quote:
Aloth had apparently not noticed. Now he looked down in horror. A pit viper wound itself around his right foreleg. Cassie, of course. And a cobra reared up just between Arbat's legs. Marco.
Estrid took a step forward and reached for her own shredder.
Fwapp!
I brought my tail blade to a quivering halt millimeters from her throat. Her eyes blazed in anger.
"Andalites are very fast," Prince Jake said. "Those snakes are faster. One move from your boys and they will die."
Ha! I knew I remembered this. (Though it might have behoved him to inform them that snakes are venomous.)
Re: the tail blade fight, Ax can probably boast that he's the only current member of the Andalite military who's been in an actual for-real fight with another Andalite. (Or did one of the new guys engage Visser Three in the first chapter of this book?)
First off, yikes on that assassination squad! Definitely not on the recruitment posters.
Second, I don't buy Estrid's story. No way do you get 'accidently' assigned to a top level covert ops assassination squad.
I mean none of them seem to be great soldiers, or who you would except to be assigned except maybe Aloth. Maybe renegades all here for personal reasons? Alloran's brother certainly fits that trend.
Second, I don't buy Estrid's story. No way do you get 'accidently' assigned to a top level covert ops assassination squad.
Absolutely, agreed. I'm trying to think of a reason why they'd pretend to have a 'rookie', though. Only thing that comes to mind is a scenario where she's someone
really politically important (or related to someone important) who wanted to prove herself militarily instead of politically. And doesn't want to be recognized until she does.
Absolutely, agreed. I'm trying to think of a reason why they'd pretend to have a 'rookie', though. Only thing that comes to mind is a scenario where she's someone really politically important (or related to someone important) who wanted to prove herself militarily instead of politically. And doesn't want to be recognized until she does.
Shes either bait or the real assassin. She already showed she can stand toe-to-toe with someone with a ton of battle experience.
Absolutely, agreed. I'm trying to think of a reason why they'd pretend to have a 'rookie', though. Only thing that comes to mind is a scenario where she's someone really politically important (or related to someone important) who wanted to prove herself militarily instead of politically. And doesn't want to be recognized until she does.
If women are new to the Andalite military (and they are, because Ax, who crashed on earth at the same time as Elfangor, is surprised there are females in the military), then even if she is a crack assassin, she'd have to pretend to be a cadet.
Shes either bait or the real assassin. She already showed she can stand toe-to-toe with someone with a ton of battle experience.
Yeah this is what I think. She is way better than she looks (and they assassination team presumably would know Alloran/V3 is an arrogant ass) so she's there to be bait and maybe to fuck him up on her own.
If women are new to the Andalite military (and they are, because Ax, who crashed on earth at the same time as Elfangor, is surprised there are females in the military)
Incidentally, knowing what we do about how conservative and inflexible the Andalite military is, this smacks less of "breaking down barriers for a more equal society" and more of "Germany enlisting 12-year-olds in 1945."
Also I remember what the reason for Astrid's presence is
and lol it's way darker than either of the theories posited so far
Incidentally, knowing what we do about how conservative and inflexible the Andalite military is, this smacks less of "breaking down barriers for a more equal society" and more of "Germany enlisting 12-year-olds in 1945."
Also I remember what the reason for Astrid's presence is and lol it's way darker than either of the theories posited so far
Lol fuck
Incidentally, knowing what we do about how conservative and inflexible the Andalite military is, this smacks less of "breaking down barriers for a more equal society" and more of "Germany enlisting 12-year-olds in 1945."
Also I remember what the reason for Astrid's presence is and lol it's way darker than either of the theories posited so far
Welp, that's... grim on both points.
If anyone reading the series for the first time (or who never read this one) is curious, I don't reveal the reason for Astrid's presence in that spoiler tag, it's just in case you want to read the book completely blind
I've read it, but I don't remember, and I'm very curious now.
With a few exceptions like Alloran, I got the impression that the Andalites are more in the "It will be over by Christmas" phase than the "Draft women and old men" phase.
Chapter 11
quote:
"Revenge is pointless and immoral," Cassie insisted.
"Revenge is just another word for justice," Rachel said, her face hardening.
"He's talking about killing his own brother," Cassie argued.
"He had a chance. Back at the newspaper," Marco said.
"He wasn't prepared," Rachel argued.
"Visser Three doesn't give a lot of second chances," Marco said. "Maybe these guys are just blowing smoke. Maybe Arbat isn't as bad as he thinks he is. Although Aloth looks like trouble."
I watched a group of grackles pecking at some spilled seed. One appeared not to be hungry. Instead of strutting and circling, he stood to the side, staring about him with an unwinking eye.
<Does that grackle appear ill?> I asked Cassie.
Cassie looked at the bird and frowned. "I can't tell."
The bird flapped its wings and flew up into the rafters. Walked vigorously along the hayloft, pecking at stray straws.
"Looks healthy to me," Rachel said.
"Forget the birds," Marco snapped. "We have some stuff to deal with here."
He was right, of course. At least about the importance of the issue. I hoped he was not right about Arbat.
Arbat had revealed that Visser Three occupied his brother's body. I understood why Arbat had hesitated when he had the chance to kill the visser. I understood. I sympathized.
And yet, I worried.
Any Andalite - and many humans - would rather die than continue to serve as host. But to perform the killing or not is an agonizing decision. As it should and must be.
Marco's mother is a Controller.
Prince Jake's brother, Tom, is also a human-Controller.
I did not tell Arbat that I, too, had been unable to kill Alloran. Not even when the former war prince had begged me for death as the slug that was Visser Three temporarily abandoned Alloran's poisoned body.
I could not. To my unending shame, I could not bring myself to kill him. And just as Alloran had feared, the Yeerks had revived him. Visser Three had reinfested him.
So we had listened as Arbat explained Unit O's mission.
The War Council had ordered Visser Three killed. Visser Three was a continuing embarrassment to our people. We had allowed him to keep an Andalite host and had been unable to stop him. Visser Three was an enemy. We were at war. It made sense.
But why had Arbat been chosen for the mission? Surely it must have occurred to someone that organizing and ordering the death of his brother was a particularly difficult thing for him to do.
"War is one thing," Cassie said now. "Murder is another. What do we gain by helping Arbat and Aloth assassinate the visser?"
I spoke. <By Andalite custom, the murder of a family member must be avenged. Perhaps together, Arbat and Aloth and I can succeed where each of us alone has failed.>
"Sounds like a plan to me," Rachel said.
"It's a terrible plan. Don't help him, Ax," Cassie begged. "Alloran is still alive. Where there's life there's hope."
"Great cliché," Marco sneered.
<An Andalite warrior would rather die than serve as a Yeerk host,> I said.
<I guess it's a live-free-or-die thing,> Tobias said quietly. He sat on a rail overhead.
"Well, it's just cowardly," Cassie insisted, putting her hands on her hips. "The easy way out. If you're dead, you don't have to fight for your freedom, do you?"
There was a long silence. No one said anything. I looked to Prince Jake, but he was sitting with his head in his hands.
"Jake?" Cassie said.
