«What's the plan?» Arbron asked nervously. «What do we do?»
Alloran laughed. «What's the plan? We locate the Skrit Na ship. And if it has landed, we go down after it and take back the Time Matrix. Of course, we'd be a little obvious walking around as An-dalites. So . . .»
«Down to the surface of the Taxxon world?» I asked in horror. «You mean . . . sir, are you planning for us to morph Taxxons?»
Alloran looked very seriously at Arbron and me. «You two arisths are going to have to grow up very fast now. I need warriors at my side. Are you ready to be warriors?»
In my daydreams as a young aristh I had imagined a moment like this. I had imagined a time coming when I would be called upon to be brave and to save my people. And in my imagination I had al-
64 ways faced this kind of moment with pride and without fear.
And now, suddenly, my daydream was reality. And all I felt was sick dread.
The Taxxon world! It was a place from a nightmare.
«We're ready, Prince Alloran,» I said, as boldly as I could. «We are ready to be your warriors. We're not af raid.»
I saw Arbron's face. He was as sick with fear as I was. But still he managed to smirk. He knew me too well.
He knew I was lying.
65 Down to the Taxxon world!
The Jahar was cloaked, hidden from sight and from most sensors. But a close sensor sweep by a Yeerk ship would reveal us. And we would never be able to land on the planet in the Jahar.
We needed a victim.
We found it, out beyond the Taxxon world's third moon. It was a slow-moving transport ship. It was just arriving in the system, which meant they would be expecting it down on the surface. Perfect for our needs.
The trick was to disable the ship - to make it stop, but not destroy it.
«This will take precise aim,» Alloran said. «Which of you two is a better shot?»
I wanted to say that I was. But I knew Arbron was better. And we could not afford to fail. «Arbron is the one who hit the Skrit Na ship.»
Alloran nodded. «Let's see what you can do, Aristh Arbron. We need to hit one engine, but leave
66 the other functioning. And we don't want any unfortunate explosions.»
Arbron took the shredder controls in his hands. The Yeerk transport ship was two thousand miles away. The target engine was about forty feet long.
Arbron keyed into the computer targeting system and made careful adjustments while all of us - Alloran, the two humans, and I - watched.
There was a hum as the shredder fired. We saw the pale green beam lance forward into darkness. And on the screen, with magnification at factor five hundred, we saw the near-side engine pod of the Yeerk ship glow red and green.
«Good shooting!» Alloran said. «They'll waste half an hour trying to figure out what happened and reconfiguring to fly with just one engine. Aristh Elfangor, take us in fast!»
I punched up a burn and we rocketed forward, descending on the crippled transport. We were alongside the transport before they knew we were there.
«Jam their communications^ Alloran ordered, and I feverishly punched the flat surface of the tactical board with my fingers.
It was my second boarding of an alien vessel. I guess I should have felt like I was an old hand. But this wasn't some lame bunch of Skrit Na. This was a Yeerk ship. We had no way of knowing what we
67 would encounter. Would it be Hork-Bajir-Con-trollers? Taxxon-Controllers? Or some other fierce, unknown species the Yeerks controlled?
«A word of advicer» Alloran said. «Taxxons may be repulsive, but never forget that down in their brains they have a Yeerk. You're dealing with a Yeerk, notjustaTaxxon.»
Alloran, Arbron, and I pressed close to the hatch, waiting for it to blow open. We carried handheld shredders on setting three. There are six power levels on a shredder. Level one delivers a mild charge that will stun a small creature for a moment or two. Level six will blast a hole through ten feet of solid alloy. Level three wouldn't kill most creatures, but it would certainly knock them down so hard they wouldn't get up for hours.
At that moment, waiting to rush a deadly enemy, I struggled to recall everything old Sofor had ever tried to teach me about combat. But I swear I couldn't remember a word. Maybe Prince Alloran was calm, but I sure wasn't.
«Remember, don't kill them all,» Alloran said. «We may need to acquire them.»
"Good luck," Loren said.
And then the hatch blew.
BOOM!
