Map of a Dream

by Cyndi

Semeir wanted to be a warrior. Nobody thought she could do it. Then she met Elfangor.

12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

.o

Z-space is as bland and boring as a desert. Elfangor once said dreams are born in Z-space. I'd looked for those elusive dreams while aboard the DoomBlade so long ago. I saw white, white and more white. Nothing else. Not a black star, not even debris. Then Elfangor held my hand, and I realized my dream was right next to me.

On the SkyWarrior, I had no hand to hold. I think that hurt more than the blankness outside.

It would take a day to reach sector seven. I spent a lot of it on the bridge amongst the highest ranking officers surrounding Captain Rubliss.

Captain Rubliss didn't let me stand idle. He gave me jobs to do. He forced me to use the skills Elfangor taught me.

I watched the radar for any morphed mass in our path. I helped keep the ship from veering off course. I even got to test the weapons systems. Every task tore my nerves apart because none left any margin for error. I had more to lose than anyone else on that bridge.

And I got to see just why Rubliss was the ship's Captain.

One of the princes mocked a seemingly unimportant sensor sweep. Though he was not tall, Captain Rubliss pinned that soldier with a look so icy that my own hooves nearly froze to the metal floor.

{Estorin, you will run that sensor sweep.} Rubliss stated. Not angrily, his thoughtspeak was as cool as an ice cap, but his main eyes practically glowed neon green.

The prince, Estorin, a large, brutish male, cringed. He did the sensor sweep and avoided Rubliss' gaze.

Rubliss turned to the wiry figure flying the ship.

{Corwald, what is our location?}

{Exiting Z-space now, sir!}

{Visual.}

A holographic display appeared in the center of the room. Z-space's blank whiteness abruptly melted into the starry blackness of regular space. The nebula with its central stars arranged in a trapezoid shape filled the background. Closer still, less than a million miles away, was a "small" purple gas giant orbited by a rocky blue-gray moon barely one-tenth its size. The moon had a blue atmosphere and vaguely reminded me of Earth, the planet Elfangor told me so much about.

Only this moon had a two large land-masses surrounded by oceans. It didn't look Yeerk-infested at all, but I knew looks were deceiving. The smaller western landmass contained our target.

{Pilots, get to your fighters. The Yeerks know we're here. They're going to be saying 'hello' pretty soon. Ground soldiers-} Rubliss' gaze focused specifically on me, {Get to your drop pods and prepare to disembark!}

The bridge became a stampede of hooves racing to their proper places. Only three Andalites could fit per pod, and only three pods were going to land unless backup was needed. Would nine total ground troops be enough?

Drop pods were a relatively new thing. So new, in fact, that they didn't exist yet when I toured the DoomBlade.

Spherical in shape with six correcting thrusters arranged like spokes, four landing legs, three emergency parachutes and cloaking technology that made their descent difficult to detect on scanners, they proved a quick way to transport Andalites from the ship to the surface of a planet.

I wound up in the cramped circular vessel with Leehan and the youngest aristh on the ship.

Jastal looked pale. Like an Andalite who hadn't eaten in several weeks. I felt sorry for him.

{Hey.} I said.

His large eyes focused on me. I could see him trembling. He was just a child barely out of schooling, and it seemed so wrong to see someone that young thrust into this horrible war.

I hoped that by joining the effort, I could take the place of at least one child who shouldn't be there.

{It's okay to be scared.} I told him. {Just don't let them see it. Show no fear, all right?}

I couldn't believe myself. I sounded like Elfangor.

{No fear.} Jastal repeated.

{Semeir, don't put ideas into my aristh's head,} Leehan sneered over private thoughtspeak.

{He's terrified!} I said back with equal venom. {Have a little compassion!}

{Compassion is for females.}

My spine stiffened. {Oh, what? That makes me weaker?}

Leehan's main eyes narrowed. {It might. Don't lose your focus now, Semeir. Pod release in three, two, one...}

THUNK!

