By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 14- FeralaeWe had six hours to prepare. So James and I kept my promise to Seven and escorted her down to Cargo Bay 2 so that she could regenerate and collect herself for the coming battle. Chakotay offered to come along. I would almost have preferred that he not.
"This battle." I sighed as we got into the turbo lift. "I fear it will go badly."
James was focusing on his lion morph, eyes fluttering closed in concentration.
"What makes you say that?" Chakotay asked. The Voyager Senior Crew knew our story now, or most of it. There were parts that we'd left out.
"We came up with a similar plan to end the Yeerk/Animorph war, and we ended up with heavy casualties, mostly among the reserve Animorphs under James' command. Only James' lieutenants Craig and Erika survived their group. And then we lost Rachel." I shuddered. "The Yeerks had stolen morph capability from us, and they were using it to attack us. Rachel was up against some of the most powerful enemy morphs that could fit on the bridge of a ship. She had to fight two lionesses, a leopard, a cobra, a cape buffalo and a polar bear. She took out the lionesses and the leopard, but the cape buffalo kept her pinned until the cobra could poison her. Rachel took out the cobra and demorphed. Then the yeerk morphed polar bear broke her neck." I explained, shuddering. "And the plan was almost exactly the same as this one. Like I warned, when you discard morality for the sake of victory, you pay the karmic consequences."
This time it will be different. James commented. This time we have Starfleet backing us up. And these people know our enemy better than we do!
"That's true." I commented. "But it's enough to make me nervous."
"Your insistence on morality is puzzling." Seven commented. "We are, in essence, fighting back against something that they have done to us. It is within our right to use whatever means necessary to defeat them."
"Calling self defense is an excuse that we used to use." I shook my head. "Seven, it only justifies the mistake. It doesn't make it right. Might doesn't always equal right. For example, Marco was once faced with the choice of killing his Yeerk infested mother or sacrificing the mission. He was so focused on proving to Jake that he could keep control, that he wasn't weakened by his mother's presence, that he nearly cut our numbers by about half. Every time we've abandoned morality, forgotten what we fight for, to prove a hidden agenda we've ended up getting bashed, big time. And if we don't learn from our mistakes, history repeats itself."
"If you have doubts, shouldn't you report them to the captain?" Chakotay asked.
"No, because I know what has to be done. I'm willing to sacrifice myself to make sure that the mission is finished and you all get home safely." I shook my head. "It's complicated."
"I see, you believe that the howl will damage you." Seven commented.
I didn't know what to say to that, because she was right. I had been hit with it before, before we knew what was coming, and I went down with a BOOM! "I'm the leader, it's my place to question." I said stubbornly. "But I couldn't make this choice, so I'm leaving it up to the captain."
This conversation was getting a little uncomfortable. "So what's with Paris and his obsession with Captain Proton? And who IS Captain Proton anyway?"
Chakotay laughed. "Captain Proton is a superhero holonovel that he wrote. Once Tom even managed to get the Captain to play in it."
I laughed. "I wonder if he knows who Astroboy is." I wondered. "Or Gigantor, or Speed Racer."
"He probably would." Chakotay chuckled. "We're almost there."
"I'd better morph." I focused on the Hork Bajir morph that I'd gotten and controlled the changes, making my body ripple with muscle, the blades sweep out in a logical order, and the other changes happen in my usual order, head, arm, arm, body, leg, leg, tail. It was a bit crowded in the turbo lift, but it worked. I pressed the button on my morph chrono and handed it to Chakotay. Would you please hang on to this? You have pockets, I don't.
The first officer was startled at suddenly having to look up at a child of thirteen turned into a deadly monster. But he took the chrono and put it in his pocket. "What's that for?"
To keep track of time. I stated.
The door to the Turbo lift opened. With it's back to us, stood a species 8472. He had been stupid not to faze out, and it would be his/its undoing. I crept up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. As the creature turned around I punched him in the jaw and brought a spiked kick up into his gut. My talons ripped a hole in his middle.
That was about the time that he began to fight back. I slashed out with my wrist and elbow blades, severing an arm, part of his leg, and finally his head. The creature fell to the floor, dead.
Come on! Before others come! I waved them forward. We ran. I counted the doors to the different storerooms as we went. Which one was the Cargo Bay?
"This one!" Chakotay called as we stopped. He was panting. I'd forgotten that it's hard for a human to keep up with a hork-bajir. But Seven wasn't winded at all. She calmly pressed out a code on the door and it opened.
The Security officer in charge of the door saw who we were and let us in. This particular bay was empty. Some of the barrels had been left, but other than that it was mostly filled with people finishing their breakfast. A girl about six or seven came running over chanting. "Seven, seven sevenseven!" She glomped Seven of Nine.
Seven was almost bowled over. "Naomi Wildman, please be careful."
