The Found

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The Found

final copy: April 26, 1999

Chapter One

This primitive computer is quite interesting. The touchboard is obviously not made for Andalite hands, but it will have to do. For now, at least, until I can find a way to contact my home world once more.

My name is Tersis-Lyng-Ermanan. Yes, I know, Andalites must first introduce their title, such as the revered Prince Elfangor-Sirinal-Shamtul or aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. (I have never met Elfangor, but his name is known by all. I met Aximili, however, on our last moments on the dome ship.) Well, I have no title. I am not a warrior, nor an aristh. So what am I, you ask? For one thing, I’m female.

I am also a resleth. I believe you humans call the position "janitor."

When the first Earth-orbit fight broke out between us and the Yeerks and all fighters were called to their respective battle stations, Aximili was not alone in the GalaxyTree’s domeship as the people I have come to know as friends believe. Perra-Yunidos-Grun, the only other resleth on the ship, and I had gone there at the first battle cry. Our section of the dome was not near the warriors' practice area though, in the case that we might distract them. Our section of the dome was located near the outermost hatch, separated by a wall that could be sealed off from the rest of the dome.

I watched as Aximili reluctantly stepped into the dome as another warrior sealed the fighter-access hatch. It did not bother me that he was upset; he certainly wanted a chance to fight, to prove himself. But I became scared when the dome ship was disconnected from our fighter vessel.

<Perra,> I whispered, <why would they detach us from the fighter ship?> In my hearts, I knew the answer; we were losing the fight. I still wanted reassurance from my older friend. She, of course, shook her head, evading my question.

<We'll be safe so long as we stay in orbit.> Immediately, I felt a lurch in the ship; we were drifting towards the planet. Fear maddened me, and my tail tensed up. <What's happening, Perra? Why aren't we in a steady orbit? The aristh will know, right? Right?>

<No!> she cried, but too late. Rushing out from behind the separation, I forgot all the strict codes in my fear. Perra hissed at me to come back behind the wall, but I was too scared. Now you see why I am not a warrior.

I ran up to Aximili in my fright, startling him at the least. I hastily remembered shreds of manners and bowed before him.

<Aristh Aximili,> I began on bent foreleg, <Please tell me what it is that we must do now that we are separated from the other fighters!> I stressed the word "other" in hopes that if we survived, he would not have me sent back to our world in shame. His main eyes did not move from the picture of a blue planet filling the screen; instead, his stalk eyes turned slowly to me. I could see that he was scared as well.

He hesitated, not knowing my name. We had never met before then. I hastily bent lower on my knee.

I stuttered, main eyes studying the ground. I noted how shiny his hooves were, the sign of a young warrior. I also noted, none too bravely, that his breathing was becoming more rapid. Not a good sign.

<Rise, I'm no prince.> He paused. <There’s another resleth here, right?> he asked. I'm sure we could both feel the dread vibrating from Perra. <Come out! It is better if we all stay here together.> Slowly, one hoof, and then another, and then Perra's face appeared from behind the separation wall. She took a few tentative steps forward, then ran the rest of the way to my side and bowed low to the grass.

<Aristh Aximili,> she whispered, all four eyes turned away from him. She was shaking; I could not tell if it was from the impending crash between ourselves and the planet, or being so close to the great aristh. Probably both. I could tell that Aximili was loving every minute of the worship he received, after all, no one on a fighter ship pays any respect to the arisths. At the same time, I could see the fear building in his main eyes as the planet grew bigger and bigger before us.

<Rise,> he snapped, and Perra drew up to attention, still not looking at him. <Look at me!> he ordered. She shyly focused one stalk eye on him. He sighed, turning one stalk eye to me, the other watching Perra. All our main eyes now focused on the blue planet. Silence enveloped us as we approached the atmosphere ever faster, being sucked into the planet's gravity well.

Chapter Two

<Do you have any training for crashes, Aximili?> I asked, boldly using his name without the title, believing that we would soon be dead anyway. Perra's main eyes ripped away from the planet to stare at me in disbelief. I shrugged, and sent a personal message to her: <If we live, I doubt he'll care to turn me in.>

She shot back, <He's an aristh! Oh course he will!>

<And how will he contact anyone to do so? They're all off fighting!> She had no answer for me and turned back to the planet. Aximili remained silent, thinking to himself, I assumed. He finally broke the silence.

<No training for a Dome ship crash,> he mumbled. <Only for a fighter ship crash. Umm,> he thought back to his lessons, <we're supposed to brace ourselves in a hatchway and find some way of securing our tailblades so they don't cut us on impact. And...> His voice trailed off. Obviously, he had not paid much attention in that class. Arisths! They think they'll never crash!