The pod suddenly shot into space with a jerk. I gripped the hand rail on the side before my hooves could slip on the smooth metal floor. Jastal scrambled for purchase. Leehan squared his stance and held onto the railing.

Freefalling gave way to weightlessness. I felt my hooves rise off the floor!

{...I'm not going to hand feed anything to my arisths. I haven't done any ground missions either. It's a first for all of us. I don't want this one,} he nodded towards Jastal, {to get soft because of you. This is war. Either you can take it, or you can't.}

{Concept, Leehan: we're in this together. Maybe we should work together.}

He rolled his eyes, all four of them. {You might slit my throat again.}

I balked at him. {That was an accident, and you know it!}

Leehan's nostrils flared when he snorted. He turned his head and ignored me.

Jastal grasped the railing with both hands. He didn't look ready for this at all, yet his eyes had a determined fire behind them. He wanted to succeed and impress his commanding officer, and I silently wished him well.

Captain Rubliss hailed everyone. {Ground soldiers, check in!}

{Odekkis, checking in. In the process of morphing.}

{Margof, checking in, also morphing.}

{Trithos present. Morphing.}

{Korjig here. Will morph on the ground.}

{This is Leehan. I'll morph on the ground.}

{Semeir, checking in. I'll morph upon landing, too.}

{Acknowledged,} said Captain Rubliss. {Fighter pilots are in position. You have air cover. Arisths,} his tone became friendlier, {Listen to your princes. Good luck, little ones.}

Jastal held his head a little higher. He fought down a smile.

So did I.

And Korjig was in this group. The same two people who tormented me would be witnesses if I succeeded today.

FWOOSH-FWOOSH! FWOOSH-FWOOSH! FWOOSH-FWOOSH!

I felt a jerk when the pod's deceleration thrusters kicked in. The weightlessness ended and my hooves touched down again.

A small readout on the wall fed us information about our location, altitude and the presence of the other three pods.

{Atmosphere is breathable,} I reported to everyone. {Touchdown in three, two, one...}

CLUNK!

Gentler than I expected.

{Jastal, you remain near the pod. Do not, under any circumstances, engage the enemy. Your fellow arisths are receiving the same orders. You're in charge of jamming any communications coming from the Yeerk base. Can you stay on top of their signal?}

Jastal's shoulders squared. He saluted. {Yes, Prince Leehan!}

{And why are we blocking the signal?}

{Sir! To prevent their bug fighters from receiving orders. Yeerks have an abundance of untrained pilots who rely on superior officers.}

{Excellent.}

Leehan's stalk eyes formed a cold smile. I felt sick inside. That poor aristh was going to be stuck here all alone on a Yeerk-infested planet. But he'd be safer in the pod than in the middle of a firefight, and I knew one would break out once the Yeerks realized we were here.

POW!

The hatch spiraled open to a sunny, cold world covered in dirt and thorny, poisonous-looking blue trees stretching as high as the volcanic cliffs up ahead. We'd landed far in the foliage near the ocean. Salty water lapped my hooves and left frothy foam behind. I closed my hooves so I wouldn't accidentally ingest the wet, clumpy white sand.

Leehan sneered {Jastal, be careful. The plants may be poisonous.}

The young aristh nodded and kept his hooves firmly on the sand.

The blue trees were thick, obscuring most of the Yeerk base from view. Bright purple bushes grew in tangles all over the rocks. Each purple bush had clusters of red tube-shaped flowers that dripped acidic nectar into the sand. Their stinging scent filled most of the shoreline.

I saw the moon's parent planet as a hazy purple dome rising on my left. It took up most of the pale horizon. The system's distant sun was just a fingertip-sized point, but its blue-white light shone harshly on the landscape. It took my eyes a moment to acclimate.

I pushed a power cell into the handle of my shredder with the heel of my hand and set it to level two. Just enough to knock somebody out. Then I twirled it around my fingertip and replaced it in its holster.

