And here's the next chapter, guys. For the record, I personally happen to be on the 'you're at war, you should morph sapient creatures if it's useful, and it doesn't make you like the yeerks' side, but I wanted to present both arguments fairly. Hopefully it wasn't weighted TOO much to the side I agree with.

Anyway, at least part of the answer to Ax's last remark in the previous chapter comes out in this one, so enjoy!

Chapter Four

In spite of my obvious connection to it, I cannot attempt to guess what it is like to morph into an Andalite for the first time. What is completely normal to me, such as having three distinct areas of vision, two of which are fully mobile, I have never seen duplicated in any Earth creature that I have become thus far. Nor have I seen an animal of my size that possesses a tail with such range of motion and strength.

That is, of course, not even considering the lack of a mouth. A mouth is something that almost every Earth creature possesses, to one extent or another. Earth animals in general are almost absurdly more populous and varied than those of my homeworld. There are, for example, only three species of bird upon the entire surface. By contrast, most of the records I have seen on the subject on this planet believe there to be an estimated ten thousand species of Earth birds. That is only one example. My world is home to perhaps a hundredth of the animal species of Earth, speaking generously.

I do not believe that Andalite scientists had any idea how much of an advantage their morphing technology would be on a planet with this many varied species, simply because I do not believe that they could have possibly conceived of a planet with this many varied species.

So it was with some fascination that I watched my human friends gradually turning into figures that were simultaneously familiar and yet very strange. I had grown accustomed to being the only Andalite aside from the Abomination. And some part of me also thought it would be nice for the humans that I called friends to understand something of how strange it was for me to experience the new sensations that came with a human body.

It was Marco who rose first. Or, I should say, his back half rose while his forelegs remained flat on the ground. Overbalancing, he tipped forward and ended up getting his two stalk eyes tangled together so that each was facing the other.

(Something's not ri-GAH EYES!) His thought-speak voice yelled. (Okay, wait, I have arms. Arms attached to my butt?) His tail lashed forward and would have sliced one of his eye stalks off, had I not quickly interceded with my own tail. (That was not my arm.)

(No.) I agreed, gingerly pushing his tail aside. (But the Andalite tail is much stronger than our arms. It is likely why you believed it was an arm for a moment, as it is your dominant limb.)

With my help, Marco got his forelegs under him and pushed himself up. I carefully untangled his eye stalks and both blinked at me before twisting around. (Whoa. Okay, whoa. This is seriously awesome. I can see like, everywhere at once. Awesome and weird.)

(Did you believe that my secondary eyes were for decoration?) I had to wonder.

(Yeah, Marco.) Rachel and Prince Jake had both managed to get themselves up, though I couldn't see how well my adopted prince had managed the change . The Andalite that Rachel had turned into was significantly larger than Marco's, though his tail was longer. All of her eyes were on us. (Duh.)

I focused my attention on my nephew, as he and Melissa were also able to help each other up. It made sense that both had been the slowest to finish the new morph. Melissa was the newest of our number and had the least experience morphing, while Tobias had both begun from a much smaller form than the human members, and did not have as much morphing experience as they did.

(Whoa.) The Andalite that Melissa had become was just slightly smaller than my own form, clearly most of the DNA that her morph had focused on was that of at least one Aristh. Her stalk eyes were slightly stubbier than most, though they still had full range of movement. (Hey guys, is this anything like being a horse?)

(Sure.) Marco replied. (A horse with a wicked scorpion tail and fingers, oh and eyes that look everywhere at once. Other than that, exactly the same. Oh, and the cripplingly huge ego. That's new too.)

Melissa turned herself in a full circle while her eye stalks rotated in the opposite direction. (This is cool! It's like, no one can even get close without you knowing. Andalites would be great ninjas.)

(Sure,) Marco seemed to agree, even though I did not have the faintest clue what a 'ninja' was. (But can you imagine an Andalite in a ninja costume?)

The two of them looked toward one another, and then both began to laugh so much that I was afraid they had completely lost their minds. Even if I had known what a ninja was, I was certain that an Andalite would wear their garb with dignity and poise.

Incidentally, I looked up ninja later and had to concede that I had been incorrect. It would look utterly absurd. But it still was not that funny.

(Oh!) Melissa's giggles continued. (Teenaged Mutant Ninja Andalites.) This created even more laughter that, frankly, made even less sense.

I had just chosen to ignore the two of them as they continued to go on, and stepped toward Tobias to ask how he was faring in the body that should have been his birthright. However, Prince Jake finally emerged from behind Rachel's rather large form, and I very nearly collapsed, my main eyes widening even as both secondary eyes came around to focus. I may have also let out a strange noise, because they were all staring at me.

