Rachel

"So how big can you make your hologram? Can I go elephant, or just grizzly?" I asked, "Because we need to keep ourselves hidden until we're ready."

"The closer we can get before attacking, the better," said Jake, nodding thoughtfully. He turned to our Chee guide. "What do you think?"

The Chee turned to Jake, their face completely unreadable. Being a robot dog will do that. But something in their body language told me we were about to get bad news.

"We won't go any closer," the Chee said, "Not if it means aiding in an attack. An act of violence. It's against our programming."

"You have got to be kidding me!" I wanted to punch the shiny metal doggy shell, "We're about to end a war! Stop violence! Now is not the time for this crap!"

"Right," said Jake tersely. Marco swore loudly enough that I almost worried someone might hear. Shaking my head, I tried to focus. Right. Chee had their own rules, and as annoying as they were, we couldn't have got this far without them.

"We'll do it the hard way then," I sighed, "Just like always."

"We're sorry," said the Chee.

"No you're not," I muttered under my breath, knowing full well that the Chee could probably hear me anyway. Slowly, my nose began to widen and spread out across my face as I focused on the elephant DNA inside me. Maybe, if I was lucky, this would be the last time I would need this morph. Maybe. That's what I wanted, right?

I'd worry about that later.

Next to me, Cassie was almost completely a wolf already. Marco was half gorilla, Ax his Andalite self, and Jake was covered rippling muscles and tiger stripes. All of us in our battle morphs, ready to fight for what might be the deciding battle of the war. Somewhere overhead, Tobias circled, ready for us.

{Right} said Jake. {We want to create chaos, but don't hurt anyone if you don't need to.}

{Prince Jake,} Ax thought-spoke, {It has been an honor fighting beside you.}

{Let's save the heroic last words until we're done,} said Marco.

{And don't tell me prince,} said Jake, I swore the tiger before me was smiling.

{Let's do this.}

Would it be the last time I said that before a fight? Maybe. Jake roared, leaping out of the hologram, and the entire cavern echoed. I lifted my trunk and trumpeted in response, charging forward. Overhead, I heard the loud scream of a red-tailed hawk.

An elephant's vision isn't great. I could only just make out the blurred shapes across the Pool of human and Hork-Bajir controllers scrambling to defensive positions. I could hear them shouting though. Hopefully, the chaos would be enough to let the Doctor do what he had to do to shut off the Kandrona. Hopefully, none of us would die in the process.

Hope. That's what I thought of as Dracon beams shot past me and I plowed into Hork Bajir and gored him with my tusks.

The Doctor

The Doctor snuck through the halls. He wasn't expecting it to be quite this easy. Sure, the Doctor talked big, but it was a little unsettling how easily he made his way down the hallways towards a room where the Pool's blueprints told him a small access panel would let him make the changes he needed. Granted, he had made sure that there was no video from his last visit, so no one knew what he looked like, and-

RAAAAAAAWWRRRR!

… there was pretty distracting circumstances elsewhere for the Yeerks to focus on. The Animorphs were doing their job, providing amble chaos in order to give he, Rose, and the Chee as much space to work as possible. The sounds of a battle, screaming, crying, lasers blasting… he tried not to hear it. He liked to think himself above human illnesses like PTSD, but of course anyone would be disturbed at those sounds. Anyone would be thinking back to times when… Still, he should have run into a guard by now.

Turning the corner, he suddenly did, almost knocking his skull off the spiked back of… what were they called in this universe? A Hork-Bajir. Three of them, actually, all of which turned around to face him, instantly alert and tightening their grips on their space-gun-things. Briefly, he debated whether or not a disarming grin would be appropriate. With one hand, he took out his psychic paper and held it up in front of the nearest Hork-Bajir's slender, horned face and with the other, used the sonic screwdriver to mess with the weapons.

"The Andalite bandits are here. Visser Three sent me to deliver a message to maintenance level security. Move aside," he barked, straightening up to a tall, military posture. It felt so unnatural (except that it didn't, and that alone frightened him more than the sounds of screams growing louder behind him). The lead Hork Bajir squinted at the 'badge' held in front of him, and the Doctor sincerely hoped it would be enough, or the sudden combustion of their weapons would have to work as a very painful distraction.

Much to his relieved surprise, the Hork Bajir parted, and stood at attention on the sides of the hallway. He walked on by briskly, through a set of doors ,which he then promptly locked behind him. Only three guards so far, who seemed completely unphased by the chaos occurring close by… frankly, it was more suspicious than if there had been none. The whole thing reeked of a trap, and while the Doctor never exactly shied away from setting off traps, he was trying his best to do this as quickly as possible in order to lessen the risk to the Animorphs. And the Chee. And the Yeerk Peace Movement.