Everything Elfangor taught me raced across my brain. Those years I spent with him, loving and learning, all led up to this mission. For better or worse, my life changed here.

Two pods sat on either side of mine. Morphed Andalites emerged as Hork-Bajir. I waited for my cue to morph. Waiting to morph on the ground prevented us all from disappearing at the same time to demorph and remorph.

Looking to my left, I saw Leehan changing shape. He was a grotesque mix of Andalite and Hork-Bajir. Having not seen many people morph, I just stared. Blades formed on his arms and legs. His front legs were sucked up somewhere into his torso and his tail and rear legs grew thicker. His metallic blue fur melted into greenish-brown scales. I saw his stalk eyes harden into three forward sweeping horns on his forehead. His bandolier stayed perfectly in place. They were made to survive most morphs.

I looked away. I didn't want to see more.

"Good to go. Semeir? Start morphing." Leehan spoke awkwardly through his Hork-Bajir beak. "And don't wimp out."

Of course he'd leave me with something stinging. He turned away and raced to join the other morphed Andalites closing in on the cliffs up ahead.

I fixed my stalk eyes on Jastal. {No fear,} I reminded him.

{No fear.} He replied.

With that, I focused on the Hork-Bajir and let my body morph. I'm no estreen, and my stalk eyes were the first thing to become two forward-tilted horns. I felt blind, vulnerable, when I could only see in one direction. My internal organs shifted-a nauseating sensation that didn't quite hurt. Blades grew out of my arms, which lengthened at the same time as my hind legs. I pitched forward. Balanced on those strong arms as my forelegs shrank away and my tail became the thick tail of a Hork-Bajir. A beak split my face apart. My senses became highly attuned to the trees and the wind.

I stood up for the first time on two legs. Off-balance, I used my tail to hold me upright until the Hork-Bajir's sense of balance took over. I glanced down. The bandolier hadn't broken. I tried grabbing the shredder to make sure I'd still be able to do so with my new, awkward hands.

I could do it. Barely.

The others who already morphed were making their way forward. I wasn't sure which was Leehan anymore, but I could tell every Hork-Bajir morph had unique skin patterns. We'd all been given blood from different Hork-Bajir to avoid tipping the Yeerks off that we were Andalites in morph. I couldn't tell much of a difference, but the Hork-Bajir Controllers definitely would.

"This is Korjig! All forces check in!" A radio on my belt crackled.

Korjig! I wish I'd seen him before he morphed. I looked around until I spotted a speckled Hork-Bajir crouched near a tree, holding his radio awkwardly in his claws.

The small Hork-Bajir just ahead of me grabbed his handheld device. "Margof, present. Zent. Preh."

"Don't fool with your mouth!" Korjig snapped. "Continue check-in."

A Hork-Bajir kneeling ten feet from the entrance: "Odekkis, present!"

"Leehan, present," said the Hork-Bajir near the tree just ahead of me.

The one beside Leehan spoke, "Trithos, present!"

I lifted my radio. "Semeir, present."

Nobody groaned, thankfully, but I saw a few soldiers wag their heads in disdain.

If Korjig was surprised, he didn't show it.

"Arisths, check in!"

{Aristh Jastal, present!}

{Aristh Korripin, present!}

{Aristh Esgarrouth, present!}

"We are going to radio silence. Keep your frequencies tuned to emergency thoughtspeak only. Arisths, you are ordered to return to the planet in two hours, with or without us. And you know what to do if your pods are boarded."

I didn't even think about that. The idea of self-destructing those pods sickened me. They were children!

"Fall in!" Korjig announced. The radio crackled as he set it to silent mode.

I did the same, but my stomach was twisting. In an unfamiliar body on an unfamiliar world, I just hoped I'd be able to pull this mission off.

It wasn't easy to walk on two legs when I always had four. But I remembered the Hork-Bajir I've seen before, and imitating their natural posture proved easier than I first thought. Their two legs were strong. Hork-Bajir are built for climbing and swinging.