(What?) Prince Jake brought his hands up to his face to feel along it. (Did I mess something up? Four eyes, tail, hands, what?)

(I…) It took me a moment longer to collect myself. (Prince Jake, I am sorry for my reaction. It is extremely unprofessional. It is just that it has been quite a long time.)

(What?) If anything, Prince Jake was even more confused. (What? Seeing an Andalite? But the others morphed too. So what exactly…?)

I was too embarrassed to speak for a moment, and it was Rachel who understood first. (Wait, is Jake a girl Andalite?)

(Yes.) I managed to answer. (A very attractive female Andalite. Very, very attractive.)

(So Jake's an Andalite babe?) Marco cast one of his stalk-eyes toward our leader and examined him. (I don't feel-ohhh there it is. Oh man, Jake, you are hot. I mean, in a purely Andalite way and oh my god I feel dirty. Okay, Ax, you told us about Andalite fear of enclosed spaces and yada yada but you didn't say anything about having the hots for Jake! There should have been a memo! And a safety pamphlet! And a this just doesn't happen, period!)

(I ahhh,) I had to resist the urge to flex my tail. (I did not think that it would be an issue. I thought that all of you would automatically identify as the gender that you are. For most of you, that is true. But Rachel has become male while Jake has turned into female.)

Tobias stepped up next to me, testing out his legs. (Why? Why would they switch genders?)

Before I could respond, Marco laughed. (Are you honestly asking why Rachel would turn into a male Andalite? Because that doesn't-" While he had been speaking, both of his stalk eyes had rotated around to stare at Prince Jake once again. Once he realized what he was doing, Marco let out a strange cry and somehow managed to stutter step sideways. (Gaaaaah! Fix it fix it fix it fix it!)

My head shook. (There is nothing to fix. I had thought that your predisposition toward a gender would solve any issue. I am afraid I do not understand why Prince Jake would become a female unless he wished to be.)

(Oh.) Prince Jake, from the peek that I allowed myself, seemed embarrassed as a realization came to him.

(Jaaaaaaaaaake.) Rachel's tone had a quality that I had come to understand was teasing. (Were you thinking about being a pretty girl when you changed?)

(No!) Prince Jake's head shook quickly. (No. It's just that, when we were changing, I was wondering how we were supposed to control it. And I guess I was kind of focusing on what would happen if one of us were to get a different gender and why the hell am I defending myself when you switched genders too?)

Rachel's response was to raise both shoulders in a shrug. (I wanted to be big, so I focused on that. Not my fault big translated to male.)

Marco was still refusing to look toward Prince Jake. (So now Jake just demorphs and remorphs without thinking about pretty Andalite girls.)

(I do not think that would work.) I admitted. (The Andalite morph has been locked to what it is now. Perhaps if he demorphed and reacquired the blood, he could perform a new-)

(There isn't time.) Prince Jake shook his head. (I'll just have to deal with it.)

Marco's mutter came as he clearly pointedly made himself turn away. (Speak for yourself, Princess-Hey does that mean you have to call him Princess Jake now?)

(No.) I answered simply. (Andalites have no separate word for a female of military authority.)

(Well that's refreshing.) Rachel sounded pleased. (So males and females aren't divided in your military?)

Now I felt uncomfortable. (That is not precisely what I meant. There is no word for a female of military rank because there are no females of military rank.)

I had heard Rachel's tone get dark before, but it was somehow worse to have it directed toward me. (I'm sorry, what did you say?)

Feeling the need to defend my people, I tried to placate her. (That is not to say that females do not serve an important role in our society. They simply do not possess the… that is, the traditions dictate that they are not… I believe that when the divisions of military were chosen there was a consensus that females were better suited…)

The more I said, the closer Rachel's rather large Andalite form stalked toward me. To my left, one of my stalk eyes could see Marco making shoveling motions with his arms. I had no idea what he was doing, but the gist seemed to be that I should stop talking.

(No females in the military?) Rachel demanded once again. (Why not?)

I sighed. (It is not like that. It was decided long ago that males would serve as warriors, and females would serve as scientists. You see, it was mostly female Andalites who developed the morphing technology.) Any hope I'd had that this would make Rachel feel better evaporated when I chanced a look at her glowering Andalite face.

(That is the most asinine, backwards, sexist-) Rachel started to bluster.

Thankfully, Tobias interrupted. He put himself between the two of us, putting his hands on Rachel's larger shoulders. (Down girl. Ax didn't make up this tradition, remember? It's just the way they are.)

