"I...I was wrong when I said Elfangor did this," I said, too shocked to argue. "It was ... it was me. I gave the humans the morphing technology."
Lirem continued. "Cut off from your prince, alone, not yet trained, not yet a true warrior, you broke the laws, aristhAximili. Is this true?"
"Yes," I whispered bitterly.
"In the name of the council, I forgive your error." Lirem said. "What's done is done. Per haps ... in some way I am too old to see, this may all work out for the best."
"Yes," I said blankly. Why had I done this? Why had I communicated with my home?
"Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, you have done a brave thing, taking on this guilt. I know the temptation to go beyond the law when helping a brave people fight the Yeerks. I was an advisor to the Hork-Bajir. They were our allies, but they were not Andalites. They were not our people."
"But. . ." I knew I should shut up. But part of me was getting angry. "But the Hork-Bajir ended up losing everything."
Lirem's eyes were cold. "You are an Andalite. You are not a human. Obey our laws. I am giving you an order: Resist the Yeerks. But give the humans no information and no technology. Do you understand my order, aristhAximili?"
"Yes."
"The fleet is engaged in many parts of the galaxy. We are doing well against the Yeerks. But it will be some time before we can come to Earth. Fight the Yeerks. If you are half the hero your brother was, you will bring honor on your family."
61 From what seemed like far away, I heard a faint voice in my head. "Ax --- on the move. --- guy. Think he --- ."
But at that very moment, Lirem said, "Aximili, we have your father. He would like to speak to you."
"Ax - you hear? -- there's -"
"Aximili-kala," my father said. It was his nickname for me.
I couldn't believe it was really him. "Yes, Father. It's me. It's me, Aximili. I'm on Earth. I don't know how long I can talk, not long."
"Is your brother there?"
It came so quickly, the question I dreaded. I almost lost the contact. I desperately wanted to see my father's face and listen to his words. But at the same time, I did not want to tell him that his oldest son was gone.
And there was another thing I did not want to tell him.
"Elfangor," my father said. "Is he . . ."
"Father. Elfangor is ... he was killed."
My father looked like someone had punched him. He rocked back.
I looked away. I had tried so hard not to think about Elfangor being gone. Somehow it wasn't real till this moment. Seeing my father's pain made me feel my own.
"Did he die well?" my father asked. The question is part of the ritual of death. It was the question he had to ask.
"He died in the service of his people, defending freedom," I said. This also was part of the ritual.
My father nodded. "And has his death been avenged?"
This was the part I had feared. "No, Father."
My father looked up at me. "You are now the eldest son. The burden of revenge is on you.
Do you know his killer?"
"Yes."
"And does his killer still live?"
"Yes."
"And do you, Aximili, take up the burden of avenging your brother's death?" 62 "Yes."
The ritual was complete. We had both said all the things we were supposed to say.
"I am so relieved to see that you are still well," my father said.
"Yes. I ... I wanted to see you," I said. "I couldn't - " The connection was broken. Instantly, totally. I was staring at a blank screen.
"Sorry, but you were breaking my heart," a human voice sneered. "I had to cut you off."
I spun around. A human! He was thirty feet away.
And he was holding a weapon, pointing it at me.
Only slowly did I realize that it was no human gun. The weapon in his hand was a Dracon beam. Standard Yeerk issue.
"You and I have a lot to talk about, Andalite. Quite a lot."
I was frozen. I could not move. The human-Controller was too far away for me to hit with my tail.
"Don't try it, Andalite," he sneered. "I'll fry you before you can even twitch that tail of yours."
But then . . .
"Tseeeeeeeeeerrr!"
Tobias dived from the top of the dome at full speed, wings swept back, talons raked forward.
He aimed for the man's face.
The man threw up his arm. Talons raked the bare flesh of his forearm, leaving red slashes behind. But the man had held on to the Dracon beam. Tobias flew past. Shreds of the human's shirt hung from his talons.
I leapt forward. Too late!
"Freeze! I don't want to kill either of you, Andalites, but I will if I have to!" the man snapped.
Tobias swooped away to perch on the huge telescope itself.
"I just want to talk," the human-Controller said.
"You're the one holding the Dracon beam," I pointed out.
Then, he did something that amazed me. He knelt down and placed the Dracon beam on the floor. He kicked it aside. The weapon went skittering across the polished floor.
63 "Now I'm at your mercy, Andalite," he said. "You can use that tail of yours. Or you can listen to what I have to say."
With my stalk eyes I glanced up and saw To bias.
"It's up to you, Ax," Tobias said. "This is your party."
"Speak, then," I said to the human-Controller.
"My name is Gary Kozlar," he said.
"Don't waste my time," I snapped, trying to sound strong and unafraid. "That's a human name. That's the name of your host body. But I know what you really are." He nodded. "All right. My name is Eslin three-five-nine. And you are Aximili, a young Andalite warrior-cadet. Brother of Beast Elfangor. You see, I heard the last few minutes of your touching conversation."
"Beast Elfangor? So that is the Yeerk name for my brother?"
"Your brother is dead," Eslin snapped. "And so is the one creature in all the galaxy that I cared about. Her name was Derane three-four-four. And do you know what they have in common, your brother and my Derane?"
"No. What does my brother have in common with a Yeerk?"
Eslin's human face twisted into an expression of rage. "They were both killed by the same being."
"Visser Three?"
"As I said, you and I have a lot in common, Andalite." He struggled to gain control over his human face, but his jaw was twitching as he explained. "You Andalite bandits did a lot of damage by destroying the Kandrona. There is widespread starvation. The most important Yeerks, those in vital positions, or those whom the Visser happens to favor, are being shuttled back and forth to the mother ship every three days. They get a minimal dose of Kandrona rays. Enough to keep them alive."
"Do you expect me to feel badly?" I asked.
"No, I expect the usual Andalite self-righteousness and hypocrisy from you," Eslin spat.
"Andalites. The meddlers of the galaxy."
"Do not anger me, Yeerk. I said I would listen. I did not say I would let you spew Yeerk poison."
Eslin made a grim smile. "I knew you'd come. As soon as I saw the new software, I said to my self, 'Aha, not the usual clumsy human effort, this.' An Andalite corrected this software.