I followed the other morphed Andalites into the darkened cave entrance. My heart almost stopped. There were dozens of other Controllers milling about!

Korjig lifted his large Hork-Bajir hand and made a fist, signaling for silence. Then he spread his fingers. We were supposed to fan out and blend in like we belonged. I saw Controllers wearing bandoliers similar to ours, except theirs had Dracon pistols in the holsters. You couldn't tell the two weapons apart unless you looked close. Shredders had green triggers and Dracon pistols had red buttons.

I felt my throat work in a strange muscle contraction known as "swallowing." It seemed to be a nervous reflex related to the Hork-Bajir body. Not having vision in all directions was so disconcerting. To look around a corner, I had to lean and potentially expose myself for an attack. How do creatures with only two eyes survive?

No fear. I told myself.

The blood rushed through my ears when I stepped in line with a dozen Hork-Bajir. Everybody was moving crates and metal boxes of equipment. I need to see exactly what they were receiving, yet opening a crate in plain sight would be fatal. I was a drone, a worker, nothing more.

I picked up a crate. Hefted it to my shoulder like I saw the others doing. Followed the Hork-Bajir in front of me into a darker cavern.

"You!" A voice called. I kept walking. Footsteps ran up behind me. "You!"

I was suddenly looking into the eyes of a Controller taller than myself. "Me?"

"Designation."

Thoughts reeled over my mind. "Espar Five-Four-One." I blurted. "I am new to this body."

Very new. Speech felt strange. The vibrations, the movements of my tongue and beak-I didn't like it much.

The other Controller looked me up and down. He pointed to the crate in my hands. "Learn to read! Plasma coils go to the next corridor."

Then he left me there, and I released the breath I was holding. My abdominal area felt unpleasantly fluttery and my legs quivered. I shook the strange sensations off. If I didn't act like a Yeerk infested host, I was dead. I heaved the box back onto my shoulder, turned left and entered the corridor pointed out to me.

Leehan-I think-appeared behind me carrying an identical crate. We ducked through a low corridor and emerged into a larger cavern.

The walls had been smoothed to make room for a glowing computer console. It looked like something the Skrit Na might come up with: Wires everywhere, buttons that didn't match and panels hastily welded together. Whoever built this didn't plan to stay here long.

"It's Leehan." The other Hork-Bajir whispered. Or as much as he could in that body. Vocal speech doesn't allow for private thoughtspeak. "The others are in different caverns. We need to find the pool and any clues to what they're hiding here."

"All right. I'll-"

I froze. Something on the console caught my eye.

Parts of Step-Father's computer were used to build this monstrosity. His computer had extremely valuable Andalite data mixed into his logs about his assignments. The screen ran streams of text, numbers and schematics. I saw plans for something massive deep beneath the planet.

"Semeir!"

"Leehan, they have my step-father's computer."

"So?"

I shuddered. "He was a spy. The Yeerks assassinated him because they caught on to who he was. Because he knew their plans, and they didn't want him to reveal them to our people."

I wanted to examine the system. But we had already been in the room far too long. Other Yeerks would get suspicious.

"You go out there and pass this on to the others if you can." I said stonily. "I'm going to keep grabbing plasma coils as an excuse to come back here. If I can find out what and where this thing is-"

"You'll report back to Rubliss." Leehan cut me off. He narrowed his red eyes at me.

I nodded.

"Fine. But don't give me any more orders. And if a Hork-Bajir hip bumps you on the way by, it's one of us in morph."

"How can you tell it's me?"

"You have a female Hork-Bajir morph. Females have two horns. Males have three."

Then Leehan flounced out, and I waited thirty seconds before following. I felt so foolish, not knowing male Hork-Bajir from females. They all looked alike!

I followed other Controllers to the crates. Thank the stars for my brushing up on Galard-I could read the labels and pick up the plasma coils. I made another trip into the computer room. I set the crate down and checked the corridor. Nobody was coming.

