A/N

Remember, kids; I can't respond to FFN messages at the moment, but I love feedback, so if you want responses, try Neopedia or something.

CHAPTER 37

David

Tobias and Rachel had already been on their way to us when Al sent them a quick message saying we needed to talk to them personally, so it didn't take long for them to arrive. In spite of Al's assurances that our communication channels were secure, I insisted we not tell them anything about Jaham at all. Not until we could be sure no one could overhear us. So when they arrived, Al and I met Tobias and Rachel in the most secure place we could think of. The Reliquary; in orbit.

Both of them looked happier than I'd ever seen them and that kind of made my skin crawl. Rachel isn't a depressing person to be around, but she isn't usually all smiles and hugs. And while she wasn't handing out hugs – not to me, at any rate, though Al got a few – she was still smiling a lot. She usually only does that when some Yeerks are going to die. As jarring as that was to see, seeing Tobias was downright disturbing. Tobias never smiles – ever. Not by accident, at least. Now it was like he couldn't stop. And he actually hugged us – both of us. He looked better-rested than he had since the day I re-joined the Animorphs. I was almost happy that I was going to wipe the smiles off their faces – they were really creeping me out.

After the usual introductions and pleasantries – us inquiring about their trip, their health, the impending birth of their child, them asking us how we were doing and all that - Tobias got down to business. "You sounded pretty urgent when you called, so we came a bit faster. What's going on?"

((Alloran's running his campaign like a Visser, but that's because he learned from one. Lirem's playing dirty, too, on advice from Jaham. And Jaham... Al heard him talking so a Captain-Prince we haven't been able to identify. From what was said, they're in league with the Yeerks and are somehow involved in whatever the Yeerks are doing on Ssri. There's some sort of conspiracy going on, and we can't be sure who is involved. We suspect Lirem, since he and Jaham have always worked closely together, but we don't know who else. There are more than a dozen Captain-Princes in the fleet, and it could be anyone.))

Tobias nodded slowly. "Anything else?"

I stared at him for a moment. ((What do you mean anything else?))

"Is there anything else you learned?" Rachel asked.

((Nothing more important than an Andalite-Yeerk conspiracy,)) I answered. They were taking it all too calmly.

"What did you learn about Caysath?" Tobias continued.

((We have not yet had the opportunity or cause to investigate him,)) Al answered. ((He, at least, is acting like any upstanding Andalite would.))

"That's good, at least," Rachel answered. "I liked Caysath. He actually took advice from people who knew what they were talking about. I think I've only seen that in maybe five Andalites, and that's being generous."

"Looks like it's between Caysath and Alloran," Tobias answered. "My endorsement might help. I've got some credibility with the Andalites, at least. Not enough to swing a whole election, but I can help a bit."

"Alloran's got the experience, but I don't think he'd listen to others," Rachel commented. "I think Caysath might be best. What do you think, guys?" she asked us.

((I...I think we really need to talk about this conspiracy!)) I answered.

((I believe it is the necessary subject of conversation as well,)) Al added, sounding incredibly distressed.

Slowly, Tobias shook his head. "Forget about that, both of you. Let's talk about whether Alloran or Caysath is the better option."

((What do you mean forget about it?)) I demanded. ((We can't just forget-))

"It would be best if you could," he answered, cutting me off. The Tobias I knew was breaking through vacation-Tobias now. "Forget that you heard anything about a conspiracy."

((Prince Tobias,)) Al began.

"Yes, Alloran. That is my rank. War-Prince. And as your War-Prince, I am ordering you to say no more about conspiracies. And as your brother, I am asking you to obey that order completely."

I looked at Rachel. She didn't looked surprised at all by any of this either. Slowly, I realized. ((You...you knew about this already. Both of you. What the hell is going on here?))

Rachel shook her head this time. "David, do you trust us?" she asked.

((Trust you? I put my life in your hands every day. Of course I trust you. But something like this...I can't just ignore this, guys. I can't just pretend this isn't happening. I need to know.))

"There are things I can't tell you, David – things Rachel and I can't share with anyone," Tobias answered. "But if you trust us at all, then trust me when I tell you that...we aren't the only ones with a war to fight, and we aren't the only ones who have to keep it a secret."

((Come on, Tobias, you have to give me more than that.))

"I can't, David. Especially not you."

((Especially me? Why especially? Do you not trust me to-))

"You're too smart, by far. If I gave you even a scrap of the truth, you'd probably manage to figure the rest out. I wish it could be different, but this isn't something that's up to me."

I looked at Rachel. She shook her head violently. "Don't even think about it, David. I wouldn't have told you as much as he did."

I turned to Al next. I knew he wouldn't say anything to anyone. Not after a direct order from Tobias on top of a personal request. If anyone was going to be digging into this deeper, I'd have to do it on my own. Whatever Tobias and Rachel knew, whatever they thought, this was too important – too dangerous – to leave alone. Sometimes, especially lately, Tobias makes decisions that he doesn't really have the right to make, choices that effect entire planets and even more. No matter what they thought, this wasn't something I could just forget about and ignore. It was simply too vital. Yeerks and Andalites working together. And not just any Andalites – Jaham and Lirem were once the Andalite leaders. Something so deep was just too big for me to leave up to anyone else. Not until I knew more, at least.

