Chapter 8

Cassie

Negotiating with the Andalite High Command turned out to be tougher and longer than we hoped. We almost lost the fight for the means to deliver our terms to the surrendering Yeerks.

I was surprised that even while grieving for his nephew, Ax found the strength to put his own piece into play: long story short, he got the pieces across the board and the terms into our favor. The Andalites were our allies now, not overlords, though it was a close thing. He had to challenge the Andalite Commanding Officer, Captain Asculan's, orders to lay the terms in our favor. The Yeerks and Taxxons would get what was promised to them.

Jake even seemed to forget that Ax had executed the captive Visser without his permission.

Things happened quickly after that. With terms now approved, the Yeerks on the Pool ship formalized their surrender. The Pool ship joined the Andalite fleet in entering close Earth orbit where we contacted the remaining Yeerk ships and gave them their ultimatum : they would die standing or surrender and be transformed permanently.

Some of the Yeerk ships contacted their home world and received instructions to fight back.

But the Andalites had all the technical data of the Pool ship — including disabling codes, combat tactics, communications ciphers.

Caught leaderless, disabled, and suddenly outnumbered, the resisting ships were easily destroyed. The rest of them surrendered. The Yeerk crews were shuttled to the Pool ship where they left their host bodies to return to the now-refilled pool. Newly freed human and Hork-Bajir worked with Andalites to keep the ships flying.

That was a long process as well. Even with the destruction of the Yeerk Pool and the draining of the Pool ship, there were thousands- even tens of thousands- of controllers left. All surrendering, all leaving their hosts for the refilled pool aboard the mother-ship.

We Animorphs and the newly minted Prince Aximili, landed Ax's official liaison ship, a sleek Fast-Courier, right in the middle of the Mall in Washington.

Not a mall, the Washington Mall, an area of open green space with the Capitol Building at one end, the Smithsonian Institution and various government buildings on both sides, and the obelisk of the Washington Monument at the far end.

We called ahead to General Doubleday, telling him to inform Washington of our arrival- we didn't want to cause a massive panic at the sight of an alien vessel touching down.

There were roughly a thousand cops and twice that many news-people waiting for us. It was, as Marco said, a "Media Storm''. Try Blizzard.

A sea of microphones and video cameras and began demanding explanations for what had been happening and where things stood now.

Marco answered about ninety percent of the questions, while the rest were spread between us.

Us, referring to me and Jake. Ax had remained silent for all of five minutes. If he even heard the questions he didn't show it. After that, he had silently turned back and made his way back up his ship's ramp, and it took off minutes later.

He left without a word.

Chapter 9:

Jake

6 days later:

It was a duel funeral in every way but one.

The bodies were missing.

Not truly missing. Everyone knew where they were.

Everyone knew their final resting place.

The fire had been put out hours after the Blade-ship's crash. By the time it had been, the once mighty vessel was unrecognizable. They found only small pieces that survived the crash. The majority of the debris melted with the fire.

No bodies, friend or foe, were recovered.

Everyone aboard the Bladeship was confirmed dead. But only a few could be identified, by those who had personally seen them aboard the ship.

Facing my parents was the hardest thing I did. I was responsible for Tom's death. Just as I was for the deaths of Tobias and Rachel. They told me it wasn't my fault. They told me how proud they were of me, how I did the right thing. I couldn't help but feel they were half-hearted. What do you do when your son sends your niece and her boyfriend to kill your other son?

We buried pictures of them in the end.

Rachel was easy. There were so many pictures of her. School photos. Family photos.

We threw a couple of them into the coffin.

But there was one final picture. It had been a photo taken by Marco's camera, on a timer.

It was a photo of all six Animorphs, including Ax, in the Hork Bajir family. With Tobias as a Hawk.

That photo of her represented the war side of her; fearless Xena Warrior princess, as Marco called her.

The school and family photos were the other side of her, the teenage girl who liked to shop for the latest fashion trends.

And we also put a rug into the coffin. A grizzly's fur and skin. It was Marco's idea.

We couldn't find a photo of Tobias at first.

There were no human pictures of him that we knew of. No one, not even Loren, really remembered what he looked like before the war. There were no surviving school pictures. There was the picture of him as a hawk. We buried that picture, but the funeral didn't feel complete.

Then Rachel's younger sister, Jordan came foreword. At the Hork Bajir valley, she once upon a time had some time on her hands and she had discovered Rachel's old camera.

She discovered a photo of Tobias on there. In his human form, a sad look overshadowing a slight smile.

Rachel must have taken it in private.

I fleetingly thought that had Rachel been alive, she probably would have strangled Jordan for digging into her personal items. Probably.

We buried that picture too.

Before the coffins were lowered into the ground, all the Animorphs gave speeches. The President gave a speech. Several Andalites attended the funeral. Even Ax, who had avoided us ever since the day on the Pool Ship, attended, and gave a speech about Rachel and Tobias, and their part in the war.

His words of never meeting braver warriors in all his years among the Andalite Fleet, in particular, stuck to me.

Rachel would have loved it. She would have thought it was over the top, but would have enjoyed the attention anyway.

Tobias, the bird-boy who had gone through hell and back repeatedly during the war, would have wanted to melt into the ground. He could face down a hoard of Hork Bajir Controllers and take torture without breaking, but he could not face crowds. Especially when they had their attention focused on him.

Would have, but there was nothing left of them. Not even ashes to fill an urn.

Neither family had specifically ordered any coffins. They didn't have to.

The coffins meant for Tobias and Rachel were fit for royalty. Complimentary gifts for fallen international heroes.

As I saw them lowered to the ground, I said a few final words.

'' Goodbye, Rachel. You too Tobias. Hope you both find peace wherever you go.''