Chapter 3

Visser Five's Pool ship was different to the one I remember being captured on, all those months ago, not long after the start of our insane little adventure.

The corridors were taller and darker; the walls were a kind of steel-coloured grey with little green spotlights every few inches along them.

I jogged down the hall toward the voices of the others. I could hear Jake and Marco talking over the Sub-Visser. Ax's hooves made loud clanging sounds on the metal floor as he trotted along. I turned a sharp corner, and practically fell over when I heard Sub-Visser Thirteen scream, and immediately afterward, Jake and Marco yelling, and Tobias and Ax thought-speaking pretty loudly.

Running farther, I turned another sharp bend in the corridor, and stopped when I saw Sub-Visser Thirteen, on her back, having what looked like some kind of seizure. Her whole body was shaking and twitching, and just as I took a step closer, the began to scream.

(The fugue,) Ax said, almost sounding sad. (The Yeerk is dying, we need to get her to a Kandrona.)

Not so long ago, it had been Jake undergoing the fugue; or really the Yeerk that had taken over his mind. We'd tied him up for three days and kept him there until it simply died.

Only Cassie had been there when it had happened, but she'd told me everything. I was her best friend after all.

She told me how Jake ---- the Yeerk inside Jake ---- had screamed and thrashed around, and finally crawled out of Jake's head and died.

Ax had told us that it was a Yeerk's instinct to crawl out of the host when they were about to die. I hated Yeerks, and I wanted nothing more than for all of them to die.

But even so, it was hard not to feel pity for that one Yeerk. It had died, alone, and with its pride crushed by kids; dying with the frustration of knowing our secret, but with no one to tell.

(The bridge is just up ahead,) Ax said, breaking into a gallop. (Prince Jake, Rachel, follow me with the Sub-Visser!)

And then, as if on cue, came Marco's pointless objection.

"Whoa, wait just a second!" he yelled at Ax, who looked back with a confused expression on his mouth-less face.

Marco, rather than looking spineless, now looked pretty angry. He stood right next to the Sub-Visser's body, and stood in my way as Jake and I tried to lift her up.

"Get out of my way, you dweeb," I said, pushing Marco so I could get to the Sub-Visser's feet.

As I guessed he would, Marco got back in front of me.

"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked, glaring at me, not blinking.

"Saving her life," I said, guessing already where Marco was going with his question.

Jake came and stood behind Marco. I watched as he reached out to put a hand on Marco's shoulder. At the last second, he decided against it.

"You mean saving its life." Marco practically hissed at me; I could see tears in the corners of his dark eyes.

"She already said the host was voluntary," Jake said from over Marco's shoulder.

Marco whirled around at Jake and screamed at him: "She's lying! She deserves to die!"

Ax trotted back to the Sub-Visser, and with a lot of effort from his weak Andalite arms, picked up the tall woman and put her on his back.

(I am taking the Sub-Visser to the Kandrona generator on the bridge,) Ax said. (We can debate whether or not she should die when the decision is in our hands, not the hands of fate.)

With that, Ax slowly walked down the corridor with the Sub-Visser's prone form. There was a brief silence. I heard a door open not too far away, heard Ax trot inside, and heard it close again.

Marco sat down on the floor, put his head in his hands, and sighed.

"Come on, get up, you geek," I said jokingly.

"Get bent," Marco shot back, not looking up.

I glowered down at Marco. Okay, he was upset, and he had every right to be. His mom was a Controller, and maybe the Sub-Visser made him think of her, but I wasn't going to take insults from him.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Jake beat me to it.

"Get up, Marco."

No reply.

"He said get up, Marco," I said angrily.

In that split second after my lips closed, Marco leapt to him his feet, pulled his fist back, threw a punch at me and ---

---disappeared!