Текст книги "Animorphs - 18 - The Decision"

Автор книги: Katherine Alice Applegate

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"Okay, I'm calm now," Rachel said as soon as she had emerged from the fly morph. "So now that I'm calm, same question: Now what?"

"What do you think about having Tobias take a look around?" Prince Jake asked me.

I don't know,"; I said.

Prince Jake looked at me with a narrowing of the eyes and pressing together of the lips. The expression is "annoyance," I believe.

"Tobias? Go up and take a quick look,"

Prince Jake said. Tobias flapped up from the ground. Prince Jake looked at me. "Now, listen up, Ax. I know you're feeling bad. For lots of reasons, probably. But you feeling bad doesn't let you off the hook."

What hook?"; "Look, we got Andalites shooting at Yeerks. We have no humans in this fight except for us. Maybe you're not the big expert, but you know more than we know. So snap out of it."

Tobias circled overhead and came quickly back down to land somewhat painfully on a point of rock. We have about a thousand heavily armed Hork-Bajir on one side, coming toward us fast. They're backed up by these kind of big, flat, oval ships flying maybe a quarter mile up and firing Dracon beams. Taxxons coming behind them. And over there, we have about two dozen Andalite ships, also low down, and maybe a hundred tough-looking Andalites on the ground.

I may be wrong, but I don't think the good guys are gonna win this round."; We should try and reach the Andalite forces,"; I said.

Why, so some other Andalite traitor can rat us out?"; Rachel said harshly.

My tail blade was at her throat before I knew it.

She stared at me with cool, blue human eyes. "What's the matter, Ax? Does the truth hurt? You blew us off so you could suck up to Captain Creep back there. If we go and find more Andalites, what happens? You tell us to go sit in a corner and be nice while you start yes, sir-+ and no, sir-+ the next Andalite you see?"

I pulled my tail blade back, horrified that I'd gotten so emotional. I felt the anger drain away. Rachel was right.

I made a mistake trusting Captain Samilin. I made a mistake dismissing all of you. You have ... you have kept me alive and befriended me for a long time. All I can say is that none of you knows what it's like to be completely cut off from your own people."; One of us does,"; Tobias said quietly.

All I can do is say I'm sorry. And I will consider Jake my prince until he says otherwise."; I turned to face Prince Jake, focusing all my eyes on him. ally are my prince until you, and only you, say otherwise."; For once he did not say, "Don't call me prince."

Instead he said, "Fine. Now what I want to know is this: Is there anyone on the Andalite side we can be totally sure of?"

It was a hurtful question. I felt the last of my pride melting away. The commander. If he were a Yeerk spy, this entire battle would already be lost."; "It looks pretty lost to me," Marco said bluntly.

Force Commander Prince Galuit-Enilon-Esgarrouth lost his entire family to a Yeerk raid on an Andalite outpost. His entire family: wife and three children. They died rather than be captured. Their bodies were fed to the Taxxons. We can trust Prince Galuit."; I sighed. And we probably should trust ... no one else."; It sounded simple: Reach the Andalite forces.

But it is a very dangerous thing, advancing toward a lot of angry, very dangerous, very heavily armed, very nervous warriors.

The automated defensive grid will fire at anything in the air that comes too close,"; I warned. Anything. If it is more than a few feet above the ground the sensors will pick it up, target it, and fire."; "This ground is too rough to walk over," Cassie said thoughtfully. "And it's getting dark. We could try smaller birds. The seagull morphs again. No, wait! Bats! Not as fast, but very agile. And with echolocation we can fly close to the ground even in the dark."

"To the bat morph, Robin!" Marco said, with cheerfulness that seemed totally out of place.

"We morph, then we fly, hugging the ground the whole way," Jake said. "Once behind Andalite lines we try and figure out a way to reach this Prince Galuit." He looked at me. "And whatever happens, we stay out of this battle till we reach Galuit. Understood?"

all yes, Prince Jake."; Prince Jake looked at me with an unsmiling mouth. Then he said, "Don't call me prince," and formed a small smile with his mouth parts.

all yes, Prince Jake,"; I said.

