Chapter 5

A/N: The cliffie's continued! What will happen when Tobias awakens? Start reading now!

Disclaimer: The animorphs and all the creatures created by KA are hers.

Claimer: Kelbrids are half mine. Istram and the others are MINE! Totally MINE! evil laugh :p

A note from Istram:

Sorry I forgot to tell you, but the animorphs were moved to the one and only pool ship which escaped while they were knocked out by the kelbrid weapons. They got infested there, as most of you have already guessed.

In the pool ship

We woke up to see the three kelbrid scientists peering at us. When they realised we had awaken, one of the kelbrids said something in Brid.

"Sullivan. poyaaj pritt. Oldasia niewi kashib magnir lindell papidakis. "

(Translation word for word. 'Sorry. Process wrong. Morph two hours and creature become base-form,') Istram told me, as he said "Tell that to The One. You better hope he doesn't get violent."

The kelbrids suddenly had a fearful look on their faces. They bowed, and then flew off.

(I'm not sure I understand. You mean to say if I morph a creature for more than two hours, that creature becomes my base-form and I can still morph?) I asked.

(That's about it. So the experiment gone wrong wasn't a bad thing after all. We'll stay in human morph for the rest of the time.

(And you said something about translating word for word. Don't kelbrids talk in complete sentences?) I asked, as we walked out of the room.

(That's Brid for you.) Istram gave me a mental shrug.

(So where are we going now?)

(To eat,) came his reply.

We were the last of the animorphs to arrive. The rest were sitting at a long table, eating and talking. And I found out what the kelbrids ate. Some brown furry animal. They stabbed the creature in the cage with the hands, and brought it out to it. I also finally figured what their spider legs were for. Balance when walking. It seemed their clawed feet couldn't keep them standing for long...

Anyway, we went to a huge machine at the side. We pressed a button, and some sort of instant food came out. We took it, and walked to the long table, where we sat beside Jake.

Jake, halfway through his meal said to Santorelli, "You've finished your meal, now go and see The One. He's looking for you."

Santorelli walked off, and I heard Jeanne sighing. "Finally we're alone. Now we can talk."

It seemed the yeerk had given Marco total control, because he said sadly, "Izzan's my yeerk, and he has absolutely no sense of humour- Hey! That's not true!"

It sounded funny, two people talking out of one mouth. To my surprise, I hear Istram say, (Izzan's my brother. Go on, you're in control now.)

I blinked in surprise. "Jake."

Jake looked at me, and asked "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, I'm free!" I grinned in pure delight, as if I were a child.

Jake looked at all of us. "We shouldn't waste our time, since we have only a few minutes to talk later until Santorelli comes back and find I was lying."

"You mean The One's not looking for him?" Jeanne asked.

"Nope. We can talk freely because of the brilliant plan my yeerk, Erib made," Jake said. "But we might have to kill a kelbrid or two in the process, knowing how cruel he is..." he warned.

"Since when did you become so ruthless, eh Jake?" Marco asked teasingly.

Jake glared at him, and then said, "I know all of you want to return to earth. I also-"

"You also know we think it's impossible, right? Can you please get to the point?" Marco interrupted again.

Jake seemed to have decided to ignore that, as he continued speaking calmly. "I know all of you think there is no way we could pull off something that major without attracting anybody's attention. But..., there is a way. One that involves lots of persuasion and killing, including Santorelli."

We were silent for a moment, and then I said, "I'm willing to do anything, as long as it guarantees me a trip back to earth."

The others agreed readily.

"We could do it during tomorrow's attack," Jeanne suggested.

"Okay. That's settled-quick, Santorelli's returning! "Jake said.

"Visser Two. Are you sure I was suppose to see The One?" Visser four asked coldly.

"One of the kelbrids I acquired told me so," Jake replied, just as coldly.

Santorelli stared at Jake for a few moments. "I shall report that to The One then, and they shall pay with their lives." He walked off.

(Ouch,) I thought-spoke to Jake. (Isn't that a bit too harsh?)

"Visser four's like that." Jake/Erib replied.

"We'll see you all tomorrow," Jeanne told us, walking off.

The rest soon followed, and I hurried to finish my meal. After that, Istram took control.

(We have to turn in early tonight. Tomorrow is the day of the attack. And-Aurgh! We forgot to acquire kelbrid morphs! Let's go,) Istram said.

We walked to one of the kelbrids near us "Stay still. I want to acquire you," we said to the kelbrid.

It looked at us, said "Visser gfour," and bowed.

We reached out, acquiring it. Then, we acquire its companions.

(Do kelbrids have genders?) I asked Istram as we headed for our sleeping quarters.

(Yes. Males have two fangs and bigger wings. Females have four fangs and smaller wings.)

(Hmmm...,) I replied, thinking.

We entered our sleeping quarters. There was only a bed, a table and chair in the small room. And strangely, instead of lights, the ceiling glowed.

(Another example of Kelbrid technology,) Istram told me. That night-or was it in the day? It was impossible to tell-after Istram and my physical self had fallen asleep, I thought.

I thought about the times before, the time when I became a nothlit, the time when we first met the ellimist and many other thoughts. But mostly, I thought about tomorrow's attack.

No doubt the next day would bring more surprises, I thought and I finally found sleep. Or was it sleep that found me?

A/N: Like it? Not what you expected, huh? grins madly The next chapter is coming your way soon... NOW REVIEW!!!