No answer.
Marco stood impatiently. "Are we all in denial or what? Why are we even arguing about this like it matters? I mean come on. We know what this is about. We're sitting here fighting out the same disagreements, asking ourselves what we should do next. There is no next. It's over. It's so over, isn't it? I mean, we fight because we think the Andalites are coming someday, someday. We've been carrying out a delaying action. Slowing the Yeerks down so it wouldn't be too late by the time the big deal Andalites came along."
Rachel let out an exhausted sigh. "As much as I hate to admit it, Marco's right. The fleet is not coming to the rescue. The Andalites aren't here to help save Earth. They're here so Arbat and the Andalite command can settle their score with the visser. This isn't the Marines storming in to save us."
"Exactly!" Cassie said. "It's personal. It's political. But there's no strategic value to the mission. No real military advantage. So that just makes it murder."
"Hey, Cassie, you know what?" Marco snapped. "Who cares? I mean, who cares about all your moralizing? Are you even paying attention? What do you think, that the six of us are going to win this war? By ourselves? Four kids, a bird, and an alien? Six kids who can turn into animals, big deal!
We've hurt the Yeerks, we've frustrated them, we've slowed them down, but we're pebbles in their shoes. This has always been about us being the resistance until the Andalites could do a D-Day and save our sorry butts."
I had never heard Marco speak so harshly to Cassie. But more shocking still was that Jake did not step in to silence him.
I had been so distracted by Estrid, by seeing my own people again that I had overlooked how devastating this news would be to my friends. They had hoped for salvation. Instead they were presented with another complex problem, more dangers, more futility.
I scanned each of their faces with my stalk eyes. These were not the humans I had known for so long.
Prince Jake stood. "If the Andalites were serious about helping us, they'd have sent an invading force. And Cassie's right, they trade Visser Three for some other visser, how does that help us? And Marco's right, too. We're tired. We're so tired there are times I don't think I can get up the energy to breathe. And now, instead of help, big-time help, we have what are obviously the dregs of the
Andalite forces. Gonrod's a fool. Aloth is just a foot soldier. Estrid's a rookie. And Arbat's a guy off on his own."
"So what's our plan?" Rachel demanded.
Prince Jake said nothing.
It was sad. That is what I realized. Very sad. We had turned to Prince Jake so many times and always he had been there with an answer, a plan, or at least a hope.
Marco slapped Rachel lightly on each cheek. "Wise up. Any plans we had - or have - are basically worth squat at this point. The war is over. Earth lost."
The explosion was instantaneous.
Rachel lunged for Marco. "Don't you EVER touch me again!" she screamed.
Marco fell to the ground and shielded his face with his arms. "Get off me. Get off me, you wacko!"
"Stop it! Stop it!" Cassie cried.
Tobias fluttered to the ground. Laughed bitterly. <That's it. I can't take this anymore. I'm losing my mind. I'm out. Out of here, out of this, I'm done, man.> Tobias flapped his wings and flew from the barn.
So, this is a pretty utter collapse of morale, isn't it?
Chapter 12
quote:
"All right, stop it, Rachel!" Prince Jake pulled her off Marco. Shook her hard.
Rachel reeled back and raked her hair from her eyes.
Marco stumbled to his feet. "Face facts," he panted. "The Andalites don't care. This isn't about Earth. It's about boosting Andalite morale by wasting the guy who made an Andalite a host."
There was a long silence. Everyone looked at me. Staring as if they expected - hoped - that I would deny the truth of what Marco was saying.
"Ax?" Prince Jake prompted.
I shook my head. What was there to say?
Prince Jake frowned. "Then what do we want to do?"
"I know what I'm going to do." Rachel angrily kicked a metal bucket. It clattered along the dirt floor of the barn.
Two injured geese sent up an alarmed gabble. A small brown rabbit who had been sitting beside a bale of hay dove into a stall and disappeared from sight.
Five or six grackles who had been pecking in the dirt squawked and flew up into the rafters.
"Rachel," Cassie said quietly, putting her hand on Rachel's arm. "Please. We need you."
Rachel jerked her arm from Cassie's grasp. "From now on I'm doing it my way. No more Geneva Convention warfare. If I'm going down, I'm taking out all the Yeerks I can before I go."
She stalked toward the door.
"Rachel!" Prince Jake shouted.
Rachel whirled around. Her face red with anger. "I'm through taking orders from you," she said through clenched teeth. "I'm through with Marco and his stupid jokes. I'm through with Cassie's hypocrisy."
Rachel lifted her fist and punched a lantern hanging from a hook. The glass splintered and it fell to the ground.
"I'm through with all of you," she hissed. And stormed from the barn.
Cassie took a broom from the corner and began to sweep up the glass. "Count me out, too," she said softly. "If this war is unwinnable, how do we justify killing Hork-Bajir? Basically, they're prisoners of war. Innocent victims."
"Cassie," Prince Jake pleaded.
A tear rolled down her cheek. "I can't do it anymore." She dropped the broom and ran from the barn.
Marco thrusts his hands into his pockets. "Guess I'm out, too. I'm going to enjoy what time I've got left. Acquire a surfer dude chick magnet. Hang out."
"Marco," Prince Jake whispered. "Please."
Marco put his hand on Prince Jake's shoulder. Let it slip off as he backed away. "Jake. Ax-man. Live long and prosper."
Prince Jake and I were alone.
We looked at one another. <I am still yours to command.> I offered him my hand to shake as humans do.
Prince Jake gripped it. His eyes were sad. "I can't hold you to your oath. The others are right. It's over. Go on. Do what you have to do. And if you can, go home."
Prince Jake squeezed my hand tightly, forgetting that Andalite hands are not as strong as human hands. I knew it was an expression of affection. I tried to return the pressure.
Prince Jake straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. "Good-bye," he said. "And thank you. For everything."
He walked slowly from the barn. His silhouette disappeared into the bright glare of the morning sun.
I stood alone.
Remembering.
It was peaceful for the first time in a long time. No arguments or debates. Quite pleasant, really.
<Estrid,> I said finally. <If you are going to acquire Earth morphs, you must learn how to use them. Rabbits do not commonly chase large four-footed creatures like myself across a field and then into a barn full of shouting humans.>
Under the bottom slat of a stall gate, the small brown rabbit appeared. Estrid quickly demorphed and blinked with embarrassment at her mistake. <I have much to learn.>
<I will teach you,> I said simply.
Her four eyes looked at me and shone. <You will be happier with your own kind.>
Ouch.
So, one of the things some people have said about the ghostwriting is that the ghostwriters have trouble keeping the Animorphs the way Applegate made them in terms of characterization. That was one of the criticisms of Rachel last book, for instance. How do you think this book is doing at it?
quote:
Cassie took a broom from the corner and began to sweep up the glass. "Count me out, too," she said softly. "If this war is unwinnable, how do we justify killing Hork-Bajir? Basically, they're prisoners of war. Innocent victims."
Tfw you actually raise an extremely salient point
during your staged display for the Andalites you suspect are spying on you
Also I get the barn is useful for picking up morphs but it's really funny that they regularly stage meetings in - and Ax stands around in his true form in - what's basically Cassie's dad's workplace.
