visser Three had been promoted. "Yeah," I said to the woman. "But he was Visser Three back in the old days. Back when

  we were all friends. Comrades in arms."

  "I ...

  we ... no one told us you were visiting Earth, Visser," the woman babbled. She was clearly terrified. Obviously Visser Three's reputation had not softened any over the years. Ax had regained his full Andalite form. And the various Controllers on the street were staring in a mixture of fascination and fear. "If I had known ..." the woman moaned. "I would never. ..." Ax waved his hand dismissively. less-than Silence. You are right to remain vigilant. If you had not been vigilant I would have destroyed you for be ing a careless fool. Now get out of here.greater-than "Yes, my Visser! Yes!" The woman took off. Fast. Which left us standing around in the street, gaping at the Yeerk pool. And a lot of Controllers gaping at us. "This isn't good," Marco said. "Word is going to travel very fast that Visser Three is here. And someone is going to realize the truth." "So what now?" Jake wondered. "How long does the Ellimist want to leave us here?" "Until we are convinced he's right," Tobias said. "There must be something more he wants us to see," Cassiesd. I glanced at Cassie. She looked puzzled.

  I guess I expected her to look like, "See, I told you so, here's the future." But she seemed troubled. Like she couldn't make sense of something that was bothering her. "What?" I asked her. She shrugged. "Just a feeling. There's something deeper going on here. Something we don't get." The Yeerk pool was a busy little place. Controllers coming and going. The host bodies were shoved into cages, and dragged back out when it was time. There was a steady procession along the six different piers, draining out and taking in Yeerks. Over it all loomed the EGS Tower, topped off by the glass dome. "Why put a Yeerk pool here?" I wondered aloud. "I mean, there's all kinds of open areas. Why go to the trouble of removing the buildings that were here? It's not like this is exactly a scenic location." "I wonder what year it is?" Marco said. "Is this next year? Ten years from now? Twenty?" I heard a low roar coming from the sky. A Yeerk Bug fighter swooped down low, took a turn around the EGS Tower, and settled toward the near side of the Yeerk pool. I don't know why, but I felt drawn to that Bug fighter. Maybe it was some strange psychic urging. Maybe it was the Ellimist, making me go closer to see what he wanted to show me. Wherever the urge came from, I found myself walking toward the Bug fighter. "Hey!" Jake said. "What are you doing?" "You guys stay back," I said. "It's okay," Marco said, jerking his thumb at Ax. "We're with Visser Three here. Excuse me, I mean Visser One. And congrats on the big pro motion, by the way." Ax stepped out quickly in front of me, swag gering and acting the role of the great and terrible Visser. As we drew closer to the pool, there was a crowd of Controllers, humans, Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and a few odd species I had never seen. The crowd parted very quickly. No one wanted to accidentally annoy Visser One in any way. We swaggered up to the Bug fighter like the bosses of all the world. Then the door of the Bug fighter opened. I stopped. Ax stopped as well. The others crowded behind us. My skin was tingling. My hair felt like it was standing on end. I knew something was about to happen. Something awesome and terrible. And then, they stepped from the Bug fighter. A human and an Andalite. I knew the Andalite. We had met before. I could feel the dark dread that emanated from him. Visser Three. The real Visser Three. Seeing Ax along with Visser Three, the crowd of Controllers immediately knew the difference. Visser Three has an Andalite body, but there is no mistaking him for anything other than a creature of pure evil. less-than Well, welleagreater-than Visser Three said to the person with him. less-than Right on schedule. Just as you said it would be. greater-than I stared at the human. She was a pretty young woman, maybe twenty or twenty-two years old. She had blond hair, cut short. She wore no makeup. Her clothes were plain. I had stopped breathing. My heart had stopped beating. I tried to swallow but couldn't. "Hello, Rachel," the woman said to me. "Hello, Rachel," I replied.

  it was me. Me, as I would be in the future. "I knew you were coming," the future Rachel said. "After all, I was you. Once I stood right where you stand now, and looked just like you look now, and saw myself as I am today." She sounded perfectly calm. But her eyes flickered quickly to Ax, then back to me. Visser Three shook his head in amusement. less-than lf only I had known from the start that you were humans. For so long I believed you were An- dalites. Until, at last, we caught you. greater-than I felt strangely calm. I mean, considering what was happening. I was face-to-face with Visser Three