I faced the console again. The menus onscreen, like the computer itself, were a mix of languages. Mostly Galard and Andalite. And the owners clearly did not speak Andalite very well. I struggled through incorrectly labeled screens for what seemed like hours. At last, I found a long list of the supplies being sent to this moon.

Stolen plasma coils. Various fuels. Elements I guess couldn't be mined naturally. Food for the host bodies and more portable pools for the Yeerks.

Sounds in the corridor snapped me back to alert. I blanked the screen and pretended to be struggling with my crate. In my haste, I accidentally jammed a wrist-blade into the lid. The blade went in as easily as a tailblade cutting flesh.

The Controller who corrected me before slid into the computer room. He glared at me.

"You take too long!"

"I am caught on the crate." I said.

"Idiot. Flaran Two-Four-Nine, do this. Do that." He muttered to himself. Then he freed my wrist with a jerk of his hand. "You should be in a Gedd."

"Don't insult me." I spat back.

Flaran, as he called himself, glared at me. Hateful. Cruel. I pitied the screaming Hork-Bajir trapped in the Yeerk's clutches. Many would probably die today, and there was nothing I could do.

"I am new to this body. I am new to this Visser."

"Oh, then welcome to misery. Visser Ten is arrogant. He is Visser Ten because the other Visser Ten went insane and got himself killed. The new Visser Ten wants to be Visser One, and he'll do anything to-"

CRUNCH!

Blood splattered all over me before I saw what happened. Flaran's Hork-Bajir body slumped lifelessly to the ground. Without a head. I heard the wet crackling of a reptilian foot crushing the head beneath its claws.

"Flaran Two-Four-Nine loved to talk too much," said a new Controller. A tall, scarred Hork-Bajir missing the tip of one forehead blade. He smiled at me and my blood froze into sludge. "He was jealous. He wasn't even a sub-visser, and I got promoted overnight. You're new, I assume?"

Say something! I urged myself.

"Fresh off the pool ship." I said. "This is my first Hork-Bajir host."

"And your name is? Oh, never mind. Your name isn't important. I need more plasma coils. Hurry up."

Visser Ten pushed past me, and I swear on my family's lives that I wished a touch could kill a Yeerk. The icy, seething hatred blew like a maelstrom across my mind. Terror followed on its heels. This Yeerk killed my family. This Yeerk could have me infested, or kill me, too. I couldn't give myself away. Not yet.

Every ounce of self control I had was focused on walking towards the doorway. I stepped out, turned around and poked my head back inside.

Visser Ten never checked over his shoulder. He made a log entry. Then he picked up one of the crates of plasma coils and stepped on a hidden button in the floor. The rocky ground beneath me vibrated as stone grated on crude tracks. A secret entranceway opened up by the computer panel.

I darted down the corridor and into the crowd. Gedds, Hork-Bajir Controllers and the occasional Taxxon shuffled by me.

And I waited.

Finally, one of the Hork Bajir bumped my hip as he passed. I grabbed the crate next to his. "Which are you?"

"Odekkis," he whispered back. His morph had dark markings under the left eye.

"Get us somewhere quiet. Urgent."

We both had crates of salvaged computer parts. I followed Odekkis into a dark, enclosed space still wet with Taxxon slime. It hadn't been dug out for long.

"Visser Ten has a hidden doorway in the plasma coil room. He also has information on his computer, but I'm not fast enough to get to it all without getting caught." I paused for breath. "He has something big here. We absolutely can't leave without finding out what it is."

"I've been a hacker since I was an aristh. I can handle the computer. I need to report to Prince Korjig about this. Nice job getting that info. Let's-"

More Gedds shuffled in.

Odekkis hardened his voice. "Let's move faster!" Then he gave me a gentle slap to the side of my face.

I pretended I'd been hit. Then I hung my head and slunk out of the dank, slimy cavern. Odekkis shoved past me to grab a crate of plasma coils. I glimpsed him hip bumping other morphed members of our landing team and passing on the info.