Yeah, that conversation was staged as fuck, so in that light the characterisation is fine
So, one of the things some people have said about the ghostwriting is that the ghostwriters have trouble keeping the Animorphs the way Applegate made them in terms of characterization. That was one of the criticisms of Rachel last book, for instance. How do you think this book is doing at it?
I think it's mostly a Cassie and Rachel problem so far. Rachel's problems have been beaten to death, but Cassie has been a lot more subtlety mismanaged. The best way I can think to describe it is that she doesn't have a lot of presence in scenes, unless she's being the designated objector. I think the others (aside from occasional goofs) have been pretty solid.
Yeah, that conversation was staged as fuck, so in that light the characterisation is fine
Definelty staged, but honestly, I was buying it as pretty in character up until the end where they went full ham. Still, what a crushing disappointment.
"Sorry we're not even a vanguard of a liberation fleet, just a bunch of fuckups on a covert assassination mission. Anyway, drop what you're doing and help us so we can abandon you as soon as we are done."
Andalite diplomacy at its finest.
The David Maneuver strikes again! (The fake morale collapse, I mean, not trapping a child in a tube and then exiling them to a living hell)
The David Maneuver strikes again! (The fake morale collapse, I mean, not trapping a child in a tube and then exiling them to a living hell)
Well, the book's not over yet.
Well, the book's not over yet.
Lol this was my immediate verbatim thought too. Although I guess only Estrid is arguably a child.
Ax and Rachel flying back from the island rock after dropping four rats off and being like "well I guess I feel slightly less guilty about this one"
Lol andalites are more and more the US
Lol this was my immediate verbatim thought too. Although I guess only Estrid is arguably a child.
Ax and Rachel flying back from the island rock after dropping four rats off and being like "well I guess I feel slightly less guilty about this one"
the final boss of animorphs: a rat king made of all of the people they trap in rat morph
Chapter 13
quote:
The Andalite ship was cloaked in a large empty field outside the fence of a family entertainment center called The Gardens. I knew The Gardens well. Within it was a zoo where Prince Jake, the others, and I had acquired a number of useful morphs.
We flew there from the barn. Before we left, Estrid acquired an Earth bird morph. A crow. We flew, but far enough apart to allay suspicion.
As we descended, a square "hole" appeared in the sky. The upper hatch of the ship. We flew inside and it slid shut behind us.
<This is the upper deck,> Estrid explained. <Let us demorph and I will take you down to the command deck.>
We demorphed and she led me through the hallways and corridors that connected what seemed to be several wings. It was large for a warship. Small for a transport.
<This ship is designated the Crusader. It's an MSTL-37,> she explained. <A Mobile Science and Technology Lab ship. Pretty much obsolete by now.>
<An odd choice of ship to send on such a mission.>
She shrugged. <It was what they could spare. The fighters and transports were needed in Nine- Sifter.>
We stood in front of a drop shaft and waited for the doors to open. <Estrid, I would like to ask a favor of you.>
Her four eyes looked curiously at my face.
<I still respect my former prince. We fought many battles together. I would appreciate if you would refrain from reporting that he was unable to maintain control of his warriors. I would not want the others to lose their respect for him. He has fought a good fight.>
<You kept my secret. I will keep yours.>
The drop-shaft door opened and I stepped in beside her.
I was uneasy. My request had been a test. But I was not sure whether she had passed or failed.
I felt grateful for her willingness to protect my prince.
But what kind of an aristh would agree to withhold sensitive intelligence information from her superiors?
Had she been instructed to gain my trust in order to spy on me?
Or was she simply undertrained? Unsuited to the military because of her gender?
I resolved to keep my guard up and my eyes open. I watched her fingers dance across a control panel as she programmed in an access code for me.
Her hands were small. And graceful. When she was done, she turned her four eyes on me. My heart rates accelerated.
I had noticed her four eyes staring at me quite a bit.
That, too, was odd.
The first lesson every aristh learned at the academy was: "Two eyes out front. Two eyes scanning." Always. A soldier never, ever, focused all his attention on the same spot.
The shaft dropped us two decks and held us there. We stepped out onto the command deck.
Gonrod, Aloth, and Arbat were waiting.
<Aximili!> Arbat stepped forward to greet me. His voice was welcoming.
I saluted and made the traditional Andalite bow. <Commander Gonrod. My prince has released me and I now pledge myself to you.>
Gonrod appeared mollified by the respect I showed him.
<We are quite informal on this mission,> Arbat said.
Gonrod bristled. <But the chain of command is clear.>
<Of course. Of course,> Arbat said to Gonrod. <I did not mean to imply otherwise.>
Arbat walked over to a workstation where Aloth calibrated a collection of handheld shredders.
<With one of these, I hope to destroy Visser Three.>
<How can I help?> I asked him.
Arbat took my arm. Guided me to the terraced perimeter of the deck where we could look out through the windows at the barren scrub grass outside. He thought-spoke to me privately. <I am willing to do anything it takes to destroy Visser Three. Are you?>
<I look forward to the day when Visser Three no longer threatens free people,> I answered guardedly.
<I trust you, Aximili. You have done well to survive here. I hope to benefit from your advice and experiences I shifted my weight uneasily. An Apex Level Intelligence Advisor is the highest rank in the intelligence division. An aristh the lowest rank in the regular military. On Earth I had followed, not led. Nor had I succeeded in killing Visser Three. Additionally, I had violated - by word and deed- more Andalite military codes than I could count.
So why was Arbat treating me with such elaborate respect? Respect that I had not earned by Andalite standards.
He wanted something from me.
But what?
quote:
Arbat broke off when he heard the heavy clop of Aloth's hooves approach.
<Aristh Aximili,> said Aloth. <Commander Gonrod has asked me to show you around the ship.>
<Excellent!> Arbat beamed. <Show our new comrade around.>
I saluted Arbat and quickly followed the assassin down the corridor.
<If I hear one more war story from that old wind machine I may have to self-destruct,> Aloth said when the shaft doors closed behind us.
I was shocked. But I could not help chuckling. <How can you talk that way about an Apex Level Intelligence Advisor?>
Aloth snorted. <And retired for the last six wars! He's a teacher now! A professor of technological history.>
Like many soldiers, Aloth had little respect for anyone who was not a soldier.
<He teaches at the academy?> I asked.
<No! At the University of Advanced Scientific Theory.>
The UAST was full of brilliant thinkers. But they were notorious for their impracticality. Not known for their battlefield skills.
It seemed very strange that the War Council would send an aging professor of technological history to direct an assassination.
But then, the military had obviously undergone many changes since I left the home planet.
<Female arisths. Have they worked out well?>
Aloth snorted again. <I keep waiting for Estrid to find some way of making herself useful.>
<Does she have no duties?>
Aloth shrugged. <None that seem necessary. Gonrod and I both tried to make a detour and drop her at a base. But Arbat was adamant that she remain on board.>
<Why?>
He shrugged. <I cannot think of any reason why he would want an inexperienced female aristh on a mission like this. Especially one who is not exactly regulation issue. She behaves more like a princess than an aristh. And Arbat treats her that way.>
Aloth's lazy insolence was gone now. He seemed lost in troubled thought.