  - who was now Visser One. I was face-to-face with my own future. "You're a Controller," I said to the older me. "Of course," she said. She smiled. A cruel smile, not at all like me. "We won. You all led us on a nice chase, but in the end, we won. This planet is Yeerk territory. The human race has achieved its destiny as hosts for the Yeerk race." "If you know so much, how did we come to be here? In the future?" Marco asked. less-than An Ellmriist has brought you hereeagreater-than Visser Three said. less-than ln your own time, you face a choice. The Ellimist has brought you six humans . . . you five humans and one Andalite . . . here to show you a future. To show you the future. Soon he wilt return you to your own time. greater-than "What choice did we make?" I asked. The older Rachel smiled her cruel s mile. "The right one, obviously. Everything has worked out perfectly." "Yeah?" Jake said defiantly. "Maybe not. The Ellimist brought us here to help us make a choice. So what if we go back to our own time and decide to accept the Ellimist's offer? Then Rachel won't be around to be turned into a Con troller. She'll be with the rest of us on whatever planet the Ellimist takes us to." I watched closely for any reaction by my older self. Nothing. Not a flicker. And yet, there was something. She was trying to hide something. "You know what we decided. But still, here you are," I said. "So either you're here to change what I decided. Except ... no, then it might change all of this. Or else you're here because your being here is what caused me to decide whatever I decided." less-than Confusing, isn't x8greater-than Visser Three sneered. less-than like don't know how the Ellimists keep it all straight. greater-than "Let's leave," Cassie said suddenly. "I don't like this place, and I don't like these two . . . creatures." "But Cassie, I'm your best friend," my older self said mockingly. "No, you're not. Maybe Rachel is still alive in there somewhere. But what you are is a Yeerk." Cassie started to turn away. As she did, she tripped. She fell against me. Suddenly the older Rachel was there. She grabbed me and held my arm steady so I didn't fall. But to Ax it must have looked like she was lunging at me. His tail whipped forward in the blink of an eye. Ax's quivering blade was pressed against the older Rachel's throat. Her eyes went wide with fear. She shot a glance at Visser Three. And to my amazement, Visser Three seemed frozen. He was confused. His main eyes narrowed. He looked from Ax, to the older Rachel, to me. Suddenly I knew. "This wasn't in the script, was it?" I asked him. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Something has changed! It's Ax, isn't it? You said 'six humans" before. That's what you expected to find. That's what Rachel told you would happen. But the future has changed, hasn't it? Something is different." Visser Three glared at me, and now he dropped the pretense of politeness. less-than Do you know what I did when I finally caught you and your little band of Animorphs? Do you know what I did? I gave each of you to a trusted lieutenant. And once you belonged to us, once you were MINE, I killed your bird friend here, and we roasted his body. greater-than Visser Three leaned close to me. less-than He was tough and stringy, but we added a sauce you humans have. Barbecue, I believe it's called. And then your friend Tobias was delicious. You had a leg, as I recall. You ate it and laughed. greater-than I really wanted to morp
h right then. I really wanted to become the grizzly and tear Visser Three a few new holes. But there were hundreds of Controllers around. And while I was morphing I would be vulnerable. Ax still had his tail blade pressed against the older Rachel's throat. less-than He can't hurt ueagreater-than Ax said. less-than He can't do a thing to us. If he does, he would change history. He doesn't know how that would work out. greater-than "Good point, Ax," Jake said. He met my gaze. He had a dangerous, angry look in his eyes. "He can't hurt us. But the reverse . . . well . . . his "Excellent point," I agreed. I focused my mind on the grizzly bear. "So, Visser Three. You killed my friend Tobias and roasted him over a fire." I was beginning to change. So was Jake. less-than like have a hundred Hork-Bajir I can callffgreater-than Visser Three said. "So call them," Marco said. "Maybe one of them will get careless with a Dracon beam and kill one of us. How do you suppose that will change the past? Hard to tell, isn't it?" Claws had sprouted from my fingers. Coarse brown fur was covering my body. I could feel the surge of power as I became more bear than hu man. "Visser," the older Rachel said tersely. "What do we do?" less-than We8greater-than Visser Three said. less-than We do nothing. I retreat. greater-than Visser Three began backing away. But I wasn't about to let him go. I had him. After all the pain he had caused, I had him. After all the damage he had done, he was now powerless.

