"All right," Jake said, looking at the twelve of us. We were all gathered in the meeting room of the Core Base. Me, Marco, Rachel, Ax, Elfangor, Arbron, Strike, Srangi, Mat Hewk, Cha-Nab, Devone, and Tycoola. Jake made thirteen. Five of us were Animorphs, and the rest were part of the Elysia Core. There should've been two more: Loren and Tobias.

They're empty seats were a reminder that they were still missing, and probably in the clutches of the Yeerks.

Even in the afterlife, the Yeerks were still a deadly threat.

Jake had taken command of the meeting, since Elfangor wasn't in very good condition to speak. He was there because we all were, but he was having a hard time dealing with the loss of his wife and son.

"We know Loren and Tobias are missing," Jake went on. "We know there was a Yeerk ship in the area moments before the construction site blew up. We also know that there was no sign of Loren and Tobias after the initial attack, and that the Bug fighter disappeared quickly. Elfangor says there's a chance that Loren and Tobias might have been pulled into that ship.

"What we don't know is if that's what happened, and that's what we need to find out. There are thirteen of us. If we work together, we might have a chance at this." Jake looked around at all of us. "I don't think I need to remind anyone of the other danger that's coming closer to this community every minute: the computer virus that has been swiftly destroying the entire afterlife."

"Do you think the Yeerks have something to do with that?" I asked.

Arbron focused his stalk eyes on me. <There's a good possibility of that,> he said, <but I doubt if they're doing it all on their own.>

"What do you mean?" Rachel demanded.

<I think it's possible that the Yeerks might have created the virus, but in order for it, not to mention them, to get here they'd need a lot of help. From someone with lots of power.> Arbron glanced at us pointedly. <There are only two known beings with that much power. One is the Ellimist.>

"And the other?" Jake asked, even though I could see that he had already come to same conclusion Arbron and the rest of us had. He just didn't want to say it.

<Crayak,> Elfangor spat out with disgust. <It makes sense. Crayak would naturally want us in his wastelands, where he can use our souls for evil. And of course, the Yeerks don't want there to be any chance of Loren, or Arbron, or myself, or anyone else here for that matter, coming back to life.>

<No offense,> Ax said, <but if you were defeated before, you could be defeated again. Why are they afraid of you coming to life again?>

It was Cha-Nab, the Leeran and resident psychic, who answered him. None of us died fairly. Elfangor was murdered. Strike was burned for a crime she didn't commit. Mat Hewk used to be a Controller: he had no control over his death. Loren was hit by a car. I was poisoned. In combat, no one would stand a very good chance against any of us. The Yeerks know that.

"What we need is someone who knows something about this virus," Devone said in his calm voice. "Someone with inside information. But we don't have anyone like that."

Suddenly, Marco stood up and gripped the table. Since he was right next to me, I got a pretty good look at his face. His eyes were completely glazed over. He was shaking, and he didn't seem to notice any of us. Then his eyes refocused.

"Mom," he whispered hoarsely.

He collapsed.

I was in a forest. I was surrounded by trees. I was alone. No, wait, not alone. There was a figure near me. A familiar figure, but I couldn't make out her/his features. Then the forest exploded. Huge tentacles started tearing up the ground. A shimmering void was behind the tentacles.

The figure looked at me. "I can help you." She/he turned around. I looked at his/her face.

I knew that face . . .

"Mom!" I shouted out loud. When I opened my eyes, I felt like someone had just dropped a fifty-pound weight on my head. Everyone was crowded around me. Where was I? Oh, yeah. I was in Elysia with my friends -- the Animorphs.

"Marco, are you okay?" That was Jake. My best friend. He sounded worried.

"What happened?" I groaned, trying to sit up. Tycoola and Rachel helped me into a sitting position.

You collapsed, the Leeran, Cha-Nab said.

"You were talking about your mother," Jake replied.

