Daughter

Prologue

"The best attack is the one nobody sees coming"
- Proverb

Captain Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil stood on the bridge of his command, the Dome-ship HeartSword. The warship hung in the blackness of space. Fully capable of taking on even a Visser's Blade ship, she was a beautiful work of art.

But for once, her mission was not one of war.

"Receiving data from the Hawk, sir," said the human helmsman, breaking Aximili out of his reverie. Aximili commanded one of two mixed crew ships in the combined Earth/Andalite Navy. The other, the Millennium, was commanded by Admiral Jake Tigris. Not his original last name, because he'd changed it after his family was killed in the attack on Earth, as had Marco, becoming Marco Beringei, both taking the scientific classification of their battle morphs to be their last name. Only Rachel and Cassie's families had survived that attack.

< And? > Aximili asked, turning to face the helmsman, Lt. Reilly.

"Well, the asteroid is mainly ferrous, with some copper and two unidentified elements. So far, no info on what the radiation was from."

The HeartSword had been sent to investigate a strange radiation reported by the scouts. At the moment, Tobias and Rachel Fangor were out in their ship, the Hawk, taking a look.

Tobias Fangor had been a nothlit, trapped in the body of a red-tailed hawk. Two years after the Andalite/Earth Alliance had been formed, a procedure had been developed that could reverse the effects. I had been, and still was, an experimental procedure that was dangerous. Despite that, Tobias had decided to try it. Not only had it worked, he had also retained his ability to morph. Not long after that, He had decided to take the name his father, Aximili's brother had used on Earth.

He had married Rachel four years ago, and they had a three year old little girl, whom they had named Loren. Loren was asleep in their quarters, the intelligent child having somehow gotten into the Engineering section, and had pestered the crew there with questions until Tobias had found her. Not that the crew had minded. Loren had entertained them, watching with wide eyes what was done every day to keep the ship running.

Aximili smiled slightly at the memory. Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye that drove all thoughts of amusement out of his head.

From the asteroid, a small ring of reddish haze was growing. He didn't know why, but that ring was giving the Captain of the HeartSword a very bad feeling.

< Science Officer! What is that ring? > he asked, swivelling one of his stalk eyes towards her.

< Unknown, sir, > said the Science Officer, a delicate looking Andalite female by the name of Sarala-Kemtar-Eliss. < It's not showing up on any of the scans except visual. Recommend that we recall the survey team, sir. >

< Recommendation noted, S.O. Tobias, > he continued, opening a thought-speak channel to the Hawk, < an annomaly has been detected, coming from the asteroid. >

"Yeah, we noticed it. We're coming back," came Tobias' voice over the com. The Hawk started to turn...

The red haze seemed to solidify, then raced outwards, overtaking the Hawk, racing towards the HeartSword. Aximili had just enough time to yell < Shields! > when the wave of red hit them, the impact knocking everyone off their feet.

The ship shook hard, and 3 ½ year old Loren Fangor sat straight up in her bed. Something was wrong. It wasn't the shaking of the ship. The ship shook a lot, sometimes because of rocks from the asteroid belt, or something like that.

No, something was very, very wrong.

"Computer, where are Rachel and Tobias Fangor?" Loren, knowing from experience that if she said 'Where's Mommy and Daddy?' the computer would say < Insufficient data >, and wouldn't tell her.

< Rachel and Tobias Fangor are not aboard the ship, > the computer replied. Loren swallowed, then pushed herself out of the bed and pulled on her jumper. Then she ran out into the hall.

She wasn't supposed to go to the bridge. The bridge was where Uncle Ax made important decision about what happened on the ship, where the officers all had important jobs to do, and she might get in the way. That was the one rule Mommy and Daddy were very definite about: Loren was not allowed on the bridge.

And now that was were she was going. She was going there because Uncle Ax would know the answer, even thought Loren wasn't sure what the question was.

So she ran to the bridge.

On the bridge, everyone pulled themselves to their feet. On the viewscreen were a few pieces of debris, none larger than a human fist.

All that was left of the Hawk.

Aximili stared at the image, and, knowing deep down that it was a futile hope, said,

< There is a small percentage of organic debris in the wreck, as well as the metal, > Sarala replied in a toneless voice.

The bridge was silent as this sunk in. The impact was enormous. Rachel and Tobias were dead. There was not a single person on the ship that this did not affect.

Aximili closed all four eyes in grief. Two of his best friends, his shorm, were dead. His hearts screamed.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?" came a child's plea from the bridge entrance. Heads turned all over the bridge.

Standing there, in the doorway, was a small human child, with dark blond hair and grey-blue eyes.

Loren.

No one could answer her. But their silence was all the answer she needed. The child burst into tears, running past everyone to Aximili. He knelt down slightly and held the sobbing child, remembering the conversation two weeks ago between Tobias and himself....

He had eaten with them that night, and Rachel had gone to put Loren to bed.

"Ax," Tobias began, "I want to ask you something."

"Yes?" Aximili said, curious.

"Rachel and I were talking, and... Ax, if something happens to us, we'd like you to take care of Loren."

"I am...honoured, but...what brought this on?"

Tobias laughed. "That close shave at Hemsat. It reminded us of our mortality."

Ax clasped his friend's hand. "I would be honoured to care for Loren. But forgive me," he said with a smile, "if I hope I will never need to."

It had seemed so impossible, two weeks ago. But it was now a reality, and he would take care of Loren, even if the whole Electorate were to stand in his way.

< Inform Command, > he told the communications officer, a human named Ensign Peters. The ensign nodded, her face grave. Aximili exerted all of the strength in his arms to lift and carry Loren off the bridge.

The red haze, it was later discovered, was a Yeerk energy weapon, creating a field of super-pseudo-gravity that pulled in all directions, tearing whatever it incased apart. Shields disrupted the pseudo-gravity, making the weapon useless in mass fighting.

None of that made any difference to those whom Tobias and Rachel had left behind. But as the old cliché runs, time heals all wounds, and life continued.

Chapter 1

I glared at the equation. It didn't make sense. No matter what angle I looked at it, it didn't make sense.

"Uncle," I called. Uncle Aximili looked up from the text that he was reading.

< Yes? > he said, using thought-speech, naturally, as he was in his natural, Andalite form, and therefor had no mouth.

Confused? I should probably explain. My name is Loren Fangor. I am somewhat unique. My grandfather was an Andalite who morphed and stayed human until an immensely powerful being called the Ellemist interfered and sent him back to the Andalites. He was Uncle Aximili's brother, and a famous War Prince. His name was Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. His son, my father, was one of the Animorphs, the group of young people that kept Earth free, as was my mother. They were both killed by the Yeerks when I was three.

So that's why I'm a human with an Andalite uncle.

"This equation makes no sense. There's no way for it to work," I said, jabbing my finger at the paper. Uncle regarded both me and the paper.

< Are you sure? > he asked. I could have been mistaken, but I swear that he sounded amused.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've worked it and reworked it, and there is no way that it works the way it's supposed to. At least, not with the formula Professor Padya taught us."

Uncle smiled the way Andalites do, with his eyes. < Congratulations. You've discovered the point of this problem. >

I frowned. "So this equation doesn't work for everything?" I asked.

< No. It only works until you add the nth possibility. >

"Oh." I looked my work again, and shrugged. "Then I'm done my work. I'm gonna go see if I can find Aniesha and Halva."

< In a few minutes. First, come with me. >

"Wearing this?" I asked, pointing at the skintight jumpsuit I'd been wearing.

Give me a break. Just before that, I'd had a self defence class, and the jumpsuit was what I wore.

< Yes, > Uncle said, and, typically, without answering, he turned and walked to the door. I followed, wondering what was going on. It occurred to me that it might have something to do with the comment my flight instructor, Prince Reynor-Temillan-Yassar had made earlier.

< Tomorrow, Loren, there will probably be a change in you, > was what he'd said. Suddenly, my heart quickened. It couldn't possibly be....

I followed my uncle up to the dome. (Hence the name Dome Ship, for the Navy-impaired.) When we got up there, I saw my best friend, Aniesha-Lemsa-Cerean. A tall, delicate-looking Andalite, she was holding Kitsa, the Terran kitten I'd given her for her birthday.

< Ah, so you are already here, > Uncle said, nodding to Aniesha. I gave her a quizzical look. She gave a tiny shrug and a confused look.

< Yes, sir ,> she replied, < although I do not see why I needed to bring Kitsa. >

< Because you are going to learn how to morph, and as far as I know, Kitsa is the only non-sentient animal on board. >

Aniesha was so startled, she dropped the kitten, who landed with a little whuf, and gave her a disgusted look. And I wasn't much better. My jaw hung open, and my eyes were so wide they hurt. My Uncle reached into the small pouch he wore around his waist and pulled out a smallish blue cube.

< Place your hands on the cube, > he instructed. Aneisha and I both did as we were told, which is rare. I put my hand on the top, and she put hers on the left side.

A weird tingling ran up my arm, and I blinked. As we took our hands away from the cube, my Uncle smiled.

< Now, > he said, < as the she has obligingly stayed here, acquire the cat. >

I reached over and picked up Kitsa. As I petted her, I concentrated, focussing on her DNA becoming part of me. Kitsa went quiet and still the way animals do when they are being acquired.

Well, most animals. One of my favourite stories that my dad used to tell me was the one about the dolphin that didn't, and nearly broke both his wings while it was at it.

I handed the cat to Aniesha, and she acquired Kitsa as well. Then she put the cat back down.

< Now, > Uncle Aximili said, < Morph Kitsa. >

Suddenly, something occurred to me. "So, this is why you told me to wear my jumpsuit."

< Precisely. >

I nodded, and then focussed on the DNA inside me, imagining myself becoming the cat. My skin started to tingle, and when I looked down, I saw fur growing on my arms. Then I felt the tail grow, suddenly. As I turned to look at it, the ground started rushing up underneath me. My knees changed direction, and I fell over on all fours. My ears moved up on my head, and all my senses except touch became a hundred times sharper.

