1. What We All Believe In
WalterI demorphed in the cover of a big rock by the human camp, where I could have a moment to myself before I had to face everyone's questions. When Emeraude appeared next to me, I leaned against her, gulping in air, even though it wasn't my human body that had just run a sprint for its life.
"Too close," Emeraude said. "That was too close." Her ears twitched. "Someone's coming."
I heard the rustle of leathery wings. Quincy came to roost on Emeraude, and Cassie said, "I saw you fly in."
"Cassie," I said. She didn't ask, just looked up at me with a soft face, but it all came out in a rush anyway. "I was flying rear guard for the supply train. I heard a Gold Band patrol moving through the forest somewhere so I rushed over here to get the soldiers, and I led them to where I heard the patrol, but they'd moved closer and they saw us and – "
"They didn't hit us," Emeraude said, taking over. "We flew back here as quick as we could, just like you taught us. But it was still way too close."
Cassie came over and hugged me, rubbing my back. "I know. I know."
"This was what it's been like for you all this time," I said, my throat closing up. "Worse, because you were fighting from the very beginning. Not just carrying food around and patrolling."
Cassie's silence was all the answer I needed.
"We thought there was something wrong with you," I said. "We thought you didn't care about school anymore – "
She pulled out of the hug and put her hands on my shoulders. "Dad," she said. "I forgive you."
Emeraude's ears flicked upright. "Oh, God. Did everyone else make it? The supplies?"
"Yes. They're carrying it down." She pulled me along by my shoulders. "Come on. Ax has a message for us. It's from Mom."
I staggered behind her and grabbed onto Emeraude for balance. "What? How?"
"Remember the free Yeerks?" Cassie said, waiting patiently for me to catch up. Nothing even as huge as this could make her falter anymore.
I did remember her explaining the free Yeerks to me – a group of pacifists the Guardians had smuggled out of the main Yeerk pool, to a place where they could be free of violence. It had always seemed to me that they should do something more than sit in safety while their fellow Yeerks did to humans what they did to Michelle, and here they were, apparently doing something more.
"They have internet now," Cassie went on. "Ax won't admit it but it was probably him who installed it in their pool. They passed on a message from Mom. She's been helping this group of Peace Movement Yeerks called The Campsite Rule."
"Leave the campsite cleaner than it was when you got there," I said. "Oh. I think I get it."
Michelle, Emeraude thought, and nothing else. Michelle's alive. We're gonna read her words.
Ax had the portable computer set up on the valley's folding table next to the main generator. The table was always in high demand – it's amazing how you forget how important something as simple as a table is until you have only one. His scanning stalk eyes caught sight of us and held. His tail coiled inward in a gesture that drew Cassie closer.
«Michelle's message is on screen. I have not read it. I will give you your privacy.» Ax backed away, eyes diverted from us, as skittish as any deer.
Bad habit, Emeraude said. Comparing him to Earth animals.
"Thank you," Cassie said. I had forgotten to thank him, which maybe proved Emeraude's point.
Cassie and I stood in front of the computer. On screen, her words. Cassie read them aloud, while Emeraude rested her soft nose in my hand.
Walter. Cassie. Wherever you're hiding, be safe. Don't let them get you. I fall asleep at night imagining you safe, and I need it to be true.
I won't lie to you. I know my chances of surviving this. So I want to take this chance to say everything I need you to know, because I may not get another one.
Cassie, I don't regret my choice. I should have protected you during those years when I thought Rachel might have gotten you into drugs. I didn't help you then, but I'm helping you now. I'm not friends with the Sub-Visser, but you always choose to make peace wherever you can, and I've done the same. You give me courage every day, little bat.
Walter, I am sorry I left you behind. I feel like I've abandoned you so many times in our marriage. You've always forgiven me before. Try to forgive me one last time, my broad shoulders.
I want to share a memory I think about when the Sub-Visser is in the Pool and I'm alone in my head. Remember the first time we took Cassie along for a birth? One of the cows was calving. Cassie was so brave, even though I could tell she was scared by all the gushing fluids and the sounds the cow made. But then you delivered the calf and cleaned her off, and the look on Cassie's face when you let her touch her little nose – I don't know if you remember that, Cassie, but your father and I always will.
