The Turn

by ahilty

The Ducks no idea that, while they fought the Saurians, another war was being waged in secret. The Yeerks had no idea that there was a world much like Earth out there, ripe for the taking. The Animorphs had no idea that these weird duck creatures were aliens. In a single day the fate of two universes would turn. Tyrants would fall. Empires would rise. Nothing would be the same.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ax angled his wings and rose as high as he could, riding the thermal until he was high enough to swoop downwards. Not a dive, but enough so that gravity would help speed his way back to the duck creature's ridiculous ship. He had his orders from Prince Jake, he would follow them to the letter to the best of his ability. However, despite his justified contempt of the new alien's…well everything about them really, Ax could not deny that leaving an Escafil device in the hands of Controllers was a very bad idea.

Although the alien creature's existence was some sort of absurd anomaly that Ax himself couldn't figure out, the fact was that he needed to treat this with all the seriousness that a Yeerk plot deserved. Perhaps it had been…amusing before, when they were unaware that these aliens could detect morphing energy, (and it was extremely difficult for Ax to take them seriously in general) yet they had no problems defending themselves against Tobias.

And Ax was sure that at least the pale female had weapons. The grey male had a portable tail blade according to Tobias, but Ax was not concerned about that. He could face the grey one tail to blade, an Ax was confident he could win. The male had only an artificial blade instead of a true one, and for some reason covered one of his eyes. Perhaps the thing over the male's eye was some sort of analysis tool? Or perhaps an aid for his artificial blade? Ax was confident that the device attached to the female's right arm was some sort of analysis tool. She had examined it often enough that day to leave that impression. But from what he had seen the device must have several functions. It was a multi-functional tool of some kind, but it would be foolish to assume that it did not have some defensive functions.

These creatures were absurd, but the day had proved that they did indeed pose a level of threat. They were not a well-trained unit of Hork-Bajir, and no Abomination like Visser Three, but they had bested Tobias, and that was no small feat in Ax's estimation.

Ax folded his wings and dove, spying the signs of the cloaked ship below. Actually, what he spotted was the grey male duck standing next to his two wheeled vehicle, talking to the female outside of the back hanger of the ship. Confident that the two were absorbed in their conversation, Ax dove from the air and landed on the roof of the ship with a gentle, unnoticeable bump.

He could have landed in front of the two and morphed before their eyes, but there was the possibility that they would attack, and he didn't want to waste time dueling the grey one and dealing with whatever surprises the female's arm device might be hiding. Better to contact them from a hidden position than expose himself out in the open.

Ax began to demorph, listening to the conversation below him.

"…don't need to stay here watching me fix it. I- I'm not a hatchling or an in-in…I'm not helpless, Duke." The female was saying.

"I know, sweetheart, I know…but I almost feel like you're getting out of dealing with Phil's nonsense by staying here." The male retorted.

"Do you want to analyze that box? Can you? What are you going to do, fence it off?" What in the world did the female mean? Did these aliens decorate fences with alien technology? How strange.

"I doubt that it has a lot of monetary value. And it's not like my fence is here anyway. I mean, doubt I could get much for it at a pawn shop. It probably wouldn't be worth it to do something dumb like post it on the human's interthing." The male was right. Ax could not think of a more moronic thing to do with an Escafil device. Visser Three would be after them in moments.

"Internet."

"Yeah, that."

"Whatever. Just go. I'll call you guys if, ya know, the bears come out of the woods to eat me. I have an entire fighter jet to hide in."

"Alright, alright…you be careful, okay?"

"Oh, just stop. It's almost insulting at this point." The female chuckled, much in the same way a human would, indicating a certain sense of fondness. Or at least Ax thought it would be fondness if spoken by a human. He wondered how similar these creature's emotional displays were to human ones.

While he was slightly distracted the male gunned the two wheeled vehicle and was driving off, back to the human's school. Ax almost stamped in irritation. He had lost the male! No matter. There was still the pale female, and it sounded like she still had the mask device and the Escafil device. Therefore, his mission was not a failure, not yet.

Swiftly Ax began to morph fly. He would have to slip into the ship, and there was no better morph for infiltration than either the fly or the cockroach. The cockroach, however, would have to crawl into the ship, which was not as efficient for this as flying in as a fly would be. Humans were in truth a very intelligent species. More intelligent than Andalites gave them credit for. A fly was such a simple name for an insect, yet it summed up the essence of the creature in a single, one syllable word. Efficient and descriptive, yet so simple.

Once his body was fully fly he fired off his wings and flew into the air. It was not the logical, steady flight of the harrier, but a more crazed, gravity defying looping flight. It didn't help that Ax's eyes, no longer a sensible four eyes that could see in all directions, had become a shattered mess of fragmented images. Still, he was able to aim himself towards a mass of tan below him. Buzzing closer he was able to see that this was the mass of…hair? Feathers? With his fly vision he couldn't tell, but it was the top of the female's head. He found a strand of hair/feather and hung on.

Ax wasn't sure exactly what the female was doing. It would be a logical move that she would shut the hanger and go inside the ship. It was clear from the conversations that he had overheard that this female was some of technician or engineer. The male Controller that had accompanied the two duck Controllers referred to her as 'the scientist', which Ax understood. He did not understand the other's duck's claim that she was a 'half-breed', but that didn't truly matter to Ax. What mattered was that if this creature was truly a scientific mind she would want to analyze the Escafil device. She had made verbal claims to that action, but Ax had been around Marco long enough to know that at least humans would talk about doing something but not actually do it. Or at least put it off. He hoped that the duck female was not of this kind.