But Tobias and Rachel didn't need to know that, now did they? So I just nodded slowly. ((Alright, guys. I trust you. I guess I'll have to on this one. What do you want to do about the rest of it?)) Inside, I had stopped paying attention. I trusted them to do what they thought was best – I knew their hearts were in the right place. And their heads usually were as well. But this was just too big to abandon. I would have to find some way to investigate, some way without any of the other Animorphs knowing.

And I didn't have a whole lot of time to do it, unfortunately. Not while I was working with the Animorphs, at least. Soon – maybe in one month, maybe two or three, but soon – I would have to give up the fight and my ability to morph. Then what would I do?

I couldn't just abandon the fight. Not after what I did and what I tried to do. I had to find some way to keep fighting, keep helping. I would find a way. I always did.

CHAPTER 38

Jeanne

Melissa and I had fought Ssri'Kai before. It was not a pleasant experience. We would not have survived were it not for the intervention of a Tri-I operative named Carl. Even bullets had limited effectiveness against them. An open attack against them was doomed to failure. There were at least a dozen Ssri'Kai here, and even if they did not tear us to pieces, all were armed with needle-like weapons that were most likely energy cannons of some kind.

((I don't think we can just walk on in like we've been doing,)) Melissa commented. ((Bug morphs?))

I shook my head. ((Too far for flies,)) I answered.

((Panther and leopard?)) she suggested. I almost rejected it out of hand, given the size of the morphs, but then I thought about it. The crevasse that the ships were hidden in provided dark shadows around the edges. And both Melissa's panther morph and my leopard were stealth hunters. It could work. And if we were discovered, being in those morphs would certainly be better than being morphed as bugs.

((I believe that would work)) I conceded. A few minutes later, we were a leopard and a panther hunching in the shadows of the crevasse. Melissa blended in a bit better than I did, but I believed our camouflage was sufficient. Slowly, we crept along the edges of the crevasse until we were in the shadow of the Blade ship.

((Who do you think owns this one?)) she asked me.

((Certainly not the Visser,)) I answered. ((The Emperor would never involve him in something like this. I do not know who this might belong to. It may just be the Emperor's, though it is more likely he would go with something grander.))

I had left the iHolo behind, buried in a small hole I made in the ground, but according to it, Erek was now in the Blade ship. Certainly the Emperor was as well, along with a Blade ship's worth of Hork-bajir and possibly even Kelbrid. It was not a pleasant thought.

((Probably lots of bad guys in that thing,)) Melissa commented, somewhat paraphrasing my thoughts. ((You think these morphs will still cut it?))

I thought about it. These were fast, quiet morphs. Battle was almost out of the question – if any alarm was given we would be torn to pieces. Perhaps our Kelbrid morphs could get through unremarked, but perhaps the Kelbrid could recognize non-Kelbrid. Or perhaps, this being Ssri, these Yeerks didn't bring any Kelbrid with them, in which case everyone would know what we were instantly. I knew that Hork-bajir could tell the difference between one another, and they would know that we were not supposed to be here.

((I believe so,)) I answered. ((We must endeavor to remain unseen as much as possible and not alert the Yeerks to our presence.))

Melissa cocked her head to the side and looked at me. ((Yeah, I kind of guessed that.))

We lurked in the shadows beside the Blade ship for several minutes, waiting for a chance to enter. Soon enough, part of the ship stretched open and a group of Controllers – some humans, a pair of Hork-bajir, and a couple Taxxons – emerged, heading for the Pemalite ship. We darted into the Blade ship behind them. One of the humans turned around suddenly. He sensed us, I knew. He suspected.

He stared back into the sip. Melissa and I huddled on either side of the entrance, pressing ourselves as deep into the shadows as we could get. After a moment, he turned around and continued on to the ship. The entryway closed behind us.

I knew my way around a Blade ship fairly well, and one as just like another. ((They will have Erek in the holding cells,)) I told Melissa. ((Or the torture chambers, located on the same level. Follow me.)) We kept to the shadows, moving slowly and only when we were sure there was no one around. Our keen senses of sight, hearing, and smell kept us ahead of whoever was moving about on the ship. Mostly humans, I noticed, and Hork-bajir as well as a number of Taxxons. No Kelbrid to be found.

We were almost to the dropshaft when Melissa smelled something. ((Two Hork-bajir behind us,)) she warned me. I looked at the dropshaft. If they were going for the dropshaft, they would see us in it before we reached the desired level. We were in a hallway with no rooms; only the dropshaft on one side and the Hork-bajir in the other direction. They would certainly see us.

((Into the dropshaft,)) I decided. ((Down one level, under this one. Hopefully we can hide from them.)) We jumped in and rode it down only for a few seconds, to the level beneath our previous one. As soon as we landed, I turned around. And looked straight at a Taxxon and a Hork-bajir. The Hork-bajir was opening his mouth to cry out. The Taxxon was raising a Dracon beam.

