CHAPTER 11

Before we could enact our plan, we all needed different morphs. It was only a matter of time before more Kelbrid stumbled across us, we needed to find a safe place to demorph. The only place we could think of was the hole where we entered. We made our way back with as much stealth as we could, considering that while Jake, Melissa, and I had quiet morphs, we were moving with a gorilla and an Andalite.

What we were going to do would be loud and would need to be fast. For this reason, Aximili and Melissa remained in their battle morphs, on either side of the opening of the pipe while the rest of us demorphed and remorphed. Jake and Marco morphed quickly. I was about half morphed when it happened.

A shadow passed across the opening of the pipe, then a Kelbrid head appeared inside. That was a bit of a mistake, as Aximili immediately decapitated it with two swings of his tail. ((YoualmostdoneJeanne?)) Marco asked. ((Letsnottakeforeveronthis, wehavethingstodo.))

((I know, Marco. Give me another minute.))

((AminuteislikeforeverJeane.))

((You will live.)) It took less than a minute for me to finish morphing, then we were ready to go. Everything seemed to be moving slower. It was a surreal experience. It was like time slowed down for everyone except for Marco and myself.

((Is…everyone…ready?)) Jake began.

((All set to go,)) Marco interrupted. ((Let's get this thing moving, I can't just stand around here. My legs are burning, I need to be running!))

((Just…hang…on…a….few……moments…)) Jake responded with agonizing slowness. ((I…need……to…get…his…attention…first…))

((Then don't just stand around here, go do it!)) Marco argued. He gave Jake a nudge with his tail. ((Go, go, go!))
((No…more…coffee…for…Marco,)) Melissa muttered. ((He….should…at…least…switch…to…decaf.))

((Perhaps he would be calmer if we all moved a bit faster,)) I answered, trying to remain neutral. It was so hard, though. Everyone was moving so slowly! I am not an impatient person, but this was intolerable! Perhaps it was -best that we did not use these morphs often.

Jake lumbered off to attract attention to himself. Aximili, Melissa, Marco, and I remained still. Marco and I would need to rush in and save Jake. Aximili and Melissa needed the time to board the ship. Marco and I were tense, ready to spring into action at the next thing that even remotely resembled a signal.

((I can't just stand here,)) Marco muttered, shifting his weight from one side to another.

I felt the same way. ((Perhaps we should move a little closer so we can watch Jake?)) I suggested.

((Sounds like a plan.)) He started walking forward. We stepped carefully, trying to make sure our hooves made as little sound as possible on the stone floor of the cavern that was the hangar. He and I inched our way up to a Bug fighter and hid in its shadow. There were two rows of Bug fighters between us and the ship we wanted. Jake was crawling underneath the farthest row. Thanks the fact that we were off to the side and the Blade ship was in the middle, we could see the Apostate well enough.

((Here….goes…nothing,)) Jake muttered. Then, he leapt out from under the ship, screeching at the top of his lungs. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The Apostate turned his eyes on Jake. Then, he began aiming his Dracon beam. Jake jumped into the air, grabbed onto the Bug fighter behind him, and climbed up on top of it.

Just as we planned, the Apostate followed him. But the Ssri''Kai-Controller was more agile than we expected. They have very strong legs, and he made it halfway to the Bug fighter in one jump. His dome-shaped feet stuck to the side of it, and in a pair of strides he was on top of it.

This was the first time I really had a chance to actually look at a Ssri'Kai when one wasn't trying to kill me. They have very strong legs, and long arms. Their feet are dome-shaped with suckers underneath them that allowed them to cling to surfaces. They have clawed hands, each with one long, hooked finger with barbs on it. Their necks are as long as their bodies are tall, ending in arrow-shaped heads with soulless eyes and sharp teeth.

Looking at the Ssri'Kai, I realized something for the first time. The clawed hands, the clinging feet….they were a climbing species. They were fast, agile, and designed for exactly the sort of chase Jake was planning to lead this Apostate on. That was our first mistake, not realizing what our enemy was capable of. But that was the smaller mistake.