I had been in bat morph before, and after doing mosquito and fly morphs it seems almost normal. It has fur, for one thing. And I find fur very comforting, even when it is dark brown and very different from my own blue.

But bats are almost cripples on the ground.

Bat legs are stunted and clumsy, and their front legs–or arms, whatever–are encumbered by leathery wings. Being unable to run is disturbing for any Andalite.

I focused on the bat, this strange creature from a strange planet so far away. I shrank, down and down as if I were falling. As if I might fall into one of the thousands of bubbles in the volcanic rock beneath me.

My front legs withered and left me almost facedown on the rock. My tail blade crinkled, like a burning leaf. The crinkling, withering worked its way up my tail.

I couldn't help but picture the tactical officer in those horrible moments after the captain had struck and cut away his tail. I hadn't liked T.o. Harelin. He seemed to me like too many older officers: full of prejudices and arrogance. But he had been a true Andalite.

He had died a hero.

Now my hind legs began to shrink, staying perfectly symmetrical till they were quite small. Then, at the last moment, tiny claws replaced the hooves.

My arms moved back, rotating a few degrees around my body. My fingers elongated relative to the rest of the arm, which was shrinking. Skin began to grow in loose, gray-then-black folds. It hung down from my arms as if I were wearing very loose human clothing.

Clothing is pliable fabric designed to cover the human body. Sometimes as protection against the cold. But mostly, as I understand it, because humans believe much of their body to be unacceptable. They are right, of course, but they cover all the wrong parts: There is nothing uglier than a human nose.

The loose-hanging skin tightened and became wings. My ears grew larger. And of course, like almost all Earth creatures, I acquired a mouth.

I could see quite well. Not as well as a bird of prey, but almost as well as a human. But sight is not the special power of bats. The special power bats have is the ability to fire a series of ultrasonic sounds that bounce off solid objects and send back a sonic picture to the bats.

The Leeran sun was dropping fast. The bat eyes were already straining to see. But I had a perfectly clear picture of the rocks around me.

Okay, let's go find this Andalite honcho,"; Marco said.

I flapped my wings and flew. Once more in the company of my human friends.

I felt strangely at home. As though, despite Prince Jake's anger and Marco's sneering and Rachel's outright suspicion, I belonged with them.

For some reason at that moment, even with the images of death aboard the Ascalin fresh in my mind, I saw myself far away, in a very different body, eating delicious cinnamon buns with a mouth.

I wanted to be back there. I wanted to be back on Earth.

Captain Samilin had sold out to the Yeerks.

Was I selling out to the humans?

I flapped my leathery wings and fired my echolocation bursts and flew just inches above the rocks. The bat's echolocation sense created a sort of picture, like a sketchy line drawing, with edges all sharp and clear and surfaces just sort of scribbled in.

I dived between rocks, and rose just millimeters before hitting obstructions. I turned left, right, left in sudden, acrobatic jerks.

This is insane!"; Marco yelled.

Insane can mean several things when used by Marco. It can mean "stupid" or it can mean "fun." I think in this case it meant fun. Because as insane as it was, it was exhilarating.

allyee-hah!"; Rachel yelled, then laughed her feral, dangerous laugh.

Soon it was a sort of precarious game: How close could I fly to the jagged rock edges without ripping a wing or crushing my fragile bat bones in an impact?

And it took my mind off darker, muddier thoughts.

Then the exquisitely sensitive bat ears, the ears that could hear the echoes of hypersonic echolocation heard something new. A hum. A vast, pulsating hum that grew and grew as we flew on.

Prince Jake, I believe we are hearing the Andalite sensors,"; I said.

Oh, that's what that is?"; Cassie remarked. Almost like music."; We flew on, low, occasionally scraping on jutting rocks. Then– Whoa! Pull up! Pull up!"; Cassie cried. She was in the lead.

