Acario was in the simulation chamber. Technically, he was supposed to be honing his skills. In reality, he just found that it was a lot of fun to shoot at holographic enemies. It was relaxing, a great way to kill time, and an even better way to avoid Sabion and Calnen. The fact that, if he ever wanted to, he could pull up the time records and show that he had spent more time training on the mission than Sabion had was just an added bonus. Acario was very fond of extra bonuses.

Usually, no one would interrupt him in the chamber. Alludra spent most of her time either with her father or practicing her tail-fighting with Estrid. Sabion, of course, tried his best to be present at the latter. Acario chuckled every time he thought about how clueless Sabion was. He'd gotten through the Academy on his tail-fighting skills and his driftball talent. At least Calnen had intelligence to back him up, even if he didn't have any personality whatsoever.

Alloran was, of course, never shy about interrupting Acario's 'training', but he rarely found any reason to do so. Sabion and Calnen did what they could to avoid him, and he knew why. Back in the Academy, they had been the popular Andalites, the ones everyone liked. Calnen was brilliant and Sabion was the athlete. Hehe was the one who sold drugs and dropped out to travel the galaxy with Skrit Na, Rakam, Maktar, Ularus, and any other race who would give him a ride.

Estrid seemed almost afraid of him sometimes. He was sure Sabion and Calnen had been filling her head with all sorts of stories about him. And if she spent any time talking to Alludra, those stories would probably be confirmed. This was one of those days, though, when she ventured to speak with him.

His simulation shut itself off while he was in the middle of a session. That annoyed him until he saw Estrid standing by the controls. His supplies wouldn't last the entire voyage, he was sure, so he needed to find other ways to occupy his time; making friends seemed like a good idea. He was already more than familiar with Alloran and Alludra, of course, and Sabion and Calnen wanted nothing to do with him.. Estrid on the other hand…

(Now see, shutting that off was your first mistake,) he greeted her.

(I am sorry.) She paused, her main eyes falling to the floor. When he first met her back at Alloran's Scoop, he thought she was nervous. Now he knew she was just shy; at least when science wasn't involved. Considering that he spent a good deal of his life with loud, pushy aliens and even louder, pushier Andalites, it was refreshing. And, he admitted to himself, rather cute. (I felt I needed to speak with you.)

(Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I just meant that if you had stood there for a bit longer, you would have gotten to see me all nice and sweaty. Isn't that what you females like these days?)

Estrid scuffed one of her rear hooves, a gesture of embarrassment.

(What is on your mind?) Acario continued. Then he added, (Aside from thoughts of me all hot and sweaty, that is.)

She scuffed her hoof again. Definitely shy. Definitely cute. (Is it true what you said, back in Alloran's Scoop?)

(Probably not.)

(Oh. Maybe I should go.) She turned to leave.

(Now hold on there, I did not say it was definitely a lie. What part were you talking about?) Acario asked. (The chemistry thing?)

(No, no. The part about you spending three kilorotes in Kelbrid Space.)

(Ah, that. Yeah, that was a lie.)

(Oh. I am sorry. I did not mean to interrupt you for nothing. I should...) She trailed off, turning to leave.

(I was only there for two.)

That stopped her. (I was hoping I could ask you about it. The Kelbrid, their technology, anything that might be relevant.)

(Did Old Butcher not give you a file with all my info in it?)

(He did, but I thought I might learn more talking to you.)

(Congratulations, namor, you are the first person to ever say that.)

(Namor?)

(It's a compliment we use over on the west side,) Acario explained. (See, over there, we have some different kinds of grasses that don't grow anywhere else on the homeworld. So hard to grow that you didn't even manage to duplicate most of them in the bubble. Now, the sweetest of them is this red type of grass, namor. Do not ask me what makes it red, I have no idea. I just know it's the best thing I have ever put under me.)

(So when you call me namor...)

(It just means I think you're pretty sweet.)

(Thank you, then ... I think.) She paused, not sure how to continue. She probably was not used to this sort of thing. Considering that she studied under Arbat, who disappeared kilorotes ago, she must have been specially educated and probably hadn't interacted with a lot of males. Or maybe not with a lot of Andalites in general, for that matter.. (About Kelbrid Space...)

(Oh yeah, fun place to be, as long as no one there knows that the fact that you are breathing their air is illegal enough to start a trans-galactic war. Whenever anyone asked me what I was, I told them I was a Hooloovoo.)

(What is a Hooloovoo?)

(A hyperintelligent shade of the color blue,) Acario answered. (It is not completely untrue. Except for maybe the blue part. I think I am much more of a gray.) He decided not to add that he had stolen that lie from an Earth book called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which, despite being written by a human named Douglas Adams who had very little actual knowledge of hitchhiking across the galaxy, had proven to be remarkably applicable to doing just that. While it provided no information on the various worlds and races of the galaxy, it certainly helped one to become mentally and emotionally prepared for whatever may happen.

(And that worked?)

(Of course not. But after they realized that I was not going to tell them anything different, they usually stopped asking. Stick to a lie long enough and beings are usually willing to accept it as truth simply because it is not worth arguing over.)

(I suppose that is one of the reasons why we Andalites-)

(I have a Dome ship back at my Scoop,) Acario interrupted.

(What?)

(I have a Dome ship. It's at my scoop. I painted it red,) Acario responded.