Then the kitten's mind surfaced. I was confident, strong, smooth.

And incredibly curious.

I wanted to play. I wanted to know about everything.

I caught the scent of another kitten. I turned, and there she was. She looked at me, and we circled around each other. There was something not quite right about this kitten, something that put my hackles up. I bared my teeth at her, and she did the same. I tensed, getting ready to pounce....

< Control the morph, Loren, Aniesha, > said a strange voice. What? The morph, Loren? Who was....

Oh. Right. If I'd been human, I would have blushed bright red. I looked over at Aniesha, who was looking just a sheepish as I was.

< Oops, > she said. I nodded.

< Double oops, > I added, < one for each of us. >

We demorphed, grinning at each other. For all of the fact that we lost control of our morphs, the experience had be amazingly cool.

We practised for about another hour, then we said goodbye, and Uncle and I headed back to our quarters.

< Now for my second surprise of the day, > Uncle said when we got there. I lifted an eyebrow.

"What, one wasn't enough?" I asked, somewhat sarcastically, but curious nonetheless.

< For the first time in years, we have managed to arrange it so that my leave, Marco's leave and Jake's leave coincide. So, > he said, turning all four eyes in my direction, < we are going to Earth. >

I stared for a second, then let out a loud whoop of excitement. Earth! Probably the one Alliance or Neutral planet I'd never been on. Well, that's not entirely true. I was on Earth for all of forty-eight hours after my parent's died, while Uncle Aximili was arguing with command and the Electorate about whether or not he was going to be my guardian. But that hardly counted.

< We are leaving in three hours, > Uncle said, with a smile at my reaction. < I would suggest you pack, while I arrange matters with Commander Eagleson.>

Commander Eagleson was the HeartSword's first officer. A thirty year-old human woman, with all the sense of humour of a rock. Ironic, huh?

"Right. Pack." I said, heading straight for my room. Three hours, and I'd be on my way to Earth. How cool was that?

Chapter 2

Twelve hours later, we came out of Z-space, two hours from Earth. By that time, I was having problems sitting still. I don't handle inactivity well. I'd already done ninety-percent of the work my instructors had given me, read two books, played three games of chess with my Uncle (losing all three times), and was now trying concentrate on Math. It wasn't working. My mind kept wandering back to when I said good bye to my friends, Aniesha, Belaran-Caran-Selena and Halva Kestral. Aniesha and Belaran had, over all my objections, convinced me that I needed to create an Andalite morph mixing their DNA. Then they made me try it out, and let me tell you, having four eyes is distracting!

I gave up on Math.

"Uncle," I said. He looked up from what ever it was he was reading. "I remember, vaguely, Jake and Cassie. But have I even met Marco?" I knew who he was, of course. Everyone knew who he was, except maybe someone who'd been living under a rock for fifteen years. A badly informed rock, at that.

< You have, but you were very young, perhaps three. Marco Beringei is an Intelligence officer, a general. He is exceedingly good at seeing the straight line from A to B. To say that he is sarcastic would be like saying that Yeerk/Andalite War is a minor disagreement. He has a son, but as I have not seen Daren for twelve years, I cannot tell you much about him. Marco's wife, a fellow Intelligence agent by the name of Nancy, was killed around the same time as your parents, and by the same weapon. As for the rest, it is well known history. >

I nodded. Marco's father had been killed in the attack on Earth. And his mother was Visser One's host.

Wonderful, right?

I was about to say something else, when I was interrupted by the hail from Earth, asking us to identify ourselves. After Uncle had transmitted the information, a voice I hadn't heard before came over the comm.

"Hey, Ax, come to join the reunion?" who-ever-it-was said. Uncle smiled.

< No, I am here on a top-secret mission for the Electorate, to gather up all the cinnamon buns on the planet and send them back for testing. > he said, his voice ever-so-slightly dry. Who-ever-it-was laughed.

"Right. The entire Electorate would make themselves sick. It's good to talk to you again, Ax."

< Ditto, Marco, > Uncle said.

"How long will it take you to get here?" Marco asked.

< Sixteen- > Uncle began, and then paused. His smile turned ever-so-slightly mischievous. It's a strange look on an Andalite adult. < Sixteen, > he repeated, < of your minutes. >

There was silence for a few seconds, with the sound of someone laughing in the back ground.

"THEY ARE EVERYBODY'S MINUTES!" Marco almost shouted, and the background laughter got louder.

Uncle signed off, and we landed with no further ado.

I stepped out on to the landing pad and blinked. The sun was much brighter than shipboard lighting.

"There they are, there they are, theretheyare, I see them!" came a little girl's shout from over to the left. I turned to look, and saw a kid of about five dragging two adults across the pad. When she got to about three feet from us, she stopped and stared.

"Oh," she said, looking at Uncle Aximili with wide eyes, "you're tall!"

The adults she was dragging laughed. The man, who I guessed was Jake Tigris, was tallish, with light brown hair that was cut short. He had a sort of aura, one that says, trust me, I know what I'm doing.

The other was a woman. Cassie, I guessed. She came up to Jake' chin, and had her hair short as well. Chocolate brown eyes smiled at you out of her face.

Behind them came Marco. He was a bit shorter than Jake, and had this permanent sardonic look on his face. His hair was longish, as compared to everyone elses. But it was the person behind him who grabbed my attention.

A little taller than Marco, with short black hair and slightly tilted brown eyes and an unconscious grace, he was fairly incredible. I suddenly found breathing difficult.

Uncle used one of his stalk eyes to look at me. < Interesting expression, > he said. < Better get rid of it before he notices. >

One of the advantages of thoughtspeech is that you can direct it to certain people. Uncle had managed to throw the figurative cold water in my face, without anyone else knowing.

I shook off whatever it was that was affecting me just in time to respond to introductions. I was introduced around the circle.

"And this," said Jake, pointing to the boy behind Marco, "is Daren."

"Hi," I said, smiling and extending my hand.

"Hi," he said, shaking it and grinning back.

"Tom wanted to be here, but he had a game, and he couldn't let his coach down," Jake said.

"He told me to see if you had a sense of humour. He doesn't think it's possible for someone who's spent as much time around Andalites as you have," Daren said, with a snort at his friend's attitude. I laughed.

"I have a sense of humour. It's just a little warped," I shot back. "I'm not completely cut off from humanity, thank you very much."

Daren and I kept up our banter. It had only been three minutes, and I felt like I'd known him forever.

We spent three weeks at Jake's. Uncle and the others spent a lot of time together, remembering old times. Me, Daren and Tom usually made ourselves scarce. We hadn't been there when all these things had happened, so they weren't really conversations we could be part of.

We wandered the town, the boys showing me all the interesting stuff. The Gardens, ("To which we owe the salvation of Earth. I mean, where would we all be if this place hadn't been here to provide tigers and grizzly bears and gorillas?"), the woods where my dad and uncle had lived, and the construction site where it had all started. I had a blast.

I also got to know Daren, and Tom, pretty well. Tom is a very open person. Whatever he's feeling, you know about it right away. He lives on the extreme outside of his skin.

Daren, however, isn't even close to being that open. He'd rather make a flippant, smart-aleck remark than let anyone know he's upset. Occasionally he'll get solemn and serious, and give you a sort of opening, but before you could say anything, he'll grin and say something funny or stupid, and the moment would be gone.

That annoyed me. I wanted to know more about him, and he wouldn't let me see inside him.

On the first day of the fourth week, Tom had another game, so me and Daren went wandering alone. Earlier, I had discovered shopping. So within the first fifteen minutes, both of us were carrying bags.

"Hey," Daren said as we were walking along the beach, "there's something I wanted to ask you. Can you morph?"

I nodded. "I learned how the day before we left. I've got two, kitten and Andalite. Can you?"

"Yep. As of two weeks ago. So far, three morphs; dog, because it was what I morphed first, cougar, for the heck of it, and chameleon."

"Chameleon?"

"The stupid lizard was tangled in a whole bunch of string, and the only way I could get the dumb thing to calm down was to acquire it." He rolled his eyes upwards, and I laughed.

We turned down a street that was entirely deserted. I slowed, getting that feeling I do sometimes. The feeling something is seriously wrong.

"Something wrong?" asked Daren, frowning slightly. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I replied. "Just a feeling, like we're in trouble."

"Why would we be in trouble?" He said. He turned to look behind us. His eyes widened, and he started to shout something-

Then every thing went black.

< B>Chapter 3

"Loren. Loren. Wake up."

Someone was shaking me. My head felt like someone had dropped a building on it.

"Ungghh," I said, rolling over and opening my eyes.

Daren was leaning over me, looking worried. "Daren?" I asked groggily. "Where are we? What happened?"

"We're on a ship. We've been kidnapped," he replied, looking grim.

That woke me up. I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Who?" I started to ask, then stopped and shook my head. "Never mind. Stupid question. The Yeerks, duh. Second question: Why?"

"Why? Don't know," Daren said. "Ransom, bargaining chips, host bodies, who knows? Could be that their trying to put our families off balance, make'em come after us instead of paying attention to their jobs." He shrugged. "Heck, depending on who ordered it, it might be revenge." I frowned, trying to put all the pieces together.

"How long were we out?" I asked. Daren smiled sardonically.

"Two days, give or take an hour or six," he said.

"What?!" I almost shouted. "How could we be out two whole days?"

"They stunned us. Twice, on the highest stun setting. I know, 'cause I was half awake the second time they stunned us."

"Wonderful. So they're already panicking back home. Any idea where we're going?"

"From what I've managed to overhear, the Taxxon homeworld," Daren said, his expression getting even grimmer, if that was possible. I hissed a curse. "That's exactly how I feel about it," Daren said.

We fell into silence then, and my head reminded me how much it hurt. And my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten in two days. I felt thoroughly miserable.

"I wonder if they're monitoring us?" Daren asked, breaking the silence. I shrugged.

"What difference does it make?" I demanded, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well," he replied, "if they're monitoring us, then we're screwed. But if they aren't, then maybe we can make an escape plan."