I shot upward.

TSEEEWWWW!

The blast of the Dracon beams and Shredders was deafening. The flashes were blinding to the bat's eyes. Hork-Bajir, twenty at least, were piling up against a group of three Andalites and two Leerans. The fighting was intense. It would be over in a few minutes.

It would be a slaughter. But Prince Jake had ordered us to stay out of it. And I would not abandon him and my human friends again.

And yet, a phalanx of Taxxons was moving in to finish off the wounded Andalites who had already fallen.

To my surprise, it was Cassie who said, Jake, we should do something."; Didn't I say we had to stay out of the battles?"; Prince Jake demanded.

all yeah, that's what you said,"; Tobias answered. So what are we really going to do?"; Prince Jake hesitated. Then he said, Okay, let's rescue them. Land, demorph, remorph, fast, fast, fast!"; But before we could land, the entire rock bowl where the Andalites and Leerans stood exploded.

Ka-Booom!

The shock wave sent me spinning through the air.

I landed on my back, half-unconscious, deafened, blood in my eyes. And overhead the Yeerk ground attack fighter swept by to the hoarse cheering of the Hork-Bajir.

A huge, clawed foot landed inches from me.

Hork-Bajir ran over me, stampeding in a forward rush, ignoring the tiny, winged creature that was me. They fired their Dracon beams steadily, yelling with triumph in their voices.

I heard no answering Andalite Shredders.

The Yeerk forces were advancing. The Andalite line was broken.

Prince Jake!"; I called.

Tobias!"; Get in the air!"; Prince Jake yelled back to all of us. Everyone who can fly, up!

Get up!"; Could I fly? Yes! I rose from the ground just as the first wave of Taxxons came rushing forward.

Taxxons are huge, long worms. Like Earth centipedes, only much larger. Taxxons live in a state of eternal hunger. Desperate hunger. They will eat anything–dead or alive.

Even their own fallen or injured brothers.

I fluttered past an open, questing Taxxon mouth. I saw a fellow bat, flying just a few feet above me. I saw it very clearly. And then, in an instant, it was gone. Simply gone.

Where's Tobias?"; Rachel cried.

Tobias!"; I cried. He ... he disappeared!"; What do you mean, he disappeared?"; Prince Jake demanded.

I saw him. I was watching him. And he just disappeared."; Now, twenty feet up, I could see more of the battlefield. The line of Hork-Bajir was already far ahead of us. Taxxons writhed across the dark landscape below.

If there were Andalites anywhere nearby, they had been destroyed. In my mind I pictured the tactical display aboard the Ascalin. I could see where we were and where the forces had been arrayed.

We've lost,"; I whispered, not sure if anyone even heard me. We've lost."; As if to confirm my grim realization, I saw the engine flares of a dozen or more distant Andalite ships rising from the surface of planet Leera. Rising, and running for their lives.

We stood, in our own bodies, amid the filthy, reeking waste the Taxxons had left behind. We hadn't found Tobias.

Rachel was alternately crying and raging.

Marco was sitting, silent. Cassie kept holding on to Prince Jake. And Prince Jake kept pulling away to pace, to mutter to himself, to wonder half-aloud what he should have done. What he could have done.

I stood off by myself. I couldn't help feeling that I was to blame. I was humiliated. I felt sick. I had turned away from my friends and trusted my own people instead. One of my own people had betrayed us. And the rest of my people ... well, they had probably fought well and bravely. But they had lost.

Just like the Hork-Bajir war. We had lost again, and condemned another race to slavery under the Yeerks.

And what a race! The Leerans were amphibians. They could travel in water or on land, although they built their cities underwater. But the terrifying thing was that the Leerans possessed limited but very real psychic powers.

Leeran-Controllers would be able to see past morphs and into the mind inside. It would be impossible to fool them for long. And if Leeran-Controllers were ever brought to Earth, their powers would soon reveal the truth of the Animorphs.