  A I did not wait until the last of my human features was submerged. I was bear enough. I charged. Bears are very large and look sort of clumsy. But they can be very fast. less-than Now, you filth, let's see who eats who. greater-than I barreled toward him. He turned to run. But he had turned too late. I hit him. Eight hundred pounds of fast- moving bear hit Visser Three in the flank and brought him down hard. I drew back one huge claw and swung with all my might. My hand slapped the trunk of a tree. My hu man hand. "Owww!" I was human again. I was in the woods behind Cassie's farm. The others were all there as well. Tobias, once again a hawk, perched in a branch overhead. "No! I'm sick of this!" I yelled. I slammed the tree again in sheer frustration. "I'm sick of this!

  I had backslash backslash backslash more backslash was Cassie came over and put her arm around my shoulders. "It doesn't matter. That's a Visser Three who doesn't exist yet." "I'm so sick of this," I said again, a little more softly. "What's the point? What's the point in anything? We know the future now. We know what happens if we decide to stay and fight." I felt lost. The last ounce of energy just seeped away from me. It was too much. Too many things to deal with. And what was the point? What did it even matter what I did? I flopped down onto the grass and pine needle-covered ground, and rested my head in my hands. I was done. Done trying to make sense of a world where I could be jerked back and forth like a puppet. The six of us just lay there on the floor of pine needles for a while. Staring. Thinking. Letting it all sink in. It was over. The war was done. And we had lost. less-than lt could all still be an Ellimist trickeagreater-than Ax said halfheartedly. "No," I said flatly. "You know it's not a trick, Ax. At least not the way you mean. If the Ellimist wanted to force us to do something, he has more than enough power." "We need to think this through," Jake said wearily. I shrugged. "You think it through. I'm tired of thinking: I was just about to vote when the Ellim ist dragged us off for his little show-and-tell. I was about to be good old Rachel and vote no. I was going to be tough, one more time. But I'm

  A changing my vote. I'm not going to end up as a Controller. That's not going to happen. Not to me. If that means I'm running away, too bad. I change my vote." You know what? At that moment of surrender, I felt good. I wish I could say I didn't. But I felt a wave of relief wash over me. No more hard deci sions. No more danger. No more having to be brave. "That makes it Cassie, Rachel, and me, in favor," Marco said. "Three to two, unless Ax

  is voting." less-than like follow Prince Jakeeagreater-than Ax said. less-than Maybe . . . greater-than Tobias began. less-than Maybe if some of the human race survives on some other planet. . . . Maybe it will be like when they brought wolves back to live in the National For est. I mean, maybe someday we can return and take Earth back. greater-than "Are you changing your vote, Tobias?" Jake asked him. less-than Jake, you know I would never run from a fight. . . . greater-than We all just sat there, staring at nothing.

  We were going to do it. We were going to abandon the fight. We all knew it. Jake hung his head. "Ellimist?" he said softly to the air, "We have decided. The answer is yes." The Ellimist had said we would be trans- ported immediately, once we decided. I expected my next breath to be drawn on some distant planet. But nothing happened. Nothing at all. J. can't tell you how weird it was, going to school the next day. Sitting in class, trying to pay attention while my teacher, Ms. Paloma, talked about what led up to the Second World War. "Maybe if the United States had been ready to fight earlier," she said, "the war would have ended earlier and fewer people would have been killed. But our country wanted peace." I just kept looking at her and wondering, Was that your skeleton draped across the desk? What was the point of going to school? What was the point in anything? I had seen the future. I knew how it all turned out. The human race was done for. Finished. That was where all our long history led

  - to a Yeerk pool. "Because we were so devoted to peace, we may have actually made the war worse," Ms. Paloma droned on. "We'll never know for sure, of course. You can't really second-guess history." You can if you're an El I i mist, I thought.

