Ax hesitated, searching Marco's face and feeling perturbed by what he found there. He'd seen Marco upset before -- all of the Animorphs, from angry to terrified -- but it was never pleasant to look at a friend and see them appear actually ill with emotion. He shrugged his shoulders.

< I cannot judge that at this time, > he said uncomfortably. < If we can convince Elfangor to back up our story, perhaps there is enough truth to it to satisfy Samson. >

He'd pointed out during the meeting that it was possible that Samson had discovered that Ax and Tobias were living in Cassie's barn and drawn some conclusions from there. Conclusions supported by their successful attempt to abduct Tom and unsuccessful attempt to kill Iniss. But their cover story was rather...unwieldy.