Not that the Animorphs would ever likely be able to return to Earth.

It was Cassie who shook me out of my dark thoughts. In a whisper she said, "Ax. I don't think Jake wants to have to ask you again, but what do you think we should do?"

I don't know. We've lost. We're on a strange planet that will soon be under Yeerk domination. We've failed the Leerans, as we failed the Hork-Bajir. As we are failing the humans."; Past Cassie's head I saw distant red flares from Yeerk ships dropping from orbit to land more and more troops on the continent. Soon the continent would be an impregnable garrison of Yeerk forces.

"Tell me more about the Leerans," Cassie said.

I shrugged. I don't really know any more than you know. They are amphibians. They live primarily in the oceans. Originally I suppose they came on land to lay their eggs. Now I suppose their technology allows them to do all that in their underwater cities."; "So why do they even care about what happens on the land?"

They wouldn't care. Except that the Yeerks can use the continent as a base for attacks against the underwater cities. Other than that, I don't suppose the Leerans would even ... care ...

what ..."; I stopped breathing. Yes! Of course! Of course that would be Galuit's plan.

"What? What is it?" Cassie demanded sharply.

Prince Jake!"; I cried.

"Yeah?"

We must reach the ocean. If I am right, some Andalites will be in the Leeran cities. In any case, we must get to the sea as quickly as possible!"; "Why?"

I hesitated. Prince Jake ...

Jake ... you must trust me. We cannot stay on land. We have to reach the water."; Prince Jake looked at me for a long time.

"Okay," he said at last. "I trust you."

One more thing,"; I said. If at any time it seems the Yeerks may catch us, if it seems they might take me alive, you must not let them. You must destroy me yourself rather than let them take me. Promise me."; "What? Why?"

Because I think I know what is going to happen. And if I am right, this defeat will become the greatest victory in Andalite history. And that information cannot fall into the hands of the Yeerks. No matter the price. No matter what.";

The continent was small by continent standards, but it still took the rest of the night to reach the shore. We morphed birds and flew. We stopped when we were near the two-hour limit and rested. And all the while I wondered if there was enough time left.

We flew above scenes of recent carnage.

Burned-out ground skimmers, crumpled Andalite fighters and Yeerk Bug fighters.

As the sun rose on Leera, I looked down and saw a still-smoldering Andalite ground attack ship crumpled into a Yeerk ship. They had hit so hard that you couldn't tell where one left off and the other began.

And then, finally, there was the sea. It stretched forever, brilliant blue, far more vivid and bright than the oceans of Earth, which are usually gray.

I tried to look around and spot some landmark.

Some outline of coastline that would seem familiar from my faint memory of the holographic maps.

But it was just endless miles of muddy shallows, overgrown with rushes and reeds and strange yellow trees that swirled horizontally.

Big ocean,"; Rachel said. How do we–"; How do we what?"; Prince Jake asked.

It took several seconds for us to notice, to realize.

Rachel was gone!

Rachel!"; Cassie cried.

Rachel!"; We searched the sky. Nothing. Not even our powerful raptor eyes could see anything. No clue. No sign. Nothing.

What's happening?"; Marco demanded, angry because he was afraid. She was just here!

She was talking!"; Ax, what is this?"; Prince Jake asked. First Tobias, now Rachel!"; I don't know. I don't know."; Maybe someone on the ground shot her,"; Cassie moaned. Oh, God, Rachel!

Rachel!"; There was no Dracon flash,"; I said.

ationothing. One second she was there. The next second she was gone."; Maybe it was someone or something on the ground,"; Prince Jake said. We have to get out of here. Into the water!"; We dove from the sky. I knew no one had fired at us, but I dove as fast as the humans.

Whatever was making my friends disappear, it scared me. Whatever it was, I didn't want to be in its sights.

Down we dove, wings back.

Splash!

