I stretched my wings. It was early for me. Or late, whichever way you looked at it. I splashed some water on my face and walked over to the minifridge I kept in my little cave, my roost.
          Now you're saying: "Hey, um, Anna, Lex, Stryke, or whatever you call yourself, you left out a very big thing. Like, why do you have wings? And why do you live in a cave?"
          Good question.
          I'm not a human. I'm a Shifter. I am half-human, half-Navarazzi. I can make myself look like a human, or I can make myself look like a Navarazzi. As a human, I have blond hair that I used to keep in a braid, but I cut it. Now I have a haircut that I saw on Navarazzi females. It's pretty short, about six inches, maybe five. But it's pretty short. And extremely shaggy. And I'm about, oh, five feet and three inches. Average height for my grade. I dress in solid colored T-shirts, black jeans, and some exhausted shoes. And I have a little crystal in the middle of my forehead, a little lower. I thought it was cool.
          But as a Navarazzi, I look very different. I have blackish purple, coarse hair that actually is longer than my hair is as a human. My skin is a kind of a dark, brownish shade. Like I got a very bad sunburn. I only have three fingers and a thumb. All of them are wickedly clawed. I have this thick tail that can move very fast. My knees are reversible. My feet are like these smaller versions of T-rex feet. They are basically the talons of a hawk. Only much bigger. I have this gigantic blade sticking out of my forehead, right above my jewel. At first, it looks like a horn, only once you get closer, you can tell it's much thinner and sharper. And my eyes can glow two diferent colors. Red and white. And they look like cat eyes. Only one has this scar over one. Even through the narrow pupil. And they can't be made to look like a humans'. And my mouth is very strange. I have these incredibly sharp teeth. And two of those teeth are fangs. And those fangs make this kind of liquid that makes my saliva venom. So if I bite something, and I'm making venom, whatever I bit can basically say good-bye to the world. It only takes about five minutes to work.
          But, anyway, I'm the only Shifter on Earth, as far as I know. And I help my friends fight the Yeerks. But right then, I was getting ready to go to my little lesson.
          I pulled out some ham and cheese sandwiches, three apples, and a bag of M&Ms. I dragged out my tote bag from under the table and packed it with these things. I yanked out a book, my scrapbook, and my journal from my little bookshelf. From the shelf I had made, I pulled down a T-shirt, a pair of beat-up shoes, and a wad of bills. I stuffed them in the bag, too. I unlocked the box I kept on the table and pulled out the switchblade knife and the stolen Dracon beam I kept inside. I stuck them in the bag and walked out of my roost.
          I paused at the sheer beauty of the sunrise. See, I'm nocturnal, so I never really get to see a sunrise, except when I'm posing as a human. But even then, I don't see a sunrise very much.
          I flapped a few times and lifted off. I knew exactly were to go.

          I enjoyed gliding in the daytime. I didn't really fly. I soared on updrafts and currents of wind. So it was hard work, flapping. But during the day, oh, the thermals are just beautiful. A hawk can ride a thermal maybe a mile or so. So can I. And let me tell you, at a mile up, you can see everything. But right then, I wasn't enjoying the scenery. I was looking for a certain steam. Then I spotted it.
          <-for the freedom that unites us...>
          I smiled. I knew that ritual like the back of my hand. Aximilli had been giving me lessons, sort of. He had been teaching me about Zero-Space and Skrit Na and Andalites and technology and all sorts of things. Although I still couldn't quite comprehend the absence of space. And I repaid him by telling him all I knew about Navarazzis and humans and by bringing food and books. I waited for him to finish the morning ritual. Then I spoke to him.
          Hi, Aximilli. Am I late?
          What do you mean, 'am I late'? He just finished the morning ritual! Anna yelled.
          There are two kinds of Tele-speech. Public and private. The Shifter's mind is the only one that can use public, although the other two minds can give them suggestions. And private is the kind that all three minds use to communicate between each other.
          See, being a Shifter involves more than just Shifting. There's this little hook buried in everything. In one body, there are three minds. Three personalities. The Shifter's human host, and the Shifter's Navarazzi host. And, lucky me, my hosts tend to get on each other's nerves pretty quickly.
          There's Anna. She's kind of a wimp, till you get to know her. Then you realize that she can be pretty brave sometimes. And she hates Yeerks like you can not believe. She's always trying to convince us to quit fighting because we could get killed. And she really doesn't like the fact she's stuck in a predator's body. She'd prefer to be a vegetarian.
          Then there's Lex, whose full name is Lex-Cossette-Keke-Blade-Huntress-Shifting experiment II. Fiercely loyal to the little war we're stuck in, loyal to anyone who's against Yeerks, and refuses to believe that the Andalites are not the saviors of the galaxy. Hates Yeerks and is waaay too brave. And the predator of our little group. The exact opposite of Anna.
          Anyway, Aximilli rolled his stalk eyes upward and said to me, <No. In fact, your timing is perfect.>
          Cool. I'll be down in a minute.
          I did a barrel roll in mid air, just to impress him. Then I landed. He smiled with his main eyes.

