Chapter 9
While Cassie talked to the Chee and we kidnapped Tom, Yahal had been working on fixing the ship. Miraculously, the Jahar II had not been harmed too badly, and he repaired it easily. When we came back holding an unconscious Tom, we tied him up and locked him into an empty storeroom. Yahal made a few last minute adjustments, and we were off. I knew that I was not off the hook yet. I may have cheated death for now, but we did not know if I could be dragged back through the strands of space-time. I could be left as soon as they left this time, out in the cold vacuum of space. I might just disappear from existence, lost in time and space, like I never did exist. My matter simply erased. I could be returned to where I should be in this timeline, dead, floating in space. I was scared, again. Marco was wrong. I was not fearless. I had plenty of fear. And they were all wrong in thinking I loved the killing. I did not. I do not. In that time when I thought that I was going to die in the Blade Ship, I realized it. Why enjoy taking life when all that matters is life and love? I thought once again of Tobias, and how he would mourn. As I mourn for him, for the time he spent grieving for me, and how his soul must have been torn apart.
The ship is fixed, Yahal's thoughtspeak echoed throughout the ship. If everyone is ready, we will take off, and ram ourselves into another meteor in order to cause another explosion and close the Sario Rip.
I took a deep breath. I wanted to live. I wanted to see Tobias again. I wanted Jake to be happy. And, if I could, I wanted to come back home and see my family. I have not seen Daddy since before we took up residence in the free Hork-Bajir camp. I walked into the bridge. Cassie, General Doubleday, Toby, and Yahal were already waiting there.
"Alright," I said, "Let's do it!"
Cassie smiled. "As Marco would say, 'Great. Now we're all going to die!'"
I laughed. "I hate to say it, but I miss the little shrimp already."
We are lifting off, Yahal said.
"Shall we go check on Tom?" I asked of Cassie.
"Yes, why don't we?" She answered. We turned, and left the General, Toby, and Yahal standing there looking at the controls.
I turned to Cassie outside his room. "We should look inside the room to make sure he has not morphed something dangerous," I told Cassie. "We do not want to be caught unprepared."
"His fighting morph is a cobra," Cassie said. "That's what he morphed two years ago on the Blade Ship."
"Is that what killed me?" I asked.
"No." I saw a tear glinting in the corner of her eye. I realized how hard it must have been for her, for all of them. For Tobias. "He morphed cobra, and bit you in your grizzly bear morph. You bit him in half, and demorphed to human. He died, but you demorphed in time to save yourself. It was another Yeerk as a polar bear that killed you. One clean blow to the head." She looked away, and I saw her breathing heavily. "You nearly killed the polar bear, but it demorphed in time as well. Then it killed you. Before you died, you turned to the screen and saw Tobias in human morph. You told him you loved him. Then, the polar bear killed you."
I could see the scene clearly in my mind. I saw how every little detail would have been. I saw myself as I died. I saw Tobias. Suddenly, I was angry. Not at anyone in particular, just in general. Who or what caused such horrible things to happen? It just was not fair. I could not help but smile though; I cheated that power out of my death. Poor Tobias and Jake did not know that though; they would still suffer through three long years. "Alright," I said to Cassie. "Make the door transparent. Let's talk to the Yeerk. Let him know what is happening."
"Computer, make the door transparent," commanded Cassie. I could suddenly see into the room quite easily. And, as I suspected, Tom was laying coiled in a pile near the door. He had morphed cobra. "We should morph something that can fly and keep out of his way," Cassie said. "Seagulls, I think."
I nodded, and started my change. I fell towards the ground, as my skin turned white and feather patterns etched across it. I felt my lips harden and push out to become the beak of a bird. My nostrils migrated down onto it. My eyes grew round and moved to the sides of my head. My fingers stretched out, and then twisted down as skin grew between them and they became covered with feathers. My toes melted together to become the feet of a bird, and my legs grew rough and pebbly. Then, the seagull brain surfaced in my own, and I started looking around for scraps of food. The seagull never missed anything that could even be considered food.
Ready? I asked Cassie.
Yep, she answered, and then said, Computer, create a force field on the bottom half of the door, and open it.
There was a small shimmer in the air, and then it looked the same. We flapped and ran, and eventually made it up off the ground. I hate flying indoors… I grumbled. Quickly, we zipped through the upper part of the door, and I guess I went a bit too low, because I felt my breastbone scrape over the force field. It was work, but we managed to stay circling around the ceiling of the room. The Yeerk, realizing that he would not be able to poison us, was demorphing. Computer, close the door, I said. Now he could not get out. Hello, Tom, I said to him. Just warning you, we may be experiencing a small amount of turbulence in just a moment, so fasten your seatbelt, I told him, remembering that we would be trying to close the Sario Rip in just a moment by ramming into another meteor and exploding the fuel tanks.
"Where am I?" he demanded, his face angry.
My wings were starting to tire. Look, Yeerk, you are on a spaceship right now, bound for Kelbrid space. His eyes stared at me blankly. However, what we are waiting for will not happen for another three years, and the reason we kidnapped you is to save Tom's life. If we had not kidnapped you, I would be dead, just a few seconds after I killed you. How do I know this? Cassie here is from the future. I will let her explain.
"Cassie from the future, psh! What are you trying to pull, Rachel? You know that I know that you two have been friends ever since you were young. She looks just the same as always."
Oh? Tom, and Yeerk in your head, Cassie started. What happens in the next three years is that you die. Both of you. Rachel kills you. Then, a Yeerk in polar bear morph kills her. We foil Visser One's plans, and we capture him. He goes on trial, and is in prison for about three hundred years. The Blade ship gets away. Jake goes into severe depression because he knows that he caused the death of you, Rachel, and seventeen thousand unhosted Yeerks. Tobias disappears from his grief over Rachel's death. Ax becomes a prince. The Animorphs become famous. The Taxxons become nothlits as large snakes, anacondas and such. The free Hork-Bajir are given Yellowstone. Ax is captured by the Blade ship on a deep space mission, and brought into Kelbrid space. The Kelbrid are a race from another galaxy that have a treaty with the Andalites, saying that the Andalites cannot come into their galaxy, and the Kelbrid cannot go into Andalite territory. Because of that, Marco, Tobias, and Jake went to go rescue Ax. They did not take me. I decided to follow them, knowing they would need my help. Her voice broke. Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer; General Doubleday, the leader of a free army regiment that helped us beat the Pool ship; and Yahal-Corass-Jahar, son of Alloran; came with me. On our way out of the solar system, we hit a meteor, which caused the fuel tanks to explode, and opened a Sario Rip. That is how I came to be in this time. I wanted to save my best friend and you, not only for yourselves, but for Tobias and Jake as well. I had someone play the parts of you and Rachel. Now, we are attempting to be sent back to my time, and bring you with us. Then, we will go and try to save Jake.
We don't know if you and I can be taken through the Sario Rip. I said. We might die, or cease to exist, or something. You will die, though. Yeerk, the trip we are going on will last months. There is no Kandrona aboard this ship. You will starve.
Tom's face etched into one of horror. "Kandrona starvation? No."
Tom, Cassie said, You will be free. Yeerk, I am sorry.
Then, there was a large crash, the floor shook, and I saw a flash of light outside one of the viewing ports. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.