I nodded. "I guess I had a dream or something. I was in a forest. There were these strange tentacles, like an octopus or a squid. They were tearing up the place. And my mother was there. She was saying something -- I couldn't make out what."

Cha-Nab looked at me. Tell me, Marco, does this happen often?

"Huh?"

"During what?" I asked. "I dreamed. That's all. Usually I'm already asleep when I'm dreaming, so no, I don't usually collapse."

Elfangor looked at Cha-Nab. <He wasn't dreaming, was he?>

"Huh?" Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Ax, me, and just about everyone else in the room said. Except for Cha-Nab, of course.

No, I don't believe he did, Cha-Nab replied. Marco, tell me: did you feel like you were actually there? In the forest?

I wasn't sure what the correct answer to that was. Was he about to tell me I was going crazy? "Um, yeah," I muttered.

Then that confirms it. A normal dream would not seem completely real. He looked at me. Marco, you weren't dreaming. You were having an astrological trance.

"And in English that means . . . what?" Jake asked.

Elfangor answered that. <It means, Marco, that you're psychic.>

Flies are fast little bugs. Not as fast as hawks, of course, but have you ever tried to swat one? Almost impossible, right? But still, no matter how fast flies are, a fly still doesn't have any hands that are ale to a door. So I wound up having to demorph and remorph a couple times before I finally found the control room.

I'd just opened about the fifth door when I hit paydirt. "Bingo," I muttered.

It was definitely the control room of the Bug fighter. I could see out over the forest, and in the distance were the lights of Elysia. There were a whole bunch of different controls on the panels, and I suddenly realized something that both Loren and I had overlooked.

I had no clue how to fly an alien ship.

"Stupid," I muttered. I'd taken it for granted that, just because Yeerks use human hosts, they'd have human controls. But I'd forgotten that they use Hork-Bajir and Taxxons to control the fighters. "They have they're own language, too," I reminded myself.

Suddenly I froze. My mind was racing around at top speed. Two pilots. One Hork-Bajir. One Taxxon.

Empty control room.

"Where the hell are the pilots?" I whispered.

Something hit the wall behind me. I froze and listened closely. I heard nothing else.

I turned around.

Something connected with my jaw. I stumbled backwards, hit the Hork-Bajir's chair, and fell to the ground. I wasn’t that badly hurt -- I think I might have been able to get up if I really had to. Then I smelled a sickly sweet oily smell. Someone behind me shoved a rag against my nose and mouth, and . . .

I was sitting on a small couch in one corner of the meeting room, staring at Cha-Nab as he explained about my so-called 'psychic' abilities. I was still partly into shock, so I wasn't entirely understanding everything this frog was telling me. "Is it permanent?" I asked once he'd finished the initial explanation.

Cha-Nab thought for a minute. Yes, he said finally. Now, there might be periods of time when you think the power is gone, but in truth it isn't. Don't expect you to be able to know everything that goes on. For instance, you won't know the answers to your tests or anything like that. The power will manifest only when there is absolute danger.

"Then why did I just dream . . . excuse me, envision my mother?" I asked. "My mother is a Controller. Visser One. Or, at least, she was Visser One -- last I heard, she got demoted."

Elfangor turned a stalk eye in my direction and interrupted his conversation between him and Jake. <Remember that traitor Cha-Nab mentioned earlier? Nemu 505? He was formally known as Visser One until his battle for power against Visser Three landed him in big trouble. No one's really heard from him since.>

Srangi suddenly looked up. "Hey, hey, hey!" he said. "If no one's heard from Nemu character, and it's the same Nemu that they're talking about -- Nemu 505 has been missing from the Yeerk Empire for about four days."

"Sssso?" Strike said. "That meanssss what?"

It was Jake, not Srangi, who answered. "Yeerks have to go back to the Yeerk Pool every three days to soak up Kandrona nutrients. Even if Nemu went right before he left, he'd still be over the limit."