I went under, plowing into the warm water. I instantly began to demorph. I bobbed to the surface, already more Andalite than harrier. The water saturated my feathers, but the feathers were disappearing. I sucked air in through a nasty hole that was part beak and part Andalite nose.

I dove under again, and finished demorphing. I surfaced and found Prince Jake, Cassie, and Marco all treading water, finishing their own demorphing.

"Dolphin morph!" Prince Jake said.

"Ax, you'll have to morph your tiger shark."

"Wait, no!" Cassie said. "We don't know what's in this ocean, but the Yeerks thought hammerhead sharks would be the baddest things around, right? That's why they wanted to create shark-Controllers to fight in this ocean. We should all go shark."

"Yeah. Good point," Jake agreed.

"Okay, then. Let's go shark. And everyone watch everyone else. We've had two people disappear. We're not going to have a third!"

Shark, I thought, and began to perform the morph.

I should explain the Earth creatures called sharks. They are fish. They breathe by extracting oxygen from the water itself, using thin membranes called gills.

But there are many fish in Earth's oceans.

Only a few are called sharks. Some sharks are pleasant, peaceful eaters of plankton.

Others are small and prey only on smaller fish.

But there are some sharks that humans call "man-eaters." These sharks are swimming killing machines. If it is possible to imagine a Yeerk having its own natural body, a body perfectly adapted for the Yeerk's ruthlessness and destructiveness, the shark would be that body.

It has massively powerful jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. It has skin that is literally covered in millions of very tiny teeth. Skin that can rip human flesh. And it has an array of senses each attuned to one thing: finding prey. Finding and killing.

Excellent eyesight. Excellent sense of smell that can detect a handful of blood molecules diluted in a billion gallons of salt water. An electrical field sensor that feels the energy of other living creatures.

If some scientist had sat down to design the ultimate seagoing predator, the ultimate seagoing biological weapon, and had come up with the hammerhead shark, he'd be very proud of his work.

I felt myself morphing the shark. Felt the scythelike dorsal fins grow from my spine.

Felt my tail blade split to become the swept-back, skin-slicing tail. Felt my stalk eyes move out to the sides to become the ugly hammer's head. Felt the new senses come alive in my brain. Felt the teeth–the rows of serrated, triangular, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching teeth.

And I felt the shark's cold, clear, brutally focused mind join my own.

I kicked my tail and moved through the water.

Jake, Cassie, and Marco swam beside me. I suppose, like me, they felt powerful at that moment. And would have felt more powerful still, except for one terrible reality: There should have been six of us.

And now only four sharks swam out into the Leeran ocean.

I wish Rachel and Tobias were seeing this,"; Cassie said. Her thought-speak voice was a mix of wonder and bitterness. This is nothing like Earth's oceans."; It was true. The continent might have been a dull, uninteresting place, but the ocean was amazing. Earth's seas contain many fascinating and wonderful creatures, but most of what you see as you swim there is murky water and a sandy bottom.

In this ocean the water was as clear as air.

Clearer, in fact, than Leeran air, which is so heavy with humidity it sometimes seems like you're breathing clouds.

The water was perfectly, utterly clear. We were swimming in water that was forty feet deep, and we could see every detail on the ocean floor.

And what detail! Huge, billowing creatures like white and yellow sails, triangular with biological propellers at each corner. Brilliant, electric-blue worms or snakes, each seventy feet long, swimming in wild schools. A bizarre creature that rose and fell through the water by blowing air into a bladder so thin it was almost transparent.

A wonderful sort of fish in the shape of a screw that rotated its way through the water.

And these creatures weren't scattered here and there, but everywhere. The Leeran ocean was a madhouse of life-forms.

Spread around across the ocean were bubbling chimneys of rock and soil, encrusted with squirming, writhing creatures, small and less small. My shark senses could feel the electrical discharge from these chimneys, and the intense warmth.

