"This bites."

(Is there a parasite on board?) I asked.

"No, of course not," Tom looked at me, confused.

(Too bad. It could have provided a useful morph)

"Lee, you are so weird,"

(I try.)

Tom chuckled. "Anyway, I meant the situation bites. Some psycho tries to Kentucky-fry our butts, and we end up uprooted from our happy-if-nuts lives. I mean shouldn't the psycho be the one to get punished?"

(This is not punishment,) I said, explaining the situation to him yet again, (we are here for our own protection. Whoever was planted the bomb was after us specifically. The Council wants to find out who it was without us getting killed in order to find out)

Tom glanced boredly at the sensor in front of him. "Uh, we're supposed to be the only ones on board, right?"

(Yes,) I said nervously, not liking where he was going with this. "Because I'm picking up a third life sign, and it's sentient."

(No) I whispered. I placed my hand on the control. (Identify the party not in this room)

(The party in Question is a - Gedd - by the name of - Yeerk representative.) The computers thought-voice was artificial, until the name was given in the Gedd's own voice. If Tom were identified, for example, the computer would have said (The party in question is a - human - by the name of - Tom) and then his family name, which I am not supposed to use in this narrative. But once again I have strayed from my story.

"Great," Tom muttered, "Good old Councilor No-Name came along for the ride." At that moment he realized exactly what that could mean, and started to curse. "Holy -- "

At which point the door slid open and the Councilor came in.

(Get ready to go to battle morph) I thought-spoke directly to him. Of course, we had never actually been in battle, but in our training we had each acquired an animal from the Human home world. I, of course, tend to remain an Andalite in battle, even now. I prefer to have my own tail. I also prefer my enemies to see who I am before I destroy them.

I'm not blood thirsty, but that is how I feel.

Before the Yeerk could speek, My tail blade was at his throat. I felt a knot in my stomach. Controllor or not, could I bring myself to kill a Councilor?

He could not talk, so he gestured for me to relax my blade. I lowered it about an inch away from his throat, ready to strike in the first instant of danger.

"I...not traitor you flee from." He spoke English, a Human language. It was bad, but intelligible to my translator. I wondered why he didn't speak his native toungue; Tom also has a translator.

(Why should we believe you, Yeerk?) Tom, now in morph, snarled - literally. He had morphed a tiger, like the one his father was famous for morphing. I have seen real tigers fight. The only thing more dangerous to a human is another, armed human. A human armed with a tiger's body is dangerous to almost any being in the galaxy.

"I...Know the true traitor."

(We're listening.) I responded.