"Ready?" Jake asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Marco said.
Jake pressed it with his hand.
The door slid open. I felt a wave of warm, incredibly fragrant air rush in.
I caught a glimpse of. . .
Then a brilliant flash of light. . .
And suddenly I was unconscious.
109
I opened my eyes. I was staring straight up. I was on my back. Above me I could see the ocean all around. High overhead, fish swam by, sparkling. Higher still I could see the bright bar rier between sea and sky. But it was very far away.
I rolled my head to the side. Jake was beside me, still unconscious. There was blue grass under my head. I looked the other way.
"Yaaaahh!"
«Do not move. I stunned you to see what you are. But if you move, I will destroy you.»
He stood on four delicate hooves, looking, at first glance, like a pale blue and tan deer or ante lope.
110 But he had a strong upper body, like a mythical centaur, with two small arms and many-fingered hands. His face was almost triangular, built around two huge, almond-shaped eyes. There was a small vertical slit where his nose should have been, and nothing where his mouth should have been.
From atop his head rose twin horns. Only they were not horns. They each ended in an eye and turned this way and that, independent of his main eyes.
He seemed gentle, quizzical, almost delicate. Until you noticed the tail. The tail was like a scorpion's. It was thick, powerful, and ended in a wicked scythe blade that literally glittered along its razor-sharp edges.
I knew what he was. There is no mistaking an Andalite when you see one.
And there was no question about what he was holding in his hand, either. It looked a lot like a Yeerk Dracon beam.
He was pointing it at me.
The others were waking up all around me.
"What the ... Oh," Marco said. "Please tell me that's a real Andalite and not Visser Three."
Suddenly, without warning, the Andalite's tail arched forward. The blade stopped inches from Marco's face.
111 «Visser Three! Do not speak that name!» the Andalite thought-spoke.
"O -o-o-o-kay," Marco said slowly. "Whatever you want."
"We are friends," I said.
«l don't know you,» the Andalite said. But he withdrew his tail and Marco started breathing again.
"You called me," I said. "We've come to help you."
«Called? You heard my call?» He fixed all four of his eyes on me. «What are you?»
"Human. A person of Earth."
«l have seen images of your kind. My call was to my cousins. How did you hear it?»
"I don't know," I admitted. "I heard it in my dreams. So did a friend of mine. We guessed it was an Andalite. We wanted to help."
«What do you know of Andalites? My people are not known to humans. You do not travel the stars. You know only your own planet. My elder cousins have taught me this.»
"We knew one Andalite. We were with him when . . . when he was killed."
The Andalite narrowed his main eyes. «Who was this Andalite you say was killed?»
I searched my memory for his name. He had told us, but it was a strange, long name. "I can't
112 remember all of his name. But part of it was Prince Elfangor."
The Andalite jerked as if he'd been hit. His entire body seemed to quiver. His deadly tail arched high in the air.
«Prince Elfangor? No one could kill Elfangor. He is the greatest warrior ever. No one could kill him!»
"Someone did," Jake said. "We were there."
«Who? Who do you claim killed Elfangor?»
"The one whose name you don't want us to speak," I said softly.
The Andalite held his head high, but his tail sagged and dragged down to the grass. He lowered his weapon. «He was my brother. Did . . . did he die well? In battle?»
Jake answered. "He died protecting us, and defying the Yeerks to the end. At the very last moment he struck with every weapon he had."
The Andalite closed his main eyes for a brief moment. «My brother was a great warrior. His cousins loved him. His enemies feared him. No more can be said of any Andalite warrior.»
I was surprised by what Jake said next. "I've lost a brother, too. He's one of them. A Con troller."
The Andalite opened his eyes. «And you, human. Do you serve the Yeerks or fight them?»
"I fight them. We fight them."
113 «With what weapons? Do you have powerful weapons?»
"Only the weapon your brother gave us," I said. "The power to morph."