As I watched, a massive school of the brilliant blue worms came swirling around one of the chimneys. It swirled and my shark senses could feel the energy flow from the chimney into the worms.

Look at that!"; Cassie cried, excitement overcoming her sadness. A thousand marine biologists could stay happy for a hundred years just studying this one small area. The animals. The plants. The ... the whatevers!

I wish I knew more. I know this friend of my mom's who studies the ecology of coral reefs. She would cut off her arm to spend an hour here!"; The creatures are feeding off the geothermal energy and electrical charge from these chimneys,"; I said. This may be an environment without predators."; It has predators,"; Marco said darkly.

The Yeerks are here. And we're here. For now. Until suddenly we go "poof!" like Rachel and Tobias."; That brought us all back to reality. Still, even afraid, even sad, even desperate, we could not ignore the wild, incredible scene all around us.

We glided, dark and deadly, through a peaceful sea. The Yeerks had been clever to consider using sharks to control this ocean. Wherever I looked I saw no razor teeth, no crushing jaws.

Marco was right: There were predators here. But they were us.

And then ...

Hey, aren't those Leerans?"; Prince Jake said. Down and to the left."; I looked. Yes, they looked like the one Leeran we had seen on Earth in the company of Visser One.

They were mostly yellow. They had skin that was slimy, as if covered with ooze, yet rough in texture, like gravel. They had large, webbed back legs. For arms they had four tentacles arrayed around their plump, barrel-shaped bodies.

The head was quite large, with a bulge at the back.

It sat right on the shoulders. There was no neck.

The face bulged outward and seemed to have just two features. A huge, wide, almost ridiculous mouth. And big, bulging eyes of a green that seemed almost to be lit from inside.

There were four Leerans. They were riding on water jets. The water jets were long, narrow tubes, flared in front to make a sort of wing, flared again in back to give extra maneuverability. Arrayed along the back wing were clusters of very narrow tubes pointed forward.

They had obviously spotted us and were coming toward us.

Probably wondering what we are,"; Cassie said cautiously. They've never seen sharks."; These are the good guys, right?"; Marco said.

I mean, these are the guys everyone's trying to save from the Yeerks."; all yes. Maybe we should contact them. They could lead us to the nearest Leeran city."; Do it,"; Prince Jake said.

Leerans!"; I yelled. Leerans! I am an Andalite in morph."; Chuh-wooomp!

The spear flew through the water only slightly slower than a human bullet. I jerked left.

Too late! The spear pierced my tail and kept on flying.

Hey!"; Marco yelled.

I'm an Andalite! Andalite!"; I cried. allyr friend! Your ally!"; Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and three humans from planet Earth. Not our allies,"; a cold, thought-speak voice said. He laughed.

ally have no secrets from these psychic Leeran minds."; And suddenly the water boiled with the firing of a dozen spears.

Chuh-woomp! Chuh-wooomp!

This time we were more prepared. Still, we were not fast enough. A spear hit me in the side and stuck.

Prince Jake avoided being hit, but Cassie was speared through and through. Marco was hit twice.

Shark blood billowed.

The Leeran-Controllers laughed. Die, Andalite! Die, humans! We'll carry your bodies to Visser Four!"; Hey, great war! You can't tell who's on what side,"; Marco yelled. What is this, Vietnam?"; Three of us had been hit. But none of us was dead. The spears were fast, but very thin. No doubt they were deadly to Leerans or to other creatures of this gentle ocean.

But we were only hurt. Not crippled.

We don't seem to be dead, just yet,"; I said to the Leeran-Controllers.

The Leeran-Controllers gaped with their big green eyes.

But ... but the haru-chin spears are deadly!"; one of the Leerans said. He sounded like he was pouting.

ationah. Maybe around here they're deadly,"; Prince Jake said. But we're from a much tougher neighborhood."; Think it's true what they say about frogs?"; Marco asked. Think it's true that they taste like chicken?";

We launched toward the Leeran-Controllers.

