It's the beginning of the end. . . . Time stopped.

He came to me. The Ellimist.

The puppet master came to watch my final act. It figured. He was in his saintly old-man guise. As fake as everything else about him. The all-powerful weakling. The mighty manipulator.

"You," I said accusingly.

"Yes."

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Who are you to play games with us? You appear, you disappear, you use us. Who are you? What are you?"

And then, f o r what seemed a very long time, the Ellimist told me. I saw. I understood.

But I also knew he would not save me. That he couldn't under the arcane rules of his millennia-long war with Crayak, The Ellimist was there to honor me, and I guess t h a t was nice of him. Wasn't going to help me much.

I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not leave. In a moment no answer would m a t t e r to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know.

"Answer this, Ellimist: Did I . . . did I make a difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . was I w o r t h it? Did my life really matter?"

"Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were s t r o n g . You were good. You mattered. . . . "

CHAPTER 1

My name is Rachel.

I knew what was coming. I knew.

I'd seen it in Jake's eyes.

And you know what? I was scared.

I never thought I would be. Cassie thinks I'm fearless. Marco thinks I'm reckless. Tobias . . . OCRed By Arpit Nathany

well, Tobias loves me.

I guess they all do, in different ways. Jake, too. But Jake had to do the right thing.

I felt sorry for him, you know? He's carried the weight so long. He's made hard decisions. None as hard as this maybe. I didn't blame him, not even for a minute.

But I was scared.

I guess no one wants to die. I guess everyone then flatten themselves out, spread themselves is scared when the time comes.

down into the crevices, tie directly into your We were so close. We were right there, right at synapses. They take control. Absolute control. the finish line, I'd already survived so many times They read your thoughts, they sense your

when I shouldn't have. It seemed unfair. To come emotions. What your eyes see, they see. What this far, get this close . . .

your tongue tastes, they taste. If your hand moves, Jake gave me the job because he knew that

it's because they moved it. If you speak, it is the only I could do it. Would do it. Ax might have, sure, Yeerk who has spoken through you, made you

but he was needed for his skills. Me, I'm not the into a ventriloquist's dummy.

computer genius. I'm the one you send when you Over the course of years they spread like a need someone to be crazy, to do the hard thing. virus. Invisible. Undetectable.

I don't know whether I'm proud of that or not. They are your teacher, your pastor, your best I was Jake's insurance policy. He thought

friend. They are the police officer, the TV newsmaybe he wouldn't have to use me. He hoped, man, the soldier. Anyone.

anyway. But down deep he knew, and I knew, and Jake's parents had recently been taken; they we both hid the truth from the others because were human-Controllers — people controlled by Cassie couldn't let Jake make that decision, and Yeerks.

Tobias couldn't let me, and those two, by loving Jake's brother Tom, my cousin, had been a

us, would have screwed everything up.

Controller for a long time. He was a powerful It was a war, after all. A war we had to win. Yeerk. Jake still cared for him, still hoped someWe hadn't asked the Yeerks to come to Earth. how he could be saved.

They made that call on their own. They're a paraJake had sent me away with Tom. sitic species, not very big or impressive to look I understood. I approved. If Jake hadn't sent at, just these snail-like things that can enter your me I'd have gone anyway.

head through your ear. They have a capacity to Still, though, I was scared.

anesthetize the inner ear enough to allow them to I had power myself. We all did. The strange, burrow through the soft tissue. It still hurts but unsettling power to absorb DNA from any living not as much as it should.

creature, to then alter our physical bodies to beThey dig their way straight to your brain and come that creature.

I've been a whole zoo, you know. Everything that barrier and soar through the air. . . And from a fly to an elephant. Bat. Owl. I've flown, then, splash! And do it all over again.

way up in the sky with eagle wings. I've flown up So, anyway, we decided we had to try and

there with Tobias. Way up in the clouds. If there's stop the Yeerks. Jake and Tobias and Cassie and something better than that, well, I never found it. Marco and Ax, who is Elfangor's little brother, It's not magic. Just technology. Of course techand me. We lived this secret life. We fought and nology always seems like magic at first. Haul a mostly lost, but we survived. We frustrated the tenth-century knight into the modern age and Yeerks. We ruined Visser Three's life, though he show him your cell phone or your TV or your comstill managed to be promoted to Visser One. puter or your car. Magic.

Maybe we did too good a job frustrating the This technology came from the Andalites. The visser. The Yeerks grew tired of infiltration. Visser Andalites are enemies of the Yeerks, and I guess One had been craving open war. And when we

allies of ours, though right at the moment they blew up their ground-based Yeerk pool, the source were more likely to annihilate Earth than the of their food, the center of their lives, it was Yeerks were. You know the old saying, "With gloves off.

friends like these, who needs enemies?" So much the better as far as I was concerned. Anyway, it began with a chance meeting. An

The time had come to settle things.

Andalite prince named Elfangor crashed his

The Yeerks obliterated our town to create a shot-up fighter in our path. Coincidence? No, dead zone around their construction of a new history. And a helping hand from the Ellimist Yeerk pool. They were in a hurry. Without a funcwho of course never lends a helping hand. tioning pool they were getting hungry.

Elfangor died, but not before he told us what But there was a worm gnawing at the Yeerk

was happening and gave us the morphing techrace. They had acquired morphing technology nology.

themselves — in part because of what Jake

I've been a rat. A dolphin . . . oh, man, do thought was Cassie's betrayal.

they have fun. That rush when you're zooming Cassie sees further than I do. Further than straight up through the water, when you see the any of us. She sees deep. The girl cannot dress or ripply surface of the sea, when you blow through accessorize to save her life, she's a girl who 4

wears manure-stained Wal-Mart jeans for crying Yeerk Pool ship. Tom had control of the visser's out loud, but Cassie sees connections and possiown personal Blade ship. bilities that others don't.

Tom — the Yeerk in Tom's head — was closShe let Tom take the morphing cube. And that ing in for his final act of betrayal: He would kill changed everything. Some Yeerks began to see a his master, Visser One, and doom his fellow way out of their parasitic lives. The hunger-crazed Yeerks. He thought we were already dead.

Taxxons — a race held captive by the Yeerks —

Surprise, Tom.

began to dream of a life without their Yeerk overMy favorite morph was the grizzly bear. Seven lords. A revolution was brewing.

feet tall standing erect. You cannot imagine the At the same time, the Andalite fleet was clospower, especially when united with human inteling in, ready to obliterate Earth as the only way to ligence and knowledge. Compared to my grizzly stop the Yeerk infestation. They had watched the morph a human being is like something made

Yeerks concentrate their forces on Earth. They out of glued-together Popsicle sticks.

were ready to bring down the curtain: Obliterate How many times have I felt that change as

Earth and the Yeerk Empire would be gutted. muscle piles on muscle, as the thick brown fur Too bad about those creatures who got in the covers me, as the rail spike claws grow from my way. What were they called? Oh yeah, humans. fingers?

But Tom betrayed his visser, betrayed the

The grizzly bear and I had been through a lot Yeerk race. Not for the sake of poor old humanity, together.

but for his own ambition. He would escape with I would go to grizzly to kill Tom.

the morphing cube and with a hard core of faithful Yeerk supporters. He would abandon the Yeerk people to the Andalite vengeance, destroy the hated Animorphs, and if H. sapiens was annihilated, too, well . . . That's where Jake saw his chance. Tom's

Yeerk is smart. Jake is smarter.

Now Jake and the others had control of the

I hit the deck, a fall of thousands of times my own height. Flea didn't care. Not even a bruise. A strained voice said, "That's . . . that's not a waste dump. They aren't dumping waste! That's the pool. The main pool. It's been flushed." There was an audible gasp from several voices. The human-Controllers and Hork-Bajir-Controllers CHAPTER 2

who were Tom's bridge crew.

"Sensors showing . . . it's our people. Sixteen thousand . . . maybe seventeen thousand." Tom cut in harshly. "It saves us the trouble of killing them ourselves." Then, in an undertone,

"But why? Why would the visser flush . . . what does this mean?"

I was a flea on Tom's head. A flea can't see It means Jake's alive, Tommy boy. You'll fig- much really, just an impression of light or dark. ure it out in a minute, Yeerk. But I'm guessing it Not my favorite morph. But if you want to hide will be too late.

out, unnoticed, on a human body, you can't beat Away from blood. That's where I had to go.

the flea. And with practice you can learn to unThe flea's senses were all attuned to the warm derstand speech from the distant, distorted viscent of blood. But that scent represented danbrations that reach your quivering antennae. ger to me now, and I hopped away, each boundMy time was coming, and I had to find a place ing leap the equivalent of a human jumping over to demorph and remorph. I fired the spring-loaded the Grand Canyon. Try getting a flea morph to legs and catapulted into the air.

move away from blood. Amazing how much resisIt took forever for me to fall. The first time you tance you can get from a brain that's about ten do it it scares the pee out of you. Falling and cells big.

falling like that. Like you jumped off the moon I felt shade. Absence of light. Distance from and were falling to Earth.

vibration. No scent of blood.

Was I in a safe place? Surely not, but maybe I saw the viewscreen light up. I saw Visser safe enough.

One's Andalite face. It was different. There was a I began a slow, cautious demorph.

dull look in his usually aggressive eyes, a slackI heard a yell. ness in the normally tensed body.

"The Pool ship is preparing to fire!"

"You seem to be experiencing some engine

"Hard left!" Tom yelled.

trouble, Visser," Tom gloated.

A moment later, Tom laughed. "The visser's I was completely demorphed now. There would lost maneuvering ability. The Pool ship handles be no room for me to morph all the way to grizzly like a drunken Gedd at the best of times, and and stay concealed. Every eye on the bridge was now look at it."

watching the screen, but a seven-foot bear loomSomeone else reported, "His Dracon cannon ing up will definitely attract attention.

is powering down. I show his reserves at less than I started the morph. If it turned out I wasn't ten percent."

needed, well, then it would be fatally stupid of

"Are they? Well, well," Tom said. "Hail the me. But I had no real doubt.

visser. On screen."

Visser One said, <The Empire will track you I was halfway demorphed. I was a hideous creadown and kill you, you do understand that, I ture made up of armored plates and prickly legs hope?>

and human flesh spreading across me like a wave.

"Oh, I doubt it. I think the Empire will have The sickest imagination could not conjure up the its hands full," Tom said cheerfully. "The Antrue creepiness of a half-flea human. Human eyes, dalite fleet is rather close by. It's possible that I my own eyes, bulged from an insect face.

misled you on that point."

I could see. Not well, confused, distorted, my He was all but giggling.

visual cortex still more flea than human. I was Then, the viewscreen widened out and he

still on the bridge of the Blade ship. I was actusaw, and I saw, the lithe Bengal tiger standing ally crouched beneath an unoccupied control stanear the visser. tion. It was like hiding under a desk. Fortunately Tobias was there, too.

it was designed for a Hork-Bajir body, so there Tom saw the tiger and knew it was Jake and

was some room.

knew in that split second that he had been out10

maneuvered, outfought. He took a step back, ever they saw a morph. It was strangely gratifying like he'd been punched. "You're not dead!" he that at last they knew who we were.

cried.

I said, <That's right, genius: Animorph.>

<l noticed the same thing,> Visser One said I did what I do better than anyone. What Jake dryly.

counted on me to do.

Tom yelled, "Bring us around to target the I attacked.

Pool ship's bridge. Do it! Now! Now! Bring us around!"

At that moment I could have morphed all the way to elephant without being noticed. Tom's panic was infectious. They all knew they'd been had.

But they didn't know how. Tom's reaction was pure instinct: shoot. He'd forgotten that the Pool ship was helpless. The sight of Jake — who

should be dead — standing there with the other Animorphs, standing there alive and apparently in control of the Pool ship . . . all Tom could think of was shooting.

The danger was closer than that.

Jake looked at me. Like he knew I was watching him.

<Rachel,> he said. <Go.>

<Rachel . . .> Tobias said.

<l know, Tobias. I know.> I said.

I was still not completely morphed when someone shrieked. "Animorph!" After all these years of the Yeerks thinking we were Andalites, always yelling "Andalite!" when12

I swung a paw at him, and it should have

been all over right then, but I missed. He dropped and I missed.

I reared up to my full height and Tom rolled into a ball. He was down under my legs. I swiped his back and laid his spine open. But I didn't stop him.

He was through my legs and behind me and

CHAPTER 3

staggering toward the exit.

I spun, dropped to all fours and bounded to cut him off. I reached the exit a split second before him and shouldered him aside in the process. He spun like a top and fell on his butt. I was in a clumsy stance so I just sort of

dropped on him. It was like some WWF body

I charged straight for Tom, on all fours, head slam, only I wasn't faking it. He grunted and I down, an express train of muscle and fur, claws saw blood gush from his nose and mouth.

and teeth.

Too easy. My final battle. It couldn't be this I hit him with my lowered head and knocked

easy.

him back into the viewscreen. Not enough to take I drew back, ready to go in and finish the job. Tom out, but I had to try and damage the ship. But I had wasted too much time. There were othTseeew!

ers on the bridge. And I had overlooked the fact Someone fired a Dracon beam. I felt the searthat we were no longer the only ones who could ing pain in my right flank but it didn't matter. I morph. Every member of Tom's handpicked crew was in berserk mode. Pain was something that could morph, and I was surrounded now by a half could be stored up for later. Right now I was an endozen half-morphed beasts. raged bear. I slammed a shoulder left, slammed a shoulder right and felt crumpling metal.

Tom himself was starting to morph, but he

wasn't my main problem now.

Tom yelled, "No shooting! You'll destroy the

<Rachel! Behind!>

bridge! Morph! Morph you idiots!"

No one moved.

It was Jake. He was watching the fight from

<Scared?> I asked.

the Pool ship.

I spun, slashed horizontally and something

No answer.

that may have been a half-morphed leopard crum<You should be,> I said, almost laughing. pled like a Dixie cup.

I lunged, straight for the polar bear. Go for the The main weapons station was right there, a main opponent first. Go for the danger. I barreled sort of waist-high, freestanding lectern. I threw straight into him. It was a train crash. I slammed myself back into it and heard a nice crunch as it him, my shoulder into the side of his head. toppled.

He had a bear morph. I was my bear morph. Experience is very helpful.

But that was more seconds lost while the

Yeerks were completing their morphs. All but Tom. The polar bear staggered. I extended my claws His scarred back was crusting over with reptilian and in a move no real bear had ever learned, I scales, but he was nothing recognizable yet. And drove them straight into him, like four daggers, in any case, I had plenty to keep me busy.

right beneath the front right shoulder: the heart. I faced two lionesses, a cape buffalo, and a polar I hit him again before the cape buffalo slammed bear. It was a whole zoo full of dangerous animals. me and knocked me, windless, rolling into the The polar bear was my equal all by himself. The bulkhead.

cape buffalo maybe as well. I could take either liThe buffalo backed up and came at me again, oness, but the combination was going to be rough. the wide, thick horns like a battering ram. But For a wondrous, frozen moment we all waited, the beast's hooves were designed for dirt and stared, breathed, tensed, expectant.

grass, not the slippery floor. He didn't fall but he I felt. . .

lost a lot of speed and momentum. He hit me in I felt exalted.

my exposed belly. It would have killed me if he'd It was my moment. This was my place and my

been up to speed. Even so it crushed the last time and my own perfection.

ounce of air from my lungs. I felt like someone I was no longer afraid. Weird. If I'd had a had dropped a house on me.

mouth I'd have smiled.

A lioness was on my face, clawing madly, like

<Well?> I said.

a crazed alley cat. The other one was trying to 16

bite my neck — a waste of time. No one bites I tried to stagger forward, but the buffalo had through a grizzly's fur.

done some damage now. My hindquarters were

I was down, buried under mad fur. I was down, numb and weak. He was hitting me with short, slashed at, punched, hammered, clawed. My

sharp blows, like a boxer rabbit-punching. He'd legs were in the air, helpless!

figured out that he couldn't really wind up and I drew my legs close and shifted my weight. deliver a killing blow.

Got my legs under me. I lifted myself and the two

<Tom! Rachel, Tom! Look out for Tom!> lions. I shook myself violently and threw off the Jake's voice was far away. Strange.

lion who'd been on my face. I aimed a blow at The slick floor that handicapped the buffalo her but she was too fast.

now worked against me, too. I couldn't get enough Out of the corner of my eye I saw the polar traction with my blood-slicked pads.

bear demorphing. It's the only way when your Had to get the Yeerk with the polar bear

morph body is dying: demorph and fast. Die in morph. He was demorphed now. Ready to start morph and you're dead. Period.

morphing and come back rejuvenated.

But I was missing something. Something

So heavy. Floor all covered in blood. Wow,

nagged at me.

they were really bleeding.

<Tom!> Jake yelled. <Tom!>

My front right leg suddenly buckled. It was The cape buffalo butted me in the hindquara pail of ice water in my face, a sudden realizaters and spun me around. The lion on my back tion.

was reaching around like it was trying to strangle My blood. That was my blood on the floor.

me, digging busy claws into the folds of loose White fur began to ripple across the morphing skin around my throat.

Yeerk.

The second lion charged gamely, leaped and

<He's a snake!> a voice cried. <Rachel!> sank its teeth into my left haunch.

No, he's a bear, I thought.

Had to take down the Yeerk with the polar

A flash of movement, so fast it was a blur. bear morph. Had to stop him remorphing. I'd Something in my eyes! Burning. I couldn't see. been lucky once, experience had told. But I That's okay, okay, bears can't see alt that well couldn't count on a second easy win against a anyway, I had . . . I had . . .

polar bear.

A cobra, some distant, strange, analytical

part of my brain noted. Tom's morph: a cobra.

<No!> Tom cried in outrage.

The venom was in my eyes.

I brought my paw to my mouth.

I couldn't think. Couldn't see.

<Sorry,> I said vaguely.

Demorph.

<Jake, stop her!> the Yeerk screamed with No. Bear. The lions on me.

Tom's mouth.

