Текст книги "Animorphs - 08 - The Alien"

Автор книги: Katherine Alice Applegate

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"Ax, we are the two strangest creatures on this planet: a freaky, four-eyed, half-deer, half-scorpion, centaur-looking alien, and a bird with the mind of a person. We've fought side by side. We've been nearly killed several times. Of course I'm your friend." 50 It surprised me that he would answer so quickly. As if there was never any doubt what the answer would be. "That's good," I said. "Will you keep a secret? Even from Prince Jake?

Even from Rachel?"

Tobias was silent for a while. "Is it something that would hurt my friends?"

"No."

"Then I'd keep a secret," Tobias said. "I swear."

"What do you swear by, Tobias? I have to be sure. What promise would you never break?"

"Ax, you know I was there when your brother was killed."

"Yes. I know. You were the last one to leave him."

"Yeah. I don't know why," Tobias said. "But something about him ... I can't explain it, but I was drawn to him. I wanted to listen to him. I wanted to hear everything he said. It was like .

. . like he was a magnet or something. Like I couldn't pull away. Until he ordered me to leave.

I can't explain it."

"You don't need to explain," I said softly. Even here, among aliens, Elfangor was the hero.

"You asked what I'd swear by. I'll swear by him. By Prince Elfangor." And so, I told Tobias of my plan.

51 Chapter Eight

"E.T. phone home." When I found that sentence in Cassie's book of human quotes, it surprised me. To be honest, it almost scared me. It was as if it were written just for me. I thought maybe, somehow, my human friends had discovered my plan and written it there. -

From the Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

The sun was just coming up over planet Earth.

I performed the morning ritual, as I always did. But I was especially impatient this morning. I knew Tobias was hunting a morning meal and would be back as soon as he had finished eating some unfortunate mouse or shrew.

"Freedom is my only cause. Duty to the people, my only guide. Obedience to my prince, my only glory ."

When Tobias returned from the hunt, we would go. He would lead me to the observatory, to the great radio telescope. And, with luck, I would be able to call my home.

"I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Andalite warrior, offer my life." With my stalk eyes I saw a hawk swoop low overhead. Tobias rested on a branch. He focused his fierce hawk's eyes on me. "Are you done?"

"Yes. The ritual is completes "Great. Because it is a beautiful day for flying. Thermals like you wouldn't believe. And a sweet little ground breeze for easy takeoff."

"Tobias, you understand that you don't have to do this," I said. "There may be danger."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Ax. Let's go, already."

I often go flying with Tobias. The bird morph I have is called a northern harrier. It is a type of hawk, about the same size as Tobias's red-tail. Tobias's feathers are mostly brown and light tan, while the harrier's are mostly gray and white.

I controlled my excitement and worry, and focused on making the change.

The harrier morph is always strange. For one thing, there is a great difference in size between an Andalite and a bird, even a large bird.

The first sensation was one of falling, as I shrank rapidly.

My stalk eyes went blind and wings grew out of my front legs, which is very awkward. It causes me to fall forward onto the ground, since I cannot stand on my hind legs alone.

Besides, my hind legs were busy shriveling down into the tiny yellow, scaly bird legs. And my tail was shrinking and splitting into dozens of long tail feathers.

52 Harriers also have mouths, like humans. Only these mouths are useless for speech, and have very little ability to taste. On the other hand, they are wonderful natural weapons. They are razor– sharp, and curved down into a ripping, tearing hook.

And the talons are excellent. I had long admired Tobias's use of his talons. He can swoop fast and low, just a few feet above the ground, and snatch up a mouse or small rabbit with those talons.

As I watched, the blue and tan fur of my own body was replaced by silvery gray feathers. The fur melted away to show the underlying flesh, and then the flesh became patterned with the millions of individual ribs of feathers.

I was used to the mind of the harrier, so I had learned to control its instincts. Its instincts were more forceful than those in the brains of humans.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Ax," Tobias said. "Not to diss you or anything, but why is it that Cassie is better at morphing than you are? I mean, you're an Andalite. But you look just as creepy as Jake or Rachel when you do it."

"Cassie has talent," I said a little grumpily. "Morphing does not happen to be my talent."

"Oh. You ready to fly?"

I checked. I opened my wings to their full three-and-a-half-foot spread. I flicked my tail feathers. I focused my laserlike hawk's eyes on a far distant tree and was able to see individual ants crawling up its trunk.