"If they're monitoring us," I said, sweeping my gaze over the room, "then they've got some interesting cameras. There's nowhere to hide them in this room."

The room we were in was square, with smooth walls. The only edge in the whole room was where the door was. There was absolutely nothing in the room except us.

"Uplifting surroundings," Daren commented. I snorted, and we lapsed into silence again. Then something occurred to me.

"What kind of ship are we on?" I asked Daren

"A Bug fighter, I think," he replied.

"So, there's a limited amount of people they can have on the ship."

"Right. But what if there's more than one ship?" Daren pointed out. "I don't think either of us is qualified to fly this thing through combat."

I absorbed that in silence. After a moment I said, "So, our best bet is to wait 'till we land, and then try to make a break for it."

Daren looked at me. "You do realize how suicidal that sounds, don't you?"

I glared at him. "You got a better idea?" I demanded him. He sighed.

"No, nothing that'll work. So, we just try to overpower the guards?"

"Basically. Overpower them, then run like heck. Try and meet up with each other as soon as possible."

"Then we should probably morph right away. Then we can use thoughtspeak," Daren said thoughtfully, and I nodded. "Simple. Elegant. Crazy. Dad would probably be laughing his head off, if he were here."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled. He looked at me for a long moment.

"Did Captain, I mean, War...." He broke off, seemingly confused over what to call Uncle Aximili.

"Just call him Aximili," I advised. "It's less confusing."

"Right. So, did he ever tell you stories about your parents?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Well, my dad thought your mom was crazy."

I grinned. "What, so you think this is a plan worthy of my mom?"

"Yes. I think this is the craziest plan I've ever heard." He sighed. "Unfortunately, it's also the best plan that we can pull off, considering the circumstances."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I muttered under my breath. After a moment, I asked, "Are you as hungry as I am?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I keep thinking about food, which only makes it worse."

"Mmm. Roast beef," I said, closing my eyes.

"Ice cream," Daren said, picking up on my train of thoughts.

"Pizza."

"Hamburgers."

"Cinnamon buns!" we both shouted, laughing. I remembered the stories Uncle had told me about his adventures with cinnamon buns. Or misadventures, depending on how you look at it.

After a few minutes of silence, Daren said, "How'd you get a kitten morph, anyway?"

"It's my friend's. We used it for our first morph."

"Huh. Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Aniesha-Lemsa-Cerean." He lifted an eyebrow.

"Andalite?" he asked. I gave him a look.

"No, her parents just have a warped sense of humour," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm. Daren grinned at me.

For the next half an hour, we traded stories about our homes and friends. It helped to take our minds off how hopeless our situation. And how hungry we were.

After an hour, a small slit opened in the door, and three ration packets and two water bottles slid in. By now, we were hungry enough that dry rations tasted wonderful.

"You know, I never thought I'd be glad to eat these things," Daren said, staring at the ration bar that was left. "I tried one once, 'cause I was curious about how they tasted."

"They're pretty bad," I agreed. "We had to eat them once on the HeartSword, when we had to lie low, avoiding the fleet of Yeerk ships. Even the Andalites ended up on rations, because we had to ration the water, too."

"Huh. Well-" Daren started. The door hissed open.

Daren and I scrambled to our feet.

And then he stepped into the room.

Chapter 4

We froze like rabbits caught in headlights. Two Hork-Bajir stepped in behind him, but all my attention was on the figure in front of me.

He radiated absolute confidence. Slightly shorter than Uncle, he was also more powerfully built. Deer-like lower body met humanoid upper body. The mouthless face was twisted into a sneer. Stalk eyes were positioned so that he could see everything around him.

I stared into that face, a face that radiated malice, a total disregard for life, for anything living.

The face of Visser Three.

The Abomination.

My fists clenched, and I had to keep myself from attacking him with my bare hands. This...thing had killed my grandfather, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Had eaten him. Had tried to subjugate the entire human race. Had ordered the attack on Earth, simply to cause damage to the fledgling Alliance.

He had the blood of millions on his hands.

Visser Three looked at us, and laughed.

< So, children, > he said, sneering, < how have you enjoyed your stay? > Then he laughed again, like it was the funniest thing in the world.

I drew in a hissing breath, and my body tensed, like I was going to leap at him. Daren touched my arm, and shook his head, almost imperceptibly. I breathed out slowly, and forced my body to relax. Attacking the Visser as a human would be useless, unless I happened to be backed up by several dracon beams and other explosives.

That didn't make me like it any more.

"Yes," said a new voice from behind the Visser, "how are you enjoying the ride?"

Behind Visser Three stood a human. Tall, with blond hair, and cold brown eyes.

Eyes that told you that this person didn't care about anything or anyone, except when they were useful to him.

Behind me, Daren hissed.

"David," he said, his voice low and filled with disgust. My eyes widened, then I narrowed them. David. Human boy who had once found the morphing cube, and had thought of nothing but how it could make his life easier. Who the Animorphs had saved, only to have him betray them.

David, the Traitor.

That was all my uncle had ever called him. He'd never mentioned any last name. David was the Traitor, and nothing else.

"Very good!" David said, mocking us. I ground my teeth together, trying to convince myself that strangling this creep would be suicide. I hated this guy. Just hated him. He was a representative of all the things that could be wrong and evil in humanity.

He smiled, a cold, cruel smile. "So, the children of the two people I hate most are now in my power. I think I like that idea."

< The news from Earth? > the Visser asked. Not demanded, asked. As angry as I was, I noted the fact that Visser Three treated David like an equal, not an underling. A partnership?

"It is as I predicted," David responded, raising an eyebrow. "The spy is off balance, and the Andalite fool is in a mire of guilt. This had affected the self-righteous Admiral and the insipid tree hugger. Idiots, all of them."

"Those 'idiots' screwed you up pretty good," Daren sneered. David's face darkened momentarily, then cleared.

"I'm not going to waste my time trading insults with children," he said, turning to leave.

"Haamalith," I gritted through my clenched teeth, using the worst Andalite curse-name in the language. David whirled, eyes burning. He brought himself back under control, with difficulty. He walked up to me.

"So like her," he said, putting his hand under my chin. I grabbed his arm and jerked it away.

"Don't touch me," I gritted. He grabbed my arms. I tried to pull away, but he was stronger than me. I forgot all my defence training. I was far too angry.

"Brave child," he mocked. I spit at him, hitting him in the eye.

He snarled, and backhanded me, hard enough that I fell. Daren leaped forwards and punched David in the eye. One of the Hork-Bajir guards grabbed both his arms, immobilizing him.

< Enough! > the Visser snarled. He focussed his main eyes on David, and I got the feeling he was adding something. David also snarled, silently, but nodded reluctantly. He turned and stalked out of the room.

< Drop him, > the Visser ordered the Hork-Bajir, and the guard threw Daren aside like a doll. Then Visser Three left, leaving us to glare at the door in useless fury.

Interlude
"It takes love over gold,
and mind over matter,
to do what you do that you must.
When the things that you hold
can fall and be shattered,
or run through your fingers like dust."
- dIRE sTRAITS

Cassie wandered through the house, picking up Karen's coat and sneakers and putting them away.

"That's funny," she said under her breath. "I could have sworn that I told her to put these away."

"You did," said Jake, coming in from the kitchen. "She said she'd do it in a minute, and then completely forgot about it." He smiled, and kissed her on the forehead. Then he looked over her head, out onto the balcony, and sighed. Cassie turned and followed his line of sight.

Ax was standing out there, staring off to somewhere in the distance. She shook her head.

"Is he still out there?" she asked, rhetorically. Jake nodded.

"He feels personally responsible for the fact that Loren got kidnapped. I tried talking to him earlier, but I had the feeling that he wasn't really paying attention."

"If Tobias were here..." she started, trailing off. Tobias had always been able to talk Ax through this kind of thing. Jake smiled wryly.

"If Tobias were here, Ax wouldn't feel this guilty in the first place," he pointed out. Cassie sighed, exasperated.

"Well, for lack of a better option, I'll have to try to talk to him," she said, decisively. Jake rolled his eyes.

"Good luck," he said, as she walked across the room to the balcony doors. "I think you'll need it."

Cassie shivered as she stepped outside. Even in late summer, the night wind had a cold edge.

"Ax?" she called, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. He continued to stare out into the distance, unresponsive. She tried again. "Ax, I'm not going away until you talk to me."

< I failed them, > he said, and even though he was using thought-speech, he still managed to sound like he was speaking through clenched teeth. < I promised to take care of Loren, and I failed them. >

"And exactly how do you figure that?" Cassie demanded. And suddenly, she'd had enough. All the stress of three days of having everyone jump at every message, of having Tom alternately mope and stomp around the house, because his friends were in danger and he couldn't help them, of seeing Marco loose yet another family member, and, most of all, of not being able to do anything about it ran together and caused her to do something that she rarely did.

She lost her temper.

"How exactly did you fail them? You've managed, with almost no help, to raise a child that any parent would be proud of. She's bright, she's confident and she's aware of the rest of the world, which is more than I can say for most girls her age. You've taught her, you loved her, you've kept her happy and safe for thirteen years. And now, because of something you could not possibly predict or control, you failed them? None of us ever thought they would come after our kids, and even if we had, how far can we protect them? Would Loren have accepted a guard, or restrictions on her freedom in a place she saw as safe?"

Ax was staring at her, amazed. < No, > he said slowly, shaking his head. < She would have eluded any guard, and would probably have disobeyed any rules that she saw as unnecessary. >

Cassie nodded, vindicated. "The same follows for Daren, and he'd probably be even better at it, having Marco for a father." She would have said more, but she shivered hard instead. Ax narrowed all four of his eyes at her.

< Didn't it occur to you to get a coat before you came out here to jerk me out of my guilt? > he asked, in that tone of 'voice' that no-one could be sure if he was serious or just had a really dry sense of humour.

"Why would I do something sensible like that?" she asked, and smiled. "Well, if you're done feeling guilty, can we go inside before I freeze to death?"