I lunged at the Hork-bajir, my teeth sinking into his throat. His cry of alarm came out as a gurgle. An instant later, a black-blur struck the Taxxon, tearing it to pieces in a matter of seconds. I gave a last bite to make certain my Hork-bajir was dead. ((Back into the shaft,)) I suggested. ((Down seven levels.))

We fell at the normal speed, at first. But as we reached the appropriate level, we slowed down until an unseen force pulled us in to a hallway. It was a very long hall, lined with holding cells, all of which were empty at the moment. There were no visible guards. Most likely, the Emperor was not expecting an attack of any kind. Or he did not trust his guards. I was certain Erek would be here, though.

At the far end was a door made of the same black material as the outer walls of the ship. Beyond it, I knew, were the torture chambers. Melissa and I ran towards the door. It was sealed, naturally. But I knew more than a little about Yeerk security. ((Melissa, I will need some time.))

((Gotcha,)) she responded, slinking back to the dropshaft in order to watch for anyone coming. I turned my attention to the red square set in the center of the door. A basic thought-interface. Like what the Andalites used, but about half two generations behind. The Yeerks had not improved this technology since Seerow gave it to them. Of course, that only made sense. Yeerks were parasites. They stole and controlled; they did not create.

It took me several minutes to penetrate the security measures, but once I was through, unlocking the door was as simple as thinking about it. ((We are ready,)) I answered. We ghosted through the door into a large chamber. I would rather not describe some of the implements I saw in that room. It looked a collection of the Visser's birthday presents.

There was no one in the chamber. Or the next one. At the third door, though, Melissa and I could hear thought-speak voices. The first I did not recognize. ((...anything like it. Certainly no race in any known sector of space.))

((The origin of the machine is a mystery,)) a second voice agreed. This one I recognized. The Emperor. ((This one came to us on Earth. It infiltrated out ranks easily. And as you have seen, it is capable of projecting an flawlessly realistic hologram and enduring incredibly high bursts of energy. The Dracon beam at full power only made a small hole in it, and that was only after prolonged contact.))

((I can detect no thoughts from it, but that is to be expected,)) the first voice noted. It sounded almost feminine. ((What do you wish done with it?))

((You will take this machine to the Homeworld and present it to the Council of Thirteen on my behalf. Inform them that it was discovered on Earth – presumably, it joined during my brother's disastrous campaign against the humans four years ago. Be sure they understand, Inspector, that it infiltrated my brother's forces. There are most likely more of them among his troops. Inform them further that I recommend that you be sent to investigate his forces and discover how many more are machines like this. There must be more.))

((Of course, your Highness,)) the Inspector answered. ((But...forgive me, but does this not overstep our authority under the New Order?))

The Emperor chuckled. ((My brother might believe so, but that is far from the case. A Visser now reigns over his sphere of influence with absolute power, but it is up to the Council of Thirteen to appoint Vissers. And if we discover that one is an incompetent – by, say, allowing hostile machines to infiltrate his forces – it is our place to replace him, do you not agree?))

((Absolutely, your Highness. I believe that the Council will be most pleased by this find.))

((As do I, Inspector. Now, see what the technicians have discovered about that ship. I believe it to be of the same construction.))

((Of course, Highness.))

We heard some shuffling in the next room. Melissa and I pulled deep into a corner of the chamber. The lighting was very dim. A creature without eyes adapted for dim light would not be able to see very well. It should not be able to see us.

The creature that emerged from the door was almost human in shape, though with arms and legs elongated. Its hands ended in long fingers that were shaped almost like spear-tips. They were thin near the hand, then they widened and tapered to sharp tips. It was very thin, almost emaciated. Its neck was exaggerated like its arms and legs were. The jaw was the most striking part. Its jawbone extended almost half a foot above its head, looking almost like horns. It had a thin, vertical slit for a nose and four small, red, tilted eyes. Its flesh was a burnt-orange color and it was clothed from neck to foot in a dark blue robe.

((What is that thing?)) Melissa demanded.

((I have no idea,)) I admitted. It did not look at us as it exited the chamber and had, in fact, left the door slightly open. I could see inside, to the Emperor. He was still clothed in his own red robe. Thee was a creature strapped to a chair-like apparatus next to him. It looked almost like a metal and ivory dog. Erek the Chee - without his hologram.

((You are an interesting creature,)) the Emperor told him. ((I have never seen anything quite like you. You are immensely strong, that much is obvious. A dozen Hork-bajir could not budge you. You could tear me in half right now. Yet you do not. I wonder...you are a machine. Is it perhaps that you cannot do it? I have never known you to harm anyone – in fact, I know for a fact that you prevented several executions that I ordered. Are you, in fact, perfectly harmless? Interesting. What race would build something so powerful, yet not allow that power to be used?))

Erek said nothing. ((Hey Jeanne?)) Melissa asked. ((It occurs to me that the Emperor is right here and his guards are not. And I've got some sharp claws right now...))

It would be impossible to miss the implication in her statement. It would have been impossible not to agree. ((As my sister is indisposed at the moment, I believe it falls to me to say it. Let's do it.))