<Does her presence concern you?> I ventured, prepared for him to snub me. He did not.
Instead, he resumed his lazy warrior's swagger. <I suppose not. She is probably here because inter-gender staffing is some pet project Arbat sold the War Council on. Or maybe she is somebody's niece and he got her fast-tracked through the academy.>
Aloth gave me a significant look and laughed cynically. I had the feeling I had just missed something. But if that were true about Estrid, it would explain many things.
<I guess none of us are exactly what you would call "regulation issue,"> Aloth added with awry laugh. <No? What do you mean by that?>
<Nothing I feel like explaining to an aristh,> he said with a chuckle. <Not even the brother of Elfangor. Now stop asking me questions and listen for a change. You might learn something.>
This was the dynamic I understood. The good-natured snubbing a lowly aristh would expect from an experienced warrior.
<We are on the third tier. There is the engine room. Storage. Quarters. Yours are at the end.>
<What is on the second tier?>
<Nothing. Used to be a lab. Now it is sealed up so we do not have to waste energy on environmental adaptation conversion. Think you can get around without getting lost?>
<I believe I can. Where is my action station in the event the ship comes under attack?>
Aloth shrugged. <This ship does not have enough firepower to stop a broken-down Skrit Na freighter. If a hot Bug fighter comes after us ... put it this way: If we're attacked your action station is kissing your tail good-bye.>
Aloth laughed cynically. I did not see the humor.
<Come on. That is the tour. Let us go back to the command deck. The old wheeze wants to "debrief you.">
So given these two chapters, what do you think of each Andalite?
I'm revising my guess from 'assassination squad' to 'suicide attack.'
Also, these Andalites are almost laughably underinformed, to the point where I'm suspecting a cover.
Yeah, I get the impression that either these are the dregs of the army that someone is trying to get rid of or they are here for some other reason with the assassination being an attempt to get the local resistance on their side because there is no way this was supposed to be a successful assassination mission.
Yeah, this mission is a total clown car.
Arbat's standing just got decimated in both Ax's mind and ours. A ex-spy teaching technology history isn't exactly a prime assassin. Also, he's from how many wars ago? Who have the Andalites have been fighting that a single Andalite has seen at least eight wars (At least one war he was in, six wars he sat out of, and the current war on the Yeerks) in their lifetime! The Andalites are going to give humans a run for their money with stats like that!
Aloth seems to be (have been?) an actual Andalite warrior. He's absurdly jaded, but a long war seems like the perfect recipe to make someone like that. Honestly, the least surprising person to have here.
Estrid is interesting in that she is trained in combat but doesn't seem to understand what Ax considers the basics of soldiering. Maybe she got rushed through the acadamy and didn't pick up the finer points, but as said before, she's definitely hiding something. She's definitely the most out of place member of the team here, so she's got to have a very good reason to be here.
Gonrod has chilled the fuck out from his initial confrontation with the Animorphs, but he's also not having to pretend humans are equals, so that probably accounts for a lot. Since Ax probably has more actual combat experience than everyone else but maybe Aloth put together, it makes sense to have Ax get onboard with Team Andalite. Still, Andalite leaders have not been as gregarious as we're seeing here (and he immediately snaps at Arbat for giving something that could even slightly be considered insubordination), so, yes, Ax is dead on to suspect that he wants something.
Chapter 15
quote:
Moments later Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat, and I met on the command deck. Estrid was not present.
<Tell us about Visser Three.> Arbat seemed eager. Gonrod less so. <Where is he when he is not on his Blade ship?>
<I do not know,> I answered. <How did you find him in the newspaper office?>
<We did not,> Arbat said. <We found you. Our ship sensors were programmed to locate your DNA pattern. We were able to download it from your academy records.>
<Could we not do the same with Alloran's?> I asked.
<Alloran's from the old days. Back before we used DNA encryption.
<I see. Then our most likely means of finding him would be at the next meeting of The Sharing at the Community Center. He often attends. Not always. But often. Failing that, he is often in the Yeerk pool complex.>
I explained what The Sharing was, and how Visser Three was often present in human morph to address those who attended. I told them also about the location of the Yeerk pool.
<How many Yeerks would be present at the meeting?> Arbat asked.
<We are only interested in one Yeerk,> Gonrod snapped. <Our orders are clear and specific. One target. And then we are done. If Aloth can hit the target>
<Aloth will hit the target,> Arbat said coldly.
<Will I? It is not an easy thing to do,> Aloth said. <Take aim at a target, a living target, aim for the kill, fire, watch to see the damage. Take a life. And this is no ordinary target, Arbat, but your brother. I have a brother, too. I wonder, when the time comes, whether you will find it so easy to give the final order.>
Arbat ignored Aloth. Or tried to.
<It is a question we would all like answered,> Gonrod said.
<It is a question that will be answered when I give that order and rid the galaxy of the Abomination,> Arbat snapped. It was the first time I had seen him lose what my human friends would call "his cool."
He recovered quickly. <I need as much information as I can gather. May I continue with the questioning of this aristh?>
<Very well.> Gonrod's permission was grudging. He peered nervously at the various surveillance screens. It was something he did every few seconds. He seemed extraordinarily ill at ease for a commander.
<The Yeerk pool? Would it be possible to gain access?> Arbat pressed.
<We will not go there!> Gonrod insisted shrilly.
Aloth suppressed a snicker.
Gonrod threw Aloth a belligerent look. <The aristh has presented us with a perfectly good target. We will attack this meeting of The Sharing. Tomorrow morning. We will hit Visser Three. And we will leave.>
Arbat opened his hands, as if appealing to Gonrod's reason. <Commander, if the targets were enlarged, and we were to kill many, perhaps thousands, of Yeerks, surely that would be preferable.>
<There will be no enlargement of the target!> Gonrod snapped. <We carry out our orders. And then we leave.>
I saw Estrid in the arched doorway that led to the exit corridor. <Commander Gonrod,> she announced. <I am going on a tour of The Gardens and would like Aximili to accompany me. He can familiarize me with Earth creatures.>
I drew in my breath. I had never heard an aristh "announce" his plans and desires to a superior officer. Typically, he waited for orders.
Gonrod's eye stalks quivered angrily.
Estrid appeared to have no idea she had committed a breach of military conduct.
I watched unhappily. I hated to see her rebuked.
Strangely, Gonrod did not do so. <Very well,> he answered curtly.
<Come, Aximili,> she said happily.
I followed her to the exit hatch. The Earth hour was late. The Gardens were closed. There were no humans to watch us disembark and descend to the ground on the cloaked ramp.
Still, I was uneasy.
Estrid was beautiful. She was a well-trained fighter.
But she was no soldier.
Who was she?
So who is she? I also really like Aloth's line there earlier about how difficult it can be to kill.