«Elfangor gave you that? It is never done!» He seemed disturbed. «The situation would have to be very bad for him to give you morphing capa bility^
"The situation is worse than you think," Marco said. "The Yeerks seem to know you're here. Some piece of Andalite wreckage washed up on shore. They are up on the surface right now."
For the first time the Andalite seemed uncertain. «What is your plan?»
"To get you out of here and hide you," I said.
«You came only to rescue me? This is true?»
"Yes."
He smiled with his eyes, just as Prince Elfan gor had done. «You will be tired after this last morph. You will need to rest.»
"A little while, yes," I agreed.
"What is this?" Rachel asked. "This dome, I mean. It's like a park or something."
«This is the main part of an Andalite dome ship. It is where we live. The engines and the war bridge are in a long section that sticks out from the bottom, with this dome perched on top.»
"Like a mushroom. Or an umbrella," I sug gested.
114 The Andalite just looked blank.
"Never mind," I said.
«During the great battle in orbit over your planet, the dome was separated from the rest of the ship.»
"Why?"
The Andalite dug at the grass with his fore- hoof. « I...I was too young for battle, by the laws of our people. Besides, the rest of the ship maneuvers better without the dome.»
"You're a kid? I mean, like a young person?" Marco asked.
«Yes.»
"Are you the only one left? The only Andalite here?"
«Yes. I am alone. When the Blade ship ap peared unexpectedly, they caught us off guard. I saw the main section burn. Dracon beams dam aged the orbital stabilization of this dome. It fell. It splashed into the ocean and sank to the bottom. I have been here for these many weeks, hoping that my cousins would come for me. Hoping that some survived. Finally I risked sending out a mirrorwave call. It works by . . .» He stopped, and looked embarrassed. «l am not supposed to explain Andalite technology. My brother will ... He would have been angry with me.»
"Just you survived," I said sadly.
115 «Just me,» he said. «No prince. No warriors.»
I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach. I think the others felt the same way. I guess we'd all kind of been hoping this Andalite would be like the prince. A leader. Someone who could take over the battle. Someone who would know more than we did.
"We're young, too," I said. "Too young to fight, according to the laws of our people."
«But still you fight!»
"We feel like we don't have a choice. Look, we don't even know your name. This is Jake, Rachel, Marco. I'm Cassie. There's one more. His name is Tobias."
«l am Aximili-Esgarrouth-lsthil.»
We all just kind of stared.
"Ax," Marco said. "Pleased to meet you."
«Who is your prince?»
One by one we looked at Jake.
"Oh, give me a break," Jake said. "I am not anyone's prince."
But the Andalite had stepped forward. He bowed his head and lowered his tail. «l will fight for you, Prince Jake, until I can return to my cousins.»
116 CHAPTE R 19
«T his is a derrishoul tree,» Ax said. He pointed to one of the asparaguslike spears that grew straight and tall. He
was showing us around while we recuperated from the morphing.
«And that we call enos ermarf.»
"What?" I didn't see what he was pointing at.
«That. The way the lake curves forward into the grass, framed by derrishoul trees.»
"You have a word for something like that?" I asked.
«There are names for all the many ways the water and sky and field interact,» he explained. «And for the way the suns and the moons hang in the sky of our planet, and cast their lights in one
117 way or another on the different aspects of the world.»
Rachel caught my eye and silently mouthed the words, "He's cute." Then she winked.
I wasn't sure I agreed. Andalites are halfway between looking cute and looking scary. You can get past the weird stalk eyes and the fact that they don't have mouths (at least not that you can see), but that scorpionlike tail is far from cute. It reminded me of the sharks.
"You all live here?" Marco wondered. "I mean, just out in the open? Out on the grass?"
«Where else would we live? Here we have space to run. There must always be space to run.»
"This is like actually being on another planet," Jake marveled. "This is all like part of the Andalite world."
«Yes. We take our home with us into space. It angers the Yeerks,» he added grimly.
"Why do they care what you take into space?" Marco asked.