And Rose.

Another turn, another hallway, and four more Hork Bajir and a Human-Controller stood at the ready outside of the door to the maintenance room. He walked up, reaching into his front coat pocket again, but realized that these Hork Bajir didn't even look to question him. He briefly entertained the idea that these Yeerks assumed if he had gotten this far without a fight, he had to be an ally, then chuckled out loud at his own naïve optimism.

"So, this is a trap," he said, speaking to both himself and the Yeerk guard at the same time. To his surprise, he got an answer.

"No, Doctor," said the Human-Controller, "Someone just wants to speak with you."

Right. Because that didn't sound like a trap at all.

"Well, no sense in wasting time then," he said, flashing a grin. Hah. Who was he trying to fool with that? He stepped between the guards as the doors opened with a whoosh, and walked in, mentally running down a list of possible ways to warn the others if this turned out to be more of a trap than he could protect them from here and now.

Inside, a human-looking woman stood waiting for him. Possibly a Yeerk-Controller, possibly not, it was yet unclear. What was clear, however, was that whoever this was, they were trying very hard to look more confident than they were. Their eyes fidgeted, looking him up and down quickly before speaking.

"So, you're the Doctor that has Visser Three so terrified," she said with a faint smile, the hint of white teeth flashing against dark brown skin. The title seemed to be funny to her, "Here to save the planet from the evil Yeerk invasion."

""Fraid so," he said, smiling now in a way that was not friendly at all, "And I don't do well with interrogation at gun point." To his surprised, she lowered the weapon immediately.

"It was for my protection, not your harm," she said, "I'm in hostile territory, the same as you."

"Oh really?" The Doctor arched an eyebrow, "And I don't supposed you're going to tell me who you are?"

"Not entirely," she said, smiling dangerously. She turned at gestured the wall panels, "You should get to work. I assume you want to be in an out as quickly as possible to protect the Andalite bandits you're working with."

"Well, I am here to get a job done. But what brings you here?" He definitely didn't like the way she placed the slightest bit of emphasis on those words. "I can't imagine it's for the scenic views."

Sensing his hesitation, she tried to appear more complacent.

"Do you mind if I sit?" she gestured towards a desk chair near the control panel, "This host has an injured knee that I'm simply not used to, and these heels aren't doing her any favors."

He nodded, and she sat down, straightening her stiff suit and brushing a piece of very carefully straightened and styled black hair behind her ear.

"So you are Yeerk then? Seems like none of you are very fond of this Visser fellow. Makes me wonder how he got to be in charge in the first place. Certainly isn't a democratic system, is it?" He spoke quickly as his hands moved quicker across the control board, inputting commands that the system was never meant to receive. The Yeerk smiled for real at that.

"Despite appearances, Visser Three's no fool. And likeability has never been high on the list of Yeerk high command's values," she laughed, before her face turned serious, "But he successful infested our only Andalite host, and the conquest of Earth was handed to him well after it was showing signs of success. Were it not for your friends, he might even have been promoted one day."

"Which you and whoever you're representing would have opposed." The Doctor said. It wasn't a question. He had seen plenty of politics in his day.

"Yes," she said simply. The Doctor bent down and pulled a panel of the console wall off, exposing the wiring within. He began to dig through the numerous wires and breakers, trying not to seem too concerned by the stranger Yeerks now seeming lack of nerves.

"I don't suppose you'll get to the point soon. I am busy," he said, grunting as he reached way back to uproot a wire.

"My people and I want to live, Doctor. As Yeerks, on our own terms, not under whatever assimilation you have planned for the Yeerk Peace Movement." She said the name derisively.

"What terms are those? You know, I'm really not in a position to make executive decisions of that magnitude, what with it not being my planet and all," he said, talking quickly to hide how his discomfort, "Well, I suppose I could connect you with the people in charge. But things are a bit of a rush… three day countdown and all."

The Doctor began splicing two seemingly unrelated wires together. Actually, completely unrelated wires. At this point, he wanted to make sure that who ever this Yeerk was, they wouldn't be able to tell what he had done here. He sighed dramatically, "Who are your people, exactly?"

The Yeerks crossed her legs and leaned forward.

"Followers of the former Visser One," she said, "Who want to stay alive, and wouldn't mind seeing Visser Three lose in the process. Who want to live by our own rules, off of this miserable planet." The Doctor pulled out another wire and began to splice it with the first two.