<And if this Nemu is the same one that was once Visser One, than that means that . . .> Arbron stopped for a minute. <What does that mean?>

"It means my mom might be alive and free!" I cried.

Yes, Cha-Nab said. And if we go according to Marco's vision, then his mother could perhaps be the missing link that we are looking for. Nemu 505 knew something that the Yeerks didn't want him to know -- he could've left it with his host after he died. And if Marco's vision is correct, it has something to do with the virus.

"Everything comes down to the virus," Cassie sighed. "We don't even know what it looks like. Besides, what if what Nemu knew had nothing to do with the virus? We're wasting time here. We need to find Tobias and Loren."

That was surprising. Usually Cassie isn't so pessimistic. "Hey, Cassie, you're starting to sound like me," I said. "That's not right. I'm the one who's supposed to groan and complain about something."

Ax looked at all of us. <I don't feel very comfortable following a vision on a hunch. We have no idea where to begin searching for Marco's mother. You know, Prince Jake, that I don't believe in anything being psychic. I agree with Cassie -- this would be a waste of time.>

I stood up. "Look, this isn't your decision. This is mine. I'm going to find my mother. According to Cha-Nab here, I'm psychic. My great-grandmother claimed she had a 'mind's eye', too, and she was the most sane person on the planet. Now you can choose to go with me or not, but I am going go find my mother. If there's a chance she could help us, then we should take that chance."

"Marco's right." That came from a surprising source -- Rachel. "Besides, Tobias and Loren don't need all of us to find them. We can split up."

I gave Rachel a grateful smile. There aren't many things that she and I agree on, so it's a miracle when we do.

Jake and Elfangor looked at each other. Then they nodded. <Okay,> Elfangor said. <We split up. There are thirteen of us -- one group takes seven, the other takes six. I think the smaller group should go with Marco. We'll split up our strengths and weaknesses evenly.>

"So who goes with who?" Mat Hewk asked. I'd started to realize he was one of those Hork-Bajir called a seer. We knew one on Earth.

<Cha-Nab, Devone, Srangi, Rachel, and I go with Marco,> Elfangor said. <That leaves Jake, Cassie, Ax, Arbron, Strike, Mat, and Tycoola to go after Tobias and Loren.>

"Anyone have any problems with that?" Jake asked.

No one said anything.

<All right,> Elfangor said. <Let's -->

"Hold it!" I said, holding up my hands. "This isn't your part, Elfangor. Rachel?"

She grinned. "Let's do it!" she shouted in her insane-maniac-warrior-princess way.

Elfangor and everyone laughed. <Okay, now let's go.>

We had to get more stuff together, so we left after the search team did. "Okay," I said. "We need to do this quickly. First, we need to figure out which way the Bug fighter went."

Tycoola scanned the sky. "If I can get some altitude," she said, "I could probably get a lock on their location."

"Go for it," I said. Tycoola spread her thirty-foot wingspan, flapped a couple of times, then rose off the ground and began power-flapping. I watched, amazed for a moment. Then I shook my head.

"Jake?" Cassie asked. "Once Tycoola finds the fighter, how are we supposed to get to it?"

That stopped me for a minute. I looked at everyone. Tycoola could fly on her own. Cassie, Ax, and I could morph. But then we had an Andalite, a serpent, and a Hork-Bajir. How were they going to get there?

Arbron solved that real quick. <I have a kafit morph,> he said. <I haven't used it in a while, but it shouldn't be too hard. Tycoola's strong enough to carry a Hork-Bajir on her back, and she can carry Strike by using her talons.>

Tycoola suddenly landed. "Found them."

"You're kidding," I said. "You found them? Are you sure it's the right ship?"

She ruffled her feathers. "Am I sure? There were two of them scanning the ground. One of them has used its laser recently. Besides, I saw Loren and Tobias through a window."

Ax looked at me. <Tobias' eyes aren't even that good.>

"How far were they?"