«lt is a part of everything they hate and would destroy if they could. The Yeerks would take our world and make it as barren as their own. As they will to your planet unless they are stopped.»
I grabbed Ax's arm. "What . . . what are you saying? What do you mean about making the planet barren?"
118 He turned his big eyes on me. «The usual Yeerk pattern. Once a planet is under their con trol, they alter it to suit their own desires. They will leave enough plant and animal species to keep the host bodies fed - humans in the case of Earth - and the rest they eliminates
He said it like it was obvious. Like it was just something I should know.
He started to move on, but I held his arm tightly. "Wait, wait. I don't think I understand you. What do you mean, they eliminate species?"
«They eliminate them. They will make Earth as much like the Yeerk home world as possible. They will destroy most of the plants and all of the animal species except those they eat.»
I let go of his arm. I rocked back and grabbed at the air for balance. I felt like I'd been hit by a car. "No," I whispered. "That can't be. You're just saying that because you don't like Yeerks."
The others were staring. No one was moving.
Ax looked around at us. His eyes narrowed. «Don't you know? Don't you know whom you're fighting?»
"We know they take over people's minds," Rachel said weakly.
«Yes. And that is one of their great crimes. But the Yeerks are more than that. Yeerks are killers of worlds. Murderers of all life. Hated and feared throughout the galaxy. They are a plague
119 that spreads from world to world, leaving nothing but desolation and slavery and misery in their wake.»
I felt cold. Small and weak and cold and afraid. I looked around, but even the inviting, lush Andalite landscape did nothing to warm me. Up in the "sky" and all around us, I felt the im mense pressure of the ocean, waiting to rush in.
«There are only three races left in all the known galaxy that still fight the Yeerks,» Ax said proudly. «And only the Andalites can stop them.»
"How long until your people return to Earth?" I asked.
He hesitated. «O ne of your years. Maybe two
"Two years!" Jake looked stricken. I went to his side and slipped my arm through his. "Five kids against an enemy that has destroyed half the galaxy? Five of us?"
Ax gave that smile, the one he did with his eyes. «Six, my Prince,» he said.
"Six. Well then," Marco said with grim sar casm, "with six it shouldn't be any problem."
"How did these Yeerks get this far?" Rachel demanded. "How did this happen? If you An dalites are so tough, why didn't you stop them a long time ago? How did a bunch of slugs who live in dirty ponds manage to become so powerful?"
Ax looked at her. «l am forbidden to tell cer tain things.»
120 Rachel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're telling us all of planet Earth may be scheduled for destruction and we are the only thing stand ing in the way, and you are going to keep secrets? I don't think so."
The Andalite looked angry, but no angrier than Rachel.
"Look, urn, I feel ready to morph again," I said, interrupting the tension. Rachel was angry because she was afraid. What Ax had told us had shaken her. It had shaken all of us. I guess we felt enough pressure already. We didn't really need to think that every living thing on the planet was depending on us.
It was kind of a lot to handle.
"Cassie's right," Jake said. "It's time. Let's get going before it's too late."
I followed him along with the others as we crossed alien land, heading for an environment just as alien - the ocean.
I wished I could forget what Ax told us. I wished I could stop seeing the pictures in my head of an Earth without birds and trees. An Earth where the ocean was empty and dead.
«Don't you know whom you're fighting?» the Andalite had asked.
Yes.
Now I knew.
121
?H ey, I have a stupid question," Marco said.
"What?" Jake asked.
Marco jerked his thumb toward the Andalite, Ax. "How do we get him out of here?"
Jake looked blank. "Um , Ax, I don't suppose you can swim? Swim really well, I mean. We're a long, long way from land."
«l would not swim in this body. I would morph a sea creature.»
"Like what?" Marco asked bluntly. "We have to travel far and fast."
«l have acquired a creature from this ocean. It was a large creature who swam close one day. I stunned him and acquired him. I thought he would be useful if I was to escape.»