By the time the Apostate was on top of the Bug fighter, Jake was on the one next to it. But the Ssri'Kai didn't jump after him. Instead, he reared his head back and shrieked as loud as he could, an ear-splitting sound surpassed only by the cries of ravenous Taxxons or the namesake of the Howler. For a moment, I thought it was a battle cry. It was Marco who pointed it out.

((He's raising an alarm!)) That was our second mistake. We didn't count on the fact that Apostates differed from the usual Yeerk soldier in a very, very important way: Apostates were smart.

CHAPTER 12

((Plan B?)) Marco suggested.

((Do we have a plan B?)) I responded.

((Sure, it goes something like this.)) Then, loud enough for the other Animorphs to hear, he shouted, ((Jake, keep stalling him. Ax, Melissa, run to the ship! We have to get out of here!!!))

((Ah, so plan B is to panic.))

((That's about right. Now let's go grab that slow monkey.))

There was a problem with the Garatron morph, and that is that it is not good at vertical leaps or climbing. So, in order to get on top of the Bug fighters, we needed a ramp or something. Luckily, I saw one. ((The wings of the Blade ship,)) I said to Marco. ((We can use them to-))

((Climb up the Blade ship and jump onto the bugs, I can see that. Let's run!))

The world seemed to blur a little bit as we poured on the speed. The Blade ship had long wings, and at the end, they were close enough to the ground that we could jump up onto them. They sloped upwards until they were even with the top of the ship. We raced along the wings, climbing higher. I looked around to take stock of the situation.

I couldn't see Ax and Melissa. I had no idea where they would be at this point. Jake was keeping his distance from the Ssri'Kai, but while the Apostate was keeping an eye on him, wasn't focusing on Jake. The Controller was heading towards the opposite end of the hangar.

At one end as a very large piece of dark-grey metal. Ramonite, a so-called 'organic metal' because of its ability to stretch and grow. High-class ships were made using ramonite doors. The hangar door shielded by the hologram of the cliff was apparently a slab of ramonite. I could see a few other such pieces of ramonite, some on walls and some in the ceiling. More exits for Bug fighters. My guess was that the cliff door was the only one large enough for the ship we needed.

At the far end of the hangar, where the Apostate was heading, were what appeared to be blast doors, open a bit. Some Kelbrid were filing through, eager for a fight. More Kelbrid, the ones who had been patrolling the hangar, rushed around on the floor, trying to climb up onto the Bug fighters.

Marco and I reached to top of the Blade ship and took off toward the opposite end of the ship at full tilt. It narrowed to a sharp point at the bridge, and a couple of meters beyond that was another Bug fighter. That was our opening. While Garatrons were bad with vertical jumps, they were great with horizontal ones.

((He's…going….for…a……control…panel!)) Jake shouted.

((We'll get their first,)) Marco answered, jumping off of the Blade ship and onto a Bug fighter. I landed next to him. I kicked my back legs and sailed onto a nearby fighter, with Marco following me. We didn't know what the Apostate intended to do with that panel, and we did not need to know.

((At least the Kelbrid can't get up here,)) Marco remarked. ((And there's no way they're going to be shooting with all these ships to damage. We're safe!))

Naturally, he was immediately proved wrong. Through the opening in the blast doors, I saw something that made my blood run cold. Three more Apostates were approaching. One of them jumped through the doors and climbed up on top of a Bug fighter and then did something that turned my blood even colder.

He began to morph.

A pair of legs exploded from his chest, and his own legs started to get thinner. His arms shrank and grew more fingers as his neck sucked into his torso. He was morphing faster than I thought was possible for someone who hadn''t been doing it for as long as the original Animorphs. He was slower than they were, but he was much faster than me. Before he was halfway done, I realized what he was morphing.

A Garatron.

((BADBADBADBADBAD,)) Marco shouted.

((You get the panel, I'll get the Controller,)) I advised as we continued leaping from Bug fighter to Bug fighter.

((Do I know anything about Yeerk security panels?))

((You fight, I get the panel.))

((Much improved.))

Now the other two Apostates were on top of the fighters. And now that they had the leisure, one set off to chase Jake while the last one moved towards us. An through the doors, I could see more Kelbrid coming, and something worse. An Andalite with a hint of silver in his fur, standing calmly in a sea of Kelbrid, with a short human by his side.