And then, as if he suddenly realized that his only company were two lowly resleths, Aximili took charge of the situation. <Umm, over there! That panel, is that any sort of crash gear?> Without a word, we three galloped over to the wall. I quickly scanned the writing: Emergency supplies: liquefied grass, gas containment hoods, shredder, tailblade sheathes, tourniquets, portable communicator. Aximili placed his palm on the panel and thought-spoke a command, opening it. Carefully removing three tailblade sheathes, he handed us each one and we slipped them on. My stalk eyes searched for a place where we could brace ourselves, noting that the base of the dome was already glowing with heat. Time was running out. I began shaking uncontrollably as fear gripped my hearts. Or maybe it was because the ship was jerking around in the atmosphere. Aximili and Perra felt it as well.

<Grab something, anything! Just find a way to secure yourself!> Aximili cried. <Here, use these tourniquets to lash yourselves to the handholds in the wall!> He threw one of the ropes at me; it was not very long, and my hands were shaking too hard to tie a good knot.

<We're going to die!> shouted Perra, the deep blue of the planet rushing up at us. The air within the dome grew hotter and hotter as friction increased, and we each struggled to get hooked to the walls. I had tied so many knots before, but not with only minutes to spare, and sweaty palms on top of that. I finally got a slipknot around my wrist, somehow. I truly don't know, and I assume it was the pounding blood in my head that told me to get it tied, or die. I closed my eyes and held on with white knuckles as the front edge of the dome plunged into the water of the planet with a thundering roar.

Chapter Three

We crashed!

Chapter Four

The tourniquet barely slowed the force of the impact before it snapped my wrist and I was hurled down toward the other end of the ship. I hit the dome with a sickening crunch as water sizzled and hissed below me. I strained to keep my eyes shut tight and focused on staying still.

Gradually, the noise softened, and I felt the ship dropping as we were engulfed in the ocean. Painfully, I opened a bruised stalk eye and looked around, finding it hard to focus. Below me, water at depths I could not even begin to imagine, bubbles rising up all around the edges of the dome. I looked up; we were not too far below the surface, because I could still see the blue sky. I turned my eye downwards once more and saw...Aximili! He had been flung down along with me! I didn't see Perra, but then I looked toward the wall. Yes, somehow she had managed to hold on.

I relaxed for the moment, but dread began filling me up once more. We were stranded on a Yeerk-ridden planet, injured, few weapons, no warriors, and we were sinking rapidly beneath an ocean where who knows how many dangerous beasts lurked. I moaned.

<Ugh. Perra, Aximili, are you all right?> I called. No answer. This drove my panic higher than it had been since the first battle-cry was called. <Per-ra! Ax-i-mi-li!> I opened the rest of my eyes and began moving around to find the extent of my injuries. No doubt about it, one stalk eye was far too injured to be of any use. My wrist was snapped clean through. My right foreleg was broken, and my left forehoof was cracked -very painful- but I could probably walk. I stumbled to my feet on the transparent dome.

And fell back down. No, I couldn't walk. <Ooh, that hurts!> I cursed. The pain screamed at me with every bit of pressure put on either foreleg; to cope, I focused on my kafit bird morph. (Allow me to explain briefly. All resleths employed on any kind of fighter ship must undergo testing and drilling like any other crew member. We are trained in tail-to-tail fighting as well as survival skills while preparing to join a fighter ship. During the training, we acquire one land, one water, and one air morph. They are very useful at times.)

I felt the extra sets of arms erupt from my torso as I began shrinking. My forelegs shriveled away as my back hooves split and became toes. My fur melded together, then erupted once more as feathers. My stalk eyes were sucked back into my head as my tail split and formed tail feathers. The tailblade sheath clattered to the floor behind me; I had forgotten to remove it.

The kafit bird's mind bubbled up beneath my own, first calm, then afraid as it realized that we were surrounded by water. I fought for control, and won, flying over to Perra. She was still gripping the wall.

<Perra?> I asked. She didn't move. Something deep within the kafit’s instincts screamed out, <Food!> but I fought it heartily, not wanting to believe it. My eyes traveled to her hands and the tourniquet as I wondered how she had remained on the wall while Aximili and I were thrown from it. A cry welled up in my throat then; I thought I would be sick.

Perra had always tied better knots than me. I don't know why. It's her gift, I suppose. She must have tied the rope to the wall and made a loop at the end to slip over her head and secure under her arms, but we crashed too early. When we hit the planet, the force of the impact caught the rope around her neck and choked her. She was still hanging by this noose. This is what the kafit had seen.

<Perra!> I cried, flying up to her. I bit and slashed at the rope until it broke and her body collapsed on the floor. The kafit bird saw her as helpless prey and wanted to eat her. <No! Perra, wake up. Wake up!> I waited in horror as she still did not breathe. My desperation grew into anger, and I hit her with my beak. <Wake up!>

Chapter Five

One main eye opened weakly. <Air,> she gasped.