I demorphed, along with James. "Looks like you nearly bowled her over." I said with a chuckle.
The little girl looked over at us. "Hi! I'm Naomi! What's your name?" She slid down Seven's back but clung to one of her legs for security.
"I'm Feralae, and this is James. We offered to help guard Seven while she's regenerating."
"I saw you turn into that monster. You don't hurt people like that do you?"
"No, but we will hurt Species 8472." I said with a chuckle.
"They deserve it!" She said, raising her chin belligerently. "Voyager is ours! They can't just waltz in and take it away!"
"Keep that attitude. It does you credit." I said with a chuckle.
Seven extricated herself from Naomi's strangle hold and entered her alcove. She murmured. "Thank you." And closed her eyes as she hooked up.
I sighed. Two of the crewmen, one a Vulcan, and the other a Bajoran wearing the bar of a provisional officer were playing checkers over near one pallet. I walked over and crouched near them. "He's gonna get you." I told the Bajoran.
"You think I don't know th…"
The Vulcan calmly jumped the Bajoran's king. "Vorik that's not fair! You should have given me a chance to figure it out!"
I rolled my eyes. "I play winner."
To my surprise the Bajoran won, but only by a hair, kinging his last piece and turning the vulcan's offensive rush back on itself in a double jump. The Vulcan Vorik moved back to watch and I took his place. "My name is Feralae Miyamoto."
"Kolan Coro. Pleased to meet you." He said as we set up. "You're one of those Animorphs that came to help us right?"
"That's right."
"I saw you morph at the door. That was weird."
"Morphing is normally weirder. There's usually no logic to it. I can control the way that I morph. It's a talent that I have." Then, in the Japanese tradition of boardgames I said. "Onegaishimasu."
"Whatever."
The set up was finished and I instantly moved for the center. My dad had said that the center was the better position to make, because it was harder to surround and thus a better position to attack from. Chakotay sauntered over to watch. Within three moves I was in total control of the center.
Then I saw it. Kolan had lured me out of the center into an attack. Before I knew it I had lost three pieces to a triple jump. But he had also left one of his pieces open to attack by my back pieces. I didn't manage to score as spectacularly as he did. But I countered four attacks and managed to get a King.
By that point at both of us were down by at least half of our pieces. It wasn't exactly easy to get two kings by him, but I managed.
That was when Kolan startled me by asking. "We're really in the Bajoran system?"
"Yeah, why?"
"There's a festival coming up." He answered. "Once all of this is over, I intend to visit. My younger Sister is being trained at one of the Temples." He explained. "I'd like her blessings before I help Voyager get to Earth."
I smiled. "I have two Brothers back home in California. Loscar is older than I am and Simone is probably about five or six now. I haven't exactly been home either."
Chakotay barely sputtered a warning just as Kolan jumped all three of my kings. "GOT YOU!" He giggled.
"Kolan that was a DIRTY trick!" Protested Naomi, who had sidled over to watch. Vorik had left this part of the cargo bay and had sat on a crate to read.
"It worked didn't it?" The officer asked.
"That wasn't fair though! She wasn't paying attention?"
"It's okay Naomi, because now that he's jumped me I can do… THIS!" I grinned, double jumping his last King and one of his pieces.
"Ouch. I should have been paying attention." Kolan chuckled. "But that allows me to do THAT!" He jumpeda piece I was trying toKing.
"Goddess damnit." I growled.
"Watch the language in front of the kid." Chakotay warned calmly. "Focus on the game."
There were three more pieces left on my side. He had two, but one of them was easily captured. I moved one of my kings to herd the piece forward one. He took the bait and I got the second piece.
I was so close to winning, but Kolan was smart enough to evade all my subsequent attacks. I was, however, smart enough to prevent the defense based attack that had beaten Vorik. The problem was to do that I had to avoid the edges of the board, and that in avoiding the edges of the board I left myself open, and it was this lapse in strategy that Kolan exploited.
"Good game." I grinned, extending a hand.
Kolan took it. "Indeed. Good match."
"I'll play next." Chakotay said with a smile. "We're going to be waiting awhile for Seven."
"I wanna play Commander!" Naomi protested.
"You can play winner Naomi." Kolan said, tousling the girl's hair playfully. "Ready commander?"
I sauntered over to Seven's alcove and sat nearby. I closed my eyes and focused on meditating. I felt the fighter's chi flow through my veins like a stream through the earth.
FLASH!
Instantly I was on the Ranch, in my dad's smithy. The familiar pale glow around me lit the entire place. The Prophet had taken the form of my father. "Feralae, whatever you do, survive. You are needed. Unite Voyager, Defiant, and Enterprise, the three mightiest ships in the Galaxy, and defend our home."
FLASH!
I was back in the cargo bay, meditating next to Seven's alcove. "I'll do my best." I whispered.