(What are you-)

(I like to use it to go to other planets and abduct large marine animals.)

(You possess no such thing.)

(Sure I do! I painted it myself.)

(You did not!)

(It has a pool where I keep whales.)

(You-) Estrid cut herself off. (You are trying to force me to agree with your lie, thus proving the point that Andalites are no different from other races in that respect. I will not fall for it, Acario.)

(Well, you caught on faster than Sabby did. Although I think that's because he actually believed me.)

(You are distracting me from what I originally came here for.)

(It is a talent of mine,) Acario acknowledged. (But like I said earlier, everything I know was in the file Uncle Ally sent around. And you are probably the only one who read it. And maybe Alludra, if she plans to do the talking with the natives.)

(Why do you say that?)

(Alloran is the one who wrote it up from my info, so he probably didn't bother reading it afterward. I couldn't be bothered to read my own report, and Sabby and Calnen would not trust anything I tell them. Of the six of us, that leaves you and Alludra as the only ones who actually might have read the report. I have probably forgotten all of the important information anyway. Unless you want to know where you can get some x'clesta juice.)

(I am afraid I do not even know what x'clesta juice is.)

(Well, it so happens I have a bottle or four in my quarters.)

Estrid took a small step backwards. (I do not think War-Prince Alloran would approve of that, Acario.)

(Call it a scientific inquiry,) Acario suggested.

(I do not think that would be wise.) Estrid took another step back.

Acario responded by stepping forwards. (We are young. We are supposed to be foolish.) Estrid was backing towards the wall, though she didn't realize it. All four of her eyes were on Acario now.

(Acario...)

(What is the worst thing that could happen?)

(I can think of several things.) Her back was to the wall now. With her hands clasped in front of her and her tail twitching, she looked terrified. She was even trembling slightly. Acario took a step back.

(Hey now, it's alright. Just a friendly offer. No means no; even I get that. You ever change your mind, though, it's a particularly nice vintage. The Dolormen who sold it to me assured me - ) he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head.

(Leave the poor girl alone, you Gedd. Can't you see she's terrified?) Alludra demanded, pulling him away by his ear. (Sorry about Acario,) she apologized .(Males think with three organs, and Acario possesses neither hearts nor or a brain.)

(Yes, but that has led me to develop the third one to Crangarian propor - ) he cut off again, crying out as Alludra pulled harder,

(By which, of course, he means mythical,) Alludra added, dragging him into the hallway. Estrid elected to remain inside the room until they were both gone. Alludra didn't release his ear until on the other end of the ship.

Several minutes later, Estrid was still in the simulation room, shaking a little bit. She had heard stories of what the warriors did to each other out in deep space but had assumed it was just a joke told by the other civilians. She certainly didn't expect any such invitation to be extended to her.

(Estrid.)

Estrid jumped, her tailblade snapping into position. It was only Alloran, though. She lowered her blade. (I am sorry, War-Prince. I am just a little shaken.)

Alloran nodded. (Alludra told me what happened. I suppose I should have warned you about Acario. He can be impulsive, inconsiderate, crude, and downright stupid.)

(However...?)

(However what?)

(I expected you to add some of his redeeming qualities.)

(If you find any, be sure to let me know,) Alloran sighed. (It was foolish of him to pressure you like that. You could have cut him up six different ways before he realized you weren't interested.)

(I am surprised to hear you say such a thing,) Estrid admitted. (Most of the men I have met - particularly those in your position - disregard my tail fighting skills.)

Alloran snorted. (I'll admit that in my younger days, I would have been as bad as all the rest. I have been shown time and time again how stupid that was. One of the Animorphs, Rachel, was female, and one of the greatest warriors I have ever known. I watched when she gave up her life in one final battle to end this war once and for all. After seeing that, I can never think of any female as being unequal to any male.)

Alloran folded his arms behind his upper torso and began pacing around the chamber. (Earth. There is something about that planet that changes people. When Elfangor came back from Earth, he was a different person. Far different from the frightened child he once was. Earth changed Aximili, too, and it changed me.)

(Maybe it is not Earth. Maybe it is something else.)

(It could be the humans.)

(No. Before working on this ship, I was with a team studying the movement of E. particles-)

(E. particles?) Alloran interrupted.

(Short for Ellimistic Particles, a form of energy that we still do not understand much about. Sario was the first scientist to take note of them. They were central to her research just before she went completely insane. Escafil, her successor, was also studying them. Sario was the one who named them originally. Because of their unknown nature, she named them after the Ellimist. One of her later theories states that otherwise unexplainable occurrences that were previously attributed to the Ellimists were actually fluctuations of E. particles. Escafil devised some reliable methods of detecting these particles and discovered that they tend to concentrate around certain areas and that, in these focal areas, very strange occurrences were fairly common.)

(You think Earth might be one of these focal areas?)

(I have no idea, War-Prince. Much, much more research would be necessary. But if that is the case, it would help to explain the number of remarkable things that happen there. For example, six children defeating the Yeerk Empire.)

(Or maybe it was simply the Ellimists themselves doing it,) Alloran responded.

Estrid snorted. Then she scuffed one of her rear hooves in embarrassment when she realized he was serious. (You believe in Ellimists?)

(The day I stood on my own four hooves and looked around with my own eyes, Estrid, I decided that I could believe in just about anything.)