It took only five Earth minutes for the female to walk from the hanger to…wherever in the ship they had gone to. Ax couldn't tell exactly where they would. Still, he could tell from the vibrations and the air flow coming across the female's feathers that they were no longer in motion. Then there was a small tremor as she presumably sat down somewhere, as a human would fold their torso and rest their 'rear' on an object to come to rest. Usually on a 'chair'. Ax was very familiar with chairs from using his own human morph.

He didn't have that much time. He needed to make contact.

But he didn't want to be a helpless fly. The female could still be dangerous or have access to weapons. He wanted his tail for this conversation. He wanted to be in an advantageous position.

So, Ax abandoned the hair and flew towards the ground, taking a moment to look at the female from his position flying behind her. As near as his fly eyes could tell she was indeed seated and had her back to him. Her head was bent over something, either the Escafil device or the damaged mask.

As quickly as he could Ax landed and started to morph, making sure to do it swiftly so he could react if the female reacted. To his amusement she didn't. Perhaps her ears were not as keen as a human, or she was just absorbed in what she was working on. As his true eyes returned to him he could see that she was using the arm device to poke and prod with an instrument at the Escafil device. The mask, still slightly bent, sat next to her.

His tail restored and the last of the fly wings fading into his body (for a moment he had been an Andalite, a complete Andalite, with fly wings on his back). He flexed it, then, gently but firmly, brought the blade forwards and pressed its edge against the side of the female's neck. He didn't put enough pressure to hurt or nick her, but it was obvious that it was there, and ready to do damage that Ax knew in his heart he would not be able to go through with. If she fought, he would simply knock her out with the flat of the blade, but he could not let her retaliate until he had said his peace.

((Take your tool away from the Escafil device, remove it, and place it away from you. Make no sudden moves.))

The female took a single deep breath, but to her credit didn't seem particularly panicked. Instead, she withdrew the tool from the box and, slowly, pushed a button on the side of the arm device. It slipped from her arm to the floor, and she gently pushed it out of reach with her foot. Ax breathed. So far, so good.

((Face me. We must speak.)) Ax said. He felt sick to his stomach. He didn't want to threaten this female. She was not a Controller, not an enemy, but a potential victim of the Yeerks. But he didn't see that he had much choice in his methods.

Ax loosened the pressure he was applying to his tail, without removing it entirely, so the female could turn to look at him. The chair swung around on its base, and Ax wondered why all human chairs didn't do that. He knew a few did, but it seemed to him that all of them should have that function. It made turning less dangerous. Why humans chose to dance around with danger like this he didn't understand. But now was not the time for those thoughts.

The female took in his appearance and her eyes widened in shock. She seemed to pay particular attention to the tail, and raised up her hands to show that she was now unarmed. It appeared he was just as alien to her as he had been to the humans. The fact that he could detect no disgust or hate in her expression indicated that she was indeed free. No Yeerk could have stood seeing him without some sign of hatred. No, this creature was still herself, and it was Ax's job to assure that this remained so. With the grey male's departure, she might be the last of her kind left.

Ax knew how that felt.

"You, you, you." She stammered, then took another steadying breath. "You're behind the animal attacks."

Ax blinked. ((Animal attacks…)) He then realized what she meant. ((You could say that.))

"What are you? What do you want?" The female continued look him up and down, as if still trying to absorb his appearance.

((I have come for the Escafil device, and for you.)) Ax said, but before he could explain the female barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, k-kinda figured that this was a kidnapping. Why do you need me if you're just here for this box thing? I'm not going to help you with whatever it is you're planning to do with the humans. My team and I will stop you." She glared at him, and Ax blinked.

((I…do not understand. What are you talking about?)) He had expected confusion, not accusations of kidnapping.

"You're alien, that's pretty clear." She snorted "You're either invading, or some other scheme. I'm sure whoever is in charge will have a nice, ya know, speech planned for us. Not looking forwards to that, but I could use a laugh or two. You've been using animals, probably some sort of mind control, and that box is either a transmitter or the source of whatever signal or ray or sound or whatever you are using to drive the animals around here crazy." She sighed again. "Now you're going to take it back to your leader, and unless you try to kill me here you're probably planning on taking me hostage."

Ax stared at her. ((I…that is a very detailed account of what you think will occur. Do things like that happen to you often?))

She shrugged. "If it's not the Saurians it's usually something like that. Usually once or twice a month."

((I…was unaware that Earth had these scenarios played out monthly…by other aliens…?)) Ax was truly baffled.

"Okay, so nine times out of ten it's usually a human with a very loud hobby, but you are definitely an alien, so I was ex-ex..."

((Extrapolating?)) Ax guessed.

"Yeah. That."

((Unfortunately, your hypothesis is incorrect. I am not your enemy. I cannot tell you my name yet, but you are in terrible danger. I came to warn you, not harm you.))

"What's with the blade then?"

((You and your companions hurt one of my allies in the construction site. I am simply taking precautions.))

"The bird you were controlling?"

((I was not controlling the bird. The bird is my friend. My friend became the bird.))

"Wait…the bird…so you aren't controlling the animals you…you are the animals?" She blinked at him. Ax was impressed. She grasped things quickly. "You've been watching us all day, haven't you? The birds, the flies…that was all you watching us?"

((Correct. I'm an Andalite. We have the power to morph into any living organism we touch. It's very effective technology, especially for infiltration. That box is an Escafil device, and it can give any being the power to morph as well.))