((Didn't Carl break Salheer's neck?)) I asked Jake.

He jumped from the roof of a Bug fighter, snagging the Dracon cannon of another and using that to swing himself onto a third. An Apostate was just behind him. ((Yeah…why?))

((Because he appears fine.))

((What…is….your…point?))

((I know of only one way to recover that fast.))

Jake then said some words that would best be left unprinted. ((They've got a cube!))

((Problem for another time,)) Marco answered as we split around the Apostate who was headed towards us. He was a millimeter away from brushing against me with his poisonous quills. I was a millimeter away from feeling like I was on fire.

The Garatron-morphed Apostate was right behind his fellow. Marco whipped at him with his tail, and the Apostate whipped back just as fast. Red slashes appeared on both their flesh. I had no time to spare on their fight, though. The original Apostate was interfacing with the control panel. He was standing on a concrete ledge, with a ladder leading to it. It was about the same height as the top of the Bug fighter nearest to him. A jump I could easily make.

I landed on the Bug fighter and then kicked off again, landing right next to the Apostate. He was not so distracted that he did not notice me, though. He thrust his neck at me as I landed. Even with my Garatron speed, it was hard to dodge. I countered by slashing him across the neck with my whip of a tail. He did not seem to notice.

I whipped at him again, but he fenced the blow away with his bladed head, cutting my tail in the process. He parried every strike I made and countered just as quickly. Guraff had trained them very, very well. I was still faster, but between the threat of his head, his claws, and his quills, it was a fight I was slowly losing. The barbs of his hooks scratched my flesh. The blade of his head cut my tail. His quills got into my skin little by little and started to fill me with their poison.

I heard the Visser's voice barking out orders as he tended to do. ((Seventeen, seal the hangar faster. They will not slip away this time. Five, catch that monkey already, stop toying with him. Nine, get to the Blade ship and make sure they are not on board! Kelbrid, check all other ship! Eight, stop playing with your morph and finish him!))

((Prince Jake,)) Aximili called, ((Melissa and I have secured the appropriate transport. Kelbrid are attempting to get in, but we have sealed the door.))

((Is there roof access?)) Jake asked. I realized that my mind was slowing down. It must have been the poison and blood loss. I could not keep this up any longer. I needed to get to the ship now.

((I am opening it now, Prince Jake. Engines are primed, as are the weapons systems. There were some inhabitants of this vessel, but we have sealed them in various areas for the moment.))

((Then let's go! Marco, Jeanne, get in the ship!))

((Get to da choppa!)) Marco added in what I can only assume was supposed to be an Austrian accent. Apparently, he did not forget that quote. He must have seen it before his time as an Animorph.

I turned away from the Apostate I was fighting and jumped back to the Bug fighter. His hook took out a section of my rear leg as I did so. Jumping would not be easy anymore. Through the still open doors, I could see that the Visser had started morphing something with large, blue eyes and more tentacles than an anime convention.

Jake was being followed, as was Marco. My Apostate was content to seal the hangar. Jake jumped down from the Bug fighters, into the sea of Kelbrid, the Apostate following him down. Jake leapt back out of the throng with a wound in his side. The Kelbrid did the same, with a leg wound. Already, it was slowing him down. A few more jumps and Jake disappeared into the top of one of the transport ships. That was our target.

Marco was still being followed, by an enemy as fast as he was. That was not a problem. ((Jeanneyouwannahelpmehere?)) he asked.

((Of course, Marco,)) I answered. Marco stopped instantly and turned around, engaging the Apostate in a mind-blowing fast battle of tails. That was foolish of the Apostate. I didn't attack him from behind. I slammed directly into him from the side. As he turned, stumbling, Marco slashed him across the eyes. Then we turned to run.

We landed on top of the transport and we could see the opening a few feet from us. ((Ladiesfirst,)) Marco offered. I jumped in, followed a moment later by Marco. We were standing in a lounge area much like the lounge we had on the Rachel. Aximili was standing behind the control console, Jake was demorphing, and Melissa was next to him in panther morph.

((Ax, get us out of here!)) Jake shouted.

((I am afraid there is a problem, Prince Jake.))

CHAPTER 13

((Problem!Whatproblem!?)) Marco demanded.