Chapter 16
quote:
n the daytime pigeons and squirrels crowded the walkways of The Gardens. But at night the sidewalks are clear. There was no sound except our eight hooves clopping slowly along. Normally I might have worried about security personnel spotting us. But of course Estrid knew nothing about this. And I was confident that we would not be bothered.
<Arbat says Earth has more variety of species than any other known planet. When we scanned DNA patterns for you the computers were nearly overwhelmed.>
<Tell me about Arbat and Gonrod,> I said.
<Arbat says Gonrod is an excellent pilot. And that Aloth scored the highest target impact rate in the history of the academy. Arbat says he's a top sniper.>
<Arbat says.> Again.
Suddenly, I understood. How could I have been so obtuse?
Estrid was Arbat's niece! Of course. That was what Aloth had been hinting.
Arbat might now be a professor of technological history, but he was still Apex Level Intelligence. He whipped a big tail at the War Council.
No wonder Estrid was allowed so much license.
Estrid's four eyes looked to me. <I wonder ...>
<Yes?>
<The pellets called jelly beans. I would love to taste them again before leaving Earth.>
<I believe we could find some pellets close by.>
Side by side, we trotted through the cool, dark night toward the main building. The Visitors' Center. Outside the building was something Jake and Marco called a "vending machine." A large glass box containing delicious foods.
No cinnamon buns or jelly beans. But many other things that would delight Estrid.
I turned and delivered a kick to the machine. Brightly colored packets fell from hooks inside the machine down into a bin into which I was able to reach.
It was probably not a good thing to do. Humans are very touchy about ownership.
<What are they?> Estrid asked.
<You will enjoy them,> I promised, beginning to morph to human.
Estrid's eye stalks receded into her skull. Her legs and arms retracted. She lay on the ground, a round ball of blue-and-tan fur.
The fur disappeared and became smooth and pink. Then, with one burst, the round ball became a human. Fully clothed. In what humans would consider normal clothing.
I was amazed. I had never seen such an efficient morph. And the ability to morph something other than skintight bicycle shorts and T-shirts took almost supernatural powers of concentration.
"You are an estreen ... nuh," I said.
"My mmmmmother... ruh. She was a morph ... ph dan ... dancer... ruh! Danceruh. I learned much from herrrrr!"
I opened one of the packets and poured the contents into her palm.
She popped them into her mouth and her face began to glow. "Bright pellets ... ssss. Wonderful... ful-luh. Jelly beanssssuuhh. More. More."
I poured the rest of them into her hand. "Not jelly beansuh. M&M's. The flavor is called chocolate. Chock-lut."
She laughed. "Mouth-speaking is very amusing. Uh Mew Zing."
"Yes, mouths are very interesting. M&M's. Chock-lut. Watch this ..."
I stuck out my tongue and let it rest lightly on my upper lip. Then I blew out my breath.
"Thhhhbbbbbbbbbbb!!!"
Estrid shrieked with laughter. I did it again. "Thhhhbbbbbbbb!!!"
"What does it mean?" she gasped.
"It is called a raspberry," I said. "I do not know why."
"It would be very hard ... hard-duh to have a mouth all the time. Tie-yem. Time-uh. It would be very difficult to concentrate on a plintconarhythmic equation for more than two minutes. One would be too busy tasting chocolate and making rasp ... berries ... suh!"
"Thhhhhbbbbbbb!" The vibrations made my lips tingle.
She leaned close, watching my mouth intently. So close I could feel the tendrils of her human curls tickling my face.
"They have another use for mouths," I said.
"In addition to eating and making mouth-sounds?"
"Yes. Would you like to experience it?"
"Is it pleasurable?" she asked.
I shrugged my large human shoulders. "I do not know. I have never performed the action before. It requires two individuals, each possessing a minimum of one mouth."
"Let us experiment. Ment. Expeeeeriment."
I took Estrid's face in my hands and I pressed my lips against hers.
I have no words to describe the sensation.
It did not tickle the mouth or cause my lips to tingle.
It caused a chaotic flutter in my stomach. Small bumps broke out up and down my arms. I only had one heart now, but it thundered.
I pulled away.
"That was pleasant," Estrid said. "But not as pleasant as chocolate."
"No. But pleasurable," I said.
"Yes."
"Yes."
So, now Ax is playing mouth games of his own.
Chapter 17
quote:
Later, Estrid and I flew through the night. Side by side. This, too, was pleasurable.
I almost wished we could spend the rest of our lives like this. Together. Free. No more war. No more duty. No more fear.
It was possible. If we remained in morph beyond two hours, we would become nothlits, like Tobias. We could go where we would never be found.
Not by the Yeerks. Not by the Andalites. And not by the Animorphs.
For one brief moment, I considered it.
<Where are we going?> she asked.
I remembered the way she had looked at me as we kissed. With admiration? Trust? Some other emotion?
We could simply fly away. We could become something or someone else. Life would no doubt be simpler. Life would be a matter of life or death, survival or failure, simple, black or white choices.
But in reality life seldom comes in simple shades of black and white. The choices in the real world, the choices we most often face, are all in shades of gray. And I lived in the real world.
<I would like to see my old friends once more,> I said.
<Why?>
<We were together through more battles than I can count,> I said. <They are no longer my comrades in arms. But I am not indifferent to them.>
<Loyalty is admirable,> she said.
<Yes. It is,> I said dejectedly.
We flew over town toward the barn. Over the mall. Past the school. Over a cluster of stores and restaurants. I took my time.
Then, <Oh, no! Estrid, circle down with me, but remain at a safe distances A terrible spectacle was unfolding below. In the parking lot of a McDonald's a grizzly bear was terrorizing a group of humans.
<It is Rachel,> I told Estrid sadly. <The angry one.>
The teenagers ran screaming into the restaurant.
Rachel lumbered through the parking lot.
BLAM! BLAM! CRASH!
One by one, she bashed in windshields and windows, slammed foot-deep dents into the sheet metal. Horns and alarms wailed.
Whooo-OOP! Whooo-OOP!
SKKareeeeee!
Rachel raged through the restaurant door.
The people inside screamed in terror. Broke windows. Poured back into the parking lot.
<What is she doing?> Estrid asked. <Are those human-Controllers?>
<The restaurant is managed by a human-Controller,> I answered. <I do not know about the other humans. I fear her destruction is indiscriminate. Prince Jake would never have allowed it.>
I saw someone else come out of the restaurant.
Cassie.
She ran into the shadows and disappeared.
Moments later, an owl emerged from the darkness and swooped into the sky.
<Hurry.> We followed Cassie from a distance. She flew back to the barn.
Estrid and I flew quietly through a hole in the roof and perched on a beam where we could watch without being seen.
Marco lay on top of several bales of hay. He was drinking a soda and reading a magazine.
"Marco!" Cassie cried, in human form now. "You've got to help me, Rachel's going totally postal at McDonald's."
"Not my problem. Me, I like Burger King."
Cassie snatched the magazine from Marco's hands. "She's going to kill somebody."
"What's it to you? I thought you were out of this."
"We can't just stand by while innocent people get hurt."
Marco shrugged. "Speak for yourself."