Marco agreed. (Yeah, you can teach them all about the liberation movement if we see any more Andalites. For now, let's do what we were teleported here completely against our will to do. One suicide mission at a time. You can reform the entire Andalite gender structure later.)

Rachel's gaze continued to bore into me for another moment. It is not often that I feel embarrassed about my own people. Andalites are clearly the one true hope for galactic freedom, and so we should have nothing to be ashamed of.

On the other hand, there are times when I see what the humans have done and it makes me wonder…

My musings were cut short as the door slid open when Marco approached. The air that swept through was cold enough to chill all of us immediately. The corridor before us stretched out of sight, with several open vents that seemed to be billowing constant cold air, likely from a hull breach further away. At least the oxygen shield remained in place, even if it did seem a bit thin.

(Okay, that's cold.) Prince Jake was shivering, and I had to resist the instinctive urge to put my own side up against hers to-I meant his- to warm her- him. This was going to be awkward.

(I guess Cass wasn't kidding about temperature variations.) Rachel's stalk eyes moved in a circle. (I wish she'd hurry up and get back here.)

Prince Jake gave a short nod. (But until she does, we already know what to do. So let's get moving and hope this cold doesn't last long.)

(It probably won't.) Marco decided, as we started to move through the wide, freezing corridor.

One of Prince Jake's eyes turned that way. (You know, that's remarkably optimistic for you.)

Marco continued as if he hadn't just been interrupted. (Temperature fluctuations mean up and down, after all. The next room'll probably be six or seven hundred degrees. And on fire.)

(And there it is.) Jake gave a decisive nod. (Nice to know some things never change, even if they really should.)

(The next room has to be warmer than this at least.) Tobias shuddered next to me. (It could hardly be colder.)

We continued to walk. I stayed near Tobias and spoke privately with him about how he was adjusting. I would record what was said, but it is private. Suffice to say, Tobias was unsure of how he felt, yet believed he was enjoying the concept of being closer to his father's race. I promised him that, when there was more time and privacy, I would show him some of the rituals of our people.

Tobias looked at me when I said that. (You said our people, Ax.)

(I am aware.) I turned my gaze back to him and bowed slightly. (And I mean what I said.)

Before Tobias could respond, as we approached the end of the corridor, a perimeter alarm began to sound. A light in the corner above the nearby door revolved while the klaxon blared.

(Gah!) Marco lashed out with his tail, slicing the top of the alarm off and cutting it short. (What is that?! I mean, what was that?) He sounded surprised. (Did I do that?) His tail moved around in front of him so that he could examine the blade. (I didn't even think about it.)

(That was very good instinctive blade work.) I commended him.

(But what does it mean?) Prince Jake wondered. (The alarm, not Marco's affinity for cutting things.)

(It is a proximity detector.) I explained. (There is another ship approaching.)

Marco straightened at that. (Yeerks?)

They all looked at me expectantly. I raised both hands. (I am quite aware that I am your authority upon non-Earth beings and vessels.) I informed them. (And I would like to believe that I am well versed and skilled at this duty. But even I cannot identify what ship is approaching before I have even seen it.)

Prince Jake chuckled. (Easy, Ax. It's okay, let's find a way to see what's coming.)

The door that we had approached, and whose alarm Marco had disabled, only opened partway when I directed the thought-speak command at it. Frowning, I tried again. The door didn't budge any further. (That's as far as it will open, Prince Jake.)

(That's okay.) Melissa had already moved up to it. (I think we can squeeze through it anyway.) She demonstrated by pushing herself through.

(Maybe you can.) One of Rachel's stalk eyes considered herself critically. (I'm going to have to demorph to get through. And if it's cold with all this hair, it's gonna be even worse if I have to do that. We have got to figure out how to morph jackets or something.)

Marco had moved forward after Melissa. (Yeah well, that's what you get for morphing into the Ahnuld of Andalites.)

I looked toward Prince Jake. (There may be a way to open the door the rest of the way from the other side.)

He nodded at that, and I somehow managed to restrain my instinctive pleasure. (Go, Ax.)

Carefully, I squeezed through the opening and into a shorter U shaped corridor. Melissa and Marco were already investigating the circular door set into the outer wall. (Hey Ax,) Marco asked. (Is this thing the airlock?)

(That's right.) I turned to look for a set of manual controls for the door.

(So,) Melissa spoke up. (That means that these lights coming on…)

At that, I turned away from the door. (That means that another ship is docking with this one.) I took a step to see for myself, just as the ship shook from the force of the other ship locking itself to it. The kinetic dampener field was too weak to compensate.