< Certainly. Although I do not think that it is that cold out here. >

Cassie shot him a suspicious glance, not quite sure if he was laughing at her or not. His face could have been carved from marble.

Well, blue marble.

As they reentered the house, Jake looked up. But before he could say anything, both his and Ax's shiplinks sounded.

The shiplink was a small, hand-held communicator that linked ships to their commanders. It could transmit only recorded voice, but could transmit it anywhere in the galaxy. Because of its limitations, it was used only for emergency communications that could not wait for the normal channels. Jake and Ax traded grim looks, then held the links up to their ears. Their faces got grimmer.

"What?" Cassie asked, concerned.

"Advance scouts have passed back reports of a Yeerk task force massing at the Taxxon homeworld. Two Pool ships, ten wings of Bug fighters and three Blade ships. Give or take a few."

< High Command has called the HeartSword and the Millennium to the Alliance-held sector nearest to the Taxxon homeworld, > Aximili said, obviously hating the fact. Cassie could understand that. Any news of Loren would probably come here first, and here Ax would be in a position to deal with it.

There was something about all this that bothered her. "It seems very convenient that the attack would come now."

Jake frowned. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Because there's no real, tactical advantage to attacking now, at least that I can see. There are, not one, but two Dome ships in a position to deal with the threat. Tactically, it's suicide." Her face became very grim, an expression that she didn't use very often. "However, if they look at it from the emotional and psychological point of view..." She let the sentence trail off.

"Then they have us by the proverbial short hairs," Jake finished. "They'll use Loren and Daren against us, to try and push us into doing something stupid." He clenched his teeth and swore, using all the curses in all of the three languages he was fluent in. Ax looked like he wanted to attack something.

Cassie made a quick decision. "I'm coming with you. Karen can go to my parents until we get back."

"Tom?" Jake asked, waiting to hear her out.

"Tom's coming with us," she said, and held up her hand against protests. "He's old enough to understand what he's going into, he's going crazy with inactivity here, and I don't trust him not to try and steal a ship and go after Loren and Daren himself, if he's left unsupervised."

Jake nodded. "Alright then, wake him up and tell him to pack. We have to leave within three hours."

He turned and left, going to contact his superiors and to prepare. Cassie looked at Ax out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked quietly.

He returned her look. he asked, just as quietly. She shook her head. That was exactly the problem. He didn't.

None of them did.

Chapter 5

I picked myself up of the ground, glaring at the door. Daren raised an eyebrow.

"That went well," he said facetiously. "What I want to know is, how in God's name David human again?"

I snorted. "That one's not to hard to guess. The Ellemist is behind us in this war, or so we think. He gave my father back his ability to morph. Crayak is obviously for the Yeerks. I assume he can do the same things the Ellemist can, so he probably gave David back the ability to morph. David sided with the Yeerks, and when the procedure for reversing the condition of nothlits came out, he used it. What I want to know is, why isn't he a Controller?"

"What makes you think he isn't?" Daren asked.

"His interaction with Visser Three. No Yeerk of lower rank would dare talk to the Visser like he was an equal. If he'd been of higher rank, he would have let his contempt show more. And Visser Three would never tolerate competition. So the only possible answer is that he is not a Controller."

Daren nodded. "No-one's ever figured out why Visser Three didn't get demoted when he lost Earth. Maybe it was because he brought the Council of Thirteen the ultimate ally."

"David," I said, incredulous. Daren nodded again.

"He knows the Animorphs. He knows them well enough to have predicted their reactions to our kidnapping. He knows how they would think to use morphs and weapons, because he's human as well. That's probably why he's not a Controller, too. A free-thinking human who's willing to help them is more valuable to the Yeerks than another host body."

"Well, whatever their motivation, it makes our escape a lot harder," I sighed, looking at the ceiling.

"Depends," Daren said, smiling at me. "Got any more brilliant ideas?"

I smiled back. Daren's smile always made my heart want to stop.

Yes, I like Daren. Is that a problem?

"No," I said. "No more brilliant ideas."

"So we stick with the original plan."

"Well, if they were going to kill us, they would have already done it," I said, optimistically. "So even if the plan doesn't work, I doubt we'll be any worse off."

We sat in silence for another few moments. I think that Daren was about to say something, just to break the silence, when the door slid open.

Three Hork-Bajir stood in the doorway. They were armed with dracon beams.

"Come," the leader ordered. Daren and I looked at each other, and obeyed. We walked down the corridor, and out onto the landing field. And then we got our first glimpse of the Taxxon homeworld.

The sky was a dull brown. I didn't see any plants, anywhere. Just red-brown dirt. It was honestly the dreariest planet I've ever seen.

The spaceport was busy, with Taxxons, Hork-Bajir and other species hurrying everywhere. But they gave our guards a wide berth. I think it had something to do with the yellow livery they were wearing. Yellow marked them as attached to Visser Three, and if you want to keep your head, you don't give the Visser a reason to be angry at you.

We passed six doors before our chance at escape came. It came by total accident, and we almost missed it. A Taxxon and a Hork-Bajir were arguing. The argument grew more and more heated as we approached. Just as we were passing them, the Taxxon attacked the Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajir slammed into the leader of our guards, knocking him down. Within seconds, the Taxxon was on top of them, ignoring our guard's orders to stop.

I didn't think, I acted. Swinging around, I grabbed my guard's wrist and hauled him into the pile. Daren tripped his guard, who fell face first. Without their leader giving orders, they seemed unable to do anything.

But twelve more people were rushing over. "Split up!" Daren yelled, running to the left. I ran to the right, towards a bunch of tunnels and corridors. Just as I hit the first door, I heard the sound of the lead guard yelling at the mob to follow me. I frantically searched for someplace to hide. My eye fell on a ventilation shaft, over to my left.

I hesitated. Going into the ventilation system was one of the oldest tricks in the book. But I hadn't seen a single human-Controller in the mass of people outside, and the other species might not think of it.

I ran to the vent, and pulled off the grate. I'd only just slid into the shaft and pulled the grate back into place when my pursuers ran into the hall.

Hardly daring to breathe, I waited. After about fifteen minutes, the sounds from outside stopped. Very carefully, I pushed the grate out again. I slid out of the vent, coughing from the dust. I needed someplace to hide until I could figure out what to do. I tiptoed over to the nearest door, and put my ear up to it. There was no sound from inside, so I hit the release and went in.

It was a storage room, for uniforms and rations, and two crates of dracon beams. I looked around. It looked like this place didn't get much traffic. There was a fine layer of dust on everything, and a feeling of loneliness pervaded the atmosphere.

"Well," I said to myself under my breath, "that means that it's unlikely that anyone'll come in here."

I grabbed two ration packets, a water bottle and a dracon beam, and sat down behind one of the crates. I ate one of the rations and drank half the water. Now that the fighting was over, all the adrenaline rushed out of my body, and I was suddenly exhausted. I closed my eyes, promising myself that it was only for a second.....

And I fell asleep.

Chapter 6

< Loren! >

For the second time in as many days, I startled awake to the sound of somebody calling my name.

"What?" I asked, looking wildly around me. I couldn't see anything at first. Then, as my eyes adjusted, I saw a small lizard on one of the crates.

"Daren?" I asked, warily eyeing the lizard. It nodded. It was extremely weird to watch.

< Yeah, it's me. I had to morph, and then I had to find you, > he said, sounding relieved.

"How long have you been in morph?" I demanded.

< I'm not sure. >

"Well, demorph, now!" I ordered. I didn't think I'd been asleep for two hours, but I wasn't sure.

< Uh, Loren? > he said, sounding embarrassed, < I don't have my morphing outfit on. >

"Oh," I said, flushing slightly. "Um, there are a whole bunch of uniforms in the crates. I'll turn my back, and you can use one of those."

< Okay. >

I turned my back, and waited for him to demorph. After about seven minutes, he called, "Okay, you can turn around now."

I turned back around. Daren was wearing one of the greyish uniforms. It was way tp big for him. I laughed.

"Great fashion statement," I teased. He grinned back.

"Hey, according to my dad, excessively big was a fashion statement, once," he shot back. I gave a mock shudder, and we both laughed. Then we froze, as we heard a noise from outside. We listened in silence for a moment or two, hardly daring to breathe. When we didn't hear anything, we relaxed.

"Get over here, behind the crate," I ordered Daren. "You're right in the line of sight if the door opens."

"Yes ma'am, sir!" he replied, throwing me a mock salute. He did as he was told, though. He came at sat beside me.

I felt suddenly uneasy, and I could find no reason why. I pretended to scratch an itch on my leg, and move a little bit away.

"So," I said, basically trying to fill the silence, "what do we do now?"

"You're asking me?" he replied, sounding startled. "All the ideas so far have been yours."

"What, so I'm the fountain of wisdom now? Okay, so, the only way off this planet is a space ship, right?"

"Right."

"Well," I continued, "we can't stow away aboard anything, because they have bio-sensors. Not to mention, the security would probably be way to tough. So the only other option is stealing a ship."

"What?" Daren nearly shouted.

"It's not quite as crazy as it sounds. We'd go find a couple of Hork-Bajir, knock'em out, acquire them and just walk into one of the ships. I was paying attention when we were being escorted across the landing field, and they leave the Bug fighters unguarded. If we look like we've got a right to be there, I doubt they'll even think twice about us being there."

For a moment, Daren looked worried, and almost...calculating, and I got that now-familiar feeling that something was wrong. Then he smiled.

"You're right, it'll work," he agreed. "Are your plans alway this brilliant?" he asked, teasing me. I snorted.

"I don't know. This is my first time in a life-threatening situation. Maybe I only work good under stress," I said, letting a bit of sarcasm slide into my voice. He smiled a bit more, but didn't laugh. He put his hand on my shoulder, and my pulse got a bit faster.

"I don't think so," Daren said, quietly. "I think you're one of the most brilliant, beautiful people alive."

"Oh," I said, not knowing what I could possibly say to that. He leaned forwards, and so did I, and we kissed.

