Rachel
I woke up to find myself in a large room, in a big double bed, I sat upright a looked around. Cassie was sleeping in a similar bed down the other end of the room, the walls were steel but not a harsh steel, they looked softer somehow, there was a section of wall halfway down the room that had been folded away, I guessed that it was some sort of divider incase me or Cassie needed some privacy, there was a medium sized window in the far end wall with some sort of steel covering over it on the outside, the furniture other than the beds consisted of a pair of dressers which I found to be full of a selection of clothes from formal to camouflage and combat gear, next to each dresser was a big huge bag like the ones pro hikers use, and what looked like 2 M4s, I stared at them and then remembered what we were doing. It was likely to get rough although I wasn't sure why we needed guns we could morph and Toby could look after herself. There was also a door that led to a simple bathroom and two indents into the wall that looked like shelves, directly opposite the window was a big door that I presumed led to a corridor. I got up and headed to the dressers checked the one nearer to my bed and picked up a top, it wasn't hard to tell it was for me, as Cassie is a totally different size to me. I quickly pulled on a plain sweater, jeans and a pair of boots. Then I ventured toward the door, I contemplated waking Cassie but there was no point, let her sleep I thought, the door slid open soundlessly as I approached, I looked out both ways down the corridor, the walls were the same as in the room, a soft steel look. The door to our room was at the far end of a long corridor with multiple other doors leading off to other sections of the ship. I ventured down and heard noises coming from a large door at the far end of the corridor from our room, I walked up to it and again it silently opened for me. I looked about the place and immediately decided that it was the bridge. There was a raised platform in the centre facing a large viewing panel; the walls either side of this platform were covered with different work stations and panels, all of which looked very complicated. Ax was standing on the raised platform, obviously deep in thought. I walked up behind him, and as further proof that his mind was elsewhere, I managed to sneak up on him without realizing it, I gently touched his shoulder and he jumped about a mile into the air in surprise. I admit I had to stifle a laugh, seeing the normally composed Andalite look around so frantically.
"Whoa, calm down Ax it's only me." I giggled, but that seemed to do little for his nerves, he relaxed a little but still seemed edgy. You didn't have to know him as well as I did to know what he was edgy about.
"It's odd. Me being back from the dead isn't it?" I stated, with as little emotion in my voice as possible, I wanted to sound like I was in control.
Forgive me, Rachel, but we had believed you were lost forever. We grieved for you and some of us moved on. It sounds harsh but we did, in our own ways, such as I went out to find your murderers and rip them apart. He said his eyes downcast Forgive me for believing you were lost, I should have kept hoping.
I looked at him for a second before playfully tapping him round the back of the head
"You think I wanted you do keep moping on about me?" I said "No I wanted you to get on with it, hunt down the yeerks, carry on with your lives, not sit around and sulk or grieve like Jake did. I mean even Tobias went on with life, albeit as a hawk and with no human contact, but still. No Ax you did the best thing you could have done, I don't need to forgive you for anything, and hey! I'm here now and everything is looking up! We can finally all get back to what we're best at" I grinned evilly at him "Smashing Crayak's things all over the walls"
He laughed loudly; only you could have said it like that and not sounded, as humans say, crazy. And of course you are right, it would not have done to mope, I knew that then and I know that now. He looked at me again, and a companionable silence settled over us, eventually I broke it
"So, what's this ship like?" I asked
Well He said It is very advanced and quite fast, but it was obviously not designed for any type of fighting, it has very limited firepower He told me
"I think that Crayak and the Ellimist wanted us to fight more on the ground of this planet rather than in space"
Yes, I suppose you are right, and it does appear to have an extremely advanced propulsion system, even more so than the one I had on the Intrepid. So it does make sense. He said staring absently with his main eyes at the console in front of him. His stalk eyes focused behind him, I guess I had startled him back into reality when I managed to sneak up on him earlier. He pressed something on the console he was looking at and I heard a metallic click as something was pushed forward.
"What was that?" I asked
I don't know, all I did was ask the computer for a navigational read out of our current location, in an attempt to discern our current location and our estimated time of arrival along with any records of any planets or systems in or around our location. He stated, concern passing over his face
"Erm, I don't think I quite got all that" I asked nervously
I asked for a map He said simply
"Ah, why didn't you just say that in the first place?" I asked, needless to say he ignored me
Suddenly a light erupted in the centre of the bridge, we both shielded our faces with our hands. When our eyes adjusted we cautiously looked out from behind our protective hands and gasped, there in front of us was what appeared to be a holographic 3D map of space, complete with bright stars with planets and moons orbiting it. There was a red dot, which I presumed showed us our present location.
"Ax, is this the map you were asking for?" I asked
This is…Incredible, Andalites have been trying for years to create a working holographic map like this, but we always thought that planetary rotation would make it impossible, this is ten times better than I could have hoped for! He nearly shouted, normally calm controlled voice shaking with excitement
"Ax as incredibly cool as it is, it is still only a map," I said, he ignored me again
Based on this, He said We should arrive on the planet we are to fight Crayak's forces on, in approximately 2 weeks, and we should have very little if not no contact with any other life forms until then.
"Great." I said "We get no one else to talk to but each other for weeks and then when we do, they're trying to kill us. Where have I seen that before?"
Ah. But as you said Rachel this is what we are good at. This is what we were born to do.
"I know, Ax. I know. It's just sometimes I wish we could be the ones watching and cheering on the sidelines, instead of being the fighters in the arena, alone and near death, waiting for the inevitable. And this time, it's worse than before" I knew I should stop there but I couldn't, I had to let it out "Last time I thought that if we died, we would be rewarded, I thought something would happen to make it all worthwhile, Heaven, if you want to call it that, but Ax, I've been there, I've seen death, and all I can remember is a cold, dismal place, like the storage unit at a mover's yard. And it's made me question whether it's worth it." I angrily brushed at the unwanted tears that had begun to roll down my face. I could tell Ax was looking at me, trying to decide what to do. Finally he walked slowly up to me and put his weak Andalite arms around me in a hug, I threw my arms around him and, did the thing I never used to do, I broke down, and I sobbed and sobbed into his shoulder.
Rachel, He said, and I looked up at him Do not despair, maybe the Ellimist knew that you would be needed and he kept your essence in some sort of storage unit as you called it, or maybe the fact that you cant remember it is just another of life's mysteries, and besides, if you gave up now, uncountable numbers of life forms would die horribly at the hands of Crayak, would you want that? When you know you have to power to stop it? Would you sit idly by and watch it happen? Or would you stand up and fight, with everything you had against it? And no matter what happens, death is inevitable, so if what you saw is true then there is nothing you can do about it. You can only do what you think is right.
"Wow, Ax. I never knew you could be so insightful" I said with a watery chuckle, "Thanks Ax, I don't know what came over me, I'm stronger than that, I'm sorry you had to see it."
Don't mention it, my studies into the Human psychology show that it is in fact unhealthy for a human to bottle up all it's emotions, and for someone like you, it is an honor that you hold me in such high regard that you could confide in me with such information. It is, as humans say, what friend's are for.
I beamed at him and he gave me one of his weird Andalite smiles. "I'm going to go and see if I can force Jake or anyone out of bed yet," I told him as I headed towards the door. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and I walked through the automatic doors and into the corridor.