Chapter 11

I hadn't had the answers I required. I never went to the briefing to get them, but I was desperate to gather them from anywhere.

"He's such a jovial Kelbrid," Groof explained, somehow perfectly navigating the twisting corridor with his head facing me at a one-eighty angle to his body. "I don't understand his humor, though. It's like Human humor: Too simplistic, really."

((Of course,)) I replied with little interest.

"I never asked why you wanted to see him. Why didn't you speak with him in the assembly area?"

((I want to speak with him alone.))

"Oh! It must be a private matter!" he exclaimed. "What is it?"

"You just answered your own question." I sighed, ducking to avoid catching my blades on a pipe overhead.

He guided me through to the living quarters of the more influential members of the ship. We sidled past Fruyt, who looked just about ready for a century-long nap, and heard the muffled turning of Surote gears crackling through his accommodation door. Burr-Ammit's door was a telling shade of purple outlined with brilliant silver, but not a single sound leaked past the lonesome hinge. Groof stood proud, raising a claw to indicate Burr-Ammit's availability. "He's definitely inside. He's very quiet for a creature with lungs. They're always so loud!" He laughed.

I gazed at the door and then raised a fist towards his waiting, rock-hard digits. Into his grasp, I dropped two small, jangling objects. The makeshift earrings – a couple of keyrings – would be enough to satiate his obsession.

He snorted with glee as he inspected them. "What lovely earrings! Thank you, my confused friend! I shall find you in the dining hall tonight."

Groof left me at the door. Taking a few seconds to gather my thoughts, I twiddled nervous fingers and gazed blankly at the empty door's surface. I gave up trying. There was little point in planning. I knocked twice on the door, hard enough that I was sure to catch his hearing.

"That's a Human knock!" Burr-Ammit's voice came brusquely from within. "I can always tell!"

I slowly pressed open the door and let my curious snout turn the corner. "Burr-Ammit," I spoke. "It's Tobias."

I saw him just as he howled a fit of laughter. He was slumped lazily in a leathery seat, his fierce Kelbrid feet rested on a concave white desk. He rested his hands on his spoilt stomach. "No, it's not! Hork-Bajir never had a penchant for lying."

I fully emerged from the hallway and allowed the door to swoop shut behind me. "May we speak?"

He eyeballed me, pulling his feet down to the floor and resting his arms on the desk. "Sure! Sure. Take a seat, my feathery friend."

I located the indiscriminate stool before his desk and took my place upon it. I took the moment to observe my surroundings and discovered that his accommodation area was shunted away to a corner, consisting of two thick velvet curtains opened around a hammock. His priorities were clear enough, but his cheery disposition would do nothing to give that away. Aside from the sleeping area, the place was a hive of advanced computers, displays, and shelves of bland cases and boxes.

When my focus returned to the Kelbrid, I noticed his ogling had only intensified. "What can I do for you, huh?" he asked curiously.

I took a deep breath to refill my lungs and prepared for the poking question. ((You just got back from Kyritlyp… I want to know when… how we can get Ax back.))

He cocked his head and then returned to a more relaxed position, collapsing back into the headrest. A finger tapped lightly against the side of his nose. "A very forward question! I was expecting a hello, at least."

My teeth clenched uneasily. I couldn't place the underlying implication of it if any existed. I stuttered a single, nonsensical syllable.

He laughed again. "No worry, Tobias. No worry." He coughed harshly into a hand. "I was waiting for one of you to ask. Why, that's the whole reason you're here! How stupid would I be to think you wouldn't come asking?" His laughter continued, and though I tried to join in, it would come across as distinctly awkward. "If I could, I'd get that six-limber out of there with a friendly handshake and a thousand coupons to any Earth food establishment of his choosing. No doubt about that, my flighty companion. But, hey, these things aren't easy! It takes patience and lots of it!"

"I know," I replied weakly. "It's just…"

He noted my hesitation and how I turned my head away to find the right words. "Hey, Tobias, don't worry about it," he spoke with more restraint in his voice. "We're working on it. This stuff is complicated, I'm sure you know, huh?"