CHAPTER 39

James

We fell back to the surface of the planet. Staying in orbit would only get us slaughtered. Here, I saw what the Yeerk computer meant when it called the Ssri'Kai presence light. There was one crystal-city like what we saw on Ssri, surrounded by a bunch of buildings that I assumed were of Grunn construction. According to the captain, this was the only Ssri'Kai outpost here on the planet. They always assumed that, being so close to Ssri, if the planet was ever under attack, the local forces could hold out until the Ssri'Kai could come to aid them. I guess this is what comes of worrying about the enemy far away and ignoring the one on your doorstep.

Ronnie and I were sitting in a small room in one of the Ssri'Kai buildings with the captain and the leader of the Grunn, who had a title I couldn't even begin to spell. Our thoughts came down pretty much to one thing. We were royally screwed. Outnumbered by who knows how many. It would take maybe ten Grunn to overwhelm a Kelbrid, and at best, the Ssri'Kai with us could handle maybe two Kelbrid a piece – turns out these ones weren't as dangerous as those Apostates we encountered. They didn't have the benefit of that elite training.

It was Ronnie who pointed out something that had been tickling at the back of my mind. "The Kelbrid are strong in close, but you've got long-range weapons. I don't know if I've ever even heard of a Kelbrid shooting back."

"I've never seen them shoot anything," I agreed.

The Ssri'Kai made some wavy movement of his neck while keeping his head completely still. I think it was the equivalent of shaking your head. "The Kelbrid always bring the battle in close. We will damage them from afar, true, but we cannot count on keeping them at a distance."

"If we could-" I began.

"We cannot," the captain answered. "Once the Kelbrid begin charging, there is nothing that will stop them. And they always begin with a charge."

I shook my head. This wasn't my area, for sure. I couldn't plan battles and stuff. I could fight one, sure, and if someone told me what to do, I could probably manage it, whatever it was. But making plans like this wasn't my thing. There were others much better at it than I was, more clever. Jake, Tobias, Jeanne, Marco, David, Rachel..and that's just the top ones. This was a place for them. Not someone like me. "Do we know how they'll do what they want to do?"

"Their ships, the majority of them, will stay in orbit to blockade the planet and prevent anyone from going to get help," the captain explained. "Once the blockade is secure, they will send in transports of Kelbrid and whatever other warriors they have. They will attack here – none of the Grunn cities has the firepower to be a serious threat. Once they are victorious here, they will hunt down any Ssri'Kai survivors and systematically destroy the remaining cities. If they plan to occupy the planet, they will leave a tribe or two of Kelbrid here. They will destroy the planet."

"Destroy it how?" Ronnie asked.

"With their teeth, mostly," the Ssri'Kai answered grimly. "The Kelbrid, when left to their own devices, view everything in terms of a hierarchy of enemies. It is their racial philosophy on the universe. Everyone and everything is an enemy, waiting to be attacked. First, they will hunt and kill any non-Kelbrid, non-allied races. All who oppose them, in other words. Then, they will turn against any allies on the planet, hunting them until there are none left. Then, they will destroy the planet itself. Kelbrid can eat nearly anything living. Trees, plants, animals – even the crystals of this city. After there is nothing left to consume, the Kelbrid will turn against one another, one tribe fighting the other. Once only one tribe remains, the Kelbrid of that tribe will turn on one another until at last, there is no one left to kill and nothing left to destroy. The planet will be barren of all forms of life except for that one, single Kelbrid survivor. In the end, it will consume itself."

Ronnie and I stared at each other for a few moments. We had no idea how to respond to that. I guess the Ssri'Kai figured that out for himself, because after a moment, he continued speaking. "In this case, though, they will not let the Kelbrid hunt. Not this close to Ssri. They will destroy everything they can find from orbit. I think with that...Dome ship? … you saw. If they want to frame the Andalites, that would be the way to do it.

"How does any of this help us?" Ronnie asked.

I shrugged. "I've got no idea," I answered. What were we supposed to do? I was no general, no tactician. I couldn't figure stuff like this out. And if there was a clever trick that could save us, the captain wasn't volunteering one. "If it was up to me, I'd call up Jake or Tobias and beg them to figure it out, but we don't even have that option," I sighed.

I tried to think of what one of the others would do, how they would solve the situation. Tobias would be all for meeting the Yeerks in open battle. I'm sure he'd have all kinds of fancy tricks and stuff to pull and he'd probably come out on top, in the end. But I had no clue what those fancy tricks would be, and I couldn't even begin to think of them anyway. This battle didn't call for his style anyway. That sort of thing always ended with too many people dead anyway.

That left Jake's style. What would he do? What he'd always done. Take a small group of people he trusted and hit them hard, fast, and where it would hurt most. Now that...that I could do. It was just a matter of figuring out what would be the most painful. And that was easy enough to figure out.

"Oh no..." Ronnie began. "I don't like that look on your face. It's far too familiar."

"We're taking down that Dome ship," I answered, trying to fight back a smile.

