The Andalite Chronicles: In Loren's POV
(KA's TAC timeline: aproximately chapter 7)
A/N: Well, here it is,,,,btw, I've updated ch. 1 a bit because when I re-read it, it was terrible! So I made a few tweaks here and there. Hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 5
Elfangor dropped Chapman and I off at the "holding room." I will be back soon, after my debriefing.
"But what's going to happen to us?" I asked.
You'll be taken back to your planet as soon as possible, don't worry, Elfangor said with some reassurance.
"I'll believe it when I see it." No guesses to who that was.
As soon as Elfangor left, I turned on Chapman. "Hey, man, what's your problem? They're willing to take us back home and all you've done is complain since we got here. You might want to show some gratitude at least!"
"I don't need to explain my reasons to you, girl," he said with this just infuriating air of seniority.
I was starting to reply with some pretty nasty words, but I stopped as I realized that was probably what he wanted. Trying to provoke me. For what though? Just to be a dumb-ass? No, that wasn't it. As smart-alecky as Chapman was, he wasn't stupid. He was far from that, as I grudgingly admitted. Maybe that was just his normal lifestyle, had a chip on his shoulder permanently. Whatever it was, I wasn't going to let him get the better of me. 'He who conquers you angers you' came to mind.
While I was thinking about this, another Andalite came in. Come with me. We are about to dock off of the StarSword on docking bay 7. He was bigger than Arbron and Elfangor and seemed a lot older. He had some scars on his body from which I'm guessing came from battles. What kind of battles could those be? Man, if Vietnam was bad, wonder what an interstellar war could be like!
Chapman didn't say anything as we were led along to this "docking bay 7." When we got there, inside of it was this ship, bigger than the ship that Elfangor and Arbron took us over here, but much smaller than the ship we were on right now. It had something that looked like a tail arched overhead, just like an Andalite. Must be some kind of weapon?
When I turned around, Elfangor and Arbron appeared. Elfangor looked star-struck looking at the ship, as though he had met one of Hollywood's movie stars.
I see you like my toy, Aristh, the older Andalite said.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Like . . . like a work of art, said Elfangor, still in awe of it.
I designed her myself. I call her the Jahar. It's my wife's name. Wife? Somehow, it didn't occur to me that aliens could have wives, but I guess that made sense, didn't it?
Prince Alloran, what is our mission? Arbron asked.
The old Andalite seemed to sigh, but said, We are to take these two aliens back to their planet, erase their recent memories, and rejoin the StarSword whenever we can.
What?!
Transport work. Elfangor said with an undertone of a sneer.
"Excuse me? Erase my memory? No one is erasing my memory!" I said indignantly. Who did these aliens think we were? Children?
It's necessary, Elfangor said. Your civilization is not ready for what you've encountered. If you go back to your Earth, you'll have to have all of this erased.
I looked at Chapman. Maybe he was right. Maybe these Andalites were bad news after all. He snorted. I thought he would make another snide comment, but he didn't.
Let's move, arisths. Load the aliens. The captain wants to go to Z-space in five minutes from now, and by then we have to be well clear of the Dome ship. Your personal belongings have already been brought from your quarters.
He was talking as though we were just baggage. As though we didn't have thoughts and feelings as much as they did. I felt like resisting, but what could I do? Nothing, but follow them onto the ship and hope that no brain damage or anything like that would occur when they "erase" my memory.
We walked up the ramp onto the ship. Nobody seemed to be in a good mood. When we got on board, Alloran moved the ship to outer space. As we moved out away from the dome ship, I looked out the window and gasped. "Oh, my god! That's Saturn!" There was no mistake about it, with those beautiful rings around it. The dome ship looked much smaller in comparison and as we watched, its engines glowed a blue and it blew away faster and faster.
"Faster-than-light travel? It's physically impossible!" said an astonished Chapman.
True. But Z-space travel doesn't involve going fast. It involves tunneling through anti-space, what we call Zero-space, and then back into the normal universe at another point, said Arbron.
"But I suppose you Andalites keep the secret to yourselves, eh?" Chapman said mockingly.
Not always. Once we shared it. The result was the Yeerk Empire that threatens all decent species. Be glad you are safe on your simple planet, alien. The galaxy is not a happy place to be anymore, Alloran said.
The Yeerk Empire? By his tone, it obviously wasn't something to be happy about. Maybe that's there where Alloran got those scars.
Make the aliens comfortable, arisths, Alloran said.
Prince, afterward, may I use your ship's computers? asked Arbron. I have a copy of the Skrit Na download and I thought I spotted something strange.
An exo-datologist, eh? Huh? The new ideal: warrior, scientist, artist. It's not enough to be a fighter anymore, eh? They want a gentler, more balanced, more intellectual sort of a warrior nowadays. Alloran said savagely. He seemed bitter.
I guess so, War-Prince Alloran. I mean, that's what they teach us, anyway, said Arbron who looked pretty uncomfortable.
Alloran seemed to stare into space for a bit, then said, The Electorate wants war without slaughter. They want a clean, neat, honorable war. Fools. Elfangor and Arbron looked shocked. I guess you're not suppose to bad-mouth the Andalite government, ta China.
Sir . . . the computer? asked Arbron.
What? Oh, yes. The computer. Why not? Use it all you like. We're in for a long, boring ride.
A silence settled over all of us, while Alloran headed towards the helm. Elfangor started to lead us to our quarters while we sat with these unnamed tensions.
A/N: Well, like, no like? Tell meh! Sorry that I've gotten this out pretty late for Sunday (it's around 8pm my time), but hope y'all like it. Thoughts? Criticisms?