"Where is Jake?" Cassie demanded. "He'll help me."
Marco took the magazine from Cassie's hand and reclined again. "Don't count on it."
"Why? Where is he?"
"I'm in here," a voice answered.
Cassie peered over the door of one of the stalls. "Jake! What are you doing there?"
Prince Jake's head emerged. "Hiding. Tom's been picking on me all afternoon. I can't take it anymore."
"Then fight back!" Cassie cried.
Marco snickered. "Whoaaa! What happened to our resident nonviolence advocate?"
"Shut up, Marco!" she yelled. "Jake! Are you going to help me or not?"
Two grackles in the rafters attacked a third, driving it away. Jake jumped and dove back down into the stall.
"Not." Marco smirked and continued reading.
"What about Rachel?" Cassie cried, her voice breaking.
Marco yawned. "Listen, if she shows at the beach tomorrow, I'll talk to her. Now, why spoil her fun?"
Cassie stood for a moment, shaking with fury. "YOU JERKS!" she screamed. "GET OUT!"
<I have seen enough,> I told Estrid. We quietly made our way out of the hole in the barn roof, and took wing.
<I pity you, Aximili,> Estrid said. <How did you endure it? How could you bear to live among such inferior creatures?>
<They have fought well in the past. But they are demoralized by the prospect of certain defeat.>
Her voice was skeptical. <Perhaps. But no Andalite would behave so. Even in defeat, we are proud.>
She sounded arrogant and vain.
Like me.
Ax is seeing his faults reflected in somebody else and realizes he doesn't like them.
Chapter 18
quote:
<That is the third time tonight I have seen that fierce-looking bird with the sharp beak!> Estrid said.
We were approaching the ship. I looked to where a red-tailed hawk soared high overhead.
Above a large grackle.
<Earth has many species of birds,> I reminded her. <And each species can have hundreds of thousands or even millions of members.>
<It looks familiar.>
<Birds all look similar,> I said.
We flew through the hatch. Demorphed and returned to the command deck.
<Where have you been?> Gonrod demanded.
<We went to look over the target site after touring The Gardens,> Estrid told him. No mention of the barn.
Arbat clopped into the room. <What did you learn?>
Estrid and I drew a simple map of the Community Center. Then Gonrod ordered us to get a good night's rest. We would attack the next morning.
<I would be honored to keep the first watch,> I said.
Gonrod nodded. <Very well. But touch nothing.>
The crew left the deck and disappeared.
The deep humming of the engine and atmospheric adjusters thickened the silence. I was free to think now.
I thought about Estrid. Her grace. Her intelligence. How much I enjoyed watching her in bird morph. How much I enjoyed kissing her in human morph.
I smiled, remembering her delight over the M&M's.
Then my breath caught in my chest.
I had missed something. Something important.
Probably because of my feelings for her.
"It would be very difficult to concentrate on a plintconarhythmic equation for more than two minutes."
Plintconarhythmic physics!
Cutting-edge biochemical engineering. Even Andalite intellectuals do not attempt to learn its elegant but complex formulae and postulates.
They say that no one really understands it. It requires thinking coherently in n-dimensions. It is the plaything of geniuses.
Why would Estrid be concentrating on a plintconarhythmic equation?
<It means nothing,> I told myself. <It is a saying. A pleasantry.> Like when Marco says that something "isn't exactly rocket science." Or when Rachel sneers that someone is a "regular Einstein." Just a phrase to illustrate Estrid's point that taste can be distracting. Just a saying.
Gonrod told me to touch nothing. Nonetheless, I approached the access unit on the main console.
Estrid's four eyes had been on the control panel when she programmed in my access code. I had watched her fingers.
I would use that code now.
I pulled up the stats on the ship. Estrid was right. An old MSTL-37. Obsolete for scientific research and pressed into service as a medical transport for the wounded and dead in the last two wars.
I tried to call up the personnel records.
A green light began to blink. <ENCRYPTED DATA! AVAILABLE TO APEX LEVEL CLEARANCE ONLY! ENTER CODE.>
Fwapp!
A tail blade was pressed hard against my throat.
<Spying is a capital offense.> Aloth.
<I am not spying.>
<Then what are you doing?>
<I have forgotten much,> I lied. <I was trying to familiarize myself with the workings of the ship.>
He released me and I let out a long breath of relief.
His stalk eyes perused the screen. He saw the message. His eye stalks slowly turned back toward me. <Trying to familiarize yourself with the ship? Or with your comrades?>
<Both. I would not regard that as spying.>
Aloth slouched against the console. <So. It has begun to occur to you that you have fallen in with a bad crowd? Eh, brother of Elfangor?>
<I am simply curious.>
Aloth looked intensely at me. <I trained for a while under your brother. Different from most princes. Most of them ... it is almost as if life has never handed them anything but easy grazing. But Elfangor ... he had lived. You could tell. He had seen things.>
<Yes. He had.> I did not know what else to say. I did not trust Aloth's intensity. The assassin was a dangerous person.
Aloth laughed his cynical laugh. <You want to know the secrets? You want to know who we are? I will tell you, little Aximili. You know what I was doing before I "volunteered" for this mission?>
<No.>
<Sitting in military prison. Life sentence.>
I took a step back.
<Do not fear me, little aristh. I am no danger to you. My crime was that I had no use for hypocrisy.>
<Hypocrisy is not illegal.>
<Not all hypocrisy,> he agreed. <If it were, what would we do for leaders? They would all be in jail. Now me, I was caught selling organs. Off the battlefield. They are of no use to the dead, right? Why should someone not make use of them? And why should I not receive something for my trouble?>
The Andalite Battle Code prohibits the selling of organs off the battlefield. It might encourage the less scrupulous to hasten a comrade's end. Or cause it.
A crack shot and a sniper could ensure a steady supply of organs. No wonder he had been sentenced to life.
I was careful not to let my disgust show.
<Yes, you see, Aristh Aximili, I am not a hero of the people. But at least I am not a coward.>
<Are you saying I am?>
He laughed. Surprised. <You? No, I meant Gonrod. He was in the same prison as me, though he faced a lesser sentence. His crime was cowardice under fire.>
A coward and a murderer. Both Andalite officers. Were these "my own kind"?
<We were offered the promise of pardon if we successfully completed this mission,> Aloth continued.
<And what about Arbat?>
The assassin shook his head. <As far as I know, he is here to assassinate Visser Three. Gonrod is a coward, but an excellent pilot. His job was to get us here in a substandard ship. Mine is to kill Visser Three if Arbat can get me close enough to do so. With your help Arbat may succeed. Meaning that I succeed.>
<I see. That makes sense.>
<Does it? I am not sure anything makes sense on this mission.>
I did not have anything to say to that. But I had a question. <Aloth, who is really in command of this unit? Arbat? Gonrod? Or is it you?>
Aloth laughed again. <Sometimes, little aristh, I think it is the female.>
Do you think it's the female? Also, I like Aloth.. But yea, there's very little scarier than a trained sniper who steals and sells organs. Kind of a conflict of interest there?