I nearly fell over in relief. Perra was all right! She took a deep breath, then doubled over in pain.

<Cracked vertebrae,> she gasped, touching her neck lightly. Her hand pulled back as if from a shredder beam. <Aaaah. Ohh, that hurts.> She breathed lightly, taking in all the air she could without passing out. My kafit bird was disappointed and sat down, always watching the still-potential prey. Then Perra turned her stalk eyes toward me. <What about the aristh?>

Aximili! I had forgotten him! I cried. <Are you all right, Perra?>

<Yes. Go check on him, if you can.>

At her word, I was off and flying towards him. This time, I listened to the kafit’s instincts. They pointed out that he was still breathing. I relaxed somewhat.

<Aximili? Hey, Aximili, are you all right?> I landed near him and waddled forward, feeling better as I watched his chest rise and fall.

<Is he alive?> called Perra.

<Yes,> I answered, <and he seems to be doing fi—> My thoughts rose in pitch as the huge shadow approached, nearly the length of our dome and graceful in the water. <Yeaaaaaah! What is that?>

The giant creature loomed closer and closer to the dome as we sank. Haunting cries and moans filled the water around us as it neared us. From the size of it, I knew immediately that if it hit our ship with enough force, the dome would crack and the water gushing in would kill us. I recall thinking it strange to have so many life-threatening situations in one day.

Movement! The other side of the dome! Another creature, heading right for us!

<Tersis, we are surrounded.>

Leave it to Perra to point out the obvious. <What should we do?> I cried, beginning to beat Aximili with several pairs of wings, hoping to wake him. <Those things could kill us!>

<What can we do? Nothing. No,> she paused, <Wait. I have the feeling that these large forms are not very fast. If we can get into this ocean, our kyrthen forms should be able to out-swim them!> She looked at me.

<The hatch.> I knew right away what Perra was getting at, and I didn’t like it. <But what about Aximili?> She sighed, and began morphing to her djabala form so that she could walk to the hatch.

<Can you wake him? Hurry, they’ll be here soon!> I hit Aximili with my beak. Repeatedly.

<Aximili, wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!> I shouted. I slapped him with my wings and prepared to bite him.

<No!> yelled Perra. <Stop! We have to get out now!>

<He’ll have to take care of himself.> Her tone softened.

<No,>

<But—> I knew it was hopeless to argue; Perra was right, and the shadowy creatures moved closer with every minute. I reluctantly flew over to the panel and removed the shredder, bringing it back to Aximili. I dropped it at his hooves. <Goodbye.>

I flapped off and into the hatch-sectioned part of the dome. Perra was already halfway into her kyrthen form.

<Seal the dome,> she ordered. I demorphed without feeling. My no-longer-injured hand punched the lighted panel; I was unaware of it. I was numb. The metal doors clinked shut.

<Aximili!> I cried, but it was too late.

<Set the timed release,> came Perra’s voice, as if from far away. My hands flew over the touchboard, the hatches being the only manually-operated stations on our ship. I vaguely remember 01:00 presenting itself on the screen, ticking away, 00:59, 00:58... My kyrthen morph emerged from my body and I fell to the floor. Perra and I lay flat out on the grass, soon to be flooded with ocean water. 00:02, 00:01, 00:00. The hatch blew open.

Chapter Six

There was no slow, steady filling of the room with water. As soon as the first crack appeared in our ship’s outer shell, water pressure broke the hatch open and sent the door smashing against the wall behind us. Perra and I were immediately swept out of the room in a torrent of bubbles.

<Aximili!> I yelled one last time. (For months after, I imagined that he had called back to me as I left, though I knew he hadn’t. Just a foolish fantasy.) I could barely see the dome within minutes; the high sodium chloride content of this ocean burned the eyes of my morph badly. I watched sadly as it sunk.

<Tersis! The shadows!> Perra’s cry brought me back to the situation at hand and adrenaline rushed my body.

<All right, let’s get out of here!> I beat my tail hard and shot forward, steering myself with only three fins near the front of my head. Sodium chloride in excessive levels rushed though me, into my gills, burning my eyes! <Aaaah! I have to demorph!>

<Just a little farther!> Minutes later, we had put several miles between ourselves and the great shadows. I had taken to swimming with my eyes closed, but my gills were still stinging from the sodium chloride. Perra probably felt it too, but she was older than me and could control her complaints better than I could.

<Now?> I whined.

<Demorph,> came the exasperated answer. I gladly complied.

The kyrthen’s large tail compacted and sharpened to a point. Stalk eyes popped out of my head. Arms and legs sprouted from my body. Lungs formed.

Perhaps I should have surfaced first.

