((A/N -- I'm not really sure if this is just a crappy chapter because I felt the urgent need to update, or if it actually pertains to the plot. Please read and review, and please let me know if this is even making any sense. I'm trying desperately not to over complicate things and solve problems.))

Chapter Eleven: Jake

The Andalites who had captured Ax, Rachel and I weren't exactly gentle. But, who could blame them? They took the ship we had been flying, and immediately began looking at logs and files while they hustled us to some sort of Andalite brig on the vessel that had boarded with us. There were shredders in ever conceivable place in the cell. I looked around with my stalk eyes, and I knew that there was no way we were going to get out of here by morphing or even by trying to break out. They would fry us within seconds.

(Okay, cousin, what do you plan we do?) Rachel asked idly, patting the walls of our cell. (I don't suppose you've figured out a way for us to take the ship, have you?)

I sighed. (Rachel, there's no point in trying to break out. They would kill us. The best thing we can do is try and work with the Andalites and make them realize that this isn't our fault…it's Farangal's.)

(Which should be any moment by now, right?) She pressed. (I mean, there's a file on that computer somewhere. They're bound to find it. They were working through that stuff like mad when they took us.)

I didn't exactly have a response. The Andalites, in my experience with them, had never exactly been trustworthy. They would bury their head in the sand and choose to ignore the obvious truth because of their intense pride. So, no, I wasn't too sure if the Andalites would find the file, and if they did, I wasn't sure if they would acknowledge its existence. At the risk of perhaps Ax getting stiff to the situation, I kept quiet. He knew about his people's reputation in the galaxy, but he was still an Andalite who would proud of his heritage. No need to make tensions any worse than they were at the moment.

Just then, two Andalite officers came in. The guards in front of our cell stood at attention, their hand held shredders pointed towards us in case we decided to attack these guys. Which was pointless, I realized. There was no practical way to attack these guards or officers without very quickly ending up dead. And we couldn't win this war dead on an alien space craft.

Again.

So, I tried to give the officers my attention, as did Rachel and Ax.

(Just be cool,) I whispered to them.

The officers stood in front of our cell, surveying us over like we were bugs that needed to be killed. But, instead of killing us, they just turned away from us. It was almost as if they were ashamed to even look at us. Andalite pride and honor are important, so maybe if I were a true Andalite, I would feel bad at being turned away from, but I didn't. I was just irritated that they wouldn't even listen, let alone look at us.

(It has been known,) the one Andalite started, (for generations past that Kelbrid space is directly off limits to Andalites. So, please, before I grow infuriated with you, tell me why you would deliberately steal a space craft and go into forbidden space.)

Rachel looked at me, wondering if I would answer. But, I knew that Ax would probably be better dealing with his own people. He knew what to expect and how to respond to these, guys, I didn't. So, I turned and nodded towards Ax, giving him the clue that he could respond.

(It's true that an Andalite stole a fighter and went into Kelbrid space,) Ax began slowly. (But it was not us. We were kidnapped against our will. We were hostages to an Andalite scientist named Farangal. He was a Yeerk sympathizer who knew that a war against the Kelbrid would distract the Andalites long enough for the Yeerks to plan a second -- )

(Enough!) The officer snapped. (I knew Farangal personally. He was a noble warrior and a brilliant scientist. That you would even discredit his name in such a vulgar way is proof enough that you were the ones who kidnapped him!)

(Sir…) Ax tried.

(Silence!) He roared again. (If you took a well known scientist, you could hide behind his name. Yes, that's what you did. Don't bother to deny it.)

Ax turned on stalk eye towards me. He spoke privately to only Rachel and I. (Prince Jake, this officer has seen the file. I'm sure of it. He wishes to protect a good friend's name by having us take the blame.)

(Over my dead body!) Rachel fumed.

The officer continued. (Someone needs to be punished for the million Andalite's dead in the initial attack from the Kelbrid. And who do you propose that be?) He raised a hand to keep us from answering. (It shall be the ones who began the attack.)

