Disclaimer: I owneth not the aliens, nor the Chee, nor Cassie.

Chapter Four.

The voices were…strange.

Not harsh Hork-Bajir. Not hissing Taxxon. The voices were low and warm. They sounded a little like growling, but the language they were using –one that I couldn't identify –had a fluid tone. Occasionally one made a chuckling noise, like laughter but not, which I guess was amusement. There were at least two of them, because the voices had the rhythm of a conversation.

I held my breath. Pressed into the dirt. Prayed frantically in my head that they wouldn't come near.

I heard feet moving through the undergrowth. But I couldn't see anything.

Then, to my relief, the footsteps and the voices moved away. The sound of moving vegetation faded, as did the laughing, throaty voices of the aliens.

I wondered what they were.

Chances were that, whatever species they were, they were Controllers. Almost all the aliens on Earth are Controllers. The only exception is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. Ax. Our resident Andalite. The Chee are another exception, but a very weird one. They're androids. Highly intelligent, highly advanced androids.

I didn't know what these aliens were, but I had to prepare for the worst. Had to assume they were Controllers. Had to assume they didn't have my best interest in mind.

It would have been nice to have Ax around. He might know what they were. Their capabilities. Whether the species had gone voluntarily or not.

But Ax wasn't here. I was. And, at least for now, it was up to me to find out what was going on up here.

Up here. Up on a mountain, miles from civilization, with an infected ankle and very little food, only a few tens of metres from a group of unknown aliens who might kill me if they saw me. My only asset the ability to morph. My greatest hindrance the fact that I could not allow them to see it, or me.

I was in trouble. But I had a duty to the people of Earth.

Slowly, reluctantly, I began to crawl forwards. Out of the cave.

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I didn't morph.

I should have, of course; looking back, it would really have been the most sensible course of action. But I wasn't quite thinking straight, and in my head was the repeating mantra that I'd promised Jake I wouldn't morph, because it was too great a risk. If I was going to spy on these people, I'd do it as me.

You could make the case that by spying I was helping the battle, and so would have been allowed to morph because I was no longer separate. But I didn't see it that way. I still don't.

I crept out into the forest, as quiet as I knew how to be, using bushes and trees to hide myself. Every nerve I had was on edge. My ears strained to hear every tiny, unnatural noise.

In my puny, human form I advanced on a ship full of aliens.

Before long I saw open space through the trees. But before that I heard voices again. The same sort of voice I'd heard before. That laughing, growling voice speaking its fluid language.

And when I came near to the open, I stopped. Huddled down, half-hidden by a bush. Trees between me and the open air. Hopefully enough space for me to be invisible, and –if necessary –to have a head start.

And then, I saw them.

They were weird. Any alien is weird, just look at Ax. But what made these creatures so weird was their familiarity.

They walked upright, on two legs. Those legs bent the other way from human legs. They had two arms, one on each side, and a tail that came to their funny bent-back knees. They were covered in soft golden –fur? Yes, it was fur. Hair, anyway. It looked soft.

The one I got a clear sight of was facing away from me. All I saw of the others were a few flashes of yellow and a bounding movement.

They were only there for a few seconds, and then they were gone.

But there was a feeling…I can't describe it. There was a feeling about them that just seemed warm and good. I saw them only for a few seconds, but just seeing them, they sort of exuded warmth and happiness.

They were happy. I could just tell. It was in the way they moved.

It was in the way they were.

I went back to my cave. Found a kind of nice in the wall at the back. I climbed in and huddled there, wrapped in my jacket.

It took a long time for me to fall asleep.