"That still doesn't explain what you want from me." The female said.

((Ah. We Andalites, and you ducks, are not the only aliens on Earth. I have come to warn you, to keep you and the device out of their hands.))

"Alright, I'll play along. Keep talking."

Ax stamped a hoof. He wasn't used to being so open to an alien. He had only barely gotten used to sharing his knowledge with the Animorphs. But Prince Jake had told him to explain the situation, and so explain he would.

((This planet is being invaded)) He ignored another snort from the female and continued. ((You would not have noticed them. No one can. They are called Yeerks. They are a parasitic species that resemble Earth slugs. They crawl into another being's ear. They crawl through the ear canal until they reach the victim's brain. They then sink themselves into the brain, hooking themselves in and taking control of their host. The host is unable to move, unable to speak, unable to even keep secrets from the Yeerk. They control both the body, and they can peer into the hosts memories and thoughts. Because of this they can perfectly mimic their host's behavior and actions. The hosts' family and friends are often unaware, because the Yeerk's control and insight into the person's mind is almost totally irresistible. Right now, as we speak, the red-haired female of your kind and the largest male have been taken by the Yeerks, and well as a human that was with them. The organization your people have come to endorse, the Sharing, is a front organization for the Yeerks. They use it to find people willing to become hosts and will take the ones who resist by force. By now they have at least attempted to control the others of your kind. It is very possible you are the only one of your kind free on this planet.)) Ax paused, watching the female's eyes growing wide in horror. ((Your Prince had already detected them with that mask you have. The 'overlap' he spoke off. That was the Yeerk he was seeing in people's brains.))

Abruptly the female attempted to surge forwards from her chair. Ax twitched back a few paces but didn't strike. She had, in a way, called his bluff, but she didn't attempt to strike him, instead she was attempting to shove past him to a door behind him.

"I gotta get back there and help them!"

((Wait, you-))

"Back off! I need to rescue my team and-"

At that moment a circular device sitting next to the mask chirped, and the female turned to look at it. Ax blinked.

((What is that?))

"Comm unit." The female snatched it up and pressed a button. Ax stepped further back, keeping out of potential sight.

"Hey, Tanya, I came to check on you. You doing okay in there? Let me in, I'd like to have a chat. Face to face."

Ax tensed and used private thought speak. ((Listen to me. I'm using private thought speak right now. No one can hear me but you. You cannot let the other female in. She is a Controller, what we call a host that has been taken. She will attempt to trick you, lure you out or into letting her in this vehicle. She will sound and act exactly as she would, but it is a lie. You cannot trust her!))

The female looked from him to the comm unit then back to Ax. She pushed another button on the comm and raised it up to her face. "Mallory. Have you ever heard of a Yeerk?"

Ax tensed and waited for the outcome.

There was a very long pause. "Where did you learn that word?"

"Let's just say a little birdy told me. Mallory. What is a Yeerk?"

Another long pause. "Ah come on, Tanya, we've known each other for years. You're my friend, my teammate. How could you doubt me…are you really putting the word of some alien over me?"

"Who-who said anything about aliens?" the female, the Controller referred to her as 'Tanya', kept looking from the communicator to Ax, as if trying to analyze both at the same time.

"Tanya, if there's an Andalite with you in there, he's lying to you. He's trying to trick you. Yeah, okay, we met some others called Yeerks, but they're friendly. Wildwing decided to help them out. Those Andalites are the invaders. Let me in and we'll take care of them." The red headed one continued, and Ax resisted the urge to slice the communicator to bits. He doubted that would convince Tanya of his sincerity.

"…and why didn't you mention that before?" Tanya questioned, her focus not totally on the communicator and her Controller friend.

"I-ARRRGH!" The red one suddenly let out an enraged scream, then. "NO! Tanya don't listen to it! It's inside me! Don't let it in!"

"Mallory!" Tanya gripped the communicator so tightly that Ax wondered if she was going to crush it herself.

A pause, then. "I…wasn't talking about Yeerks, I meant the Andalite. Don't let it in, Tanya, it's dangerous."

Tanya looked up at Ax, then went back to the communicator. "Get out of my friend, Yeerk. Get out, let her tell me all this herself, and I'll let you in."

((You can't let them inside! You can't let them have the-)) Ax stopped speaking as the female duck raised a single finger to him. He knew that was a human sign for 'wait'.

There was a long, tense pause on the other end of the communicator, then the red female spoke again. "Alright. Have it your way, half-breed."

Ax observed as a look of horror and pain crossed over Tanya's, or at least his best interpretation of her expression. It was different, yet strangely like a human's expressions. In fact, if it was on a human, he would have almost described it as a betrayed look, as if the other female's words had been the stroke of a tail blade from a trusted shorm. In an instant the look was gone, and, with sudden determined firmness, Tanya dropped the communicator to the floor and stomped it with a foot. Ax blinked as the device was firmly crushed.

((Are you alright?)) He asked.

"She'd never call me that. E-even when we first met she never called me that." Tanya's voice was thick, either in anger or grief Ax couldn't interpret.

((I…don't understand. What does that word mean to your kind?))

"It-"She took a deep breath. "It's a slur, basically. I-I'm only mostly duck. I'm part Saurian but they don't…they don't." She shook her head. "They don't do that."

((What is a 'Saurian'?)) Ax asked.

"Short explanation. More aliens. Our mortal enemies."

((Ah)) This was completely unfamiliar territory to Ax. He had never considered the possibility of crossing two different aliens, although he knew that certain animals could crossbreed. He had never heard of something like this, much less a cross between mortal enemies.

