This book is dedicated to my friend, Jessica Turcotte. She listens to all of my stories, and has supported me through all of my writings.  And you too, Kristin. This is your book, remember?  Chapter 17 is dedicated especially to a very wonderful and understanding teacher.  Mr. Beam. Everything equals 17.

<Chapter One>

         My name is Kristin. You all know my last name, so I don't have to worry about accidentally telling you, unlike the others. It's Wilkinson. My name is Kristin Wilkinson, though the students know me as Miss Wilkinson. Yes, students. I am currently in college, and I am in Mrs. Hayden's class, as a student teacher.
         I have to warn you, like the others have. You may think I am crazy, and that's fine by me. But this is major, serious stuff.
         The Earth is under attack by aliens. Don't go looking around downtown with a camera around your neck. You can't tell who is one of these aliens.
         These aliens are Yeerks. They are parasitic slugs, that live in the host brain of Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and Gedds. Humans.  They control you, your every movement. Not only that, but they can read your mind, go through your thoughts and memories as easy as a person on a computer finds files to open and read. I know. Trust me, I know. The real host is helpless under the power of this slug. They are just a memory,  trapped in a corner of their own mind.  They have no power over what they do or say. No power what so ever. These people that carry Yeerks are called "controllers."  It is a silent war, these Yeerks have started
on our own planet, Earth.
         That is what I am warning you about.
         Now that you are all worried about how we are being attacked, I have some good news. There are people resisting. Actually, 5 kids, an Andalite, and of course, me. Here's how it all started, from what I heard from the others.
         The 5 kids, all teenagers, (Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and Tobias) were at the local mall. As they were leaving they had a choice to make, a choice that would change their lives forever. They chose to walk home through the abandoned construction site that one night.
         As they were walking, they saw a spaceship. It was far away at first, then got closer.. and closer, 'till it landed. Out stepped an Andalite. An Andalite named Prince Elfangor. A creature that looks like a cross between a human, a deer, and a scorpion. It is kind of like a centaur, except an extra set of eyes on stalks. It had two normal eyes, only a little bit larger, and green in color, on a triangular shaped face. It has no mouth and three vertical slits for a nose. Its upper body looks like a person, with bluish-tan fur (that covers most of the body), and small arms with seven fingers on each of two hands. The rest of his body looks like a deer, but with smaller legs and hoofs, and a slanted back. You'd think he was harmless, until you saw the tail. It was black and arched, and had a scythe blade at the end.
         The Andalite gave the 5 kids the power to morph, the power to turn into any animal they please. The Andalites' created this power, and are the only ones that posses it. The only thing is, you have to touch the animal, acquire the DNA pattern to morph it. Which means,  if you want to morph, like, a tiger, you have to get close enough to touch one. Which, amazingly, Jake did, but that's a different story. One of the major problems with morphing, is that if you stay in a morph for more than 2 hours, you are trapped. Forever. Unless you can create a little blue box that holds that Andalite technology. Like, our resident Andalite. Tobias got caught in his red-tailed hawk morph, but they changed him. Tobias stays at my place most of the time (his parents died a long time ago, and his aunt and uncle couldn't care less about him).
         As this creature from a different planet came to help save Earth, the Yeerks had traced him here And they did not want Elfangor to tell anyone about the invasion.
         And so these teenagers witnessed the brutal killing of Prince Elfangor that night. An Andalite dying millions of miles from his own planet. Dying to save Earth.
         Visser Three, the third highest ranking controller (except for  the Council of Thirteen, which no one knows that much about), is the only controller to have an Andalite host body. He is the only Yeerk that posses the power to morph.
         Immediately after they escaped from the Visser's grasp, they began fighting. On one mission, they found an Andalite on the bottom of the ocean, where it's ship, the same ship Elfangor had been the Prince of,  had crash landed 30 miles out to sea. This Andalite's name is Aximili-Esggrouth-Isthil. His nickname is Ax, though. He was Prince Elfangor's brother.
         Then, just recently, they rescued me. Jake found out I was a controller, and they had rescued me from the Yeerk pool, an underground cavern where the Yeerks have to feed from every three days. They freed me, and now I have to be wicked
careful. I can't let anyone know I am free... which will put me up to quite a challenge.
         There. That is everything I know. I, also, have been given the power to morph, though I haven't acquired any animals. Except Rachel, who I morphed to test it out.
         This has been the hardest thing in my life I have ever had to endure. Yet, these kids have risked their lives, and I can not back out of this. Not after what they did to me and their planet. Even though running away would be the easiest way out.