We spent a long time merely blending in. Waiting was agony.

Finally, I saw Odekkis go back into the computer room. I joined him.

"We have used sixty percent of our morph time." He said. He'd already bypassed the computer menus and delved deep into schematics. "Margof is going to keep watch outside the door."

"What about Leehan, Trithos and Korjig?"

"They're trying to locate the pool. It's probably on the lower-" Odekkis refocused on the screen. "Whoa!"

I shot a nervous glance at the door. "'Whoa' what?"

He said, "They built something huge underground. Look at this!"

I turned to the console to examine the schematics. The ship looked like five elongated tetrahedrons-two joined end to end with three more supporting the connected pair. If I read right, this monster of a ship was as long as two Dome ships! The frontal point sported a massive Dracon cannon. I mean massive.

This device wouldn't just ignite the atmosphere and incinerate everything. It was made to punch through a planet's outer layers and disintegrate the core. Without its core, the planet would collapse in on itself under its own gravity. Removing the entire planet from its solar system with no hope of life ever returning.

I was staring at a true planet killer.

The design had definite Andalite origins. Years ago, I overheard Step-Father saying the plans were brought up after the loss of the Hork-Bajir world, but the plans were buried in favor of the "merciful" Quantum virus.

Once upon a time, my own people considered building a weapon of mass destruction far worse than a mere virus.

Not even Elfangor knew what I now knew.

I was sick inside. Odekkis looked ready to faint.

Somebody honestly thought about building this thing to destroy the Yeerk homeworld. Millions of innocents would be dead along with the guilty.

Now the Yeerks had it, and I knew my home planet was their first target.

Visser Ten wanted glory. He wanted to be the Yeerk who destroyed the Andalites. He wanted to be the Yeerk who sought out and infested the remaining population still loose in the stars.

Odekkis and Morgof scrambled away from the cavern opening while I examined the schematics. The planet killer was armed beyond imagining. Dracon beam turrets stuck out like spines along its edges. Its primary weapon was contained behind heavy armor and had to expose itself to fire. A weapon that strong would require insane amounts of power. Striking by surprise was its only option. It had a weakness. It couldn't fire if a fleet was waiting to stop it the moment it exited Z-space.

But could this weakness be capitalized fast enough to prevent the destruction of entire worlds?

I tried to stay calm and collected. Warriors don't let others see their panic.

"Odekkis, we have to get back to Rubliss. He needs this information."

"I'm downloading it now." Odekkis held a purple strip in his hand. Inside it, a stack of data disks capable of holding terabytes of information. He placed it into a memory slot near the screen. "This is the data stick. Pull it out when it's done. I dropped in a virus that will destroy the computer as soon as the data stick disengages. Get ready to RUN-the virus is going to shut off the artificial Kandrona generators. The Yeerks will know we're h- Semeir! What are you doing?"

I was in the process of demorphing. My stalk eyes and tail formed first, and I felt a sickening slosh as my internal organs rearranged. Feeling a second heart in your belly is a disconcerting sensation. Thankfully, the rest of my lower half formed and the heart moved to its proper position. When I finished, I adjusted my bandolier strap.

{If this turns into a fight, I'd rather be myself. Keep the other Controllers from bringing more plasma coils in here.}

"Be careful!" Odekkis said.

{No fear.} I said back.

"Speak for yourself."

Then he was gone.

RRRRUMBLE.

I scrambled between the computer console and the far wall. Shadows were my only cover. I peeked just one stalk eye around the computer.

Visser Ten emerged from the hidden wall. He headed straight into the corridor without looking at the computer. A good thing. He would have seen the data stick. After his footsteps faded, I rushed to watch the download countdown on the screen. My stalk eyes focused on the doorway.

Ten seconds.

Five seconds.

One second.

Complete!

I yanked the data stick out of the slot and stashed it in a pouch on my bandolier. The screen flickered. Text scrolled left to right as the virus corrupted and deleted everything in the database.