(Hey!) Rachel's thought-speak voice was both angry and confused. (What happened?!)

When I looked back, the doorway that we had slipped through was firmly shut. (Prince Jake!) I called. (There is a ship docking with us, and the process damaged the door. You will have to find another way around. If you go back the way we came, I believe that there is a secondary corridor to the left of the lab that will come back this way.)

There was a moment of silence, and then Prince Jake's voice came. (Okay, Ax. Rachel, Tobias, and I will find another way around. Be careful. Try to hide if you can. We don't know what's coming from that ship.)

By that time, the airlock had begun to cycle. I did not think that telling Prince Jake that it was too late to hide would accomplish anything useful. Instead, I positioned myself between and slightly ahead of Melissa and Marco. (Let me talk if they are friendly.) I told them. (Do nothing that might reveal that you are not truly Andalites. If they are unfriendly, may your tail blades remain sharp and strike true.)

(Uh.) Marco's left eye stalk turned toward Melissa. (Yeah, good luck.) He flexed his own tail carefully.

The airlock slid open, and the three of us braced ourselves. There was no time to do anything else.

Yet, even bracing myself could not prepare me for what came through the hatch. Three more Andalites, true Andalites, emerged through the hatch. Two were tall males, while the third was a lovely female that made me shift uncomfortably. Which was odd, because I was almost one hundred percent certain that she was a real Andalite female.

Both males seemed surprised to see us. The larger one straightened. (Arisths!) He exclaimed, clearly mistaking Melissa and Marco for other Andalite cadets. (We had no idea that anyone still survived.)

The other two remained silent, and I spoke up. (We were… lucky. And we did not expect a rescue.)

(I am Gafinilan-Estrif-Valad.) The first Andalite introduced himself. (The warrior to my left is Mertil-Iscar-Elmand. Together, we escort Scientist Estrid-Corill-Darrath. We were stranded on our research ship until a Skrit Na vessel attempted to harvest our supplies. We commandeered their ship to come here, but we believed that the vessel would be… abandoned.)

Marco's private thought-speak voice came to myself and Melissa. (Notice how he doesn't tell us what happened to the Skrit Na. And was it just me, or did Cassie say that their ship was stealthed?)

Unaware of Marco's pessimism and doubt, Gafinilan's hands indicated both other Andalites in turn. (And you are?)

(My name is Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill.) I hesitated, wondering how to introduce the other two.

Before I could come up with anything, the female, Estrid, spoke up. (Gafinilan, we do not have time to waste. This ship must be locked onto position.)

Marco spoke up, abandoning my advice. (What do you mean locked into position? We're trying to move the ship so it doesn't collide with your research ship and explode all over Z-Space.)

The other male Andalite, Mertil, stepped forward. His attention was centered on Marco. (You sound quite odd, Aristh. Are you well?)

Estrid turned and began to stride to the door at the opposite side of the corridor. (There is no time. This ship must be prepared for the collision.)

This time it was Melissa who spoke up. (Wait, aren't you going to stop the collision?)

Gafinilan's eyes narrowed. (I see that whoever your prince was remained quite… flexible. But we have a mission to accomplish, and you Arisths will remain quiet so that we may do it. We will take you off of this vessel with us, once our mission is accomplished.)

(And that mission,) I started carefully. (It is not to divert this vessel.)

It was Estrid who answered. (Of course not. This is an unprecedented opportunity.)

(An opportunity for what?) Marco demanded, ignoring the glare that both myself and Gafinilan shot at him.

(To cripple the Yeerk armada.) Mertil was eyeing Marco consideringly. (We have information that a sizable portion of their fleet will be passing through this space shortly. If the Z-Space explosion occurs while they are within its range, they will all be trapped here, unable to jump out of this space. Half of the Yeerk armada trapped away from the rest.)

Estrid sounded even more impatient. (But if we do not move now, and accelerate this ship, it will not make the collision in time before the Yeerk fleet passes on.)

Gafinilan's tail arched, his excitement at the prospect of what they were suggestion obvious. (With such an advantage, our own fleet will be able to wipe the rest away, and then position ourselves to finish the rest once the Z-Space ripples have eased.)

(Five years later.) Marco all but spat, clearly disgusted and doing a, frankly, terrible job of hiding it. (And what happens to Earth in that time? What happens to the humans?)

Gafinilan's answer chilled even worse than the cold of the previous corridor. (There are sacrifices in every war, Aristh.)