I love you both so much. And Cassie? If you need to strike the Pool and you're worried about my safety, don't let that stop you. And Walter, don't blame her if she has to do it. I've seen this Empire from the inside, and it needs to end. It's so strange how we can be the most important people in the world to each other, and still so small in the face of what we all believe in.
Pawprint on your nose, Emeraude.
Love, Michelle and Dashiell.
RachelI'd daydreamed a few times about what it would be like to bring Tobias over to dinner to meet my family. I'd never pictured it quite like this.
We'd managed to take over Kref Magh's one rickety folding table, sitting around it on tree stumps and rocks and logs. We were a little bit back from the bonfire, but the orange wash of its light fell over us. Dinner was beans and peas and rice with tomato sauce and cups of tepid, mineral-tasting water. Tobias didn't have a plate in front of him, and Sara and Jordan stared at him like a new kid at school. Dad kept leaning over with a napkin to wipe sauce off Sara's face, Mom reminded Jordan to eat her peas, and Caedhren perched on one of Abineng's horns, Elhariel on the other, watching each other.
It was so much better than I'd ever pictured it. Even though we were all tired of eating beans.
"Why don't you get something to eat, Tobias?" Mom said.
"The food just goes away as soon as I morph back to hawk," Tobias said, ducking his head. "Cassie says the noncombatants are having enough trouble hauling food into the valley as it is. I shouldn't take any food when I'm just gonna hunt it myself as a hawk."
Tseycal squeaked, a big bat draped over Jordan's shoulder. "You hunt your own food?" Jordan said. "Oh my God, what's it like?"
"Harder than making a bowl of cereal," Tobias said, deadpan as always.
Dad looked from Tobias to Sara, who was wide-eyed and a little scared. He must have decided it was time to stop Sara from thinking about Tobias killing cute little mice, because Gheselle cuddled up to lick Zyanya's floppy baby goat ears, and Dad said quickly, "So, how did you two meet?"
"Oh, thank God, that's actually a normal story," Elhariel whispered in Abi's ear. Abi giggled.
I said, "It was, like – four years ago? That you started hanging out with Jake?"
"Yeah," Tobias said. "Some bullies were giving me a hard time, and he made them back off. I figured he was my friend after that."
"You got bullied?" Sara said. "But you're so cool!"
Tobias stared at her. "You are the first person who's ever said that to me."
Sara chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pigtail. "It's prob'ly 'cause you're so cool people are scared to tell you you're cool. But I'm not."
Tobias smiled, a tiny soft thing, and I remembered the time Sara braided my hair while he was in my head. If Tobias's hair were longer, she could do it to him for real.
"Anyway," I said, "Jake doesn't make friends all that much, so I thought I'd find out who Jake's new friend was. So I just walked right up to him and said, 'Hey, I'm Jake's cousin. What's your name?' But I didn't really get why he and Jake were friends until after we met Elfangor, and I saw how much he…" How could I even summarize it? The way he called us to action? The way he never seemed to lose sight of the reasons to fight? "…cared about stuff." I reached under the table and squeezed Tobias's hand.
"I bet you asked him out," Mom said. She was done with her food, and fidgeting with her fork "I've always taught you girls that you never have to wait for a boy to make a move first. Not in school, not in the workplace, not in a relationship."
"Oh crap, not a normal story," Elhariel whispered, and Abi giggled again and flicked his ear. We were both thinking about the first time I asked Tobias to morph and infest me, and we knew it. What kind of a weird first date was that?
"I mean, I guess," I said vaguely. "It's not like we could go on real dates or anything. With him being a hawk and all."
"When you win this stupid war," Jordan said, jabbing her fork at me, "you better take him out on a real date. Not like, flying around as birds or something. Like a date Carrie and Big go on."
Dad eyed Jordan. "Are you old enough to watch Sex and the City, young lady?"
Tobias said, "I'm gonna go on the record saying I don't want to go on a Sex and the City date. I watched a couple episodes with Ax, and no. Just no."
Mom stood up suddenly. Caedhren flew over to perch on her shoulder. "I'm going to go help out in the kitchen."
"Mom," I said. I got up and touched her arm. "You're not on kitchen duty tonight. You're fine."
"I'm restless," she said, pulling her arm away. "I don't have a court case to grind my teeth over. I'm just sitting around all day. I might as well take it out on some dishes."