I listened to the forest with the harrier's superior hearing. I could hear the insects beneath the pine needles. I could hear a squirrel chewing open a nut. I could hear Tobias's heart beating.

I turned into the breeze and opened my wings. I flapped several times and lifted my legs clear of the ground. The breeze caught me and I was off.

Even with the breeze, I had to flap hard to get as high as the treetops. Tobias was already several dozen feet above me. But then, Tobias has had a great deal of practice.

I swept just above the treetops, flapping and soaring. The sun was beating down on the treetops and heat waves were rising. I caught the up-draft and shot higher. I was two hundred feet up in just seconds.

I could see Cassie's farm now. And as I circled to use the updraft for more altitude, I could see all the familiar landmarks: the homes of the others. The mall. The school.

"Stick with me," Tobias said. "We'll follow the water's edge. The observatory is north along the coast. About an hour's flying time."

We reached the ocean. There were cliffs along the shore, and here the real thermals rose up.

A thermal is an updraft of heated air. Flying into one is like flying into an elevator or drop shaft. The updraft catches your wings and lifts you up and up and up.

It is a fantastic, giddy, wild feeling.

53 I wheeled and turned to stay within the thermal, following Tobias higher and higher.

"We want to get above the gulls," Tobias instructed. "Sometimes seagulls get obnoxious.

They'll swarm a hawk if they're in the wrong mood."

It was exhilarating. We were thousands of feet above the ground. Down below, humans lay on the beach wearing less clothing than usual. Clothing is a strange human habit. They must wear it all the time. Except at the beach, when they may wear less.

I don't understand this. The World Almanac had no explanation. Although I did know that the United States imported 36.7 billion dollars' worth of clothing.

"Keep an eye on that guy up there," Tobias said.

"Where? What?" I asked, shaken out of my dreamy thoughts.

"A peregrine falcon. He's probably looking to pick off a few tasty seagulls. But he may decide we look more tender. He's small but fast. Mean, too." I decided to keep an eye on the falcon. Earth is a dangerous, wild place. At least, if you're a bird.

I thought it must be terrible sometimes for Tobias. He lives in fear of things that no human would need to fear. He has lost his position at the top of the food chain of Earth. Hawks are predators, but they are also prey. Yet he seemed to have accepted his fate. Was it possible he even preferred being a hawk? Was that why he never asked me what I might know about him being a nothlit?

Or did he think I would refuse to answer, or worse yet, lie?

Fortunately, the falcon ignored us and we flew on, following the coastline. Soon we had left the city behind. The beaches were gone, too. The coastline grew more rugged, with waves that crashed in explosions of foam against jagged broken rocks.

A single road wound along the coast below us.

There were cars on it, but few buildings. Then, in the distance, I saw a large white structure.

Actually, several structures. There was a tall building with a dome top. And arrayed around it in various positions were several large white flattened bowls. It took me several seconds to figure out their purpose.

"That's the radio telescope?" I laughed. "You're still using dish arrays?"

"Won't they work for ... for whatever it is you're doing?" Tobias asked.

"Oh, yes, they should work. If I can gain access to the computers, they should work very well. It's just that they're so primitives "I don't suppose you want to tell me what we're doing, huh?" 54 "Doing? We're flying," I said.

"Very funny. Suddenly you have a sense of humor. Great."

" I he large building with the dome?" I asked Tobias as I swept above the observatory. "Is that where the computers would be?"

"Maybe. That's where they have the regular telescope, I think. But they may have the control centers and computers there, too."

I looked with my incredible hawk vision. There was a huge, rectangular opening in the top of the dome. Inside I could see a vast circle of glass. I laughed in recognition. "A telescope? An actual optical telescope? What can they possibly believe that'll show them?"

"It will show them a red-tail and a harrier flying around together, looking like lost tourists," Tobias said. "According to Marco, this place isn't really operating yet. So I don't know how many people will be around. But we need to find a place to land, so you can morph into something useful, and do ... whatever."

"Tobias. Is that sarcasm? The way you ask me what I'm doing?"

"No, it's not sarcasm. I think it's called being snide."

"Ah. Thanks for explaining. Why not fly straight into the dome?" I asked.

"Why not?" Tobias agreed. He led the way down.

We dived at high speed, rocketing down through the air. The brilliant white dome rushed up at us. I shot through the open rectangle and banked sharply right.

It was much darker inside than outside. Below me was the incredibly long tube of the telescope.

