I don't know why I said "Yo!" I am not a "Yo!' kind of person. It was all I could think to say. I was too busy having a heart attack to think of anything else.

See, that blue box was supposed to have been destroyed.

That blue box represented more power than half the weapons in the world combined. That little blue box could give anyone morphing power.

The Yeerks would do anything to get it. And when I say "anything" I mean some things you don't even want to think about.

So I said "Yo!"

And the kid stopped walking. He looked at me like maybe he should know me but couldn't quite remember me.

He was a little taller than me. Most people are. He had blond hair and brown eyes and a look on his face like maybe he had an attitude.

"What?" he asked me.

"Um ... I don't know you, do I?" I said.

"I'm new," he said.

"Ah," I remarked. Normally words come easily to me. But I was in brain-lock. I kept scanning around the crowded hallway, looking for Jake. Or Cassie. Someone with some sense. Not Rachel. Rachel's idea of dealing with this kid would probably involve dragging him into the nearest closet, morphing into her grizzly bear morph, and getting that blue box the quick and direct way.

But I didn't see Jake. Or Cassie. Or even Rachel.

"So. My name is Marco."

"I'm David."

"David! Okay. Good name."

David gave me a look like maybe I was an idiot. And to be honest with you, I wasn't doing much to change his opinion.

"Later," he said and started to walk away.

"Hey, David!" I yelled after him. "What's that blue thing?"

He turned back toward me. "I don't know. I found it. It was in that construction site over across from the mall. In a hole in a wall. Inside the cement block. Like it had been put in there or something."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's weird. I mean, it feels like it must be something, you know? Like it's not just a plain old box. It has some writing on it. Like it might be foreign, or something."

BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!

The gentle sound of the bell made me leap approximately a foot in the air.

"Hey! Can I have it? I mean, it looks cool and all. I could pay you . . ." I began turning my pockets out. Lint balls . . .a very old peppermint Life Saver . . .

"I could pay you a dollar and thirty-two cents," I offered lamely, holding out the bill, the coins and the Life Saver.

"Marco, huh?" the kid said.

"Yeah. I'm Marco. Nice to meet you."

"Even nicer to say good-bye," he said.

He walked away. And then, too late, I spotted Jake. I went right up to him, grabbed him by the jacket and yanked him into the boys' bathroom.

"Some kid has the blue box!" I hissed.

"What blue box?" he demanded, shoving me back.

"The blue box." I crouched to look under the stall doors and make sure we were alone. "Elfangor's blue box."

Jake's face went pale. "Oh --"

BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!