Chapter 1

My name is Rachel.

That's right, just Rachel. But right now, where I am, my name isn't really that important.

At the moment, I'm cramped into the back of a spaceship built for three, along with four of my friends, two aliens, and someone who it's hard to describe without some explanation.

You see, this all began when we, myself and four of my friends were given the ability to morph into any animal we choose, simply by touching it.

We were given this power by Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, a dying Andalite prince, in order to continue fighting the war for our planet that his people had taken up for us.

Well, it's not really a war; it's more like a slow, insidious infestation. Earth is under attack from a race of parasites called Yeerks, who are determined to take our planet and its people to use as hosts.

But recently, we've taken on another mission. We found out that someone had been murdering the humans we call Controllers; those unlucky enough to have a Yeerk squashed around their brain. And not the kind that fight, either. Ordinary people were being murdered, and we had to find out why.

So Ax and I went out looking for someone we thought would be next on the to-kill list; a Yeerk named Sub-Visser Thirteen. We found her, and just after that, she found us, and dragged us back to her laboratory.

And then, we were proved right. The Yeerk-killer was after her too, and it was none other than Visser Three, the Yeerk head honcho himself.

Visser Three nearly killed Ax and me, and the Sub-Visser too, before Jake and the others arrived, and then the ever-courageous Visser made a hasty retreat.

But unfortunately for us, this wasn't just Visser Three as we know him; the Yeerk with an Andalite host. He's been toying with alien machinery, and along with his cronies, Visser Three has blended together all of the races the Yeerks have enslaved, into one super strong host, which he has taken for himself.

Now, Visser Three is planning a revolt against the Yeerk leaders, and he's on his way to meet up with an ally of his, Visser Five; one Yeerk we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet.

We on the other hand, are on our way to stop that meeting.

I had been asleep since we moved from the Sub-Visser's ship, which I had fun trashing, and I woke up to the sound of people yelling over me.

My eyes opened, and I looked up from the floor to see my cousin Jake standing above me, Marco by his side and Sub-Visser Thirteen opposite them, looking very flustered.

"We did not agree to do that!" Jake yelled.

Sub-Visser Thirteen smugly placed her hands on her hips and laughed sardonically. She was a typical Yeerk host, tall, powerful and attractive. The Sub-Visser was a handsome woman, but not as beautiful as Taylor, the sadistic Sub-Visser who once nearly killed Tobias, and definitely unlike Taylor, she was a professional, and a woman, not a petulant little girl.

"What? Do you honestly think that I only planned to disable Visser Five's ships?" she asked with an ironic smile.

"It was the sane thing to do," Marco said back. "We're not a commando team."

"But you are terrorists," the Sub-Visser said with a hiss.

(We prefer to be called freedom fighters,) Ax corrected. (And though I am familiar with the inner workings of Yeerk vessels, my friends are not. If we try to board a Pool ship, we may be captured.)

Sub-Visser Thirteen laughed bitterly. "Then I must advise you do not get captured."

"That wasn't part of the deal," Jake said forcefully. "You said we were going to stop the meeting, not commandeer you a new ship."

"You owe me one," Sub-Visser Thirteen snapped. She looked down to me. "Or rather, you do."

"What can I say?" I replied. "I'm in the demolition business."

Sub-Visser Thirteen harrumphed and turned back to Jake. "We are going in, one way or another. If Visser Three arrives and finds Visser Five's ships destroyed or disabled, he will suspect a trap. However, if we take over the mothership, Visser Three will dock with us, and we will have him right where we want him."

(The plan still leaves for too wide a margin for error,) Ax said nervously. (None of us can be taken, especially not you, Sub-Visser. If Visser Three or Visser Five capture you, they will kill you, and reinfest you host, then torture her.)

I stood up and stretched, yawning as loud as I could to get their attention.

"Who is Visser Five?" I asked. "What do we know about him," I said, and then added "or her."

Sub-Visser Thirteen answered. "Visser Five is male. I do not know what race his host is, since he has not been seen in public for many years. It can be assumed, however, that it is a powerful host. As powerful as Visser Three's? I do not know."

"Hear that, Xena?" Marco asked, jabbing at me with an elbow. "He's a tough cookie. Think you can handle him?"

I smiled. "I don't think, I know."

(Your confidence is admirable, Rachel,) Ax said, with typical scepticism. (But we have no idea how many soldiers that Visser Five has under his command.)

(Ax is right,) Tobias said. (There could be thousands of Hork-Bajir on those ships.)

I rolled my eyes. "We've faced worse."

"Actually, Rachel, no we haven't," Jake said forcefully.

Sub-Visser Thirteen brushed past me and approached Erek. "We will arrive at the coordinates given to us by Visser Three's former host momentarily," she said. "Once we arrive, I shall give you the access codes needed to interface with the pool ship's computer."

"What do you want me to do?"

The Yeerk smiled grimly. "Nothing murderous, don't worry my little android. I just need you to lower the shields and flood the bridge with tridithalifane gas, the same chemical I used to anaesthetise our Andalite friend."

(Yeerk ships are equipped for that?) Ax asked with disbelief.

"This one is," the Sub-Visser confirmed. "The tridithalifane will knock the bridge crew unconscious. If my guess is correct, most of the Hork-Bajir will be in the barracks, and not on duty. Once we have the bridge under our control, we can seal off the rest of the ship." He

"What about Visser Five?" I asked.

"He should be in his quarters," Sub-Visser Thirteen answered. "If we move quickly enough, we can lock him up along with the Hork-Bajir."

Sub-Visser trembled for a moment. "I must acquire a Kandrona generator," she said weakly.

"Will the Pool ship have one?" Cassie asked.

"It should," the Sub-Visser replied. "I may not be able to access the full-sized pool, but a small particle generator for emergency use will suffice. I have nearly exceeded the limit of three days without access to Kandrona. I will die in less than an hour."

(Then we still have the small problem of Visser Three,) Tobias pointed out. (How much time will we have to do all this before he arrives?)

Sub-Visser Thirteen glanced down at her wristwatch. "We have thirty minutes."