          See, like me, Aximilli isn't human. He's an Andalite. Imagine a centaur. Now add in a scorpian-like tail, stalk eyes, and no mouth. Now give them blue fur and larger eyes. That's a rough picture of an Andalite.
          I sort of like Aximilli. He's got this great personality, he's cute, even in human morph, he's got this beautiful and dangerous tail, and he's brave. But, as I said, I'm a Shifter, and he's an Andalite. Somehow, I think that, even if he liked me, the whole different species thing would get in the way.
          But I try not to think about that.
          "So, what are we covering today? I brought M&Ms."
          <I don't know. What do you want me to tell you about?>
          I shrugged.
          "How about, um, I don't know. You're the teacher. I'm the student. You make the lessons, I bring the M&Ms. I don't know. Tell me about whatever."
          <M&Ms? Wasn't that what Marco called the brightly colored pellets? The chocolate?>
          "Yeah, you wanna morph and have 'em now?"
          <If that's all right with you.>
          "Why in the heck in the world should I care?" I said with a laugh.
          <I'll take that as a no.>
          Aximilli paused and his body started to mutate and change. See, Andalites are the greatest spies in the galaxy. They developed morphing technology. They simply acquire an animal's DNA, and they can turn into that animal. Right now, Aximilli was turning into a human.
          Several humans, actually. See, like I said, the Yeerks are taking over Earth. And only five kids, an Andalite, and a Shifter stand in their way. Not good odds for the human race, really.
          But here's how our little group got started. Jake, Rachel, Marco, Cassie, and Tobias all walked through an abandoned construction site. Now, I'm sure none of them were actually planning to get involved in an interstellar war. But that's how it wound up. An Andalite prince, Elfangor, landed his damaged fighter right in front of them. And that's were he warned them, he warned them about the Yeerks. And that's where and when they got the power to morph. Since then, they've rescued Aximilli from the bottom of the ocean, met the Chee, an Ellimist, and countless other things. And in the process, Aximilli has managed to acquire our DNA.
          Somehow, he mixes it all together and produces one very odd looking human. He's got hair that looks like a cross between Marco and Jake, eyes that look exactly like Marco, and a face that looks surprisingly like Rachel. And he has skin like Cassie's. Basically, it's like someone decided to run the four of them through a blender. And I noticed he added a touch of me into his morph now, too.
          "Aximilli, since when is your morph's hair blonde? And were did you get the thin pupils?"
          "I added your DNA to it. Tewit. Addded. Ded. Dedededed."
          Andalites don't have mouths, so they like to play with sounds a lot. At least Aximilli does. And you don't even want him anywhere near a bag of M&Ms or apples or pie or anything else that has a flavor. Regardless of whether it's edible or not.
          "My mouth feels a little strange, though. What is it?"
          "Open it," I said. I gasped at the sight.
          "Aximilli, you have my fangs in there! I thought you said that you can control how the morph went!"
          "Evidentially not enough. Eeenough. Nuf. It is very pleasurable to make sounds with these fangs. Fangusuh."
          I rolled my eyes. "Just try to avoid my DNA as much as possible, okay? You look like a vampire!"
          "Vampire? Vamp-vamp-vamp-vampire? Piiiire. Pyriruh."
          "Never mind. I'll explain it later. Hah! I thought of something for you to tell me about! I've never seen Visser Three. So tell me about him."
          Aximilli paused. I guess the mere mentioning of V. Three made him mad. See, the Visser was the one who murdered Elfangor. And Aximilli had an obligation of honor to kill the Visser. And he had had an opportunity to destroy what the Andalites call the Abomination, but he didn't. He couldn't. And for some reason, I admired him for that.
          "The host body," he started, "witch is whom I believe you are talking about, is an Andalite, as you know."
          "I believe you said he was a prince-no, War-prince."
          "Correct. Ect-ta. Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. Would you like a physical description?" he asked a little curtly. But I could understand that.
          "Sure."
          "Very well." I saw his cheeks were turning red. He was losing control of his anger a little.  After all, he was probably welling up with anger and hatred for this guy every day of his life. I kept my face as calming as a Navarazzi can. But hey, when your head alone is enough to kill, it's hard to look comforting.
          "The host body, Alloran, is not very large. But he is an adult, larger and stronger than I. And he-" Aximilli paused, took a breath, and continued.
          "His body is very solid. His fur is a metallic blue, and he-"
          Aximilli's eyes were flashing. On his face, he wore a very human look of hatred and contempt. I put a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down. I had never seen such emotion out of him, usually he sort of hid it. He was breathing heavily and grinding his teeth.
          He looked at me and seemed to just then realize I was there. His neck turned red and he started to demorph. I guess he sort of realized how hard it is to hide emotion as a human. Once fully Andalite, he seemed in control.
          <I am sorry, I->
          "Nothing to be sorry about, Aximilli." My hand was still on his shoulder. I jerked it off quickly.
          <No, I lost control, I...>
          "Humans are a hard species to hide emotion. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I blow up at times. Jake does. Cassie the peacemaker does, too."
          <But you know how to hide it.>
          "Most of the time, Aximilli, holding it back is the last thing you should do."
          <Yes, but still, you humans hide it easily. You are depressed, yet you look healthy. That is something I just don't understand.> Aximilli said calmly, with a hint of anxiousness.
          "Aximilli, do you know what the humans' greatest fear is? Guess."
          <Death?>
          "I'll tell you. Humans are so complicated because their greatest fear is being understood. Being known."