"How do you intend to do that?" the captain asked, sounding neither for nor against the idea.

"Why bother with that one anyway?" Ronnie added. "If we're going to try to blow up something, we should at least go for the Pool ship. That's the one that will hurt the most, if we can manage it."

"They need the Dome ship," I answered. "This whole attack is a deception, remember? The Ssri'Kai have to believe it was the Andalites who did it, not the Yeerks and Kelbrid. That Dome ship has to be essential to that plan. And I think it might be important to find out how they got it. You remember what the Emperor said about allies on the Andalite homeworld?"

Ronnie nodded. "From the sound of things, they weren't Controllers. I'm not sure the Emperor even knew who they were. But they're probably the ones who managed this."

"Who could steal a capital ship?" the Ssri'Kai wondered. "That would be nearly impossible to do in any circumstance. But to do it so that the Andalites did not even know it was missing..."

"So it isn't stolen," I answered. This I could figure out. "There's only one way this could have happened. The Andalites sent it here. Or at least, they sent someone off with a Dome ship and won't be concerned when they don't report back for a while."

"So the Andalites have a treasonous captain," Ronnie sighed. "And if they've got one, they've probably got others. We'll have to let Tobias and Jake know as soon as we can."

I nodded. "If we have to meet the Kelbrid in open battle, we're probably all going to die. But if we destroy that Dome ship, they might have to call the whole thing off. Hard to frame Andalites when you don't have any around. Or any of their ships. If we can take that Dome ship out, I think we can win."

"When do we start?" Ronnie sighed.

"Tonight."

CHAPTER 40

Al

There was not much time before the election, though to be honest I did not understand why Prince Tobias and Rachel were so concerned. Prince Tobias was all but convinced that neither Lirem nor Jaham had any real chance of winning. If the People were going to elect Lirem, this election would not have been called in the first place. And in the minds of most, Jaham and Lirem were the same Andalite, and for many good reasons. Electing one would be the same as electing the other.

Still, Prince Tobias worried. He had decided that it was vital for Caysath to win this election and take control of the Electorate. While I was pleased that he was not following Vladimir Putin's "suggestion" of making certain Alloran won, I did not like the idea of anyone attempting to manipulate events in this election. Not even my prince had that right.

He knew I objected – I had made my feelings on the matter very clear to him. Though he had discussed the matter with me, Prince Tobias had also decided to go ahead with his plan. So far as I knew, he was not engaging in anything duplicitous, but I was still not pleased.

I was still lost in my own thoughts when Prince Tobias exited the Scoop in which he and Rachel had been meeting with Captain-Prince Caysath. "We're go for tonight," he told me. "Caysath's going to pull some strings and get me some air time with the Andalite people."

"Lirem is not going to be happy about this," Rachel said with a smile.

"That's what I'm counting on," Prince Tobias answered.

Prince Tobias's plan – or, rather, Rachel's plan - was simple, though it might prove effective. Tonight, he would be addressing the People and giving them his thoughts on the election and the candidates. The other candidates would be able to respond. That would give Prince Tobias the opportunity to portray them as unfit to lead.

The next few hours passed with David and Rachel coaching Prince Tobias while I provided information about Andalite customs and the candidates. Finally, we were ready. Prince Tobias stood before a projector, with Caysath, Rachel, David, and myself standing out of sight, though Caysath was standing in front of a second projector, ready to be seen by the People should that be needed.

((The broadcast will begin momentarily,)) one of Caysath's aids said to Prince Tobias. ((Three...two...one...))

A green light on the projector flicked on. Prince Tobias took a deep breath and attempted to smile. "My name is Tobias. Among you, I am Tobias-Sirinial-Santorelli, War-Prince of the Andalite Fleet, Commander of the Reliquary, and son of the late War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. I was an Animorph, one of the humans who defended the planet of Earth from the Yeerks and brought about the downfall of the Yeerk Empire and secured the freedom of War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corass. I functioned as the lead tactical adviser in the battle for Hork-bajir at the beginning of our current war against the Yeerk-Kelbrid-Pythagi alliance. I served under Captain-Prince Caysath in that battle. And that is why I stand before you today.

"I list those other accomplishments not to boast about myself, but so that you may know who I am, and know what matters to me. So, let me lay this all out for you. I am an Andalite – whatever my appearance. My father was an Andalite and when I was given rank in the military, the Electorate acknowledged me as one of the People. But as you can easily see, I am also human. And more than that. I am a friend to the Hork-bajir, one of those who helped lead the first of them to freedom from the Yeerks. I am an ally of the Anati, a friend to Leera, a celebrity among the Iskoort, acquainted well with the Garatrons, and even," he added with a real smile this time, "a friend of the Helmacrons."

"I have seen more worlds than many realize exist, and I consider myself a friend to all of them. I tell you all of this so that you might understand. I do not stand for one race, one army, or even one alliance. Wherever I have gone, I have always fought for one thing above all else. I stand for freedom. I stand for liberty. I stand for that which makes life worth living. I am not one to take any side but that of freedom. And as all know, the Yeerks are the greatest threat to freedom the galaxy has ever seen. Once before, we halted them, with incredible losses on all sides. Now, they are back. The Yeerks seem limitless. Their Kelbrid soldiers seem infinite. The Pythagi factories turn out thousands of ships and millions of weapons every day. The threat now is greater than it ever has been before."

