Three z-space jumps later, we were closing in on our solar system.
"Captain," Menderash said. "We will be leaving z-space in ten seconds, please brace yourselves."
"Everyone got that? Hold onto something, we're coming out of z-space," Jake turned toward us and announced. I moved into a corner and put my hands on the joining walls. Santorelli and Jeanne strapped down in adjacent chairs, while Marco grabbed a railing on the wall. Gripping the top of the captain's chair, Jake knelt behind Menderash. The former Andalite's hands entered a flurry of commands into the computer. A warning beacon went off and we reverted to normal space.
"Look, it's Earth…" Marco giddily noted. He ran over to the window to get a better look.
"Finally," Jeanne muttered impatiently as she unbuckled her restraints. She got up and walked over to Marco.
"So, about that date…" Marco began and put his arm around her shoulders. Jeanne smirked and elbowed him hard in the gut. Marco winced and backed off, holding his stomach.
"We lost Ax… another Animorph gone…" Jake said solemnly. He furrowed his brow and sighed. His comments brought to mind the vile image of the transformed Ax with teeth. My shorm, my uncle, was gone. The Rachel rocked violently, and I was thrown to the deck.
"Captain! We are being attacked from behind!" Menderash announced and whipped the ship to face portside. A large green-brown serpent creature loomed within several feet of us. The eyeless head opened its mouth wide, revealing a cavernous mouth. The Rachel began to tremble.
"What the hell…" Santorelli's face showed his fear.
"All energy to the engines, reverse, full throttle!" Jake ordered. The Rachel shuddered and our engines were pulled from their resting places. We stared in horror as they were sucked down the bottomless hose that was this monster.
"Odds of successfully surviving this encounter are 3,720 to one," Menderash noted in a grim tone. We were slowly drawn toward the mouth.
"What are we going to do!??" Jeanne yelled frantically.
"You can hold my hand, Jeanne!" Marco offered. She reluctantly accepted. "Ow ow ow!" Not so hard!"
"Sir?" Santorelli looked at Jake who was blinking back tears.
"I'm sorry… it's all my fault…"
"Here we go," I said, but no one heard above the roar in our ears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ Jake ]
I've killed us all, the last of the Animorphs. Oh, I forgot about Cassie. I wished I could have had the chance to hear her voice again as we entered the mouth. Everyone screamed except for Menderash, I guess because of his Andalite pride. Everything went black.