<Barghht!> I glubbed from under the water. The sodium chloride was no kinder to my true form. I kicked my legs and pushed out with my arms, flailing in the ocean. I strained for every inch, all the while my lungs burning! Somehow, I found air and greedily sucked it in. Perra was hysterical.

<You...you look like a drowned djbala!> she shrieked. I really didn’t think it was all that funny, but once you escape death once, even small, pointless things start to look humorous. <Ah, ha ha ha!> Then again, I probably did look like a drowned djabala. I crinkled up the corners of my eyes.

I said. Looking back, I wish I had said something witty, like, <No, I believe I look like you when you’ve have a bad fur day.> Of course, I had no sense of humor or sarcasm at the time. They are strictly human-induced traits. I spread out my arms to float better, and hit something. Smooth. Wet. Rubbery. I watched a group of the same approach Perra.

<Tersis—>

<—we are surrounded. Yes, I figured that out.>

<Perhaps these are the sentient life species on this planet?> she asked.

<That would make sens—> A thought hit me. I groaned. <What if the giant creatures were the sentient ones?> I suddenly had the urge to bang my head against a wall. Perra shook her head, still treading water.

<True, but they were coming right for us. They might have attacked!>

<How? We still have these,> she gestured to the water species, <to deal with.> I shrugged.

So by pure chance, I happened to be trillions of light years away from my home planet, possibly one of only two Andalites left alive in this sector of the universe, stranded in the ocean of another world, and I was floating in the water, preparing to acquire a species that might even be sentient. My fingers touched the skin of its face; its jaws opened. I focused, and it went limp. But for how long?

I concentrated on bringing its DNA up and into myself. I could feel the strange surge of importance flow up through my fingers and into my arm, surging into my bloodstream. Soon, the animal was a part of me. I remember thinking for wonderful it was, acquiring an animal in the wild, on another planet for that matter! But I had other things to focus on.

<Morphing,> I announced. All this changing was beginning to wear me down. Seriously, I had gone through the morphing process four times that day, and acquired a new morph that I would be trying out for the first time in unfamiliar waters. Just perfect. I sighed to myself and went on with it.

Chapter Seven

The first changes began in my skin. My fur liquefied and rehardened, thickening my newly grey skin. My face bulged out and split horizontally, filling with a thick mass of muscle and small bone knobs (otherwise known as "teeth"). My underwater vision improved ten times, a hundred times, even though my stalk eyes had withered away. My arms shortened and flattened out; my legs melded with my tail and flattened at the end. Finally, a fin pushed out of my back. And then the mind surfaced.

I don’t know what I expected. Hunger or fear, maybe, or at least something other than what I felt.

It was exhilarating! This animal had the mind of a young Andalite: free, wanting nothing but to play! That was all I wanted, to have fun. It was happiness in its purest form. I heard some clicking noises, chatter! They were chatting with me! They wanted to play! I chattered back and dove down, deep into the water, shot a hard U-turn and surged up into the air, finishing with a perfect flip!

<Tersis, you have to take control of your morph.> Huh. Some voice. It wasn’t clicking, so I ignored it and splashed around in the water.<Tersis, you are an Andalite! Fight for control!> The voice was starting to bug me and— ooh! Something strange floating in the water. Four legs, a tail, two arms... <Are you in control yet?> Perra asked, rather annoyed.

<Oh, yeah,> I realized. <I’m in a morph.> I relinquished some of the happiness I felt.

<Yes, Perra, it is me.> (I was later to find out that my few minutes out of control of the morph called "dolphin" annoyed Perra greatly. The thought makes me smile.) <Want to play?> Silence, then Perra’s irritated voice, saying,

<Yes,> I said. Perra sighed.

<Morphing,> she announced. I turned away; the sight of her between morphs disgusted me. I probably looked the same, if not worse, but I didn’t care. <Hey! Let’s play!> she called, and splashed around in the water. I thought about talking her out of the animal’s mind- seriously, I did! But it got no further than my thoughts, and soon we were racing each other towards what we hoped was shore, maybe even some kind of civilization, forgetting about Aximili in the process.

We had been in morph for approximately eighty percent of the safe time when Perra sighted land.

<Look, there!> she yelled, so close that it hurt my head.

She began to go into some long explanation of how blind Andalites can still "see" better than some Andalites who have vision, when I decided that I had heard enough of her for a day and raced toward the shore. <Hey!> she cried, and shot after me.

I reached shore first, of course, Perra gasping a far second.

<No fair,> she pouted, sounding just like a young child. I grinned and told her so. She shut up for awhile, and we both floated there in the shallow waters, not far from the shore. I began thinking of grass; had it only been hours since I had last absorbed the nutrients? Either way, I was feeling a hunger. My dolphin morph felt it also. Before I knew what was happening, another aquatic animal that the dolphin recognized as food (a "fish") had caught my attention and I was racing after it.