Tycoola thought for a moment. "About five miles away. They're staying in the same approximate area, so if we move now, we should be able to reach them in about 30 minutes."

Arbron quickly told her what we'd decided. "Let's morph," I said. I closed my eyes and once again focused on the owl. Dawn was still about an hour away, and there weren't any thermals over the forest. Cassie and Ax were morphing as fast as they could -- which, for Cassie, means she got to watch the rest of us turn in Frankenstein's creations.

Arbron had a little more trouble than the rest of us, since he hadn't morphed in a while. <Ready,> he said. Ax and Cassie echoed him.

I looked over at Tycoola. <You guys ready?>

"Hold on," Strike said.

She slid her tail through the handle of our equipment bag. Then, by biting her own tail, she formed herself into an 'O'. Mat had already mounted Tycoola, who flapped to get up off the ground. Once she was about ten feet up, she swooped down and closed her talons around Strike. "Coming?" she asked as she flapped in place.

Arbron, Ax, Cassie, and I had to work to get some altitude, but eventually we made it up as high as them. <You've done this before, haven't you?" Cassie said with a grin in her voice.

"Plenty of timessss!" Strike hissed.

"Come on," Tycoola said. "The fighter's this way."

"Ungh," I groaned. My jaw was throbbing with pain. "What happened?"

Loren was kneeling over me. "You were knocked out. So was I, and I think they used chloroform."

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're still in the control room," she said. "See that Hork-Bajir over there? The one wearing the purple uniform? That's Visser Six."

"That's Visser Six?" I breathed. Visser Six had to be almost eight feet tall. "You knocked him unconscious!"

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently I didn't knock him enough. I stunned him, that's all. He woke up in time to knock me out. Then they found you."

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

Loren shrugged. "I heard something about how they had to find the traitor before they returned to home base. Or the traitor's host, since the Yeerk should be dead by now. Apparently this traitor has some information they don't want getting out into the public."

"This gives the others extra time to find us," I said.

"We've been missing for almost five hours," Loren replied. "I hope they're still searching for us."

"Rachel won't give up," I muttered. "Neither would the others. Marco would complain, but he'd still come. So would Cassie, Jake, and Ax."

"You're very loyal to your friends," Loren said. It was a statement, not a question.

"They're the only ones I've ever had," I sighed.

Suddenly Visser Six spun around. "Would you two shut-up?" he snapped. "I'm -- what?" A Taxxon had come over to him and started talking. "An unidentified flying object? Coming this way? Screen on."

A big screen flashed before us. "I don't see anything," Visser Six muttered.

Something flashed across the screen, but it was moving too fast to be seen.

Then . . .

The cry came sudden and unexpected. Something slammed into the side of the ship. Then something else hit the other side. Whatever it was, it was trying to get the ship to land.

"Side screen!" Visser Six screamed.

The side screen popped on. A figure took shape. It was clutching the side of the ship with huge talons, and its six wings were beating on the ship rapidly. He was drilling his beak into the metal exo-frame. I recognized him immediately.

"Arbron!" I laughed. "It's Arbron!"

"How do you know?" Tobias asked. "It could be Elfangor."

I shook my head. "Elfangor's kafit bird morph has a brown streak down one wing. This one is pure white. It's Arbron, all right."

The other side screen blinked on. "That's Tycoola," Tobias said. "They did come."

Some of the Controllers were panicking. Visser Six glared at them. "They can't get inside the ship by drilling through with their beaks. So long as they don't -- what the? How did a hole get in the docking bay?"

A laser beam cut through the air and sliced through one of the control panels. Tobias and I, as well as everyone else, turned to look at the control room entrance.

"Hey, Tobias!" Jake said. "Could you use a lift out of here?" He was the one who had shot through the controls."

Tobias grinned. "You bet," he said.

Strike slithered over and bit through the ropes that tied us.

