Calnen almost fell over. His entire body felt numb. He might as well have been swimming in liquid nitrogen. He panted, (I think that's enough for today, Sabion. I'm a strategist, not a warrior.)

Sabion sighed and helped Calnen to his feet. (You have progressed.)

(Towards an early grave,) Calnen muttered.

(That is exactly the opposite of our goal,) Sabion responded.

(I would be very worried if it were not. But why train me so hard, Sabion? Is there not something else you could be doing with your time?)

(I would like to say yes, but. I am not certain she knows I exist.)

Calnen raised one stalk eye. (Did you just make a joke?) Sabion only stared at him blankly. Calnen snorted. (No, of course not. You were entirely serious.)

(Why would I not-)

(GET. HERE. NOW!) That had to have been Alloran. The ship had a communications system that would allow him to amplify his thought speak so that it could be heard anywhere on the ship.

Alloran did not use that system.

Sabion and Calnen were running towards the bridge before they even realized they were responding. A million things flashed through Sabion's mind. Were they about to be attacked? Had they found something? Was someone pregnant? Sabion was so distracted that he didn't see Estrid until he ran directly into her. She fell to the floor, and he tripped over her.

Sabion turned his main eyes towards her. (I am sorry, Estrid. I-)

(Last one to the bridge gets decapitated!) Acario laughed, leaping over them.

(You're such a child!) Alludra scolded him. Nevertheless, she jumped over Sabion and Estrid, too. (When are you going to grow up?)

(Never! If I ever grow up, I can be tried as an adult!)

Calnen had decided to stop and help Sabion and Estrid to their hooves. (Honestly, Sabion, I do not know what you see in her. She is far too much like Acario.) The three of them headed towards the bridge at a more leisurely trot than they had been taking previously.

(If Acario had stalks like that, he could act however he wanted.)

Calnan stopped and stared at his friend, lowering one stalk eye and raising another. (Come again?)

(And of course, there are her ears. Maybe if Acario's ears were that pointy, I would like him better.)

(...Sabion...)

(Though I suppose his nose is slightly more symmetrical than hers.) Sabion nodded to himself. (Yes, he does have a nice nose. And slender fingers. Those are attractive, too.)

(...Sabion...) Calnen repeated, still staring. (...what...?)

The Warrior sighed. (And if I was pressed, I would admit that he does have the shiniest hooves I have ever seen. What do you two think?)

(I have to go,) Estrid said quickly rushing past him.

(Calnen?)

(I think you have some questions you need to answer about yourself,) Calnen answered.

(GET. TO. THE. BRIDGE.) Alloran thundered in their heads. Estrid yelped and jumped a foot in the air. Calnen stumbled, and Sabion flinched. The three of them looked at each other for a moment, then they launched into a full gallop for the bridge.

Sabion reached it first. (Yes. I do not get decapi-) He cut off when he found Alloran's tailblade approximately half a millimeter from his throat.

(This is no time for jokes,) the old War-Prince growled. Alludra and Acario were standing perfectly still, peering out of one of the transparent sections of the bridge. Acario twitched occasionally, but that was probably as a result of whatever drug he was on. Alludra did not appear to even be breathing. Sabion took a few moments to look at her, then joined the two of them.

Any questions he had were immediately expunged. Drifting in space outside the window were two wrecks. Two ships had collided. One was large, about half the size of a Dome ship. It was a black so dark it was only visible by the stars it blotted out. It looked like one of the ancient two-bladed weapons Sabion's ancestors had used in addition tot their tailblades. Sabion recognized that ship. It would have been impossible for him not to.

The Blade ship.

The second ship was smaller and appeared to be buried in the larger ship. It was nearly impossible to tell what it had once looked like. Now, it was a twisted wreck embedded in the bridge of Blade ship. The two drifted aimlessly, locked in the embrace of death.

(No life-signs coming from either ship,) Estrid reported. Her voice sounded hollow, far away. (Our scans report that all systems on both ships are inactive. They're ghost ships.)

Sabion could not look away from them. He began to ask, (What do we-)

(We investigate,) Alloran interrupted. His voice sounded just as Estrid's did. Sabion was not sure if they sounded different or if his hearing was suddenly altered. Considering they were conversing in thought-speak, the latter was almost certainly not an option. (We need to find out exactly what happened here.)

(Uncle,) Acario began. (The smaller ship That's the one that went missing along with the Animorphs, isn't it?) He didn't sound distant at all.

That caught Sabion's attention. The idea hadn't occurred to him. (Is it?)

(Yes Alloran answered. (You said there were no life-signs, Estrid?)

(None that I can detect. But maybe)

(We investigate,) Alloran repeated. (Sabion, Acario, Estrid, come with me. Calnen, Alludra, remain with the ship. Calnen, watch the scanners and alert us immediately if there is any activity at all. Alludra, man the Shredder batteries, just in case. Acario, dock us with the ships. You will find a suitable port on the underside of the Blade ship.)

Acario tore himself away from the transparency and walked over to the navigational console. He put one hand on a red pad and, with his thoughts, guided the ship around and beneath the Blade ship. (Commencing docking procedure.)

A moment later, Acario stepped away from the console. (We are docked via the North Shaft. Whenever you're ready, Uncle.)

Alloran silently led the way. Sabion had no idea what the old War-Prince was expecting to find, but Alloran's mood, far darker than usual, translated itself well enough to the Warrior. He kept the fingers of his left hand ready, in case he suddenly needed his cetsu. And he made sure to keep the fingers of his right hand away from his palm, lest he suddenly need his Shredder.