(( I am not sure where the cloaking device is…))

((Green switch next to a red interface,)) I muttered. So many of the controls on Yeerk ships were redundant, manual controls for things that could be controlled by thought interfaces. I suppose it kept the Taxxons busy.

Aximili began the liftoff procedure while the rest of us demorphed. I couldn't feel the ship rise off the ground, but I assumed it did. I heard several thuds from above me. Apparently, the Apostates weren't going to just let us go. Through the view screens, I watched as Aximili aimed the ship towards the ramonite door. ((That should be sufficient.))

He powered the engines, but instead of shooting forward, the ship just jerked. ((Something is holding on to us!)) Melissa shouted.

We got our answer very shortly. ((Little Animorphs! You expect me to let you get away! I'll pull you back down to the ground, rip open that ship, and eat your still-beating hearts!))

"Damn it, he summonned the Kraken," Marco muttered. Then he turned to me. "What do I even mean by that?"

"You were alluding to a movie you forgot you saw,"" I answered. "Aximili, does this ship have-"

((Rear-facing weaponry? Of course. Would you be so kind?))

"It would be my pleasure," I answered, strolling forward and taking the weapons station. There was a mechanical control designed for Hork-bajir, but I was trained to use those. I activated the screen, toggled it to the rear, and took aim at the Visser's eyes. Much or the screen was blocked by the tentacles that held onto our ship. But there was enough. I did not want to see more than eyes and tentacles. I did not really want to see those, either.

I squeezed the trigger and red beams of light lanced into the Visser's eyes. ((AAAARRHHHH!!!!)) he cried, letting go of the ship. We shot forward so fast that I fell over, as did everyone except Aximili.

((I was hoping you had gained more familiarity with your unstable biped design after all this time,)) he said calmly. I could not tell if he was joking or not. My instinct said no, but Jake and Marco laughed.

"We still need to make sure they don't follow us," I reminded them. "They won't send Bug fighters, we could just swat those down. The Blade ship would take too long to get going, so that just leaves the other transport. Get out of Earth's shadow and pop into Z-space. That will take us out of their sensors and they will assume we have escaped. We can drop back out shortly."

Aximili nodded and aimed us towards the atmosphere. A few moments later, Earth was behind us. The coast was not entirely clear, though. Ahead of us, there was what looked like a mushroom. An Andalite Dome ship. Several had been orbiting around Earth since the defeat of the Yeerks in the First War.

"Crazy thought," Marco began. "That ship is full of Andalites, right?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Our thing with the Yeerks has to say a secret, but they know the Pythagi are on Mars, yes?"

Melissa nodded. "So?"

"So why can't we just ask them to go and get the Iskoort for us? Is there some reason they can't do it?"

"A very good one," Jake answered. "The Dome ships around Earth don't actually have any weapons. If they hadn't agreed to strip those off, the human governments wouldn't have let the Andalites float capital ships around our planet. It's sort of a secret, though. The fact that those ships are there is probably one reason why the Pythagi haven't tried raiding Earth form their Mars base."

((The Dome ship will notice us passing by, Prince Jake,)) Aximili reminded him.

"But they can't stop us without weapons,"" Marco answered. "So just drive fast. We can lose them in the little jump to Z-space, right? And with them here, it'll prevent the Yeerks from following us. The Andalites see one Yeerk ship, they might think it's just a raid or a scouting mission. But if they see multiple, they'll really get suspicious.

"They do not need to see us," I said calmly. "I know a thing or two about boosting cloaking technology. It was a handy skill for an assassin to have."

I put my hand on one of the thought-interfaces on the command consol and began rerouting power from various systems to the cloaking field to boost its power. Then, I re-angled it so that the cloak would bounce off of the ship's own shields, turning it back in on us. While we would not be completely invisible to sensors, we would appear as a glitch rather than a cloaked ship.

Five minutes later, we were far enough away from Earth that we could make the jump to Z-space. Ten minutes after that, we were back in normal space with the Yeerks off of our trail. "That didn't go too poorly," Jake decided. "We got the ship and didn't get caught. Nor for part two."