The ship suddenly started to tilt downward. We were all thrown off our feet and onto the floor. "What's happening?" Jake shouted.

Visser Six was frantic. "You destroyed the controls," he snapped. "This fighter's going down! And we've lost the other one's signal."

"Ax, tell Arbron and Tycoola to pull back," Jake commanded. "We can't risk all of us."

I could see the trees rushing up to meet us as we fell through the sky. One side of the ship lessened with weight, and the ship began to roll. Then the other side lessened, and it straightened out. "Everybody shield yourselves!" I shouted.

We hit.

Chapter Eight -- Srangi

<Any sign of her?> Elfangor called up.

"None," I said, spreading my wings and gliding down from the tree that I had been perched on top of. "The forest is clear."

I landed next to Marco, who was standing in the middle of the clearing. "This was the place, I'm sure of it," he muttered.

"Maybe what you saw was an image of the future, so she hasn't been here yet, or the past, and she's already left," I suggested.

<He didn't experience the vision that long ago,> Elfangor argued. <And Loren always had visions of things that happened within a few minutes.>

Marco is technically more superior with his powers than Loren, Cha-Nab interrupted. He has more strength.

"How does that work?" Rachel demanded. "Loren's had her powers since she was alive."

Yes, but Loren's powers were chance. Marco's is inherited. From his great-grandmother. Thus, making him more powerful. If he ever reaches his full potential. Cha-Nab smiled his Leeran smile, which basically consists of his upper lip curling under, and his lower lip curling out. It's strange to watch, and I could tell Marco and Rachel were both startled. When they didn't comment, I figured Elfangor had spoken to them.

"Cha-Nab," Devone said, coming up behind us. "Do you think that if you and Marco combined your abilities, you might be able to get a better fix on his mother?"

It's worth a try. He walked over to Marco and put on of his hands on his arm. You will feel a little light, Marco. It's natural. Just close your eyes and concentrate on the image of your mother in your previous vision.

"Could you be quiet long enough for me to do it?" he murmured, but he didn't even seem completely aware that he had spoken. His eyes were already beginning to close.

Cha-Nab and Marco were in the trance for about seven minutes, according to Elfangor and Rachel, who was wearing a watch. (Actually, Elfangor said six and Rachel said eight -- we ended up choosing seven just to shut both of them up.)

Anyway, when they finally snapped out of it, Marco seemed a little stressed. "She's here," he said. "She can here us. Or, actually, she can here Elfangor. By the way, man, you better tone down the thoughts. We could hear you and Rachel arguing. I think my mom might be afraid you're, like, Visser Three or somebody."

<Visser Three?> Elfangor repeated incredulously. <How could anyone mistake me for Visser Three?>

"Actually, Ax can do a pretty good imitation of him," Rachel mused. "I wonder where he learned it from?" We were awarded with a slight blush in Elfangor's fur. "Thought so," she said impishly.

"Did you get a coordinate on her?" I asked.

"She about three miles north," Marco answered. Cha-Nab didn't say anything.

I extended my wings and started to take off when Marco climbed on my back. "What are you doing?" I squawked.

"I'm not letting you go after yourself," he said. "She might run if she sees you -- if she sees me we'll have a chance of talking to her."

<Will you two go already?> Elfangor snapped.

"No wonder he gets mistaken for the Visser sometimes," I muttered as we rose in altitude.

Marco laughed. "You've never met Visser Three, have you?"

"Thank the Ellimist, no," I said with relief.

"He's a lot worse than Elfangor could ever be," Marco said, no longer laughing. "Let's hope you never meet him."

I leaned against the tree, trying not to make as much noise. I could hear the sounds of the Andalite yelling. I had no idea where he was. I couldn't catch all of his words, only those that he shouted, but he reminded me too much of Visser Three. And I could tell from his words that he was looking for me. I wasn't taking chances.

