Chapter 24

            I had been laying down, as an Andalite does, of course, with my main eyes closed but my stalk eyes open.  Ever since I had been released from being a prisoner of the One, I had been slightly withdrawn.  It had been a horrible experience, thinking I would never become free again, and that my being trapped might lead my friends to the same fate.  Since I returned, I had spoken a bit with Tobias in private thoughtspeak, told everyone all that I knew about the One, and offered some other small bits of advice or opinions, but for the most part, I had stayed aloof.  I had always felt somewhat apart from the rest of the Animorphs because I was the only alien, but we had grown closer over the three years of fighting.  Towards the end, I felt almost like one of them, but after the war ended and I became a prince and each Animorph went their own separate way, we grew apart again.  True, Tobias was and always would be my shorm, but he disappeared and talked only occasionally to Cassie and Toby.  However, I decided that if I wanted to renew my friendship with my old comrades in arms and get over the trauma of being absorbed by the One, the best time to start was now.

            I had overheard Jake and Cassie's late night conversation, but I did not truly know what marriage meant.  I knew that it meant that the two people involved then lived together and sometimes reproduced, for that aspect of marriage is common among many species around the Milky Way, including Andalites.  However, I did not know the human parts to it.  I noticed that Marco was still awake, although farther from Jake and Cassie than I was.  Quietly, so that I would not disturb any of the sleeping people, I moved over to where Marco lay.

            Marco, I said.

            He rolled over to look at me, an annoyed look on his face.  "Yeah?  I was admiring the view!  She looks really pretty when she's asleep, doesn't she?" he asked, gesturing at Sandra.  "Anyway, what?"

            I was just curious, what does 'marriage' mean in human terms?

            "Well, it basically means that you and the person you love have a big ceremony, and all your friends and family come, and you're pronounced man and wife, and then you go and live together, maybe have kids, and hopefully live together happily for the rest of your lives, I guess.  Why?"

            No reason, it's just that I heard Jake ask Cassie if she would marry him, I replied, truthfully.

            Marco let out a loud guffaw, which he quickly concealed as a hacking cough when Cassie turned around, looking for the source of the sound.  When she had gone back to her own little world with Jake, Marco started to speak.  "It's about time," he said.  "This would have happened a long time ago, if Jake hadn't been so pigheaded."

            I was starting to be very confused.  So is this good, or is it bad? I asked.

            Marco laughed again, but this time quietly.  "It's good, Ax-man.  Very, very good."

            Ah, I said.  Should we wake up Tobias and Rachel and tell them, then?

            "No, don't worry, Rachel will find out soon enough, and we can wait to tell Tobias until morning."

            As we were discussing this, the people who had gone with Guide finally came back with good news.

            We have a ship, as well as enough supplies to last us for six months, now, Yahal announced in open thoughtspeak.

            "Each one of us sold our memories in order to get it all," expanded Menderash.

            "The ship is a real beauty," commented General Doubleday.

"They said that some alien merchants found the ship dead in space only about a week ago, and brought it here to sell.  We gave it a quick check over, and there's nothing wrong with it, so we bought it," added Santorelli.

            Jake, who had come out of his conversation with Cassie, said, "That's great.  Are the supplies on her yet?"

            "Yes, we had some workers load them on board," said Toby.

            "Alright, so we can head home as soon as Tom gets better," Jake exclaimed excitedly.

            Just then, a bright beam of light shot through the sky, illuminating the sky next to Santorelli before ten Garatron, led by the ones I recognized Barvaritun Larumian Hartar and the one absorbed by the One, descended upon us.

            "Battle morphs, everyone!" Jake roared, already turning orange with black striping down his sides.  As I watched, Marco sprouted shaggy black hair on his shoulders and back, and a long trunk rolled down from Rachel's face.  Tobias rose up into the air as sharp canine teeth formed in Cassie's mouth.  Jeanne took one last frantic look at Tom, then turned tan and brown spots appeared all over her body as she became a leopard.  A horn grew from Santorelli's nose as his face became bony and thick and his DNA changed to that of a rhinoceros.  I heard a shriek from Sandra and saw General Doubleday and Menderash back towards her and Tom because they knew they would be of no help without morphing power.  Yahal, Toby, and I stepped forward and began to slash with our various blades, and Tobias flapped his wings and rose off of the ground.  However, my lightning-quick speed that usually took an enemy down within seconds was not working this time.

            They're too fast! Yahal moaned.  It was true.  The Garatron were circling us, running faster and faster around and whipping their tails with the sharp blades at the end in toward us.  Slowly, the eight of us fighting on the ground were being herded into a small circular area.  None of us could even hit the quick Garatron.  Standing still about five earth feet away was Captain Barvaritun Larumian Hartar.  Suddenly, something plummeted out of the sky.

            "Tseeeeeeeeeeer!" a hawk screamed.

            Ahhhh! Captain Barvaritun Larumian Hartar yelled as his stalk eyes were ripped open.  The other Garatron stopped at the noise, including the one that was absorbed by the One.

            Run! Jake commanded.  While Tobias dived at the various aliens, shredding their stalk eyes, Rachel lifted the still sleeping form of Tom onto her back, and the rest of us ran for our lives.  Tobias! Jake called.  Give us enough time to get lost in the Iskoort, and then follow us.  You will be able to find us.  Menderash, where is our ship?  We will lift off as soon as Tobias meets us.

            For the next half of an earth hour, we ran as fast as we could toward the ship.  During that time, I noticed Sandra starting to lag behind, and Marco stopped.  She said something to him, and he looked very concerned.  You guys wait, he called out.  She has asthma.  She still has her inhaler with her, though.  We'll catch up to you with Tobias.  Jake protested at first, but then gave in when he saw her chest heaving as she tried to suck in air.