"Then come up with something lawyer-y to do," I said. "I bet somebody around here could use your brain. Toby, maybe? I don't know. Dad, help Mom come up with a terrifying scheme."
"That's what I do with Rachel," Tobias said.
"All right, honey," Dad said. "But after dinner. I'm not done embarrassing your boyfriend."
"Dad!"
"It's okay," Tobias said, pulling me back down into my seat. "It's his job, right?" And I could see that maybe he wanted a dad's teasing, that it was something he never had in his life. So I sat back down, and shared my family with him.
Chee Operating System v18940.0.2
System Log
Instantiation: G6J2T1OQM9 CHEE-EXNIS (ALIAS: Luis Javier Turner and Zefirita)
()
5:12 AM PST
CHEE-ARODA
I cannot believe you are actually going to do this. You've seen the costs of getting yourself involved with fleshbeings, haven't you? They turn on you and become like Howlers.
CHEE-BACHU
The Yeerks of the Aftran Plisam Pool did no such thing.
CHEE-LONOS
Some of them voted for it, didn't they? They unleash this weapon on their own kind. If anything, that's even worse.
CHEE-EXNIS
We are demonstrating that there is another way to resolve this conflict. A more peaceful way.
CHEE-ARODA
You're one to talk, Exnis. First you play at being human, now you play at being Pemalite, making a Chee of your own. A friend of a friend. Do you not see how pathetic this is? The way you treat Zefirita as if it were a real dæmon instead of a hologram you created? Why can't you be content as what you are?
CHEE-EXNIS
As I recall it, Chee-aroda, you were in favor of creating dogs when we put that question to a vote. Consult your system logs if you don't remember.
meddlers
{1N1RB5QYWK CHEE-KORIL (ALIAS: Safiya Malek and Rakhamet),
6UAQWRM3RN CHEE-ALEM (ALIAS: Daniel King and Phiroth),
8PEHU51QF2 CHEE-PULIM (ALIAS: Lourdes Portero and Euscavier),
G6J2T1OQM9 CHEE-EXNIS (ALIAS: Luis Javier Turner and Zefirita),
H60ZIEXFWL CHEE-NAXES (ALIAS: Erek King and Damaris),
MIFDQDG01J CHEE-BACHU (ALIAS: Wena Shih and Yama)}
(8PEHU51QF2 CHEE-PULIM)
.filter(whitelist = meddlers)
10134 CheeNet users blocked.
Warning message: Instantiation 1N1RB5QYWK CHEE-KORIL is out of CheeNet range.
. ( = 'Just to keep you all updated, I'm about to activate the SymbiontAI prototype.')
. (limit = 10)
Aftran Plisam Pool
#CheeChat
The Chee only enter other message wells in the Pool intranet for administrative purposes. This is the message well where we can chat with any Chee who happen to be logged in to the intranet. This is an all-ages well, so if you want to talk with a Chee about a topic that is restricted to the adult well, please take it up in a private message.
Mielan 128
What are the new hosts like? Will they like us?
Mielan 71
When do WE get to have a turn with a host?
Akdor's Worst Nightmare
The adults will get to know the new hosts and make sure everything is all right, then we'll ask them if they want to meet you children.
Mielan 34
I want to try one of the two-Yeerk ones!
[Chee][Admin] Bachu
The Dual-Operator is a different model. It is not a host, because it has no sapience of its own. It is a tool for interacting with the world outside the Pool that is jointly operated by two Yeerks. I will activate my prototype as well. Have you decided which of you will try to work with each prototype?
Eslin 825
Deinfestationwill work with the SymbiontAI prototype; they have experience with the broadest range of host species of any of us.
Filshig Traitor
Green Sky and I have gotten to be friends, so we'll try out the Dual-Operator.
Mielan 128
Are you scared, Deinfestation? I'd be scared.
Deinfestation
Of course I'm scared. It's new. Not just for me, but for all Yeerks. We've spent so much time getting it wrong. This time, we need to try to get it right.
Mielan 34
What are they like? Are they shaped like us?
import module 'SymbiontAI'
( = TRUE)
CHEE-BACHU
Why is it making that noise? It sounds – for lack of a better term – sad.
CHEE-EXNIS
It wants a Yeerk.