<What are you doing now?> Perra whined, so fed up with my antics that I could feel her annoyance. I decided not to push my luck with her and turned back; we were very close, and I knew that the day had taken a toll on her.

<All right, I’m here,> I said, still chasing the small animal in my mind. I had fought every instinct my morph had and turned out hungry. Great. I continued, <and check around for any signs of intelligent life. Semi-intelligent, even. We know there must be some.> Perra sent a blast of doubt at me along with her thought-message.

<Tersis, there are Yeerks on this planet. That is the only reason we know that there are at least semi-intelligent creatures here. If we demorph right there on the beach, we will be exposed to every Controller there, in every kind of host. We will be defenseless while they sit and think of ways to kill us!> Ouch. Good point, well taken. I was silent. <We have three percent of safe time left,> she said.

<Great,> I mumbled. <No choice. We have to get up on shore, and NOW.>

Perra hesitated, but just for a second. With less than three percent time remaining, we pulled right up onto the beach and began to demorph, exposing ourselves for all the Yeerks to see.

Chapter Eight

I rushed to get my tail demorphed. So, of course, it was the last thing to change.

<Stay low!> hissed Perra. My eyes -all four of them- shot around the area. No signs of animal life; good. We were standing on crushed quartz, saturated with the water and sodium chloride concentration. Farther inland were...plants? At least, that’s what I thought they were. Some had thick, brown stems, sprouting into feathery green leaves at the tops. Others grew closer to the ground, also green. So much green! And no signs of life other than the vegetation. I relaxed my tail.

<Don’t get too comfortable,> sighed Perra, already worn out with her role as leader. So I took over.

she began to say, but I was already walking toward the green. Carefully, I crushed a bit of plant under my hoof. I felt nutrients flowing into me, and I relaxed, further opening my hoof to the nutrients. Soon, nutrients of all sorts were gushing up my legs.

<It’s safe,> I called, walking around in a mess of plants. Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation in my forehooves. I looked down; I was standing on a patch of some plant, very green, with many leaves in groups of three. The nutrients kept flowing, though, so I paid no attention.

<Tersis, maybe this isn’t the best idea. We don’t know if that vegetation is truly safe.>

<Well, I’m famished, and this feels like food to me, especially since you wouldn’t let my morph eat that aquatic animal,> I said, hands on my hips. She stayed quiet for a moment, thinking.

<You know, maybe that would have been a good idea. Come back to the water, we’ll fill up on nutrients in our morphs and take a look around.> I sighed. The best ideas are only good in hindsight.

<Fine,> I said, dragging my hooves back to the water’s edge. Perra’s eyes nearly popped out of her stalks as I approached. <Whaaaaaat?> I whined, scratching my upper thigh. Eyes wide, she pointed at the area I was scratching; it had turned bright red under my fur, as had both my forelegs.

<Aaaaah!> I slapped at the rash. That only made it itch worse. I scratched and scratched at myself, and it spread further and further. I eventually plopped down onto the crushed quartz and rolled around; very un-Andalitelike, but my skin itched like a thousand insects were biting it! It was then that I noticed Perra rolling on the ground as well.

In fits of hysteria. I groaned.

<Don’t jinx yourself!> she cried, rolling around like a maniac. I stopped for a moment and stared at her. Eventually, she noticed, and tried to control a giggle.

<Sorry,> she apologized. <But look, we obviously can’t eat here. Morph to your aquatic form already, and...and....> she broke off. And began laughing again. <Look at yourself!>

I growled. And I did. One stalk eye had been focused on the rash’s progress this whole time; the toxin had spread through my bloodstream, though my forelegs, up my chest, and was already halfway down my spine. I scratched under one arm. Are you laughing yet?

Well then, I guess Perra was the only one who thought it was funny.

<MORPHING,> I announced. This time, my legs decided to go first, and I was launched face-first into the shallows as Perra continued laughing on shore. I flung my arms around to keep me afloat; didn’t help me any. Eventually, I made it through the morph, glad for the blowhole in the back of my neck. I swam several meters away from the land.

<I’m leaving,> I threatened. Still, Perra never stopped rolling on the crushed quartz (which I later found out is called "sand"), laughing her brains out. Eventually, I just turned around and swam away, and she realized that I was serious in my threat.

<Wait!> she called, and hurried into the water. I slowed down. But not too much. She had to work to catch up to me. Served her right.

Personally, I just wanted to get away from that island. But my morph had other ideas in mind; I echolocated subconsciously, looking for food, I suppose, when a picture suddenly popped into my mind. Perra saw it, too, and cursed under her breath. The creature was large and powerful, with a pointy dorsal fin. It was genetically programmed into my morph as "enemy." And it was coming towards us.

<We’re in trouble,> Perra so helpfully pointed out.

I said. Huh. Well, what do you know. I suppose sarcasm isn’t an entirely human trait.