Weak. Strange to be the bear and be weak.

I bit down on the snake.

Strange.

I realized I was no longer standing. I was flat on the floor. I heard my own slow breathing. I should be panting.

Something striking at my face again and again. The cobra. Couldn't even see him.

I had failed. Tom. Alive.

<Die, human,> he said. <Just die.>

<Rachel!> Tobias cried.

<Help me, Tobias,> I pleaded.

He didn't understand. <Help me get him.

Help me get him!>

<Okay. Okay. He's . . . your left paw, toward your face. Get ready. Has to be fast.>

<l'm ready.>

<Now!>

I jerked my paw, claws extended toward my

face.

Tom shrieked. I couldn't see him. But I felt something squirming. Like a worm on a fishhook. The snake was impaled on my claws.

me, his strength the equal of my own grizzly, but now I was just me, just Rachel.

I could see the viewscreen. I could see my

best friend Cassie. Jake. Marco, funny Marco. Ax. Tobias.

He had morphed. He was his human self once

more. He'd done that for me. And because he CHAPTER 4

was crying. I understood. Humans cry, hawks don't.

"I love you," I said to the screen. And oh, god, how could so much regret and

so much sweetness and so much sadness all be present in that single moment. I was already dead and missing my unlived life. I was already dead and Tobias was mourning.

I lay there in suspended animation.

I tried to smile. For him.

I felt myself floating.

The bear was melting. Old grizzly bear, my

The polar bear said, <You fight well, human.> friend. Good old bear.

Then he killed me with a single blow.

I demorphed. The snake was still in my mouth. Motionless.

I demorphed.

Time stopped.

I was Rachel again, the human Rachel, alive, He came to me. The Ellimist.

unhurt. I could have bounded up and gone off to The puppet master come to watch my final

the mall to shop. But I didn't kid myself. I didn't act. It figured. He was in his saintly old man hope.

guise. As fake as everything else about him. The I spit the snake out.

all-powerful weakling. The mighty manipulator. I was surrounded on all sides. I was only a

"You," I said accusingly.

weak human girl now. The polar bear loomed over

"Yes."

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Who are you to play games with us? You appear, you disappear, you use us, who are you, what are you?" And then, for what seemed a very long time, the Ellimist told me. I saw. I understood.

But I also knew he would not save me. That

he couldn't under the arcane rules of his millennia-long war with Crayak. CHAPTER 5

The Ellimist was there to honor me, and I

guess that was nice of him. Wasn't going to help Jake

me much.

I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to No one moved.

know.

I don't think anyone even breathed.

"Answer this, Ellimist: Did I . . . did I make a Toby, the leader of the free Hork-Bajir, burst difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . onto the bridge. She was scarred and bloody. was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"

<Jake, they're surrendering. We had to promise

"Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were them amnesty and a chance to acquire the morphstrong. You were good. You mattered." ing power. >

"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then."

I heard her words.

I wondered if —

<What's the matter?> Toby asked.

She noticed Tobias. She'd only seen him in

human morph a few times. Toby is named for Tobias. The free Hork-Bajir see Tobias as their liberator. And Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer, was named in his honor.

On the screen I saw the Blade ship slowly

<Jake, I need your okay,> Toby pressed. <The picking up speed and pulling away. They didn't Yeerks want you. They want your assurances

fire at us.

<A pack of traitors,> Visser One said, but the Tom was dead.

fight had gone out of him.

And I wondered how I was ever going to exTom was dead. Rachel was dead. How would I plain it. I had ordered my cousin to execute my explain this to my parents?

brother. How would I ever explain that?

Silly to think of that right then. Silly and stuAll these years I'd fought to keep us all alive, pid.

to stop the Yeerks, always with the hope that

<Jake . . .> Toby urged.

someday I would save my brother, that he would

<Rachel,> Cassie said softly. <Toby, we lost come back, that he'd be Tom again. That was Rachel. And Tom is dead.>

why I'd enlisted in the war to begin with. I was Toby absorbed that, then said, <Jara Hamee, going to save Tom.

my father, died bravely in battle here today.> Tom was dead. The Yeerk in his head was

Still I couldn't say anything. How did I exdead. plain . . .

And Rachel.

Marco was still in gorilla morph. He said, <lt's And how many others?

okay, Toby. Tell the Yeerks that Jake will be along General Doubleday's soldiers who had proin a minute. Tell them Visser One is our captive. vided the suicidal diversionary attack on the Tell them we approve the deal you made.> ground.

<My people may not agree,> Ax said.

The auxiliary Animorphs who had gone with

<Yeah?> Marco shot back. <Guess what? This them to trick the enemy.

is our planet. These are our prisoners. This is our How many of Toby's people?

victory. If the Andalite high command doesn't like Seventeen thousand Yeerks, frozen. Flushed

it they can come and try to take a piece of us.> into space.

Cassie came to me and sort of leaned into

Plus.

me, as close to a hug as we could get right then. Plus.

I was afraid she would say something sympaAll at my command. thetic, I was afraid she would comfort me, and if 26

she had I think that would have been it, I think you have for me will be nothing compared to my brain would have just shut down because all what the Council of Thirteen would sentence me the pain would have suddenly been real and

to. They really don't approve of vissers who lose deep inside me.

Pool ships.>

Cassie said, <We still need you. You're not

<No. No more killing,> I said.

done yet, Jake.>

"What do you mean, no more killing?" Tobias The right thing to say. Cassie was good at

demanded, breaking his ringing silence at last. that. I noted the effect on me, observed my reacHe stabbed a finger at the visser. "He's the one tion from a million miles away.

responsible for all this!"

I sighed. Okay. Yeah. I still had a job. Do the

<He's a prisoner of war,> I said softly. <We job.

don't kill prisoners.>

<Everything else can wait,> Cassie said.

<No, of course not,> Visser One mocked. Yeah. It could all wait.

<You merely destroy the ground-based Yeerk pool I took a deep breath.

and kill thousands. And you add another seven<Okay, Toby. Okay, I'll be right there. Tell teen thousand here on this ship. All defenseless, them what Marco said and I'll get there soon to unhosted Yeerks. But you don't kill prisoners.> back you up.>

<Marco?>

Toby left with a last, curious glance at Tobias.

<Yeah, Jake.>

Me, I couldn't look at Tobias. I didn't care if he

<The visser is going to remove himself from saw the way I avoided his eyes, I didn't care, I this Andalite body he has stolen and inhabited couldn't look at him.

for so long. Find a safe place for him. Watch over I wish to god Tobias had just come after me. him.>

Right then. I would have welcomed it.

Instead I focused on Visser One. How had this

<Cassie? Go get Erek. If he wants the Chee happened? How had he survived and Tom died?

secret to be kept he needs to hide himself. We How did he still live? How could that be the remay have guests soon.> sult?

<Anything else?> Cassie asked.

<l imagine it's time to kill me,> Visser One

<Like what?> I snapped. <An apology? To said. <You'll be doing me a favor. Whatever death that robot? "Sorry we blackmailed you into help28

ing us?" No. He drained off the Dracon beams Ax hesitated. He turned his main eyes to me and because of that the Blade ship got away. Beeven as his stalk eyes remained focused on the cause of that Rachel died in vain. Because of visser. <Prince Jake, there is a specific regulahim who knows what will happen?> tion forbidding me as an aristh from contacting Cassie hesitated, looked down, then turned

the civilian media net. I am required to work to go.

through the chain of command, my prince.> I began to demorph, then stopped myself.

He wasn't fighting me, just asking for dispenThe visser was still a dangerous foe with a botsation. The repetition of the word prince signaled tomless grab bag of powerful morphs at his comhis willingness. mand.

I began to demorph, moving from tiger to huI spoke to Ax in private thought-speak. His man, from thought-speak to spoken word. <Ax, tail blade flashed and caught the visser unpreas your prince I'm ordering you to ignore those pared, a flat-side smack against his temple. His regulations and do what I've told you to do.> host body, the long-enslaved Andalite war prince

called Alloran, slumped unconscious.

"Yeah. Now, I have to go see about Toby and

<l know you can still hear me in there, Visser. then I'll be back. I want to see one slug in a jar I'll make this simple: You exit that body. You do it and a ticked-off Andalite on screen when I get right now because if you don't we're going to cut back."

our way in and yank you out.>

I left the bridge, trotted to catch up with Toby

<Tobias? Marco? Find a box, a jar, something and followed her to engineering where the signs to hold this Yeerk in when he emerges. If he of a severe battle were evident. Hork-Bajir bodies doesn't come out within two minutes, do it the were stacked in the corridor. Their blood was hard way.>

everywhere. Impossible to be sure which were

<That would be my pleasures Marco said.

free Hork-Bajir, our allies, and which had died

<Okay, Ax,> I said. <Dial up the Andalite high still enslaved to the Yeerks.

command. Tell them to stand by for a communiToby's people controlled the doorway into encation from me. And open a simultaneous changineering where the dispirited Yeerks had taken nel directly to the Andalite home world.> refuge.

"Do they have a spokesman?" I asked. you'll be escorted to the pool in groups of six. Toby yelled, "Sub-Visser Seventy-four, the You'll exit your host bodies."

Animorph leader Jake is here."

"And be helpless again," the Yeerk said bitA battered-looking Hork-Bajir female stepped terly.

into view. I looked her up and down, putting on

"I keep my word," I said.

my hard act. "We have the ship. We have Visser I started to leave then stopped. "Toby? I'm One. You're not in much of a position to make sorry about Jara Hamee. He was . . ."

demands."

"He was the first of the free Hork-Bajir," Toby The sub-visser showed nothing. "Human, you said fiercely. "He was the father of his people. cannot frighten us. We have no hope left and that And he was my father."

gives us strength. We will not die of Kandrona I started back for the bridge.

starvation — better to die here, now, in battle. We'll kill some more of your people before we do." I nodded. "Fair enough. You want amnesty, access to Kandrona rays, and morphing technology? You'd accept permanent morphing and relocation?"

"As opposed to slow death by starvation or even a quick death now? Yes."

"I don't have the morphing cube. But I pledge to use all my influence to gain agreement from the Andalites when they come."

She stood there, straight, almost at attention for a while, then slumped. "It has come to this after all."

I nodded. "Yeah. The onboard Yeerk pool needs to be refilled. Send some of your people under Toby's supervision to handle that. Then 32

a white dress to dig in the mud and somehow never get a spot on her.

But the war had touched her. She'd changed, and she'd known she was changing. The war had revealed a hidden part of her soul. She alone, of all of us, she alone liked it. Loved it, even. She had enjoyed the fight.

CHAPTER 6

Sometimes I imagined her as a Viking. Or as a knight on a quest. That's what she was: a joyful warrior.

Cassie

And she had died fighting against impossible odds.

Like a hole inside me. Like someone had

taken a knife and carved a hole in my chest. Like Rachel dead? How could that be? How

I might cave in, be swallowed up and disappear could that be real?

in that hole.

She'd been my best friend forever. Teased me Beautiful Rachel.

about my clothes as I teased her about her obPoor Tom. sessive shopping. How long ago had that been? A And now, all of us, the survivors. The victimhundred years?

perpetrators.

She'd wanted to be a gymnast but thought

I found Erek. I simply walked through the

she was probably too tall ever to be really good. Yeerk ship calling out in thought-speak. A wolf And of course all that was in the past, too. prowling strangely empty, silent corridors. She had this way of seeming untouched by

He appeared before me. He's an android, one what went on around her. Unaffected. Above. of a long-lived species called the Chee. Their creShe was a person who could walk through a car ators, the Pemalites, are extinct, but the pacific wash and come out dry. She could move through instincts of the Pemalites live on in these maga mosh pit and never be jostled. She could wear nificent thinking machines.

Erek is at least five thousand years old, and

"So, you, too, huh Cassie?"

the person we knew by that name was really just

"Jake did what he had to do."

a holographic projection that disguised the ma"Did he? Someone flushed the Yeerk pool into chine beneath the illusion.

space. Did he have to do that, too? They were unI demorphed. hosted Yeerks. They were harmless."

"Hi, Erek."

"We needed a div —" I stopped myself.

"Hi, Cassie." He smiled sadly. "Jake sent

"A what? A what did you need? A diversion?

you."

You're going to tell me you needed a diversion so I nodded.

Jake massacred seventeen thousand sentient

"I see. He feels guilty."

creatures? A diversion?"

"No. Not guilty."

I took a deep breath. "Jake says maybe you His eyes narrowed. "Then what? He used me, should get off the ship, Erek. The Andalites will blackmailed me, manipulated my programming

most likely be coming aboard soon. It's up to you to get me to break through the security grid and whether you go on keeping your existence secret. take control of this ship."

We won't divulge it."

"You drained the Dracon beams."

"I see."

"What did Jake expect me to do? I had given

"Bye Erek."

him control when he needed it. I wasn't going to He nodded. Then, as he was passing, he took enable him to kill."

my arm in his pseudo-hand. "Take care of Jake.

"The Blade ship got away. Rachel . . . Jake had He's going to need you."

Rachel with Tom. Rachel and Tom are both . . . and the ship got away anyway. Thanks to you." The Erek hologram disappeared. He was an

android now, a thing of steel and ivory vaguely in the shape of a dog walking erect. "And I'm supposed to feel regret because Jake ordered his cousin to kill his brother and I didn't allow him to massacre everyone else on the Blade ship?" That made me mad and I guess I showed it.

form. The red-tailed hawk perched on a railing. The laser eyes drilled into the Yeerk. I was not at all sure that Tobias wouldn't swoop over and nail the visser. I wasn't at all sure I'd stop him. I'm probably the least emotional of the group. It's always been my virtue and my failing that I see the clear path from A to Z without the distraction of moral considerations. I don't want to say CHAPTER 7

I'm ruthless, I'm not. But I have the ability. I can see the ruthless way clearly. I have to sort of add Marco

the morality back into the equation after the fact. I had no deep qualms about the seventeen

thousand, any more than I had about our attack on the ground-based Yeerk pool. I knew why Jake had Ax and I watched fascinated, repulsed, sent Rachel to Tom. I agreed with his thinking. maybe a little triumphant, as the Yeerk crawled But then, I wasn't in love with Rachel. I wasn't slowly from the Andalite ear.

some lonely kid trapped in a hawk's body, half in I had found a lockable briefcase, a very huone world, half in another with only Rachel's love man artifact stuffed under a control panel. It was tying me to my humanity.

filled with chocolate chip cookies. Some Yeerk, Maybe Tobias would eventually accept what

probably a human-Controller, had developed a Jake did. Maybe not.

sweet tooth and it would be hard to get a good It was weird. I was watching our greatest foe cookie on a Yeerk ship.

place himself literally into our hands. We had I ate a cookie and held the case open for the beaten Visser One.

slug-like creature that was the true Visser One. Maybe later we'd celebrate.

<l could easily cut him in half,> Ax said con"Ax, pick him up." versationally.

Ax picked up the Yeerk holding him between

<Yeah, well, better not, I guess.>

two fingers, gingerly, as though it was something Tobias had returned to what was his normal

dirty.

He dropped it into the briefcase. I closed the

<Do you seriously expect to me to believe that lid and turned the combo lock.

humans have seized control of a Yeerk Pool ship,

"I guess we won, Ax."

aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-lsthill? Clearly you are

<Yes.>

a Controller. Just as clearly this is a clumsy

"Shouldn't someone be singing 'God Bless trap.>

America'?"

Cassie returned. She took in the scene and

Ax looked puzzled and decided to let it go. He decided to stay quiet.

said, <l must access the communications array

"He's got us there," I admitted. "He has no and carry out Jake's orders.>

way of knowing whether we're really us or ConThe remaining Yeerks on the bridge were betrollers." ing very cooperative now. Seeing your great Ax said, <There is a Yeerk Blade ship headleader in a box will do that, I guess. Anyway, they ing . . .> He consulted a display panel and gave followed Ax's instructions.

the coordinates. <You may be able to intercept It took a few minutes and then, on the screen them.>

there appeared a wary Andalite face.

The Andalite officer said, <Anything else,

Yeerk? Is there another part to this pitiful atAx said, <We are not Yeerks. I am aristh Aximilitempt at a trap?> He was about to sign off. Esgarrouth-lsthill, the brother of Prince Elfangor. Jake arrived. "Where do we stand?" he asked You have correctly identified this signal as origime. nating from a Yeerk pool ship, but this ship is I motioned at the screen. "This genius thinks now under the control of. . .> He frowned, unwe're Controllers trying to set him up." certain, and turned a quizzical stalk eye to me. Jake nodded. "Perfect," he said dryly. "How I shrugged. "This ship is under the control of do we get around this?"

the Earth Liberation Army." I grinned. It was a

kids.

It was Visser One! No. No, it was the Andalite Ax repeated it word for word to the skeptical Visser One had infested for so many, many years: Andalite.

Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. I'd forgotten all about 40

him. Ax had knocked him unconscious, now he officer-of-the-day Offeran, you're going to want to was coming around. He climbed to his hooves, contact the captain because you have just caplooking like a stunned blue deer. tured a Yeerk Pool ship. We will advance at space The Andalite officer said, <So the deception normal speed to any point you name. All Bug is over. I see the visser has revealed himself.> fighters will be deployed around the ship, and as Alloran started to say something, then turned we reach the rendezvous point you will see all his face and main eyes to Jake. <With your perBug fighters self-destruct. At that time we will mission?>

detach the Pool ship's main engines. All weapons That was one weird moment. Alloran was an

will be powered down. This ship will be perfectly arrogant, determined, even criminally ruthless helpless.>

Andalite war prince. Or had been once, long ago. That got Offeran's attention. He turned a

And then, for a long time, that face had been the shade of lighter blue. It was kind of as if in the face of our deadliest enemy, Visser Three/One. middle of World War II the Japanese Navy had And now he was meekly waiting for Jake's okay. called up the U.S. Navy and said, "Hey, we're goJake nodded and in a very respectful tone ing to turn over our biggest aircraft carrier to you. said, "Please continue, War-Prince Alloran." Come on over and pick up the keys."

