Chapter 15-Jake
I was as stunned as everybody else who had been watching.
How had Rachel made it off of the Blade ship? One second, I was about to watch her die, and the next second, she was standing next to us on the Pool ship.
Suddenly, it hit me, the magnitude of the actions I had ordered.
Tom was dead. The Yeerk in his head was dead.
I had commanded my cousin to kill my brother. How would I ever justify that?
The seventeen thousand Yeerks in the pool.
General Doubleday's troops, who provided the hopeless diversion on the ground.
All of the auxiliary Animorphs, who had went with General Doubleday's troops. James, Erica, Collette. The disabled kids that I had given the chance to fight.
Many of the free Hork-Bajir.
And probably many more. All dead because of me.
There were other things we had to worry about, though. The Blade ship was heading right for us. This time, there would be no escape.
Jake, what do we do? Cassie asked.
We get to die, Marco replied cynically. Like standing in front of a car that's coming right at you, and you stand still. Only this is in space.
A blue flash, off to my right!
Visser One leaped at me, tail blade flashing. If I were human, I would be dead. But I was a tiger.
FWAAP!
I jumped off to the left, just avoiding being sliced. I could feel the breeze as the tail blade whipped by.
Rachel, morph to grizzly bear! I yelled. It really didn't matter whether we lived or died. Even if we won this battle, the Blade ship would finish us off. Visser One was distracting us from trying to escape.
Ax leaped at Visser One. The two of them were tail-fighting at lightning speed. The human-Controllers were scrambling to get Dracon beams.
TSEEEW!
A neat circle was burned into my flank. That made me mad.
"Rrrrrrrooooowwwww!" I roared as I jumped at the nearest Controller. I slapped the Dracon beam away from him. Then I slapped my paw against the side of his head. The Controller slumped, unconscious.
Rachel had almost finished her morph. Cassie and Marco were fighting with the other Controllers. I was about to head over to them when I heard Tobias yell something.
"Jake, behind you!" he shouted, still human. I looked.
The only Controller still conscious had a Dracon beam pointed at my head. He would vaporize my brain. The others were too far away. By the time they reached me, I would be dead.
"Good-bye, big kitty," the Controller said with a laugh. His finger was depressing the trigger.
"NOOOOOO!" Tobias yelled. He ran over and knocked the Controller to the ground. The Dracon beam fired wildly, hitting Visser One in the chest.
You idiot! Visser One screamed in pain.
FWAAP!
Ax nailed Visser One on the side of the head. The body of Alloran-Semitur-Corrass fell to the floor, out cold.
The Controller punched Tobias in the chest. Tobias fell back, the wind knocked out of him. Now the Controller took aim at Tobias.
He didn't fire in time. Rachel picked him up and threw him against the panels. The Controller was vibrating uncontrollably. Sparks were flying. He was being electrocuted.
I looked out the window. The Blade ship was directly in front of us, and gaining speed. No time to escape.
Everybody, demorph, I said. No one answered, but human bodies began to emerge from various wild animals.
The viewscreen came alive again. The same human-Controller that had spoken before was there. On his face was a wild, crazy look.
"Goodbye, Animorphs," he snickered. "In a few seconds, I will accomplish what Visser One couldn't do in three years! Ah ha ha!"
TSEEEW! TSEEEW!
Green streaks of light hit the bridge of the Blade ship. The entire ship disintegrated into its individual atoms. The viewscreen crackled and showed static. We all turned to see the source of the green beams.
A Dome ship! Ax exclaimed.
It was a Dome ship. It looked like a tree, with engines at the bottom of the trunk, and a dome at the top, with many types of plants. In the middle of the trunk, it bulged out, where the weapons and living quarters were.
But now it was rotating around, and its shredders were almost pointed at us.
"Uh-oh," Tobias said. "I think they're going to destroy us."
"Gee, do you think?" Marco asked.
"Ax, open a channel with the Dome ship. Hurry," I ordered.
Did you really think I'd die that quickly? a voice said. Visser One! He had regained consciousness.
Before I could say something, Ax whipped his tail, and Visser One was unconscious again.
"Thanks, Ax," I said. But that was a few more precious seconds wasted. "Rachel, morph to grizzly. Tell the visser to leave his stolen Andalite body or we will yank him out. Marco, find something to put the Yeerk in."