<Think we can outrun it?> she asked.

I said. She groaned. So did I. And the creature approached ever faster. Then suddenly, to my embarrassment, it was Perra who saved us both.

<Hey! Wait! Do you remember the Resinor Battle Technique?> Of course I did; I had gotten highest honors in our resleth battle training class. The technique called for two fighters heading straight toward each other, each unable to swerve. The weaker one, the one who would not survive a fight, would try to jump over the other one. If he missed, well, let’s just say he wouldn’t have to worry about running away after he jumped.

<Yes,> I said, <And I realize that these morphs are quite capable of jumping. But how could we outswim this creature after jumping it?>

<We have to try, or go down fighting,> she stated, solemn as a true warrior. <Now let’s stick some tail in ‘im! Swim full throttle, right for it!> I grinned to myself. What we were doing was entirely insane, completely against the animal’s instincts. I now realize that it was best that we didn’t trust the instincts; obviously if we did something not from this planet, the fearsome creature would not anticipate what we were doing. And so, Perra and I raced toward its open jaws.

<AaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!> I yelled as the teeth rushed ever closer.

Chapter Nine

<Wait for it, wait, wait!> Perra yelled, giving me a headache. <Now!> I beat my tail harder, strained all my muscles, powered up, and JUMPED!

<Yeaaaaaaaaaaa-haaaaaaaaaa!> I screamed, sailing over the animal. Whoosh! I landed in the water and plunged beneath the surface, immediately swimming away from the thing behind me. Bubbles surrounded me; my morph’s mind was ecstatic! <What a rush!> I yelled.

<Yes!> Perra agreed. <Now let’s find some land with real grass on it!>

<Fine, so long as that thing doesn’t eat us both first!> I joked. But we were already well past the creature, though it was still following us at a good speed. I pictured myself back on our world, running through the blue grass, absorbing nutrients. The memories reminded the Andalite part of my brain about something. I realized what we had forgotten with a groan. <We forgot about Aximili again!> I grumbled. <Is it still too late to turn back?>

<Um, Tersis? Look behind you, and truthfully tell me if you want to turn back.>

I looked. At a set of teeth. And quickened my pace.

<No, I don’t want to be eaten. But should we really just leave Aximili in the dome?>

I sighed. <Yes, O Leader. I’ll keep that in mind the next time you’re stuck someplace.>

<Save it, Tersis. Look!> So, I looked. And I echolocated. And I realized that the water of this planet was becoming more crowded. A loud motor sound rushed by us, and slow as it was (perhaps 25 miles per hour), the waves it left behind it were crashing. I laughed out of sheer joy for the first sign of intelligent life we had seen since leaving the dome.

<Perra, I believe we may have found our civilization.>

<Yep. I hope they have some grass there; I’m starved!> I was about to agree with her when I realized something with sick dread.

<Yeerks,> I spat. <There are Yeerks on this planet. We won’t be safe just strolling up to this civilization like we are!>

<True,> she agreed, and slowed her speed. I followed her example. <We have to find a deserted area and acquire a land, or even an air, animal. Then we can walk around without being noticed by the Yeerks.>

<Good idea. Let’s follow the shore north.> We both swam along the beach then, keeping it on our left. But time ticked away, and soon, we were down to 15% of safe time.

<Perra, we need to step up this looking already. I say we take the next near-deserted cove we find and demorph there.>

<Look, we have to do it sometime, it might as well be now, and—>

<—as long as we check the place out first,>

<Tersis! I was agreeing with you!>

<Oh. Right.>

With 10% safe time remaining, we passed a rather busy section of the water; I assumed it was a port. And there, directly beside a huge building, was a small forest, extending all the way to the water.

<Perfect,> said Perra, an we began heading towards shore.

<Or as close to perfect as we’re going to get.> Pulling up as far inland as we could manage, we began to demorph.

My legs sprouted first; half-demorphed, I began shuffling into denser forest in the hopes that no one would see me there. My tail hardened to a point behind me; flippers became arms. My eyesight strengthened, and fur spread out over my skin. Finally, my stalk eyes popped out. I noted two brightly-colored mammals sucking each other’s faces not on and a half meters away to my right, and I backed up. The male noticed me, and pulled away from the other mammal, a look which I could not read on his face. He yelled something that I did not understand because my translation chip had not yet broken down his language, but I had not doubt in my mind that this mammal had yelled,

"Andalite!"

Chapter Ten

Perra hissed, keeping her thought-speak low. The male continued shouting as the female shrieked in high-pitched cries. They turned to run.

<Oh, no you don’t,> I growled, and struck the male with the blunt of my blade. Perra caught the female with another tail-strike, and she crumpled on the ground. And then I heard shouts from not too far away, and pounding footsteps. <Let’s move!> I ordered, and we both ran from the site. We were not chased, most likely because no one saw us and the Yeerks hadn’t known that there were any Andalites on this planet. Unfortunately, I guess they found out from us.