Sharks are very fast in short bursts. Too fast for the shocked Yeerks inside the Leerans to react.

They tried to turn their water jets around. They were still trying when they were hit by four frustrated, scared, angry people in shark morph.

Andalites understand about tail fighting. But there is something very intimate and intimately violent about attacking with a mouth. You have to get very close.

You smell and feel and touch your enemy.

We hit, mouths open. We hit, and in a flash the four Leeran-Controllers were off their water jets and trying to swim away.

They kicked their big hind legs, but they were too slow. Using their psychic powers, they could feel our anger. It must have been terrible for them.

It must have been terrifying.

I didn't care.

But then ... I was rocked by a powerful psychic vision. A vision that cried out in despair and agony and desperate hope.

One of the Leerans had managed to squeeze out this plea for help. The Yeerk in his head was busy trying to stay alive, and the real Leeran had seized the moment to send this vision.

The picture that appeared in my head was grizzly and awful. But I knew it was real.

Prince Jake! Bite their heads! Bite off the large lobe at the back!"; What?"; Cassie cried. They're beaten already. I'm not going to kill them."; I lunged for the nearest Leeran-Controller.

The Yeerk in his head knew what I was doing, but when he tried to jerk aside I slapped him with my tail, stunning him.

I opened my mouth, then bit down hard on the lobe at the back of his head.

But what was most shocking to see was the Yeerk itself. It was ripped from the Leeran's head. The Yeerk writhed, helpless in the seawater.

The Yeerks are positioned in their rear brain lobes,"; I said. Bite them off!"; It will kill the Leerans!"; Cassie said.

.ationo,"; a strange voice said. ..It will free us!"; It was four of us against the three remaining Leerans. It was short but brutal work. Four doomed Yeerks writhed, fatally out of place in the Leeran water.

.Thank you!"; the Leerans said. It wasn't normal thought-speak. It was deeper than that. Images, ideas that appeared in our minds that we then translated into words.

ally need medical help,"; Cassie said.

Maybe I could demorph and–"; ..ationo, we will be fine. We can regenerate most body parts. It will take some time and we will be weak, but there are caves nearby where we can rest and be safe. Thank you! Thank you!"; I've experienced some strange events. But four bright yellow Leerans with half their heads removed actually thanking us was definitely one of the strangest.

We need to reach the nearest Leeran city,"; Prince Jake said. Which way is it?"; ..It will be very difficult. In the last months the Yeerks have captured many of us and forced us to be Controllers. There are many like us between here and the City of Worms. You are powerful, but if even one Leeran-Controller encounters you and then escapes, your secret will be discovered."; So how do we get there?"; Prince Jake wondered aloud.

Morph the Leerans,"; I said.

.all yes!"; the Leerans cried. ..all yes, morph us. Take our water jets. As long as you stay away from other Leerans, you will be safe from psychic probing."; Cassie said, We don't like to–"; .all yes,"; a Leeran responded, reading her thoughts. ..ally do not like to morph sentient creatures. You respect our freedom. But we offer you this freely. We have read what is in the mind of Aximili the Andalite. We know what he suspects, and we know that even among the Andalites there are traitors. So, friends, carry our DNA and help to free our people from the Yeerks."; We rose to the surface. I demorphed. The humans demorphed. We lay there treading water, rising and falling on the gentle Leeran swells. The Leeran sun was still low on the horizon, coming up on another day. It turned the water golden around us.

I reached and pressed my hand against a Leeran's slimy yellow flesh.

..Where sky meets sea, Andalite, human, and Leeran are joined as allies,"; my Leeran said. ..Each with our weaknesses.

Each with our strengths."; It moved me somehow, as ludicrous as it might have looked to an outsider. Humans and an Andalite wallowing clumsily beside big, yellow "psychic frogs," as Marco called them.

Three species on a world conquered by the Yeerks.

We probably would have seemed pathetic to any Yeerk who happened to see us.