Prince Tobias paused and took a deep breath before he continued. "And it is not flattery or arrogance when I say that all the people of the known galaxy look to the Andalites for leadership now. When the Yeerk shadow falls over a world, it is the Andalites they turn to. It is your people – our people – who are called to defend the galaxy against those who would enslave, exploit, and exterminate all who do not bow before them. Of all the races in the galaxy, it is us on whom the burden lies heaviest.

"And now the time has come, when the People must choose a new leader from among them to guide us through this new war. And as one of the People, I have my own decision to make. We have been presented with four Andalites, all with their own degree of prestige. But we all know that there are only two real choices. Lirem and Jaham led us through the First War. That war lasted decades and cost millions of lives. On my planet, it took only one aristh and five humans to halt the Yeerk invasion. We did in three years what Lirem and Jaham could not manage in fifty. Whatever luck we had, and whatever incompetence the Yeerks may have showed on Earth, there can be no doubt that the Andalites who ran the First War are not fit to lead in a second."

That would certainly rile Lirem and Jaham up. Perhaps even more than Tobias asserting that he was an Andalite. That was a point that Jaham would certainly never concede, even if Lirem had technically made the concession when he awarded Prince Tobias his ranks.

"So it is a choice between Alloran and Caysath. Both are Andalites I have had the honor to know personally. I have fought alongside both of them, in a battle more desperate than those most soldiers see in their nightmares. I have always heard – and always believed – that you do not know someone until you have seen them when they believe they are about to die. When death is imminent and there is nothing left to hide, then you can see who a man truly is."

"I have seen both Alloran and Caysath when they no longer had reason to hide anything. And I can say that both are good Andalites, pure of intention and with faultless courage. I would be called to call either one my leader."

Prince Tobias took another deep breath. This was the plunge. "But of the two of them, I can think of only one who possesses the qualities that we need now. Alloran has a wealth of experience, both from his own time as War-Prince of the People and from the decades he spent as a Yeerk prisoner. All of that experience..." Tobias paused again. "...all of it means nothing now. Our enemy is something none of us has ever fought before. These Yeerks are different. They act differently, think differently, and have different priorities. The old tricks will no longer work. We can no longer count on the Vissers to destroy each other for us. We cannot even count on there being any Vissers who anyone might recognize. Kelbrid are not Hork-bajir. Pythagi craft are not Yeerk ships. Our enemies are different. And treating them as we once did will only lead to ruin.

"So then, there is only one choice that I can see. Captain-Prince Caysath is young, without the decades of experience the other candidates possess. That also means he is not bogged down by outdated information and notions about our enemies. He has already proven his skill as a commander, as well as his courage and strength. He is precisely the Andalite we need now.

"As I said, I stand for freedom, for liberty. I do not stand for any one man, or even any one race. But I will stand for Caysath."

CHAPTER 41

Melissa

The Emperor was alone. Unguarded. We were a leopard and a panther. No time like the present, right? I was all for rushing him, but Jeanne likes to be more subtle than that. ((Melissa, you are more difficult to see. Even with the Nak's eyesight, you should be able to blend into the darkness at the edges of the room. You go around behind him and we will hit him from both sides.))

Hard to argue with logic. I stepped quietly, letting the panther instincts take over. It knew how to move without being seen or heard. It was just like stalking prey in...wherever panthers stalk prey. The jungle, I guess. I don't know, I don't google my morphs unless I'm really curious, you know?

I was behind the Emperor in less than a minute. Erek was strapped down between the two of us, but I could clear him easily. ((Ready, Jeanne.))

((On three, then.)) She paused. Nervous, I guess. ((One, two, three!)) I rushed forward. Two steps and I was next to Erek. One jump and I was sailing over him, claw-first at the Emperor. Jeanne was a split second behind me, charging at him from behind. The Emperor's head turned towards me. There was no expression on its face. I couldn't tell if it was surprised, angry, afraid, or anything. I definitely didn't realize he was feeling smug.

SLAM. Something hit me across the face, snapping my head back and driving me off to one side. I hit the floor hard. I guess cats don't always land on their feet. I slid a few feet on my side across the polished floor. My vision was fuzzy, but it looked like Jeanne was in the same situation. I shook my head and stumbled to my feet as Jeanne did the same.

The Emperor's robe was torn now. I guess he ripped it when he hit us with whatever it was. His head was turned towards Erek. ((Friends of yours? Not machines like you, I take it. I know pain cannot break you – I doubt you feel it at all. Them, on the other hand...well, they did just walk right into my torture chambers. I may not be the virtuoso of the craft that my brother is, but I do have some skills.))

"Don't hurt them!" Erek pleaded.

((I will leave them unharmed if you answer my questions. Who created you? Who do you serve?))

