A "small shuttlecraft", even on a first-class Yeerk cruiser, is not a very comfortable place to live. I had at first considered it a burden that Tobias found out, but now I couldn't be more grateful. I had food thanks to him. And a source of information. From what he told me, it wasn't going too good. After floating aimlessly for a few months, there was absolutely no trace of Ax or any of these Kelbrid. So I waited.

And I waited. Let me tell you, sitting in a confined space with nothing to do but prepare for your basically inevitable death can get a little boring. So I decided to be completely stupid. I left the shuttle. I knew that Tobias was on watch tonight, so I didn't expect much trouble. I had, however, forgotten Tobias' frequent warnings of Jake having trouble sleeping, being so worried about everything.

I walked out. And right onto the bridge, where I found not just Tobias in human morph, but Tobias in human morph talking to Jake. My first impulse was, as any normal person would do, to run. My second impulse was to have some fun. Neither of them had spotted me yet, but I would make sure they did. After all, I'd known from the beginning I wouldn't be able to stay hidden for long. And I knew we had just found a system near Kelbrid territory. It'd be hard to keep hidden if they landed anywhere. And I was entitled to some fun after being cooped up for months.

I caught Tobias' eyes first. They widened. He seemed to be shaking his head at me. I just smiled innocently, feeling completely not like myself. Jake saw his shock. "What's wrong?" He began to turn around.

"Oh, it's nothing," Tobias assured him. But it was too late. He'd seen me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I winced, very slightly. In the old days, that small action would've made him soften up 100%. Today, he stood there, no change what-so-ever. It broke my heart. Not for me, but for him. Seeing him so hardened, so affected by the war and all the changes as I'd never seen before. His voice startled me out of my thoughts. "I asked you a question. What are you doing here?"

I took a deep breath, ready to confess. Then a small voice in the back of my head asked, Confess what? You just wanted to help. You were doing your duty. He's the one who wouldn't let you come. You don't need to confess anything. It was true. So I played it out. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You're not on duty tonight. It's me and Tobias. You're tomorrow," He opened his mouth to comeback, then paused, confused. He rubbed his temples.

Then he shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, but as far as I know, you're not supposed to be here. And the fact stands that I am, shall we say, captain, of this ship, and therefore know who is and who is not supposed to be here. I am. You are not. I don't know how or why you're here, but I can't do much about it now. I don't know what I'm going to do about you, especially after I thought you understood that you were doing what you needed to be doing back there. This isn't your territory anymore, don't you understand that?"

I averted my gaze from his face. "That's what you thought, Jake. But there wasn't much that I was doing back on Earth. The Hork-Bajir are safe at Yellowstone. They were fine by their own in the valley, why do they need our help now? Anyways, Ronnie can take care of anything that happens by slim chance. You're right. I was doing what I needed to do then. But that part of my life is over now. I was there when I needed to be, and now I'm here, where I need to be." I searched his face. From what I could tell, he wasn't buying it. Then again, it was a lot harder to read his face than it used to be, no matter how much he'd loosened up in the last 2 years.

He looked at me for a moment, then shook his head. "You know what, I don't have the time or patience for this. Just go back to wherever you came from." I stared back. That didn't sound a bit like Jake. I was still staring when a large fist came down on his head, and he slumped to floor, out cold.

Tobias looked at me, with a stern glint in his eye. "Never, ever do anything that risky again, until I give you permission. I'll cover up for you. This time. I won't remember a thing about this and Jake will think it was all a dream. And you'll have taken him on his little guilt trip, if you could even call it that, so I hope you're happy." He looked tired, frazzled. "Just...go back to the shuttle. I'll bring you some food later." His eyes bored into me in his eternally intense stare, no matter what form he was in. I stood in the middle of the bridge for a moment, then walked off in the opposite direction, back towards the inevitable boredom.

~ ~ ~

That incident was long from being forgotten by myself, Tobias, or even Jake, as Tobias told me, but, three months later, it didn't seem to matter anymore. Because, after all that "hard" so-called searching (translation: wandering aimlessly), they found us.

Tobias was kind enough to shout a warning to me. I, still being stupid, decided to follow. When Tobias flew by, I flew (as a fly) blindly and landed on him by pure luck. We got there just as they were sending out their story. 'We are the Enterprise, a peaceful, deep-space exploration ship from The United Federation of Planets.' I figured Marco was behind that. I thought it was a little stupid, considering there would probably be human Controllers on the Blade Ship still.