( = 'appendage3')
.configure(voice = ' ', language = 'Yeerkish')
.activate(message = 'Are you ready, Deinfestation?')
Incoming speech communication (source: .array; language analysis: Yeerkish)
## As ready as I can be. ##
. (range = 5 cm)
['Decorative sea vegetable',
'Yeerk']
(range = 5 cm, target = 'Yeerk')
()
(Yeerk input accepted. Please wait.)
CHEE-EXNIS
How is the Dual-Operator going?
CHEE-BACHU
They're still adjusting.
CHEE-EXNIS
Same here.
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## Wow. They're so… excited for me to be here. ##
.activate(message = 'I suppose that's not what you're used to.')
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## Oh. I've never heard Yeerkish outside a Pool before. The resonance in air is all wrong. Anyway. SymbiontAI wants to say… thank you. ##
.activate(message = 'It feels like it would be far too narcissistic of me to say you're welcome. SymbiontAI, could you show your Yeerk guest how to activate the holo-projector?')
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## These units have holo-projectors? Like yours? Oh. Speaking Yeerkish outside the Pool is strange. ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## Ah. I am glad to see you've worked out the dual controls. The Dual-Operator and SymbiontAI have limited versions of our holo-projectors. They can project one hologram with corresponding force fields. The default image is of a Pemalite; this is the default we were given as Chee. We can reprogram the image and voice according to your specifications. ##
.activate(message = 'A human persona would probably be easiest if you want to move through the world beyond this basement.')
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## You're saying we can leave? ##
.activate(message = 'Of course, as long as you make sure not to draw Yeerk attention to this place. We wouldn't stop you.')
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## So we can go out and – see familiar places. Help the Campsite Rule. Help stop the - ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## Oh, don't you dare, Deinfestation! ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## Chee-bachu, where are the Animorphs? And the Andalite who is helping them? ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## You know I can't tell you that, Deinfestation. It would put many innocent lives at risk. ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## Aren't you on our side? ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## On YOUR side, not ours! See how far you get if you try it, Deinfestation. ##
.activate(message = 'Whoa, whoa, whoa! I wouldn't encourage any of you to start on secret spy missions, no matter what side they're for. We just made you these bodies, and you want to immediately put them at risk?')
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Yeerkish)
## Sorry, Chee-exnis. ##
Incoming speech communication (language analysis: Galard)
## I'm sorry. ##
CHEE-BACHU
You can scold them all you like, but we've opened Pandora's box here. We will have to watch what they do with these bodies very carefully.
Ax«Pass the laser welder,» I said, holding out a hand. I had to join the two components. It did not matter what they were for. If I focused on the details, I would not have to contemplate the larger picture.
"Don't forget to turn on your face shield," Peter said, and passed the handle of the laser welder into my hand.
The door beeped and slid open. I tensed and kept my eye stalks on Peter, the welder, anything but her. «Where is your progress?» Estrid said.
I ignored her and turned on the laser welder. The metal began to melt at the join. The heat was incredible. I could smell my own hair singeing.
"We're done assembling the filtration system," Peter said. "That took a while. Now we're working on the Pool itself."
«Why waste time on an effective filtration system?» Estrid demanded. «I will not need the test subjects for long.»
"According to Lourdes, we need it," Peter said. "They die in less than a day unless they're kept in chemically balanced Pool sludge."
«Very well,» Estrid said. «But I will not hear any of you blame me for any delay in delivering the virus.» Her hooves clicked on the floor, and the door hissed shut behind her.
"Ax!" Peter cried. "Your face shield!" He ran to me with his own shield up, darkening his face. He flinched at the distance from Mirazai's tank, but he reached out and pressed the sequence of buttons on the ring around my neck. The force field sprang up from the ring and covered my face and stalk-eyes. I finished the weld.
"Ax," Peter said, hunched over Mirazai's tank. "You have to stop forgetting safety procedures."
«What does it matter?» I said. I powered down the face shield and turned to face Peter. He flinched at whatever he saw of my face. I registered it only as a distant burn. I focused on my human morph, let smooth brown skin spread over my body until it replaced the charred fur, then reversed it.
"Mirazai can regrow her suckers," Peter snapped. "It doesn't mean I go tearing them out. You're punishing yourself. Why?"
«No Andalite war tribunal will condemn me for what we are doing,» I said, gesturing at the half-built Yeerk Pool with a snap of my tail. «Perhaps someone should.»