  If you're an El I im 1/, you can look ahead and see it all. "Why not?" It was Cassie's voice. I glanced across the room at her. She had that same look of confusion I'd seen the day before. The frustrated look, like she sensed something she couldn't quite grasp yet. "Why can't you second-guess history? I mean, if you could go back and change things so that the U.s. was ready to fight earlier. ..." Ms. Paloma sat on the edge of her desk. "Because events are intertwined in ways we cannot always see, Cassie. Sometimes small things can make huge differences. You know, they say that a single butterfly, beating its wings in China, may affect the way the wind blows here in our country. A single butterfly beating its wings may make a tiny change that becomes a bigger change that becomes a tornado. The world isn't like math. It isn't just one plus one equals two. It's more corn plicated than that." And then the oddest thing happened. Ms. Paloma looked right at me. Right into my eyes. "Much more complicated than that," she said. "A single butterfly ... a single butterfly ... a single butterfly. ..." The hair on the back of my neck was tingling. Everyone was looking at her like she was crazy. Suddenly, Ms. Paloma shook her head, like she was popping out of a trance. She smiled a confused smile. "Okay, well, anyway, you all have the reading assignments." The bell rang and I practically jerked up out of my seat. Cassie threaded her way through the kids who were rushing out of the room. "Okay, tell me that wasn't weird," Cassie whispered. "I thought maybe I was imagining it," I said. "Besides, who knows what's weird anymore? I'm sitting there waiting for the ... you know who ... to suddenly zap us out of here." Cassie nodded. "So why hasn't he?" Out in the fast-moving crush of bodies in the hall, we made our way to our lockers. "I don't know," I said as I spun my combination lock. "We decided to say yes. We're giving him what he wants." I popped my locker door open. "Unless. ..." Cassie said. "Unless maybe that wasn't the answer he wanted," I finished her thought. "But it's nuts," Cassie said, frowning. "Every thing he did made it look like he wanted us to say yes. He appears the first time right as we're about to be swallowed by a. ..." She looked around to make sure no one could overhear. "Just as we were about to be swallowed. I mean, come on. Obviously he must have figured we'd want to bail." "We might have," I said. "Except we saw that dropshaft. So we thought we could escape. Otherwise. ..." I stopped talking. I stared at Cassie. She stared back. "He showed us that dropshaft!" Cassie said. "Why?" I wondered aloud. "Why? What is he doing with us? He appears when we're desperate. He says he doesn't interfere and gives us a choice. Then he lets us see a way out. What's that all about?" "Then he gives us another chance. He shows us the future. He shows us ... you, basically. You in the
future. So we know for sure that we must have decided to stay and fight. And we know we lost. And all of that means we have to say yes and let him take us away. So why have I been feeling like I was missing something?" The warning bell for next period rang. "This is insane, as Marco would say." Cassie laughed. "Yeah. I have gym next pe riod. At any moment I might suddenly be swooped away to another planet, but in the meantime I have to go play volleyball." I watched her walk away. Then I hurried to my next class. A single butterfly, I thought. But how is the butterfly supposed to know when to beat her wings? J. was back in the underground Yeerk pool. Trapped. Stuck to the Taxxon's tongue. But not a cockroach. I was myself, in my human body, only tiny. Stuck. About to die. Ax was talking. less-than Yeerk pool. It's the center of their lives. Almost a religion. greater-than I squirmed and tried to get away. I tried to change into something else. The bear. I wanted to become the bear. But I was stuck. All I could do was beat my helpless butterfly wings. He showed us the dropshaft, Cassie's voice murmured in the back of my head. I swirled down dark corridors. I flew wildly on butterfly wings, always chasing a light that never drew closer and yet never disappeared. The Kandrona, I thought in my dream. The light is the Kandrona. was The center of their lives. Almost a religion." less-than No, not the Yeerk pool, really. The Kandrona. That is the center for them. That is their light greater-than "He showed us the dropshaft," Cassie said again, only now she was Ms. Paloma. My eyes snapped open. I sat up in my bed. I was as awake as I'd ever been. I was elec tric! "Hah HAH!" I yelled in the darkness of my room. "YES!" Then I hesitated. Was I nuts? Was I just desperate? I ran through it all again. "Got "em!" I whispered. "Oh, man, we got 'em! Got the disgusting worms!" I shucked off the T-shirt that I wear to bed, and quickly slipped into my morphing outfit. I threw open the window. Then I paused. It would be Saturday morning in a few hours. No school. But if my mom found me gone, she might worry. I quickly scribbled a note saying I had gone for an early-morning run. That I might go over to Cassie's afterward. And then I glanced at the picture on my desk. The one of three-year-old me on the balance beam, being held up by my proud father. I could not tell the others. We had already decided. We were going to say yes to the Ellimist. We would let him take us to a place where there would be no battles and no need to decide. If I told my friends what I suspected. . .