In a rush of wind from the explosion, we launched ourselves into the Yeerk transport. Taxxons!
68 If you've never faced a Taxxon, let me tell you: They are shocking things to see up close. They are tubular, like a monstrously thick, ten-foot-long hose. They have rows of needle-sharp, cone-shaped legs. The upper third of their body is held upright, and there the rows of legs become smaller and form tiny two- and three-fingered hands.
There is a row of dark red eyes, each like congealed liquid. At the very top is the mouth, a round, red-rimmed hole circled with vicious rows of teeth.
There were half a dozen of these creatures practically encircling us. For a frozen moment no one moved. I don't think the Yeerks could quite believe that they were being boarded by Andalites, right there in orbit around the Taxxon home world.
Then everyone unfroze at once!
On my left, one Taxxon raised a Dracon beam and aimed it at me.
«Ahhh!» I yelled and pulled the trigger of my shredder.
TTTTSSSAAAPPP!
The Taxxon crumpled.
TTTTSSSSAAAAPPPITTTTSSSSAAAPPPP!
Shredders fired.
TSEEEEWWW! TSEEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
Dracon beams fired!
The air was instantly as hot as an oven. Shock waves from all the weapons rocked the enclosed
69 area. Screens blew out. Sheet-plastic panels crumpled. Sparks exploded in brilliant waterfalls from popped conduits overhead.
«Stop firing!» Alloran ordered. «We'll destroy the ship!»
Behind me, a Taxxon! Dracon beam coming up!
I didn't pause to think. I just jerked my tail. My tail blade sliced through the air and separated the Taxxon's arm from his body. The arm fell to the deck, still weakly clutching the Dracon beam.
"SSSRRREEEE-WWWAAARR!" the Taxxon screamed.
Now there were only two Taxxons still standing, and they knew they were beaten. They backed away as fast as they could motor their cone legs. But even then, and even with the Yeerks in their heads, the Taxxons' evil instincts would not be denied. As they backed away they bent low to tear chunks of flesh from their dead companions.
The Taxxons are cannibalistic. Not a nice species. And according to everything we knew about them, not even the Yeerks inside them could control that foul hunger of theirs.
«AII right!» Arbron cried. «We got 'em!»
«Shut up, you young fool,» Alloran snapped.
Alloran had already guessed why the Taxxon-Controllers were pulling back. They didn't want to be in the way when serious trouble showed up.
70 And that serious trouble was just becoming visible through the haze of smoke from burning, sparking panels.
Seven feet tall. Razor-sharp blades at the wrists. Razor-sharp blades at their elbows. And knees. And tails. And two or three huge, forward-swept horn-blades on the tops of their snakelike heads.
Hork-Bajir!
«Well, well,» Alloran said, «it's been a while since I fought a Hork-Bajir. I'll take the two big ones in the middle.»
That left a Hork-Bajir warrior each for me and Arbron.
Two full-grown, adult Hork-Bajir, each with a wily Yeerk in its head.
«l'm thinking maybe we should both have paid more attention to old Sofor,» Arbron said, making a grim joke.
I saw the Hork-Bajir advance on me. I heard So-for's voice in my head. Don't think, Elfangor. It's all instinct and training now.
I let go of my conscious mind. I simply let it slip away. And in its place,
a tingling energy seemed to fill me up. It was as if I were charged with electricity. As if sparks might fly from my hooves and tail.
The Hork-Bajir came on toward me. And I struck.
I struck!
72 And when Alloran was outflanked by one of his opponents, I struck again.
And when Arbron was knocked down by his Hork-Bajir opponent, I struck again.
I struck and struck and struck till Hork-Bajir blood ran on the decks.
And when my own conscious mind returned, it seemed as if hours had gone by. Arbron was staring at me like he'd seen a ghost. Alloran was nodding grimly, as if he recognized something about me.
Wounded Hork-Bajir, and worse than wounded, were lying in Taxxon gore on the deck.
«No,» I whispered.
I turned and ran back through the hatch to the Jahar.
I ran and slipped and fell to my knees, with nowhere else to run.