Huh. They actually are worse than Alloran in their own little ways.
quote:
Plintconarhythmic physics!
Cutting-edge biochemical engineering.
Well, it's a good thing Andalites don't have a history of using an engineered virus to wipe out most of a species to deny them to the Yeerks or anything. I'm sure this has nothing to do with their real plans.
If I were Jake the mere hint that this mysterious black ops mission had a biochemist onboard would be enough for me to order the Animorphs to kill all four of them and burn the ship to the ground.
If I were Jake the mere hint that this mysterious black ops mission had a biochemist onboard would be enough for me to order the Animorphs to kill all four of them and burn the ship to the ground.
But what if the Andalites tried to give him a noogie?
My favourite part of the display put on for the oblivious Andalite observers is that Marco is just chillin' in the barn reading a magazine by himself. Cassie's dad walks in like "oh, hey, uh... Marcus, is it?"
Also that exchange with Aloth earlier might have been putting its finger on the scale a bit for the sake of this plot, but does reveal that Andalites have a) prisons, b) capital punishment, and c) a black market organ trade, which in turn implies d) capitalism.
Chapter 19
quote:
<Prepare for landing,> Gonrod instructed.
Our ship hovered over the park. Cloaked, of course. For the last hour we had watched people arrive. Visser Three's limousine had pulled up to the entrance five Earth minutes earlier.
The ship's sensors had probed the building and given us a map of the Center's interior layout, including one extremely large meeting room.
The sensors had even located what we believed to be yet another entrance to the Yeerk pool. A room that seemed to have no floor. No finite measurable depth.
<I remind you our mission is specific and limited,> Gonrod said. <Aloth and Arbat, go in through the south door. Stop any guards before they raise the alarm. Aximili and I will do the same at the east entrance. Both halls are long. Any disturbance will not be heard in the main meeting room.>
Aloth handed out shredders. When he gave Arbat his, Aloth said, <You know, Professor, if you get there before me, you can do the job.>
Arbat answered coldly, <If I do, I will.>
<Shall we make a wager on it?>
<No. We will do better than a wager, I will kill Visser Three. That is an order, Aloth. You will stand by unless I fail. Is that clear?>
<Arbat, Aloth is a trained sniper. You -> Gonrod began.
Arbat drew his shredder, twisted the power setting, and said, <Aristh? Grab that empty data disc. Throw it. Any direction, any speed.>
I did not know whom to obey, what to do. But Gonrod did not countermand the order.
I grabbed the disc. It was the size of a human coin. I threw it with a quick flick of my wrist. It flew over Arbat's shoulder.
Arbat followed it with his stalk eyes, aimed, fired over his shoulder. The disc flamed.
It was not an impossible shot. I might have made it. With practice. But it was an impressive shot nevertheless.
<One does not rise to Apex Level without some basic skills,> Arbat said.
Aloth nodded. <You take the first shot, Professor.>
Aloth handed me a shredder and began carefully checking his own with the slow, practiced ease of a person who had done this many times before.
<What about me?> Estrid said.
<I have decided you will stay on the ship,> Arbat said. <That is to say, Commander Gonrod decided,> he amended.
<I refuse!> she protested hotly.
Gonrod whirled on her. <You refuse an order from your commanding officer?> he thundered.
<But I ...>
<SILENCE! YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE ORDERED!>
There was a stunned pause.
It was Arbat who had exploded.
Estrid recoiled slightly. Trembled. But obeyed.
<There is a first,> Aloth said. <The girl actually listening to someone.>
I watched Estrid carefully. She was listening to some private thought-speak from Arbat. She was angry. And something else ... scared?
Gonrod may have been a failure as a commander, but he was a genuinely great pilot. He laid the ship down to a perfect hover not six inches from the roof of the main building. Had the ship been visible it would have made quite a bizarre sight, a large metal ovoid shape resting like some nesting bird atop the Community Center.
We descended the steep ramp to the gravel roof. The jump to the ground would be easy enough. It was risky to attack in our own Andalite forms. But it was the only way we could get to the building with our shredders. And there was a military purity about attacking as the Andalite warriors we were.
<Good fortune, everyone,> Gonrod said.
<We will need it,> Aloth said mordantly.
<Let us rock and roll,> I said, and laughed at the meaninglessness of the statement.
Aloth and Arbat galloped swiftly to the south face and leaped over the parapet of the roof.
Gonrod and I ran at right angles to them. I leaped, landed easily on the grass below.
Two human-Controllers were on guard.
"Anda -"
Tseeewww! Tseeewww!
They slumped.
Gonrod jerked his head, indicating that I should follow him. I could hear Visser Three. He was in human morph. His powerful voice boomed through the facility.
<That is him,> I said.
We made our way up thickly carpeted steps to the second floor.
Tseeew! Tseeew!
Two more human-Controllers dropped before they could so much as yell.
I began to wonder if we might, just might, manage to do this thing.
The central meeting room was two stories high with a second-floor balcony surrounding it on four sides.
A human-Controller heard us. Turned.
Fwapp!
I hit him, knocked him to his knees, and hit him again to make sure he stayed down for a while.
We looked down from the balcony. Visser Three was on a stage, at the podium. No doubt the podium was shielded, armored. But the upper third of the visser's human morph was in plain view.
I could kill him. I could. Should.
But I felt relieved knowing that Arbat had taken the honor of the first shot. Relieved that I did not have to take aim, squeeze the shot, watch the visser's head flame.
Across the room, on the balcony nearest Visser Three, just above him to his right, I saw three human-Controllers drop. One. Two. The third spun and raised his weapon. And down he went.
Impossible not to feel pride mixed with the fear. Within seconds this gaggle of Andalite rejects had penetrated the Yeerk security. All without an alarm being raised.
But now Visser Three was demorphing. This was a meeting of the Inner Sharing. Controllers all. There were none of the vague, simple fools who clustered in the swimming pool, the game room, the playground, and thought that this organization would give them a sense of belonging they lacked.
These were not the "wanna-be's," as Marco would call them. These were the hard-core.
Visser Three stood there now, an Andalite-Controller. The Andalite-Controller.
And Arbat was within twenty feet. An easy shot. A clear shot. He could kill the Abomination.
And his brother.
I knew suddenly, with the clarity that sometimes comes from moments of great stress, that Arbat would miss.
I lifted my shredder and took careful aim.
Tseeewww!
Shredder fire streaked past Visser Three's head.
Arbat had fired.
He'd blown a hole in the curtains gathered on the far side of the stage.
An easy shot.
A miss.
What do you think? Stress? Hesitation from seeing his brother?
Chapter 20
quote:
Aloth fired.
Tseeew!
Too late! The visser was down, whipped around behind the podium.
Still in my view. Still in my sights.
Had to fire. He'd murdered Elfangor.
Had to fire.
Aloth fired again. The podium sizzled and jumped with electrical discharge.
Had to ...
Reinforcements coming. Two Hork-Bajir burst in through a side door. Why were the human-Controllers not firing?
Of course. They were disarmed. The paranoid leader could not stand up there and address a meeting hall full of armed men, Controllers or not.