          "So, enough with V. Three. Tell me about something else. Anything. First thing that pops into your head."
          <Sario Rip?>
          "Huh?"
          <You said the first thing that comes to mind.>
          I shook my head. Sometimes Aximilli can be pretty literal. I smiled.
          "Whatever. What's a Sario Rip?"
          <A Sario Rip is a hole in space-time. It pulls individuals into itself and causes them to reappear in a time in witch they do not belong. If they show up at a time were they exist, there is an unstable element introduced. There would be two individuals who are the same person, in two places, at the same time. At the occurrence of the Rip, the universe would annihilate both. At least, that's what I think. I'm not sure.>
          "Why not?" I asked, fascinated.
          <Well, the day they taught this lesson in school...I wasn't really paying attention. There was a game later that day...and there was an attractive female...>
          That's what I like about Aximilli. We have a close friendship. Not quite shorm, best friends, but we, or at least I am, comfortable with sharing our feelings with each other. I could tell him anything, absolutely anything, and I know he'd never tell. And I know he's not a Controller. It was comforting to know Aximilli wasn't too embarrassed to admit he was flirting with a girl instead of paying attention in school.
          It also made me a little jealous, but that's beside the point. Different species, after all.
          "You were flirting," I blurted out without thinking.
          <Well, no, not really, but...>
          "Never mind. What kind of game was it?"
          <Driftball. It's actually quite->
          Suddenly, I saw a bright flash of light. Like I was at a disco. Only that was impossible...
          There was a girl there, and another person, he looked familiar. They were both floating, gasping. I realized I was, too. It was cold. Very cold. I heard Anna's voice:
          Stryke...do something...please...please...
          I saw a blue blur, my vision was dim. It looked like it had seven limbs. It was spinning, twirling, it's useless-looking limbs tangling in themselves. I saw a smaller blur, shooting toward a wall...
          And the flash of light returned. I was back in my woods again. And I was scared. Terrified.
          That was not normal.
          That was seriously not normal.

          "Aximilli, what just ha-"
          I never got to finish my sentence, because right at that moment, Aximilli whipped his body around, knocking me over. I saw a flash of brown and red, moving swiftly through the bushes. I felt my Navarazzi instincts sound the alarm: Prey. Before I could think, I was up and running after that thing. My bag was still over my shoulder, making it hard to run on four legs. I saw glimpses of blue through the trees and bushes. Aximilli was running after this thing, too. But I was used to having to outrun prey. And I was specifically designed for this kind of hunting. Ground hunting was my specialty. In other words, I caught him.
          Yes, him. It was a man, wearing a plaid, brown and red shirt. I cornered him against my own roost. Pretty far from our starting point. I kept my claws at his throat, but even if he did move, my horn-blade was right at his forehead. He wouldn't get far. Aximilli was about two steps behind me.
          "Andalite!" the man screamed.
          "Well, at least that saves us the trouble of asking if he's a Controller," I said.
          <Yes, it does.>
          I stepped aside and let the man pass-about two inches closer to Aximilli's tail blade. He didn't like that. Not one bit. He curled his lip at me. I had to convince Lex that wasn't a challenge to our authority.
          "You Andalite filth. You won't keep me here three days."
          "Hey, Aximilli, I've noticed Yeerks will say, 'Andalite filth' and you guys will come back with 'Yeerk scum' and they'll say 'Andalite filth' all over again. Do you guys just not know how to diss, or have you used up all the good insults?" I asked jokingly.
          "Daspen," the man replied.
          "Ah HA! Originality! Wonderful! Yes! I have no clue what he said!" I said jokingly, again.
          Aximilli moved his tail blade to his throat a little closer. I guess 'daspen' is a bad word in Yeerk.
          <Don't,> Aximilli said. <Just don't.>
          "Well, he's right about one thing," I said as I Shifted to human form and put on my shoes, "we won't keep him here three days. So what are we doing?"
          "Dying," the man responded.
          He whipped out a Dracon beam and aimed it at me. He fired.

          By some dumb luck, I had my hand on my own personal Dracon gun. And, out of self-defense, I fired at him. And that's when it happened. Time broke.  I saw a bright flash of light where the two Dracon beams intersected. I saw a glimpse of Aximilli covering his eyes as he hit the man with the backside of his tail blade, knocking him down. I felt myself being pulled into the little vortex we had created. My eyes were filled with light. I could see through Aximilli's head. I could see his skeletal structure. I saw the host of the Controller had three fillings in his teeth.
          And suddenly, I was falling. I saw birds and squirrels and trees flying past me. I saw the sky getting brighter.
          And then I saw nothing. I was not there. I was not then.
          I was gone.