It was the human, Loren, who ran to me and put her strange human arms around my chest and with one hand pressed my face into her long golden hair.
71
I shook myself free of Loren, appalled and ashamed by my behavior. What was the matter with me? I was behaving like a child, not an aristh.
Then I saw Arbron.
He had been cut. He was bleeding from a deep gash in his left arm. His main eyes were wide with what might almost have been panic.
Alloran was busy tying up the injured Hork-Bajir. The injured Taxxons were shoved into a small storeroom. Alloran sealed them in by welding the door with his shredder.
"Are you okay?" Loren asked me.
«Yes. Of course. I'm fine,» I said harshly. But my insides were churning. Some awful feeling was eating into my thoughts. I felt stunned. I felt like I wasn't even me. It was like I was some totally different person, standing off to one side, just watching myself.
Loren left me alone and went to Arbron. She tore the sleeve off her shirt and wrapped it around Arbron's bleeding arm.
73 Alloran came over and glanced at Arbron's arm. «You'll be okay, aristh,» he said. «Go back to the weapons station. We've just started here. We have to fly this Yeerk crate down to the planet. Aristh Elfangor, you take the helm. The controls are more primitive than our own ships, but -»
Neither Arbron nor I had moved. Alloran glared at me, furious that I was ignoring his order. But then I saw his expression soften.
«lt's your first time. You fought well. Both of you. It's always hard the first time. And it never gets easy. But I need you both. Now.»
I nodded. «Yes, Prince Alloran. I'll take the helm.»
«You. Alien,» he said to Loren. «Get back into the Jahar. We'll be away for a while. Don't touch anything.»
Loren turned her head to look back over her shoulder. Humans have to do that in order to see behind them. She was obviously hesitating. She bit her lower lip with her short white teeth.
«What is it?» I asked.
Still she hesitated. Then, "Look, tell me the truth. Swear by whatever it is that is really important to you. Swear that you're going to take Chapman and me back to Earth."
«Of course we are. As soon as we canr» I said.
74 She sighed, a sound that involved blowing air out of her mouth. "Look, it's Chapman. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, really ..."
«You don't trust him.»
"If you leave the two of us here on the Jahar, he'll try something. I know he will. And I know you think we're too primitive to be able to fly your ship or whatever, but don't count on it. Chapman doesn't like you."
«Yes. I got that impression,» I said. «But we can tell the ship's computer not to allow him to do anything. He won't be able to fly the ship or use communications. It will be all right» With my stalk eyes I saw that Prince Alloran was busy with Arbron. «Here. Take this. Hide it under your clothing. Use it if Chapman makes trouble for you. It is set to level two. Just point it and squeeze the trigger.»
Loren took the shredder from me and slipped it under her shirt. "Listen . . . good luck down on the planet. Whatever you're doing down there."
Then she put her face close to mine and pressed her lips against the side of my face. It was a very odd thing to do. Not something any Andalite would ever do. And yet I did not mind it.
«Aristh Elfangor? Whenever you have the time to join us. . . ,» Alloran said acidly.
«Ready, sir! Preparing to sever the connection with the Jahar. »
75 The hatch closed, shutting Loren the human off from sight.
She would be all right, I told myself. The Jahar was well-shielded. With the engines off it would be almost impossible for the Yeerks to detect. And she had the shredder in case the other human tried to start trouble.
I focused on understanding the ship's controls. They were designed for Taxxon hands. But the basics were still the basics. I calculated a simple approach to the Taxxon world's main spaceport. I fired the engines and then, as we moved away, gathering speed, I looked back and saw the Jahar.
«These humans are a pain in the hindquarters,» Arbron said. «As if we don't have enough trouble? We have to watch over a pair of primitive aliens?»
«She's a million light-years from her home, Arbron. Confronting species she never knew existed. Suddenly thrust into the middle of an intergalactic war. I think she is very brave.»
Arbron busied himself with learning the computer station of the strange ship. But then, in a carefully offhand way, he said, «By the way, thanks. You saved my life back there. I guess you absorbed more from old Soforthan you thought, huh?»