Still, there were more pressing matters.

It seemed like Tanya agreed, because she was shoving past Ax and heading for the door, only pausing to scoop up her arm device and reaffix it in its proper place. "C-come on. We need to get the Aerowing running. They aren't getting the others."

It appeared that Ax had convinced her, with the help of the Yeerk. He followed her out of the room and into a short hallway leading up to a set of stairs. A very short few steps later and she was opening another door and letting them both into a roomy cockpit. She went over to a set of cabinets built into a wall and started to pull out weapons. The pistol and the rifle like objects she pulled out had oddly shaped barrels, but they looked like human weaponry, for the most part. There were also quite the number of black disks being pulled. She loaded a few disks into a pistol and offered it to Ax.

"Hope you know how to shoot, Blue." She said.

((My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.)) Ax could almost swear that the look she gave him was identical to the one he had been given by the Animorphs when they had rescued him from the Dome ship, so he decided to offer Tanya the same nickname that they had bequeathed to him. ((If you wish you may refer to me as 'Ax'.))

"…yeah, ummm, thanks." She blinked at him. "I'm Tanya."

((I gathered.)) Ax took the weapon. ((But yes, I can shoot a primitive human weapon. I am an Andalite aristh, a warrior cadet. I can handle a human weapon.))

"To be fair it's a primitive duck weapon, but I'll hold you to that." She sort of smiled at him, again a very human expression on a face that was unlike a human. It was very strange.

Ax jerked as an alarm went off, and a light began to flash on the console of the ship. Tanya twisted and rushed to the ship's controls, pushing buttons and observing scanners.

"…it's the Migrator," She growled. "Either they've escaped on their own, or you're right…" She turned to look at Ax. "How do you get the Yeerks out?"

((In three days unless they return to a Yeerk Pool a Yeerk will starve and die, freeing the host. The only other way is to convince them to leave. It is hard, but Yeerks will often surrender when pressed into a corner. They do not believe in fighting for a cause other than to promote their own self-interest.))

Tanya paused to consider this information, but before she could pursue this line of thought another light flashed and she turned her attention back to the ship's sensors. "…so, ummm, are your friends a gorilla, a wolf and a tiger?"

((That is three of our primary morphs, yes. Why?))

"Because the Migrator isn't alone. It's chasing a…car I think. A car being driven by a gorilla."

((The gorilla! Are you sure?!))

"Ummm, yep."

((Oh no.))

---

((AHHHHHH!)))

((AHHHHHH!))

((YEEEHAAAAA!))

((Every time, Marco! EVERY TIME!))

((Oh yeah, you want to take the wheel, Tony?))

((WATCH OUT FOR THAT VAN!))

Marco turned the wheel, missing the oncoming van by a mile. Okay, maybe an inch. Or a centimeter. Really, who was counting? He missed, that was the important part.

Poor Chapman's car would never be the same. Marco had found himself once again in battle with his old enemy, trash cans, up until they had reached the highway, and there were no more cans to hit. He had also managed to scrape a long scratch down the side of the car and had fender bumped just about every other faculty car on his way out in the first place. The poor interior was not much better. Jake's claws had sunk into the back seat of the car, his fur fluffed out till he looked like a black and orange striped ball of fearful big kitty. He looked almost like a Halloween cat in full fluffy puffiness. Long scratches were grooved into the car seat, the foam interior of the seat poking through the gaps of Jake's huge paws. His ears were flat on his skull and his teeth were exposed in a rictus cat grin of terror.

Cassie wasn't fairing any better. She was pressed into the passenger front seat floorboards, tail tucked between her legs, which were shaking as Marco served and turned and skillfully dodged cars and trucks. Unlike Jake, who had fluffed up to twice the kitty he was, Cassie was a ball of small scared wolf puppy. Wolves were a lot larger up close than they were on tv. They were big apex predators, but now Cassie looked more like a frightened dachshund than the fierce killer her morph was.

It was very pathetic. They both were. Two of the finest of the Animorphs, scared of a little action scene.

And still the giant armored assault duck van was hot on their tails.

They had a good head start, but apparently Rachel's elephant morph had finally met its match. It was still behind him, but not by much and coming closer.

((Rachel, why didn't you total that thing?)) Marco asked as he had to avoid a stray laser blast. Yes, they were shooting at him. Not often because there were still other cars on the highway but they were shooting at them. ((You can't wreck one van?))

((That is NOT a van!)) Rachel shouted from somewhere safe above them. ((It has missiles and a laser gun. It's a freaking TANK! These idiot aliens drive around in a giant DUCK TANK!))

((Marco! CARCARCAR DON'T HIT THE CAR!)) Jake yowled in both thought speak and tiger roar.

((Would you chill?)) Marco turned left, letting the car whiz by him. ((It can't be good for your blood pressure, big Jake.))

((THIS ENTIRE RIDE ISN'T GOOD FOR MY BLOOD PRESSURE!))

((Seriously, my man, consider decaff. You're going to have a stroke before you're thirty.))

((I'm more worried about you getting us killed before I'm sixteen! SUV!))

Marco dodged. Really, he was getting so much better at this. He'd hate to see either of them try to drive.

((You guys are going to want to turn to the left ummm, now)) Tobias said. ((Watch out for the trees, George!))

((What?)) Marco turned and did not hit the tree. Scraped it yes, but no hitting. ((Did you just call me George of the Jungle? Excuse me?))

((Like I said. Watch out for that tree!)) Tobias laughed.