"Have you got anything at all?" I pleaded. "Any information? Is Ax even still alive somewhere?"

He chuckled lightly, scratching at his stomach before reaching behind his desk to rummage for something. "You think we'd drag you through all this mess if he weren't? I get it. Your friends are probably thinking that this is all some ruse. I can see that. Listen…" He pulled up a small container and placed it onto his stomach, clicking a latch to open it wide. His claws explored its innards. "Prince Aximili is alive. The One would have no use for the six-limber if he weren't."

"Have you seen him?" I pressed.

Burr-Ammit raised a large syringe from the container, as well as a small bottle. He pierced the lid, and with delicacy, sucked the clear liquid into the chamber. "Not personally. I've seen his form as part of The One's many illusions, though. That's a good enough hint for me that he's still alive and well. The One requires a specimen alive and with a stable mental state. The mental capabilities of the specimens determine the power of The One. All of its intelligence, all of its aggressions and passions. Even its depravity and madness. We try to avoid that, though."

((So Ax is…))

"In perfect condition," he finished for me. "And he'll be kept that way. When we do eventually recover him, he'll still be his old six-limber self. An absolute pest, no doubt!" He chortled joyfully and used the pause to aim the syringe to an exposed wrist. He pressed, the sharpened, gleaming tip tearing at his soft skin to an emergence of a droplet of dark, deep purple blood. The metal dug deep, nestled into a vessel, and forced out the clear liquid once in place. Slowly, the chamber was emptied, the contents newly homed in Burr-Ammit's blood system. A satisfied smile spread over his snout, and his eyelids fluttered dreamily. He pulled away the syringe and threw it aimlessly across the room.

His drugged state slowed him, but he was still sober enough to explain, sluggishly, precisely what it was. "Important stuff. For you." He laughed, but less abruptly than was usual. "That liquid keeps me entirely toxin-free! If it weren't for that, you'd be dead!"

I suppose it was comforting… Sort of…

"We'll get Aximili," he reassured, regaining some of the clarity to his words. "Have you ever heard that saying about us Kelbrids? Maybe you've heard it around here sometimes."

I shook my head. ((No, I haven't.))

"It goes something like this: If you can't trust a Kelbrid, you can't trust nobody. Never heard that?"

My mind suddenly conjured a memory. It came back vividly, and I became uncompromisingly suspicious. I glared at him without the breaking of contact that plagued my whole visit. "No, I haven't. I bet the Yeerks didn't hear it, either."

He rolled his head back, smile dissipating briefly. "I think I know what you're alluding to… Remind me."

"The Kelbrid fleet destroyed a Yeerk Blade Ship at the Gratt Border. The Yeerks were betrayed."

For the first time, I saw a strong hint of seriousness on Burr-Ammit. His stare was intense. "I can see that you haven't been told anything more than what you saw. There's a whole lot more to the Yeerk War than you think, my friend. What've you been told, huh? What ideas have the Andalites put in your head?"

I was confused but even more curious. I recalled the stories in the back of my mind. What, other than freedom, was the war about? "I guess resources, territory… Money? Nothing different to most wars," I said.

He laughed. "That simplistic, huh? You honestly think it would be so petty? Listen, my friend, I'm not sure how many lies you believe, but you need a good flushing-out. Did they tell you all about Seerow's Kindness?" he asked with great sarcasm.

"Well, yes…"

He cackled with amusement. "Seerow's Kindness was a big fat lie! Bigger than my stomach and fatter than Asaccah's head! No, no, no… Seerow was a scapegoat. The Andalites had a Yeerk spread planned for years! They managed to convince some gullible fool like Seerow to hand over technology and then shifted him right into the inevitable Yeerk path so that he could be disposed of. The Andalites worked things very well, to their credit."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My tongue felt cool air drifting as my jaw unconsciously descended. "But… No way. Why would they even do that?"

