| Book 52-The Sacrifice Rachel's mother is quite quarrelsome. I am told that is because she is something called a "lawyer." A lawyer seems to be an odd type of human. Intelligent, but in a way that is not terribly useful...I am told that although people often find themselves in need of a lawyer, lawyers are not very popular. After the last few days, I understand why. --Ax Marco was correct in stating that nuclear weapons...are fairly difficult for the average human to procure. This is a good thing. --Ax An entire human race of Rachels--angry, merciless, aggressive, and equipped with Yeerk and Andalite technology. It was a terrifying specter. But perhaps...perhaps I had been wrong. Perhaps the real menace lay at the other end of the continuum--represented by Cassie. Humans who were softer. Kinder. Well-meaning. And, ironically, infinitely more dangerous. --Ax "Defeat the Yeerks. Don't become them." --Jake "Why do I have to go through this again with you?" <Because my brother, Elfangor, gave the cube to you. To you and your friends. He compromised everthing he stood for by giving it to you. He betrayed the laws of his own people. He placed his trust in five humans. I am trying to understand why you would betray him in return. Why you would betray your friends. And why you would betray your people.> --Cassie, Ax Trying to remember the faces of my family and friends. But their faces kept fading away and changing into other faces. Jake. Rachel. Tobias. Cassie. Marco. The humans amazed me with their resilience, their ingenuity, and their bravery. They delighted me with their humor, their passions, and their capacity for play. Their food. But they truly sickened me with their self-indulgence and their childishness. But then, I reminded myself, they are children. And so am I. --Ax I felt not sadness. I felt pity. For myself. For us all. We were no longer children. And we never would be again. --Ax What would Elfangor do? I no longer needed to wonder. He had done it already. He had given the morphing cube to the humans. And then he had died. I, too, would place my faith in the humans. My faith, if not my trust. And if I died...Well, then, I hoped I would die as nobly as my brother...I was willing to disobey a direct order. And I was willing to die. But I was not willing to deceive the Andalites. To tell them I was going to do one thing, and then do another. I know it's a fine distinction, but I was learning to rationalize. To defend what was indefensible. It was a very human course of action. --Ax "Hey, there fella. Hey!" <Hay is for horses. I am not a horse, although in some aspects I closely resemble one.> I heard Marco roar with laughter. I did not think the situation particularly humorous...Now I knew they were not Yeerks. By now, a Yeerk would have identified me as "Andalite scum" and tried to kill me. --a guard, Ax "You are my prince. And whatever happens next, know that I am proud to have served you." "Ax, for the last time..." "Yes?" "Don't call me prince." --Ax, Jake "Jake, I'm sorry, man, but you can't be one of the three." "Why not? I'm the only one with no family." "Maybe. For now. But my point is that the rest of us do have families, right now. Families we care about. You're the one we trust the most. You're the one who's kept us together, kept us alive, and kept us sane. You're the one we trust most to get every one of us out of here and back to camp." <You're the one irreplaceable person in this operation.> --Marco, Jake, Tobias In spite of the fact that we were all facing almost certain death, somehow it began to feel like old times. Before the war had gotten so terribly ugly. Somehow, the rifts were beginning to mend. The Animorphs were a team again. --Ax <Well, we did some serious damage. Just like we hoped to do. I'll bet we killed a million Yeerks.> <Yeah.> <Well, that's something. But you know what the saddest thing about this whole situation is?> <I wouldn't even know where to begin.> <The saddest thing is that this is our greatest victory. And I've never felt more depressed in my entire life.> --Marco, Cassie |