Knowing that Marco and Tobias had managed to find a new entrance into the Yeerk pool, the place where Tobias had been trapped in his hawk morph and all of them had nearly been killed, gave all of them pause. All of them, with the obvious exception of Ax who hadn't been with them then, remembered their ill-fated attack on the Yeerk pool. Remembered how much it had cost them, and none of them were particularly eager to repeat it.

"Attacking the Yeerk pool is out," Rachel said, and Tommy put his right hand on her shoulder when he saw the way she shuddered. "Hey, Ax, what can you tell us about the Kandrona?"

(The Kandrona is a miniature version of the Yeerks' home sun. It emits Kandrona rays, which concentrate in the Yeerk pools. It is what nourishes the Yeerks; that is why the Yeerks must swim in the Yeerk pool in their natural state every three days: they need Kandrona rays.)

"So, they're real weakness isn't the pool itself, but the Kandrona," Rachel said. "This miniature sun."

(But, the Kandrona may be many of your miles from the Yeerk pool itself,) Ax said, taking up the new thread of their conversation. (The Kandrona rays may be beamed to the pool from almost anywhere. So, while I am in favor of attacking the Yeerk pool, we should not do it expecting to find the Kandrona.)

"I agree, but what if we didn't attack the Yeerk pool? What if we just spied it out?" Rachel asked; Tommy found himself regaining at least a little confidence "We might find out where the Kandrona is."

"That sounds doable," he said, though he wasn't entirely pleased.

He could still remember everything that had happened, that first time they'd all attacked the Yeerk pool; he suspected that Tobias would have been remembering it, too.