Neri : Um.....well M.C. has a little sister. No brothers. Sorry.^^ Nope it's his father , not Father from the Ellimist Chronicles. If FF.net hasn't sent you instructions , just go ahead and try logging in. Yes , the Mendelites are very like humans , ne? *smiles mysteriously*

DH: Leave clues? Yes I may as well try. Bit challenging , but I think I can do it. Yes M.C. admires Sabs. *sigh* not much I can do about grammar but I'll try.

Tara: Welcome new reviewer. Forgot to respond to you. Sorry! Don't worry the animorphs are not out the picture.

Note: I'm using // for thought speak. It sucks , and it won't be the same , but the other way is taken for html language and is 'stripped' , so we're stuck like this unless anyone else has an idea of how to fix it. *smiles apologetically.*

Chap 16 -

Annnnd back to Melissa's POV.........^^

My stomach caved in when the ship door shut. My blood was ice in my veins. I felt hollow.

And I'm sure anyone who's been a prisoner of war feels very similar. But I'm faintly surprised that I didn't go into to full blown panic. I mean , I wasn't leaving the country I was leaving the planet! The planet! I almost couldn't comprehend it.

My two Hork-Bajir captors leaned against the wall of the ship each on an opposite side of me muttering darkly. I caught the word 'cramped'. They were right. The Bug fighter wasn't that spacious. Plus they had my Panda body taking up room.

A Taxxon piloted the ship , using its claws to control many joy stick controls and buttons. I flashed back on the Taxxons that I'd met in the forest and my stomach clenched. They had been trying to eat me that time. Would this one try too?

But my concerns did not seem justified , as it paid me no attention. None at all.

I stirred. I could move again! So the stun thingy wore off? Interesting. Too bad it didn't go unnoticed. No sooner had I shown signs of movement , than in a blur of motion , and a clicking sound , the two guards had there weapons leveled at my head.

" Reshek galash , scum! Horlit dapsen!"

Okay. No idea what it meant. But I had the sense to stay still. No sense in being fried , right? Or was it? This morphing thing had a limit. Maybe death was better than being stuck as a Panda forever.

Then another realization stabbed me like a knife in my stomach. What if they tried to force me to demorph , then infest me?

Maybe my mistake was that I froze. I didn't know what to do. If I did have to die , it wouldn't be like I was throwing my life away for nothing , and yet...I just couldn't think straight. Perhaps because I saw through the window what I was approaching, (and I'm sure the window was left open to intimidate me.) It wasn't a big ship. That's not what made it scary. It was a fair size , but not huge.

It was the way the ship looked that made it intimidating. A rough description would be to say it was all black and looked like a giant's battle ax. A battle bridge was mounted in the front , a diamond shaped bridge.

Maybe it doesn't frighten you , sitting all comfortably in your room or wherever you are reading this , but it was quite a different matter to see it with your own eyes and know you were heading straight for it.

It was too late to think anyway. The ship shuddered as if we'd docked with something larger. I heard a dismembered voice speaking in what must have been Galard. It sounded like an announcement.

My heart sunk. It probably meant we reached the Visser's Ship. I was right.

SHOOF!

We had landed right on the bridge of the ship.

Suddenly the a hole stretched into the bottom of the ship were I lay motionless. I nearly went into shock from the surprise as I went plunging downward. I landed , but did not bend my short Panda legs on impact. I heard something in my left paw crack. My Panda voice whimpered in pain as I scrabbled wildly , trying hard not to collapse upon the polished metal floor. But it was to no avail. I slumped. My Panda mind , suffering from the pain in its damaged leg , felt it a better idea to just lie there anyway.

Hork-Bajir warriors were standing all on either sides of me , dracon beams at the ready to destroy me if I gave them any reason. There were maybe eight of them.

I felt oddly flattered. Two would have been sufficient in my current situation.

Below us and around us were an assorted arrangement of Taxxons , Humans , and Hork-Bajir all working at consoles of some sort. Many of the Taxxon workers were pressing their claws against these little mouse-looking pads.

It all looked very busy , and business -like. But there was also this stiffness in the room. Like everyone was being careful not to slip up on anything , or slide off schedule. And I soon saw why.

Walking towards me down the bridge was Visser Three himself. He came towards me steadily , evil alien smirk in his eyes , and not in the least bit afraid of me. Why should he be? I was an inferior creature and I was surrounded.

I'm not saying that just because I was already exposed to Visser Three it meant that he was less intimidating to be around. Not at all. I was stilled scared. You'd have to be nuts to not be even slightly nervous when you know you're facing that kind of evil.

The best I can describe it is like this: you've had a nightmare , but you're familiar with it because you've had this nightmare before. Now , you're not any less afraid than you were when you first had it , but being that you already know what you're facing , it makes it a little bit easier to deal with.

So I tried to filter out the dread that kept growing as he approached. I told myself that I'd met him once and gotten away. Problem was , I had the feeling Sabrina would not burst through the doors this time.