"I see doors down below. Those are probably offices," Tobias said. "They'll probably have computers in all the offices. If we can find one that's empty."

"Yes. That would be good. But I will need fingers."

"For. . ."

"For whatever it is I'm doing," I said.

We circled swiftly around the inside of the dome. As I flew, I kept expecting to see humans below. But none ever appeared.

"This place is awfully empty," Tobias said.

"Yes. It seems almost abandoned," I agreed. "Tobias, I am going down. My morph time is running short. Now is when I should go on alone."

55 "Yeah. Gotcha. Good luck, Ax-man. Whatever you're doing, be careful." Tobias swept up and out of the dome. I was alone.

I drifted down toward the floor. Down and down, to land on a table. There was a computer console workstation. But no humans in sight.

I saw an open door leading to what seemed to be a dark and empty office. I flapped my wings twice and was inside.

Harrier eyes, like hawk eyes, are adapted for daylight. They are not very good in the dark.

But the harrier also has extremely good hearing. I dimly saw a desk and came to rest on it.

Then I concentrated on listening.

I was alone in the room. I was certain of that. The only human sounds I heard came through the walls.

Conversation. I could not make out the sounds, but they all seemed to be concentrated in one area.

"Ax can – hear me?"

It was Tobias. His thought-speech was faint.

"Just barely," I answered.

"I'm outside. I'm looking – a window – here. I see – ven– in a room. – like some kind of meeting."

"Yes, I can hear them," I said. "Can you keep watch over them? Let me know if they come this way?"

"Yeah. If any – leaves the – ting, I'll know – ," Tobias said.

"I can barely hear you," I said. "I'm going to morph."

"Can't – very well, but go – "

My plan was to morph to my normal Andalite form, then quickly move into my human morph, just in case any humans saw me. But I was tired from the flight. And morphing is very tiring. Especially quick morphing. And if I had to make a quick escape it would mean passing through my Andalite body to move back to harrier.

I would never be able to handle that many changes in a short time. I decided to risk staying in Andalite form.

Besides ... if it worked and I reached my home, I wanted my parents to know me when they saw me.

I began the demorphing. I could only hope that Tobias would be able to give me enough warning.

56 Even though I loved being a bird, it was a good feeling when my tail began to form again. An Andalite without a tail is just sad.

And no matter how powerful a hawk's eyes may be, they can still only look in one direction at a time. As my stalk eyes reformed, I breathed a sigh of relief. I could once again see in all directions.

There was no computer in the office. I was very annoyed by that fact. It meant I would have to go back into the observatory to use the computer there.

My hooves slipped on the polished floor. I swung my eyes in every direction, keeping a sharp lookout.

I pushed the chair away from the computer workstation. I began typing on the antique key board. The screen asked me for a password.

"Password?" I laughed. I disabled the security system and confirmed that Marco's father's new software was already in place.

Good. That would make it easier. As quickly as I could, I wrote in a virus that would swiftly transform the software that controlled the radio telescope.

Since humans had no awareness of Zero– space, they did not understand that a powerful radio receiver could be tuned in such a way as to create a Z-space vacuum and open a cross-dimensional gateway.

Once I had opened a small hole in Z-space, it was child's play to use the same receivers to modulate and reflect the background radiation into a coherent signal. The hard part would be using thought-speech to control the signal. That would take absolute concentration.

"Still – out here," Tobias said.

I hoped the word I couldn't hear was "okay."

It took about ten Earth minutes to adjust the radio telescope. Ten minutes, and I had moved human science ahead by a century or so.

Ten minutes to completely violate Andalite law.

I was done. The system was ready.

I pressed the "enter" key.

The thousands of lines of computer language disappeared from the computer's screen.

The screen went blank.

I focused my mind as sharply as I could. I pictured the coherent signal. I pictured that beam going through my own head.

57 "Andalite Home," I thought. "Andalite Home."

The screen flickered.

A face appeared. It was a hard, suspicious face. But it was an Andalite face.

"Who is this?" the Andalite demanded. "This is a high security link. You are not an authorized sender. State your name and location."

"My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Son of Noorlin– Sirinial-Cooraf and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen."

The Andalite stared at me. "Elfangor's brother?" he wondered. "What is your location?"

"My location is the planet called Earth."

58 Chapter Nine

"Earth!"

"Yes."

"Is Prince Elfangor with you?"

For a moment my concentration wavered. I lost the signal. But then, I forced myself to focus.