((…I hate you, Tobias.)) Jake grumbled.

Marco managed to thread a path through the trees, but they were pretty close together, and he couldn't help but bounce through the forest, the sides of Chapman's car being thrown back and forth as Marco drove. It was a bit like being a ball in a pinball machine.

((Oh no…I think I just ruined Chapman's floorboards…)) Cassie moaned.

((Somehow I think that's the least of his worries!)) Jake yelled.

((Hold on you guys, you're almost there. Mallory's there, but she looks pretty frustrated.)) Tobias reported.

((Which one is Mallory?)) Marco asked.

((The red head.)) Tobias said.

((Ah.))

((Please try not to run her over)) Tobias asked reasonably.

((I make no promises.))

((Oh. Boy.))

Marco wasn't sure if he hit a log or a very big root or if the car just decided to gain intelligence and throw them all like a horse, but as they broke through the treeline to the giant duck themed spaceship all of a sudden they were in the air. The car twisted three times in the air like a demented metal ballerina, then fell to the ground an inch or two from the lone duck outside the ship. The duck fled and was just fine. The bike she rode in on was not. Chapman's car crunched horribly on top of the bike, then promptly burst into flames.

Marco rose to his feet, ripped the roof off, and flung it to the side. He then helpfully pitched Cassie and Jake out before following. Both were singed but fine. Jake, still a puffball, ran a few feet away in terror.

((That's it, you lunatic! As soon as we can you're taking driver's ed!))

((It's fine, we're fine! Settle down, Dad! We got more problems!)) Marco loped out and turned to the stupid duck tank-van. ((Controllers!))

True to his word, the doors of the van-tank opened and a small platoon of four Hork-Bajir emerged, armed with Dracon beams and their usual bad attitude.

((Prince Jake. The final duck has been convinced. Retreat to the ship, she will provide cover fire so you can enter.))

((Cool, we get cover fire.)) Marco said as the rest of the duck Controllers emerged from the tank-van and started to fire…pucks at them. Pucks.

Marco decided he would laugh about that later. It wasn't so funny when a puck flew an inch from your head so fast you could feel the wind.

He turned and knuckle ran towards the ship, and true to Ax's word a small circular hatch was lowering for them from the ship's belly. The final duck was standing on it with…was that a grenade launcher?

As the woman aimed and fired at the van-tank Marco almost laughed. It was a launcher. It launched more pucks. It was insane! He skidded onto the platform, and the woman briefly eyed him before reaching down and offering him a weird looking gun.

"P-p-please tell me you shoot better than you drive." She asked.

((We'll see!)) Marco crowed in delight as he took the weapon. He gleefully aimed and started to return fire to the Hork-Bajir.

"Oh brother…" she muttered.

"Tanya! Get away from them! They're dangerous!" One of the duck-Controllers, the tall white one, shouted at her, doing a very good job of sounding concerned for her safety. She twitched and looked over at the duck-Controllers.

"…the parasites your friend mentioned?"

((Yeah, they're all Controllers…I'm sorry.)) Jake said. The woman nodded and took aim again.

"Tanya!" The commanding dude barked. "Stand down! That's an order!"

"You're not Wildwing." She muttered, and Marco thought she was mostly talking to herself. "Is this all of you?"

((No, two more. There!)) Jake said as Tobias and Rachel dove down, swooping over the crowd of Controllers. A few of the Hork-Bajir aimed their Dracon Beams at the birds, but the duck woman suddenly pressed a button on her launcher and began to fire a line of pucks at the Hork-Bajir. The pucks exploded, spreading smoke across the battlefield and shielding Rachel and Tobias' approach.

((Wow, thanks!)) Tobias said as he swooped in and sat on the woman's shoulder. ((Hi. Sorry about the wing before.))

"It's fine just keep your feathers off my beak." Tanya leaned her head away. "I'm allergic to feathers."

((Wait, you're a duck, but you're allergic to feathers?)) Rachel asked as she sank her talons into Marco's shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it."

((We don't have time to talk about it anyway. Bring us up. We need to move.)) Jake ordered.

Tanya nodded and pushed a button, bringing the hatch back up and into the belly of the ship. Marco noted that they were apparently in the ship's hanger, it looked big enough to fit their other duck themed stuff. But their new friend didn't stick around to give out a tour. Instead, she headed for a door at the other end of the room, towards the front of the ship.

There was a loud boom, and the ship rocked a bit. Tanya bit out a word that sounded to Marco like something she wasn't supposed to say around children. It wasn't in English, but it had the same sort of feel as R-rated words.

Still, they all piled into the cockpit of the ship. Marco laughed as he looked at what he thought was the controls to the ship. They looked like something the standard human military would use!

((Cool.)) He said in private thought speak. ((Galaga here I come.)) He inched a bit closer.

"Oh no!" To Marco's shock the bird woman strode over and slapped his big gorilla hand away from the controls. "Not after the stunt you pulled with that car, hands off!"

((Okay, I like this lady.)) Rachel laughed privately. ((She just mom slapped a gorilla!))

Marco held up his hands as the woman sort of glared. He backed away. ((She's pretty high strung…))

((Well, Marco she did just fire weapons at her friends, and they are now firing Dracon Beams and…pucks at us.)) Cassie pointed out as the ship rocked. ((It's a high stress situation.))

((I agree, you should probably keep the gorilla one away from the steering of this ship.)) Ax looked at Tanya, who was busy pushing buttons and flipping the switches to make it go.

