Things changed fast in one day. I was outside playing basketball with the kids when a limo, followed by a humvee pulling a horse trailer, pulled up in my driveway. I went over to see who it was, and out stepped a man I hadn't see in over twenty years.
"Hello Jake," he said.
"Hello Santorelli. It's been a while."
"Yes it has. These must be your kids."
"Stacey, Jason, Nicole I'd like you to meet Sergeant Santorelli."
"It's General now. Jake, I didn't exactly come here to B.S. with you. A situation has occurred and I was instructed by headquarters to come see you."
The way he said "situation" didn't make it sound like good news. I was almost terrified to ask what he was here for. It could have been a number of things; the renegade Yeerks started another empire and were plotting another attack, an asteroid was on a collision course with Earth, or Ax could be himself again. I didn't get my hopes up on that last one.
I took a deep breath. "What's the problem?"
Santorelli snapped his fingers and two MP's jumped out of the humvee and lowered the ramp of the horse trailer. Slowly and very gracefully an Andalite stepped off the ramp onto the concrete. My heart jumped up in my throat as I took in its appearance. I only managed to utter one word.
"Ax?"
No, I am sorry,> the Andalite said. I may have some resemblance to my father, but I am not him. My name is Princess Ketara-Falan-Shayden.>
I suddenly felt dizzy. Ax's daughter? It was too much for me to handle all at once. Everything started going black. When I awoke I was lying on the sofa, Stacey's face loomed above mine.
"You okay Dad?" she asked.
I sat up slowly and waited a moment for my eyes to adjust and my head to clear. General Santorelli sat across from me, and beside him stood the Andalite that was Ax's daughter. Shannon brought out some glasses of lemonade for Santorelli and his men and a bowl of water for Ketara. She gingerly placed her hoof in and began to drink as Santorelli sipped his beverage.
"Why are you here?" I asked the Andalite. "Is it about Ax?"
I wish it were. Apparently the Yeerks who escaped have formed many alliances with other galaxies, and it appears they are plotting to annihilate Earth if they cannot enslave it first.>
"Jake, we need you to gather your forces once more to stop this from happening," Santorelli told me.
"I can't. Look at me, I'm almost in my forties for crying out loud, I wouldn't last five minutes in a fight. You'll just have to find someone else."
"I will," Stacey stepped forward.
"Us too," Jason and Nicole stood beside her.
I jumped to my feet. "No you will not! I forbid any of you to take part of this. I refuse to lose anyone else to those bastards! They took my brother and my cousin, I will not let them take my kids."
"Dad you're always telling us to do what we think is right," Jason said. "This is the right thing to do. We have no choice."
We have no choice, the words echoed in my mind.
I can remember when Marco used to say that whenever I felt like giving up. Now I was faced with an even harder decision: sit back and let Earth be destroyed or send my children into battle and risk them being killed. The odds weren't good no matter how I looked at it. I sighed heavily. I knew what had to be done. I called Marco and Cassie, then morphed to peregrine and went to find Tobias. He was hunting in his meadow when I arrived. I don't know why he had to be there, maybe it was because I thought he wanted to feel needed by others. Important.
Hey Tobias,> I said.
What's up?>
There's a meeting at my house. It's urgent.>
How urgent?>
It involves Ax. You have a cousin.>
Ax's brother, Elfangor, is the one who gave us the power to morph. Tobias later found out that Elfangor was his father, making Ax his uncle. Now Ax had a daughter.
On my way,> he said and took wing.
Minutes later we were all gathered in my living room. I had told Marco and Cassie to bring their kids along. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to explain this to them. How was I going to tell them their children may have to put their lives on the line like we've had to do one too many times in the past? It would have to be decided by them. I introduced Ketara and she explained the situation. Cassie began to make some remark about risking the morality of her son when I shot a look in her direction that said "opinion not wanted". Marco whined about being right back where we started and Tobias remained silent, he didn't have any kids of his own to worry about. They all objected, but lost. Travis and Cheyenne were determined to do the right thing even if it cost them their lives.
"They don't have the morphing power," Cassie stated.
I have an Escafil device with me,> Ketara said. I have made some improvements to the technology.>
"What kind of improvements?" Marco asked.
The time it takes to morph is much faster, it only takes seconds now. Also, when you morph, your clothing morphs with you. >
They each placed one hand on the cube, receiving the power and the ability to morph every animal on the planet. From ant to zebra.
Now all you have to do is acquire the DNA of the animal you want morph.>
"There's only five of us," Stacey said. "How can we possibly stop them?"
Six,> Ketara said. I shall avenge my father and what they have done to him.>
Make it seven,> Tobias said. I have nothing else to do.>
It had been decided: Tobias and Ketara
would join the others in battle along with a couple of morph-capable Hork-Bajir.
We gave them a quick lesson on how to control the animal mind. They would
all morph to birds and fly to Yellowstone Park where the Hork-Bajir colony
was now located. Santorelli and I drove them to the local zoo where they
could acquire the necessary morphs. Stacey chose a golden eagle, Jason
a bald eagle, and Nicole a prairie falcon. Travis picked a merlin falcon,
and Ketara decided on a Harris hawk. Cheyenne acquired a martial eagle
and Tobias would go in his natural form: a red-tail. I wished them luck
as they all spread their wings and flew away. We watched until they were
no longer in sight. I hoped nothing would go wrong, but that would be asking
a lot.