Gonrod fired.
The visser's back was seared by the beam.
<Shoot, Aximili, shoot!> I screamed at myself. <Shoot!>
I fired. Did not even know I had, did not realize I had made the decision.
I felt the warmth of the weapon in my hand.
Saw the beam incinerate the stage floor where Visser Three had been just seconds before.
Miss!
No, not a miss. I had waited too long. I had let the moment pass.
The visser was morphing something small. A part of me, a far-off, rational part of me noted that the visser had begun at last to learn that sometimes bigger was not better.
Hork-Bajir bodyguards closed in around the podium. Screaming human-Controllers poured out of the meeting room, emptying it in seconds.
But the meeting room did not stay empty for long. Five doors around the room opened, and in charged a battalion of Hork-Bajir.
Gonrod let out a gasp. A battalion of Hork-Bajir is terrifying to behold.
The Hork-Bajir spotted me and Gonrod on the balcony almost immediately. With surprising agility, they formed a pyramid. Other Hork-Bajir scrambled up to the balcony using their comrades' various blades and horns as steps.
Tseeewww! Tseeewww! Tseeewww! Tseeewww! Tseeewww!
Gonrod fired wildly. In panic. His shots were doing damage, but not enough.
And me? I stood frozen.
Four Hork-Bajir propelled themselves over the balcony railing.
Tseeewww! Tseeewww! Tseeewww! Tseeewww!
Four Hork-Bajir dropped with neatly placed holes through their chests. The bodies fell heavily.
Gonrod must have shot. I turned my eye stalk to look. But he was no longer with me.
Aloth! He had come running around the balcony.
Arbat? Where was he? And where was Gonrod?
<Jump!> Aloth yelled.
I snapped out of my trance. Side by side Aloth and I ran down the balcony and hurdled over the side. I landed badly, sprawled amidst chairs. I scrambled up. Nothing broken.
Tseeew! Tseeew!
Aloth fired into the mass of Hork-Bajir.
Above!
Two Hork-Bajir dropping down onto Aloth.
Tseeew!
I fired and hit one in the arm. The other fell hard. I used my tail and dropped him.
Aloth gave me a curt nod. Then, <Let us get out of here, Aristh.>
We ran, out through one of the doors. Out into a corridor. Arbat was there. He was firing methodically from left to right, forcing back the Hork-Bajir.
<Arbat! This way. We will cover you!> Aloth yelled.
Aloth and I began to fire into the mass of the enemy. Arbat fell back to join us. The Hork-Bajir were taking cover in doorways.
<Visser Three! He escaped!> Arbat cried.
<Forget Visser Three. The mission is aborted.>
<Where is Gonrod?> I asked.
<I think he is ...> Aloth looked to the left, momentarily diverting his eye stalks.
Hork-Bajir, behind us!
I spun.
<Arggghhhhh!> Aloth fell heavily, both front knees slashed by a Hork-Bajir. He lifted his weapon but the Hork-Bajir brought his elbow blade down and slashed him from shoulder to hock.
I fired. The Hork-Bajir fell. Then I advanced. Wading in and strafing as I had seen Arbat do.
My tail snapped and whistled as it sliced the hands of a Hork-Bajir who attempted to grab my arm. Other Hork-Bajir drew back in alarm.
Aloth was hurt. Badly. But he could survive. All he needed was room so he could get up. And out.
The Hork-Bajir began to retreat.
With one eye stalk I watched Aloth climb to his feet.
Tseeewww!
Aloth sank to the floor. He was dead. Shot cleanly through the head.
By Arbat.
An accident?
No. Impossible!
<Retreat!> Arbat ordered, thundering past me.
Aloth was dead. Gonrod probably as well. Arbat was in charge.
Murderer!
My mind reeled. What could I do? The Hork-Bajir were massing for a new charge.
I retreated.
Ran. Ran with my brain replaying it again and again. Arbat had shot Aloth!
Out. Into the air of Earth.
<I have you,> Estrid called tersely from the ship. <Keep going. Just ahead of you!>
The cloaked ship shimmered and appeared, hovering above the playground. Two children and their parents would have a story to tell that no one would believe.
I leaped for the ramp, Arbat right beside me.
The cloak came down.
<Aloth?> Estrid demanded.
<Get us out of here!> Arbat yelled.
The ship powered up and away.
When we reached the command deck, I drew in my breath. Gonrod was already on board.
Working frantically at the controls, Estrid beside him.
<I am throwing out plexine vapor over a two-thousand-mile grid,> he said. <That should keep their Blade ship sensors from picking up our atmospheric disruption. Where is Aloth?>
<Aloth is dead,> I told him tightly. <He looked away from the fight - looked for you - and was injured.>
Gonrod yanked a lever. The ship made a sharp vertical ascent. <I thought it best to retreat for strategic reasons.> Gonrod's voice was defensive.
Retreated? Gonrod had run like a coward!
<The record will reflect that you retreated for strategic reasons in order to allow us to escape,> Arbat said as we rocketed upward. <It will also reflect that I terminated Aloth because he was too injured to escape,> he added, holding my gaze.
<He was not!> I protested. <He could have gotten safely back to the ship. With our help.>
<But we could not take that risk, could we?> Arbat answered smoothly. <We could not take the chance that another Andalite body would become a Yeerk host.>
I shook. With anger. Fear. And with confusion.
Arbat had had two opportunities to kill Visser Three. He had failed in both instances. And he had killed the officer who had been ordered to kill the visser if he did not.
What was going on here? What possible motive could he have for sabotaging his own unit's mission?
Estrid spoke to me. <Aximili. You are upset. Calm yourself.>
<She is right,> Arbat said. <Let us not mourn a fallen warrior. Let us honor his memory by avenging him.>
He turned both eye stalks in my direction. <Now, tell me about the Yeerk pool.>
RIP Aloth.
What the fuck? OK I have no idea what's going on anymore.
Arbat is clearly in charge, but he's also not doing the mission. Therefore, there must be some other mission. Something that Aloth didn't know about.
...probably something that is going to require 'no witnesses' eventually.
Either it's a handy way of whacking someone who was a problem back home, or it's a "show the flag" type deal to convince the Yeerks Earth is about to become the next major theatre and divert troops, or else
If killing Visser 3 was never even part of the plan (which it seems likely is the case), I don't understand why they needed to bring Aloth at all. Gonrod was needed to fly the ship and Estrid is presumably important to whatever the actual plan is, but why bring a sniper if one wasn't needed? It seems like a big liability to bring an additional person that doesn't know the real mission if you don't have to. Was it just for Gonrod's benefit? To convince Ax that they were legit so they had his cooperation?
Yeah, I'm honestly scratching my head as to what's going on with Visser Three, but with that chapter end, I think they're about to warcrime a Yeerk Pool.
Eh, gotta do a few warcrimes to make a nice sous vide Yeerk dinner
Okay yeah I'm not going to call this bad writing because it's confusing, something is clearly super hecking up and these andalites are up to something very clearly weird and bad.
I'm excited for the animorphs to break kayfabe and destroy them ngl.