«l guess so,» I said.
«You were something, Elfangor. You scared me. Hey, I think you even scared Alloran. You really -»
76 «Okay, shut up, all right?»
«l was just saying you were great back there. Faster-than-light tail action. When you cut that one big Hork-Bajir's head? That was amazing.»
I wanted Arbron to shut up. I didn't want to think about what had happened. I didn't want to remember it.
And yet this other part of me was hanging on every word. This other part of me was replaying the fight in my head, seeing myself as Elfangor, the great hero.
«Course laid in?» Alloran asked me.
«Yes, Prince. We should be arriving in thirty minutes.»
«Good. Then it's time. We need to acquire the Taxxons.»
To acquire is to absorb the DMA of a species. It is the first step in morphing that creature.
We were going to become Taxxons.
77 We had shoved the Taxxons and the badly wounded Hork-Bajir into the cargo hold of the ship. We had not even looked into the hold to see what else might be in there.
Now we looked.
We opened the door and Alloran and Arbron stood with their shredders ready in case the surviving Taxxons tried to attack us. But the two Taxxons had other things on their minds.
They were attempting to kill and eat each other. They had already finished off the wounded Hork-Bajir.
«Stop it or I'll kill you both!» Alloran yelled.
But the Taxxons were out of control, caught up in their own evil bloodlust. It was a vile thing to watch. Taxxons don't have powerful tails like us, or blades like the Hork-Bajir. They can only rear up and slam their upper bodies against each other while trying to gouge with their round mouths.
«Their Yeerks have left them,» Alloran said. «This is how Taxxons behave when they are not
78 Controllers. Their Yeerk parasites have left them to destroy each other.»
«Where did the Yeerks go?» I asked.
Alloran calmly leveled his shredder at the Taxxons and fired. It was a low-level blast, just enough to knock the Taxxons unconscious.
We stepped past their sagging bodies, careful to keep our hooves out of the gore. Behind them, the hold of the ship was filled with transparent circular tanks. It was too dark to see what was in the tanks.
«Computer. Lights,» Alloran said.
Lights came on, and I instantly wished they hadn't.
The hold of the ship stretched for perhaps a hundred feet straight back, with a width of a third that. Filling most of that space, glowing a sludgy green, were dozens of tanks.
And in each tank, swimming through the viscous liquid, were gray slugs.
«Yeerks!» I said.
«There must be thousands! Tens of thousands!» Arbron said.
«l suspected this might be the case,» Alloran said. «These are Yeerks being transported to the Taxxon world. They're here to get bodies. Hosts. Each of these will be given a Taxxon.»
«What do we do with them?» I asked.
79 «We seal the bridge then open the outer hatch,» Alloran said calmly.
It took me a few seconds to realize what he was saying. If we opened the outer hatch while we were still in space, the vacuum would suck everything in the hold out. Out into the airless cold. The Yeerks would die almost instantly.
«Prince Alloran, we can't just kill them all,» I said. I looked closely at him to see if maybe he had been joking.
His eyes were cold. «Aristh Elfangor, I give the orders. You obey the orders.»
«But they're helpless,» I protested.
«They are Yeerks. And this is war. Would you rather wait till they have Taxxon bodies?»
I didn't know what to say. I looked at Arbron. He kept his face carefully expressionless.
«We ... we can't do this,» I said. «lt's wrong. They are our prisoners. We can't! It would be murder!»
«Be careful what you accuse me of, Aristh Elfangor^ Alloran said harshly. «You're a child, so I forgive your impertinence. This time. But you are here to learn, not to question orders. And one of the things you'll learn, my idealistic aristh, is that war is not about striking brave poses and playing the hero. War is about killings
80 «Andalites do not kill prisoners,» I said.
Alloran laughed. «ls that what they taught you in school?» He laughed again. «Well, child, I learned my lessons in the battle for the Hork-Bajir world, not in a classroom. And let me tell you: The only thing that matters is staying alive. Besides, little aristh Elfangor, it's a bit late for you to get delicate. Not now, with the blood of your enemies staining your tail.»