Alloran's main eyes flickered, a slight display Suddenly the scene changed. The face on the of emotion. <Who are you?> he demanded of the screen was older. This Andalite had a burn scar Andalite officer.

on his scalp and was missing one stalk eye.

<l am Offeran-Jibril-Castant. I am officer of

<Captain-Prince Asculan-Semitur-l_angor,> Ax the day aboard the Andalite Dome ship . . .> He said in private thought-speak.

hesitated and there was a slight, ironic smile. An

"Big time?" I whispered under my breath. Andalite smile, of course, which is all in the

<Very big time.>

eyes. <The Dome ship Elfangor.>

The captain favored us with a long, hard, seriAx swelled about a size. <A Dome ship named ous look. Then he said, <Visser, I refuse to —> for Elfangor. There is no higher honor for a warI saw it coming. The old Andalite was going to riors

chill us. It wasn't my place to butt in, maybe, but

<A well-named ship,> Alloran said. <Now, I couldn't let this old creep screw everything up 42

by committing himself. Once he said what he briquette because you think it's the only way to was getting ready to say it would be impossible stop the Yeerks.

for him to climb down.

"Because of your devotion to duty it may al"Hey, Ax-man," I said brightly. "Is it true the most seem a disappointment to reach your goal Andalite home world is watching all this? Can I at long last, only to discover that your foe has eswave to them?" I waved like one of the idiots outsentially surrendered." side the 7bc/3yshow. "Hi, everyone! Howard Stern Translation: It's over.

rules! Yaaaah!"

"At this point we have to set aside the necesWell, that stopped everyone and everything sary ruthlessness of war, the suspicion and hostildead. You could practically see the wheels turnity, and turn instead to the more satisfying duties ing in old Asculan's nasty-looking head. Jake of making peace."

looked for a minute like he might slap me silly. Translation: Your people back home are watch- And Ax basically turned to stone.

ing and if you come in guns blazing, annihilating But then Jake gave me a nod. He got it.

a peaceful people, your own peaceful civilians So did Alloran. <l should have mentioned will never stand for it.

that under orders from his prince, aristh Aximili

"Our victory could never have occurred withhas patched this communication through to the out the support of our Andalite friends." civilian net.>

Translation: Look, we're willing to share the Asculan had a mean look to him now. Furious. credit. You people did squat for us, but we're He was a person in a trap. A powerful person in a willing to spread the kudos around freely. trap, not used to being trapped, not liking it.

"I look forward to our two peaceful peoples Jake stepped into Asculan's line of sight.

working closely together, to forming a deep and

"Captain Asculan, we know that the Andalite abiding friendship. We have so much to learn fleet is devoted to the destruction of the Yeerk from our Andalite brothers, just as we have althreat. And we know that you must be personally ready learned so much from the great Elfangor committed to that goal."

and his no less courageous and resourceful

I translated in my head: We know you've brother, Aximili."

come here to turn Earth into a great big charcoal Translation: The Dome ship Elfangor is going 44

to come in and annihilate all of the real Elfan- gor's work? Kill his little brother who happens to be a ready-made Andalite hero? Guess again, you mean old fart.

The captain listened to all this impassively. But I could see the steam sort of leaking out of him. By the end of Jake's little speech his eyes were glazed over. He knew he'd been trapped but CHAPTER 8

good, and the truth was, he was probably relieved. J a k e

<Who exactly are you?> Asculan asked Jake. I jerked a thumb at my friend. "This is Jake. Jake Berenson. President of Earth."

We flew the Pool ship to a rendezvous point just beyond the moon's orbit. As we'd promised, we deployed the Bug fighters by remote control and blew them up. We detached the ship's engines and waited. Waited for hours. Then, in a rush, perhaps two dozen of the

slightly goofy-looking Andalite fighters came swooping around us. They surrounded us, shredder weapons aimed. It was a hair-raising moment. Then the Dome ship Elfangor and another Dome ship came in from different directions. Dome ships are very cool and typically Andalite. They're built a little like palm trees. There's a 46

long trunk with engines at one end and a bulge Tobias sent him a murderous look that stalled for weapons and living quarters in the middle. On the laughter.

top you have a big glass dome over grass and Very quietly Cassie said, "Tobias, this is a big trees and even streams and little hills. The Anmoment. Don't you think Rachel would want us dalites are a grazing species: They love an open to enjoy it as much as we can?"

meadow.

<l don't know,> he snapped. <lf she were Dome ships are also exceedingly well armed. I alive I'd ask her.>

don't know who wins a straight-up fight between The Andalite contingent swept onto the bridge. a Yeerk Pool ship and an Andalite Dome ship. They were playing their own roles.-The warriors But I know who wins when the Pool ship is disvery intimidating, fanning out to keep everyone armed and without engines.

covered, the captain himself moving with selfThe Andalites ran sensor probes and satisfied conscious dignity.

themselves that we were powered down and that The junior officers must have been mostly

no other Yeerk ships were in the immediate vicintechnical types because they looked around like ity.

starving men at the big brunch buffet. They Asculan arrived soon after by shuttle, along couldn't stop themselves from touching the Yeerk with a half dozen tough-looking Andalite marines display panels and controls with greedy fingers. and as many officers. I sent Ax to meet them at They exchanged giddy looks that said, "Can you the space dock. I waited on the bridge. Marco believe we're on a Yeerk Pool ship?"

had insisted, saying that I had to play the part of All of them, including the warriors, kept stealthe big boss. ing looks at Alloran. He had been infamous even

"The boss doesn't go down to the airport, he before being made into the first and only Andalitesends a limo or whatever. The boss waits in headController. quarters."

I took a deep breath and said, "Captain,

"Is that so?" I said.

thanks for coming over. As soon as we can settle

"Yeah. Look, Jake, you're a sixteen-year-old some details, I'll be glad to turn this ship over to kid. But the Andalites don't know that, right?

you."

Play the part, fie the part." He laughed.

<Details?>

the Andalite people. I am aware that you are

"Yes. The Yeerk prisoners of war have been morph-capable yourself, as well as a number of promised the opportunity to be subjected to the your people. Despite the fact that this was illemorphing technology. So have a number of gal, we don't intend to take any action against Taxxons down on the surface."

you for that. But the technology will not be made

<Denied,> the captain said.

available any furthers

It took me aback. I hadn't expected a flat deCassie said, "Sir, don't you understand? This nial.

is the way out. The Yeerks are parasites who re"I promised them." quire other bodies in order to see, to move about

<You had no right to promise what you do not freely. As long as that's the case they'll be trouown.> ble. Maybe not for us or for the Andalites anyI didn't want to get mad. Fortunately I had more, but for someone."

Marco to do that for me.

<Now you're proposing the technology be

"Hey, we're handing you a Yeerk Pool ship. made freely available to the entire Yeerk species?> And by the way, there are another couple of dozen Asculan laughed derisively. <You can't be serimajor Yeerk vessels back in orbit around Earth ous. This will never happen. No Yeerk, no Taxxon and you can snap them up easy. Thanks to us." will ever be given the morphing technology. Am I

<We're very grateful,> Asculan said blandly, clear?>

speaking to me and refusing to directly acknowlNo one said anything. I was stunned. It was edge Marco. <But Yeerk technology, while no clear to me now: We had no way to convince the doubt fascinating to my officers, is less sophistiAndalite military. They had their "weapon," they cated than our own. It is of interest, but no more were going to keep it. And if that meant the war than that.>

continued, that was fine with them.

Marco erupted. "We won your lousy war for And what did I have that could make them

you, you pompous old —"

change their minds? Nothing. With the Pool ship

"My promise to the Yeerks and the Taxxons and its information in their possession they'd be will be honored," I said, trying my best to sound able to destroy the remainder of the Yeerk fleet. determined and confident and forceful.

As for the Taxxons on Earth and the remaining

<The morphing technology is the property of 51

But, then, Ax said, <Captain-Prince Asculan, leaderless, cutoff, isolated Yeerks on Earth, that I hereby declare a challenges

wasn't the Andalites' problem: They knew we'd A dozen Andalites stopped breathing.

deal with that.

I looked at Marco. He shrugged. He had no

Checkmate.

clue either.

I was honestly tempted to surrender the point. Asculan laughed. <Aristh, you are not in a poWe had won. Earth was saved. What did I care if sition to declare a challenge. You would have to the Taxxons on Earth were rounded up and

be of princely rank or have the support of an Ankilled? That's what would happen, there was no dalite of princely rank.>

alternative, Taxxons could never be allowed to Silence.

live on Earth. And what did I care for promises Then, <l hold that rank,> Alloran said. made to the Yeerks on board the Pool ship? I had Avery long silence.

tried to keep my promise. If I failed, so what?

In a low, dangerous tone, Asculan said, <AlloMarco must have read my mind. He drifted ran, you are under suspicion already for your acup beside me and whispered in my ear. "We give tions on the Hork-Bajir world, I wouldn't —> in now, they own us."

<What I did on the Hork-Bajir world was preAs often was the case, Marco was seeing cisely what you and the fleet were preparing to do things I'd overlooked. He was right: The human to this world,> Alloran shot back. race had just opened their first negotiation with Asculan focused all his eyes forward, a sign of an alien species with far superior technology. If intense concentration for an Andalite. <l was unthis relationship started from an acceptance of der orders. You acted alone.>

Andalite superiority and human weakness it would

<l still retain my rank,> Alloran grated. <l am always be that way. We'd end up being seconda war prince. This aristh has declared a chalclass citizens on our own planet. lenge and I support his challenge. The requireBut what was I supposed to do about that?

ments of the law are satisfied.>

I looked at Tobias. Nothing. He was gone into At that moment I think if someone had so

his own world. Cassie could only look troubled. much as sneezed there would have been a fight. And Ax, well, Ax had done what he could, he had Asculan's tail blade was twitching. He was ready defied his own leaders, but he was, after all, an to throw down.

Andalite.

But not all the Andalites shared his feeling. determine the fate of the world. This was an allSome of the officers and even some of the warAndalite show. Their law, their sense of right and riors looked troubled. Troubled by their boss. Anwrong. I resented it. But I couldn't do anything dalites take their laws seriously.

but hope it would work out.

"Is someone going to maybe tell us what a At last Asculan said, <l will confer with my ofchallenge is?" Marco muttered. ficers^

It was Ax who answered. <lt is the right and He seemed to think we should all leave the

obligation of any Andalite warrior to challenge bridge and let him hold his meeting.

the order of a superior if he believes that superior

"I fought for this ship, Captain," I said. "You is violating the fundamental rights of the elecwere invited aboard." torate — the people.>

Probably not a good idea to antagonize the

"You're kidding," Marco said. "How do you old monster, but I wasn't going to start playing people ever fight wars if you can challenge anythe wimp now. We had paid for this ship. It was thing your superior officer tells you to do?" ours. If we gave it up it would be to allies, not

<lf my challenge fails I will be harshly discioverlords. plined^ Ax said. <l will be exiled. Permanently. Asculan led his officers away. The rest of us And my tail blade . . . My tail blade will be cut let loose one very long sigh.

off.>

"What now?" I asked Ax.

Alloran said, <Asculan, under the law you He couldn't answer. He seemed to be shivermay declare an emergency and continue until we ing.

can arrange for the challenge to be judged at a Alloran answered instead. <Asculan will conlater time. But I do not see how a court could tact the fleet high command. They will talk to agree that this negotiation over prisoners can their political advisors and try to decide whether possibly be called a legitimate emergency. In they can win a challenge. It would be a sort of which case you would lose your rank and position trial, with each side presenting evidence and witand be exiled.> nesses. The entire Andalite electorate would

<l know the law,> Asculan snapped.

have a vote. It would consume perhaps half a day.>

I felt like a bystander at an event that would 54

know who did that? Do you know who moved my Marco said, "So what are the odds?" tail? I did. I did. I did it.>

Alloran shook his head. <l have been away I smiled, but more for him than for me. If he from the home world a very long time. I do not would forever be the Butcher of Hork-Bajir, what know much about my people anymore. But the

would my name be?

high command will make a cautious assessment. Alloran's exuberance seemed to shake Ax out They are not bold or adventurous, they are more of his funk and he raised his own tail to touch the politicians than warriors. If Asculan comes back blade to Alloran's. <Welcome back, War-Prince here prepared to go forward with the challenge, it Alloran.>

will mean they are very, very confident of winAsculan did not return to the bridge. He sent nings

one of his junior officers, a calculated insult. But

"Okay. And by the way, Alloran, thanks for I guess no one really likes to admit face-to-face standing up for Ax. And all of us."

that they're beaten.

Alloran turned his main eyes to me. He gave

same, I will always be Alloran, the Butcher of Asculan's officer waited, expecting a reply. Hork-Bajir. Alloran, the only Andalite to be taken Ax said, <Thank the captain for me. I will alive by the Yeerks. But, disgraced, even decarry out my duties to the best of my ability. My spised, for whatever I am worth, I am yours to challenge is hereby withdrawn.>

commands

And at that moment, with that polite exThe speech was delivered in a low thoughtchange of messages, the war against the Yeerks speak tone, all emotion severely controlled. But was over.

then Alloran whipped his tail blade over his head, so fast it cracked like a whip. He smiled the subtle Andalite smile and yelled, <Do you 57

•The Yeerk crews were shuttled to the Pool

ship where they left their host bodies to return to the now-refilled pool. Newly freed human and Hork-Bajir worked with Andalites to keep the ships flying.

Jake had one more run-in with Asculan over

possession of the great trophy prisoner, Visser One. But Jake won that confrontation, too. Visser CHAPTER 9

One remained our prisoner.

Cassie

We Animorphs and the newly minted Prince

Aximili, with our prisoner, landed Ax's official liaison ship, a sleek Fast-Courier, right in the middle of the Mall in Washington. Not a mall, the Mall, a sort of open green space with the Capitol Things happened quickly.

Building at one end, the Smithsonian Institution With terms now approved, the Yeerks on the

and various government buildings on both sides, Pool ship formalized their surrender.

and the obelisk of the Washington Monument at The Pool ship joined the Andalite fleet in enthe far end. tering close Earth orbit where we contacted the We called ahead, not wanting to terrify anyremaining Yeerk ships and gave them the stark one. There were roughly a thousand cops and choice: Resist and die, or surrender and be transtwice that many newspeople waiting for us. formed.

It was, as Marco said, a "shiver-my-spine moSome Yeerk ships contacted the Yeerk home ment."

world and received instructions to fight. But the A sea of microphones and video cameras and

flashbulbs. Ax and Jake, and to a lesser extent Andalites had all the technical data of the Pool Marco and I, gave a sort of brief explanation of ship — including disabling codes, combat tacwhat had been happening, and where things tics, communications ciphers. The ships that restood now. sisted were destroyed. The rest surrendered. 59

Ocean from the spot in the cemetery where

Needless to say, it was kind of a big news day. Rachel's monument would be placed. There was Tobias was silent throughout. If he even heard an honor guard of free Hork-Bajir. Two dozen Anthe questions he didn't show it. And then, as dalite warriors stood at attention. Our friend and Marco was telling yet another amusing anecdote, ally General Doubleday was there and quite a few Tobias spread his wings, caught an updraft, and men and women in uniform.

flew away.

Jake and Marco and me and Ax. We all gave

The next day an Andalite scout ship reported little speeches. The President of the United States finding a human body floating in space. Young, was there. He gave a speech, too.

female. The Blade ship had jettisoned her body I guess Rachel would have liked it, in her

before going into Zero space.

own way. She would have laughed. She would

The Andalites brought her to California. Near have thought it was all way over the top, but at the devastation that was all that was left of our the same time, she would have liked the attenhomes. tion.

I was there when Rachel returned. Her mother Would have, but she was a few ounces of ash was there, too. The Andalites treated her body in a jar resting inside an open wooden box. with great respect. She had been wrapped in The ceremony was almost over when I saw

some sort of soft cloth. I guess it was the Andalite him. I'd been watching the sky. I knew if he was way.

still alive, he would come.

They uncovered her face and Rachel's mom

He wheeled high overhead, riding a thermal. and I identified her.

His hawk eyes would see everything of course, Two days later, Rachel's body was cremated. even from half a mile up.

It was inconceivable that she'd ever want to be But as the band played some horribly deburied in the ground. She ended up as a few pressing music, down he came. He swooped

handfuls of ashes in a pretty china urn.

down and landed on the box, wings flaring. One Everyone was at the memorial ceremony. By

of the ushers moved to chase him off. Jake took this point our story had swept the planet. Everythe man's arm. one alive knew our names.

Tobias closed his talons around the urn's small The memorial had to be held outside. Fortuhandle. He glared fiercely at Rachel's mom. She nately it was a nice day. You could see the Pacific 61

was crying, had been all along. She sobbed and nodded her head, giving her permission.

Then Tobias looked at me. I said, "Yes, Tobias. She would want it." I don't know where he found the strength to lift that urn, but he did. He flew away, low at first, then, catching a thermal, he bore the urn away CHAPTER 10

into the sky.

Marco

ONE YEAR LATER

My career was going pretty well. I was past the point of being a fad, anyway. I'd done seven appearances total on Letterman and Leno, plus several times each on Jon Stewart and Conan. The Today Show, Good Morning America, Oprah?

Been there. Bill O'Reilly called me a genuine American hero. I'd been on CNN so many times that Greta Van Susteren and I were practically roommates. Guest-VJ on MTV? Of course.

And all of that is over and above the rounds of interviews that came in that first wild month after the defeat of the Yeerks. I mean, in that first month you couldn't keep track of how many

shows I'd been on. Jake and Cassie and I were bigger than all of Hollywood, D.C., and Manhat63

tan put together. We weren't just celebrities, we that game and the bookers for the shows knew it. were the only celebrities. We had senators and Jake did not do good panel. He wouldn't sit there big-league rap producers and hot starlets fetchand trade jokes with Dave. There was too much he didn't want to talk about. Jake was still carrying us sodas and Kit Kat bars. ing the world on his shoulders, and it showed. So cool.