And in that moment, all the uneasiness, all the feelings of wrongness solidified, and I knew. I pushed him away from me, as hard as I could. He fell backwards and slid away. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the dracon beam, pointing it at him as he got to his feet.

"Loren," he said, looking confused and hurt, exactly as Daren would have.

If it had been Daren.

"Loren," he repeated, "what-"

I glared at him, angry and sad. But very, very sure of myself.

"Yeerk," I spat.

Chapter 7

What?" Daren said, looking outraged. Except, it wasn't Daren. Inside Daren's head was a slug, who was controlling every movement he made, every word he spoke, every expression on his face. The thought made me want to throw up.

"Drop the act, slug," I ordered, making sure the dracon beam was aimed directly at him.

"Loren," he began, his arms out in front of him with his palms up, entreating. "Loren this is-"

My patience ran out. I adjusted my aim, so that the beam was pointing over Daren's shoulder, and I fired. The beam lanced out, streaking close enough to Daren to singe part of his hair, and impacted on the wall, leaving a ugly melted patch. The Yeerk swore, and looked back at me with wide eyes. I moved the dracon beam back so that it was aimed directly at him.

"Drop the act," I repeated, "or the next one hits you."

The Yeerk looked at me, like he was trying to decide if I'd really do it. I returned his look, the tension in the room so thick that you could taste it. Finally, the Yeerk let Daren's face settle into a sneer.

"So, little human girl, you figured it out," he said, and applauded mockingly. "I suppose you think you're clever."

"Let Daren go," I ordered, trying to conceal my inner turmoil. I'd gotten the Yeerk to admit who he was. I'd been right. I was justified.

The question was, what did I do now?

The Yeerk laughed. "Now why would I want to do that? Do you think I'm stupid, little girl? You won't leave him here, even thought you could. You could leave now, carry out your plan, and you'd probably succeed. But no. You won't leave this human." He laughed again. "So you're going to stay here, risking capture and infestation, just because of your noble idiocy. Humans are ridiculous."

My jaw tightened. "I won't have to stay here," I said through clenched teeth. "I can leave, and I can take you with me."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" the Yeerk asked, sneering. "You're not strong enough to subdue this body, or carry it."

"I'd stun you, slug, tie you up, morph and carry on with my original plan. If I have to, I'll overload this dracon beam and kill us both," I said. The Yeerk looked slightly nervous.

"You wouldn't," he said, trying to sound sure of himself. "You wouldn't kill this boy."

"Try me," I growled, bluffing, and holding on to the ragged edges of my temper with teeth and toenails. This was getting me nowhere, and I had a feeling we were running out of time.

Suddenly, I got the beginnings of a plan. It all depended on whether this Yeerk was the low-ranking coward I though he was.

I smiled slightly, as if I'd just seen how to get out of this with no problems. "When I get out of here, you slimy piece of scum, you'll starve, slowly. Is that what you want?"

"Don't you mean, if?" the Yeerk sneered, a bit disconcerted. I snorted in contempt, playing my part.

"No, I mean, when. I am going to get out of here, slug. And I'm taking Daren with me. And when I do, you'll die from Kandrona starvation. Unless, of course, you'll be reasonable."

He looked at me, and in the face of my absolute (if faked) confidence, the Yeerk's confidence wavered. He licked his lips, and swallowed. I leaned back against the crates.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his eyes flicking between me and the door. I kept the dracon beam trained on Daren's chest.

"I'll give you a deal, Yeerk. You let Daren go, now, and I'll put you in one of these water bottles and leave you to be found by one of your fellow Yeerks. But if you don't I'll stun you and take you with me. I'll let you starve, slowly." I leaned back against the crates a bit more, trying to look relaxed, like I had no problems at all. The Yeerk looked more and more nervous, his eyes flickering backwards and forwards, trying to decide. "Hurry up and make your choice, slug, because I'm not going to wait much longer," I said, praying that this would work.

The Yeerk shot me a look of pure hatred, and picked up the half filled water bottle and put it to Daren's ear. After a few seconds, the Yeerk started to slide out of his ear. In a few more seconds, it was out completely. Daren held the bottle out to me, shaking with repressed emotion.

"Take this thing," he said, in a rage filled voice, "before I kill it."

Without saying anything, I took the bottle and put the top on. Then I walked to the end of the row of crates and threw it into the back of the room. It was following the letter, if not the spirit, of my deal. I'd leave the Yeerk here to be found. However, the other Yeerks would actually have to look for this one.

I walked back to where Daren was. Just as I got there, he reached into his pocket and took out a small, black object. He looked at it for a moment.

"What's that?" I asked, speaking quietly. Daren looked up.

"Tracker," he replied in a flat voice. "It's transmitting our location to the Yeerks."

I thought about that for a minute. "Any chance that destroying it would keep them from knowing we're here?"

Daren snorted. "No," he said in that same flat voice. "It's been transmitting since before you woke up."

"Well," I said, tilting my head to one side, "we do need Hork-Bajir morphs."

Daren stared at me for a few seconds before what I'd said sunk in. Then he burst out laughing.

"You're crazy!" he choked out around his laughter. "You're absolutely nuts!"

"It'll work, won't it?" I demanded. "We've got weapons, a plan and the element of surprise. A few stun shots, we acquire the Hork-Bajir, tie them up and lock the door, and poof! We're home free."

"Not quite," Daren said, calming down a bit. "We still have to steal the ship."

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it," I said, like it wasn't important. I walked over and locked the door. "For now, we wait for the ambush, then ambush the ambushers."

Yes, I used the word ambush to many times. So sue me.

We sat in silence for a few moments. Daren stared off into the air in front of his hands.

"You okay?" I asked quietly. He started, and looked up.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he sighed. "I think I'll have nightmares for a while, though." He turned to look at me. "How'd you figure it out?" he asked, in a puzzled voice. I made a wry half-smile.

"I may only have known you for four weeks, but I do know you. You never let anything out in the open. And the few times you do, by accident, you make some kind of joke or stupid comment right after. So when he...kissed me, right after telling me he liked me, it just didn't ring true. You, the real you, would never do that."

"Oh." He seemed at a loss, unable to say anything. Then he drew in a deep breath. "I..uh..Loren, everything he told you, is true for me. I do think you're the most brilliant, wonderful and beautiful person alive. I-" Daren broke off and swallowed. I couldn't say anything. I was literally stuck dumb. Daren took another breath and said, "I hope you don't mind me saying this, I mean, I-"

I slid my hand into his, making him look up. "Not if you don't mind me saying it back," I whispered, smiling, on the knife-edged line between laughter and tears. Daren smiled back.

"You mind if I do something crazy and out of character?" he asked, in a voice no louder than my whisper.

"No," I breathed. He closed his hand around mine and pulled me towards him, and we kissed again, and this time, it was real, we were both us and the rest of the world fell away.....

And at that moment, Hork-Bajir started pounding on the door.

Chapter 8

We pulled away from each other, and Daren glared at the door.

"You know," he said, "I don't think I like them very much."

I laughed as pulled myself to my feet. The pounding on the door got louder, and I figured we had about five minutes before they managed to pound their way through.

I dug into the crate that I'd gotten my dracon beam from, and tossed another one to Daren. He caught it, and then stared at it like it was some kind of rare bug or something.

"Okay," he said, lifting an eyebrow, "you've already shown that you know haw to work these things, but I've never held one in my life."

I sighed in mock-impatience. "Hold it like this," I instructed, showing him. "Now, aim, and press this little button."

"Oh. Pretty simple," Daren said. I gave him a curious look.

"Your father works in Intelligence, and you don't know how to shoot a dracon beam?" I asked, slightly unbelieving.

"Hey, it's not my fault. Dad never brings stuff home. Your Uncle's work is his home, so he'd have to teach you. Otherwise, knowing you, you'd try and figure it out by yourself."

"Actually, I did. Try and figure it out by myself, I mean. When I was ten, I snuck into the arms lockers. I got caught, but the upside was that Uncle got the security officer to teach me how to use all the stuff that was in there.”

The pounding stopped. A few seconds later, the door began to glow red and dematerialize.

"I guess they got tired of waiting," Daren said, and I laughed. We waited.

The door was gone within thirty seconds. Smoke hung thick in the air as the two Hork-Bajir stepped through. They looked around, and one of them spotted us. But before either of them could do anything, we both fired. Full stun blasts hit both Hork-Bajir in the chest, and both of them collapsed.

"You know," Daren said, putting down the dracon beam and kneeling beside one of them, "that was almost too easy."

"Don't say that," I told him, crouching on the other side of the Hork-Bajir. "If you say it's too easy, the fates will decide to throw a rock in our path."

We acquired the two Hork-Bajir, took their uniforms and locked them in one of the rooms down the hall. Then we morphed. It was weird, and I kept forgetting that I had a tail.

We put on the uniforms, and walked off down the hall.

After about three minutes, we hit busier halls and corridors. As we walked along, we got more and more confident, more sure that our plan was going to work.

We got to the end of the hall we were in, and stopped dead. The next hall was packed wall to wall, and everyone was going the same way.

Which just happened to the exact opposite of the direction we wanted to go.

< They're all going to the Yeerk Pool, > Daren said, in a grim voice.

< Can we get to the landing field from there? > I asked, watching the mass of people.

< Yeah, there's the entrance I used, > he replied.

< Okay then, go with the flow, > I said, striding out into the rush. Daren followed. The current of people pushed us along, going steadily. Then, with a sudden rush, we entered th Yeerk Pool.

My Uncle once described the Yeerk Pool that had been on Earth. This place had the same cries for help, the same caged hosts, the same stench.

And the same aura of despair.

There were at least a hundred Hork-Bajir. Naturally, Taxxons were everywhere. There were even one or two human-Controllers.

As we looked, we heard a sound behind us. We turned to see Visser Three striding towards the Pool, with everyone scrambling to get out of his way. Following at a respectful distance was a detail of Hork-Bajir guards.

The Visser went to the pier. When he stopped, the guard surrounded him. He knelt at the edge and lowered his head.

