Animorphs #39 - The Hidden by K. A. Applegate

Author:K. A. Applegate [Applegate, K. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0439106788
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 2015-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

We were all pretty messed up. So with Ax and Tobias keeping a lookout and the buffalo following doggedly at our heels, we demorphed.

The buffalo watched us, then began its own morph.

Once again, unnervingly, the head developed first.

"Of all the people around, it just had to acquire Chapman?" Marco joked lamely, turning away. "That is so not cool."

<I don't think there was a lot of choice involved there,> Tobias said.

"It's becoming human," I said quietly, watching as the buffalo's skin faded and lightened, as the coarse hairs were sucked back into its body.

<It doesn't know what it's doing, Cassie,> Tobias said.

CCRRACK!

The buffalo's legs reversed, stretched, and hinged into human knees.

"There's something really gross about this," Rachel said, shaking her head. "It's so, I don't know, unnatural."

"So are we," I said, watching as the buffa-human wobbled up onto two feet.

Jake shot me a concerned look.

"That's different," Marco said. "We morph consciously. This buffalo's just mimicking what it sees. It doesn't know what the heck is going on."

"But what if it could learn?" I said. "What if now that it has a human brain, he learns to use it? What if it learns how to reason, or -"

"Nuh," the buffa-human grunted. "Guhhr-nuh." It looked up at me and blinked.

"It's learning to talk," I said, feeling a mixture of hope and nausea.

"No way," Marco shot back. "That was just some kind of weird, random firing of neurons in the speech part of its brain."

'You're wrong," I said, stepping slowly toward the buffa-human, who went very still. "Hi. I know you can't understand me yet -"

"Nuh," it grunted, tossing its head. "Uhh-hhnnn."

"Hi," I repeated.

"Heeeeehhhhh," it said, looking puzzled.

"I wouldn't push too hard to teach it to talk, Cassie," Jake warned. "If it becomes too human, it's gonna be a problem."

"Trust me, Jake, it's not gonna live that long," Rachel snapped. "I'm not being handed to the Yeerks by some lame Chapman mutation."

Thwok thwok thwok!

<Helicopter,> Tobias said tensely.

"We'll have to morph," Jake said, running a hand through his hair. "We don't have a choice. Everyone use your wolf morphs."

Thwok thwok thwok!

I concentrated on the wolf DNA. Immediately, a ruff of thick, lush fur sprouted around my neck. My legs dwindled in size but didn't weaken. My chest and shoulders swelled, and my face began to bulge. My teeth grew into long, deadly fangs.

The buffa-human was morphing, too. Watching me as its defenseless, human body beefed up until it was a dark, massive rock. As the rolling, deadly horns sprouted from the center of its skull.

Mimicking.

THWOK!THWOK!THWOK!

The trees whipped wildly and dirt flew. -

I scooped up the blue box in my mouth.

<Let's haul!> Jake ordered, streaking out of the clearing.

We dashed after him, slipping away into the darkness just as a blinding shaft of light pierced the clearing from above.

<Wait!> I shouted. <The buffalo!>

<We can't wait!> Rachel said, tearing past me.

<But we can't leave it!> I cried, pacing anxiously in the dense shadows.

<Come on, Cassie! It's not in morph. If it runs away, it won't draw the Helmacron sensors.

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