As for Cassie, well, she was worse, if that's That first month we owned the world. But that possible. She had the tendency to wander

was the easy part: We had a story to tell and around in all the moral subtext of everything. everyone wanted the details of how we and our She'd take some story about a cool, rock 'em weird alien friend and all our animal morphs had sock 'em battle we'd been in and turn it into this saved the world. The tough part was to keep it mope about the morality of self-defense.

going after we stopped being The New Thing. So basically, with neither of those two being, I had become the unofficial spokesman for

shall we say, Hollywood, that job fell to me. the Animorphs. Jake wasn't interested in doing Bread and butter, baby. Could I do panel?

it. Neither was Cassie. And as for Tobias, well, no Sure I could do panel. I was as much of a hero as one had seen him or heard from him since

any of the Animorphs and unlike Jake the YeerkRachel's funeral. Killer and Saint Cassie, I was fun.

It wasn't that Jake and Cassie never gave inI got a gig as "technical advisor" to a Spielterviews, but Jake was too serious and heavy for berg movie about us. Animorph. Come on, you the media. Jake was on his way to becoming this gotta love that. I did all the shows to plug that icon, this national hero figure. He had that whole deal. Sample dialog: "I loved working with Steven, tragic-hero thing going on. People knew about he is absolutely devoted to accuracy, and I knew him sending his cousin to take out his brother he was the man who could be trusted with our and they ate it up. I am not kidding when I say story."

that some congressperson actually suggested I wrote a book, with some help from a ghostcarving his face onto Mount Rushmore. Nothing writer. The title was The Gorilla Speaks. Number came of that, fortunately.

one on The New York Times best-seller list, numSo, anyway, everyone acted like they wanted ber one on the PW list, number one on the Web. Jake to do their show, but Jake wasn't really into 65

Undersecretary of the Interior for Resident Aliens. Cassie wrote a book, too: Insights on the Ani- It paid less than I spend on corn chips, but hey, mal Mind. I think it topped out around number Cassie was seventeen, like me, and she was

seven. Not that I'm competitive.

meeting with the President and spending most of I had just been signed for a regular acting job. her time with the free Hork-Bajir. They'd been I was going to be Nick Lang, a wisecracking mugiven Yellowstone as a habitat. They lived on tant superhero sort of guy who can turn into anibark and cared for the trees and the tourists mals. I wasn't the main star, I was the main loved it. Yellowstone was so mobbed with tourists supporting player, (and the main special effect), wanting to see Hork-Bajir swinging from the redwhich is what I wanted: I needed time to "work woods or whatever that there was a year-and-aon my craft" without the pressure of carrying the haIf waiting list to get in.

entire TV show. We were going to be on Fox in the Arbron's Taxxons — those that had survived

old X-F/7estime slot, which was kind of cool. the battle — had fulfilled another of Cassie's farThe acting job was especially great because it seeing dreams: They had, as agreed, permakept me alive as a product spokesman. I had a nently morphed to anaconda and various other three-year deal with Pepsi, plus smaller deals way-too-big snakes. They'd been relocated to the with Alamo Rent A Car and Gap/Old Navy. You Brazilian rain forest, which was now protected by would not believe the money.

Brazilian law and hefty U.N. payments. If you So, a year after the end, I was seventeen and were a guinea pig walking around the rain forest rich from book deals and product endorsements now you were toast, but the former Taxxons left and acting contracts. I had a beach house in people alone.

Santa Barbara (close to Hollywood, but with less Arbron himself went down there with them.

traffic) and an apartment in New York. I owned a He could not morph again, of course. He was an canary-yellow Viper, a red Maserati, and a desertAndalite nothlit. Many years ago, far away, he camouflage Humvee. I dated girls who wouldn't had stayed too long in Taxxon morph and had have looked at me before. I ate in cool restaurants. been unable to demorph. And now he was Taxxon

. And maybe you're expecting me to say it was for good.

all an empty experience, that my life wasn't all Arbron was shot and killed by poachers. It

that great, but you know what? I was happy. was a big incident for a while. They caught the We all should have been happy. Cassie was

Andalite tourism was the coming thing. The

poachers and put them away. Everyone said how numbers were limited — interstellar travel isn't terrible it was. But you know, Arbron was probacheap, you know. But the big thing was for bly grateful. He had saved his adopted people, wealthy or influential Andalites to come to Earth but he had been a prisoner of that awful Taxxon and acquire human morphs. Then it was off to hunger, and that's no way to live.

the mall food courts to raid the Cinnabon and The Andalite ambassador to the United NaMrs. Fields. tions took charge of the body — what was left of I am not kidding. An Andalite with a mouth is it. Arbron was flown back to the Andalite home a dangerous thing when there are cinnamon buns world and given a quiet funeral.

around. Having no mouths or sense of smell

Anyway, Cassie was a government pooh-bah,

themselves, they have no natural defenses against always racing around here and there in governthe appeal of flavor — as we had witnessed time ment jets and helicopters, making sure Toby and and again with the Ax-man himself. You do not her people were good and just generally saving want to get between a newly morphed Andalite the world. Also taking college courses at night tourist and a chocolate chip cookie.

because she still wants to be a veterinarian like Andalites and humans mostly got along well. her mom and dad. That's Cassie for you: Save the Andalite civilians are about three degrees more rain forest, save some cow with a hernia — the humble and lovable than the Andalite warriors girl just does not get the whole celebrity thing. I we'd always met.

mean Wal-Mart practically begged her on hands Some people had been afraid the news that

and knees to take a million dollars to do ads for aliens were real would freak the entire human their jeans, and she said she didn't have time berace. They were wrong. Duh. Humans had been cause there was some controversy over an access watching Star Trek and Star Wars and reading road into some forest somewhere.

Heinlein and Simmons and Orson Scott Card for It boggles my mind.

too many years. Humans weren't freaked by

And Ax was doing great as well. He was an ofaliens — they'd been expecting them for years ficial prince and this huge hero back on his home and were just relieved they weren't The Borg. planet. He had stepped out of Elfangor's shadow Ax worked out technology-transfer deals with at long last, and was not only a hero but the one some of the big corporations. They have to keep and only expert on all things human.

this sense that he was out of phase with everyone it slow because if you just dump a hundred years else. Like he was a half step ahead or behind. of technological advances overnight the stock Of course this just made him into the strong market goes nuts. It worked out okay, though. and silent type and he always was a big, goodThe Andalites can definitely teach us a lot about looking guy, so he got marriage proposals (and computer architecture. But it was Microsoft and other proposals) from girls as young as twelve Sony and Adobe and Nintendo that came up with and women old enough to be his grandmother. the killer apps. I mean, the new Palm Pilots will No interest.

be actual pilots.

He loved Cassie, of course, but I don't know The Andalites flatly refused to let us share what happened there. I know when I talk to

their weapons technology. But NASA has had a Cassie I ask her if she's seen him and the answer definite revival: The first human Zero-space vehiis always no. The same when I talk to Jake, alcle will be built jointly by Boeing and Lockheed though he always says he's just about to call her, and be ready for launch in three years. H. sapijust about to. ens was going to the stars. Look out, universe, Write a book? No thanks.

we're coming to build a Starbucks near you. Endorsements? No thanks.

As for Jake, well, my boy Jake has always had Every college on the planet tried to recruit a serious side to him. I mean, I tried to talk to him. No thanks. West Point offered him a gig as him about things. But some guys shake off a war an instructor in the Tactical Application of Emergand move on, and other guys don't. ing Technologies and Xeno-Warfare. No thanks. If Jake carried Tom and Rachel and those sevhe'd been old enough he could have run for presenteen thousand Yeerks around his neck like the ident as the candidate of Democrats and RepubAncient Mariner and his albatross. licans both. Jake was the biggest hero the world Being Jake he didn't lose it. He didn't go off had ever seen because he was a hero for all huand become some kind of drug addict or have mans, not one nation. He had saved the lives and some big breakdown or whatever. He was still freedom of the entire human race. I mean, he Jake. But he was a different Jake. Smaller and could have snapped his fingers and had anything bigger at the same time, if that makes any sense. he wanted.

He was closed off, inward. He would sound alThe problem was, he didn't want anything. most like the old Jake sometimes but you just got 71

Except for Tobias to come back! For Rachel and Tom to be alive. For the chance to unlive one fateful moment when he gave the order that

doomed seventeen thousand defenseless Yeerks. I worried about him.

Okay, I worried about him while sitting by my pool or driving my Maserati or escorting some bubbly Hollywood honey past the rope line at the CHAPTER 11

most exclusive clubs. I worried about him.

Cassie

I hadn't seen Jake or Cassie in a couple of months when my lawyer called to say the date had been set.

And now, the three of us would be together

again. In The Hague, Netherlands.

"Is Jake here yet?" I asked Marco. I figured We were to testify in the war crimes trial of I might as well find out right away. I wasn't eager the Yeerk prisoner, Visser One.

to see Jake. I mean, yes, I was. But the Jake I was eager to see might not even exist anymore. The Jake I wanted to see was the one who had talked about us being together after the war was over.

The war was over. We weren't together. Now, this reunion was just bound to be awkward if not painful.

"I haven't seen him," Marco said.

"When did you get here?"

"Here?" Marco looked around, puzzled. We were in the modern lobby of one of The Hague's best hotels. "Oh, here at the hotel? I'm not stay73

ing at the hotel. My business manager set me up Maybe I'm in eagle morph and I happen to see in a rented villa. There's a fence, a gate, it's eashim." ier to keep the groupies away."

"So how is he, really?"

I laughed and he grinned in response. "You're

"I'm not exactly a psychiatrist, Cassie." actually completely serious, aren't you?" I asked. I wasn't going to accept that. "Marco, you

"Cassie, how long have you known me? Am I have a very subtle mind and you're a good obever completely serious?" server. And he's your best friend."

I felt a wave of affection for Marco. We had The waitress brought us beverages and a plate never been the closest of the Animorphs — our of some kind of snack. She gave us the familiar connection went through Jake, it wasn't direct.

"I know you!" smile and left only reluctantly. But here we were, in some way the only two real

"She wants me," Marco said. Then, realizing survivors. We had even prospered. Each of us that I wasn't going to be diverted, he sighed and was far better off by most measures than we'd said, "Like I say, I'm no psychiatrist. But he's dehave been without the war. pressed. You know, like not just sad but some"Is Jake staying at this hotel?" I asked. thing deeper? Like clinically depressed. Like a Marco nodded. Then, with sudden fire, he

party balloon with half the helium gone. Like a said, "I wish he would see you, Cassie. You're flashlight with low batteries. He hangs around what he needs. I mean, I try and talk to him but the house with his mom and dad. Sometimes

you know Jake, he can go totally opaque when he he'll go for a drive — you know, at least he kept wants to. You ask him if he's okay, he says, 'Sure.'

the free Jaguar. I mean, if he'd refused that I'd You ask him if he needs anything, it's 'No, I'm have had to kill him personally. And," Marco good.' But he never seems to do anything. Not added with a significant look, "he goes to see that I know of anyway."

her."

"How often do you see him?" I asked. I knew who Marco meant by "her."

Marco started to answer, stopped, gave a

"He doesn't put flowers on the memorial or guilty shrug. "Officially? As in, I see him and he whatever, there are always lots of those. He goes sees me?"

when no one's around, late, after hours. The guys

"Ah. You're spying on him?"

at the gate let him in. He parks and just kind of

"I'm still an Animorph. I still like to fly. sits there like he's hanging out with her. I don't 74

one to morph to dolphin or falcon or whatever think he talks to her. Sad as it is to say, I wish he might not be a good way to let them put the little did. Talking to a dead person is better than not stuff in perspective."

talking at all. He sits there for an hour, some"Morph therapy? I think I feel another besttimes two, stares out at the ocean. Watches the selling book coming on. Oh, man, Oprah would sun go down. Then he leaves. Sometimes I think eat that up. And you know the Andalites are sayhe's waiting there hoping Tobias will show up." ing now they may make morphing technology

Tears were welling in my eyes. The image was more widely available on Earth."

too sad. I'd been to Rachel's memorial too. But I frowned. "Really? Why?"

not like that. "Rachel would be so mad at him."

"They want a Krispy Kreme franchise back on

"Yeah," Marco agreed. "Get over it. Shake it the home world. You have a fair number of Anoff. That's what she'd say." dalites who possess a human morph now, all

"You think that's what he should do? Shake it back home after their tour on Earth. Still looking off?"

for a donut."

"Don't you?"

The idea was so absurd I had to laugh. "We're I wasn't sure what I thought. "Sometimes I'm going to trade donuts for morphing technology?" ashamed that I have moved on, you know? I guess Marco and I sat there in silent enjoyment for I wonder if there's something wrong with me a moment, sipping our Oranginas.

when I enjoy the day, or enjoy my job or my

"I think you're right," Marco said after a classes."

while.

"You still morph?" Marco asked.

"About what?"

The question surprised me. "Yeah. Of course.

"Morph therapy. I think it could be useful I . . . I don't know, I guess I couldn't see why I when someone is in a funk, let's say." shouldn't. It helps with my job. It's just easier I looked at him to see whether he was kidgetting around way back in the woods if I'm flyding. He looked back. All of a sudden neither of ing, or in wolf morph."

us was kidding.

"I can't be sure, but I have this feeling Jake hasn't morphed since . . . since."

"It gives you a different perspective," I said.

"I mean, I've often wondered if allowing some77

ecutors said he was eligible for something like eight hundred years in prison. And since they had about a hundred witnesses drawn from former human-Controllers, Hork-Bajir, and we Animorphs, there wasn't much question about the outcome.

Alloran would not be allowed to testify. It CHAPTER 12

came too close to being self-incrimination, the courts said.

J a k e

It had taken a year to organize the trial. The biggest problem was how to have the accused be present and involved in the proceedings. There was no way the visser could be allowed to take a host body. I mean, how does a court order one of the very things it considers a crime?

"...Did conspire to subjugate the people of Fortunately Ax's people were willing to help. Earth through subversion, terror, and violence. Very willing. Andalite technicians created a Yeerk Four. That the defendant did conspire to overbox. It was about the size of a hardcover book. It throw all legitimate forms of government through contained a miniaturized Kandrona source, a subversion, terror, and violence. Five. That the computer-interface, and a voice synthesizer. The defendant did commit numerous acts of atvisser could hear and "see" and speak. The box, tempted murder. Six. That the defendant compainted lavender for some obscure Andalite reason, mitted murder in the specifics contained in sat on a pedestal facing the curved judges' bench. appendix 2C. Seven. That the defendant comThere was a panel of five judges, American, mitted or caused to be committed numerous acts Dutch, Chinese, Kenyan, and Chilean.

of torture in the specifics contained in appendix The visser had half a dozen appointed lawyers. 2D. Eight. That the defendant did . . ." They looked very professional, very slick, and like The reading of Visser One's indictment was

they knew they had zero chance.

going to take a while. The War-Crimes Tribunal There was a gallery down one side of the

didn't have a death penalty, just prison. The pros79

anyone lately. Maybe I was getting stupid in my courtroom for media. They had crammed what

old age.

looked like a hundred cameras of every conceivPart of me wanted what we'd had in the old able type into a space smaller than a men's days, Cassie and me. But that wasn't possible. I room.

knew that. I had come to accept that all of that, The whole world was watching. We were live

all of what I'd had with Cassie, Tobias, Ax, even on every station everywhere.

Marco, all of it was "in the war." And the things The building was ringed with security. Probathat were "in the war" didn't seem to translate bly half the people sitting in the audience were into real life. Like they were written in incompatsecurity or intelligence people. American, French, ible computer languages or something.

British, Russian, Chinese, Indian, Israeli . . . it I still cared for Cassie, for all of them. I alwas like a security convention. And that wasn't ways would. My life was divided into three parts: even counting the overt security inside the room, before, during, and after the war. And that mida dozen heavily armed Dutch Special Forces dle section was so overwhelming, so big, so inguys. tense, it made the other two portions seem dim People were very determined that the visser and dark and dull.

not escape.

That's how I felt now, pretty much all the

Marco leaned close and whispered, "If anytime. Dark. Dull. Slow and stupid. Distracted, one so much as farts there's going to be about but not by anything in particular. Just like there ten thousand rounds fired off before you can say, was something else I should be thinking about

'It wasn't me!'"

but I couldn't recall what it was.

I smiled.

I understood Tobias. I didn't think he ran

Marco was enjoying this. But then, he enaway out of rage or even out of grief. I mean, joyed the attention. If he made it through his tesmaybe at first, yeah, but I wondered if maybe, timony without making a dozen bad jokes I'd be like me, he wasn't just looking for simplicity. amazed.

Maybe.

Cassie was sitting just beyond him. We had

Why wasn't Marco like that? He thrived on it exchanged smiles and awkward hugs. I had

all. The attention, the fame, the excitement. Maybe dreaded this for months. I didn't know what to he was just more resilient.

say to her. I didn't seem to know what to say to 81

head lawyer was on her feet looking nervous and Ax was to my right. Not sitting, they had

smug at the same time.

removed chairs so he and Alloran and an offiThe president of the court, the Chilean judge, cial Andalite legal observer named Salawan

leaned forward. "What is the nature of your obcould stand comfortably. jection?"

" . . . mayhem. Sixteen. That the defendant

"Your honor, this witness should himself be did perform medical experiments upon human

under indictment as a war criminal. If the alsubjects without permission. Seventeen. That leged war crimes of the Yeerk military officer, the defendant did drive more than a million Visser One, are to be tried in this court, it must people from their homes. Eighteen. That the debe in the pursuit of impartial justice. Truly imparfendant did .. ." tial justice cannot be applied only against one I wondered what the visser thought of all this. side in a conflict. If my client is to be tried for his It was a very un-Yeerkish scene. The Yeerks reactions in the human-Yeerk war, then so must served trials only for the highest-ranking officers. the actions of this witness. With all due respect And they would certainly never try a member of a to this court, this witness is a mass murderer. A different species. They had quicker, more direct war criminal."

ways of dealing with aliens.

