Chapter 10

Santorelli was the first to lose his restraint. He barged past Jake, his face bundled up in a fury, his teeth bared. He grabbed me roughly by the scruff of the neck and held me tightly, his fist to my throat.

"I oughta knock your block off, you little piece o' rat shit!" he bellowed.

I said nothing in return. I couldn't even bring myself to look into his eyes. The description was undeniably accurate.

He continued, "So what is it, boss? Maybe we should leave him for the slimeball Kelbrids to deal with, huh? Yeah? You'd like that, wouldn't you, shitbag?!"

"Let him go, Sarge," Jake said, his voice calm and reasoned.

Santorelli did so, reluctantly. "If it were up to me, boss, I'd set this guy loose on his own. Make sure there ain't nobody around for him to stab in the back. I could fuck him up right here if that's a better idea."

"We're not doing either of those things," Jake replied.

"So what do we do?" Marco asked. He looked just as likely to explode as Santorelli had.

My life was in Jake's hands. He looked me up and down, and I could see his jaw shifting as he ground his teeth in consideration. He didn't need me to say anything. He already knew everything I could use to justify my actions. I'd told him.

"I get it, Mendy," he started. "You want to get Ax back just as much as we do. But we're in this together. I thought I made that point clear — many times. I think I've been fair and that I've given you the benefit of the doubt. You don't like my leadership, sure. You don't like the decisions I've made to get us to this point, but you know what? We're here. No matter if it really is Ax back in the engine space, or whether he's in that lab a couple of miles from here, we're here, and this is as close as we've gotten. If you don't want to help make that final, necessary step to make sure that we've got what we went through all this for, then fine. Just don't get in our way. We've worked too hard to have the rug pulled out from under us by a nothlit with honor issues. You made that choice to become nothlit to help me, and I think you're a fool not to go through with what you sacrificed your own life for."

Again, I had nothing to say. I bowed my head in shame.

"Look at me."

For my own dignity, I could not refuse. I looked back into Jake's eyes. I needed to approach this with whatever honor I had left.

"You think it's us you have to worry about?" he asked incredulously. "I'm not going to kill you or set you loose on a foreign planet with no way home. Mendy, I know you're not a bad guy. You're just an idiot. A fucking idiot. Maybe now you've realized that. If you want somebody to worry about, he's over there."

He directed his gaze to the cockpit, where Groof looked back at us. "Hello!" he chimed.

Jake continued, "They will kill you. Groof has seen what you've done, and Surote will not take kindly to somebody who can't be trusted. Now, you have two options. One: You sit back, allow us to do this mission. We forget that this ever happened, and you can go wherever the hell you like. After all, once we've saved Ax, our stint with Surote is over. Or two: You try any of that shit again. We will stop you, and we will let Surote deal with you in whatever way he pleases."

The reactions of the others were that of frustration. I could tell that they wanted blood for my betrayal.

But they trusted Jake. That much was clear. They believed in his ability to make the right decisions, something that he'd been learning to do for years. Despite all that he thought of himself and all the mistakes he had made, he was most definitely a leader.

Leaders are never infallible.

The ultimatum he had given me was exactly the right card to play. I was stuck, and I could either choose death or a chance to be proven wrong and ultimately do what I'd set out to do. Trapped in a corner, I had no choice even though I'd betrayed them. Even though I'd betrayed my Prince. They were showing me mercy that I did not deserve.

"You will continue with the mission?" I asked of him.

"Just as we planned it," he explained. "Only this time, Tobias will not be leaving. The rest of us will take ourselves into the base as Kelbirds and morph straight to insect. Happy with that, Tobias?"

((Yeah, Jake,)) he replied from his perch beside the cockpit.

Jake sighed abruptly, almost as a relief after having solved one of his many problems. "Okay, let's get Ax back out of the engine space and onto the table. We start the mission in three hours, so be prepared." He looked back at me as the others trudged away. "Bored, Mendy?"

"Bored?" I asked, a little taken aback.

"Get back to work on that communications device. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Jake."

He left me to it. I dragged the horrible cylindrical object into a corner where I wouldn't be in anybody's way, inwardly chastising myself for the foolish incompetent I had become.

Andalites prided themselves on their intellect and cunning. It was arrogance, yes, but it was so ingrained that being dominated and outsmarted by supposed lesser beings felt like the ultimate embarrassment.

Aximili had told me many times onboard Intrepid that the Andalite sense of pride was overinflated, and I recalled that I would often scoff at such comments. Now, though, I was beginning to see the error in my way of thinking. Humans were just as cunning and insightful as Andalite had ever been. They truly were a fantastic race. If they were ever to stop bickering and fighting amongst themselves, they would probably become a force to be reckoned with in the known galaxies.

I was an idiot to think that I could trick them so easily.

The Humans worked together to retrieve Ax. They'd stuffed him somewhere at the very back of the ship. He came out covered with a light layer of dirt that Marco was tasked to remove. When I stood in the doorway to the compartment, I received a scathing look — both from Marco and Santorelli. Tobias looked at me, too, but his hawk body had no real way to portray the emotions he felt.

Jake was the only one that seemed to let it drop, at least to some degree. He decided to ignore me altogether.

Aximili was still unconscious, and his anesthetic was quickly topped-up from a bottle that had not been tampered with. He would be out for the duration of the mission.

I sat down with the communications device, despite Ax's orders. It felt wrong, at first, but then I remembered that Aximili had dismissed me from his services.

And then I remembered further that I probably hadn't spoken to Ax at all. It was Tobias playing a role. He must have questioned Aximili privately about what happened on Intrepid before we took him as a prisoner.

Either way, being dismissed would be a good excuse to disobey his orders, whether it was the real Aximili or not. Until proven otherwise, I would operate under the assumption that I was no longer beholden to my Prince.

I kept to myself and the communications pod. I'd explored it a little before but never got further than a brief scan of saved files held within: The three messages that Aximili had sent to Andal.

Soon enough, the time came once again for the mission to begin. This time, it was a genuine start, rather than a trap set up for me. Jake, Marco, and Santorelli morphed the Kelbird and tested their single, half-circle wing.

((Tobias,)) Jake said, looking up at the intimidating Hork-Bajir who'd just emerged from the aft compartment. ((Keep an eye on the surveillance. Be ready to bring the ship if we get into any trouble.))

((Got it,)) he replied.

((Mendy? Just keep working on that comms pod.))

"Yes, Jake."

The three alien birds flew out of the hatch, leaving me alone with Tobias yet again.