I finally managed to finish the third chapter of Loren's story. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.
Chapter 3 – Trip to the dome ship
A little while later, Arbron finished his work on the controls and he and Elfangor showed me the way to the their ship, their (fighter) as they called it.
"A fighter? So it's a military ship?", I asked them.
(Well, yes), Elfangor answered. (It is, in fact, an older model, designed for two persons, one at the helm and one at the weapons. But we won't stay in it for long. As soon as we get your fellow human, we will return to the dome ship.)
Before I had a chance to ask what a (dome ship) was, we reached the fighter.
Even without any knowledge about aliens I was able to tell the difference between the Skrit Na ship and the Andalite fighter.
While the first one had low ceilings and dark colors, the fighter was wide wide and had a light blue color. Of course there were no seats in this ship since the Andalites couldn't really sit down and most edges were rounded.
(Um … would you mind staying here while we get the other human?), Elfangor asked hesitantly.
"No, not at all", I answered.
I quickly described them the way to the storage room, where I had left the boy, and Elfangor and Arbron went to get him.
I looked around once more.
Of course the fighter wasn't big – after all it was only meant for two persons – but it would be enough to carry the two Andalites, the boy and me over to the so-called (dome ship). In the front the small ship had large windows.
I walked over to them and looked outside.
On the left side I saw a planet. Since it had huge rings around it, I guessed it was Saturn – which meant that we really still in the right solar system.
On the right side I spotted another space ship. This one looked like a giant mushroom. It had a long shaft that was glowing light blue at the lower end – probably the engines were located there – and on top of this sat a large dome. From this distance I couldn't be sure, but it seemed to be transparent.
I heard something in the Skrit Na ship and hurried over.
Elfangor and Arbron were trying to carry the boy, but it was difficult for them because their arms were weaker than the ones of a human.
I hurried out of the fighter and helped them to carry the boy. Together we lay him down in the back of the fighter.
He was unconscious again and still bleeding from the cut on his forehead, even through the blood had slowed down.
The two Andalites appeared to be talking among themselves as they walked over to the controls and started working on them.
Then the door shut, disappeared and we were on our way.
Elfangor and Arbron had stopped working and I stepped forward until I was standing between them and watched amazed as we flew closer to the dome ship.
I could feel Elfangor watching me but I didn't turn to face him. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the beautiful view: the stars, more than I'd ever seen and so bright, and the ship floating weightless in space.
After a while I heard a "Unh" behind me. The boy finally woke up again.
I turned around and saw that his eyes were still closed. Nevertheless I went to him and knelt down.
"Hey, kid, you OK?", I asked him.
He opened his eyes, looked at me shortly, blinked – and stared over my shoulder, probably at the Andalites.
"What happened?", he asked.
It really seemed as if we started all our conversations in a similar way.
I shrugged. "Now we have a different bunch of aliens. Who would have guessed there are so many people zipping around outer space?"
Well, I certainly hadn't. And now I'd already met three different races. But he still hadn't answered my first question.
"Are you OK?", I asked again. "That big cockroach popped you pretty hard back there."
So hard that he even thought that I was one of the aliens.
(You have nothing to fear.) Elfangor joined the conversation in a friendly tone. (You are safe now.)
The boy touched his forehead and when he drew his hand back, it was full of blood. He looked at it disgusted and then stood up slowly.
Elfangor continued: (I am Elfangor. This is Arbron. We are Andalites. We will return you to your home planet.)
The boy nodded and for a moment I thought he'd accept this and just thank the Andalites, but then...
"Telepathy. You use telepathy to talk."
Hello? Was that all he had to say? Elfangor had just promised him to bring him home, and he didn't even introduce himself?
Stay calm, I told myself. He has been knocked out for some time now, maybe he's still confused.
Now the boy looked Elfangor over and then asked: "That tail is a weapon, isn't it? Is it poisonous or does it just cut?"
Alright, I really tried to accept that this behavior was just a result of being knocked out, but what was this boy thinking? We were the first humans these aliens met and he treated them like a science project? That was surely not the way to leave a good impression.
Seemingly Elfangor thought the same thing.
(I politely told you my name, human) he said, his voice cold as ice. (Now I require your name.)
The boy looked angrily at Elfangor and answered in an arrogant tone: "My name is Hedrick, actually. But I prefer my last name. Most people call me by my last name: Chapman."
I think these Andalites are OK", I told him, trying to calm the situation down. "At least they're better-looking than the last bunch. And they've promised to -"
"Shut up!", Chapman interrupted me rudely. "I'm not interested in the opinion of a kid."
That made it final. I really, really didn't like Chapman at all.
"Kid? Hey, you big jerk, who was it that got the weapon after the ship stopped moving? Me."
So he hadn't been there and didn't know of it, but I didn't care. I was just furious.
"And who was it that was cringing in the back, begging for mercy? You. And anyway I'd be surprised if you're even a year older than me."
Chapman blushed. He glared at me and shouted back: "And now it seems your heroics were pointless. We're prisoners again. And I have a feeling we won't be grabbing guns away from these Andalites."
Without even a warning he jumped forward toward Elfangor and tried to take the Dracon beam, that Elfangor was holding. Elfangor must have thought Chapman was attacking and before I even realized what was happening his tail blade was pressed against Chapman's throat.
It was so fast I hadn't even seen it moving!
But Chapman just laughed: "See that? See how fast he was? Couldn't even see that tail move."
Of course, I had noticed this. And to be honest: It was shocking.
Chapman looked at Elfangor insolently. "What did you say your species was called?", he asked him rudely. "Andalites? Well, I have a feeling you guys are a little more dangerous that you pretend to be, despite all your polite talk and promises."
I know I've already said this, but: I really didn't like Chapman. Didn't he see that somebody could be a nice person and a fighter at the same time? So maybe Elfangor and Arbron were in the military – but that didn't mean that they didn't want to help us.
It was quiet in the fighter now.
Elfangor looked embarrassed because of his reaction. I wanted so badly to say something, anything to make him feel better. I wanted to tell him that there was nothing to worry about, but I wasn't able to find the right words.
After a while Arbron finally broke the silence. (We need to prepare to dock with the dome ship), he told Elfangor, and they both went back to the controls.
I simply watched them working and through the window I saw how the small fighter flew inside the dome ship.
I tried to concentrate on this, because the last this I wanted to think about was the annoying boy behind me and the fact that I would still have to spend some time with him.
Because I knew one thing for sure:
That wasn't going to be fun.
What do you think? Please review!