Disclaimer: As always, the Animorphs belong to K. and Scholastic Inc.
Author's Note: -( )- Denotes thought-speech
Chapter 7: Aboard the Pool Ship
My name is Jake. Jake Berenson, the leader of the Animorphs, and I was kicking myself something epic.
The war is at its end, and this is the final battle. After we destroyed the ground-based Yeerk Pool, the Visser One ordered the destruction of most of our town so they could land their Pool Ship, and thus give us the biggest target. So we attacked, and the mission has been screwed since the beginning, right after the Pool Ship took off with Tobias outside, and with Rachel with Tom, we are down to only the four of us, Erek and Toby and the free Hork-Bajir. But, of course, Erek can't fight and Toby's people are gonna be busy with the next part of the plan.
-(Well this is just fucking marvelous, isn't it!)- Marco sarcastically said –(There is now only four of us, four, to take the fucking bridge. I mean, is that even possible!? Four people to take out the most heavily guarded place on the ship, apart from the pool itself! I mean, come on!)-
-(You done yet?)- I asked
-(No I'm not fuckin' well not done yet!)-
-(Fine then)- I said diplomatically, before shouting –(Marco, shut the fuck up!)-
-(Okay, I'll be good)- he replied meekly. I rarely shout, so he must have got the message that I'm pissed off.
-(Prince Jake, if I might be allowed to ask…)- Ax started
-(Just spit it out, Ax)-
-(What exactly do we do now?)-
-(We continue as planned, only everyone is gonna have to fight a lot harder)-
We were hiding in a ventilation shaft near the engine room of the Pool Ship as Visser One prepared to douse it in Dracon fire, in an attempt to kill us. In truth, this was part of our very elaborate plan.
-(Open the doors,)- I heard the Visser order.
There was a pneumatic hiss as the blast doors slid open, followed by blinding volleys of Dracon fire.
-(Okay, move along the tunnel and stay quite,)- I said as we all made the transition from human to our battle morphs, -(Toby, once the fire stops, attack. Don't stop, we need you to keep them busy. If it comes to it, fight to the last, do you hear Toby, to the last,)- I need to stop making a habit of condemning my friends and allies.
We ran quietly down the tunnel and down through a vent Ax opened with his tail. We burst out of the room and tore off down the corridor, away from engineering and to the pool itself. On our way, we encountered very little resistance, only a few spooked patrols. Most ran, but some decided to stand and fight, but they were cut down in seconds.
-(Now this is payback. We've taken three years of shit from these slugs, and now we can finally, finally, give back to them,)- Marco shouted, jovially. –(Man, Rachel's gonna be pissed she missed this!)-
-(Where is she anyway? I know her, and she wouldn't miss this for the world)- Cassie said quietly, -(Jake, where is she? And why won't you tell me?)-
-(All right, I'll honest. She's with Tom, I couldn't let him have the Blade Ship,)- I said sullenly.
-(JAKE! I can't believe you! When did you become so ruthless?)- said Cassie, shocked by what I'd done, -(You are very lucky Tobias isn't here, or else he'd kill you,)-
-(I know, I know!)- I shouted, -(There's nothing that can be done, so lets get on with what we can do, shall we?)-
There was a ringing silence after that. As we neared the Pool, we encountered several Hork-Bajir guards, looking incredibly nervous and muttering about the fight in engineering. I charged straight at the closest Hork-Bajir and sunk my teeth into his neck, piercing his jugular and I felt the warm blood flow into my mouth. I leapt off of him and swiped at the next one. I left several gashes down his chest and a wolf leapt up and bit the back of the Hork-Bajir's neck, paralyzing it.
After the brief fight, we went through the doors and there we were, in the holy of holys, the Yeerk Pool. It was over two hundred yards in diameter, and it was perfectly round. The pool was ringed with cages full of uncooperative hosts, with up to twenty-five hosts in each.
-(Marco, the cages!)- I yelled, with the hosts we might have a chance of taking the ship.
-(On it, man)- he replied happily
"Andalite!" cried a Hork-Bajir voice.
The human-controllers drew their Dracon Beams, but hesitated to fire in their sanctum. We tore through them before they could react, and Cassie tore up one of the Taxxons so that it was set upon by its brothers.
-(Prince Jake)- Ax said –(Inside that booth, those must be the controls for the pool)-
-(Yeah? And?)- I didn't get it
-(They must occasionally repair the pool itself,)- Ax said –(That would mean draining it)-
-(Lets go!)-
A bonus. Another new element. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Good. Good. Maybe. I knew the way the plan played out, knew what would happen. Rachel. Tom. Inevitable. Maybe new elements, maybe the freed prisoners, maybe this new opening, maybe the inevitable need not occur. Maybe we could save her.
The booth Ax had spotted looked absurdly like a toll-collector's booth on the highway. It was clear plastic and perched just above the pool, jutting slightly out. There was a single Hork-Bajir inside. There were eight Hork-Bajir outside, unarmed but ready for trouble, ready to stand and fight.
No time to think, attack! Ax and I raced straight at them. I slashed and opened my nearest foe from belly to neck. Ax's tail whipped. Cassie came bounding up behind us and launched herself into the battle.
But the area was too narrow, we were hemmed in. Like being shoved down inside a
blender set on puree. The Hork-Bajir were all around us, beating us down, slashing, cutting, pounding, tearing at us with their clawed feet.
No way to get free! I couldn't strike without hitting Ax who was shoved hard against me. And then, on my back, snarling but helpless, I
saw a Hork-Bajir leap high over my head and land like a mosh-pit surfer on my tormentors. The prisoners! One of the Hork-Bajir prisoners
Marco had released.
Marco was there now, too, but most of all, itwas the freed prisoners. They turned the tide, attacking their tormentors with awesome rage. Ax was on his hooves again, bloody, hurt, but well enough to swing his tail and cut the lock to the control booth.
A gorilla yanked the door open and said, -(Hi, there! You want to live? Then lie down right now!)- He grabbed the unresisting Hork-Bajir and threw him out into the fracas.
Then Marco held the door open like a hotel doorman and grinned a rubbery gorilla grin.
-(Gentlemen?)-
Ax pushed past me, began punching at active screens and arrays of controls.
-(There is a flush sequence,)- he said. -(I have to override the safety protocols.)-
He turned his stalk eyes to me even as his main eyes guided swift, nimble fingers.
-(It can be done.)-
-(Okay,)- I said.
-(The pool is full to capacity. These are the Yeerks that were rescued from the earth-based Yeerk pool. Plus the bulk of the unhosted Yeerks recently transported here.)-
-(Some reason you're telling me all this, Ax-man?)-
-(Jake, there are seventeen thousand, three hundred seventy-two Yeerks in this pool.)-
That rocked me. Visser One had to know we were here, on the loose. He had to run for the bridge and not stay to win the fight in engineering. Seventeen thousand. Living creatures. Thinking creatures. How could I give this order? Even for victory. Even to save Rachel. How could I give this kind of order?
They could have stayed home, I thought. No one had asked them to come to Earth. Not my fault. Not my fault, theirs.
No more than they deserved.
Aliens. Parasites. Subhuman.
-(Flush them,)- I said.
A/N: Sorry about the wait for this chapter, but I've had a hell of a lot of school commitments that I've had to take care of, and I've only been able to put this up due to a teachers strike and a lack of assignments. Anyway, as always, read and review, tell me what you thought.