The objection was denied. My testimony was

Suddenly the reading of the indictment was

to proceed. But I found I couldn't speak. I felt over. The prosecution was ready to call its first like I was choking, like the air wouldn't come. witness.

Billions of people were watching my reaction.

"We call Jake Berenson."

Billions of people saw me freeze. Billions of I stood up. My legs were stiff from sitting. people thought, This is the famous Jake the I walked to the front and sat down in a chair Yeerk-Killer? He doesn't look like much. placed in a little booth so that I faced the judges

"Apparently the witness is having some diffiand the defendant. It seemed odd to see Alloran, culty," Visser One's lawyer said with only the the face I associated with Visser One, standing slightest smirk.

behind the prosecution desk, free, while my en"The witness is disconcerted by this unjustiemy was represented by a blank lavender box. fied and vicious assault," the prosecutor said

"The defense objects to this witness." heatedly.

A murmur through the courtroom. Visser One's 83

leader. Marco inventing the name: Animorphs. The Chinese judge asked if I needed a moLeader of the Animorphs. ment to compose myself.

The tiger. My battle morph so many times. So

"No," I said. "I'm ready." But I wasn't. I was many battles.

fighting the urge to run from the room.

The prosecutor prodded me with questions. I

"State your name and occupation, for the answered them. But memories filled the courtrecord." room. I couldn't get them out of my head. And

"Urn, Jake Berenson. My occupation? I guess each question triggered more.

I'm unemployed."

When they adjourned for the day I didn't no"Are you a student?" the prosecutor sugtice at first. I'd been on the stand for just an gested helpfully.

hour, I had barely begun my testimony. And then

"No. Not really."

would come cross-examination.

"All right. Please tell the court how you first What was the matter with me? I knew I was

became aware of the presence on Earth of the screwed up. I knew I'd made a fool of myself. I'd Yeerk species."

let everyone down.

"All right," I said. But then memory crowded I left the courtroom straightaway and found in and pushed the court into the shadows. I remy way back to my hotel room. I sat on the bed membered being at the mall with Marco and Toand just held my head in my hands and stared. I bias. We ran into Rachel and Cassie. We decided don't know how long.

to walk home together. We decided to take a I heard a noise. I looked up.

shortcut through the construction site.

A gorilla.

A light in the sky.

Marco, of course. Cassie was demorphing, risThe Andalite fighter. The wounded alien creaing from the carpet in one corner. Out of the corture, the Andalite, staggering, falling. ner of my eye I saw Ax.

The attack of the Yeerks. Chapman.

<Hey, Jake,> Marco said.

Seeing Tobias morph to a cat.

Then he swung his cinder block gorilla fist My first morph.

into the side of my head.

My first battle. The Yeerk pool.

The realization that Tom was one of them.

The decision, not my decision, that I was the 85

I kicked hard and started to rise. I ripped off my shirt, buttons twirling away in the water. I took my shoes off. I was going to freeze to death.

Then, air!

I sucked in deep, spit water, breathed again. A wave crashed over me, buried me, turned

me upside down. Then, air again. But air wasn't enough. I was freezing. I couldn't see anything CHAPTER 13

down in the valley between waves. No boat, no J a k e

shore, no plane. How had I ended up here?

Already couldn't feel my fingers. Thought

slowing.

Dolphin. That was it, dolphin. I reached for the DNA that still flowed through my veins. I woke up falling.

I felt the changes begin. My skin was as gray

"Aaaahhhh!"

as a corpse's. My hair was gone. My numb fingers Not a long fall, but it was into water, into were melting together, webbing, then stretching waves, into dark gray waves topped with foam. out to form fins.

I hit facedown and sank maybe ten feet down. My legs twined together like two strands of Salt water in my mouth, down my throat. It

overcooked spaghetti. The flesh melted, painwas freezing. Brutal cold, shocking cold. I wasn't lessly. I heard the interior sounds of bones shiftgroggy anymore, I was wide-awake, but disoriing, the gloopy sound of organs disappearing or ented. Which way was up?

being replaced, relocated.

Sunlight. Cold and far, far away. I kicked

My mouth and nose pushed out and out,

madly, moved with painful slowness. Could I even ridiculously far. All at once a hole grew in the reach the surface? I was a slug. My clothing bilback of my neck. lowed and knotted around me, twisted me, hamI was no longer cold. I was definitely mad. pered my movements. Shoes full of water, like I kicked my tail hard, trying to lift my dolphin lead weights.

body high enough to see over the wave tops. Not Again. Again. Again.

enough. I would have to jump.

The dolphin body was beginning to tire, but I I sucked air through my blowhole and dove

didn't care. I wanted to be tired. I wanted to down deep. Ten feet; twenty feet, thirty. Down drain every last ounce of energy from the creainto darkness. I fired a series of clicks and the ulture as I flew and splashed and flew again. trasonic waves bounced back in patterns that reUltrasound now painted the picture of three vealed a school of fish behind me at about my other dolphins. They were clearly "visible," but same depth. And a hint of something larger at a they kept their distance.

greater distance.

I swam hard till the dolphin body was worn

At thirty feet or so I twisted and began powerout. Not easy to wear out a dolphin in the water. ing toward the surface.

I was not far from the beach. I could see the Up like a rocket. Speed was so easy. So easy buildings of The Hague, not at all far off. I to kick my tail and fly straight up through the waheaded for shore and beached. I demorphed in ter.

the freezing surf and staggered heavy-footed up Faster and faster and the bright barrier bethe beach. tween sea and sky was right there, shimmering My friends were right behind me. I waited for above me, and I blew through it!

them. We were wearing our morphing outfits. I burst from the water and sailed high and for Like the old days. No shoes, of course, we never a perfect moment I held sea and sky within me, had learned how to morph shoes.

all encompassed within my brain.

There weren't many people on the beach. Just I flew, and I completely forgot to look around. an old couple taking a walk and a woman with I splashed down and reminded myself sternly her dog.

that I had a job. I had to see where I was, figure it

"I guess you guys think you're clever," I said, out, try and make sense of it all.

squeegeeing water out of my hair.

Down and down, and up, up, up, into the sky!

"More like desperate," Marco said. "You've had your head up your butt for a long time, Jake.

<Aaaahhh!>

Which is your business. Unless it's our business. Again!

Like when you screw up testifying against Visser Down and up, so fast, as fast as I could go. As One."

high as I could fly.

I nodded. I couldn't argue. But if they thought

"So as long as you're playing defense it's not the result was me all happy they were wrong. possible to commit a war crime?" I asked. "That's

"She called me a war criminal," I said. pretty close to just saying that the winner makes

"She's wrong," Cassie said.

the rules because it's the winner who writes the

"Did what you had to do, man," Marco said. history."

"We all did."

She grabbed my arm and searched for my eyes,

<Jake, it was I who pointed out the possibiliforcing me to look at her. "No, Jake, it isn't. ties to you,> Ax said. <l pointed out that the There are a lot of close calls in history, lots of Yeerk pool aboard the ship could be drained.> wars where the blame is evenly split between the

"Yeah, but I made the call. I pulled the plug. sides. This isn't one of them. Before they came So why don't you tell me: How is that prosecutor to Earth no human ever attacked a Yeerk. No huwrong? How is Visser One evil and I'm not? I'd man ever harmed a Yeerk. This one is clear: We really like to know that." I had intended it to be a are the victims. They made war on us." rhetorical question. I hadn't meant to sound so

"That's good," I said softly. "All of that is plaintive.

good. We have justification. We're the good Cassie took it seriously. "Jake, I've thought a guys."

lot about this."

Marco said, "That's right, Big Jake, we are." Marco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know." I nodded. "That's good for the big picture.

"I've had to think about it because I've done See, my problem is a little more personal." the same things you've done, Jake. You were the

<What do you mean?> Ax asked.

leader, but if you're a war criminal then so are we

"Well, Ax-man, you're right, you did call my for following you." She shivered. It was cold and attention to the possibilities on the Pool ship. the breeze was gusting. "I've had to make my And when you did that I guess I should have own peace with things I've done."

thought, Well, Jake, it's a harsh, terrible thing to Despite myself I was hanging on her words.

do, but you're justified because, after all, you're And despite myself I was remembering kissing the victim here. But that's not what I thought. her.

You know what I thought?"

"Jake, you can't. . ." She took a deep breath. Cassie released her grip on me. But Marco

"You can't equate the victim and the perpetrator." just took a step up close, right in my face. 90

"I know what you thought, Jake. You thought I was suddenly exhausted. Worn out all the

Die, you filthy worms. Feel the fear, Yeerks. Feel way, deep down. And everyone had run out of the pain. Feel the helplessness. You wanted things to say.

them to suffer and the idea of them suffering and After a long, awkward silence I said, "Anyway. dying made you happy. You were thrilled. You T h a t . . . " I gestured out toward the water. I were high."

wanted to say that it was the first real joy I had Cassie winced. She looked away.

felt since seeing Rachel kill Tom. But there was a I said, "Yeah, Marco. That was about it: word wall between me and Cassie. And Marco, well, for word."

he's a guy and we guys don't do a lot of emotional stuff with one another. "Anyway. I'll be

"Well, dude, you don't get to be a war crimigood tomorrow, on the stand." nal by thinking bad thoughts. It's what was done, not what was felt or thought. You have to judge the act. You were acting in self-defense. You CNN: Breaking News.

were enjoying the fact that you were winning.

"We have this just coming in. The five judge Two different things."

panel in The Hague has returned convictions on twenty-two of twenty-five counts of war crimes Cassie seemed less certain. Far less. She

against the Yeerk, Visser One.

seemed ready to join in with Marco, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She tried to hide

"Visser One, of course, led the Yeerk invasion it, but there was this look in her eyes, this sideof Earth and was in command of all Yeerk and always look at me. lied forces at war's end.

"The decision means that Visser One will al<Prince Jake,> Ax said, giving me back the timost certainly never be released from the specially tle he'd given me long ago, <l am not a human. constructed prison facility that has been built in But it seems to me that it is up to your own Kansas.

people to decide the morality of your actions. Their decision seems clear. My people agree with

"The trial was televised live around the world that assessment. We, the An'rmorphs under your for three weeks during which time seventy-three leadership, stopped the Yeerk threat. We saved witnesses took the stand to substantiate the Earth. We may have saved my people as well, charges and allegations. Jake Berenson was the surely we saved many, many Andalite lives.> first witness, followed by the rest of the living 93

and available Animorphs, and many, many others.

"And now, we're going to go to our CNN legal analyst, Greta Van Susteren, for analysis of this truly unique moment in legal history." CHAPTER 14

A x i m i l i

TWO YEARS LATER

< Launch two fighters. They are to go in with sensors on full active, no stealth measures. If whoever is hiding behind that moon is peaceful we do not want to sneak up on them. If they are not so peaceful . . . well, let them think they are facing nothing but a pair of careless fighters.>

<Yes, Prince Aximili.>

Even after the last year aboard the Intrepid, I sensed that my first officer did not entirely approve of my habit of explaining my actions for the deck crew. It was not usual. Captains typically played the part of far-distant and all-knowing gods. I preferred to continuously train and retrain. The more the deck officers understood, the more they would learn and the more valuable they'd be in a crisis. 95

Not that we'd encountered any crises. Rather guy" was hiding out there, and we were sensorswe had chased interstellar ghosts and rumors down so we didn't glow like a great big radiating ever since that first, faint intercept that may or beacon.

may not have been from the Blade ship.

A window appeared in the main screen. I saw Well, maybe the Blade ship was lurking bethe face of one of the fighter pilots. Fighter pilots hind this cold, dark moon at the edge of nowhere, have a certain look, easily identifiable, a mix of or maybe the Skrit Na freighter had just been swagger and competence and pretended boreconfused about what they claimed to have seen. dom. As if playing the role of bait for a Blade The Skrit Na did things for their own impeneship was just another training run. trable reasons: They had, after all, made a number

<This is fighter one, Calarass reporting.> of trips to Earth, long before the Yeerks had dis<Go ahead,> Menderash responded. covered that planet. And what had they done

<There's a ship back here, all right, but not with the people of Earth? Kidnapped them briefly the Blade ship. No evidence of the Blade ship or for absurd medical tests, and on occasion killed any active, hostile vessel on our sensors.> some Earth creatures called cows. Had any of I nodded. <What do you have then, Calarass?> that had a purpose? Perhaps to the Skrit Na He shrugged. <Unknown, Captain. All I know mind, but not to anyone else.

is that it is very big, it is powered by old-fashioned

<Fighters away,> my tactical officer reported. ion engines, and it has been hit by some kind of I saw the fighters come into view on the main energy weapon. Possibly a Dracon beam. I am screen. They lit up their sensors and fired their showing no life signs.>

engines. In seconds they were just bright pinI stilled the excitement in my hearts. Dracon points against the moon's dark green backdrop. weapons were widely available throughout the

<Take us to stage-two alert, just in case,> I galaxy. The destruction of the Yeerk Empire had spawned a lot of illegal arms trading. And the ordered. <lt never hurts to have everyone know Blade ship was not the only renegade Yeerk outtheir battle station. And go to silent runnings fit. Still, if it had been a Dracon weapon that at

<Stage two alert. Silent runnings First Offileast increased the chances we were on the trail cer Menderash ordered.

of the Blade ship.

Now we were moderately ready in case a "bad 97

stop fighting and go home to your meadow and your scoop, back to your peacetime occupation, I took a moment to consider. Another lesson your family and friends.

for the officers: Unless you're being fired on, I guess some warriors did want all those

think before you act.

more contemplative joys of watching your trees This sort of mission wasn't supposed to be

flower?

performed by me. The captain generally stays on I left the bridge and went aboard the clumsythe bridge. The T.O. normally led boarding parlooking boarding craft. It was designed for ties. But I was bored. And I knew the T.O. wouldn't docking — voluntary or forced — with any conargue: I wasn't just the captain or a prince, I was ceivable craft. There were four grapples, basically Aximili of Earth. The Aximili. A living legend. legs of a sort, with the option to use magnetic, I couldn't complain about being bored, of

adhesive, or intrusive attachment. It was not a course. The fleet command had given me what fast or well armed or attractive craft. And it had was easily the best assignment around. The bulk room for only two dozen Andalites, all of us of the fleet was engaged either in flying blockade jammed in hoof-to-tail.

around the Yeerk home world, convoying traders The pilot was at pains to handle the craft

back and forth to Earth, or escorting scientific smoothly, what with me, the Living Legend, bemissions. ing aboard. I was worried he might overcorrect The Intrepid was just about the only ship out and humiliate himself. He did, and we nicked

"looking for trouble," as Marco might have put it. the side of the bay.

Every officer in the fleet was jealous of us. EspeI sighed. As captain I was expected to point cially now with so many being eased out of serout the error. But as the Great Aximili any harsh vice. The fleet's size was being sharply reduced. word from me carried ten times the usual weight. War's end meant the end of glory and advance<Check that stick, Warlatan, the interface ment for warriors.

may be a bit balky.>

They all had secondary occupations — that

<Yes, Captain.>

was part of our code, that "warrior" was a tempoI could see the alien vessel now. The two rary occupation. You were supposed to want to 99

want a sensor grid established. Link with all four scout fighters were on-station, one at the bow, fighters and the docker with main sensors. Let us one at the stern, armed and ready. Two additional see if we can pinpoint this alleged DNA. It would escort fighters kept pace with us, deployed uptake a year to search that ship on hoof.> and-down.

This took a few minutes during which time we It was not a type of craft I had ever seen bedrifted closer and closer to the silent behemoth. fore. It dwarfed even one of the old Dome ships,

<We have a fix,> the T.O. reported. <Now a big as they were. It made my cruiser-class Intre- ninety percent probability that Earth-type DNA is pid look like a toy.

present in one locations

It was built in a sort of star-burst pattern. No one said anything but there was a sort of Asymmetrical. As if someone had picked up a silent murmur of excitement. Warriors shifted few dozen Earth-style habitations they call skytheir stance, surreptitiously glanced at the charge scrapers and welded the bottoms together. Each indicators on their Shredders, nudged each other. skyscraper was different in shape, size, and

<Sensors continue to show no life signs,> the color, some quite fantastic.

First Officer said. <However, Captain, since this Still, it was easy to see the extrusion that had is a very unusual situation, perhaps you may wish been blown apart by energy weapons.

to reconsider whether the T.O. should be given My hearts began to beat fast again. How many command of the boarding party. Or myself.> ships would dare to take on this behemoth?

<You sense danger, First Officer Menderash?> Surely the Blade ship had been here.

He hesitated. Then, <Yes.>

F.O. Menderash reported in from the Intrepid,

well. Sensors showed no life signs. However, senThis time more forcefully. <Yes, Captain.> sors did show what might be traces of DNA.

<So do I. Just the same, here I am, might as I frowned. <DNA? Specifically? Earth origin?> well go forward. Take us in for docking. Let us go

the tactical officer interjected. <The amount of material is very small and the ship, as you can see, Captain, is enormous.>

<Yes, I had noticed that,> I said dryly. <l 101

100

of democratic nations around the world. I had Americans, British, French, Japanese, German, and Norwegian soldiers in this particular class. Terrorism had grown as a problem. Many of

the worst were religious cults convinced that the presence of alien species on Earth was delaying a hoped-for Armageddon. Some were antigovernment paranoids who had convinced themselves CHAPTER 15

that the Andalites were taking over Earth. Others were sort of latter-day racists who simply needed J a k e

someone to hate and focused on the Hork-Bajir. Then there were the ecology extremists who just hated anything new and technological.

