Part 7 (1/2)

8Emergency override, switch controls to manual!”; WHAM!.

Too late! The Ascalin hit the ground hard. I was thrown off my hooves. My human friends, all back in their own bodies now, went rolling and tumbling. Only the T.o. managed to stay on his feet.

8Computer, emergency liftoff!”; 8Unable to comply,”; the disembodied voice said. 8There is severe main engine damage.”; I saw Harelin rock back on his hooves at this news. 8Humans, remorph! The only way out of here is to be invisible. Aristh, you, too.”; 8I'm not running away!”; 8allyes, you are, Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. You and the humans will escape and get word of this evil to the commander. That is an order.”; 8But--”; 8Do you know how to take an order?”; he roared.

8allyes, sir.”; 8Morph something small. I'll blow you out the emergency hatch. Get as far from the Ascalin as you can. You won't have much time. Do you hear me?”; I knew then what he was going to do. I knew he had no choice. He could not allow himself to be taken by the Yeerks. He could not allow any of the Andalites on board to be taken alive. And there was simply no way to escape this trap.

8Prince Jake, we all have to morph small. Um ... um ... flies! Morph to flies, and fly up to the ceiling of the bridge.

There's an escape hatch.”; I noticed Rachel looking at me with total disdain. Then she looked to Prince Jake.

”What do we do?”

”What he said,” Prince Jake said. ”Do it.”

I focused my own mind on the fly morph.

I expected T.o. Harelin's face to reveal surprise or horror as I began to undergo the changes. After all, flies are pretty horrific even by Earth standards.

But the T.o. wasn't interested. He was staggering now from the loss of blood. And he was making an announcement that would be transmitted throughout the s.h.i.+p.

8To all warriors and crew of the Ascalin.

This is the tactical officer. The captain is dead. We are surrounded. No chance of escape.

Nothing to do now but inflict the maximum damage on the Yeerks. In three minutes I will begin firing all s.h.i.+p's weapons. The Shredder flashback will cause the s.h.i.+p to explode.”; He let this sink in for a moment.

8Perform the ritual of death, my friends.

Thank you for your service to this s.h.i.+p. You die in the service of the People, defending freedom.”; I was shrinking rapidly. The deck was rus.h.i.+ng up toward me. Insect legs and insect antennae sprouted from me. But I was Andalite, at one with every Andalite on the s.h.i.+p.

From all over the s.h.i.+p, a hundred thought-speak voices spoke the words of the ritual. I couldn't help but join them.

8I am the servant of the People,”; I said. I should have bowed my head, but I no longer had a head that could bow. 8I am the servant of my prince.”; All over the s.h.i.+p I knew my fellow Andalites were raising their stalk eyes upward.

8I am the servant of honor,”; I said, and heard the echo of all those strong voices. 8My life is not my own, when the People have need of it.

My life is given for the People, for my prince, and for my honor.”; I fired the fly's legs, started the wings beating, and flew up toward the escape hatch. I have never felt worse than I did at that moment.

So many would die. And I would live.

8.Aristh?”; the T.o. said weakly.

8allyes?”; 8Maybe I was wrong. Maybe different races can be stronger together. Go with your humans and prove me wrong.”; The escape hatch blew open before I could answer. A powerful rush of escaping air launched me out into the Leeran dusk.

8Jake ... Prince Jake,”; I said.

8We must get as far away as we can.”; We flew, rolling and tumbling through the air, riding the strong breeze wherever it took us. When the Ascalin blew itself up, we were safe from the blast. And safe, too, from the thought-speak cries of a hundred dying heroes.

CHAPTER 16.

8Okay. Now what?”; Rachel said.

I didn't have an answer. I couldn't think.

I just kept turning it over and over in my mind: An Andalite s.h.i.+p's captain had turned traitor. It was impossible. Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized he could not have been a Controller.

The Ascalin had been in s.p.a.ce for weeks.

In order for a Yeerk parasite to have lived in Captain Samilin's brain, it would have to have had Kandrona rays. There was no way for even the captain to conceal a portable Kandrona aboard the s.h.i.+p.

8I said ... now what?”; Rachel repeated.

8I don't know,”; I said.

8Well, if you don't, who does?”; she demanded. 8What are we going to do? Fly around looking for the nearest Dumpster so we can see if there's a tasty pile of rotting fruit?

Come on, we need a plan.”; 8I ... I ... I don't know what to do.”; 8We need to find a way home,”; Marco said. 8Obviously, thanks to Captain Benedict Arnold back there, this whole war is going bad on us. I didn't think the almighty Andalites did things like that. I thought it was just us poor, dumb, primitive humans who'd sell out to the bad guys.”; 8How about everyone getting off Ax's back?”; Tobias said.

8allyeah, poor Ax,”; Rachel sneered.

8He throws us over in a flash for his big deal captain who, oops, turns out to be a traitor.”; 8Rachel, I don't think that's really fair,”; Ca.s.sie argued.

8Fair? Fair?!”; Marco yelled.

8If it wasn't for us totally ignoring Ax and his precious captain, Ax would be dead back there along with--”; 8I wish I were!”; I cried. 8I wish I were back there with them. I wish I had died with them.”; I had not intended to say that. And I did not mean it. Not really. I wanted to live. I felt terrible about it, but I wanted to live.

8Okay, everyone shut up,”; Prince Jake said at last. 8That was rough, what happened back there. A lot of good guys just died. Everyone is hyped up. So let's just chill.”; He waited a few moments before going on.

8Here's what we do. We keep flying till we're near the two-hour limit. We won't get far in these bodies, even with this breeze, but we want as much distance as we can get.”; We flew in silence, seeing the strange planet through the distorted compound eyes of flies, hearing almost nothing, smelling things we could not identify. We were alone in silence with our thoughts.

And after a while I almost wished the yelling and accusations would start again.

It's a terrible thing, living when so many others have died. It's terrible because no matter what you do, a single thought keeps popping up in your head: I'm glad it wasn't me.

I was glad it wasn't me.

We landed amid a tumble of rocks that would hide us from view. We demorphed. From what I could recall of the display on board the Ascalin, we were in a no-person's land between the Yeerk and Andalite forces. The battle could sweep over us at any moment.

”Okay, I'm calm now,” Rachel said as soon as she had emerged from the fly morph. ”So now that I'm calm, same question: Now what?”

”What do you think about having Tobias take a look around?” Prince Jake asked me.