"There's still one problem," Melissa began. "When the Andalite and I took this ship, there were some Kelbrid and Hork-bajir on board. We were able to keep them contained by sealing them in other parts of the ship. Everything outside of the lounge and command deck is sealed off. What are we going to do about that?"

"If it wasn't for the Hork-bajir there, I''d say just depressurize those areas and jettison them into space," Marco answered. "But I seem to remember Hork-bajir being nice guys."

"I have an idea," I answered. "I think I can get the Yeerks to leave their hosts. I think we will have to kill the Kelbrid, though."

"The Kelbrid are willing participants in this whole thing," Jake answered. "I don't like to say that a whole species is evil, but we all know that given even half a chance, those Kelbrid would kill us all and Yeerks or no Yeerks, that wouldn't change. On the other hand…to just have them killed out of hand…."

"I will see what I can do about that," I assured him. Then I activated the communications system and spoke to the Yeerks in the back. "Yeerks. My name is Jeanne. I am an Animorph. And I have an offer for you, a chance to save your lives. Leave your hosts and you will be spared. We will put you in a safe containment area and return you to your allies within the day. Refuse, and we will depressurize the areas of the ship that you are in, killing you and your hosts."

A few moments passed. Then a voice returned over the communications system, a gruff, Hork-bajir voice. "There are eight Hork-bajir here, and four Kelbrid. You would not kill eight Hork-bajir hosts, Jeanne the Animorph. That isn't how you operate in this half of the war."

This was apparently an educated Controller. Not the ordinary sort. He knew that Animorphs on one side of the war acted differently from those on the other side. But if he knew that Jake would not want to let us just kill them, then he knew who would. I was trained to anticipate and manipulate my target. And I knew how to manipulate this one.

"These orders do not come from me, Yeerk. They come from the Devil Prince. He has taken control of this ship from a remote location. Leave your hosts or he will kill you."

Another few moments passed. Then, "How do you want to do this?"

CHAPTER 14

A few minutes later, the Yeerks had drained out into the Yeerk pool on the ship and the Kelbrid were locked tightly in the captain's quarters. The newly freed Hork-bajir joined us in the lounge. "How did you know that would work?" Jake asked me.

"Yeerk psychology was something I spent a great deal of time learning," I answered. "The average Yeerk is motivated by two things: ambition and fear. In order to convince a Yeerk to comply with a request, you must either offer him something he values or threaten him with something he fears. And according to everything I have been led to believe, the Yeerks fear Tobias."

"What makes you say that?" Melissa asked. "I know he's pretty cold and a good leader, but ate they scared enough of him to abandon hosts and put their lives in our hands?"

I nodded. "They know that, while we might not have been inclined to make good on the threat to kill them, Tobias would not hesitate. They fear him greatly. It is difficult not explain if you have not spent a great deal of time with Yeerks. They fear all of the Animorphs, the original ones at least. For a time, it was Jake who they feared most, and now it is Tobias. Returning to the safety of a pool was preferable to confronting Jake and, they thought, Tobias. Reputation is a powerful weapon."

"What now?" one of the Hork-bajir asked.

"Now, we have a plan to carry out," Jake answered. "We need to get something from the Pythagi base on Mars, and we''ve got a plan to take it without a fight."

((Prince Jake, I believe these Hork-bajir can be of help to us. We plan to impersonate a delegation headed by the Undervisser. Hork-bajir guards will certainly help our disguise.))

Jake nodded. "Good point. If possible, I'd like for the rest of us to acquire those Kelbrid in the back. That should fool them. So how do we go about acquiring those?"

To my surprise, it was the Hork-bajir leader who suggested a solution. "Kelbrid obey Yaneth."

"Who is Yaneth?" Marco asked.

In response the Hokr-bajir tapped his head. "Yeerk."

"Do the Kelbrid obey our Hork-bajir friend, or do they obey his Yeerk?" Marco asked. "I don't want to walk in there unless we know they won't rip us to pieces."

"You already have a Kelbrid morph anyway," I pointed out. "You would be in no danger."

"I would be if everyone else died…"

((If I may, Prince Jake? I could slowly lower the pressure in the room in which we have stored the Kelbrid until it sends them into a hibernative state. You would be in no danger from them.))

"I like the Hork-bajir's idea better,"" Melissa answered.