          I felt my head. I was on my back, and nothing looked the same. The claw marks on trees I used to outline my hunting territory were gone. There were trees missing, and trees that didn't belong there. The sky was a sunny blue. It looked like it was noon. The Controller was gone. I sat up and almost passed out.
          There was a trail that led to my cave. I had seen that trail before, but it was old and unused. Now it looked very much like someone had used it lots of times. And I saw footprints leading to my roost!
          Not good.
          I reached for my bag, and fortunately, it was still there. Still around my shoulder. I rummaged inside, looking for my switchblade. Then I realized. The Dracon beam! It was gone! I remembered seeing it being pulled into that weird flash of light, but I hadn't seen it anywhere. I looked back at the ground. There, about five feet from were I woke up, was the Dracon beam. I ran over and stuffed it in my bag. No way was I using that thing again.
          I approached my own roost, ready for the Controller to jump out and grab me. But it wasn't the Controller who walked out of my cave.
          A girl, maybe a year or two older than me, walked out. She was wearing clothes that looked like they could have been pulled right out of the seventies or the sixties. Her hair was long and golden, a lot like how my hair used to look, except it was down. She had a trusting face. She looked a lot like someone I had seen before.
          "Oh, wow, you scared me. Were'd you come from?"
          I wish I knew, really. But I couldn't really use that as an answer. So I lied.
          "From the trail back there. Who are you?" I asked a little suspiciously.
          "I'm Loren."

          Yeah her name is Loren, but what's she doing at our roost? And, while we are asking unanswerable questions, where is Aximilli? And the Controller? And the trees? And what are those trees doing there? And why is it suddenly noon? Lex asked in a wise-guy voice.
          I don't know. But I have to tell her my name.
          You mean MY name, Anna snapped, 'Anna' is MY name. YOU don't have a name. You just call yourself Stryke. 'Lex' is the NAVARAZZI's name. Unless you want to use our nickname again. But I doubt that'd work.
          I won't use 'Aye' again. And 'Anna' is my name, too. So is 'Lex'. You've called me by your name before. But I gotta give a naaaaame...?
          Just use mine, Stryke.
          Fine.
          "I'm Anna. What are you doing here?"
          "I'm camping. You?"
          "Just hiking. What the...?"
          The brilliant noonday sun suddenly got very dark. I heard a low hum. I looked up and saw a big disk, spinning madly above us. I recognized the type: Skrit Na raider. Aximilli had explained them to me. And that's how I knew.
          I knew how the Na operated. They would do one of two things too us. One: medical experiments. Two: take us for a ride and leave us. Or three: cage us and make us zoo animals. I had a feeling it would be three.
          "Loren, RUN!" I screamed.
          "What's going on?!"
          "I don't have a clue," I said honestly as we ran for our lives. I could have ran faster, but the territory that was mine was new and strange, "Just GET OUT OF HERE!"
          I turned back to see if the Na intended to catch us, or just scare us silly. And that's when the second bright flash of light occrred. It seemed to engulf me. And then I passed out, again.

          I woke up against a wall. I saw boxes and crates being knocked around. I heard moans. I felt my head again. I was bruised. Badly. But no long term damage. I stood up, and I saw another flash of light.
          I was walking through the woods, talking to Aximilli about how weird my week had been. I told him I was glad today was Sunday. End of the week. Hopefully my trip to the Twilight Zone was only one week long. I told him about how amazing time travel was-
          Another flash, and the vision ended. I was scared, but I had other things to worry about. Like the big Skrit about to whack a guy about three years older than me. He looked incredibly familiar. Like I had seen him before. Only that was impossible. Or was it?
          "Hey, Skrit!"
          Two of the Na looked over at me. I guess they were surprised I knew what they were. But Loren, holing an odd looking Dracon beam, stepped in front of them and blocked their view of me. I lunged at the Skrit. I was too late. One leg hit the guy on the head, knocking him out. Red human blood poured down his head. I knocked the Skrit to the far wall. It didn't seem to notice. It just went back to it's duties. Skrit are pretty dumb.
          "Loren, what is going on?" I asked when I got to her. She held the Dracon beam at the Na captain's head.
          "I don't know. I-"
          Suddenly, the whole ship rocked. Smoke exploded out of bulkheads and conduits. I was knocked to the ground, without my tail to balance me. I screamed.
          "That's it. It's official. I am TICKED!"
          "Me too," Loren said tersely.
          I heard a kind of scraping noise. A smaller rocking of the ship, then the gravity seemed to change a little. I felt a little heavier. I heard a louder scraping sound, then what sounded like hooves on metal. My face was still on ground level when I saw the hooves.
          Dark. Delicate. Cloven. I looked up a little farther and stood up immediately.
          "Freeze, horse-boy."
          Blue and tan fur. Seven fingers. A horse-like body, but a humanoid upper body. No mouth. Three nostrils. Stalk eyes. Green eyes that glimmered. Scorpion tail.
          Andalite.