My ankle had given out about an hour earlier, so I had been sitting in that little clearing thinking about what Nemu had left me. I was surprised that I had made it as far as I had. "I must have walked ten miles on a busted ankle," I sighed. "That's gotta be a record or something."

Suddenly, a shadow fell over my little clearing. A chill ran up my spine, and I tried to press myself against the trunk of the tree. It didn't work. I wasn't going anywhere. So I sat there, watching as something drifted down from the sky.

"This is the place," a voice said. "Three miles north."

I looked at the creature. If I hadn't been so scared, I think I would've been amazed. "A dragon," I breathed. "A real live dragon. Well, a real dead dragon, at least."

"I don't see anyone," the dragon said.

Something jumped off its back. "She has to be here, Srangi. I just know it."

"Are you sure you and Cha-Nab got the coordinates right?"

"Cha-Nab didn't get anything," the passenger replied. "He blanked out about three minutes into the trance. I think his mind drifted to something else. But yeah, I'm sure this is the right place."

My mind was whirling. Srangi and Cha-Nab weren't Yeerk names. Maybe these people were from the community that Nemu had said was near-by.

The two of them started moving leaves around. I was almost shaking. In moments they would be moving the bush that partly concealed me.

"Are you sure you flew us to the right place?"

The dragon snorted. I saw little trails of smoke curl out of his nostrils. "Yes, I'm sure. I have an excellent sense of direction."

The passenger -- he sounded human -- sighed. "Yeah, right," he muttered. Then he straightened up. "Time for Plan B."

"Elfangor didn't say anything about Plan B," the dragon said.

"I did." He took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey! Is anyone out there! Laura? Hey, Laura!"

I wasn't about to answer. Then his next words stopped me cold.

"Mom, it's me! It's me, Marco!"

Marco.

My son.

"Mom, it's me! It's me, Marco!" I shouted into the forest. At the same time I was thinking, If there are any Yeerks out there, Srangi and I are dead meat.

"I don't think she heard you," Srangi said.

I got ready to yell again when I heard the sound of leaves being parted. "Marco?" a tentative voice ventured.

I spun around. There, leaning up against a tree that had been partly hidden by a large bush, was my mother.

For a moment, I just stared. It had been so long since I'd last seen her. I mean, really seen her. Not as a Controller, but as her. Sure, she had aged. But she was still beautiful. Her dark, curly hair framed her face, her olive skin a perfect compliment to her black eyes.

I couldn’t stop myself. I ran over to her and hugged her. "Mom," I murmured into her hair. Then I pulled back. "Is it really you?"

She nodded. "Nemu died awhile ago. I've been walking ever since then."

Then I noticed her ankle. "You're hurt," I said.

"The initial fall wasn't bad, but I think I made it worse by walking on it," she said, shifting her position. She looked at me. "What about you? I thought you were . . . I thought you were a Controller."

"You're assuming I know about Yeerks," I said. "Which I obviously do."

She laughed. "I guess I am. So?"

"Long story," I said. "Let's get you on Srangi and back to the others. Then I promise I'll explain everything."

Suddenly Elfangor came crashing through the bushes. <What I wouldn't give for wings,> he muttered. <Srangi! Marco!>

Mom started to shake. "It's Elfangor, Mom," I said reassuring. "Prince Elfangor."

"The Andalite?" she breathed.

I nodded. "What is it?" I called over to him.

<Emergency,> he said. I noticed his fur was pale than usual, and that he seemed upset about something. <Jake and the others found Loren and Tobias. They even managed to get on the Bug fighter with them.>

"But?" Srangi asked. I was glad he did. I knew there was a but.

<According to Cha-Nab, who got a message from Loren, the ship's computer blew. They were crashing.>

"Were crashing?" I repeated.

Suddenly a huge tremor shook the ground. Seconds later, a gigantic explosion rocked Elysia and the forest. A huge fireball rose up from the ground. "I'd say they just crashed," Mom whispered.