"No problem-o," Marco said. He started rummaging around for a container. Brown fur began to sprout from Rachel's fair skin.
I have sent a request to open communications, Prince Jake, Ax reported. If they do not accept, we can do nothing.
"Well, we did all we could," I said.
The viewscreen lightened. A picture of an Andalite was onscreen. He seemed to be smiling a sneering smile. This was not going to be easy.
Begging for mercy, Yeerk? the Andalite officer mocked. It will be interesting to hear your pathetic reasons as to why we should spare you.
I am aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, younger brother of War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Ax said. With the help of humans, I have captured this Pool ship. I thank you for destroying the Blade ship.
Clearly you are a Controller, the Andalite replied. One Andalite and a handful of humans could never take a Pool ship. You are wasting my time. He was about to disconnect. If he did, we were dead.
"Ask him if we could talk to their captain," Tobias whispered. "He probably knows about us."
We request that we speak to the captain of your ship, Ax repeated.
As you wish, Yeerk, the Andalite spat. The screen went blank for a second, then another Andalite was shown. He was older, and had a few scars on his face. This Andalite had seen battle before.
This is Captain-Prince Kerrath-Wathill-Dorass of the Dome ship SilverBlade, the Andalite said. What do you want, Yeerk?
I am not a Yeerk, Ax protested. I am aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, and I-
Prince Elfangor's little brother? Captain Kerrath questioned.
Yes, Ax said with a sigh. We have captured this Pool ship. Visser One is our prisoner.
I am impressed, Kerrath told us. At least he wasn't too arrogant. I have heard of your escapades on Earth. How can we positive that you are not Yeerks?
"You'll just have to trust us," I said, speaking for the first time.
Who are you? the Andalite asked.
"I am Jake Berenson, leader of the Animorphs," I answered.
He is my prince, Ax added.
"I'm no one's prince," I muttered under my breath.
Very well, Kerrath said. I will send a shuttle along with myself and my senior officers aboard shortly. My regrets to you for the officer that caused you problems. The screen flickered, then faded.
There was a huge collective sigh of relief. We had nearly gotten blown up by our supposed allies.
Toby Hamee, the leader of the free Hork-Bajir, raced onto the bridge. She was bleeding heavily, but scars were starting to cover her wounds.
"The Yeerks with Hork-Bajir hosts fought back," she said gravely. "We had no choice but to kill all of them. My father, Jara Hamee, died bravely in battle."
"I'm really sorry, Toby," I said. "I wish it could have turned out another way."
"He died bravely. He died defending the free Hork-Bajir. He died with honor. He has brought pride to my family," Toby said, pride filling her voice.
"Toby, bring the rest of the Hork-Bajir here to the bridge," Tobias said.
"Why?"
"The Andalites will be here soon, and the history between the Andalites and the Hork-Bajir isn't too friendly. With your people here, they will be better protected," I said.
"Yes, that would make sense. I will be right back." Toby ran off the bridge.
"Rachel, tell Erek in thought-speak that we'll have company soon. If he doesn't want to divulge his existence, he should leave. We won't tell anyone about the Chee."
Okay, Jake, Rachel answered from her grizzly bear morph. Visser One had not emerged yet.
I collapsed suddenly. I was worn out from our final battle. The emotions that I had withheld for the past few hours were hitting me now.
Tom. Ever since we started fighting the Yeerks, I wanted to free Tom. To have my brother back, not an imposter. Those three years, I lived alongside him, knowing he was helpless, and knowing that doing anything would get my friends and I killed. I could barely wait for the day in which I would be able to free him.
When I made our battle plans, I knew that my wish would never come true. I knew the Yeerk in Tom's head never planned to release him. After we captured the Pool ship, he would blow us up with the Blade ship, and run away. I couldn't let that happen.
I had sent Rachel with him. I ordered her to kill Tom. There was no other choice. And my dream, the one that kept me strong through these years of war, disappeared in an instant.
I should have lost Rachel as well. But by some miracle, she was transported from the Blade ship to the Pool ship. I wondered how it happened, why it happened. The Ellimist might have done it, but it was against the rules of his little war with Crayak.
"Wake me up when the Andalites come," I told the others. My mind was spinning with too many thoughts. I needed to have a clear head when the Andalites came onboard.
As soon as I sat down, I was instantly asleep.