Peter sighed and sank to his knees beside the tank. "No Geneva Convention for Andalites, huh." He shook his head. "Sorry. I keep forgetting – the Geneva Convention is – "
«I know what the Geneva Convention is,» I said wearily. «We have an equivalent, but in practice, I doubt it has ever been applied to Yeerks. If you had asked me three years ago, I would have said – it does not matter. I have learned the reality. Do you think you humans would apply your Geneva Convention to Yeerks?»
"No," Peter said. "We don't even apply it to other humans, not really."
«I suspected as much. Do you hold to any code of honor, Peter? I do not speak of humans in general, but of you. Does this seem right, by whatever set of beliefs you hold?»
"I wouldn't say I have one set of beliefs I always hold to," Peter said. "The world's too complicated for that, especially these days. I mean, just a few months ago, I didn't know there was other intelligent life in the universe. I always thought it was pretty likely, given the Fermi equation, but… sorry, I'm babbling. The bottom line is, the Yeerks are monsters who destroyed Eva's life and mine too. But." Peter looked at the door that had recently closed behind Estrid. "I'm not sure I could give even an enemy over to her."
I met Peter's eyes with my main eyes, and there was a moment where, I imagine, both of us contemplated abandoning the project and telling Estrid to proceed without her test subjects. Then we returned to our work, me to welding and Peter to comparing the half-built Kandrona generator with Lourdes's blueprints.
When I finished the next weld, Peter looked up from the blueprints and said, "You realize we don't actually have all the parts for the Kandrona generator."
The Yeerks would have the parts, of course. Which meant we would have to steal them from the Pool. «I will tell Prince Jake. He and Marco are due here soon for the scheduled call.»
The door hissed open. It was Ghat Hefrin, the Hork-Bajir on duty guarding Estrid – or more accurately, guarding the rest of us from Estrid. "Come," she said.
Which meant that Prince Jake was already here.
Marco«Don't you miss the days when we could just fly everywhere?» I said to Jake in private thought-speech, doing my best to keep up with the herd of wild horses wandering through the Dry Lands.
«Being a horse isn't so bad,» Jake said. I'd already lost track of which horse he was. «They're big and fast. And girls like them.»
«Cassie likes you whether you're a horse or not, you loser. Though don't ask me why.»
«I know why you both like me. It's because I'm a good pillow. That's all you want me for.»
«We were really tired last night after patrol, and you were just lying there outside like a big old couch cushion. You were asking for it. We couldn't help ourselves.»
«The ship is this way,» said Uklan Tel, the Hork-Bajir who'd come with us. A horse broke away from the herd, and Jake and I followed.
It's really weird to hear the new Hork-Bajir morphers talk in thought-speech. It's not all broken up and clumsy like their English. I thought about the times when my mom forgot a random word in English, and felt a little guilty about calling the Hork-Bajir dumb so many times.
Ghat Hefrin, on Estrid-babysitting watch, was waiting for us outside the Ralek River. I said hi – you don't forget a Hork-Bajir who saves your mom from your own fuck-ups. She talked to Uklan in their own language, then started morphing to horse. Uklan demorphed, and the changing of the guard was over. We demorphed too, and followed him into the ship.
Dad and Ax were waiting for us on the bridge. Dad's hands were wet from petting Mirazai, and Ax was twitchy, jerking his tail up when we came in like we might have been on the attack. "Yeesh," I said, holding my hands up. "It's just us. What got a bug up your butts?"
«Nothing,» Ax said tiredly. «The call is coming in soon. I will configure the comms station appropriately.»
"Make sure to wipe any trace after the call," Jake said. "The last thing we need is for our friends to know we're using the Ralek River to call the Pool Ship."
I pulled Dad aside. Dia wrapped herself around Mira's tank and pressed her face against the glass. "You ready for this?" she said.
"I handled it last time," Mirazai said.
"Dad cried into your tank for like an hour afterward."
Mira arranged her tentacles neatly, like a girl tucking in her skirt. "That is handling it. Expressing emotions is normal and healthy."
If Dia could roll her eyes, she would have. "Yeah, well, don't express your normal and healthy emotions in front of the Andalites or they'll start asking uncomfy questions."