I was proved correct when Menderash reported, "Recieving a request for visual, two-way communication."

<Uh-oh> The ever so intelligent response of my buddy Tobias.

"What do we show them?" That was one of the "replacements", as I thought of them. The guy.

Jake said exactly what I knew he would. No matter how messed up he gets, he'll always be able to figure things out in a crisis. "Not me. If it's the Blade Ship, they may recognize me. Or Marco, or Tobias, for that matter. Santorelli," (That was his name!), "you're the best B.S. artist aside from Marco. So you're the captain. Jeanne, you stand with him. Everyone else out of view. Narrow the audio channel to pick up Santorelli only. Okay, open communications." I held my breath (well, sort of. Hard to do as a fly.) along with everyone else.

I heard a man laughing. He had his hands on his hips, and looked way too confident for my tastes. "So, you come from the Federation, do you? And where is Captain Picard?" Santorelli hesitated. Marco would've had an answer before the guy finished talking. And he did.

"You've always thought of yourself as more of a Captain Kirk," he whispered.

"I've always thought of myself as more of a Captain Kirk," Santorelli repeated, cockiness back.

At that point, Menderash gave a bit a useful info. "Sensor confirmation: It's the Blade Ship." I would've drawn in a breath, but I was fly, and couldn't.

The man, or Yeerk, should I say, said "That's quite a ship you have there...excuse me, I don't know your name."

And it was Marco to the rescue again. "You're Rakich-Four-Six-Nine One of the Flet Niaar Pool." Santorelli repeated it, in that same confident voice.

"I am Efflit-One-Three-One-Eight of the Sulp Niaar Pool. Well met." I mentally sighed in relief. One obstacle was beat, for now at least. "And what exactly are you doing here, brother? And how do you come to be flying a new cruiser-class ship?" Shoot. Thought too soon.

But Santorelli was quick. "I might ask the same of you. I find it hard to imagine what business a ship of the Yeerk Empire has in this far-flung quadrant."

"He's powering up his weapons and maneuvering to bring them to bear," Menderash, reporting the end of our lives.

Back to the conversation, Efflit replied, "My mission here is classified."

"As is mine," I had to give it to him, Santorelli knew what to say.

After a silence where everyone seemed to be thinking about their inevitable fate (I know I was), Jake said, "We have to blink first." He told Santorelli what to do.

He carried out the orders. "It occurs to me, Efflit 1318, that it would be a tragedy if any misunderstanding occured here between us."

"Indeed? And what misunderstanding could occur, Rakich 4691?" His voice made me nervous.

Santorelli sighed, carrying out the plan perfectly. "There is no empire, Efflit 1318. The empire is finished. I...my crew and I seized this ship and escaped as the Andalites closed in. We had heard that a Blade ship had escaped and survived. We have been looking for you ever since. For more than three years."

We sat in drawn-out silence, hoping, wishing, praying he bought it. "You will place yourself under the command of The One?"

"The who?" I could've smacked him. But I, of all people, know everyone makes mistakes. But there really was no excuse for this potentially fatal one Santorelli had just made.

"I command this ship, but I serve at the pleasure of The One Who Is Many. The One Who Is All. We are not alone, Rakich 4691. We are not this ship alone. We are the seeds of a new empire that will far outshine the old, under the leadership of The One." At this point, I wasn't quite so glad for all my practice hearing as a fly. And I decided that if I was going to die, it wasn't going to be as a fly. So I left to demorph.

Once outside the door, I swear I made the quickest demorph of my life, and, being me, that's a pretty big accomplishment. I was me again in less than a minute and came (crouching low, hiding behind chairs, all that spy junk that never works) in to see one of the most disturbing sights I have seen in my life.

It was Ax.

But as I watched from behind my chair, I saw a huge mouth, wide opened with red-rimmed teeth. Then, he spoke. "Save your tricks for this Yeerk fool. I see the truth. I see all. Step into view, Jake the Yeerk-Killer. I kow you are there, I feel your mind."

I wanted to cry out to Jake, tell him not to do it, for somehow, I knew that this would be the end of life as we knew it if he gave into this One. But something kept me from it. I stayed where I was, not really knowing any reason not to give myself away, but not really having a legitimate reason to do just that.