          "One move and I pull the trigger. I don't know what this gun will do, but I'm willing to bet you won't like it," Loren continued.
          Um, guys? Anyone here have an explanation?
          For what?
          For what?! For why we're in a Skrit Na raider ship, facing an Andalite. And why we seemed to have traveled in time, duh! I screamed at Anna.
          Two Andalites. There's one behind him. Oh, man, this is not good.
          Sario Rip!
          What?
          Anna continued, Remember what Aximilli said? A hole in space-time. The Dracon beams must have blown a hole in space-time. We were pulled through!
          So now we need to know what year, day, and hour we're in, or we could be destroyed.
          Like I said, not good, Lex said again.
          The Skrit Na captain, or at least who I think was the captain, spoke to the two Andalites. I had no clue what they said. He winked at them. The Andalite ignored him. A few seconds later, he spoke.
          <Um...whoever you are...whatever you are, don't fire that weapon. Put it down.>
          I was shaking pretty badly. The second Andalite seemed to be amused with me. I knew how Andalites thought humans were shaky, so I guess I was proving how unstable we were.
          "Yeah, right. Hey. Hey, wait a minute! I can hear you in my head, but you're not really talking," Loren said.
          The first Andalite seemed to become annoyed. So did the second.
          <I am in charge here. Drop the weapon!>
          "I don't think that's too likely, do you, Anna?"
          I said nothing. I was too stunned to speak. I just stared at the first Andalite. He looked a lot like Aximilli, only his eyes were darker, his fur seemed a little denser, rougher, and he seemed taller, but only by about three inches. Finally, I said something.
          "Loren, just put down the gun. Please, Loren, just do it."
          "What? You want me to-"
          <Your friend is right. We are here to rescue you. We won't hurt you, and we will return you to your home planet.> the second Andalite said.
          "You look like centaurs, only with scorpion tails. And the extra eyeballs on top of your head..."
          Loren paused, then handed the Dracon beam to the first Andalite. Handle first. The second Andalite went over to the nearest Skrit Na panel and started pushing buttons. I think he was accessing their computer. I went back to were the other guy was knocked out.
          In a few minutes, the two Andalites and I carried him inside the Andalite fighter and left the ship.

          About two minutes later, the other human regained consciousness. It was pretty obvious he didn't like the two Andalites. He looked them over and then asked:
          "That tail is a weapon, isn't it? Is it poisonous or does it just cut?"
          <What is your name, human?> the first Andalite asked coldly. I guess Loren told them what they were.
          The human gave the Andalite a disgusted look. That look was familiar, somehow...like I had seen that kind of look before...
          "My name is Hendrick actually. But most people call me by my last name. In fact, I prefer it. Chapman."
          I knew he looked familiar! He's our vice-principal! Do you know what this means? He knew before! He made contact with Andalites before he was captured! Lex yelled.
          More importantly, he's our age now, a little more. That means we've gone back quite a few years in time. I said excitedly.
          The first Andalite spoke again. He had a strong, calming voice.
          <Very well. This is Abron,> he indicated the second Andalite, <I am Elfangor.>
          Earlier, I had felt like passing out. Now I did. I sat down very suddenly, and lost consciousness along the way.

          Elfangor-Sirinal-Shamtul. An Andalite prince. Dead since I had first heard of him. Killed by Visser Three. Brother of the guy I liked. The creator of the Animorphs. And I was talking to him. Spooky.
          I had gone back in time. I was talking to a person who had been dead for three years. I was in the seventies. I was walking inside an Andalite Dome ship. And I was probably altering history along the way. Typical day for me.
          <Okay, this part is a little tricky,> Elfangor said.
          I couldn't believe he was talking to me. I had asked him earlier what his title was. He had said Aristh. The same military title as Aximilli. Not even a warrior, let alone a Prince. Amazing.
          <You just walk naturally along the curving floor. I know it looks like you're walking off the edge of a cliff, but the artificial gravity will move with you.>
          Loren and Chapman tried it first. Both succeeded. I tried, and was so busy trying to show how good balance I had, forgot I had no tail as a human, and fell on my butt. I was on the edge of the gravity exchange, though, so I kinda just slid across the floor onto the other side.
          "Okay, forget I did that," I said in an embarrassed tone.
          Abron smiled with his main eyes and laughed. I smirked. Okay, it was funny. I could see the humor in it. But I really didn't want the greatest Andalite prince to remember me as the girl who fell on her first try to walk around a Dome ship. If he even did remember me, and not just forget one of his most unimportant missions. I got up and fell into step behind them.
          We came up out of the main shaft and Loren was amazed.
          "It's huge! It's like a whole park in here! Trees. Grass. Flowers. Wow."
          "Excuse me. I really need something to drink. Would it be all right if I drank out of the little stream over there?" I asked. I was incredibly thirsty.
          <Of course. Feel free.>
          "Thanks."
          I left them and walked over to the stream. I cupped my hands and drank eagerly. I tried to swallow the urge to lap the water up like a cat. And wile I drank, I went through my bag. I pulled out the ham sandwiches and ate one. I used my switchblade to cut up the apple into slices. I ate that, too, even though I can't eat too many plants.
          I guess I was just exhausted from what I had endured. Or maybe I was just relaxed from eating. Or maybe getting up early had taken a lot out of me. But I leaned back against the soft grass and fell asleep.

