Disclaimer: Just Julie, she's all I own, I swear, please don't sue me!

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to upload this chapter. I've, er, heh heh, been busy. Lots of stupid projects and things. Anyways, here is the next installment, so please R&R!

Aximili Esgarrouth Isthill

I felt extremely uncomfortable. I did not know what to do. Melissa was crying on my shoulder.

(Melissa?) I whispered. (Melissa?)

She continued to wail. The door to our cell whooshed open and Visser Three entered.

(So,) he sneered. (Do you care for this Human izhnor, Andalite?)

Had I not seen the Hork-Bajir standing directly behind him, Dracon beams pointed at me, my tail would have been at his throat. The word "izhnor" means, well…it is not a very polite word. Melissa seemed to understand his meaning, at least in part, for she went red. (I am sorry, Melissa,) I murmured in private thought-speak. (He is an Abomination. You are not an…an izhnor.) If she had not realized how rude the word was, she would have guessed from the way I stumbled over it.

(Leave the girl out of this, Visser, ) I said angrily. (It does not concern her.)

(Oh, but I think it does,) Visser Three said smoothly. (I think it does. You will not tell me anything, little Andalite, as I know from your dealings with my Veleek. And unfortunately, I have no Yeerks on the Blade Ship available for your infestation immediately, which is rather a pity. Especially if it should result in harm to this charming Human girl.)

I felt a terrified, cold lump form in the pit of my stomach. He would harm Melissa if I did not tell him what he wished to know. No. No. Not even Visser Three could do such a thing. He would not. He could not. But gazing at him, staring at the supercilious smirk on his abominable face, I knew he would.

(Please,) I said, keeping my voice calm with an effort. (Do not harm her.)

(Then I suggest you tell me what I wish to know, Andalite.)

Marco

I took Julie's hand in my big, gorilla fist and picked up the dynamite with the other. The door swooshed open in front of it and I stuck my nose out and looked left to right, just like they do in movies. Why am I comparing my life to movies, you ask? My life is a movie. An action/adventure movie. But I guess, when your life is so dangerous you could get killed any second, it helps to distance yourself from it, though I usually do that with jokes. But, hey, movies are cool, too.

(Uh…Julie…why were you in a cage all by yourself?) I asked. I had sort of forgotten I was supposed to be talking like Ax.

She looked up at me (YES! She was looking up at me! I loved this morph!) wryly. "I've become something of a--celebrity--among the Yeerks," she replied, slowly, as though she were still getting used to her voice.

(A celebrity?)

"It's a long story."

In my experience, when people say, 'It's a long story', they don't want to talk about whatever it is, so I restrained myself from shrugging, which would have been about the least Andalite thing I could have done, and replied, carefully, (I see.)

She smiled at me, a little shyly. "Thank you," she whispered. Then, even more quietly, "Maybe another time."

I wondered how long she had been a Controller, and then remembered she had said that she'd been one for four years. Four years! Jake had been a Controller for less than a week, and he still had nightmares about it. I looked at her. She'd been a Controller for four years, but there she was, trotting along next to me as if nothing were wrong. Wow. What a girl. I was so busy thinking about how great Julie was that I didn't see the laser across the hallway until it was too late. BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP! BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP!

Uh-oh, I thought. I've done it now.

"You sure have!" Julie exclaimed. Confused, I turned to her and realized I must have thought-spoken aloud. Cursing thought-speak in all forms and hoping none of my other thoughts had been audible--several embarrassing ones came suddenly to mind--I looked wildly around for a way of escape. We were in a long, blank hallway. Great. Just great. Now what were we supposed to do? Then I saw it. Maybe three feet square. A small door set into the passage. There was no way Julie and I would fit in there. So maybe they wouldn't look for us there. I grabbed Julie's shoulder and the dynamite in one hand and wrenched the closet open with the other.

I bundled Julie in and somehow managed to squeeze myself in as well.

"Now what?" she whispered once we were safely packed in.

(Uh…we wait?)

"Don't you have to demorph soon?"

Whoops. Again, I say, brain, Marco.

(Um, yes…but if there's enough room for a gorilla, there should be enough room for an Andalite.)

"All right, but please don't behead me."

(I won't, but I wish I could belittle you. Then there'd be more room.) Um, Marco, that's got to be the worst joke you've ever made. Actually, scrap that. It doesn't even count as a joke.

"Uh-huh. Andalites don't have a sense of humor, do they?"

She had a very good point. They don't. At least, Ax doesn't. And I was supposed to be an Andalite. Man, what I do for this job.

(I was attempting a--Human--joke, but Andalites do not really understand humor, no.)

Would she buy it? Oh, please let her buy it! No way, one part of my brain said, there's no way she'd think that Marco doesn't have a sense of humor. Dumb ego.

"Right."

She bought it!