(Farangal was doing experiments with transferring brains between bodies,) I said as calmly as I could, even though the frustration was growing within me. (I am Jake Berenson from Earth. This is my cousin, and this one is Prince Aximilli-Esgarouth-Isthil…)

(They are dead,) the officer responded flatly. (Do not try to fool me.)

(He took our minds and put them into new bodies!) I yelled. (You have to believe that it was him who started this. The Kelbrids may be attacking your home world, but I guarantee you that at this moment, the Yeerks are planning a second invasion on the galaxy.)

He officer leaned in close and looked at my main eyes with his. (You shall be executed for treachery to the Andalite people. Your sentence will be carried out upon arrival to the home world.)

(Don't you see what's happening?) I argued. (Farangal is using us against each other. He was a Yeerk sympathizer, and it was him who started this. He's still out there, probably giving Kelbrid intelligence on the Andalites, and helping the Yeerks try and rise again. You're going to kill the wrong people, and let the person who actually did this will get away!)

The officer looked towards one of the guards, who raised his weapon. In an instant, a green flash appeared and Rachel slumped helplessly to the floor.

(Stop it!) I argued, jumping forward, but the tail blade of the officer was at my throat, in between the bars in a second.

(We are battling for our lives, you incompetent fool,) he whispered icily. (You're friend is unconscious. And for every time you frustrate me, I will stun again. And again. I don't know how many times a shredder can hit a target on a low setting before it actually kills, but if you try my patience we shall both discover together. Am I clear?)

He removed his tail blade, confident that he had made his point. And he had. I wasn't going to stay anything else for risk of putting Ax's life on the line, as well as Rachel's.

(The Kelbrid are attacking us, and you are the only ones we have to explain for it's happening,) he continued. (With the information from your ship, we should have the necessary intelligence to find your friends still on the loose and capture them. With their ship, we should have enough information to stop the Kelbrid attack.)

He paced back and forth, and then momentarily stopped to continue his thought. I wasn't sure if this guy was still talking for the sake of my hearing him, or if he was just talking aloud to hear himself. (You will be executed for the traitorous behavior and the murder of a million plus Andalite people. Do not try and argue that point. We will stop this Kelbrid attack, and then we shall go back to the peaceful life we were leading.)

He paused, looking directly at me and said, (There is no additional Yeerk threat.)

With that, he and his fellow officer left. The guards went back on attention.

(He's an idiot,) I said to Ax, kneeling beside Rachel. (They're going to kill us and kill any hope of actually finding Farangal and stopping the Yeerk invasion.)

(He wants to help his people,) Ax said. (I cannot condemn him for that.)

(Ax, let's be serious for a second,) I said. (Supposing that your people do get the intelligence needed to defeat the Kelbrid, do you think that they could actually do it? I mean, the Kelbrid are pretty advanced.)

(I am confident that given the right information and the right application, yes, they could win.)

I sighed, thinking quickly. (It's safe to say that the Kelbrid don't intend on attacking anyone else in the galaxy. They're pretty intent on just destroying the Andalites.)

(What are you planning, Prince Jake?)

(Ax, if we manage to keep from being executed when we get to your planet, we need to get out of there. We need to find Farangal and the Yeerks.) I stood up, feeling anxious and excited. (It's obvious they're not going to listen. We give your people the necessary intelligence to win. Since they don't believe us about this attack being a front to hide another one, we leave the planet to find the Yeerks and keep them from becoming a serious threat again.)

(This is more complicated than any mission we have ever done before,) Ax said.

(Yeah, I know,) I nodded. (But, if we don't win this one, the Yeerks aren't only loose on the galaxy again, but the only species really capable of stopping them will be wiped out of existence.)

Rachel's eyes fluttered open. (What happened?)

I smiled down at her. (How do you feel about fighting the Yeerks again?)

(Didn't we just win a war against those slimy creeps?) She asked woozily.

(Yeah, we did.)

(Then…let's do it again.)