          <Would the human Anna please report to the center of the dome.>
          That was what I woke up to. The voice was annoyed and stern. It was thought-speak, I knew that. And I could tell I was in trouble. And I knew I was not making a good impression on the Andalite military, let alone Elfangor. Some warrior I am. I fall asleep when the most exciting thing in my life is happening. Nice job, Stryke.
          I got up, stretched, and yawned. I was tired still, and I really didn't want to see the look on anyone's face, human, Andalite, or any other species, when they found out I fell asleep. I ran over to the middle of the dome, were a large lake was. And standing there was a very angry looking Andalite. And I recognized him.
          He wasn't very large, considering. He was about, oh, maybe a head taller than Aximilli. And he was very solid looking. His fur was soft and grey, giving it a metal look. He had traces of burn scars on his upper body.And he was staring at me with a look of contempt. Like I was a speck of dung. And that made my blood boil. Not so much of what he was, as what he would become.
          But for some odd reason, I didn't really make that subtle mental connection. I just reacted. I took him by surprise.
          "YOU!"
          If he had been ready for an attack, he would have sliced me and diced me into little bite-sized Shifter pieces. But he wasn't ready for anything at all. He just expected me to walk up and apologize. And so did I. But that's not what I did. I tackled him.
          He went down hard and I was right on top of him. I punched him in the face about seven times before he could get out of the shock of me attacking him like he was some sort of enemy I recognized. Then he attacked me. He sliced my arm. He hit me on the head with the blunt side of his tail about twice. I don't think he wanted to hurt me, just stop me. Eventually, he reared up and threw me off him. I hit the ground and automatically started Shifting. My vision turned clear before I thought about anything. I knew my eyes were glowing a bright white. I was about to bare my teeth when Anna stopped me. I felt myself Shift back to human form. My eyes stopped glowing.
          Stryke, he's not a Controller yet! Stoppit! You'll blow your cover! Man, THIS is the person who Controls us?!
          I was under control again, mostly. The instinctive hatred I felt toward this person, this hatred I had adopted from the Animorphs, the hatred I had adopted from an Andalite, the hatred I had adopted from Aximilli hadn't gone away yet. And as long as that hatred burned, I spoke hatred.
          "You absolute filth. You Abomination! V. Three, you little...you...you..."
          I lost control then. I started crying. I collapsed and let a confused Andalite War-prince lead be to some docking bay at gunpoint.

          I was under control once we got to the docking bay. No one saw me attack Alloran. Alloran thought I had an awful dream, from what I told him. See, I wasn't about to tell him the real reason I attacked him. That would top off my stupidity factor. So I told him I had a terrifying dream about how an Andalite attacked me. Once I told Loren, she told me it was probably because I was scared and tired and suspicious from the last day. And Alloran took it pretty well, really. In fact, the first thing he said when we walked into the docking bay was:
          <Hello, Arisths. I found something you lost. Your human friend here fell asleep in the Dome. Now, if you are ready, shall we continue our mission?>
          <What is our mission, sir?> Abron asked with great respect.
          Alloran sighed, but he kept his voice firm, <We are to take these three aliens back to their planet, erase their recent memories, and return to the ship as soon as possible.>
          Loren and I were appalled. But I was a little more panicked.
          "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not erasing my memory. Nope. No way. Not happening. Not in this universe. If that means I'm not going back to Earth, fine. But there is no way you can erase my memory."
          <It is necessary,> Elfangor said, <your civilization->
          "I care about my civilization! That's why you're not erasing my memory! I need to-"
          <I'm sorry,> Abron said, <but that's what has to be done. If you humans knew, awful things could happen. We need to just let you grow and develop on your own.>
          Chapman snorted. Loren looked sick. I was trying to figure out how to keep my memories of Andalites and Yeerks and Skrit Na without blowing my cover entirely. I was concentrating very hard when we walked into our transport ship. I think they called it the Jahar. Elfangor and Abron seemed to be amazed at it's design. It was beautiful, but I had to think of more important things.
          I was unpacking my stuff, looking for my other ham sandwiches, when I overheard Abron asking if he could use the computers. I didn't really hear much more other than it would be a long, boring trip. And mostly, it was. Mostly, all i did was write in my journal, annoy Abron by looking over his shoulder when he was working, and be bored.

          I was lounging in the quarters Loren and I shared, when I heard thought-speak shouting. I think it was Abron. I ran into the room were they were.
          <-because, see, there's no way these sensor readings can be right. But now I think I've got it. I know what it is.> Abron turned to Elfangor. <Elfangor, I think this is real.>
          I walked over and leaned over Abron's shoulder. It was actually funny how used to I had gotten to being corresponding to aliens. I mean, I almost didn't even notice the species gap. Except when it came to my affection for Aximilli. Then, it played a major role.
          "What is it? Whoa!" Aximilli taught me how to read sensor readings.
          Whatever it was, this thing had power readings, intense ones, in three dimensions. But, and I wasn't sure, this thing had power readings emanating off into what I think was Zero space. Whatever that was.
          "Hey, guys, what is that?"
          <Be quiet, human. This does not involve you in the least.> Abron snapped. I narrowed my eyes.
          "Prince Alloran, I think you should see this," I said, just to diss Abron.
          <What is it?>
          Alloran moved one stalk eye over to the console. In about five seconds, he was staring at full intensity at the screen. He gave a command to the computer to look for any other files. And then it appeared on the screen.
          Round, oval, off white, kinda glowing, not too impressive. I would've just passed it by. But those power readings...
          "Hey what's the matter with you guys? You all look like you've seen a ghost," Loren asked.
          "Yeah, what is that thing? With those power readings-"
          I cut off my sentence. I wasn't supposed to know how to read Andalite technology. But everyone was too excited to notice my slip up.
          <The Time Matrix!>
          "Okay, so what's a Time Matrix?" Aximilli had never mentioned a Time Matrix.
          Alloran started barking out orders, apologized for not taking us back to our planet, and changed course. And I was still demanding what the heck that white thing was.