"Aximili's has less risk," I argued. "I think his is the best plan."

"I'm with Jeanne," Marco agreed. ""Sleeping Kelbrid are much safer than ones that can bite you."

Jake nodded. "I'm with the rest of them on this one, Mel. Put them to sleep, Ax. We'll let them out when we get to Mars, along with the Yeerks. Let's all just rest a little bit until we near Mars's orbit, alright?"

"Melissa, would you mind if we spoke privately for a few minutes?" I asked. Now that we had some time and were going into a dangerous situation, I wanted to try and find out what was behind Melissa''s attitude towards Aximili. This could end in a fight, and I did not want to worry that she might not be willing to help him if he needed it. Animorphs need to count on each other.

Melissa shrugged and followed me into one of the barracks that had been vacated. "What is it?"

"I have noticed something that disturbs me," I answered. "It seems like you and Aximili are having some issues with each other."

"Is that all that surprising?"

"Yes, actually. While none of us agree with what he did about Carl-"

"To Carl, Jeanne. What he did to Carl. He wasn't a problem to be solved, he was a person, a human being. And the Andalite murdered him."

"I know that, and it upsets me too, but-"

"That's just it, Jeanne. It upsets you. That's all. It doesn't disturb you, it doesn't sicken you, it just upsets you a little bit."

"Perhaps I should be more upset, but it seems to me that the murder of one man is upsetting you unduly. I am not going to pass Carl off as just another casualty of war or a necessary sacrifice. Aximili killed him, and he did not need to die. But Aximili was being manipulated by Azmaveth. He was not entirely in control of his actions. And for that, I can forgive him. Why can't you?"

Melissa was quiet for a few moments. Then, slowly, she answered me. "I hate Yeerks. You know that. They took my family away from me, and when they started to move openly at the end of the First War, I was one of the fist people the dragged down to their pool. My own father held my head under that sludge until I was one of them. When we had a few hours of freedom, while our Yeerks fed, I would hear stories. The hosts talked about you, the Animorphs. But they said you couldn't save us. You were too few.

"We were told to wait for the Andalites. They said they would show up and fix everything. They'd drive the Yeerks away and free all of us. They were supposed to be our saviors, or messiahs. And do you realize what happened? Do you really get it?

"The Andalites didn't save us, the Animorphs did. The Andalites came afterwards, trying to take the credit. And over time, things filtered out. They were planning to 'quarantine' Earth, leave us to our fate. They were ready to let us get enslaved and then kill us all! Now I know not all Andalites are like that. At least, I didn't think they were.

"I could never forget that Aximili was one of the ones who saved us and ended that war. There were some twisted Andalites, but I thought there were some good ones too. And I still thought that, especially when I joined you guys and got to know Ax better. And then, what did he do? He went out on his own, without telling any of us, and murdered a human being who saved our lives. So yeah, I'm pissed. How can I -"

((Prince Jake, we are entering far Mars space. We should begin the preparations,)) Aximili interrupted.

"You heard him," Melissa muttered. "Let's go get our Kelbrid morphs."

As much as I had learned from her, there was still more to this. IT was not just about feeling betrayed by Aximili. There was something deeper that was bothering her, something that perhaps she was not aware of. And before we could fix this, someone would need to find out what.

CHAPTER 15

We acquired the now-sleeping Kelbrid without any difficulty. However, we did have Marco standing by in gorilla morph, along with the Hork-bajir, just to be sure. He demorphed as we sealed the doors again. "Man…….forgot how tiring that gets. We almost done morphing, Jake? I'm beat."

"You'll feel better once you're a Kelbrid," Jake assured him. "Let's get to it. Remember, they have strong violent instincts, so keep yourselves under control. You''ll want to attack anything that isn't another Kelbrid, so remember that we need the Hork-bajir to be alive. Since Ax is morphing Guraff, he's going to seal us in this room until we get under control. Everyone clear?""

"It'd be hard not to be," Marco answered. "Let's just get this over with, I'm exhausted.""

We were all feeling a little tired. We had done a lot of morphing today. Seagull, battle morphs, Garatron, back to human, and now human to Kelbrid. And Marco was two morphs ahead of me, thanks to morphing orca and gorilla. No wonder he was tired. I am not sure if we ever did more morphing than this.