"I'm here." He sounded so calm, so unemotional. It was almost as if he had expected this. In a way, I suppose he had. He knew his life wouldn't end in a normal way, and, perhaps, he went on this mission to seek out the end, rather than wait any longer for it to come to him.

The face seemed to sneer at him. "You have done well to come this far. You have come to find your friend. But the Andalite is part of me now. As you will soon be." Jake stared, and I got a weird sense of deja vu, seeing a younger Jake before me, one who would have pointless staring contests for fun, just like any other kid. Then he was once again the old Jake, the not-Jake.

"Can we shoot?" He didn't turn away from the screen or even whisper.

"His Dracon cannon have longer range and greater power. And his defensive fields have been enhanced. I doubt our cannon can penetrate them." Boy, this situation kept getting better and better.

Jake nodded, as if expecting this, too, "Thought so. But we're faster," He still seemed too calm, but now I recgonized the planning, manipulative, general look on his face. The expression he wore that was always followed by Marco's trademark, "This is insane!"

When I heard the plan a few minutes later, I have to say I agree with him.

"Yes," Menderash answered, seemingly calm in a different way than Jake.

"Okay," He took a deep breath, deepening the foreboding mode. He looked around at each of the known crew members in turn. I ducked, but I would swear on my life I felt his gaze lock on me for the smallest fraction of a second. Of course, my life at this point wasn't much of a thing to swear on, since I was dead sure I wouldn't have it much longer.

"What was it, Marco? 'Crazy, reckless, ruthless decisions'?" Marco nodded, looking, for once in his life, as if he regretted speaking his mind to Jake. Jake smiled. A smile I knew very well, but hadn't seen in years.

"Full emergency power to the engines. Ram the Blade Ship." For a moment we were all speechless.

Then I spoke. "Jake." One word. A single word, all I had to fit in to try to save my life. Our lives.

Everyone snapped their head towards me, except of course, for Tobias. And Jake. He slowly and calmly looked at me, then gave a small smile and a single nod. "I knew you would come," He loked at me, something almost pity-like in his look. It seemed out of place in those hardened eyes, ones I used to gaze into, looking for the answer to the world's biggest problems.

I stood up and walked towards him, our eyes locked. "Jake, there has to be another way. Do you really want to kill all these people? Santorelli, Jeanne, Menderash?" I felt tears coming. "Tobias?" They started to leak out of my eyes. "What about Marco?" They rolled down my cheeks. I said the last part in barely a whisper. "What about me?" Now the salty, rare tears flowed freely, drenching my face.

He stared back, never breaking the connection, but his eyes were somehow...less pitying, more stony, cold, calculating. "Cassie, you of all people should understand. We have to sacrifice ourselves to help the rest of the world. The universe. What's so bad about that?"

I bit my lip. "What's so bad about using this as a stupid excuse to kill yourself? Jake, you know, it may seem like you've gotten over it all, but I know you better. This isn't you. I mean, if you were paying attention right now, you'd know they haven't shot at us yet. And..." I trailed off. I couldn't believe it. No, it wasn't true.

Jake turned and his face turned ashen white, showing the first sign of fear I'd seen during the mission. I'm sure we all looked like him. Because there, on the screen, was a face. A face with beautiful, flowing, blonde hair. A face with bright blue eyes, frightened and frantic, fighting for control. A face I hadn't seen a trace of since Jake's frightening smile just minutes ago. I blinked, but it was there all the same. Efflit 1318 was not, as it appeared, controlling the middle-aged human man. Now on the screen in the way of The One, had been that man. But now it was unmistakably Rachel Berenson, fighting for control, trying to save her friends from doing something they would forever regret.

~ ~ ~

Disclaimer: A lot of the dialogue (sp?) here was taken from the final chapter of the final Animorphs book, owned by the all wonderful KAA. All characters belong to her also. And most of this. The rest is just the buttons my Muse made me push. It occasionally ended up as decipherable words.

A/N: Oh, aren't I mean?!?! Sorry for the delay on this part, I've been...okay, not busy, but lazy lately, so I did over half of this today. Review. Little box below. You use the pad with buttons and tell me if it sucked, rocked, or just looks like a bunch of jibberish language from the Ketran homeworld.