«The connection is open,» Ax declared. His stalk eyes were laser-focused on the entrance to the bridge. We really did not want anyone else coming in here.
I clapped Dad on the shoulder and came up to the comms station. "Which doohickey do you think the voice comes out of?" I asked Dia.
«The speakers are in the wall panels,» Ax said, pointing them out with a look. A panel blinked yellow. «Ah. Computer, accept incoming connection. Guardians of the Galaxy speaking.»
I love when Ax uses my stupid name for our little resistance group.
"Hello, Ax, Guardians. Aftran speaking," said my mom's voice, but flat and more American-sounding than her. "I've got big news. Top Yeerk intelligence reports that the Andalite fleet is moving some of its forces out of the Anati system. Toward Earth. Now, I hope that none of us on this call are naive enough to think that's a good thing."
"Trust me, we're not," Jake said. "Any estimate on when they'll be here?"
"Hard to say. Z-Space is unpredictable. Anyway, Eva wanted to know if your Andalite scientist has any pull with the higher-ups."
She's using Mom's voice, Dia said, flashing her fangs, and she talks about her like she isn't even there.
"Why don't you let Eva ask us herself?" I snapped.
"Because she's not here," Aftran snapped back. "We didn't have time to take out of our schedule for this call, so Eva's at an execution and I'm here. Bachu and I did this all the time."
"She lets you morph her?" I may have screeched a little.
"It gives her time off from me," Aftran said. "She's grateful for it."
"You don't just get to morph her whenever you feel like it! Morph something else and use thought-speech! God, you're such a little freak!" I shouted.
"And what do I say if an aide comes knocking on my door and I'm in fly morph? Ugh, this isn't even worth arguing about. I don't have to justify myself to you."
"I'm her son and you're wearing her body like a meatsuit, I think a little justification might be –"
"Marco," Dad said. "I don't like it either, but this isn't helping."
Call me sensitive, but David grabbing Dia, taking my DNA, and morphing me for kicks had happened way too recently for me to be okay with any of this. Dia said, Don't let your stupid feelings fuck up this call, and crawled down to dunk her head in Mira's tank. She stroked the back of Dia's neck with a tentacle. I tried very hard not to think about what Aftran could do with my mom's DNA. It made me wish I could vacuum it right out of her slimy little body.
«They do not have any status with Andalite High Command,» Ax said. «This mission is top-secret, and since it failed, High Command will likely do all it can to bury and deny it. In any case, even if they did, we do not have a consistent channel open with Andalite High Command – the current configuration of Z-space makes communication between Earth and our homeworld difficult and unreliable.»
"No communication channel between this top-secret mission and the people who want to keep it secret, huh?" Aftran said. "Is that actually true? Or is it that there's no channel open that your Andalite rejects know about?"
«What do you – » Ax began.
Dia flicked out her tongue as she thought about it. I said, "You're saying they have the ship bugged." I buried my face against Dia's coils. "Duh. Duh. I can't believe I needed Cassie's creepy pet Yeerk to tell me that."
"That's bad news," Jake said. Merlyse hopped up and down his arm, agitated. "We really don't want them to hear what we've been saying on this ship."
Ax's stalk eyes were scanning the bridge in overdrive mode. He looked ready to pee himself. I guess I would too, if I thought the generals at the Pentagon might be spying on me right now. «If there are bugs, they would have to deliver their communications in infrequent data dumps, when the Z-space configuration allows for it. It is very likely that none of the most recent events would have been sent back to the homeworld yet.»
"Great," Aftran said. "Good luck figuring that one out. So. Have you passed on that message to the governor yet? The situation with your state's military force gets more dire every day, believe me."
"Not yet," Jake said. "It's kind of a long trip to Sacramento. Soon."
"Two minutes left on the call," Aftran said. "You got anything for me?"
«Do you know where we can acquire a synchrotron radiator?»
Aftran blew out a breath. "That's one of the most expensive components of a Kandrona generator. Takes really fine engineering work. Well, speaking of Sacramento – they're building a new Yeerk Pool up there in anticipation of a full takeover of state government. They may not expect an attack there. It's under the UC Davis Medical Center."
"Thank you, Aftran," Jake said. "Anything else?"
"One more thing. A message for Cassie. Eva saw her mother recently in the Pool Ship cages, and – she's doing all right. And misses her family very much." In the same flat voice: "My time's up."