"Well, you know, I don't make the rules-"

"Sure you do. After all, you decided on your own that you weren't actually turning off the Kandrona, without telling your allies?"

He froze.

"That's something your Andalite friends would certainly not have agreed to."

The Doctor forced his hands to go back to work.

"That would be, well, not unlike, well, ridiculous, well," he stuttered, "What makes you say that, exactly?"

She leaned back into the chair, straightening her suit again. It was uncomfortable, he realized. Definitely not a host the Yeerk was used to, wearing clothes the host was unused to. Interesting. Probably important. He needed to focus.

"Because I know empty threats when I see them, Doctor," she said, "And if you were going to shut off the Kandrona and kill us all, you wouldn't have waited. Whatever silly morals you cling to that kept you from doing it the first time you entered the Pool are keeping you from doing it now."

"Maybe I just wasn't ready the first time, didn't have the right tools," he countered, continuing his work as he spoke.

"No, I don't think so," she replied, "And that's why I know you'll be willing to hear me out now."

Using the sonic screwdriver, he fiddled with a regulator. Well, sort of a regulator. Regulator was probably the best word for it. A regulator, which, if he was being perfectly honest, would not shut off the Kandrona radiation on the planet, but rather, tweak the atomic structure of the Kandrona sources.

"So what is it you and your people want?" he said.

The result would be a virtually undetectable near-identical radiation, which would cause nasty side effects that would mimic starvation in Yeerks. Mimic, but not recreate. Enough to cause panic, but not to kill. Because this Yeerk, whoever they were, was absolute right about him. Genocide was not something… he wasn't going to condemn an entire species when he knew that so many opposed the actions of a few. Not if he could help it. Not again.

"A ship," she said, "Kandrona. Resources. A new planet. With whatever technology you're using, that shouldn't be too much to ask."

"It's certainly-" he slammed the metal panel shut over the rewiring "-not inconceivable. How do I know that you won't betray us as soon as we get you what you want?"

"Because if I wanted to, I would have already," she said with a smile, "And I have information for you and the Andalite bandits."

He still didn't like the tone she used for the word Andalite.

"A Yeerk fleet is coming. Soon. Earth is becoming more problems than it worth, with the introduction of a powerful new interested party," the Yeerk said, "If the problems you have created are not resolved by the time they arrive, well… let's just say the Council of Thirteen isn't ready to have a loose end lying around, proof to the galaxy of a weakness." She stood up, and dusted off the front her pencil skirt. Her knees did give slightly as her body took the weight onto the heels, he noted.

"They will destroy a planet to defeat an opponent as deadly as you. If there is no one around to protect the planet when they come, well, it won't be the first time a species was wiped from existence in this war. It happens. To the Arn, most recently." she said matter-of-factly, like she was reciting sports statistics, "Of course, we could help make sure that doesn't happen."

"In exchange for what you requested," he finished. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a communication device of some sort. Too advanced to be Earth technology of this era, so it was probably a Yeerk device.

"Yes," she said, "Contact us with this once you've made your decision."

The Doctor took the device, and scanned it immediately with his sonic screwdriver, deactivating any tracking systems that might have been operating, before shoving it into a coat pocket.

"I hope to hear from you soon," the Yeerk said, and walked toward the door, "You should leave soon. Your allies are still in danger, and once my people leave with me, you will be as well."

"Yeah, thanks for that," he said, mostly to himself. Normally, he'd be saying something clever right now. He could be very clever, when he wanted to.

Too clever. Damn.

But the Human-Controller was gone, and it was time for him to get gone too. He left the room, and saw that the human controller and her Hork-Bajir entourage had fled in a hurry. Using the screwdriver, the Doctor locked the door behind him with a shower of sparks. From the same panel, he set the entire electrical system of the Pool on fritz, flashing lights and ventilation and destroying the security footage. Between the Pool-wide electrical problems and the "re-wiring" he had done, no one should notice the actual changes he had made, at least until well after the three-day countdown was up. Doors were locking all over the Pool, except of course the ones that he and the Animorphs would need.

The flashing lights would be a signal to the Animorphs to start working towards their escape. The Chee had reopened another exit, specifically for the Animorphs to flee without interrupting the now-human Yeerks' movements. Completely hidden with more force fields, such a safe escape was perfectly within the Chee's code and capabilities. There would be an 18.57 second blackout that would occur once the main Pool lights went out before emergency lighting fully kicked in, which would hopefully allow the Animorphs enough (extra) chaos to escape, and allow him enough to time to make his way back to where Rose was. Hopefully.

The Doctor would worry how to deal with everything else once he got back to her.