((Gorilla one, excuse me? Gorilla one? Whose side are you on, Ax?)) Marco asked.

((The side of the person who is not going to crash the ship?)) Ax pointed out mildly.

"If you really need something to do, Gorilla, then take over weapons. It's easy. Point the joystick and shoot. I designed it for the military, it's as simple as it gets." Tanya waved at a joystick looking next to her and Marco grabbed it. It did indeed work like an arcade joystick, and there was a nice simple screen showing his targets for him.

((Hehehe, cool. Didn't think I'd be able to play Doom tonight.)) Marco laughed.

((You designed this vessel?)) Ax asked their new friend.

"Yep. Aim for the Migrator's wheels."

((…it's called the Migrator. Of course, it is.)) Rachel muttered. But Marco ignored her in favor of looking at the screen, which helpfully pointed out the assault van's weak points. Checking to make sure the duck-Controllers were clear Marco fired, and to his delight the van's tires blew out, making the thing deflate like a sad balloon.

((Cool.)) Marco said, but before he could do any more damage the duck woman had gone through the launch sequence and was starting to pull up on the controls of the ship. The thing shot into the sky. Marco wasn't an expert on spaceships or airplanes but he thought they got up in the air pretty fast. The ship blasted upwards into the atmosphere, then vanished into the night as another button was pushed.

((Well.)) Marco said as he let go of the joystick, addressing the others with private thought-speak. ((We have a morphing cube, an alien ship and a duck lady. What do we do with them?))

((She appears to be setting a course. Perhaps we should ask where she is going?))

((Right. Keep quiet on our identities, and don't say more than you have to. I'll talk to her.)) Jake instructed.

Marco stepped back to listen and observe. In addition to being the funny one, the cute one and the brilliant one, he was also the one that could pick up things the others didn't. Cassie called it paranoia. He called it good sense. There was nothing wrong with a little paranoia if it kept you alive. He knew that Cassie was going to be watching their new pal's reactions, but she focused on feelings and personalities and that sort of touchy-feely stuff. Marco paid attention to the facts.

((Miss, where do you think you are going?)) Jake said in open thought speak. The woman blinked then looked back at him.

"First, I got a few questions. Is it true that these Yeerk things will know everything that my friends do? And there's nothing we can do to stop it?"

((Yes.)) Jake replied.

"Then I need to get back to Anaheim. Right now."

Jake lifted his lips slightly, not exactly a snarl but almost a threat. ((Why?))

The woman took a deep breath as if to steady herself. "Because I have a supercomputer under the Pond and, even without me, the ducks will eventually be able to track you with it. It was designed to…ummm,..ah…communicate with the Mask. It can see and read energy readings that the Mask does. I designed it to look for Lord Dragaunus' ship, the Raptor. Usually only the Mask can detect the Raptor but we needed something to scan when Wildwing isn't around to do it, ya know, manually. If the Mask can pick up your energy signatures, and it can, then so can Drake One. Now, it'll take a while for them to figure it out but as long as that computer is online, they will figure it out." She paused. "Especially if they ask Buzz to help."

There was a pause, then Jake asked Ax privately. ((Ax, is that possible?))

((There is no denying that their Prince was able to detect even me when I was in fly morph. If this computer does have connectivity with their mask device, then what she is saying is very possible.)) Ax shifted. ((Honestly, Prince Jake, if what she says is even a half truth than it is too risky to leave alone.))

((Yeah, but we could be walking into a boatload of Controllers.)) Rachel growled, and to Jake's amusement she did it so the woman could hear her. ((How secure is this computer?))

"P-pretty secure. They won't get in without our codes, which is why we need to do this now. Even without me the others can change the codes and make it harder to get in. It's not really a matter of typing in a number there's also a bio scanner to make sure what goes down there is someone authorized. We've had issues with Saurian spies before. I've been, ya know, working the kinks out of our system. I doubt those lizard aliens will get through unless there's a duck with them. And unless they have a ship as fast as the Aerowing we'll get there at least thirty minutes before they arrive. It'll be tight but I can brick Drake One in that time. Probably should also torch my lab to be honest." She seemed to trail off and contemplate this. "Don't want them to get any of my research."

((Is this the top speed of this vessel?)) Ax asked.

"Yeah."

((Prince Jake, if I am right than this ship is faster than the average Bug fighter, and perhaps a little faster than the Blade Ship. I honestly think that Visser Three will not bother with these ducks. He has not shown up yet, and I doubt he will take these creatures seriously. He will consider them host fodder, nothing more, so there is little danger of him showing up to this 'pond' if we attack as she wants. And the risk of letting the Yeerks have this computer is too high.))

"You-you don't have to go with me. I can drop you off, give you the cube and…and the Mask" she sighed deeply. "That Mask is…it's sacred to ducks, not just an advanced piece of technology. I don't want to just hand it over to you, but I'd rather you have it than the Yeerks. They can use it against you."

((Jake)) Cassie said gently. ((I believe her. We should do what we wants. She's already lost everything to the Yeerks, now she's offering to give us one of her people's relics in order to keep us safe. We need to help!))

((I agree. I like her.)) Rachel said.

((Yeah, I'm going to vote yes as well.)) Tobias said.

((I will follow Prince Jake's orders, but I agree that this would be a wise strategy.)) Ax said.

Marco sighed. ((Look, I'm not saying no but I just want you all to know how unbelievably nuts this entire thing is. We're about to fly off on the Duck Airlines all the way to freaking Anaheim to destroy some supercomputer owned and built by alien ducks. When will the madness end, guys? That's all I'm asking. When will the madness end?))