The next few months flew by after finding the mainland. Perra and I found a clearing to live in, not too close to what passes for civilization on this planet. We spent most of our time just grazing, running around, and tail fighting. And in the middle of one tail-fight, I suggested that we explore further beyond the forest and acquire some life-forms native to the area.

<We’ve had this conversation before, Tersis.> Slash! I blocked, and struck!

She blocked! Slice! Block! <—Yeerks.>

Swipe! And my tail was at her neck. <You win,> she said.

I bowed and removed my blade from her throat. She bowed to me. We stepped back from each other. <So, I win, huh?>

<Yes,> she said, <Don’t boast!> I grinned.

<No—> she started to protest, but I had her. She said so herself that I won! <Fine,> she sighed reluctantly.

<Great.> I bubbled. <Let’s go. Morph one of those birds we caught.>

<Why do I let you rope me into these things?> Perra complained, brown feathers sprouting from her skin. A hard, yellow beak pushed out of her face as she began shrinking and two legs shriveled away. Her arms became wings, hooves became talons, and her tail split into reddish feathers. Needless to say, not a pretty sight. Of course, I was one to talk; we had chosen to morph the same bird, and the same changes were happening to me. I stared at Perra with laserlike eyes.

<It’s a good look on you,> I joked.

<Save it. Let’s just get this over with already,> she grumbled, taking off. I followed suit a few seconds later. <Where to, boss?> she asked mockingly, using her own brand of sarcasm. I ignored it.

<Anywhere you see plenty of those mammals,> I said, soaring up a thermal like I was in a dropshaft. For sure, I used this morph many times, but each time was a new rush! <Yea-ha!>

<Control yourself, Tersis,> Perra grumbled, but I could tell her bad mood was lifting.

<Yessir,> I said, and began heading toward an area of cleared land.

From high up, we observed hundreds, yes, hundreds, of these mammals moving in and around a large group of buildings and into small land vehicles that seemed to travel no faster then 60 miles per hour. Huge expanses of grass, well-tended for the most part, lay untouched outside an enormous rectangle of black in front of the buildings.

<Wow,> exclaimed Perra. <This is possibly the most primitive site I have ever visited.>

<Definitely. But if we’re going to stay here until reinforcements come, we have to fit in. Come on!> I urged.

<Have you give any thought as to how we’ll acquire them? For one thing, they’re sentient. For another, we have no way of telling which ones are already Controllers. And the ones that aren’t will probably run away.> I almost froze in shock right there, hundreds of meters up. I really hadn’t thought about how to acquire them! <We should turn back,> she smirked. I groaned to myself. She was right.

<Well...>

<You know I’m right. Let’s just go.> I seriously thought about it. For a whole two seconds.

Chapter Eleven

<Tersis!> Perra yelled, but she was too late. I had already turned into a steep dive, heading for the roof of one of the buildings. I could barely hear her voice as she called back, <Fine! I’m going back!> As I landed, I turned to watch her retreating form.

<Coward,> I thought. No doubt she was calling me "reckless" in her own mind, but I didn’t care. <So, mammals. We learn what you’re really like.>

I was all prepared to find an entrance into the building, and drop down all gung-ho, when it occurred to me that I knew nothing about their culture and would stand out sorely in the population, even when I had a mammalian morph. And in the hundreds of mammals there, many would likely be Controllers who could identify me as different. As Andalite. I scrapped that idea and searched the roof for a suitable spying morph. Something small, so as not to be noticed, preferably with ears, as I had noted that these mammals communicate through noises. My gaze fell upon a four-legged animal, no larger than my opened hand and covered with dingy fur. It was scrabbling around in what I assumed was waste. I debated for a moment whether or not to acquire and use it to spy.

<No,> I thought, <too big, still might be noticed. But it might be helpful later on.> I approached it slowly, but it scurried away. <Hey!> I slashed out with my tail and caught it in the leg. It fell to the ground and laid limp as I acquired it with my tail. I then twitched my tail and flung it a meter or so away. As I turned around, searching for new morphs, something happened!

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! An alarm! The noise was deafening!

<Aaaah!> I screamed. <They know I’m here!> Immediately, I morphed into bird and flew off the roof. Bipedal mammals, streaming out of the building! Hundreds, thousands of them! All making mouth-noises! Confused as I was, I immediately recognized this as an important, primitive ritual that I should be spying on. Calming my nerves, I dove down out of the sky and landed shakily in a tree, near a group of the mammals. They were talking considerably lower than the others, and I recognized them to be approximately the same age as the two mammals I had first seen on this planet.

"See? I told you it was dangerous to meet like this! We should’ve gone to the movies!"