"To send the Yeerks right into Kelbrid Space," he explained, placing his hands casually behind his tentacled head. "Did they ever show you the maps?! Ha! It's so clear that your Hork-Bajir morph could spot it! They released the Yeerks and formed blockades to force Yeerk movement right towards the Kelbrid border. They did what they could to avoid collateral damage to inhabited planets in the way, but as you know perfectly well, no plan is without its flaws, huh. Once in Kelbrid Space, the Yeerks would do whatever damage they could do to us! They invaded our allies. Far too many of them for us not to notice. The Andalite plan was to use the Yeerks to bring the Kelbrid Empire down subversively, but we weren't so stupid. We ignited the military and retook ally planets, killing off the disease. With our spies, we knew that the Andalites were using the Yeerks as a source of information, so we did the same. We then convinced the Yeerks that we would ally against the Andalites and gave them our greatest technology. The rest… you probably know what happened."

"But I still can't understand why!" I exclaimed. "Why would they deliberately release the Yeerks? I can't… They aren't evil like that!"

"Of course not," Burr-Ammit muttered. "I'm not going to say that they're all evil narcissistic maniacs. The history between Andalites and Kelbrids goes back a long, long way, and there is fault everywhere. Desperate people do desperate things. I'm sure you know that, my friend."

"The Andalites d-didn't even know the Kelbrids," I stuttered, desperate to find the error. "Surely they would remember the Kelbrids if they had so many issues!"

Burr-Ammit sighed and sat back further in his seat. His strange eyes scanned the ceiling. "A few Andalite generations ago, the big guns knew the Kelbrids very well. They found the Yeerks and realized their potential. When they knew what they wanted to do, they erased all public information on the Kelbrids. By the time their six-limb grandkids were spouted, nobody knew a thing about the Kelbrids."

((Why?)) I pressed.

"They didn't want those Yeerks knowing what they were being pushed into. You think they're going to willingly travel into Kelbrid Space, knowing what's on the other side? Those six-limbers aren't dumb. They knew the Yeerks might get their stumpy fins on an Andalite brain. They made sure that the Andalite brain would be squeaky clean of those dirty little details. Worked a charm, huh? Yeerks went into Kelbrid Space and thought they could walk it! Took the Mak, took the Oo. Problem is, they couldn't take us! Ha! They had no chance."

My head slumped. The information was itching into my head, but something just wasn't going to let it invade unfought. I couldn't reply, couldn't think of another problem with his story.

"A few nutjobs with a nutjob idea," he sighed. "That lie became the truth. How many still know the truth among the six-limbers? Maybe five? Six? You should ask Asaccah about that. All I know is that it's not many and that there's nothing they could do to stop it."

"What is the history?" I uttered to the floor. "Why do they hate each other so much?"

"That's a story that lasts for more than the few minutes you have left in that body, my soon-to-be-scaly friend."

My head bolted up, instantaneously forgetting everything else. "What?!"

"It's been over three hours since I arrived on Enrich. You haven't demorphed." He chuckled. "I think something's been playing on your mind!"

I immediately began to demorph, cursing myself that I could be so distracted. I started to shrink in my seat, a sign that I still had time.

"You're very distracted," he continued as I made the change as fast as I could. "Doesn't surprise me one bit. A few disputes within the group, huh?"

I stared up at him with half-morphed eyes. ((I'm just… I've just been thinking a lot.))

He nodded understandingly. "Things don't look so good for the mighty Animorphs. Sorry to say it, but we've been watching you closely. We've noticed the high tension."

((We have a common goal,)) I replied, not sure whether to feel angry or not.

"So what happens when you achieve that?" he posed. "What do you do? Your hawk body is aging, and it won't last much longer. And if you think you can stay with the others, you think they even like each other?! No, no, they can't stand each other. Jake will refuse to lead. Marco's brain is sizzled. Menderash has no faith in the others. Colin… I thought he was doing fine, but he's been acting differently since returning from Ooguui. The Animorphs are doomed, my friend. I'm sorry to break it to you."

((Once we save Ax, there's nothing left to do. It doesn't matter,)) I argued, closing in on complete hawk form.

He smiled. "If you say so. Go and rest, my feathery friend. You have a mission to prepare for."