((Oh come on, you know you love this. An underground superhero base built to hide a master computer? It's right up your alley.)) Rachel laughed.

((First, the ducks are hockey players, not heroes. And, I mean, if we had just found that Bruce Wayne exists and were in the Batmobile about to go into the Batcave to the Batcomputer than maybe this would cool…)) Marco said.

((Marco you've been ragging on the duck theme but did you just realize that you just Batman'd everything in that sentence?)) Rachel asked.

((Yeah, but Batman is cool. Ducks aren't cool.))

((Ducks aren't hawks but they are kinda cool.)) Tobias said.

"Soo…you guys always talk in your heads at each other, or are we having a staring contest?" The woman asked. Marco realized that they all had been standing stock still, staring at each other, while the woman had been trying to carry on a conversation with them. Sue him, he wasn't used to talking to strangers about Animorph things.

((I did tell her that thought-speech can be addressed to a limited amount of people.)) Ax said.

((Geeze, if only you were this open with us from the start, Ax. I might start to think you like her better than us.)) Marco said.

((I do not! I was following Prince Jake's orders!))

"You know, if want to be cov-cover…uh, subtle about this telepathy you might want to not nod at stare at each other when doing it." The woman said conversationally.

((Sorry.)) Jake said. ((It's a force of habit. We don't talk to the Yeerks. We have nothing to say to them, so we are used to only speaking among ourselves. But we will help you. Take us to your base, and we will help you destroy your computer.))

She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Great. Thanks." She turned to her controls and turned more switches and dials. "Should be there in about two hours. Gonna, ya know, gun it."

((Ummm, Ax, how much time?))

((I believe that you, Marco and Cassie have about an hour and thirty Earth minutes in morph-))

((Ax they're everyone's minutes…))

((And Rachel has approximately and hour and forty five Earth minutes.))

Cassie blinked. ((We are going to have to demorph.))

For a long moment, none of them spoke, then. ((She still doesn't know we are human. Even if she gets caught later we are safe.)) Marco pointed out. ((We can demorph and remorph out of sight, then bail when this mission is done. No more contact. Even if she gets caught afterwards she won't be able to tell them much.))

((Yes, but is that what we are really going to do? Go with her for one mission then cut her loose? She's alone, all of her people are Controllers.))

((Not our fault, not our problem.)) Marco said.

((Maybe it should be our problem!)) Cassie snapped.

((What do you think we should do, Cassie? How are we going to hide a what, 6 foot something duck woman? Stick her in the pond out back and hope your dad doesn't think to look too closely?)) Marco asked.

((By my estimation she is closer to perhaps 5 of your feet and 9 of your inches.))

((Everybody's feet and inches!))

((But the artificial hooves might be giving her more lift than I anticipate…))

((Ummm, guys. We have the morphing cube, remember? We could use it.)) Tobias suggested.

There was another long pause.

((Create a new Animorph?)) Rachel asked.

((Yes! That would be perfect!)) Cassie said. ((She could do what Ax did. Acquire all of us. Morph us. Hide in plan sight! And we'd have another person to help us! An adult…))

((An adult alien duck.)) Rachel pointed out. ((And we don't even know if she'd want the morphing power. We don't even know if she can work with kids.))

((Yeah, that's a huge issue.)) Marco said. ((Right now we are all the same age. Even Ax is basically the same age as us. How would our parents react if they were told they'd have to take orders from an alien middle schooler?))

((We can't help the fact that we were the only ones available to Elfangor when we got the morphing power.)) Cassie argued.

((Yeah, but think about it. She doesn't know us. We don't know her. She might not be able to take orders from Jake. Dude, I know you don't think of yourself as the leader, but if we are in the middle of a fight and you start snapping instructions what do we do if she can't follow through with them. What do we do if she starts dictating to us and trying to step in and take charge? We have no idea how she'll take this and we have no idea if she can play ball with this group.))

((So, what do you want to do, Marco?)) Tobias asked testily. ((Grab some random out of school, shove the cube in his hands and go 'Hey, join us and fight aliens!' No pay, no dental and a free nightmare each night?))

((I mean, we'll probably get a horde of mes.)) Rachel laughed.

((I know, but I really don't think this is the way to go.))

((…I must point out, that this alien possess technology that is beyond us at this point. She has a ship, that can cloak. She has a mask that can detect both Yeerks in their host bodies and that can read the morphing energy. If she is being honest in her abilities, she is also intelligent enough to build supercomputers and design weapons. At the very least she would be a powerful ally.)) Ax said.

((And she does play a professional sport. I mean, professionally play a professional sport.)) Tobias said. ((You don't get into the NHL playoffs by not being a team player on some level.))

((Yeah, but they lost.)) Marco pointed out ((Not a good omen.))

((They still made the playoffs, that's a pretty big deal.)) Tobias grumped.

((Okay. Fine. Say we do this. Say we give her morphing power. Say we let her join us. She's already told us she has mortal enemies out there. Question, who are these Saurian guys? We don't know. What are they capable of. We don't know. Are they going to come after us if we let her hang with us at the mall? We don't know. Isn't the Yeerks enough? We're already fighting the Andalite's battles, how many more aliens are we going to fight for?))

((Marco, if we just walk away, then all of this, saving her, helping her escape, destroying the computer, will be nothing but a huge waste of time.)) Cassie pointed out. ((All we would have done is delayed her infestation. Sooner or later, all alone, with nothing? Whose to say how much she can take of that? How long before she slips up and does something reckless or gets into a situation where she needs someone's support? We can't let her be infested, not because she knows what we are but because of all the other things she knows and can do for the Yeerks. Ax just got finished telling us how smart she is. Do you really want her mind to be used by the Yeerks? Does that sound sensible to you?))