          I went to my quarters and wrote in my journal. I had basically given up on figuring out what was going on. Last I saw, the Andalites had a little council and were using closed thought-speak. So there was basically no way I'd figure out what was going on.
          Chapman barged into my quarters in an obviously bad mood. When I asked what was wrong, he snapped at me.
          "Shut up. I can see you are just all excited about these Andalites. Well, if you haven't noticed, they are dragging us off to another part of the galaxy. We can just about kiss Earth goodbye."
          "Oh? What part? If they told you, witch I doubt," I said mockingly.
          "Taxxon homeworld, as if I care. All I know is this: we are never going home again."
          Taxxon homeworld. Taxxons. Ugh. Disgusting creatures.
          Maybe I should explain what a Taxxon is first. Imagine a centipede. Now make it the size of a tree. Now give it a round mouth and bloody teeth. Give it red Jell-o eyes. Now give it a hunger that barley surpasses a Navarazzi's. And make it smell real bad. And now, if you can stomach it, make it a voluntary Controller. That's a Taxxon.
          Like I said, disgusting creatures. Although I can commune with them on the instinctive hunger thing. Navarazzis have strong instincts, too.
          But that's beside the point. The point was, we were going to their homeworld. Yeerk territory. Not good.
          Very not good.
          I pulled a T-shirt over my tank top I wore with my flightsuit and ran into the cabin. Elfangor and Abron were both at the computer. Alloran was, as usual, at the helm. And he was already giving out orders. I just watched.
          <-we don't want any unfortunate explosions.>
          Abron took some controls and started making some very careful adjustments. Everyone watched him.
          I had a pretty good idea of what he was doing. Andalites would be very suspicious walking around the Taxxon homeworld. They'd stand out just a little. Especially since Alloran was still free. So they would have to morph Taxxons. Or Hork-Bajir. Or maybe Gedds. But I doubted they'd use Gedd morphs.
          But I saw, way out in the distance, a Yeerk ship. Didn't recognize the type, though. They were probably going to shoot down the ship, jam their communications, and acquire Taxxon DNA. Then they'd fly down to the planet, get the Time Matrix, witch I still didn't know what it was, and fly back here.
          That's basically what happened. Abron shot at the ship, and it immediatly stopped movung. Elfangor jammed thier communications, and Alloran reminded all of us that Taxxons were Controllers.
          <Remember, don't kill them all, we will still need to acquire them.>
          "Good luck," Loren said.
          "You'll need it," I added.
          Hey, Stryke? Lex asked, If the Taxxons or the Hork-Bajir or what ever put up a fight, and the others look like they might need help, do we join in?
          Of course. I'll go get the Dracon beam.
          I ran into my quarters, pulled out my bag, grabbed the Dracon beam, and heard an ear-splintering explosion. Grabbing the bag, I ran back just in time to see a screen blow out. Sparks flew everywere. The air was hotter than California on a summer day at noon. Hotter than an oven. Dracon beams and shredder beams fired, or rather fried, the air. Alloran screamed.
          <Stop firing! We'll destroy the ship!>
          Elfangor was facing a Taxxon. The Taxxon raised its Dracon beam and Elfangor just left him without an arm. Abron slashed a Taxxon in the stomach, causeing Taxxon goo to spill out on the deck. Alloran removed his opponent's head.
          Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Taxxon, slithering into the Jahar. It headed toward the computer console. I saw it pressing buttons and accessing the files. I really didn't care what the heck it was doing, I just reacted.
          "Hey, Taxxon-Controller! Over here! Yeah, the kid holding the Dracon beam!"
          I ran over to were they were and delivered a strong flip-kick to their face. It whipped its foul worm body and threw me against the side of a bulkhead in the Yeerrk ship. It raised the upper half of its body and slammed down on me.
          The wind was knocked out of me. I gasped for air. And I chose the perfect time for a hallucination.
          I was in my new bedroom in the basement. I was reading A Wrinkle in Time. I was on my bed. My dog, Tippy, was a my feet. The radio was playing No Doubt. I was singing along as I read. And I was off key. Marco made a joke of how I could go on Broadway with that great singing voice-
          A flash of light, and I was back. And the Taxxon was rearing up again...
          I wouldn't survive another blow like the last one. I sucked in another breath of air. The Taxxon opened its jaws and stopped rearing.
          I wouldn't survive. Of that, I was sure.