Footsteps clambered down the corridor.

{Odekkis, we need to-}

"Andalite!"

TSEEWW!

I ducked. The computer console smoked, its screen melting in the heat.

TSEEWW!

Again, I dodged. Barely. My eyes were all half-blinded by the sudden bright light.

I accidentally stepped on the trigger for the hidden door. Without a second thought, I plunged through. My hooves clattered on the uneven rocky floor. I was galloping down a long corridor lit only by poisonous looking green lamps on the walls.

RRRRUMBLE.

"You have nowhere to hide, Andalite."

Hork-Bajir didn't have great vision in the dark. It was the only advantage I could press.

I reached the end of the rocky corridor. My pursuer wasn't far behind. I rounded the corner and dashed between two piles of crates. Behind me was a pile of stacked fire retardant tanks.

No time to turn around. I knelt to lower my profile. The cold ground stung against my underbelly. I pulled my shredder out of its holster and checked its setting. Still on stun. Good. I adjusted my grip just like Elfangor taught me. The shredder was an extension of my arm.

Then, I used my stalk eyes to look around.

This wasn't a Yeerk pool. I didn't hear any screams. Just clanking. The side of something dark silver jutted over a sheer rocky cliff burned into the cavern floor.

The planet killer! Right there in front of me!

Above it, I barely made out the seam of bay doors. The underground of the moon had been converted into a sort of space station. Hidden in plain sight beneath the continent!

The Controller stepped cautiously into the open. He was missing the tip of a horn.

Visser Ten!

He appeared surprised. I guess he expected me to be standing there.

"I remember you, Andalite girl." He said in his guttural Hork-Bajir voice. "Yes, I remember now. The spy's daughter. Naskor, was it? I caught him changing his shape, but I didn't tell him. I let him think he kept his cover. I watched every communication. I saw every piece of data he stole. He was so eager to get home to his little family. He didn't watch his back. And I made him pay."

Hot rage boiled behind my sternum. I didn't make a sound. Visser Ten wanted me to leap out and attack him.

He tried another tactic.

"I spoke to Visser Three recently. He said Elfangor begged for mercy. He said the great hero of your people begged for his life all the way to the end."

How did he know about that? No, don't react. He's lying. He's acting like a bully. Don't react...

I focused instead on the fire retardant tanks. Long, silver cylinders piled horizontally in a pyramid pattern to prevent them rolling away.

Visser Ten looked this way and that. He walked right past my hiding place. His frustration became evident.

"Foolish girl! What good will hiding do you?"

Silently as I could, I stood up. Visser Ten would have seen me if he had stalk eyes of his own. I threw my weight forward onto my front legs. My back hooves lashed backwards in a double barrel kick.

WHAM!

BONG-BONG-BONG! BOONG! BING! BONG! BEENG! CLUNK!

The whole pile of tanks crashed into Visser Ten. He fell facedown with a shout. I leapt over him, stumbling on the tanks in my haste to reach a more maneuverable position.

I heard the tanks roll aside. I was almost to the exit corridor.

TSEEWW!

A light fixture exploded!

I returned fire!

TSEEEW!

Missed!

RRRRUMBLE!

Scrapscrapscrape...

I kept three eyes on Visser Ten. The other looked into the corridor.

Taxxons! Walking nightmares! Three of them burst out of the near darkness. All I saw were round, toothy mouths bearing down on me.

{AAH!} I barely avoided the first Taxxon's hungry mouth.

TSEEWW!

Visser Ten's shot was too far left. It hit the Taxxon trying to attack me. The disgusting creature broke open like a bloated waste bag. Red and purple gore spilled out all over the cave floor. His fellow Taxxons lunged to devour the mess.

Two more Taxxons rushed into the cavern. The two feasting on their friend faced me. I was surrounded. But Visser Ten didn't have a clear shot. He didn't even have his Dracon beam weapon out anymore.

No.

Visser Ten wanted to see me eaten alive.