"So, that's the story," Erek said, as he settled down at the table with Jake, Marco, Cassie, Ax in his human morph, Rachel, and him.
The story of the Pemalites, how they'd lived in a world that seemed to have found peace, how they had created the android Chee to be their toys and companions, and how they had been attacked by a mysterious force that had killed them all, was the saddest that Tommy had heard in a long time. Of course, given how long Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Ax had been away, Tommy suspected that he and Rachel were just getting the Cliff Notes version of whatever story the other Animorphs had already heard.
Given how sad it was, however, Tommy wasn't particularly unhappy about that.
When they'd all made it back to Cassie's barn, they were still discussing the Chee and what Erek had suggested.
"I say we do it," Rachel said, once all of them had landed in the barn and demorphed. "Mr. King could have done anything to Tommy and me. They're stronger than we are, they have technology we don't, they've already penetrated The Sharing. They would double our chances, end of story."
"No, not end of story," Cassie said, stepping forward with a brief, disapproving look at Rachel. "What right do we have to interfere, to destroy the thousands of years of peace this species has had? You guys heard Maria: no Chee has ever taken another life. You want them to be saying, a thousand years from now, that no Chee had ever taken a life till we made them killers?"
Marco turned on her, clearly furious. "What I don't want them to be saying, a thousand years from now is "too bad about the humans, they ended up just as dead as the Pemalites"!"
"You've been pretty quiet, Ax," Jake said, turning to the Andalite.
Ax was in his human morph, just like Tommy himself had morphed into a cat, since they were all gathered together in the barn and there was always the chance that one or both of Cassie's parents would walk in on them. Even if they did have Tobias looking out for them, that would only give them a bit more advanced warning.
In the end, they all decided to go through with at least getting the Pemalite crystal back, though he could see that more than a few of them were uneasy about offering the Chee even the chance to fight back if they wanted to. Tommy also found himself uneasy, but for a different reason. While practicing martial arts, he'd been taught many times that while he should refrain from starting fights, defending himself or other people who were under attack was perfectly acceptable.
Not even being able to choose to defend yourself… Tommy didn't like to think about it, but he would help the rest of the Animorphs to resolve the situation.
