An Andalite who wanted to use the radio telescope as a Z-space transmitter. I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd come."
64 "And here I am," I said. I felt like a fool. Of course the Yeerks would have one of their own people in a position at the observatory. It was obvious. I had been an idiot. An idiot!
"My Derane ... we came from the same pool. We went through training together. She and I ...
we had been together for a long time. We were very close. She understood me. But I had this important post at the observatory, while Derane was given a minor post. When you Andalite bandits destroyed the ground-based Kandrona, Visser Three moved quickly. He said everyone would survive. He said he had found a way. But he lied. Too many Yeerks, not enough Kandrona rays. It was simple division. So he shuttled so- called important Controllers up to the mother ship. And the rest. . .
Eslin seemed to notice the bloody gashes on his arm for the first time. He touched them gingerly. "You Andalites must love this planet. So many nasty species for you to morph."
"Was your Derane one of the ones killed?"
"She was 'expendable,'" Eslin said. Then he smiled. "I've had some small revenge already.
The Visser's favorites are shuttled up to the mother ship every three days to feed. I sabotaged one of the shuttles. That threw off the feeding schedule. Now some of the Visser's friends are starving and dying. Like my Derane died."
"That's why we're starting to see Controllers losing it," Tobias said privately to me. "That's why it took so long. Visser Three had it under control till this guy messed with his plan."
"Are you finished, Eslin?" I asked him. "I've heard your story. Is there a point to it?"
"Ah. You want the point of the story. Yes, of course. The point. The point is this: Visser Three inhabits an Andalite body. And sometimes he feeds like an Andalite."
"What's that mean?" Tobias asked me.
"He feeds like an Andalite, almost alone. He has guards of course, but they stay back. He is vulnerable. Vulnerable. And I know the place where he feeds."
"Why are you telling me this, Yeerk?"
"Why?" He bared his human teeth in a grimace of rage. "Because I want him dead. I want Visser Three dead! He killed my Derane. He killed the only one in the galaxy I have ever had feelings for. He did it. And I want him to pay with his life, the foul, half-Andalite scum. I want him DEAD!"
He calmed himself down, at least a little. He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket.
He placed it on the desk. "Time and place," he said. "You have a day to prepare."
"This could be a trap."
Eslin sneered. "I could have killed you here. You have your duty, Andalite. The burden of revenge. Your brother's killer. Your greatest enemy. You Andalites are great ones for duty.
So do your duty, Andalite."
65 66 Chapter Ten
It is very difficult to be in human morph and remember that you are not one of them. That their pain is not your pain. It is hard to remain apart. Sometimes very hard. - From the
Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
That same evening, Prince Jake called a meeting in Cassie's barn.
My first thought was that Tobias had told the others about my trip to the observatory. Of course, Tobias still did not know that I had communicated with my home. But he did know all about Eslin's plan to kill Visser Three.
Cassie's barn is also called the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. She and her father use it to rescue wild animals who are injured or sick. There are always dozens of animals in cages: skunks, foxes, raccoons, birds of all types. Many are bandaged.
It's strange, the relationship humans have to the other animals on Earth. Some animals they seem to have an enormous amount of emotion for. Others they hate. I think it has to do with the thing called "cuteness." But I've never under stood the concept.
And now, I was sure, I never would.
I was not foolish enough to believe that I could take on Visser Three and survive. Maybe if I planned well, and was lucky, I might get him. But I would never live to brag about it.
Probably it was just as well. I had no future.
Lirem had "forgiven" me for breaking the law. But I could never be a warrior now, let alone a prince. I would never be another Elfangor. He would go down in history as a great hero. I would be remembered as the young, stupid little brother who gave the humans the ability to morph.
I had to morph into a human to go to the barn. There was always the chance that Cassie's father or mother might walk in.
But I felt bad assuming the human body. As the human skin replaced my own fur, and human eyes took over for my Andalite eyes, I kept remembering Lirem talking about how he had been an advisor to the Hork-Bajir.
The Hork-Bajir had lost. The Yeerks had enslaved them. But Lirem had been true to the laws and the customs.
What if he hadn't? What if he had given the Hork-Bajir advanced technologies? What if he had taught the Hork-Bajir to build spaceships? Would the Hork-Bajir still be a free people today?
It wasn't for me to decide. I was just an aristh. I would never be anything more. At least if I destroyed Visser Three, people would say, "He was a fool, but in the end he died well." Somehow that was not a great comfort.
67 I found the others already waiting inside the barn. Prince Jake was sitting on a bale of hay.
Marco leaned against a stall, standing with arms crossed. Cassie, as usual, kept busy, feeding an injured baby goose with an eyedropper. Rachel paced back and forth, her cool eyes narrowing as she noticed me.
And Tobias . . . Tobias perched in the rafters overhead. I met his intense, intimidating hawk's gaze. And I saw that from his talons there hung a strip of bloody cloth. I knew where it had come from. And now I knew the reason for this meeting.
"Hi, Ax," Prince Jake said. "How's it going?"
"I'm fine," I answered.
"I figured we should all get together," Prince Jake said wearily. He seemed to be averting his eyes from me. "We need to think about what this thing with the Controllers means. We saw the guy at the mall. Then there was Mr. Pardue. And in the paper this morning there was a story about some guy, some business guy, who's in a meeting and freaks out. The paper made it seem like he just went nuts. I'm pretty sure he was another Controller losing it."
He looked at me. I said nothing.
"See, it's like this, Ax," Marco said suddenly. "We're tired of you giving us a runaround.
Tobias shows up and he's dragging around some bloody shirt. I ask him what it is, and he won't tell me. Why won't Tobias tell me? Simple. He must have promised someone he wouldn't. And who would that someone be?"
There was no point denying it. "I made Tobias promise. Puh-romise. It is my fault."
"So now you're not just keeping secrets from us, you're getting us to keep secrets from ourselves!" Rachel yelled. "You need to get some thing straight, Ax. We're not your little action figures here. We're not toy soldiers. This is our planet. And this is our fight. You don't control us, just because you're some mighty Andalite ."