Dad folded down around Mira's tank like a puppet with its strings cut. He reached in and squeezed Mirazai around her mantle.
"Peter?" Jake said. "We're gonna need to have an Animorphs meeting right now. Can you go back to your, uh, project?"
Dad looked relieved. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." He closed the tank, gave me a concerned dadly look, and wheeled it away.
Jake said, "Aftran's right. This ship is almost definitely bugged. And we need Lourdes to find out how."
AxWe stood with Estrid, Gonrod, and Aloth in the feeding area of the Ralek River. They looked extremely uncomfortable.
In all fairness, I was uncomfortable as well, and trying my best to distract myself by pacing back and forth to take in the tasty, filling grass. In any case, it was my own fault for giving Chee-pulim ideas.
She had taken the inspiration for her new holographic form from an extinct predator that used to prey on Andalites; I had given her an impression of it in thought-speech and sketched it clumsily. She was twice the size of an Andalite, armored with leathery plates, and knuckle-walked on six legs like a gorilla's gait. She had a face bristling with teeth that could withdraw under the armored plates. She had introduced herself to the crew, with an enormous toothy grin, as Struch. Their demands to know her species and planet of origin had been met with indifference.
«You seem very certain the ship is surveilled,» Gonrod said, pacing in tight circuits.
"That's because our friend here found the bugs," Marco said, gesturing to Pulim. "Show 'em, Struch."
Pulim showed a thought-speak announcer with the covering stripped away, exposing its inner workings, and pointed at a logic board with a disturbingly prehensile tooth. "There's no legitimate reason why a thought-speech announcement system would have an audiovisual component, is there?"
Aloth's tail twitched. «No. There is not.»
"I think we can assume that the entire ship is bugged, though I will perform a thorough sweep," Pulim said. "By my preliminary assessment, the last data packets the bugs transmitted to Z-space were sent twenty-five days ago. Two days before the Animorphs boarded the Ralek River."
"Which means we have to start watching what we say," Prince Jake said. "Struch is going to cover the last twenty-five days, but we have to get our stories straight from now on."
«Simple enough,» Aloth said. «Arbat died nobly delivering the virus to the Yeerk Pool, the virus did not work, and Estrid is hard at work on a new strain.»
"And we all get along in one big happy genocidal family," Marco said brightly.
«You are running interference for us,» Gonrod said. «Our reputations are shielded by this lie you propose.»
"Exactly," Prince Jake said. "So stick to the story."
We were not trying to protect the crew's reputations. We did not want the Andalites to come to Earth, and Prince Jake hoped that if they believed this terrible plan might yet work, they might hold off the fleet another day.
"You can go," Prince Jake told Gonrod and Aloth. "We have to talk about something with Estrid."
The fur along their spines prickled upward. They did not acknowledge Prince Jake as their prince, and resented being ordered as if they were his subordinates. This order they followed, but I wondered if they would heed the next one, or the next. Prince Jake kept his eyes on Estrid, but Merlyse watched them over his shoulder as they left.
"I swept every corner of the ship for bugs," Pulim said casually. "And I found something very interesting in the coldbox where you keep your emergency grass rations."
Merlyse hopped into a clump of grass as tall as Estrid's face, and swayed forward with her claws around the blades of grass, so her beak was nearly in her eyes. "So I hoped you could explain to us why you have over a hundred hidden samples of Hork-Bajir DNA."
Illim – Encrypted Private MessageIllim
Aximili, I have an important message for the Animorphs.
Illim
I have come in contact with the Taxxon Resistance on Earth. They want to meet you.
Aximili
The Taxxon Resistance? What does that mean?
Illim
It means that when you put thousands of Taxxons in an underground headquarters, some of them will choose to dig tunnels of their own.
Illim
They have similar goals to the Yeerk Peace Movement, but stand apart. They have a disagreement about methods.
Aximili
You mean they are more militant. Can this Taxxon Resistance be trusted?
Illim
They have helped you before. Some of them shielded you when you came through the Taxxon drinking pit to rescue Aftran. I plan to come along too – I trust them enough to put myself and Tidwell at risk.
Aximili
I will pass your message on to Prince Jake. I cannot say when we will be available. A new crisis emerges every day.
Illim
I know how you feel. Believe me.
19