The moment the Yeerk was out of his head, Alloran-Semitur-Corass, his host and disgraced Andalite war prince, reared high. Two guards grabbed his arms and hauled downwards.

< No! > he yelled in thoughtspeach and tried to throw them off, as one advanced with an injection of sedative.

Maybe, if he'd had the upper body strength of a human or stronger he might have been able to shift them, just enough to have done some good. But as it was, the Hork-Bajir pulled him down and sedated him.

As he was dragged off, the rest of the world continued to go about their lives as if nothing had happened. But I stood there, lost in thought. Another crazy plan was forming, slowly, in my mind. Capturing Alloran had been one of the greatest tactical victories the Yeerks had achieved. It had provided them with invaluable knowledge of how to fight the Andalite people, as well as the capabilities of Andalite technology.

The same would be true of his escape.

< Are you thinking what I think you're thinking? > Daren asked. I kept looking straight ahead.

< I you think I'm thinking that we should try to free Alloran, then yes, I'm thinking what you think I'm thinking, > I replied.

< Oh good. Because that's what I was thinking, > he said casually. I was surprised, but I hid it.

< C'mon, > I said, starting towards one of the doors that led out of the Pool. < Let's go figure out an actual plan. >

< We. Are. Crazy, > Daren said, following me. < Not, > he added,

Chapter 9

Ten minutes later, we had a plan.

Sort of.

We morphed our smallest animals, kitten for me (the proud possessor of two, count'em, two morphs, other than Hork-Bajir) and chameleon for Daren. Then we crawled through the vents until we were over the holding section of the Yeerk Pool. Five minutes later, we had found Alloran's cage.

< You do the talking, > Daren instructed.

< Why me? > I asked.

< Because it's you're idea. Plus, I should keep a look out. My eyes do the 'independent moving' thing, so I can watch twice as much as you. >

< Okay, here goes. > I projected my thoughtspeak 'voice' so that Alloran could hear me. < Alloran! >

He jumped slightly, and then used one of his stalk eyes to scan the room.

< Don't bother trying to find me, > I said.

< Who are you? > he asked warily. I couldn't resist.

< Loren Fangor, > I said, grinning mentally when he started.

< But- > he started.

< Not that one, > I interrupted. < Her granddaughter. Tobias' daughter. Now, there's two of us, and we're up in the vent above you. >

< Do I really want to know why? > Alloran asked caustically, surprising me.

< Humour, Alloran? I never would have guessed. >

< One is forced to develop one, > he said so bitterly that I winced.

< To answer your question, yes, you probably want to know why we're up here, since we're breaking you out of here. >

There was silence for a minute, then Alloran spoke again, his thoughtspeak voice coloured with hope that he was probably trying to suppress,

< Yup. We even have a plan. >

< Which is? >

< That's where we need your help. Are the doors to the cages independent, or are they controlled by a central lock or something like that? > I asked.

< Both. They are capable of opening independently, but there is also a central override, > Alloran replied.

< Good, > I said. < Second question: Is it possible to access the central override from any computer terminal? >

< Yes, if you know how it can be opened from any terminal in the facility. >

< Even better. Okay, give me a minute. > I called to Daren. < Daren, can you think of anything in our clothing that would be obvious enough to set one of us apart from the other Hork-Bajir? >

< Ummm....What about that hair tie that you have? It would probably stretch to fit around a Hork-Bajir wrist. >

< Perfect. > I said. < Alloran, in about ten Earth minutes, a Hork-Bajir will come into the Pool. He, or she, I can't tell them apart yet, will be wearing a small band of purple cloth around one wrist. Twenty minutes after he comes in, I'm going to engage the central override. When all the cages open, there's going to be a certain amount of chaos. >

< You have a talent for understatement, > Alloran said with wry amusement. The un-Controlled Hork-Bajir will waste little time before attacking the Controllers. >

< That's the idea. Now, when that happens, follow the Hork-Bajir with the purple wrist and meet me in the hall. I'll be Hork-Bajir, too. >

< Then what? > Alloran asked. I smiled grimly, even though he couldn't see me.

< Then, > I said, my voice dry, < we steal a Bug fighter and get the heck out of here. >

I waited for the protests of 'That's crazy,' etc., but they never came. Instead, Alloran said, < That's a better plan than you think it is. It has never occurred to those in charge here that a Bug fighter could possibly be important. There is never a guard. >

< Okay, then, let's get to work. See you in fifteen minutes, > I called. Then I turned to Daren. < Let's go, > I said, padding off down the vent, and Daren skittered behind.

< So who's going to hack into the Yeerk computer system? > he asked.

< I am, > I replied as I slid down the steep incline to the room where we'd left our clothes. We were both regretting the fact that we'd hadn't worn morphing outfits. It meant that we had to morph one at a time, with the other person turning their back.

< Are you really that good with computers? > he asked. < You morph first, > he added, closing his chameleon eyes and turning so that his back faced me.

< You mean.... > I broke off as my thoughtspeech faded out, then picked up the conversation when my mouth emerged, "that my Uncle didn't tell your family about my hacking into the HeartSword's computer and scaring Security out of their wits? He certainly told everyone else."

< Yeah, but I thought Dad was exaggerating. You actually hacked into a Dome ship's computer? I thought that was impossible. >

"So did Security," I said as I finished doing up the buttons on my shirt. "It turns out that it's only impossible because of the way Andalite minds work. I'm human, so I think a bit differently, and I used a strategy that would never occur to an Andalite. They redesigned them, afterwards, with it as a joint project so nothing'll get overlooked." I pushed my hair back over my shoulder. "Okay, you can morph now."

< I may as well go straight to Hork-Bajir. Just remember to bring our clothes when you come. >

"Right," I said turning my back. "I'll just use the computer terminal in here."

In two minutes, Daren was morphed and ready to go. We had some trouble getting the hair tie around his wrist, but we managed it eventually.

"Be careful," I said. "Don't get yourself killed."

Daren smiled, which, on a Hork-Bajir, is an...interesting expression. < I won't. I like living, thank you very much. >

"You'd better get out there. I'll meet you outside this room."

< See you later, > he said, and walked out into the hall. I locked the door behind him, and sat down at the terminal. I needed to get to work.

It took me less than fifteen minutes to get in, and then less that two to set up the central override. It was ridiculously easy. It never occurred to the Yeerks that anyone would try this, I guess.

I gave myself a five minute count-down, to give me time to morph. I made our clothes into a bundle, and hung it around my neck when I was morphed.

I had thirty seconds left.

Twenty seconds left.

Ten seconds.

Five.

Two.

One.

Zero.

For a single instant, there was silence.

Then all hell broke loose.

Chapter 10

There was a roar from the Pool, as the Hork-Bajir realized they were free. And then screams as they attacked the Controllers. I quickly unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway. People were running everywhere, with no sense of organization whatsoever. I shook my head. Without someone giving orders, there was nothing but chaos.

Two Hork-Bajir came running up to me. One, with a purple hair tie around his wrist, was obviously Daren. The other, slightly taller, Hork-Bajir was obviously Alloran.

< We need to get out of here, > Daren said, scanning the madness of the corridor. I nodded.

< There's a small office just off the Bug fighters hangar, > Alloran said, pointing with one arm. < I'll lead, >

We followed Alloran down the corridor. Adrenaline mixed with elation that our plan was working.

Maybe, if I'd been clear headed and paying attention, I might have noticed the single human following us.

We ran down the hall, and to the left. In mere minutes, we had reached the office. We scanned the landing field, and Alloran swore. All the Bug fighters were surrounded by fighting. There was no way we were ever going to be able to get to one of them.

< I think we outsmarted ourselves, > I said with grim humour.

< Maybe not... > Daren said, his voice thoughtful. He was staring over to the left. I followed his line-of-sight....and saw it. The answer to our prayers. Totally deserted, out in the middle of it's own field.

The Blade Ship of Visser Three.

I turned to Alloran. < Can you fly that thing? >

He smiled tightly. If you ever want to see a strange expression, look at a Hork-Bajir smiling tightly.

< Can Taxxons eat? > he asked, rhetorically.

We ran up the boarding ramp and into the ship.

None of us noticed who followed behind.

We ran to the bridge. Alloran demorphed and went to the controls. We quickly lifted off, and headed out of the spaceport.

With everything else that was going on, I don't think they even noticed that we left.

As we lifted out of the stratosphere, I turned to Daren.

< I'm going to go back there and demorph, > I said, jerking my head back towards the door to the bridge.

< Okay. I'll call you if there's a problem. >

I walked out into the hallway. I demorphed and got dressed quickly. I turned to go back to the bridge....

And found myself staring at the muzzle of a dracon beam, held by a human man.

I opened my mouth to call for help.

"Make a sound," the man said, in a flat, calm voice, "and you're charcoal."

I shut my mouth. Four Hork-Bajir came up from behind the man. He pointed at the door to the bridge.

"In," he ordered. I walked over to the door. It slid open and the man pushed me inside.

"Alloran," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, and not succeeding very well. It throbbed with tension. Alloran turned, and saw me.

And the people behind me. His eyes immediately went to the human holding the dracon beam.

"Make one move towards her," he said to both Alloran and Daren, "and the girl dies."

Alloran's whole body tensed, like he wanted to attack, but he stayed where he was. The human laughed.

"Did you really think you could get away that easily, Alloran? I not an idiot."

< That is a matter of opinion, Esplin, > Alloran said spat back. I drew in a quick breath. Esplin 9466. Visser Three. < I still have the upper hand. If I choose to crash this ship... >

"If you do that, you'll die," Esplin pointed out.

< And you think that matters? > Alloran said, contempt in his voice.

"But not only that," Esplin continued, "the human children will die as well. That is what matters, Alloran. You don't want the blood of more innocents on your hands."

For a moment, I didn't understand. Then it hit me. Alloran had, on the Hork-Bajir planet, unleashed the quantum virus. Because of him, millions of innocents had died. Over forty years of slavery would have given him time to realize what he'd done. And he had made a decision.

No more innocents would die because of him.