I concentrated on the Kelbrid I just acquired. Cat ears, whiskers, a crocodile's head and a gorilla's chest. Paws, claws, a ten-fingered hand and one poisoned stinger. That was all I needed to think about right now. I had seen enough Kelbrid that keeping the image of one in my mind was very easy.

The first change happened in my arm. It ballooned to an enormous size as muscles started piling up on top of it. I felt the bones in my hand fusing together as my arm stretched to become the Kelbrid stinger. "That''s really not a good look for you," Marco commented. Then his eyes disappeared. "That's better."

My own eyes disappeared after that, so I couldn't see the others morphing. My whiskers were the last thing to appear, and it was a very strange world that I 'saw'. I Had sort of been in a Kelbrid body before. On the mission to rescue Ax, I morphed a Yeerk and rode inside of Tobias when he morphed a Kelbrid.

I could not see. At all. Kelbrid simply had no sense of sight. But the whiskers dangling from my chin picked up some of the most minute vibrations. I could feel every beating heart in that room, sense the expanding and contracting of lungs, and even pick up the movements of the others' whiskers. I knew where there were walls and other barriers through a sense like echo location, through the vibrations bouncing off of them.

The mind as not what I was expecting. It was much calmer than I thought. There were other Kelbrid with me, but they were not the enemy. Not yet. There was no reason to fight them. I could not eat them. I did not need to prove myself to them. Combat was pointless.

((I think we're good, Ax,)) Jake said. ((You can let us out now.))

((Yes, Prince Jake.))

The door slid open and immediately, the mind I was expecting kicked in. I could smell the Hork-bajir. I could feel them breathing and their hearts beating. ((Keep a grip,)) Jake ordered.

((Who says you're in charge here, runt?)) Marco demanded.

Jake whirled to face him. ((I do. You have a problem with that?))

((Yeah, I have a problem with that. Someone as small as you shouldn't-))

"Control yourselves," Aximili interrupted with Guraff's voice. That had an unexpected effect on me. It was like a physical sensation. Something about the frequency of his voice, the vibrations it caused, made the Kelbrid part of me want to listen. It was like being a dog sprayed with a squirt bottle or smacked on the head with a newspaper. It did not hurt, but it made me pay attention.

That gave me enough time to regain control over myself. The Kelbrid part of me still wanted to attack the Hork-bajir, but I was in control now. ((I am in control.))

((Me took,)) Jake agreed. ((Marco, Mel?))

((Fine here.))

((Me too, Jake,)) Marco answered.

"Good. I have set the ship to land automatically. We will be on the Pythagi landing field within a minute". Aximili lead us out of the ship. The four of us flanked him, with our Hork-bajir 'guards' following behind us. I am sure we looked like a real delegation of Yeerks.

I cannot describe the Pythagi base, since I could not see it. I knew where things were and where they weren't, but I did not have enough experience with Kelbrid senses to make out any sort of details. I sensed a Pythagi fly towards us.

((I don't suppose you speak Pythagi, Ax…)) Jake began.

((Enough to get by, Prince Jake.))

We didn't have to worry about that, though. The Pythagi spoke to Guraff in Galard. I suppose the Undervisser was not known to be fluent in Pythagi. Luckily, Galard was part of my training. I was not fluent by any means, but I knew enough to follow a conversation.

"Undervisser. We did not expect-"

"I despise rudeness, Executive, but I do not have the leisure for pleasantries. Show me to the ship you captured. The Visser wants me to handle this matter personally. There is no telling who or what could be in that ship."

"I understand, Undervisser. Please follow me. The weapons we have that are powerful enough to penetrate its shields would certainly destroy it, leaving us with no idea who it belongs to. And the weapons that would not destroy it will not get through the ship's shields. I am confident that you will find some way to resolve the situation."

"Of course, Executive. I do not fail."

((Guide, can you hear me?)) Jake called.

((Jake?)) Guide's voice responded faintly. ((I was expecting you sooner. The refreshments are getting cold!))

((Refreshments?))

((Of course! The crew would be embarrassed if they could not provide something for their favorite celebrities toeat when they came to save us!))