(KA's TAC timeline: aproximately chapter 7)
A/N: Well, here it is,,,,btw, I've updated ch. 1 a bit because when I re-read it, it was terrible! So I made a few tweaks here and there. Hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 5
Elfangor dropped Chapman and I off at the "holding room." I will be back soon, after my debriefing.
"But what's going to happen to us?" I asked.
You'll be taken back to your planet as soon as possible, don't worry, Elfangor said with some reassurance.
"I'll believe it when I see it." No guesses to who that was.
As soon as Elfangor left, I turned on Chapman. "Hey, man, what's your problem? They're willing to take us back home and all you've done is complain since we got here. You might want to show some gratitude at least!"
"I don't need to explain my reasons to you, girl," he said with this just infuriating air of seniority.
I was starting to reply with some pretty nasty words, but I stopped as I realized that was probably what he wanted. Trying to provoke me. For what though? Just to be a dumb-ass? No, that wasn't it. As smart-alecky as Chapman was, he wasn't stupid. He was far from that, as I grudgingly admitted. Maybe that was just his normal lifestyle, had a chip on his shoulder permanently. Whatever it was, I wasn't going to let him get the better of me. 'He who conquers you angers you' came to mind.
While I was thinking about this, another Andalite came in. Come with me. We are about to dock off of the StarSword on docking bay 7. He was bigger than Arbron and Elfangor and seemed a lot older. He had some scars on his body from which I'm guessing came from battles. What kind of battles could those be? Man, if Vietnam was bad, wonder what an interstellar war could be like!
Chapman didn't say anything as we were led along to this "docking bay 7." When we got there, inside of it was this ship, bigger than the ship that Elfangor and Arbron took us over here, but much smaller than the ship we were on right now. It had something that looked like a tail arched overhead, just like an Andalite. Must be some kind of weapon?
When I turned around, Elfangor and Arbron appeared. Elfangor looked star-struck looking at the ship, as though he had met one of Hollywood's movie stars.
I see you like my toy, Aristh, the older Andalite said.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Like . . . like a work of art, said Elfangor, still in awe of it.
I designed her myself. I call her the Jahar. It's my wife's name. Wife? Somehow, it didn't occur to me that aliens could have wives, but I guess that made sense, didn't it?
Prince Alloran, what is our mission? Arbron asked.
The old Andalite seemed to sigh, but said, We are to take these two aliens back to their planet, erase their recent memories, and rejoin the StarSword whenever we can.
What?!
Transport work. Elfangor said with an undertone of a sneer.
"Excuse me? Erase my memory? No one is erasing my memory!" I said indignantly. Who did these aliens think we were? Children?
It's necessary, Elfangor said. Your civilization is not ready for what you've encountered. If you go back to your Earth, you'll have to have all of this erased.
I looked at Chapman. Maybe he was right. Maybe these Andalites were bad news after all. He snorted. I thought he would make another snide comment, but he didn't.
Let's move, arisths. Load the aliens. The captain wants to go to Z-space in five minutes from now, and by then we have to be well clear of the Dome ship. Your personal belongings have already been brought from your quarters.
He was talking as though we were just baggage. As though we didn't have thoughts and feelings as much as they did. I felt like resisting, but what could I do? Nothing, but follow them onto the ship and hope that no brain damage or anything like that would occur when they "erase" my memory.
We walked up the ramp onto the ship. Nobody seemed to be in a good mood. When we got on board, Alloran moved the ship to outer space. As we moved out away from the dome ship, I looked out the window and gasped. "Oh, my god! That's Saturn!" There was no mistake about it, with those beautiful rings around it. The dome ship looked much smaller in comparison and as we watched, its engines glowed a blue and it blew away faster and faster.
"Faster-than-light travel? It's physically impossible!" said an astonished Chapman.
True. But Z-space travel doesn't involve going fast. It involves tunneling through anti-space, what we call Zero-space, and then back into the normal universe at another point, said Arbron.
"But I suppose you Andalites keep the secret to yourselves, eh?" Chapman said mockingly.
Not always. Once we shared it. The result was the Yeerk Empire that threatens all decent species. Be glad you are safe on your simple planet, alien. The galaxy is not a happy place to be anymore, Alloran said.
The Yeerk Empire? By his tone, it obviously wasn't something to be happy about. Maybe that's there where Alloran got those scars.
Make the aliens comfortable, arisths, Alloran said.
Prince, afterward, may I use your ship's computers? asked Arbron. I have a copy of the Skrit Na download and I thought I spotted something strange.
An exo-datologist, eh? Huh? The new ideal: warrior, scientist, artist. It's not enough to be a fighter anymore, eh? They want a gentler, more balanced, more intellectual sort of a warrior nowadays. Alloran said savagely. He seemed bitter.
I guess so, War-Prince Alloran. I mean, that's what they teach us, anyway, said Arbron who looked pretty uncomfortable.
Alloran seemed to stare into space for a bit, then said, The Electorate wants war without slaughter. They want a clean, neat, honorable war. Fools. Elfangor and Arbron looked shocked. I guess you're not suppose to bad-mouth the Andalite government, ta China.
Sir . . . the computer? asked Arbron.
What? Oh, yes. The computer. Why not? Use it all you like. We're in for a long, boring ride.
A silence settled over all of us, while Alloran headed towards the helm. Elfangor started to lead us to our quarters while we sat with these unnamed tensions.
A/N: Well, like, no like? Tell meh! Sorry that I've gotten this out pretty late for Sunday (it's around 8pm my time), but hope y'all like it. Thoughts? Criticisms?