This was too important to let my emotions mess things up.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He looked surprised that I would ask. "I am Ithileran-Halas-Corain. Assistant to the Head of Planetary Communications^ "Thank you. Ithileran, my brother's life . . . ended," I said. "The Dome ship was destroyed. I am the only survivor."

I could see that this was a surprise. Ithileran's eyes were downcast, and he lowered his stalk eyes as well in a gesture of grief.

"Your brother was a great warrior. And I mourn also for the many other warriors aboard the Dome ship."

"Elfangor was the greatest," I said. "My family doesn't know he's dead. I would like you to connect me with them. I could get interrupted any minute."

"I will do that. As soon as your family is found, I will connect you. But first, give me your report, aristhAximili."

I tried to quickly organize my thoughts. "The Yeerks are here in force. There is at least one mother ship. Also one Blade ship belonging to Visser Three, and numerous Bug fighters. The humans are unaware of the invasion. I do not know how many humans have been made into Controllers, but there must be thousands, at least."

I took a deep breath, and tried to hold onto my concentration. How much should I tell Ithileran?

"Then Earth is lost to the Yeerks?"

"No!" I said sharply. "Earth is not lost. There is a small resistance. A few humans. Young . .

. arisths, like me. I fight alongside them."

"But surely there is no hope of victory?"

"We have hurt the Yeerks," I said. "We have destroyed the Kandrona that was in place on this planet."

That got Ithileran's attention. That definitely got his attention. "You destroyed a Yeerk Kandrona? How did you manage that? You and a handful of human youths?" 59 It was time to tell him the full truth, or decide to lie.

"The humans ... the humans have the power to morph," I said. "Visser Three believes they are a small band of escaped Andalites. Earth has many strange animals, and with the morphing we use those species to attack the Yeerks."

"Humans who morph? And how did humans come by this technology?"

"It was given to them. By Elfangor."

Ithileran looked startled. His eyes darted to the side and then he abruptly disappeared from the screen. In his place stood another Andalite.

I was stunned. I instantly recognized the face.

He was very old, and yet his power seemed to vibrate through the screen, across all the light years that separated Earth from home.

Lirem-Arrepoth-Terrouss.

Head of the Council. Veteran of more battles than I could count. His appearance on the screen would have made me lose concentration, but I was too awed to dare.

"You know who I am?"

"Yes. Yes, um. Yes. Yes, I know you. I mean, I don't know you, but I know who you are." He ignored my babbling. "I mourn the loss of your brother and all aboard that ship. Now tell me: Did Elfangor break our laws and give technology to the humans?"

"Um, well ... the humans were helpless. Our force had been destroyed. There was nothing to stand between the humans and total domination by the Yeerks. They needed some weapon." Lirem stared at me with a gaze that was known to make great princes tremble.

"And how have you come to contact us? This is a Z-space transmissions "I ... I ... I made some modifications to a primitive human device."

"So, you also break the law. You also transfer technology to the humans."

"The humans are not our enemies!" I said. I surprised myself by practically yelling. "They won't have a chance. These few humans are all that resist the Yeerks on this planet. Elfangor knew that. He did what he thought was right!"

To my surprise, Lirem did not tell me to be silent. But his eyes grew darker, his expression more serious than ever. Then he said, " AristhAximili, once before an Andalite did what he thought was the right thing. He transferred technology to a weak, backward species. He did it be cause he thought they should be able to travel to the stars. Do you know the name of that Andalite?"

60 "Prince Seerow," I said.

"Prince Seerow. Yes. He was my first prince. Did you know that? Many centuries ago when I was an aristhlike you." Lirem looked hard at me.

"Do you know what happened because of Seerow's Kindness?"

"Yes," I said grimly. "Yes, I know. I have seen what happened because of Seerow's Kindness."

For a moment no one spoke.

Then Lirem said, "Young Aximili, your brother Elfangor is a hero. The people need heroes in this endless war. I do not wish to tell the people that in the end, Elfangor broke the laws.

There can be no forgiveness for a prince that breaks the laws. Unlike an aristh. So ... I ask you to think again. Was it truly Elfangor who gave this technology to the humans?" I couldn't believe what Lirem wanted me to say. He wanted me to lie. He wanted me to clear Elfangor.

"I...I was wrong when I said Elfangor did this," I said, too shocked to argue. "It was ... it was me. I gave the humans the morphing technology."

Lirem continued. "Cut off from your prince, alone, not yet trained, not yet a true warrior, you broke the laws, aristhAximili. Is this true?"

