Plot summary
After failing miserably to pick up a girl at his locker, Marco is shocked to find a boy carrying the morphing cube, known as the Escafil Device. Marco introduces himself to the new boy, David, and lamely tries to buy the box off him, but David ignores him. Marco tells Jake about it, and both agree that the situation needs to be taken care of immediately. But that's not the only surprise in store for them. Erek the Chee tells them that a group of six G8 leaders (specifically, those from Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, and the U.S.) are gathering at the Marriott Hotel resort on the city coast to discuss the problems in the Middle East. Erek also tells them that the Yeerks are plotting to infest each leader, and soon the most powerful nations in the world would be under Yeerk influence. The biggest problem is that one of these heads of state is already a Controller. Now the Animorphs need two plans: one to retrieve the blue box, and another to stop the Yeerks from taking over the world.
The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is by a considerable margin the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, including Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world and the second largest city in Europe; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.
Marco, Tobias, and Rachel try to raid David's house in bird of prey morphs. Unfortunately, it fails miserably. Tobias is knocked unconscious, Marco is attacked by David's cat, and he and Rachel both get shot at by David with his BB gun. The next day at school, David tells Marco his seemingly ridiculous story about trained robber birds, and discusses his plan to sell the blue box online. In addition, he tells Marco that someone has already responded to his online notice and wants to buy it. Marco knows that the interested party is Visser Three, and he immediately skips the rest of the schoolday in order to stop the automatic E-mail David has set up (which contains his contact information and his address) from going out.
During school, Marco takes Ax with him to stop David's E-mail from being sent. Unfortunately, they're too late, due to David's computer's clock being an hour fast. Marco acquires Spawn, David's contraband, defanged cobra. Visser Three storms into David's house with a team of Hork-Bajir. A fight ensues between the Yeerks and the Animorphs, destroying David's house. Rachel, in bear morph, rams David out the window, and the Animorphs retreat. The Yeerks withdraw with David's mother and father.
The Animorphs are unsure of what to do with David. Although Ax draws attention to the fact that they can use the box to give him the power to morph, the Animorphs vote on whether or not to actually do it. Marco and Ax, despite the latter having brought up the possibility in the first place, decide that they cannot risk recruiting David, given his strange behavior and their lack of knowledge of him. Tobias votes to take him in out of moral concern and not just leaving him for the Yeerks, while Cassie and Rachel decide that David might be their ticket to recruiting more Animorphs in the future. Jake is left with the final vote, and he sides with Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie. With Marco and Ax outvoted, they reveal to David the Yeerk invasion and give him the morphing power.
From the very beginning of his recruitment, David displays his eagerness to kill by attempting to kill Tobias after morphing into a golden eagle (though in this case, he is under the control of the eagle's instincts). He also does not seem concerned enough about his parents being Controllers. (It is only through Marco showing him that his parents are now indeed Controllers that it finally resonates with him.) On the way to the Marriott resort, David indiscriminately kills a crow, although he passes it off as his morph's instincts taking control.
As they near the resort, they spot the Blade Ship taking the Marine One helicopter hostage. The Animorphs, fearing that the Yeerks have captured the President of the United States, enter the Visser's ship. The Animorphs are then discovered in cockroach morph, and end up falling out of the Blade Ship, and down into the ocean.
Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, either the large Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King or the newer, smaller VH-60N "White Hawk". Both helicopters are called "White Tops" because of their livery. Any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the Vice President has the call sign Marine Two.
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
Contributions to the series' story arc
- David is introduced.
- David receives the ability to morph and becomes an official member of the Animorphs team.
- This book begins to hint at David's reckless behavior.
The Invasion, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the first book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Jake.
The Beginning is the 54th and final book in the Animorphs series. Unlike other Animorphs books in the main series, but similar to the Megamorphs, all characters conduct narration instead of just one.
The Answer is the 53rd and penultimate book in the Animorphs series. It is the final book (fully) narrated by Jake and is the final book to fully be narrated by only one character. It is also the second-to-last Animorphs book.
The Message, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the fourth book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Secret is the ninth book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.
<Megamorphs> #1: The Andalite's Gift is the first book in the <Megamorphs> series, a set of companion books to the Animorphs series. With respect to continuity, it takes place between Book #7: The Stranger and Book #8: The Alien. The Andalite's Gift was originally published as two parts and later put together as one book as #2 of Megamorphs came out.
The Change is the 13th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Tobias.
The Unknown is the fourteenth book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Escape is the 15th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Marco.
The Warning is the 16th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake.
The Decision is the 18th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Ax.
The Threat is the 21st book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake. It is the second book in the David trilogy.
The Solution is the 22nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Rachel. It is the last book in the David trilogy.
The Suspicion is the 24th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Sickness is the 29th book in the Animorphs series, authored by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Melinda Metz. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Sacrifice is the 52nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Kim Morris. It is the final book to be (fully) narrated by Ax.
The Revelation is the 45th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Ellen Geroux. It is the first book in the ten-book arc that finalized the story of the Animorphs. It is narrated by Marco.
The Weakness is the 37th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Elise Smith. It is narrated by Rachel.
The Ultimate, published in 2001 and written by K.A. Applegate, is the 50th book in the Animorphs series. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Kimberly Morris. It is the final book (fully) narrated by Cassie.