Terrorists had begun to attack Andalite tourists and free Hork-Bajir. And the Andalites had agreed Controlling the animal mind and instincts to make a single morphing cube available, on are hardest the first time. The instincts can carry condition that it remain in Andalite custody and you away, especially in prey animals where the be used only for antiterror forces.

fear reflex is overwhelming. After that first time it We'd always known it was a bad idea to get

becomes easier. Which is why you never go into between an Andalite tourist in human morph and battle with an untested morph."

a chocolate chip cookie, a cinnamon bun, or (to

"But, Professor, you did."

the great relief of the beleaguered tobacco indus"Yeah, well, I did lots of stupid things, Sertry), old cigarette butts. geant Santorelli. I was a kid when I started. I On a more serious level, Andalite-Earth trade think your respective governments are kind of and tourism were becoming big business. The hoping that you professionals will learn the good Andalites liked the status quo as much as huhabits from me, not the bad ones." mans did.

I was instructing a class. My third in the last I needed a job. I needed to do something useyear. It was a special class of two dozen men and ful. And I was the reigning expert on using aniwomen, chosen from among elite antiterror forces 103

102

up arranging dates for me with whatever starlet mal morphs for infiltration, surveillance, and happened to be willing.

combat.

The Defense Department was my official emThey called me Professor. A joke, obviously, I ployer and they flew me in a private military jet still hadn't formally graduated from high school. from Santa Barbara to Twenty-nine every day of But they had to call me something, these amazclass. Flew me back in the evening. I would sit ingly fit, smart, disciplined men and women, there pretending to work on lesson plans, stare some of whom were twice my age.

out the window at the sun setting over the PaClasses were terribly Top Secret, naturally. The "school" was a squat cinder block building cific, and watch the birds below.

in a forgotten corner of the Twenty-nine Palms I had seen red-tailed hawks at times. But

Marine Corps base. Way out in the California there was no way to know.

desert. Nothing around.

I spoke to Cassie every couple of months. She I lived in Santa Barbara, now. After the trial of was seeing some guy . . . actually, a good guy. I Visser One, and endless nagging from Marco

had met him at one of Marco's parties. I couldn't (and his agent and manager and assorted Hollyexactly remember his name. He worked for the wood friends), I finally wrote a book. It was an governor of California on environmental concerns. autobiography, of course. I hated doing it. But it He and Cassie spent a lot of time working towas a way for me to tell people more about gether with the Hork-Bajir in Yellowstone.

Rachel and Tobias, the Forgotten Animorphs, as It was a Friday, the last day of class for the people called them.

week and my students were glad to be done with The book made way more money than I

me for a while, and I was glad to be heading needed. I bought a house for my folks and finally home.

moved out on my own. Tom was gone. My hangMy ride was waiting outside the building. ing around my parents' house till I was thirty They drove me back and forth in a Humvee with wasn't going to bring him back.

all kinds of security — a courtesy befitting my Marco lived half a mile from me, in a house status as an official hero.

about seven times bigger than mine. We'd started I had been given the Presidential Medal of

hanging out again. And after awhile he'd given Freedom and a similarly exalted medal from pretty 104

105

We waited and after a while a convoy of Hummuch every nation on Earth. Some before the vees appeared through the wavy heat lines of the trial, some more afterward. If I'd suffered anytarmac. Two Andalites, not one, rode in the horse thing tangible from having the title of "war crimitrailer towed behind a Humvee. These Andalites nal" applied to me, I never noticed it. And I'd had never taken offense at this unusual mode of gotten so I almost didn't notice the security that transport, and it worked better than trying to followed me everywhere since I'd become terrorcram them into a car. ist target number one.

The two Andalites descended the ramp. I

The Humvee pulled up alongside my parked

went to greet them and led them under the

jet and I waited, as I'd learned to do, for the maplane's wings, out of the sun's direct rays. rine driver to come running around and open my

<l am Prince Caysath-Winwall-Esgarrouth. This door. The delay gave time for the two security is Menderash-Postill-Fastill. First Officer of the men to jump out and ostentatiously scan the lntrepid.>

area.

<Ax's ship? I mean, excuse me, Prince Axim"Kind of hot out today, Professor," the driver ili'sship?>

said as I climbed out.

<Yes,> Caysath confirmed. <Menderash is the

"Yeah, but it's a dry heat," I said. "See you only known survivor of the lntrepid.> Monday, Corporal."

I guess I looked pretty stupid for a minute as I pushed my sunglasses up on my nose and

that news sank in.

headed for the plane. Then I stopped. One of the

"Are you telling me Ax is dead?"

security guys was pressing his earpiece in and Caysath slowly shook his head. It was a habit listening intently. He raised his wrist and spoke they learned as part of communicating with huto his walkie-talkie. "Roger that. I'll ask." mans. <No. He is not confirmed dead. Only miss"Ask what, Major?" I said. ing. In fact, we have reason to believe that he

"Sir, an Andalite has landed, unannounced. may still be alive, but a prisoners

He's here on base. Asking for you."

"Whose prisoner?" I snapped.

"Prince Aximili?"

It was Menderash who answered. <The Blade

"I don't think so, sir. They can bring him ship.>

straight here if you okay it."

I nodded. "Let's get into the shade, at least." 107

106

stand, it is a thousand times easier to detect life signs than to detect a tiny sample of DNA, we were sure the alien vessel was dead-in-space.> I nodded. "Go ahead."

<The docking was uncomplicated. They grappled and cut through the outer hull. Prince Aximili and a dozen heavily armed warriors boarded. For a while they merely reported back on the inCHAPTER 16

terior of the ship. It had clearly been inhabited at some time. But there was no sign of current acJ a k e tivity. None. If there had been, I never—>

<Just proceed with the story,> Caysath said gently.

<Of course.> Menderash stopped the agitated quiver of his stalk eyes and forced himself to We returned to base so that Menderash could stand still. <They used handheld sensors to pinexplain. My heart was pounding. My pulse was racpoint the DNA sample. Prince Aximili picked it ing. I was a little embarrassed by my response, up, held it. He said, <lt is a few hairs. White.> but this was Ax, one of us.

Then, he frowned and said, <No, not truly white. One of mine.

Colorless almost. Hollow.>

Menderash was telling the story.

I knew what was coming next. I knew the ani<We approached the unknown alien vessel. mal with hollow, colorless hairs that from a disPrince Aximili ordered the docking ship to board tance seemed white. Polar bear.

at a place near the suspected DNA reading.> It was a Yeerk with a polar bear morph that

"No life signs?"

had killed Rachel.

<None,> Menderash answered. He was visi<Then the prince shouted for the warriors to bly shaken. I realized then that he was carrying draw weapons. He ordered me to raise defenses the weight of this. I knew the signs. <We ran on the Intrepid and go to condition one. A split every sensor reading we know. You have to under109

108

second later the alien vessel fired at us. It was a us watched, too. Their envy was obvious. Neither very powerful weapon. They caught us only half had seen combat.

ready. See, sensors are less effective when used

<And then, the engines went. We lost most while defensive force fields are raised. The atlife support. We called for help, but. . . Norshk tack crippled the Intrepid. Half our people . . . pirates hit us and we couldn't even put up a there were many casualties. Chaos, as you can fight. Help came, but too late. Air gone. Cold.> imagine. Blood. Computers down . . . CommuniHe lost the thread of his story, looked embarcations down . . . The T.O., he was, he was rassed, and fell silent.

sucked out into space before the force fields Caysath took up the narrative. <Menderash could close the breach.>

believes the thought-speak cry came from the

"The alien vessel, not the Blade ship, fired?" Blade ship, which emerged from within the alien I asked.

vessel and fled at top speed. The alien vessel followed the Blade ship and fired repeatedly at the

<Yes. It was fully operational. Alive. Very much Intrepid, which followed for a while. But their enalive. My duty was to the ship. Standing orders gines were damaged and they couldn't keep pace. were to save the ship. I had no choice but to The Blade ship and the alien vessel then entered withdraw. All four fighters were lost. We pulled Kelbrid space. >

back. But just before I did, before I could, I

"What's that?"

heard him. Prince Aximili, the captain. Not by link, but through normal thought-speak. Very Caysath hesitated. Looked at me with his big, main eyes. Waited.

weak. Far away.>

"Yes?"

"Please, wait outside," I told the marines. Once they were gone, Caysath said, <The Kel-

Aggressive. But also very trustworthy. We have a

"What is it you heard, First Officer?" treaty with one simple proviso: We do not enter

<Prince Aximili. He said your name. Just your Kelbrid space, they do not enter ours.> name. Jake.>

"Was this alien vessel a Kelbrid ship?" Both Andalites watched me, waiting to see

<We do not know. We have never seen a Kel- my reaction. The marine guards in the room with 111

110

In answer, Menderash began to morph. He

brid. They, likewise have no direct knowledge was morphing to human.

of us.>

"He's still an Andalite," I said.

"Are they in league with the Blade ship?"

<ln two hours, I will no longer be an An<There is no way to know.> dalite,> Menderash said.

I was getting impatient. "These Kelbrid would have reason to want a live Andalite. First rule of intelligence: Know your enemy."

<Yes.>

"So what are you doing about it?" He looked very closely at me. <Nothing. We cannot enter Kelbrid space without starting a war. No Andalite ship, no Andalite warrior could enter Kelbrid space. The risk is far too great, even to attempt to rescue Prince Aximili.>

"No/4nda//'teship."

He was definitely leading me somewhere.

Where? Then it hit me. "There must be any number of surrendered Yeerk ships around."

<l believe there are,> he said blandly. <l believe, to name just one example, that there is a Yeerk prototype ship in orbit above us at this very moment. Very fast. Heavily armed. A sort of smaller version of a Blade ship. We think it was a Yeerk attempt to design an lntrepid-o\ass ship. Yes, I believe such a ship, a definitely non-Andalite ship, is in orbit at this very moment, fully fueled, fully armed.>

"And who is going to fly it?"

113

112

entire ongoing satire of my wardrobe would have had to change. Not that I was exactly fashionable, but now, instead of being pestered by WalMart to do endorsements, I was being pestered by Patagonia.

Ronnie was just slightly ahead of me, the

slope was very steep and he was digging his feet in very carefully.

C-H • F T :f^ 1 7

I had resisted the whole dating thing for a longtime. And I resisted it with Ronnie in particC a s s i e ular because we had to work together. Plus he was six years older than me.

But, after The Hague, I knew I had to move

on. I wasn't just Cassie the Animorph anymore. I had been moved out of the Interior Department I was with Ronnie Chambers, my state of when the new President was elected. She had California counterpart of sorts. He was the goverappointed me instead to the new position of nor's liaison to the Hork-Bajir. We had left our asSpecial Assistant to the President for Resident sistants and even my omnipresent security detail Aliens. I was nineteen and I was in the President's behind. We were scouting out a new valley as a sub-cabinet.

possible extension of the Hork-Bajir territory. The Of course, yes, I would always be Cassie the Hork-Bajir were a growing population.

Animorph. There was yet another movie coming It was a hard climb, but we were high above out about us and my part was going to be played the summer's heat and I had come to really love by an actress who was about a foot taller and searching out the endless still-undiscovered setwenty pounds lighter than me. So there'd be the crets of Yellowstone. I was getting to be a hiking inevitable "Where are they now?" stories about jock, even eschewing morphing except in cases Jake and Marco and me. And of course the inof emergency or special need. evitable bogus Tobias sightings.

I'd spent so much time in hiking boots and

I really wasn't trying to "Put all that behind wool socks and L.L. Bean plaid shirts that Rachel's 115

114

me." I was Cassie the Animorph, always would Washington and Patton and Batman. It was imbe. I was in history books, after all. But I had a possible not to be a little intimidated by all that. different life to lead now. I was going forward. At Ronnie made a thoughtful face and looked

the moment I was going forward uphill toward a around. "You know what? I'll just head toward pair of very muscular legs.

that outcropping up there. That should be a good And then I spotted the falcon.

observation post. Whenever you're done . . ." Don't ask me how I knew. There were occa"Thanks, Ronnie." sional peregrines up here, real ones. But I knew. Jake came spiraling down, then straightened

"Ronnie?" I said.

out to land on a fallen log. He hopped off the log

"Yeah?" He stopped and held on to a sapling. and began to demorph as soon as his talons were He smiled down at me. "What, you need a break?

on the ground.

I told you not to eat those pancakes. I told you

<Stand in front of me,> he said. <l'm going to they'd slow you down."

roll right down the mountain if I demorph in the I generated a smile that he read as fake.

wrong order.>

"What's the matter, Cass?"

He demorphed without problems. And then,

"There's a friend of mine coming." there he was: Jake. Not the old Jake, exactly, a He looked down the hill. Then up. I pointed little bigger, an inch or two taller. Jake as a straight up at the peregrine falcon inscribing cir grown-up, I thought. But then, no, that was wrong: cles above us.

Jake had been a grown-up for a long time.

"One of them?"

"Hi, Cassie."

"Jake."

Jake always called me Cassie. Never Cass like

"Oh."

Ronnie did.

Ronnie knew about my relationship with Jake.

"Hi, Jake. Is something the matter?" I'd probably bored him half to death talking He winced, a rueful acknowledgment that

about my relationship with Jake. I felt sorry only some problem would have brought him to for him — Ronnie was a man's man, smart,

see me.

confident, decent, funny. But in the public imag"It's Ax. Some Andalite bigshot came to see ination, Jake was still some melding of George me yesterday. Ax was on a deep-space mission 116

117

alien species involved," Jake said. He smiled in a and his ship was attacked. He was taken prisway that was so much like Rachel. That same oner."

self-mocking swagger. How had I never noticed

"Oh, my god," I said, and without thinking that similarity before?

grabbed Jake's arm.

"Marco will be going with me," he added.

"Yeah. It was the Blade ship. It disappeared

"He will? He agreed?"

into some place the Andalites can't follow. Not

"No, not yet. I haven't asked him. But he without triggering a major interstellar war. It's will."

some treaty. No Andalite ships. No Andalites peI didn't want to say the words. I didn't want riod. Thing is, the Blade ship may have taken Ax to. But Ax was more than a friend. How many across the barrier in order to use his presence times had he risked his life to save mine? I there as a trigger, to cause a war between the Ancouldn't count the number of times I'd been dalites and these Kelbrid."

down and only his flashing tail had brought me I had barely absorbed the information about out alive.

Ax being in trouble. I was slow on picking up the

"I'll go, too," I said. "I just need a day to wrap thread of Jake's statement. Then it dawned. things up and . . ."

"They're asking you to go after Ax?" He was shaking his head. "No, Cassie." He made a wry smile. "Of course not. That

"Look, if it's because of us, because of, you would be a violation of the Andalite- Kelbrid know, you and me, hey, that's separate and apart treaty. They can't ask me to do any such thing. Of from saving Ax. Ax is one of us."

course, if I just happened to find a nice, new,

"That's not it, Cassie," he said, all the swagger gassed-up and ready-to-go captured Yeerk ship, gone now. He was the old, awkward Jake now, and if I just happened to decide to go off on my struggling to express feelings instead of making own to rescue my friend. . . .well, you get the lightning decisions. "Look, Cassie, you're doing picture."

what you need to do and were born to do. Part of

"Jake, this sounds . . . I mean, one ship? You're what we won was freedom for the Hork-Bajir

supposed to go into some hostile space with one people. And a place for them here on Earth. ship, and rescue Ax from the Blade ship and posThat's something we won. It's in the bank. It's sibly a whole alien empire?"

real and it's good and your job is to protect it.

"Plus it seems there may be a third, unknown 119

118

friend. So are all of us, even if he doesn't want it Me . . ." He shrugged. "Look, for better or worse, that way. So tell me how to find him." this is what I do. This is what I am, not what you A few minutes later, after watching Jake morph are."

and fly away, I climbed up to where Ronnie

"I'm still pretty good in a fight," I said. waited.

He laughed. "Pretty good? Cassie, you're a I knew I had said good-bye to Jake forever. one-woman army. But you're the soldier who has fought her war and moved on. That's good. It's not me, though. Come on, Cassie, we both know this is a lifeline for me."

I brushed away a tear. I didn't know how I

felt. Relieved? Rejected?

"So you just came to say 'good-bye'?" My voice quavered miserably.

"No. I mean, yes, to say good-bye. For now. But also, I came for Tobias."

I stared at him.

"Don't bother to tell me you don't know where he is," Jake said. "I'm sure he's sworn you to secrecy. But you have to ask yourself what's best for Tobias now. Ax was his shorm. He has to go, you know that, even if he does hate me."

"He doesn't hate you, Jake. He never did. His heart was broken, that's all. And you know, Tobias never had anyone. No one before Rachel. No mother, really, no father he could ever know. Rachel was the first and only person who ever loved Tobias."

Jake nodded. "Yeah. I know. But Ax was his 120

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"mine" before, and I'd ended up with talons full of dirt and grass.

I could see him twitching his nose. No, he

knew. He was just waiting to mess with me.

