Chapter 6

Cassie didn't seem fussed about settling in. Work had already started to clean the place up a little and she was more than happy to help. We had spent a night within the crumbling walls, and I already hated it. I told Cassie that she would soon hate the place after spending a night there, but she explained that she would have to return at night at her own place so that Ronnie – her partner and work colleague – wouldn't think she had gone missing.

I had only ever seen Ronnie on TV. Seemed like a nice guy. We still didn't altogether trust him with certain knowledge, though, and Cassie understood.

With Cassie integrating speedily into the group and instantly forming a strong relationship with Jeanne, we moved along to more serious matters once we'd de-cobwebbed the living room. We lit the place with portable lamps, and they were dotted around the darkening house.

Menderash was fiddling with a small round device. It glowed with dim blue neon around the disc of its body as it span in his clunky fingers. It was something we had picked up on the way to Wyoming. He explained that it was dropped off by Caysath, who just so happened to be crossing our path the day before, and just so happened to drop that neon coin thing…

He wanted to use it, and it looked like he was going to get his way.

"Prince Jake," He started. "Contacting Caysath may open up more options for us. Hasn't he already shown that he is trustworthy?"

I was opposed to the idea, and continued to hold my stance. "Mendy, I get that you don't want us to cut ties with the military, but do you really know the guy?"

Jake was watching us, silent throughout as he compiled notes in his head.

"I knew him well while we were in the academy." He replied.

"How long ago? Earth years?" I asked.

"About ten Earth years."

"A lot can change in ten years," I commented. "I mean, do we really even know why he chose to keep us as his little secret? What good does it do him?"

Santorelli answered. "Guy wants to save Ax? Both Princes, maybe they were close."

We all turned to Menderash. He replied, "I don't ever recall Prince Aximili mentioning his name."

"It could be true," Cassie interjected. "The Andalites have always valued their honor and loyalty."

"You mean to tell me that Andalites have always held to that standard?" I asked the room.

Menderash was bound to take offense, and he did. He stood up from his seated position on one of the mattresses. He never argued sitting down. "We would never leave our own in the clutches of the enemy!"

I refused to stand up, remaining by a warm lamp near the centre of the room. "I hate to point it out, dude, but where was your loyalty when you left The Intrepid?"

"Hey, that's enough!" Cassie called. It was needless, as Menderash had shrunk back down. He knew all too well that he didn't have a leg to stand on in that regard. Jake, meanwhile, gave me that look again.

Jeanne was next to speak. "I think Marco has a point. What does this Andalite owe us?"

Tobias, who was sat atop the old dusty mantelpiece, answered. ((We went into Kelbrid Space to find Ax.))

Jake nodded to that, and finally spoke up. "Caysath brought Menderash to describe what happened on The Intrepid. We decided to go find Ax, and Caysath was willing to keep quiet to allow us to do that. Caysath wanted Ax back, and he put his own neck on the line for us."

I shook my head lightly enough so nobody would notice. I had a bad feeling that there was more to it all, but nobody had any ideas. I threw in a final argument. "And what happens when we get Ax back? You think the Kelbrids are just going to sit back and accept it? Jake, a Prince would know that. He sent us out there because he didn't want to risk being killed, and he didn't want Andalites to be the ones to suffer any repercussions."

"He didn't go himself because he didn't want to start a war," Menderash retorted sternly. "If an Andalite is found willingly travelling in Kelbrid space, there's no knowing what will happen."

I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to win him or Jake over. Raising my hand, I signalled my surrender.

Santorelli shrugged. "Could work in our favour. Or we could be heading back to Kansas."

"Mendy," Jake spoke. "Let's give him a call."

He nodded and shuffled forward, placing the small circular neon object between us all. He tapped something on the side, and said into it, "Request communication with parent device."

The thing bleeped and glowed steadily, a light hum radiating from it. Just as we were growing impatient, one jarring blurt of electronic sound emanated, and a bright blue light shot up to the ceiling, almost doubling the room's brightness between us all. The beam of light spread outwards, and the holographic image of an Andalite appeared, his whole body from head to hooves coming into view.

He looked just as I expected, really. He had the proud stance of an Andalite warrior, but from what Menderash and Jake had told us, he'd long since retired from any combat roles, settling into something more like a desk job, or at least the Andalite equivalent. He didn't have the toned muscles of an active warrior, and he almost looked a little jaded, like he'd had a hard day in the space office.

I was impressed with the tiny device. It had even better graphics than my PS3!

Caysath looked around the room, and I was interested to see that his main eyes focused on Jake, rather than Menderash.

His thought-speak voice came through a small but effective speaker on the neon projector. "Hello, Jake Berenson. It's good to see you again, and all others." His stalk eyes briefly rested on each one of us. One stalk eye spent a suspiciously long time on Cassie, whose eyes darted nervously.

"Hi Caysath," Jake responded in a casual tone. "Good to see you, too."

"I'm curious," Caysath started, clasping his many-fingered hands together. "Did you manage to gather any information?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah, we did."

Caysath cocked his head. "Might I ask how?"

Jake's eyes scanned the room. He was looking out for any objections. When none came, he answered. "We got information from Esplin 9466."

"I can't imagine the answers came easily."

I noticed the hints of regret in Jake's eyes. It was an experience that he kept mostly secret from us, but I knew that it wasn't pretty. "No, but we got them."

"We haven't heard anything about him. Either he was left unscathed, or the Humans have not reported to us."

"It doesn't matter," Jake immediately said, pushing the issue aside. "We're willing to share the information with you, so long as we can be certain that you can keep it confidential."

"That implies that you want my assistance," Caysath correctly stated. "I can assure you that the information you will give me will remain confidential for as long as you see fit, but what I can't assure you is that I can help you further."

I gave Jake an I told you so look, then ceased it when I remembered that Andalites – even holographic ones – had three-sixty vision.

Jake accepted it, and proceeded. "Esplin told me that The One is a Kelbrid weapon designed for war with the Andalites."

Caysath's stance changed. He probably didn't expect such an abrupt answer. "Ah…"

Jake continued, "Ax is still alive somewhere, but he is connected up to The One, which is based somewhere called Kyritlyp."

"Kyritlyp…" Caysath pondered, rubbing at his forehead. "It does not sound familiar. It sounds, though, like this One entity has a main source from which it radiates. Perhaps the Kelbrid home world."

"Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe better," Jake remarked. "Thing is, Caysath, we aren't giving up on Ax. We've called on you because we want to explore our options."

Caysath slumped a little. "I'm afraid there isn't much I can do to help get you back into Kelbrid Space."

"Prince Caysath," Menderash spoke, drawing both of Caysath's stalk eyes. "Are you certain that there is no way other than taking another vessel?"

"I must urge you not to take another vessel. I would strongly advice against it, not only to reduce my own risk, but yours, too. You think security hasn't been increased exponentially on Earth since the last vessels were stolen? You wouldn't stand a chance."

((We're getting Ax.)) Tobias averred from his perch.

It drew the full attention of Caysath, who even turned his whole body, rather than just his head to gawk at the feathery creature that had spoken up so assertively.

He considered for a moment, his main eyes closing while his stalks were still so alert. "There may be something… It carries risk, but it's going to be your best chance, unless I'm completely missing something."

"We want to hear it." Jake said.

"You must reveal yourself to the Andalite military."