((Do we even know if she wants to be one of us? For all we know she wants to alone rather than hanging with aliens.)) Marco said. ((Because we are all assuming here that she'll even take the offer of the morphing power and that she'll want to be one of us. Why aren't any of us asking her that?))

((We need to make a choice, now.)) Jake said. ((We need to vote. Decide if we are going to ask her if she wants the morphing power and if she will join. If so, we give her an ultimatum. Make her promise to play by our rules before we even give her the power and show her what and who we really are. Is that reasonable?))

Marco sighed. He really didn't like this. ((Yeah, alright. I vote no.))

((I vote yes.)) Cassie said automatically.

((Yes.)) Tobias said.

((I…must vote no.)) Ax said, startling Marco.

((Not that I'm not grateful but why, Ax?)) Marco asked.

((You make very good points, Marco. An army this small, with one that may not follow orders can be a disaster. I would want to keep her as an ally, perhaps ask for her help on occasion. But having her join us is a step too far. I vote yes for offering an alliance, but no to letting her join.))

((…let's keep the alliance idea on the table but stick with the first vote. Two yes, and two no. Rachel, you get to break the tie.)) Jake said.

((Let's do it)) Rachel couldn't grin in her eagle body but Marco would have sworn she did just that. ((I got a good feeling about her.))

((Well, we are doomed)) Marco said. ((Oh well, maybe we'll get lucky and she'll say no))

((Alright, I'll do the talking again…what was her name, guys?)) Jake asked.

((Tanya.)) Ax replied.

((Alright.)) Jake stepped forwards a few steps until he was behind her seat. Marco noticed that she had been kind of eyeing them for the past maybe five minutes. She knew they were discussing her, but she had been polite enough to give them privacy, as much they could get it. It reassured Marco, just a bit, but he couldn't trust her. Not now. Maybe not ever.

((Tanya.)) Jake began, and she fully turned to face him, as if she anticipated this.

"Yeah?"

((…what are you planning to do after we are done in your base?)) Jake asked.

"I…have no idea." She shook her head. "Your friend Ax told me the only way to get the Yeerks out would be to hold my team for three days. That's…going to be difficult. Duke can probably break out of just about anywhere, and Mallory's a trained commando. If it were one or two of them it would hard but all five…I'm not sure I can do that on my own." She sort of stared off into the distance of Jake's forehead. "I'm the only one left…"

((I have an offer for you.)) Jake said, yellow tiger eyes glittering, like they would have if he had been anticipating a kill. ((You are alone, but you don't have to be. If you want, you can join our team, at least until we can free yours. We can give you the morphing power. You'd have to be one of us, at least temporarily. You'll have to play by our rules. Do what we tell you. But…I do understand what you're going through. My brother is one of them. It's why I fight.)) He lifted his chin. ((I can't promise it will be easy, or that we'll succeed, but if you want somewhere to belong, we can offer that to you.))

She stared at Jake for a good minute, then she sort of smiled. "Oh, trust me. I know how to be a team player." She nodded. "I don't have much choice. As long as you don't ask me to kill my friends, then yes."

((I can't promise they will live. Visser Three, the Yeerk leader, tends to kill those under him. But I promise you that we will do everything we can, like we do the same for my brother.))

Tanya nodded. "Alright. That's…reasonable." She looked down and sort of flexed her right hand. "Wish I had a stick, but this is plenty unconventional already." She looked back up. "Just tell me what you, umm, need me to do, Captain."

((Oh no, Jake you got another alien giving you titles!)) Marco laughed. ((Get any more aliens and maybe you can be Chief Justice Commander Lord Potentate Prince Captain Jake…the Third.))

((Why the Third?)) Tobias asked.

((Somewhere out there is an alien race obsessed with the number three.)) Marco said.

((Really?)) Ax asked. ((I have never heard of them.))

((Well, you never heard of alien ducks either so anything is possible. Bigfoot could ride alongside this duck ship on Santa's sleigh with a fairy on his shoulder doing shots with a werewolf and I'd believe it.)) Marco said.

((Yeah, no Captains.)) Jake said and nodded to the others. Taking his signal for what it was the entire group, aside from Tobias and Ax, began to demorph. Tanya went up in Marco's esteem by not totally freaking out at the sight of fur slithering into flesh and fingers appearing out of paws and tails shriveling and the really bad part when Jake's tail just stripped itself of fur then flesh then bone then just shrunk back into his butt where a normal tailbone would go. She didn't go into hysterics at all of this, but she did give them a wide-eyed look of disgusted terror.

For a moment she stammered incoherently before looking at Ax. "I-i-is it always like that?"

((It is. The morphing process is not logical. It does not hurt, but it is…strange.))

Jake finished his morph and straightened up. A normal looking middle school kid wearing skintight bike shorts and looking a bit cold. Tanya just stared, unable to speak.

"Like I said, not Captain." Jake said, trying to sound mature. "My name is Jake."

A/N: Fun fact, all three of the pervious chapters were originally supposed to be chapter 1. I originally wanted a long chapter that ended with the famous 'My name is Jake' line but it grew way too long so I split it up. That's part of the reason all of the chapters came so fast. They were pretty much already prewritten from my outlines. A lot of this story is outlined, so hopefully I can keep up the momentum for now.