"Visser!" one of the Hork-Bajir called, "the situation on-planet is getting out of hand! They're calling for reinforcements!"

Esplin thought for a moment. "Land the ship on the sixth planet," he ordered Alloran. "I'll stun the three of you and lock you in the cargo hold, and take this ship back. Land the ship."

Alloran glared hatred at the Yeerk for a moment, then moved to the controls. Anyone watching would have thought that he was completely defeated.

Appearances can be deceiving.

< Loren, > he said quietly, in private thoughtspeak. It took all my self control not to jump. < Loren, > he repeated, < when I land the ship, I will land it hard enough to knock everyone off balance. When I do, attack Esplin. Daren and I will take care of the Hork-Bajir, but you are the only one close enough to attack the Visser. The planet we are about to land on has breathable atmosphere, and close to Earth-normal gravity. We only have one chance to do this. >

I nodded, ever so slightly, and readied myself, crouching slightly and tensing. I felt the ship go down, through the atmosphere. Down, down.

Down.

And then, with no warning at all, we hit. The Hork-Bajir lost their balance and fell. Esplin wavered, and I jumped at him. Grabbing the arm that held the dracon beam, I slammed it against the wall. Esplin howled and dropped the beam. Out of pure chance, one of the Hork-Bajir stepped on it as he was getting up, crushing it.

Esplin whirled at me, his eyes full of unreasoning hate. I turned and ran, down the hall, and to the main hatch.

"Open!" I yelled at the door. It slid open, and I threw myself through.

The first thing that hit me was the cold. It was incredibly cold on this planet, at least where we were. There was snow on the ground, water-snow, not some strange element. I turned back to the ship, just in time to see Esplin dive out after me. I backed away, surveying my fighting ground while keeping an eye on Esplin.

Alloran had landed the ship on a small plateau. It was roughly circular, and all around, there was a hundred and fifty-foot drop.

We circled each other. I ran over the exercises our defence teacher taught us, for calm and focus.

Esplin broke first, and rushed me. I managed to evade the attack, but only just. I was worried. You know how everyone says that it's better to be faster, rather than bigger? Well, the host that Esplin controlled at the moment was both faster, and bigger. I was in trouble.

I couldn't morph. When you morph, there are at least ten seconds when you are totally vulnerable. Ten seconds would be all Esplin needed.

From inside the ship, we could both hear the sounds of fighting. I prayed that Daren and Alloran were winning that fight.

I made the mistake of flicking my eyes towards the ship, taking my attention off Esplin for a split second. He attacked, knocking me over and to the edge of the plateau. He had me on my back, with my head over the edge.

Over a one hundred and fifty-foot drop.

"Surrender," he said through clenched teeth. "Surrender or die."

I tried to kick up, but I couldn't. There was no way for me to get out of this.

Or was there? I looked backwards over the edge. The fall would kill me. But so what? I was dead anyway. And maybe, this way, my death would do some good.

"Surrender!" Esplin repeated.

"You wish!" I yelled back, and threw all my strength into one last movement.

I threw my knees forwards, over my head, flipping my self and Esplin over the cliff.

I screamed, and so did he. He grabbed at my arm, and I pushed him away.

And we fell. The ground got larger and larger, nearer and nearer. I closed my eyes...

And I hit the ground, and blackness claimed me.

Chapter 11

Blackness claimed me. I felt my heart beating, but I didn't breathe. I didn't want to breathe. Breathing, I knew, would hurt. I just lay there, knowing I was dying. Knowing and accepting. I knew that, in a few minutes, my heart would stop. Then I would be alone, alone in this peaceful blackness. I wanted that.....

< Loren! >

I wasn't alone in the blackness. I couldn't see who it was, but I felt another presence in the dark. I wanted it to go away. I wanted to die.....

< Loren, no! It is not your time! >

What did it mean, it wasn't my time? I was dying, my body was broken. It didn't matter much, anyway. Who was I? Loren Fangor, daughter two war heroes. Not important, at least not in my own right.

I felt the bitterness that I had always repressed, never admitting it to anyone, not even myself, welling up. What did it matter, really, if I lived? My death would affect maybe five people. What difference did that make?

What was I, really, to the rest of the universe?

< You are many things, Loren, > the voice said.

In a flash of memory, I saw my parents and me, when I was two, on the Andalite homeworld. Saw the trees, remembered hiding behind them and jumping out at Mom and Dad, who would always jump, even thought they always knew I was there.

< Niece >

Flash. I saw Uncle, trying to look angry at me, after I hacked into the HeartSword's computer, when he was actually incredibly proud that I'd managed something like that. I remembered seeing through his faked anger, and suppressing a smile.

< Student >

Flash. Me sitting in my classes, watching as my teacher explained the lesson.

< Teacher >

Flash. I was helping the boy behind me in class, explaining how to do something, seeing dawning understanding in his face.

< Friend >

Flash. Me, Aniesha, Belaron and Halva, sitting at one side of the dome, me and Halva laughing at something ridiculous, and having to explain it to Aniesha and Belaron.

< Beloved >

Flash. Daren and I kissing, how happy I was....

< And there is much more that you could become. >

< Mother >

Myself, sitting with a baby in my arms....

< Ambassador >

Myself, the link between Andalite and Human, understanding both....

< Commander >

I was sitting on the bridge of a Dome ship.....

And then came the things harder to pin down, I saw myself giving support to a friend, by simply being there. I saw myself in many roles, more than I could ever have dreamed.

< But you cannot be these things if you are dead, Loren. >

Vaguely, as if from a million miles away, I felt someone turn me over, heard Daren calling me.

< To be these things, you must live. >

I felt Daren clamp his mouth down on mine, and force air into my lungs. Rescue breathing.

< To live, you must breathe. >

Finally, I could see the owner of the voice. I was a human man, tall, dignified looking. He was so naggingly familiar....

No, he wasn't human! He was Andalite, just as tall, proud, but somehow sad....

But he was human again. No Andalite....

Then I realized it didn't matter. He was both, somehow, human and Andalite. And I knew who he was.

< Live, Loren, > my grandfather said, power in his words. < Breathe. >

< Live. >

Daren continued to breathe for me, air going into my lungs, but doing me no good.

< Breathe. >

But....

< Live. >

< Breathe. >

< Live! >

I took a sudden, shuddering breath. My own breath, and I had been right. I hurt, oh how it hurt. But I breathed again.

And again.

And again.

Daren let out a shout of relief. "Loren," he said, pulling me into a half sitting position. "Loren, are you all right?" he asked, worry in his voice and face.

"Define 'all right'," I croaked, my voice harsh and painful. "I'll live. I think."

"We need to get you back up to the ship," Daren said, frowning. "Alloran!" he called up the cliff. "I need help!"

"Visser...Three?" I asked, the effort of talking almost too much. Daren smiled, with grim satisfaction.

"Very, very dead. He hit head first," he told me. I felt a moment of pity for the host, who was probably an unwilling one. But if he had been, he was now free. That counted for something.

I was about to try to say something else, when Alloran leaped down beside Daren. He knelt beside me, and said, < Can you morph? >

I shook my head, and immediately regretted it. Even that tiny movement hurt like hell.

"Can't...concentrate...that....much," I said brokenly. Daren pressed his lips together.

"Even as a Hork-Bajir, I can't carry you all the way up there," he said, his voice heavy with frustration. Alloran got a troubled look for a moment.

< I....have a morph that would work, > he said, shaking it off. It was probably not one that he wanted to remember. < It is fearsome, so do not be startled. >

He morphed. He was right. It was a fairly terrifying creature. It had two arms, and then six tentacles. It was huge, and black. It stood on two feet, and had a strangely humanoid body.

He very carefully picked me up with three of the tentacles, and started climbing up the cliff. I lay there, totally exhausted. I didn't even have the energy to cry out when one of my broken bones got jarred.

We reached the top. Daren had stayed human, and had still managed to climb the rock face. He carefully took me from Alloran, and Alloran demorphed. Daren carried me inside.

"Are there any medical supplies on this ship?" he asked Alloran.

< Yes. However, we only need to have Loren lucid and awake enough to morph. Then, when she returns to her own body, she will no longer be injured. >

"Okay, then, we need to find a non-groggy painkiller."

< Groggy? > Alloran asked, puzzled. Daren rolled his eyes, and I laughed, tiredly. Even laughing hurt.

"Groggy is a highly scientific human term. It means half asleep and not alert."

< Ah. >

It took about fifteen minutes to find the right painkiller, and, let me tell you, it was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. When it finally took affect, I sighed in relief. My mind cleared and I concentrated. I morphed the first thing that came to mind.

That just happened to be my Andalite morph.

When I was finished, I shooed both of them out of the room, and demorphed. I let out a sigh when I found all my bones whole, and no pain. I got dressed, and headed up to the bridge.

We lifted off the planet, leaving behind one of the most famous, or infamous, Vissers of the Yeerk Empire. We went into Z-space as soon as we could.

We'd been in Z-space for two hours when the comm beeped. Alloran checked it, and let out a startled exclamation.

< They're insane! > he exclaimed, staring at the comm.

"What?" I asked, startled.

< There was an attack planned on the Pamach system, > he began. The Pamach system has one of the most valuable mining asteroid belts in the galaxy. It was a small surprise to learn that the Yeerks were going to attack it.

"What ships got sent out there?" Daren demanded, looking as if he'd just figured something out. Alloran checked the computer.

< The HeartSword, and the Millennium, > he replied.

The answer hit me like a ton of bricks. "So that's why..."

"Why we got kidnapped?" Daren nodded. "They were probably expecting Tom to be with us. They were going to use us as bargaining chips or something."

"But," I protested, "we've escaped, and so has Alloran. Not to mention the fact that Visser Three's dead. Who's leading the attack?"

Alloran's face got a wry expression. < I believe the human expression, 'I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count', is appropriate. >

"David," Daren said. "He's going to try and bluff it."

"But that won't work if we get to the Fleet first," I pointed out.

