43 - 16 - Morphing from one thing to another

I focused hard. The bloated worm began to disappear. I imagined the first signs of my familiar hawk body emerging from the pool of Taxxon slime. And then I remembered . . .

Taylor was watching this! She couldn't see me go from Taxxon to bird. She couldn't know I was a nothlit. She thought I was Andalite. A mighty Andalite.

I'd already slipped once, at Borders. Not again.

I focused harder and tried to do something that can't really be done. Morph directly from Taxxon to Andalite. The instant my hawk parts emerged, I focused on remorphing them to Andalite. It was excruciating, exhausting. Probably not very convincing.

Was she looking? Could she tell? Would she see what she shouldn't see?

The others were smart. Smarter than I was. Rachel and Marco had backed Taylor against a wall, blocking her view with their gigantic bodies. As I demorphed and remorphed, Jake kept guard and talked.

<I said you could carry a Dracon beam for protection,> Jake said firmly. <But we had an agreement. You would not fire above setting three.>