"What do you need?"

<I am dying,> says the alien, clearly and silently. They are, actually, sending more than words - there's pain behind them, not quite blocked out.

<I cannot protect you. You must know what you need to protect yourselves.>

"Is everyone hearing that?" She's whispering very quietly.

Yep, nodnod, he sure is hearing the telepathic alien centaur say things in his head.

"What do we need to know?"

<There are aliens among you. Not like me.> 

The alien sends an image, a gray-green slug about the size of a rat.

<They are called Yeerks. They are parasites. They require hosts to live, to interact with the world. When they enter the brain they are known as Controllers, taking total control of the host body. They have come to destroy you.>

"That's... not great."

How do they know that what the telepathic alien centaur says is true? Wars are usually more complex than one side of the war will tell you.

This is a lot. It's actually enough to distract her from her internal screaming.

"We should get it to a hospital."

<This wound is mortal,> says the alien. <My people, the Andalites, fight the Yeerks wherever they appear. We had intended to stop them here. We were taken by surprise, and now - they will be tracking me. Very shortly there will be no trace of me or my ship. It may be as much as a year before more forces arrive, possibly more. By then the Yeerks will have infested enough humans to achieve total control of this planet.>

Lev is very very suspicious of the telepathic alien centaur.

"Okay, so we'll stop them," Asher says, as if that wasn't ever in question.

The Andalite - doesn't smile, exactly, you need a mouth to smile properly, but their eyes suggest a smile. 

<They are powerful. They may already have infiltrated your governments. I am sorry I cannot help more.> There is a short pause. <I may be able to give you some small powers to assist you in your fight.>

AWESOME.

Oh no this is bad he is going to turn into a scientific experiment.

Yeah they're pretty much all going to die.

"What... kind of powers."

<There is not much time.> says the Andalite. He turns to Asher. <There is a small blue box inside my ship. I cannot reach it. Bring it to me and I will give you the power to morph, to change yourself into any animal you can touch.>

He is going to ENTER the ALIEN SHIP and bring the DYING CENTAUR a blue box.

His life is SO AWESOME.

It's a sky-blue cube, maybe four inches on each side. There isn't much else inside the ship - a few controls, some oval-shaped objects, a three-dimensional holographic picture of a blue centaur family with two little baby centaurs.

<All of you,> says the Andalite, beckoning to the others. <Come forward, if you wish to save your people. Press your hands to this cube.>

Karen is not really sure any of this is a great idea, but she steps forward and does as instructed.

Dennis looks at Lev.

There are lots of really good reasons not to press his hand to the cube.

But he wants to know what it does.

Asher has no internal conflict about getting superpowers whatsoever.

Well, as long as they're all making very questionable alien decisions. Sure.

When everyone is touching the morphing cube, it sends a tickling, tingling sensation through all of them.

<No human has ever had this power. It is a piece of Andalite technology the Yeerks do not have. We have never shared it, but your need is great. With this power, you will only need to touch a creature, to acquire its DNA pattern, and you will be able to become that creature. It requires concentration and determination. You must be strong. And you must remember not to remain in animal form for longer than two consecutive hours, under any circumstances. If you stay longer you will become trapped, unable to return to return to human form. Do you understand?>