I wasn't in the mood to be ignored by this guy. I wasn't some bargaining chip, I was me! I lunged at him, snapping with my jaws. Jeanne did the same. Maybe she just had the same idea I did, maybe she was just waiting for me to attack so we could strike at the same time. It went only a little better than last time.

This time, I pulled back in time to suffer only a grazing blow. Jeanne was even luckier, dodging it altogether. This time, Is aw what he attacked me with. One giant wing, covered in large, black feathers. I stumbled back as part of it struck me in the face, but I was still good to go. Jeanne attacked again.

The Emperor struck at her once more and this time, I darted in while his attention was on her. I tried to dig my teeth into his leg, but he stepped back out of the way, slashing down at me with his other wing. Jeanne lunged again. So did I. ((EREK! Run!)) Jeanne shouted. ((We will hold him.))

Erek sat up. That was all it looked like. The straps that had been over his body snapped like wet tissue paper. He ran and boy did he run fast. He was literally a blur as he took out through the door. Made me wonder how they ever caught him in the first place, but who knows? Chee have some disturbing limitations.

We kept up our attack on the Emperor, but we weren't gaining any ground. He was very fast and pretty strong, too. We could keep him from hurting us, but we couldn't do any real damage to him. A few superficial cuts, some scratches, but nothing more. ((We are getting nowhere, Melissa,)) Jeanne pointed out. She was panting, but so was I. The Emperor was sagging a bit, but he looked less tired than we did. Leopards and panthers aren't endurance fighters. They're designed for a quick, clean kill, not a drawn-out battle.

((What are you thinking?)) I asked.

((Erek has escaped. We should go, too.))

Internally, I cringed. I didn't want to just run away. But there wasn't a whole lot of choice. Guards would be here any moment, and then we'd have no chance. Our opportunity had passed and I knew it. I just didn't want to admit it. Still... ((Alright, let's bail,)) I agreed.

Jeanne lunged at the Emperor one more time. I took the chance and bolted for the door. Jeanne was a split-second behind me again. The Emperor was only inches behind her. We tore through the torture chambers, pas the holding cells, and into the Dropshaft. There were more than a dozen Hork-bajir on their way down, no doubt coming to attack us. One slashed at me as we passed. I twisted to the side and avoided the blow. We zoomed up a few levels and then bolted out the way we came. There were more Hork-bajir in the hallway in front of us. A line of them three deep and stretching across the hall blocked us.

((Jeanne, cats jump well, right?))

((Very well, Melissa.))

We leaped over them. It was close, their horn-blades almost slicing open my belly, but we made it. The Emperor slammed into the wall of Hork-bajir. We ran, out of the Blade ship and into the Pemalite ship just a few feet from it. The door shut behind us as we tore into the dog-shaped craft. The Emperor was behind us, locked out for the moment. Two dozen Hork-bajir and the orange-colored alien stared at us. Erek was nowhere to be seen.

The orange creature's face twisted disturbingly. I think it was a smile. ((Kill them.))

((Melissa,)) Jeanne began.

((Yeah, I know. Don't move.))

I stood perfectly still as twenty four Hork-bajir charged at me, blades raised. They were maybe a foot from us when they froze. "Now, now, we do so dislike violence," the overly friendly voice sighed. "I am afraid we will have to ask you to leave. Perhaps next time we can enjoy a nice game or a pleasant chat. So sorry."

Jeanne and I stepped to the side and just like that, the Hork-bajir and orange creature were being shoved out of the door by some invisible force. The Emperor was trying to shove past them, but nothing shoves through two dozen Hork-bajir. Once the door closed again, the ship was suddenly off the ground. I didn't feel a thing. A section of the wall shimmered as Erek appeared.

"Thanks for coming after me, guys. I don't know if I could have gotten out without hurting someone if you hadn't shown up. He had that Spaar blocking the door and I would have had to shove her down to get past and that might have done her harm. My programing, you see..." He trailed off, looking kind of embarrassed.

((We understand, Erek,)) Jeanne assured him. ((I think our business is nearly finished. We have one stop we need to make, though.))

"Wherever you need to go, Jeanne."

I knew where she was going with t his. ((Take us to the Ssri'Kai capital.))

CHAPTER 42

Ronnie

The plan was pretty simple. Suicide usually is. Put a gun to your head. Swallow some pills. Drive into a tree. Jump off a bridge. Board the ship and attack the bridge. All nice and simple. James, me, and some Ssri'Kai elites would hop on one of their boarding craft, smash into the ship, and fight our way to the bridge where we could hopefully disable it. Suicide, you see.

I had no idea what we'd encounter on the ship. Andalites? Kelbrid? Hork-bajir? Some fresh hell? No clue. But there was no use worrying about it until we got there. In the end, a dozen of us went. The two of us and ten Ssri' boarding craft was small, and we were kind of crammed into it. The front was a short, drill-like needle that would bore through the hull of the ship so we could board. Also at the front were some magnets that could adjust their polarity to attach us to the side of any metal craft. The back had a large door where a larger ship could dock with our own to pour more troops in. There wouldn't be any of those tonight. The inside was pretty cramped, but we both decided it'd be netter to be packed in with a bunch of Ssri'Kai if it meant there'd be more to help us.