122 "What kind of animal? What did he - " I stopped suddenly. I'd felt something. A shadow. I looked up. Through the air of the dome. Through the clear dome itself and up through the water.
It was on the surface. A cigar-shaped shadow riding the surface of the sea.
"That's a ship," I said. "Up there. I think it's stopped."
"Let's get out of here. Now," Jake snapped.
We ran for the hatch.
PING-NG-NG! PING-NG-NG!
The sound echoed through the dome.
"Sonar!" Marco hissed.
"How do you know?" Rachel asked.
"Didn't you ever see The Hunt for Red Octo ber? Great movie. Now let's leave. They've found us!"
PING-NG-NG! PING-NG-NG!
We crammed inside the small hatch enclosure, the four of us and Ax.
"Morph!" Jake yelled.
I had already started. I could feel the dolphin features emerging. My friends were beginning to mutate. Water rushed into the chamber, swirling up around our legs.
Ax was changing, too. It almost broke my con centration, watching him. In their normal forms Andalites are strange enough. When they morph it is totally bizarre. Instead of two legs shriveling
123 and disappearing, it was four. And then there were the stalk eyes. And the tail, which lost its scythe blade but split into a new kind of tail, with a long, raked, vertical blade and a shorter lower blade.
The water swept up to my neck, but by that point I was more dolphin than human.
BA-BOOOOM!
The explosion shuddered through the dome. It rattled my teeth. I felt like my eardrums would explode.
«Yeerks,» Ax said. He said the word in our heads the way his brother had. With hatred and rage so deep it was impossible to comprehend it.
BA-BOOOOM!
A second explosion! Suddenly the exterior door opened and we swam out in a rush. Four dolphins and one . . .
Shark!
I'd been distracted by the explosions.
Ax had morphed a shark.
« Oh , good choice, Ax,» Marco said. «You morphed a shark? »
«I s it wrong?» the Andalite wondered.
«Your species and ours are mortal enemies,» I explained.
« Oh . I have a lot to learn about Earth.»
«Here's the first lesson - let's get OUT OF HERE!» Marco screamed.
124 I soared up through the water, angling toward the distant surface. But as I rose I looked behind me. There were two jagged holes in the dome. Water was gushing in like Niagara Falls. As I watched, a third dark cylinder was falling slowly from the surface. Even I had seen enough sub marine movies to know it was a depth charge.
«What hosts have these Yeerks used?» Ax de manded urgently.
«Um . . . Hosts? You mean bodies? Controllers? They use Hork-Bajir and humans,» I answered.
«Hork-Bajir do not swim,» Ax said. «We may be safe. The Yeerks know little of deep waters. They have no oceans on their world, only shallow pools.»
«Good,» Jake said. «AII they've had here are Hork-Bajir. And Taxxons, of course.»
« Taxxons?»
«Yes, is that a problem?»
We were near the surface now, just a dozen feet from the bright barrier of sea and sky.
Just then a larger, darker shadow swept over us. A shadow that was dark inside of dark. A shadow that touched your soul. It skimmed just above the surface of the water.
It was shaped like a long battle-ax. Twin semi circular blades at the back, a long, diamond-headed point at the front.
The Blade ship of Visser Three.
126 Something was falling from it as it passed over us. There were a dozen splashes. I rolled over to get a better look.
What I saw made my flesh crawl.
Taxxons. In the water. Coming toward us.
«Those nasty worms can swim?» Marco yelled.
But the answer was obvious. The Taxxons, ten-foot-long centipedes bristling with dozens of pairs of sharp needle legs, were racing after us. And they were very fast in the water.
Very fast .
From this angle we couldn't see the several red-jelly eyes. But we could see the circular mouth at the top of each vile body.
I had seen Taxxons straining to catch bits of Prince Elfangor as Visser Three devoured him.
I had seen Taxxons, on orders from Visser Three, devour one of their own.
Applegate, K A - Animorphs 04 - The Message Page 7