"Yes," I whispered bitterly.

"In the name of the council, I forgive your error." Lirem said. "What's done is done. Per haps ... in some way I am too old to see, this may all work out for the best."

"Yes," I said blankly. Why had I done this? Why had I communicated with my home?

"Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, you have done a brave thing, taking on this guilt. I know the temptation to go beyond the law when helping a brave people fight the Yeerks. I was an advisor to the Hork-Bajir. They were our allies, but they were not Andalites. They were not our people."

"But. . ." I knew I should shut up. But part of me was getting angry. "But the Hork-Bajir ended up losing everything."

Lirem's eyes were cold. "You are an Andalite. You are not a human. Obey our laws. I am giving you an order: Resist the Yeerks. But give the humans no information and no technology. Do you understand my order, aristhAximili?"

"Yes."

"The fleet is engaged in many parts of the galaxy. We are doing well against the Yeerks. But it will be some time before we can come to Earth. Fight the Yeerks. If you are half the hero your brother was, you will bring honor on your family."

61 From what seemed like far away, I heard a faint voice in my head. "Ax – on the move. – guy. Think he – ."

But at that very moment, Lirem said, "Aximili, we have your father. He would like to speak to you."

"Ax – you hear? – there's -"

"Aximili-kala," my father said. It was his nickname for me.

I couldn't believe it was really him. "Yes, Father. It's me. It's me, Aximili. I'm on Earth. I don't know how long I can talk, not long."

"Is your brother there?"

It came so quickly, the question I dreaded. I almost lost the contact. I desperately wanted to see my father's face and listen to his words. But at the same time, I did not want to tell him that his oldest son was gone.

And there was another thing I did not want to tell him.

"Elfangor," my father said. "Is he . . ."

"Father. Elfangor is ... he was killed."

My father looked like someone had punched him. He rocked back.

I looked away. I had tried so hard not to think about Elfangor being gone. Somehow it wasn't real till this moment. Seeing my father's pain made me feel my own.

"Did he die well?" my father asked. The question is part of the ritual of death. It was the question he had to ask.

"He died in the service of his people, defending freedom," I said. This also was part of the ritual.

My father nodded. "And has his death been avenged?"

This was the part I had feared. "No, Father."

My father looked up at me. "You are now the eldest son. The burden of revenge is on you.

Do you know his killer?"

"Yes."

"And does his killer still live?"

"Yes."

"And do you, Aximili, take up the burden of avenging your brother's death?" 62 "Yes."

The ritual was complete. We had both said all the things we were supposed to say.

"I am so relieved to see that you are still well," my father said.

"Yes. I ... I wanted to see you," I said. "I couldn't – " The connection was broken. Instantly, totally. I was staring at a blank screen.

"Sorry, but you were breaking my heart," a human voice sneered. "I had to cut you off."

I spun around. A human! He was thirty feet away.

And he was holding a weapon, pointing it at me.

Only slowly did I realize that it was no human gun. The weapon in his hand was a Dracon beam. Standard Yeerk issue.

"You and I have a lot to talk about, Andalite. Quite a lot."

I was frozen. I could not move. The human-Controller was too far away for me to hit with my tail.

"Don't try it, Andalite," he sneered. "I'll fry you before you can even twitch that tail of yours."

But then . . .

"Tseeeeeeeeeerrr!"

Tobias dived from the top of the dome at full speed, wings swept back, talons raked forward.

He aimed for the man's face.

The man threw up his arm. Talons raked the bare flesh of his forearm, leaving red slashes behind. But the man had held on to the Dracon beam. Tobias flew past. Shreds of the human's shirt hung from his talons.

I leapt forward. Too late!

"Freeze! I don't want to kill either of you, Andalites, but I will if I have to!" the man snapped.

Tobias swooped away to perch on the huge telescope itself.

"I just want to talk," the human-Controller said.

"You're the one holding the Dracon beam," I pointed out.

Then, he did something that amazed me. He knelt down and placed the Dracon beam on the floor. He kicked it aside. The weapon went skittering across the polished floor.

63 "Now I'm at your mercy, Andalite," he said. "You can use that tail of yours. Or you can listen to what I have to say."

With my stalk eyes I glanced up and saw To bias.

"It's up to you, Ax," Tobias said. "This is your party."

"Speak, then," I said to the human-Controller.

"My name is Gary Kozlar," he said.