A pedestal in the center of the ship with a small half-globe on it served as the steering wheel. We all gave the pilot some space. This time, the pilot was the one wearing the translating collar, though he didn't have much to say. She, actually, as had been explained to us earlier after the captain got the hang of our pronouns. We had apparently never seen a male Ssri'Kai, and they didn't look anything like the females. They had been unwilling to say more on the subject and we didn't press them. After all, I wouldn't be comfortable explaining the differences between men and women to aliens.

When we were in orbit, some sort of display lit up next to what I'm going to call the steering wheel. I don't know the details, but I saw a lot of dots that had to be enemy ships. James pointed to one of the larger dots. "That looks like the Dome ship," he said to the pilot.

The pilot nodded. "That is it. We are cloaked and should avoid the sensors of their fighters and patrols, though the sensors on the capital ships are more powerful and will probably detect us. Once we are within sensor range of the Dome ship, we will have to move quickly."

"How can you tell that's the Dome ship?" I asked James.

"I've picked up a few things during my time on the Reliquary," he answered. "I can understand the basics of one of these things." I just shrugged.

Honestly, most of the flight was boring. I didn't understand a blip of the sensor data, so I don't know if we had any close calls or not. I did feel a slight jolt when the acceleration kicked in. I guess we were close enough to the Dome ship that the pilot figured we'd be noticed. A schematic of the Dome ship appeared next to the map of blips.

James pointed to a section on the shaft. "This is where we'll need to go. If I remember correctly, we should be able to drill straight into the bridge from there. Or at least get pretty close."

The pilot wiggled her neck and pointed the ship towards the shaft. I could see the Dome ship on the visual screen now. I've heard Al say that the Dome ships these days are small compared to other capital ships. More efficient, as he puts it. They use less resources but carry the same punch. Maybe it's small, but to me it looked enormous. Sort of the way a hippo is small compared to an elephant or something. Like how China is small compared to Russia or a bus is small compared to a semi-truck. It might have been little for a ship of its class, but it was bigger than any vehicle on Earth.

Guns started firing at us. Very big guns firing bolts of greenish light. Nothing hit us head on – I had been informed that would kill us – but we did take some glancing blows. The shields absorbed most of it, but the ship still shook when it got hit and I think we lost some skin on the edges. We managed to avoid the worst of it, though, and soon we were too close for the weapons to actually target us.

We pulled up to the shaft and the pilot decelerated, pressing the front of the craft against the Dome ship. "Recalibrating magnets...locked. Activating drill." I was sure she was saying it for our benefit. The other Ssri'Kai probably already knew what was going on. Or else didn't care. It was time for us to do our part. There wasn't nearly enough space for us to ride morphed, but we needed to get started.

James turned to me. "Being a polar bear, you should probably go last. I'll take lion and we'll wait for you once we secure the immediate area." That would mean I'd probably miss most of the fighting. That was fine by me, really. I wasn't some sort of combat chuck or anything. I still wasn't happy about being bullied into this in the first place. Let the rest of them suffer for it if they wanted to.

There was a faint grinding noise as the drill tore through the eDome ship's side. James was halfway morphed when the pilot nodded. "We have an entrance. Atmospheric field activated so we won't depressurize upon exiting. Magnets have full hold. Whenever you're ready...uh...commander?" I guess she didn't know what to call James.

((Lead on, I'll catch up in a few seconds. I need more room to finish.)) The pilot nodded and then opened the door. Ssri'Kai rushed out into the hallway. A moment later, the ship was empty except for me and a mostly-morphed James.

"James...do you think this'll work?"

((I haven't the foggiest, Ronnie. But it's all we've got.)) He bounded out after the Ssri'Kai. I began to morph. Now, I'm new to this, so I morph slower than the others. It was about two minutes before I was ready to go out after them.

The hallway was empty. There weren't even any bodies, Andalite, Ssri'Kai, or otherwise. Weird. No signs of a fight, either. We had penetrated very close to the bridge, and the doors were opened. I wandered in to see James and the Ssri'Kai standing around. Some of the Ssri'Kai had taken up positions by the entrance, but there was no fighting going on . No sign that any fighting had happened. James and the pilot were standing by a computer. I wandered over to them.

((The ship's a ghost,)) James told me. ((No one's on board. It's all being remotely controlled. from the Pool ship, probably. The pilot's trying to hack a way into it, but she's no security wiz, and from what she's told me, it sounds like the Andalites are much better security-wise than the Ssri'Kai. They don't have the paranoia for it.))

((Who'd try to steal from Ssri'Kai?)) I wondered.

((Who'd try to steal from Andalites?)) James responded.

((Us, apparently. What do we do if she can't get the ship under her control?))

((I don't have a clue, man. ))

We waited for a few minutes. Then we heard a computerized voice. ((Auto-defenses activated.. Have a nice day.))

((Now someone gets a sense of sarcasm!)) James demanded as we ran back to the boarding craft, dodging Shredder fire all the way.