<Okay, Old Man Mouse, you live for another day. I'm not falling for it today.>

I shifted my gaze, slowly scanning my meadow. It was a nice meadow. Up-country where the air CHAPTER 18

was clear and clean, and sunny days baked the wildflowers and gave me the updrafts I needed. Tobias

The bouncing little stream drew plenty of small prey — except for the year before when the

drought had just about starved me out. But now the high snowcaps were melting and the stream The world's smartest mouse wiggled his nose gurgled along, and the mice and rats and shrews at me. Oh, he knew I was watching, all right. He and rabbits and skunks and moles — all the

knew.

juicy prey animals — were present in abunHe was brown, not especially plump or juicydance. All mine during the daylight hours. looking. He had a tail that I had shortened by an At night the meadow belonged to the owl who inch on a previous encounter. But since that one lived in the lightning-struck aspen. But he kept close call he had outsmarted me every time I'd his hours and I kept mine, and there was food gone after him.

enough for both of us. The only real competition It was a lesson in humility. I was a red-tailed came from the occasional wolf pack or a lone hawk with the mental powers of a human. I was cougar, but I still had all my morphs available, being out-thought by a mouse. The question was, and it's a rare alpha wolf who'll decide to keep should I even try? I had a nice perch, all I had to his pack in bear country.

do was spread my wings and swoop right down on Today, though, I had a different problem:

him. By all rights he was mine. But he'd been campers. They had set up their tent the night be122

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fore, across the meadow, right beside the stream. that we also have extraordinarily good hearing. I They'd made a safe, careful fire of fallen branches, could hear the music. I could hear them talk. and they had at least had the decency to dig a I had hoped they'd move on with first light. slit trench a good distance away from my water But they were dawdling, indecisive, as though supply, so they weren't complete idiots. But I not sure they wanted to leave my meadow. Well, I didn't like having them there.

could change their minds for them in a hurry if I Hikers seldom came to my meadow. It was far needed to.

from the regular trails and far from the places I didn't know what to do. If they stayed anwhere they could easily observe Hork-Bajir in the other night she would play her flute again. Which trees. These two were hardcore crunchies, I guess. shouldn't bother me. But if there's one great lesThey followed all the rules and customs, made son to surviving alone, it's this: Don't lie to yoursure they collected their trash and banked their self.

fire and when the girl played her flute it was with I was all I had, and I had to tell myself the truth, professional skill.

and the truth was that their presence bothered me. It had bothered me, the flute. It was a favorite So, as I raised my predatory gaze from Old

instrument for hikers, and was usually played Man Mouse and saw that the girl was getting with the skill level you'd expect of a preschooler. ready to drink from the stream, I thought I'd better run them off. I didn't want to feel bad, I But this was different. Last night I'd moved in wanted to catch myself a nice, plump skunk pup. closer to hear and to see. She had the moves of a I didn't want to mope, tortured by miserable, professional, the ease, the focus, all that. pointless longing.

The music had reached me and I guess so

Then, before I could act, the girl froze. She had she. She didn't look anything like Rachel. stared and called softly but urgently to her friend, And the guy with her didn't look anything like and pointed.

me, obviously. But something about them, the A Hork-Bajir was leaping from tree to tree. two of them, the couple, they looked like what I My mood picked up instantly. It was Toby. She thought we'd look like. They were in love, even had reached her full size now, a big, dangerousa hawk could see that. And although a hawk's looking goblin.

visual acuity is well-known, fewer people know 125

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speak. <Hey, Ken and Barbie, knock it off. This I opened my wings, skimmed low over Old

is my meadow. You want to stay, sit down and Man Mouse's burrow, just to keep him on his toes, stay quiet!>

flapped and skimmed the flower tops toward my It was harsh of me, but I had to yell at someHork-Bajir namesake. one. I was disturbed. Thrown off stride. I hadn't

<Hi, Toby. Longtime no . . .>

spoken to Jake in years. Not since Rachel . . . Only then did I see the wolf who trotted along But I was so surprised, so taken aback that I easily beneath the swinging Hork-Bajir. A wolf?

had trouble summoning up the rage I thought I Had to be Cassie.

still felt toward him.

Toby dropped to the ground.

He assumed his normal shape. Older than

"Hello, Tobias. I hope you are well." when I'd last seen him. The last of the boy gen<Tolerable,> I answered guardedly. I landed eral had disappeared to be replaced by a young on a low branch, just above Toby's eye level. The man with an old man's eyes.

wolf wasn't saying anything yet, but there was no The campers were barely breathing now, a

way it was a normal wolf.

hundred feet away, staring like nitwits. Of course

"Tobias, I have done something you may disthey'd recognize Jake. And unless they were approve of," Toby said. She was always ridicudumber than I thought, they'd figure out who I lously deferential when addressing me. It was a was. Even in this very-much-altered world, there bit silly, what with her being not only the de facto weren't a lot of birds who'd yell at you.

head of the Hork-Bajir, but also, under U.S. law,

<Well, Jake,> I said with what I hoped was a officially the Governor of the Hork-Bajir Free rock-steady thought-speak voice, <what's up Colony and a nonvoting observer-member in the with you?>

House of Representatives.

"I'm doing good," he said.

I could be mad at her or I could trust her. I

<You're older.>

decided to be both. <AII right, who is it?> I de"So are you." manded sharply.

<Well, it was fun catching up. Bye.> I spread

<lt's me, Tobias,> Jake said.

my wings.

He began to demorph. Now the two campers

"It's about Ax," Jake said.

were snapping pictures like mad and that didn't I should have flown away. I knew I should

improve my mood. I yelled at them in thought127

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have. But Ax had said I was his shorm. It's an Andalite word for someone who is closer than a friend.

During the war we'd both been exiles in the woods, Ax and me. Neither of us had a real

home. His family was a billion miles away, mine didn't really exist. Only later did we discover that CHAPTER 19

Ax and I were, because of almost unbelievable circumstances, actually related.

Marco

I could fly away. If I didn't, I was trapped. I would be trapped with Jake. Again.

<What about Ax?> I asked.

I had nine million four hundred and thirtytwo thousand dollars in my Merrill Lynch account. Mostly in stocks, some bonds. My TV show was doing fine, winning its time slot, although viewership in the critical demographic was falling off a little. I had a girlfriend. She was a model/actress. She was not, shall we say, a genius. But she was beautiful and sweet and about a foot taller than me.

I had seven cars. A butler named Wetherbee. (Actually his name was McPherson, but I liked the sound of 'Wetherbee.') I had two maids. I had a time-share deal on a jet. I had the house in 128

129

"Uh-huh. Some reason why you're morphing Santa Barbara, the pied-a-terre in New York and to lobster?"

was looking at a little place in Tuscany.

<Ummmm. . . I dropped my keys down in the So exactly why was I spending my time morphpool? I was going to go get them?> ing to lobster in order to crawl along the bottom

"Well, then it's a good thing you have the of my swimming pool?

ability to turn into a lobster, because otherwise, I hadn't done the lobster morph in a long,

what would you do? I mean, normal people, they long time. It seemed like a million years ago I'd drop their keys in the pool, they're just totally used it to escape the Yeerks by hiding in a grohelpless. Those keys stay down there. Forever." cery store's fresh fish tank.

I stopped the morph before I lost my eyes and The days, man. Those were the days.

began to reverse it. As soon as I had a mouth I I watched, fascinated, as my skin turned hard. said, "You seem perky, today. You want someIt was cool. Like my fingernails were expanding thing to drink?"

to cover my entire body. Not red, by the way, no

"What are you going to do, morph to cow and lobster wants to be red because you don't get red squeeze me out a glass of two percent?" until you've been boiled. No, this was more of a

"I take that as a no? Wetherbee? Can you mottled blue thing.

bring out a diet Coke?" I looked closely at Jake. My fingers melted together and covered over

"There's definitely something wrong with you, with blue fingernail and my whole hand began to Jake. You're being way too clever. Way too quick. swell up. Like I'd hit it with a hammer. Then this What's up? You finally go on Prozac?"

big mass split in two, separating into the halves He winced a little and I was sorry I'd opened of a pincer.

my mouth.

Tiny, waving legs erupted from my diaphragm I flopped into a chaise longue and waited. He and that's when the doorbell rang.

had something to tell me. Jake has no poker Wetherbee would get it and get rid of whatface. ever fan was there for an autograph.

He sat down, too, but on the edge of his seat. I was just losing my legs and eyes when Jake He glanced up and smiled a little. I looked up walked in.

and saw a hawk, circling high in the air, directly

"Well, if it isn't Lobster Boy."

above us.

<Hey, Jake. Remember this morph?>

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I nodded. "Good for you. At least you have In a heartbeat it was as if everything around that much sense."

me turned translucent, like it was all fake, a set Jake shrugged. "She's doing what she needs created with the help of trick lighting. Now, with to be doing."

the sudden change, it was like I could see right

"And I'm not?" I demanded.

through the walls of my very nice house. Right He ignored that. Which made me mad, bepast old Wetherbee and the silver tray with my cause it's not like what I do for a living is just Coke. The last three years were magically renegligible. Granted what Cassie does is more imduced to a daydream. An old reality emerged pressive and admirable, if you care about that, from beneath the illusion.

but I had a TV show. I was a millionaire.

I reached for my drink and my hand was trem"So now you're rounding up the old gang, bling.

huh? Like one of those over-the-hill-gunfighters Jake waited, patient now that he knew that I movies? Like our parts should be played by Clint knew. He was watching me, waiting for my reacEastwood and James Garner?" I glanced at Totion. Waiting, but not like he had any doubt bias. "And Foghorn Leghorn?"

about me, the smug jerk.

<Marco, you're not even twenty,> Tobias said.

"You're about to ruin my life, aren't you?" I

<l'm old, for a red-tail. You, you're not even old asked him. I sounded more self-pitying than I'd enough to drink.>

intended to.

"Yeah? Well, I aged in gorilla years." I pouted

"That depends."

for a moment, very annoyed that neither of them

"Yeah, right. So, what is it?"

was buying my act at all. And, being annoyed, I He told me, and every word was another nail lashed out a little.

in my coffin because, what was I going to do?

"You sure you're up for this, Jake? You haven't Refuse to help save Ax?

exactly been living the American Dream since At last Tobias swooped down and landed on

your last war."

my patio table.

That got him, and again I was mad at myself,

"So where's the other Horsewoman of the which made me madder at him.

Apocalypse?" I asked.

Jake said, "Well, maybe we live and learn."

"Cassie? She's not coming on this one," Jake

"What have you learned?" I challenged. "You've said.

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my life on the line with you again, the price you been all depressed, and now you see a way out of pay is to listen to me now." I took a deep breath. it because someone's giving you another chance

"Back in the day, Jake, you made more heavy deto play war?" cisions than any ten men would have to in a hun"Maybe," he admitted softly. dred lifetimes. You made life-and-death calls. I groaned. Being ticked off was stupid of me. You got us up to our butts in alligators, and you And we had important stuff to discuss.

got us back out. And, sorry, but it's not what

"Okay, Jake-man. I'll cut the baloney if you people think, that you were some kind of military will." I leaned toward him. "You're my friend. Ax genius. I'm better at tactics than you are." is my friend. On a good day I can even stand the

<And humble, too,> Tobias muttered.

flea-bitten buzzard here. But you have to get real:

"It's true, and Jake knows it," I shot back. You've been messed up behind some hard deci"Jake, you won because you didn't scare. You sions you made. And now you want to go make didn't panic, you didn't scare, and you didn't more hard decisions?"

play a part or strike poses wondering what history Jake glared fiercely. "I learned from my miswould think. You made the right calls without retakes. This time, maybe I'll do it differently. gard to all that. But then, when the shooting was Some things at least."

all over, you started questioning everything you Ah, so there it was-. Jake was going to give did. You armchair quarterbacked your entire life himself another chance. This time he would be and decided you made mistakes. Well, no kidthe warrior who never sinned. He would be Sir ding. Surprise: You're not a god."

Galahad. I felt sorry for him, and I knew I should Jake nodded. "This time I won't make misprobably just shut up. But I was his friend, and a takes."

friend tells you the stuff you don't want to hear.

"Don't tell me that," I said. "You want a zero"Okay, Jake, I'm in. I'll go with you. You know screwup fight?"

that. But here's what you need to realize going

"I got Rachel killed. Wouldn't you like me to in: If you're in charge yourre going to end up right keep that from happening to you?"

back in the same swamp you didn't like the first

"Yeah, I really would. But you start thinking time."

that way, and that's when you'll get me killed.

"Marco, I —"

You have to trust your instincts, not your doubts.

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134

I'll trust my life to your instincts. If we're fighting again you have to be able to make the same kind of crazy, reckless, ruthless decisions you made before. We beat an empire, my friend, the six of us, and we did it in large part because you didn't know any better than to trust your own instincts." I stopped talking and Jake didn't say anyCHAPTER 20

thing. I could tell I'd had no effect on him. Or at least not the effect I'd hoped. All I'd managed to J a k e

do was send him spiraling back to that awful day aboard the Pool ship.

After a while, he shook himself, smiled and said, "So, you're in, right?"

And of course, I was.

We drove through the desert night, silent most of the way. Me, Marco, and a human-morphed

Tobias crammed in the front seat of a truck borrowed from the Twenty-nine Palms motor pool. A Humvee followed behind us with the nowpermanently human Menderash and two volunteers recruited from my counterterrorism class. I'd put it to the class that I needed volunteers for a mission that would very likely prove suicidal, that was illegal, that would involve their disappearing without a trace, without the approval of their governments, without notice to their families. They wouldn't be paid, promoted, or welltreated. I would be in charge and they would be low men or women on the totem pole.

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who would take care of you and the winged wonAll but three volunteered. It was a measure of der here?"

my fame, I guess. It made me feel a little bad,

"Marco, you were bored out of your mind." like I was taking advantage of them. I decided to

"Yes, I was."

take two of them, Sergeant Santorelli, a U.S.

"If I hadn't asked you to come you'd have Army Ranger who was five years older than me, killed me."

and a French Deuxieme Bureau trainee named

"Yes, Jake, I would."

Jeanne Gerard. I chose them both on the strength

"But that's not going to change the fact that of their lack of any close family.

you'll be whining endlessly about the wonderful I could have had more, but I felt six people life you gave up, is it?"

was the right number. It had worked before.

"I really doubt it."

Unfortunately, Jeanne was beautiful. A prob"Uh-huh. What's GPS say?" lem I should have foreseen.

Marco peered at the dimly glowing display.

We hit a hard bump and Marco said, "See?

"Better turn off your lights. We don't want to just You really should have put Jeanne up here with drive up and look like complete amateurs." us. A bump like that might bruise her. I could I killed the lights and slowed way down. The have protected her."

Humvee followed suit. We drove on till Marco He made a point of carefully pronouncing her said we were there. I stopped and turned off the name Zhann. I sighed. "This is going to be a engine. In the black desert night I could see a problem, isn't it?"

slight glow. It was impossible to tell the distance

"What? Me and Jeanne? No problem at all. Obwith no visual points of reference but the GPS

viously she wants me, and what woman doesn't?

said we had only three hundred yards to go. So I don't see any problem at all."

We climbed out and stretched our legs while I looked at him. "Marco."

the rest of our troop joined us.

"Yes, Jake."

I said, "Okay, Santorelli? Jeanne? Call this

"If you wanted to chase women you could your first nontraining mission. Our job is very simhave stayed home." ple but it can be easily screwed up, so pay atten"Believe me, I wish I had. I had a good life. I tion. Ahead is an Andalite shuttle. There are two had it all. They're going to have to cancel my Andalite crew on board. They've been told to park show, do you realize that? But, hey, without me 139

138

their craft there and wait for a terrorist turncoat

"They are Andalites," Menderash grated. "Six who will bring them vital information. Nothing is hardly enough."

else. Everything is on strict need-to-know basis." I smiled. "It's all in which morph you choose.

"Hi, I'm Marco," Marco said to Jeanne. "I Okay, tell you what, we'll do it with just two of us. have my own TV show."

Tobias? Please demorph and then to Andalite."

"Here's the deal: We need to take down these It was a test for both of us, Tobias and me. two Andalites but not hurt them in any serious Would he follow my orders? If not, best to find way. Is that crystal clear? A good pop alongside out now. He said nothing. But he began to morph. the head and they'll go down. But no cutting, A few minutes later the two Andalites on the slashing, or stabbing. These are our allies. We shuttle thought they heard a thought-speak cry. want this to look real, but we don't want anyone They opened the hatch to investigate and out in to go to the hospital."

the desert at the limits of their vision, they got the Everyone understood. Or so they said.

impression of a running Andalite. Maybe it was a It was all a setup. Caysath had made the

wild mustang, but they couldn't be sure so they arrangements. We needed a ship to reach orbit trained all their eyes forward. It was thanks to this where we could "steal" the parked Yeerk craft. that they didn't see the gorilla drop from the top And the Andalites needed deniability.

of the shuttle and knock their heads together. After we used the shuttle to reach the Yeerk It was a severely disgruntled Menderash who ship we would crash the shuttle back into the took the controls of the shuttle as we lifted off. desert. The official story would be that terrorists

"They were shamefully careless. Andalite warseized the Andalite shuttle but were unable to fly riors taken from behind? Shameful."

it and crashed. The two Andalite guards would

"You know, I could be kind of a mentor to testify that they were overpowered. The State Deyou," Marco said to Jeanne. "If we worked closely partment would yell at the Andalite government together I could teach you all I know." for being careless. Everyone would be happy.

"But what could I possibly do to repay you?"

"Six against two," Jeanne said. "This is perJeanne asked. haps overkill?"

"Well . . ." Marco leered, and was about to

"Keel. Ovair-keel," Marco echoed. "I love your offer some specific ideas when Jeanne interaccent." rupted him.

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ened boomerang, ends raked forward and ending

"I know! Perhaps someday I could introduce in nasty-looking Dracon cannon. The core of the you to my cousin Michelle. She likes short men. ship was a flattened and tapered cylinder placed Even as short as you."

above this seeming wing.

Marco winced. "Ah. Beautiful and mean. I

"It looks tough enough," Marco said. like you." He caught my eye. "Jake, when you get Menderash said, "It is very fast and packs a a minute could you help me pull this knife out of very powerful weapons array, for its size. It carmy chest?" ries no Bug fighters but does carry two small We reached orbit and I watched both Jeanne

shuttlecraft. The Yeerks intended these cruiserand Santorelli closely. It was their first time offclass ships to keep track of what they imagined planet. Santorelli tried hard to be cool about it would be a far-flung empire. As well as for escort but there was no hiding the slow smile of pleaduty." sure.

"Well, it's ours now," I said. "Okay, Mende"Cool, huh?" I said, nodding toward the dayrash. Let's go aboard." night line of Earth far below.

He hesitated.

"I've seen it on TV," he said. "This is better."

"What?" I asked. I had worried from the start

"Objective locked in, Captain," Menderash that a former Andalite first officer would have a reported.

hard time taking orders from me.