            We finally made it to the ship, and we all hurried inside.  Rachel gently took Tom off of her back and onto the floor, and then Prince Jake and Jeanne, who had demorphed, picked him up and brought him into the first cabin with soft padding they could find.  Not long afterwards, Tobias, Marco, and Sandra, who was breathing much more easily, came in. 

            "Alright," Jake said to Menderash.  "What sort of ship is this?"

            "The controls are actually quite strange; I have never seen anything like them."

            It is the same with me; I do not recognize them either, said Yahal.

            "However, we are quite certain that we will be able to discover how to control the ship; we believe it works with thoughtspeak.  The ship is very strange though…"

            "Okay, Ax, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, you come with me to look at the rest of the ship.  Marco, you stay here and learn to work the computers with Menderash and Yahal; you're the best with computers.  The rest of you can stay here, or do whatever."

            We followed Jake deeper into the starship, learning where everything was.

            "Ax, where did Menderash and Yahal say this ship was found?"  Like me, Jake had noticed the strange amount of dust lying over everything.  In some places, it was four inches thick.  Although all of the instruments and materials in the ship looked like they were close to the standards of older Andalite ships, they all looked ancient.

            They said that it was found dead in space, I believe.

            "Ah.  Well, I think that this ship has been dead in space for a long time then."

            I nodded my agreement.

            We continued looking through the ship, and found the galley, more cabins, the escape pods, the engine room, and finally, the storage rooms.  The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the cold temperature.  I noticed small bumps rise on my friends' arms.

            "Why is it so cold?" asked Rachel.

            I don't know, I replied.  Then, with my main eyes, I spotted it.  On the far side of the large storage room were several large tanks with some sort of vapor surrounding them.  When I took a closer look, I saw what was inside the cages: each one contained a brightly colored, flattish creature with hundreds of eyes.  I realized that the animals must have been cryogenically frozen.  Look over there, I commanded, pointing at the tanks.  One by one, they all looked.

            "What are those?" questioned Cassie.

            I could not tell myself, but then Tobias spoke.  Wow, he said.  Human eyes really are weak.  Can't you tell what they are?  They're Mercora.

To be continued in the next book, The Carried…

A/N:  Like it?  Well, that was el finalmente (Wow… I can speak Spanish!  That was Spanish for "the final," but I'll bet you knew that…) chapter, but the first chapter for the second story of this trilogy should be up soon!  It's called The Carried, and it should be good.  It will continue right where this left off.  Anyway, in the tradition of KAA's stories, here is the sample chapter to the next story!  ** Note: This may change a bit by the time I post it in the other story **

#56 – The Carried

            Sixty-five million years ago, the sun of our home planet was drawn into a black hole and destroyed, destroying our planet.  We managed to escape, but I do not know if any other Murkra were able to.  For thirty generations now, we have unfrozen ourselves for one year every one hundred years, waiting for the time when we would find a planet suitable to our needs.  We have never found one, so we remain frozen for most of the time. said the leader of the Mercora, or Murkra as they seemed to call themselves.

            "Hmm," I said.  "So it seems that we stole your ship."

            "Quiet, Marco," Jake warned.

            "What?" I asked.  "It's only fair that we give it back."

            Rachel looked at me, already realizing that there must be more to what I was saying than I was letting on.  "Why would we give it back, Marco?"

            "It would be good manners!" I exclaimed, not wanting the Mercora to hear.  "My mommy always told me to mind my P's and Q's.  I'm a good little boy!"

            Rachel rolled her eyes, and Sandra laughed.  She had a beautiful laugh, musical and light-hearted, but still loud and hearty; she was not afraid to show that she appreciated a good joke.  Unlike some other people, such as Rachel.  I gave a snort of disgust.

            We would be willing to take you to your planet, as long as we can have our ship back afterwards, the leader said.

            "Well, sure, we woul-" Jake started to say, but I cut him off.

            "NO!  I mean, thank you very much, but I'm sure we could make it back by ourselves," I blurted out.

            Jake gave me a very strange and searching look, but Tobias fluttered his wings and privately told me that her understood.  Then, he spoke to all of us, not including the Mercora.

            We cannot allow the Mercora to see earth, because if that other colony liked it sixty-five million years ago liked it, and there are still some areas with the same climate and types of plants as there were then, of which there are, then they may want to stay.  And I know that some humans will not be very partial to that.  And in case you haven't noticed, but they have some serious weaponry here, unlike our other buddies that died sixty-five million years ago.  Humans were already nearly wiped out by the Yeerks, and we don't need the same to happen because of the Mercora.
            Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Ax, Sandra, Tom, Santorelli, Jeanne, Yahal, Menderash, General Doubleday, and Toby stared at him.

            Act normal, Tobias said.  They can't know.

            Suddenly, the ground below our feet shook, and things started falling off the walls.  Looking at the view port, I saw the Garatron ship.

            "Oh, man!" I complained.  "I am really getting sick of those guys.  They just don't know when to hold their fire!"

            Captain Barvaritun Larumian Hartar's ugly face filled the communications screen.  As soon as he saw the Mercora leader standing with us, his face twisted an expression of pure hatred.  Murkra, he said in a low, menacing voice.

            The leader had taken on a similar expression, although it was hard to tell because of his strange feature.  Garatron, he said equally menacing.

            Blowthemoutoftheair! Baravaritun Larumian Hartar ordered.  IwantridoftheseMurkraonceandforall.

            There was another blast, and we hurtled toward another unknown planet.