Estrid was very clearly nervous. She was carrying a satchel of equipment Sabion did not recognize. She kept all four of her eyes focused on the ground. Whatever it was she was expecting to find, she didn't like it. She kept close to Alloran. Sabion had never thought of him as a comforting figure before, but he supposed that, when walking into something you feared, there were far worse people to stand next to.

Alloran himself did all that he could to appear confident. He strode forward with a clear sense of purpose. His tail was in combat position, and he was ready to flick on his cetsu and fire off his Shredder at the slightest sign of movement. They were not even at the end of the North Shaft yet.

Acario appeared calm. The key word being "appeared". He walked along with the other three, seemingly no more paranoid or worried than usual. Part of that was the otala he had been crushing when Alloran called them to the bridge. It kept his heart rates down and relaxed his muscles. Physically, he could only get so tense. Part of it, though, was an act. He could tell that Alloran was nervous. And when one of the galaxy's most feared warriors was nervous, a petty criminal like Acario would have been well off running the other way as fast as his legs could carry him.

Alloran exited the shaft first, stepping once again into the Blade ship, the scene of so many horrific memories. This was a hangar, where the ship's supply of Bug fighters was kept. They were gone. Alloran could not tell how long ago they had been taken. Maybe it was kilorotes ago. Maybe just decirotes.

(Estrid, sweep the area for traces of the particles given off by engines.)

Estrid took a cylindrical device from her satchel. (There are traces, War-Prince. Judging by the concentration, the Bug fighters launched about a dekarote ago. Presumably, that was around the time that the crash occurred.)

(The bridge,) Alloran said, almost whispering. (That is where we need to go. Sabion, Acario, remain one length behind me. Estrid, between them.)

Alloran knew his way around the ship better than any living being except for perhaps Esplin 9466. The War-prince led the way to the other side of the now-deserted hangar, to the dropshaft. He shuddered as he remembered Esplin deactivating it, filled it with Taxxons, and then shoving a dozen Controllers who had offended him into it. Esplin had smiled while the Taxxons devoured them. Alloran had felt like vomiting.

He stepped in and gave a quick thought command. Nothing happened. (The dropshaft is inactive. Estrid? I believe you have something for this.)

(Yes, War-Prince.) Estrid took a small sphere with many wires dangling off of it from the satchel. She walked over to a part of the wall next to the dropshaft and after a few moments located what she was looking for. She connected several of the wires from the sphere to the wall. The sphere gave off a slight humming sound. (It is done, War-Prince.)

Alloran nodded. (Everyone in the dropshaft. We must be quick about it, that will not provide enough power for very long. The top level. Me, then Acario, then Estrid, then Sabion. Go.) He heeded his own orders and began streaming upwards. There were only three levels to go, and each one reminded Alloran of something terrible Esplin had done. The level where he kept his torture chamber. The level where he kept his soldiers. The level where he kept his private Yeerk pool.

It seemed to take an eternity for Alloran to reach the top, though it was really just a few moments. A lifetime of horrific memories flooded through his brain. He stepped out onto the bridge level, his Shredder pointed forward. He advanced like a duelist moving towards his opponent. He knew what he was going to find, and he prayed to all the deities he had ever heard of that he was wrong. Acario, Estrid, and Sabion took up their positions behind him, imitating his posture.

At least, they reached the section of the ship that was wrecked. The walls were bent and twisted. Wires dangled from the ceiling. Pipes shot out of the walls and floors. Where there had once been doors, there were just mangled wrecks. Then they were there. The epicenter. The place where the ships had collided.

There were bodies. Bloated, burst sacks of what had once been Taxxons. Arms, guts, torsos, and blades of Hork-bajir. The scarred, twisted remains of human bodies. There were scorch marks all over the area.

(Acario. Remain where you are and watch our backs. Estrid, Sabion, with me. Look for Alloran took a deep breath. (Look for an Andalite.)

Alloran himself headed towards the other ship, the one that had been rammed the Blade ship. (Alloran?) Sabion asked as he combed the bodies in search of an Andalite. (What are you looking for?)

(Animorphs,) Alloran sighed. (You remain here. I feel this is something I should do on my own. Estrid, if you can, get any of the data still in the ships; logs. Maybe then can tell us for sure what happened here.) Though I already know.

His search of the second ship did not take long at all. It was a small cockpit, what remained of it. He noticed a body as soon as he entered, lying face down. Alloran rolled it over with his tailblade. Then he let out a stifled cry.

(What is it?) Acario asked.

(It,) Alloran answered, (was Jake Berenson.)

(Crangar's tails,) Sabion hissed. Estrid said something considerably less polite. Several large sheets of metal were buried in his face, neck, chest, and legs, though he was still recognizable. There was no doubt about it. Jake Berenson, leader of the Animorphs and savior of earth, was dead.

Alloran walked over to the next body he saw. A young woman he didn't recognize. One of her arms was missing, and her face had been badly burnt. The body he found after that was a human who didn't look familiar. Maybe he would have looked more familiar had his head still been attached to his body. Next was a large man who had been cut almost completely in half. Even after all he had seen, Alloran felt like vomiting.

Then he came across another body he recognized. A short human, with olive skin and dark hair. He had been electrocuted by something. There was a gruesome smirk frozen onto his face, a hideous parody of his usual expression. (Marco,) Alloran said slowly.

(Alloran) Estrid said quietly. (According to my readings, there was an Andalite here. But we didn't find him among the dead. I believe it was Prince Aximili and that he is still alive. It is almost guaranteed that he was a Controller. He lives, but I fear that we can no longer count on finding any of the Animorphs alive to help us rescue him.)

Alloran held up something he found on the floor. (Do not be too sure, Estrid.) It took her a moment to recognize what he was holding.

A single, rust-red feather.