"Don't waste my time," I snapped, trying to sound strong and unafraid. "That's a human name. That's the name of your host body. But I know what you really are." He nodded. "All right. My name is Eslin three-five-nine. And you are Aximili, a young Andalite warrior-cadet. Brother of Beast Elfangor. You see, I heard the last few minutes of your touching conversation."

"Beast Elfangor? So that is the Yeerk name for my brother?"

"Your brother is dead," Eslin snapped. "And so is the one creature in all the galaxy that I cared about. Her name was Derane three-four-four. And do you know what they have in common, your brother and my Derane?"

"No. What does my brother have in common with a Yeerk?"

Eslin's human face twisted into an expression of rage. "They were both killed by the same being."

"Visser Three?"

"As I said, you and I have a lot in common, Andalite." He struggled to gain control over his human face, but his jaw was twitching as he explained. "You Andalite bandits did a lot of damage by destroying the Kandrona. There is widespread starvation. The most important Yeerks, those in vital positions, or those whom the Visser happens to favor, are being shuttled back and forth to the mother ship every three days. They get a minimal dose of Kandrona rays. Enough to keep them alive."

"Do you expect me to feel badly?" I asked.

"No, I expect the usual Andalite self-righteousness and hypocrisy from you," Eslin spat.

"Andalites. The meddlers of the galaxy."

"Do not anger me, Yeerk. I said I would listen. I did not say I would let you spew Yeerk poison."

Eslin made a grim smile. "I knew you'd come. As soon as I saw the new software, I said to my self, 'Aha, not the usual clumsy human effort, this.' An Andalite corrected this software.

An Andalite who wanted to use the radio telescope as a Z-space transmitter. I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd come."

64 "And here I am," I said. I felt like a fool. Of course the Yeerks would have one of their own people in a position at the observatory. It was obvious. I had been an idiot. An idiot!

"My Derane ... we came from the same pool. We went through training together. She and I ...

we had been together for a long time. We were very close. She understood me. But I had this important post at the observatory, while Derane was given a minor post. When you Andalite bandits destroyed the ground-based Kandrona, Visser Three moved quickly. He said everyone would survive. He said he had found a way. But he lied. Too many Yeerks, not enough Kandrona rays. It was simple division. So he shuttled so– called important Controllers up to the mother ship. And the rest. . .

Eslin seemed to notice the bloody gashes on his arm for the first time. He touched them gingerly. "You Andalites must love this planet. So many nasty species for you to morph."

"Was your Derane one of the ones killed?"

"She was 'expendable,'" Eslin said. Then he smiled. "I've had some small revenge already.

The Visser's favorites are shuttled up to the mother ship every three days to feed. I sabotaged one of the shuttles. That threw off the feeding schedule. Now some of the Visser's friends are starving and dying. Like my Derane died."

"That's why we're starting to see Controllers losing it," Tobias said privately to me. "That's why it took so long. Visser Three had it under control till this guy messed with his plan."

"Are you finished, Eslin?" I asked him. "I've heard your story. Is there a point to it?"

"Ah. You want the point of the story. Yes, of course. The point. The point is this: Visser Three inhabits an Andalite body. And sometimes he feeds like an Andalite."

"What's that mean?" Tobias asked me.

"He feeds like an Andalite, almost alone. He has guards of course, but they stay back. He is vulnerable. Vulnerable. And I know the place where he feeds."

"Why are you telling me this, Yeerk?"

"Why?" He bared his human teeth in a grimace of rage. "Because I want him dead. I want Visser Three dead! He killed my Derane. He killed the only one in the galaxy I have ever had feelings for. He did it. And I want him to pay with his life, the foul, half-Andalite scum. I want him DEAD!"

He calmed himself down, at least a little. He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket.

He placed it on the desk. "Time and place," he said. "You have a day to prepare."

"This could be a trap."

Eslin sneered. "I could have killed you here. You have your duty, Andalite. The burden of revenge. Your brother's killer. Your greatest enemy. You Andalites are great ones for duty.

So do your duty, Andalite."

65 66 Chapter Ten

It is very difficult to be in human morph and remember that you are not one of them. That their pain is not your pain. It is hard to remain apart. Sometimes very hard. – From the

Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

That same evening, Prince Jake called a meeting in Cassie's barn.

My first thought was that Tobias had told the others about my trip to the observatory. Of course, Tobias still did not know that I had communicated with my home. But he did know all about Eslin's plan to kill Visser Three.