It took me a beat to realize he meant me. "All

"It's nothing, Captain. Just a custom. An Anright. Take us in. Let's see what she looks like." dalite custom. We always name a ship before the The ship in orbit was unlike any Yeerk craft first crewman boards — it's an old notion, a suI'd seen before. It had the usual air of danger perstition, really. The thinking is that the ship and hostility — the Yeerks favored the tapered, must know who it is before the crew can know it." sharp-edged look generally. But in this case the I relaxed. "Fair enough, Menderash. Our own aggressive, muscular silhouette achieved a cersuperstition is that a ship is never an 'it,' it's altain beauty. ways a 'she.' Even if the ship is named after a It was a quarter the size of a Blade ship,

male, it's a 'she.'"

maybe five or six times as big as a standard Bug The six of us stood there contemplating our fighter. The overall impression was of a sharp142

143

dangerous-looking new home, set against the sunrise over Earth.

"So what do we call her?" Marco wondered.

<She's beautiful,> Tobias said. <She's beautiful and dangerous and exciting.> I turned in surprise to look at Tobias. He stared back at me with his eternally fierce hawk's gaze. Marco laughed, realizing what we were thinkCHAPTER 21

ing. "She would love it. A scary, deadly, coollooking Yeerk ship on a doomed, suicidal, crazy Marco

mission that no one can ever know about? She would love it."

So it was that we went aboard the Rachel. The Rachel was fast.

We blew through normal space and into Zerospace before either of the two Andalite ships in orbit could react.

Later we picked up their Z-space communications. They made a lot of noise about the "theft" of the Yeerk prototype ship. It was almost too much. But I guess they wanted the news to get out: The Rachel was not Andalite, not associated with Andalites, not sanctioned byAndalites. Nope. Clean hands and innocent looks all around.

The fact that this Yeerk ship was fully stocked with human food? That the quarters designed for Hork-Bajir had been converted to human propor145

144

tions? That certain controls designed to be maFour days of Menderash and I was a long way nipulated by Taxxon pincers now perfectly fit hufrom being an Andalite-quality pilot, but I could man hands? Well, what would the Kelbrid ever take the ship from point A to point B. With lots of know about that?

help from the computer.

Santorelli and I went to do an inventory of the Menderash naturally plotted our course. Jake supplies. We found water, vitamin pills, a good had talked it over with all of us, but it was supply of various awful-looking freeze-dried foods Menderash who knew the last course taken by and six dozen Cinnabons.

the Blade ship, so my opinion was not all that

"Do AndaNtes have a sense of humor?" Sanvaluable. torelli wondered.

The theory was that we would simply draw a

"We've never been entirely sure," I said. straight line. (Well, figuratively straight. Turns out The cinnamon buns didn't last long. We spent space is curved. Who knew?) And try to jump four days in Zero-space, which is like being past the place where the Blade ship would now buried in marshmallow sauce, and before we

be, assuming it had continued on its merry way reemerged into the familiar universe of black for the last three weeks.

space and white stars, all fresh food was long A big assumption, but it was all we had.

gone.

We emerged into real space with all guns

loaded and the six of us ready for trouble. What Menderash was in charge of piloting and flywe found was a whole lot of nothing. We were six ing the Rachel, but Jake wanted as much crosslight-years from the nearest planetary system. It training as possible, so we all took turns under was back the way we'd come.

the nothlit Andalite's tutelage. Menderash was a taciturn guy — as I guess you'd expect from an So it was back into Z-space, and throw the

officer who'd lost his entire crew and chosen to ship into reverse. (Menderash grits his teeth permanently abandon his usual body. He was

when I say things like that.) We popped back out careful to be deferential to Jake, and I think he of Z-space practically on top of the second had real respect for our fearless leader. But when biggest of four planets around a star that was he taught navigation or piloting skills he was a ready to go nova at any minute. And of course, in whole different guy. He was like that psycho drill celestial terms, "any minute" means maybe this sergeant from Full Metal Jacket.

millennium, maybe the next.

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146

"Hey, Menderash, I have a ship here. Urn . . .

"This is Kelbrid space," Jake said, "so we I think they're hailing us. That's the red numhave to assume that this planet may have Kelbrid bers, right?" It was just the two of us on the remote sensors or even a Kelbrid outpost. Let's bridge, everyone else was either sleeping or eatremember that we are a peaceful ship on a mising. sion of exploration."

He stalked over and stared at my screen for We spent the next six weeks wandering around about a second. Then, "Captain, to the bridge!" the system, seeing some cool things on strange

"What is it?" I asked.

worlds, but no evidence of Kelbrids. We were But before the Andalite could answer, Jake

starting to wonder whether there was any such was there, looking frowzy and flat-haired. He'd thing as a Kelbrid. And we definitely saw no sign been sleeping, I guess.

of the Blade ship or the mysterious alien craft

"What is it?"

that had fired on Ax's Intrepid. We moved on to

"That was my question," I muttered. the next nearest system. And the next.

"Ship approaching in normal space, Captain. Half a year went by, but it seemed longer. I They've hailed us. Standard inquiry: our point of had brought along some DVD's but there are only origin and destination."

so many times you can watch Airplane!, espe"Okay. Answer them." cially when you have to explain every joke to a We gave out our story, that we were the Enter- former Andalite.

prise, a peaceful, deep-space exploration ship It became obvious that this was going to be a from The United Federation of Planets. We figlong trip. You can't just go toodling around a bilured no one in this far corner of the universe lion square light-years and find what you're lookwould have seen Star Trek reruns. It was our little ing for.

joke.

In the end, even after many months, we didn't Here was the problem with that thinking: The find the Blade ship. They found us.

Yeerks we were chasing had spent years on Earth, I was manning the sensor station (and using many with human hosts.

the ship's computers to play Tomb Raider V),

"Receiving response," Menderash said. "And when I spotted the orange squiggle indicating an a request for visual, two-way communication." unknown ship within range.

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<Uh-oh,> Tobias said. He had rushed to the That tightened a few sphincters.

bridge, along with Jeanne and Santorelli.

The Yeerk captain nodded in a genial sort of

"What do we show them?" Santorelli wonway in response to Santorelli. "That's quite a dered.

ship you have there . . . excuse me, I don't know

"Not me," Jake said. "If it's the Blade ship your name."

they may recognize me. Or Marco, or Tobias, for I made a slashing gesture with my hand, cutthat matter." He looked quickly at the faces of ting Santorelli off before he could say something his people. "Santorelli, you're the best B.S. artist wrong. "You're Rakich-Four-Six-Nine-One of the aside from Marco. So you're the captain. Jeanne, Flet Niaar Pool."

you stand with him. Everyone else out of view. Santorelli repeated it.

Narrow the audio channel to pick up Santorelli The Yeerks seemed to buy that. "I am Eff I itonly. Okay, open communications." One-Three-One-Eight of the Sulp Niar Pool," their The image that appeared to us was of a hucaptain replied. "Well met. And what exactly are man. A man, maybe forty years old. Laughing, you doing here, brother? And how do you come to with hands on hips. "So, you come from the be flying a new cruiser-class ship?"

Federation, do you? And where is Captain Pi"I might ask the same of you," Santorelli shot card?"

back. "I find it hard to imagine what business a Santorelli shot a look at Jake. But this was ship of the Yeerk Empire has in this far-flung more my specialty than his.

quadrant."

"You've always thought of yourself as more of Menderash whispered, "He's powering up his a Captain Kirk," I whispered.

weapons and maneuvering to bring them to bear." After that first panicked glance Santorelli be"He thinks we're from the Yeerk Empire. trayed no sign that he was listening to anyone. Maybe here to hunt him down as a traitor," Jake He assumed a wide, cocky stance and said, "I've said quietly.

always thought of myself as more of a Captain Efflit 1318, his voice considerably more

Kirk."

guarded now, said, "My mission here is classi"Sensor confirmation: It's the Blade ship," fied."

Santorelli nodded skeptically. "As is mine." Menderash hissed.

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150

For a long moment the two ships were silent. less? Would he trust us enough to let us destroy Both had powered weapons. Both were maneuhim?

vering for an edge, should firing break out. But

"You will place yourself under the command in a fight we were toast. We were tough, but of The One?"

we couldn't win against an alert and ready-toSantorelli's eyebrows shot up. "The who?" he rumble Blade ship. And the real problem was blurted.

that although we were fast enough to run away, I looked at Jake. At Tobias. At Jeanne. There we were aimed toward the Blade ship. We'd have was a sort of collective shrug.

to turn around if we were going to run away, and

"I command this ship," Efflit 1318 explained, while we turned, they'd blow big holes in us.

"but I serve at the pleasure of The One Who Is

"We have to blink first," Jake said. He gave Many. The One Who Is All. We are not alone, Santorelli instructions.

Rakich-Four-Six-Nine-One. We are not this ship Santorelli said, "It occurs to me, Efflit-Onealone. We are the seeds of a new empire that will Three-One-Eight, that it would be a tragedy if any far outshine the old, under the leadership of The misunderstanding occurred here between us." One." Weird to see that wild, messianic glow in

"Indeed? And what misunderstanding could the eyes of a man you knew was really just a Yeerk occur, Rakich-Four-Six-Nine-One?"

slave. It was a disturbingly human expression. Santorelli sighed. He acted the part of a deSantorelli said, "Urn, who is this . . . this flated man. "There is no empire, Efflit-OneOne?" Three-One-Eight. The empire is finished. I . . .

"I will invoke his presence," the Yeerk said. my crew and I seized this ship and escaped as He closed his eyes and raised his face.

the Andalites closed in. We had heard that a

"Okay, this is unexpected," I whispered. Blade ship had escaped and survived. We have There was a long, silent pause during which been looking for you ever since. For more than time the two ships drew closer and closer. Too three years."

close now to do anything but play the game

Efflit nodded. But would he buy it? He and

through. If this was a ruse, it was a convincing his people were all alone in the universe. We repone. If it was a ruse, we were dead. resented the only brother Yeerks he was ever I glanced at Jake and wished my heart wasn't likely to see. Was he lonely enough to be carejackhammering away. 152

153

Suddenly the screen image went blank. The

imagine that it was just bluffing. The sound of it human-Controller was gone.

reached deep down inside you, beyond speech,

<What the —> Tobias demanded.

beyond thought-speak.

But then the screen glowed to life. More than Jake stepped out in front of Santorelli.

the screen. Trie whole front of the bridge was

"I'm here," Jake said calmly.

glowing, a light so bright it seemed to shine right

"You have done well to come this far. You through the bulkheads.

have come to find your friend. But the Andalite is Within the searing light, an image appeared. part of me now. As you will soon be."

It was alien, not Yeerk. That was to be expected Jake stared back at the foul thing on the

from the Yeerks, they were, after all, parasites, so screen. I saw what he saw, and I felt as if my you never saw the Yeerks themselves.

brain was shutting down. In that shifting alien But there was something very wrong with this face was every corruption, every evil, and such particular alien.

power that it seemed impossible it could be presThe face that filled the screen and more was a ent in just the narrow confines of the onrushing shifting image, a slow dissolve from what might Blade ship.

be a robot's face, a machine with a rat-trap

"Can we shoot?" Jake asked Menderash, makmouth and steel eyes, into a sweet, feminine, aling no attempt to conceal his words from the alien. most elfin visage, and last, and most enduring,

"His Dracon cannon have longer range and into the face of Aximili-Esgarrouth-lsthill. greater power," Menderash reported grimly. "And

<Ax?> Tobias whispered.

his defensive fields have been enhanced. I doubt The face that belonged to our friend Ax split our cannon can penetrate them."

wide open across the bottom and revealed a new"Thought so," Jake said, still weirdly calm. formed mouth full of red-rimmed teeth.

"But we're faster."

"Save your tricks for this Yeerk fool," The One

"Yes."

said. "I see the truth. I see all. Step into view,

"Okay." Jake took a deep breath. He looked Jake the Yeerk-Killer. I know you are there, I feel around the bridge at each of us. At Tobias. At your mind."

me. "What was it, Marco? 'Crazy, reckless, ruthThere was no doubting that voice. No way to less decisions'?"

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155

I nodded, wishing I had kept my mouth shut. There was a dangerous smile on Jake's face. Rachel's smile.

"Full emergency power to the engines," Jake said. "Ram the Blade ship."

I know, I know, it's rotten of me to leave you hanging at the end like that. But I figured the Animorphs should go out the same way they came in: Fighting.

Well, here it is at long last: the final chapter in the Animorphs story. It began in the summer of 1996. It ends in the summer of 2001. Five years, 54 regular titles, 4 Chronicles, 5 Megamorphs and 2 Alternamorphs. An amazing number of you have read all those books. I am deeply grateful.

I had a lot of fun writing these characters. I know it sounds pretentious to say that I'll miss them, but I will. It seems strange to think that I won't ever again write "My name is . . ." It 157

156

makes me a little sad to say good-bye to

Andalites, Hork-Bajir, Chee, Taxxons, and even over there, in that new universe. If not, thanks Yeerks. It was fun sitting down every day at my from the bottom of my heart for everything. computer to invent that strange universe.

If you're coming along on the next trip, grab There are a bunch of people to thank. (Hey, onto something because we're going to start off what is this, an Academy Awards speech?) First by blowing up the entire world. Then the real of all, Scholastic, in particular Jean Feiwel, Tonya trouble will start.

Alicia Martin, and Craig Walker. Also the talented You may now demorph.

folks who created such great art for the series. And, of course, the people who never get men— K.A. Applegate tioned but who are responsible for the crucial step from publisher to bookstore: the sales and marketing force.

Mostly, I want to thank you guys, the readers. You praised, you complained, you extolled, you demanded, you asked questions that sometimes I couldn't answer. You told your friends, you started Web sites, you sent letters and e-mails, and wrote fan fiction. You pointed out every error I made. You were thoughtful and critical and imaginative. You were loyal.

I want you all to know that it is my choice to end Animorphs. Much as I'll miss it, the time had come. Time to say good-bye, Jake. Good-bye, Cassie. You, too, Tobias and Marco and Ax. Goodbye, Rachel. And now would be the time for me to say

good-bye to you . . . but, I'm off to a new series called Remnants, and I'm hoping I'll see you 158

159

Up close, so near Earth, the Rock looked very small. Seventy-six miles in diameter, it was nothing next to the planet measured in thousands of miles. But, up close, so close, Jobs could see the speed of it. Against the backdrop of space you couldn't sense the awesome speed. But now, as it angled into the atmosphere, in the brief second in which it could be seen outlined against blue ocean, it seemed impossibly fast. The Rock entered the atmosphere and for a flash became a spectacular special effect:The atmosphere burned, a red gash in its wake.

It struck the western edge of Portugal. Portugal and Spain were hit by a bullet the size of ConnecticutThe Iberian peninsula was a trench, a ditch. The Mediterranean Sea, trillions of gallons of water, The entire planet shuddered. It was possible to exploded into steam. Every living thing in the water, see it from space:The ground rippled, as if rock and every living thing ashore, was parboiled in an instant soil were liquid. The shock wave was an earthquake Portugal, Spain, southern France, all of Italy, the that toppled trees, collapsed every human-built Balkans, the coast of northern Africa, Greece, southstructure around the planet, caused entire mountain ern Turkey, all the way to Israel was obliterated in chains to crumble.

less than five seconds. They were the cradles of The oceans rippled in tidal waves a thousand feet Western civilization one second, a hell of superhigh. The Atlantic Ocean rolled into New York and heated steam and flying rock the next.

over it, rolled into Charleston and over it, rolled into The destruction was too swift to believe. In the Miami and washed across the entire state of Florida. time Jobs could blink his eyes, Rome and Cairo, The ocean waters lapped against the Appalachian Athens and Barcelona, Istanbul and Jerusalem and Mountain chains, swamped everything in their way, Damascus were gone. N o t reduced to rubble, not smothered.all who had not been killed by the blast crushed, not devastated.This wasn't like war or any or the shock wave.

disaster humans understood. Rock became gravel, People died having no idea why. People were soil melted and fused, water was steam, living flesh thrown from their beds, dashed against walls that was reduced to singed single cells. Nothing recognizcollapsed onto them. People who survived long able remained.

enough to find themselves buried alive beneath The impact explosion was a million nuclear

green sea many miles deep.

bombs going off at once.The rock and soil and waJobs saw the planet's rotation slow. The day ters that had once defined a dozen nations formed a would stand still for the few who might still be alive. pillar of smoke and flying dirt and steam.The mushThe impact worked its damage on the fissures room cloud punched up through the atmosphere, and cracks in Earth's crust. Jobs watched the Atlantic flinging dust and smoke particles clear into space. Ocean split right down the middle, emptying millions Jobs could see a chunk of Earth, some fragment of cubic miles of water as if it was of no more conseleft half intact, maybe twenty miles across, spin slowly quence than pulling the plug on a bathroom sink. up in the maelstrom.There were houses. Buildings. A The planet was breaking up. Cracking apart. Imhint of tilled fields. Rising on the mushroom cloud, possibly deep fissures raced at supersonic speeds flying free, entering space itself.

around the planet. They cut through the crust,

through the mantle, deeper than a thousand Grand Canyons.

Now the Pacific, too, drained away. It emptied into the molten core of Earth Itself. The explosion dwarfed everything that had gone before. As Jobs watched, motionless, crying but not aware of it, Earth broke apart.

It was as if some invisible hand were ripping open an orange. A vast, irregular chunk of Earth separated slowly from the planet, spun sluggishly, slowly away. The sides of this moon-sized wedge scraped against the sides of the gash, gouged up countries, ground down mountains.

And now this wedge of Earth itself broke in half. Jobs saw what might have been California, his home, turn slowly toward the sun. If anyone is left alive, he thought, if anyone is still alive, they'll see the sunrise this one last time.

Earth lay still at last. Perhaps a quarter of the planet was bitten off, drifting away to form a second and a third Earth. The oceans were gone, boiled off into space.The sky was no longer blue but brown, as dirt and dust blotted out the sun. Here and there could still be seen patches of green. But it was impossible to believe, to hope, that any human being had survived. All of humanity that still lived was aboard the shuttle that now slid slowly toward the distant sun