Alloran immediately changed course. < It will be close. We may beat them by less than an hour. >

I grinned at Daren. "It's crazy. Therefore, as Rachel Fangor's daughter, I do hereby quote her." My grin got wider. "Let's do it!"

Chapter 12

It was close. Two hours later, we came out of Z-space. But we'd overlooked something.

The Alliance ships, faced with the appearance of a Blade ship, immediately sent fighter wings out to intercept us.

Alloran dodged, while I tried to get the pilots' attention.

"Stop shooting at me!" I ordered, to no effect. I'd already broadcast my identity, also to no effect. When I saw Prince Reynor-Temillan-Yassar's ship, I lost patience.

"Stop shooting at me, or so help me God, Prince Reynor, I will never pay attention in your class again!"

It was ridiculous. It was absurd.

And it worked.

Immediately, the shooting stopped. < Loren? > came the Prince's startled voice.

"No, it's the Easter Bunny," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm. "I did broadcast my identity, didn't I?" The Prince tried to answer that, but he couldn't, really. I laughed, Daren grinned, and Alloran rolled his eyes sky ward. Suddenly, the explanations cut off. There was silence for a moment, then a new thoughtspeak voice came on.

< Now, > said the dry voice of Science Officer Sarala-Kemtar-Eliss, < if you're finished embarrassing the fighter pilots, would you land in the main hangar? >

"Right," I said, grinning.

Alloran manoeuvred the Blade ship into the hangar. As soon as we landed, Daren and I took off for the main hatch. We ran out into the hangar.

I don't think you could have put more people into one hangar than there were there at that moment. I think everyone from both Dome ships was trying to squeeze into the area.

Suddenly, the crowd parted. Running through the middle was my Uncle, and, somehow keeping up with him, Marco.

Neither Daren or I stopped to think. We ran down the boarding ramp and into our family's arms.

After a few moments, in which I cannot remember a single word I said, Marco asked, "Where did you get the Blade ship?"

"Stole it," I said, like I did that sort of thing every day.

< Who flew it? > Uncle asked.

Daren and I looked at each other for a moment. Then, Daren said:

"War-Prince Alloran."

The shocked silence that filled our little group made me laugh. My Uncle and Daren's dad were staring at us, like we'd grown wings or something.

"I want to hear this one," Marco muttered under his breath.

< Where is he now? > Uncle asked, switching from 'Uncle' mode to 'Captain' mode.

"On the Blade ship," I said, and then everything, the whole hangar, went silent. Daren looked at me.

"I don't think he's on the ship anymore," he whispered, lifting an eyebrow. We all turned.

At the top of the ramp stood Alloran. He had this incredibly sad expression, one that made you want to cry.

Uncle Aximili moved forwards. He moved to the bottom of the ramp.

< War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corass, > he said. Alloran looked at him. Uncle smiled, but it, too was a very sad smile.

< Welcome home. >

Chapter 13

We laid our plans quickly. Daren went over to the Millennium, and I stayed on the HeartSword. Alloran took the Blade ship and the fighter wings and hid them in the asteroid field.

Aniesha stood on the bridge beside me. She was uneasy, and she kept shifting her weight.

"Stand still," I told her, grinning.

< What am I doing on the bridge? > she demanded, scared, although she would never have admitted it. Me, I'd grown up around these people. They had all alternately congratulated me, consoled me and hauled me out of trouble, usually by the scuff of the neck. Aniesha, however, was uncomfortable around high-ranking officers.

I shrugged. "Like I know. I just got back from being kidnapped."

Aniesha was about to say something, when Lt. Commander Reilly said, "The Yeerk task force is coming out of Z-space."

There was silence on the bridge. The Yeerk Fleet came out of Z-space. It hung there for a moment, then launched the Bug fighters. The two Blade ships hung back.

The Bug fighters drew closer, but neither Dome ship fired. Nor did we launch any fighters.

It must have driven the Yeerks nuts. We just hung there, doing nothing. The Bug fighters drew closer. And closer.

Then they passed the asteroid field.

< Now! > Uncle ordered, with an identical order coming from Admiral Tigris on the Millennium.

Andalite and Human fighters swarmed out from behind the asteroids, cutting the Bugs of from the Pool ships. The pilots of the Bugs tried to break out, but were systematically blown up. The Blade ships started to attack.....

And then there were three of them. You could almost see the Yeerks perk up, and get more confident....

Until, of course, the third Blade ship did an abrupt about face, and started firing on it's counterparts. The first one was taken completely by surprise and quickly destroyed. The other made a valiant effort to fight back, but Alloran was joined by two other fighters, one Human and one Andalite, and they quickly finished the Yeerk ship off.

The battle was going badly for the Yeerks.

"I give it five seconds before David tries to play his trump card," the Admiral over the comm. "Four, three, two, one..."

"Incoming hail from the Yeerk Pool ship, sir!" said two comm officers at the same time. There were a few chuckles on both bridges.

< Right on time, > Uncle said. < Open communications. >

David appeared on the screen. I was just out of range, so he couldn't see me, but I could see him.

"Well, Ax, Jake, it's been too long!" he mocked. Uncle looked levelly at the screen.

"Forever isn't long enough, David," Jake said. We couldn't see him, but we could guess at his expression. In the three weeks we spent on Earth, I noticed that when Jake gets angry, he doesn't yell. His voice gets very quiet, and almost silky. That was the exact tone he was using now.

Not that I blamed him.

"So hostile, old friend?" David said, and then laughed like he'd said something funny.

< What do you want, traitor? > my Uncle asked, putting a lot of contempt in his 'voice'. < You've lost. Your forces are being routed. You may as well run back to your Yeerk masters and tell them you've failed. >

David snarled, silently. "Be careful , Andalite," he hissed. "I believe I have something you want. Or, should I say, someone?"

Uncle pretended to stiffen. < What do you mean? > he demanded, doing a good job of putting fake suspicion in his voice. David chuckled, a mocking sound.

"I have Loren, fool. Your niece. The daughter of the stupid bird and that..that.." He seemed at a loss to find a suitably insulting word for my mother. "I also have Daren, Marco. I know you're listening. How would it feel to be the absolute last person in your family?" I clenched my fists. I really hated this guy.

Uncle pretended to look sick. < What do you want? > he asked, imitating defeat.

"What do I want? I want safe passage to the Imlath system. When we get there, I'll send them over."

My Uncle pretended to consider. Then he couldn't stand it anymore.

< No, I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn that offer down, traitor, > he said, laughing himself. There was a shocked silence from the other end.

"You're writing off your niece," David blustered. "How can you-"

I stepped forwards, into range of the screen. "Hi, David," I said, in a conversational tone.

"How are you?" Daren asked from the other ship. Uncle smiled, and turned back to the screen.

"You see, David," said the Admiral, from the other ship, "we planned for you. Again. Why don't you just give it up? Go home, David, or we'll take your fleet apart to the seams."

And with that, both ships cut the connection.

The Yeerks paused for a moment, and then, en masse, they entered Z-space, and disappeared.

A cheer erupted on the bridge. Even Aniesha cheered. For the moment, everything was wonderful.

And that's all we ever have a right to hope for.

Epilogue
"I've crossed lines with words and wire,
and both have cut me deep.
I've been frozen out and I've been on fire,
and the tears are mine to weep.
But I can cry, until I laugh,
or laugh until I cry.
So cut the deck right in half,
I'll play from either side!"
-Mary-Chapin Carpenter

Alloran-Semitur-Corass stood outside and stared at the stars. As he was in Human form, to do this he had to tilt his head back. Behind him, music and laughter mixed, with a few threads of conversation audiable over the general din.

The party was Jake's. A Human custom, to celebrate victories in this fashion. An agreeable one, as well.

The Andalites who had come were all in Human form, because, although it could easily hand one or two, Jake's house was not really capable of fitting more than three Andalites at a time, and there were six here.

Of those six, one was Alloran's wife, Jahar. It had taken her less than two days to get to Earth, where Alloran was. Their reunion had be a purely joyful moment.

Right now, she was engaged in conversation with Cassie. Both were smiling. Alloran wondered what about.

The children were arguing. The young female aristh, Aniesha, was looking somewhat bewildered as Jake's son, Tom, and Loren argued with each other about something. Alloran shook his head in sympathy. It took years to have even a rudimenary understand of human behaviour. At the moment, Loren and Tom looked like they were about to kill each other. But in ten minutes, they would undoubtedly be laughing and agreeing again.

Alloran felt somewhat apart from the festivities. Though he did, in truth, have much to celebrate, he did not feel that he could. The weight of too many years of guilt and hardship still clung to him, try as he might to shrug it off.

And so he watched them, invited yet apart.

So much hung above his head. The quantum virus, the loss of the Hork-Bajir world, and more. How could he live life again?

Laughter to his right jarred him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Tom bowing in excessive politeness to Aniesha. She looked desperately at Loren, pleading. Loren grinned, grabbed her friends hand and swung her towards Tom. As her balance was not good, she nearly fell. Tom caught her and they all laughed.

The song that was playing ended. Daren held out his hand to Loren as the next one started, and they moved out on to the dance floor.

Alloran paused for a moment. The song that played now was simple, no complex harmonies or anything of the sort.

And yet, it was a song of joy, simple joy and hope. The four children danced, Tom teaching Aniesha the basic steps and Loren and Daren improvising more complicated ones. There was no room for worry. They were in the middle of a war, they had already been made targets. And still they could completely forget it all, enough to simply enjoy themselves, now.

How he wished he could.

He turned back towards the stars, when a thoughtspeak voice came out of nowhere.

< If you brood much longer, you'll become depressed. >

That was all it said. Alloran froze, and tried to find the source of the voice. Then he laughed, recognizing it. Over forty years ago, he had commanded an aristh named Elfangor. He threw a mocking salute in the direction of the night, and turned back to the house.

As he walked in the doors, the lyrics of the song caught his attention:

"And after all the violence and double talk,
it's just song in all the trouble and the strife.
He do the walk, he do the walk of life."

Simple lyrics, yet profound meaning. He smiled again, and walked towards Jahar.

And she smiled to see him coming.

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