His guards stepped respectfully out of his way , giving him room. Personally , I don't think they wanted to be any closer to him than I did.

He stopped just short of me , making my Panda hairs want to stand straight up.

Then he spoke. / So. Our little hero has decided to honor us with a visit./

I wished he would back away. It was unnerving to have him stand that close.

/My guards told me that we owe most of our casualties to you? Impressive. But you seem to have come off badly in the end./ he sneered , observing my wounds.

I looked defiantly up at him. Something told me I should be nervous. We had chewed up allot of his men , and here he was all calm. It bothered me.

/You lost allot of your people and your only reaction is that you're impressed?/ I said derisively. /You're not sad , or even upset?/

The smirk was more pronounced than ever. He laughed , /You're almost as sentimental as the Andalite scum. No , I am not regretting that I sent my men after you , especially after it earned me a prize in the end. Their only purpose is to serve me , and if that means dying ... as for being upset , have no doubts that you will atone for any pain that your friends have caused me the passing years./

I felt like I'd been dosed in cold water. Atone? What did he mean by that? /I have no way of knowing exactly how much of your time you have dedicated to helping them , or for how long , but it does not matter./ he said maliciously. /I will know soon anyway./

He jerked his hand in a signal to his soldiers. They leveled their weapons at my head.
/Demorph , human./ he said coldly. /Once you are out of that ridiculous form , we can begin your infestation./

If I had been human , the blood would have drained from my face. I heard his words , but I didn't believe them. He did not just say that they were going to infest me. I froze. I couldn't move , I couldn't demorph.

The Visser laughed an ugly laugh. /Shall we have to resort to torture? Really , human - Melissa , was it? Use your reasoning. As a host body you will be allowed to live. You will see your parents again. All that awaits you otherwise is life as a nothlit , and us having no use for you that way , torture and death./

His eyes bored into mine. /You are a juvenile, yes? Surely you don't want to die at such a young age./

No. I didn't want to die. I wanted to be a great gymnast someday. I wanted to get married and have kids. I wanted to at least live long enough to get a driver's license.

Sabrina and Madison's faces swam before my eyes in my memory , smiling encouragingly at me. I saw Lavender's trademark wink. I saw M.C.'s gentle smile , and Eustace's fierce determination.

I thought about the days before I met Sabrina , when I was alone , and felt like my parents had abandoned me. Before I knew the Mendelites' faces , and how things had changed since then.

I even thought about the days when me and Rachel had complete trust , and we were best friends.

And in that instant there was no more doubt. I knew I could not betray any of them.

I remembered how happy me and my parents used to be , and I knew I'd die before I became a controller.

I'd made up my mind. If I was going to die I was going to at least die trying to take this monster down.

I prepared to launched myself at him...

Every controller in the room froze , and the guards tightened their hold on their weopons...

SLAM , SLAM, SLAM! A Hork-Bajir burst through the door out of breath.

" VISSER! Hruthin attacking falash! Andalite got out! Golak -"

/WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE GOT OUT???!!!!/ Visser Three roared , wheeling around and forgetting me.

The Hork-Bajir hesitated , looking simultaneously terrified and guilty at once. He didn't answer.

FWWAAP!

Bad choice. The Hork-Bajir's head went flying. The body fell over the bridge in a bloody heap.

I was very glad I was a Panda. I would have vomited. I felt violently sickened , and my stomach twisted like taffy.

Many of the human controllers that had been passing below had to run to avoid it. They backed away from the corpse quickly.

/IDIOTS! FOOLS! INCOMPETENTS! I. TOLD. YOU. TO. GUARD. HIM!/

And if you'll believe me , a few of the human controllers had abandoned their posts and actually thrown themselves under desks , and consoles. They didn't want to be anywhere in their commanders line of sight when he was like that.

I didn't have time to really contemplate what he was ranting about. Why? Because just then I saw why the other controllers had gotten away from the Hork-Bajir corpse at lightening speed. The Taxxons were already abandoning their work , busily ripping it apart.

I let out a low thought speak moan , attracting the angry Yeerk Visser's attention back to me.

/This is not over , human. Not over at all./ he said spitefully. / But I will have to see to you after I deal with these so called ' warriors' ' mistakes./ To his men , /Throw her into a holding cell! And so help me , if she gets out you will join the same fate as that other fool!/

He stormed out muttering dark oaths.

I was astounded by my luck. I wasn't a controller and I wasn't dead. Maybe in this ' cell ' I could even demorph and remorph.

A sharp kick from one of my Hork-Bajir guards told me get up and start walking. They led me away.

What had the Yeerk soldiers blundered on so badly? Had that Hork-Bajir really said 'Andalite'? Was I really the only prisoner on this ship?

( I really apologize for the wait. I had bad writers block. That and the fact a Harry Potter fanfic has been edging its way into my brain. Visser Three was especially hard to write , and that's odd for me. I never have trouble writing him. But then , this whole chapter was hard to write. I'm taking this fic a little deeper though , and I think you'll like the way it's heading.)