"Shut up, Marco."

"Will you two cool it? Have you forgotten Ax only has fifteen minutes left?"

"Of course not, O Fearless Leader. Just mentioning what a convenient time it is to have a fire alarm."

"Okay. We go as planned. Cassie, Rachel, get him to the construction site. Me and Marco will stay behind and watch to see if anyone follows you. We meet up at Cassie’s at 4:00. Got it?"

"Yessir. Cass, let’s go before he starts making us wear camouflage."

"Make us wear camouflage? Xena, we are camouflage! Just grab some tree DNA, we’ll blend right in."

"You as a tree? It’s too perfect. Your IQ’s would match up soooo well."

"Argh! Xena spears my heart again!"

Their ritual having been completed, the five mammals dispersed, and I went and spied on others. But even after all that spying, I did not feel that I had learned anything about their culture.

Chapter Twelve

For several weeks, I spied on the mammals using my bird morph and a small reptilian morph that I had acquired in the forest. I will also admit, none too modestly, that I managed to sneak into some mammals’ living spaces and acquire them! I, of course, hadn’t spied enough to blend in, nor did I have any artificial skin, but it is a good feeling to know that I am a spy great enough to acquire sentient individuals. Perra was so envious that she followed me on one spying trip, but she quit after acquiring only one mammal. What a coward!

Anyway, it was the twenty-third Earth day since I had first spied the human ritual (which I found out is only performed on rare occasions). I was grazing in the clearing when I had the horrible feeling that I was being watched. I rotated my stalk eyes in all directions; nothing around but small rodents...and a bird like the one I had acquired. A very suspicious bird. Watching me. I walked over to it.

The bird stared at me. I stared back with all four eyes. His gaze was unsettling.

<Uh, Jake? Ax is with you, right?> I overheard him say. I backed up, shocked! Birds, I had thought, were not capable of thought speech! I reminded myself that I was on a new planet, and I had seen far stranger things. Though the morph I had did not appear telepathic, it could be a taught skill.

<You would know better than me. He’s in fly morph, remember? Anyway, I think he’s entering the building now. He’s out of your thought-speak range.> Thought-speak? Morph? That voice said morph! Had I possibly found some of my people here?

<No,> I thought, <of course not, they would have asked me to identify myself once they saw me.>

<Then could you please tell me that this Andalite standing right in front of me isn’t Visser Three?> My tail tensed up at the Abomination’s name. I was ready to yell, when the other voice said,

<Visser Three’s in the building too, and— what did you say?> Something clicked. I suddenly understood.

<Yeerks!> I yelled. <You are Controllers!> I slashed my tail at the bird; somehow, he was fast enough to evade it. He flew off; I ran after him, though the woods. <Yeerk! Bird-Controller!>

<Aaah!> screamed the bird. <No! Not a Yeerk! My name is Tobias, and, aaaaah! Treeeeeeeee!> He flew up above the canopy. I had lost him. Movement! Behind me, a large brown animal! To my left, an orange striped one! A canine! A hairy black animal! All looking at me. And suddenly, my hearts stopped.

<Oh no,> I remember thinking, <A trap.>

<Who are you?> someone asked. I raised my tailblade to my neck.

The striped one stepped forward. I hesitated, then brought my blade from my neck and slashed at him! He made a loud sound and jumped to the side, out of the way! The brown one, running right at me! I slashed again! It lost a paw! It kept coming, and knocked me down! <Ohhhh,> I moaned, trying to bring the blade to my neck once more. The brown animal held it down. <Perra, if you can hear me, get away! Yeerks!> I yelled.

<Ax-man! Get over here! We need you!> My stalk eyes drooped with fear.

That voice, it was so familiar...

<Damn! Can you disable anything right now? As in now?>

<No.>

<Fine, finish up, but hurry!>

<Yes, Prince Jake.> The striped animal watched the building intently, looking at me every now and again. The hairy black one stared at me; I scowled at it, and it turned away. The brown animal sitting on top of me was bleeding red blood (gross!) out of its stump; I laughed at it. Then that annoying bird landed on a branch above me.

<Yeerk,> I spat. The canine looked at me and shook its head.

<You may not believe us, but we’re not Controllers. We fight the Yeerks. Our friend Ax, err, Aximili is inside that building right now, trying to disable Visser Three’s computer system. He is also Andalite.> All I heard was Aximili’s name. I was so shocked that I could not speak for several moments. <Rachel, you should demorph. That’s a lot of blood you lost.> The brown animal shook its massive head and answered her.

<Nah, I’m okay for now. Stings, though.> The striped animal turned towards the building again.

<Ax, are you finished yet?>

<Aximili?> I asked in wonder. <He’s alive?> They all stared at me.

<Yeah, Ax, it’s important.>

-end book one-

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