          STRYKE! The Dracon beam! Use it! Before that worm kills us!
          Lex was shouting. Anna was whimpering. I was snapping out of my little trance. I didn't even bother checking the setting. I raised the Dracon beam just enough so that it touched the centipede's belly, and fired.
          Turns out the settings were at maximum. The Taxxon was slamming down on me as he disintegrated.
          It was a race. The Taxxon was as good as dead, but if it still had enough mass when he slammed against me, it would kill me. My only hope was that it would be dissolved enough when it hit.
          Just as he slammed against me, he disintegrated most of the way. Most of the way. It didn't kill me, but it did knock me out. I crumpled to the floor and was down and out of the game.

          I woke up feeling a little sting in my arm. I felt it, and realized I had been injected with something. I sat up, and wished I hadn't.
          Three stern Andalite faces, all staring at me. I realized I was underneath a control panel, almost out of sight. I looked over at where the hole in the ships was. Sealed. No sign of the Jahar, as far as I could see.
          <Just what do you think you're doing under there?> Abron snapped.
          "Ohh, man. What happened?"
          <We found you unconscious under there. Abron gave you a hypo to revive you. We have already left the Jahar. We were about to acquire the Taxxons when we found you.>
          Obviously, I knew what 'acquire' meant, but they didn't know that. So Alloran explained.
          <Andalites have developed the morphing technology. It enables us to pass undetected throughout the galaxy. We can change into any animal once we have made contact with it. We need to make contact with the Taxxons. You, however, have disrupted our plan. We can not enter the Yeerk territory with you.>
          <And we can't exactly go back to the Jahar and drop you off, or we'll be detected.> Abron added.
          "So now you can't exactly take me to the planet, and you can't take me back to the fighter. I can fight just as well as anyone, sorry to burst your bubble. If you must know, I'm in here because I was fighting one of your little Taxxon-infestees. So I'm sorry, okay? But I can fight well enough to take care of myself, thank you very much," I said a little sarcastically.
          <Shut up, alien, it's your fault we're in this mess. Because of you, we have to go ahead with the plan and take care of you at the same time.> Abron. I could tell he didn't really like me too much.
          "Excuse me? No one takes care of me. I take care of myself. Got it?"
          I stood up and stuck my face close to Abron's. I narrowed my eyes.
          <Hey, wait a minute.>
          "What?"
          <Your eyes. Alloran, Elfangor, look at them.>
          "You just now noticed? Man, he's thick."
          <No, I mean, I noticed the pupils were narrow before, but->
          <The scar! It looks like something a tail blade would leave!> Elfangor finished.
          Actually, it was true. My eyes were no longer Shiftable. They were Navarazzi cat eyes, only one had a scar over and through. And it was caused by an Andalite tail blade. Aximilli's. See, I had been infested once.
          I shook my head and jerked it away. "Hey, cut it out. A cougar mauled me, okay?"
          <Cougar?>
          "Earth animal. Very dangerous. Claws."
          Alloran looked skeptical, but concerned. But he had more to deal with than my little scar.
          <Enough with the alien's scar. We have work to do. Like acquiring Taxxons. Get the shredders ready.>
          We walked over to a door that was welded shut. Alloran, Elfangor, and Abron leveled their shredders. I did the same, with my Dracon gun. I set it at a low setting. Abron swiveled one stalk eye at me and sent me a closed thought-speak message.
          <How do you know how to set a Dracon beam? In fact, were did you get a Dracon beam?>
          "Xenobiology," I whispered. Abron's eyes went wide.
          He was about to say something, but the door opened then.

          "YAAAAAAIEEEE!"
          That was me screaming my lungs out. Inside, there was a kind of storage. But that's not what made me scream. Two Taxxons were slamming onto each other like the Taxxon was slamming on me. That's not what made me scream, either. On the floor of the deck, black, green, blue, and red liquid was spilled. Some of it was blood, some of it wasn't. Bones were scattered. Gore was everywhere. And, surprisingly, I didn't launch my lunch right then. In fact, the little Navarazzi part of my brain was thinking that was lunch.
          I disgust myself sometimes.
          <Stop it or I'll kill you both!> Abron screamed.
          But they weren't interested. They just were too caught up in their feeding frenzy. And if they didn't stop soon, I'd just join in, under the influence of Navarazzi instinct. My muscles were tensing and bunching. I was whimpering and whining like an animal, but no one noticed. Thankfully.
          <Their Yeerks have left them. This is how Taxxons behave when they are not Controllers. Their Yeerk parasites have left them to destroy each other.> Alloran noted.
          "They're doing a pretty good job," I noticed.
          <Were did the Yeerks go?> Elfangor asked.
          Alloran calmly fired his shredder and knocked the Taxxons unconscious. I relaxed. The others started to walk past the Taxxons, and I followed. Alloran commanded the lights on via computer. I wished he hadn't done that.
          One hundred feet back, all the way, were tanks. I the tanks, there was a sludgy liquid. I didn't even need to look, I knew what would be in that liquid. But I couldn't stop myself.
          Yeerks. In their natural state. Slugs. Swimming like squid.
          <Yeerks!>
          <There must be thousands! Tens of thousands!> Abron exclaimed.
          <I thought this might be the case. These are Yeerks being transported to the Taxxon world. They're here to get bodies. Hosts. Each of these will be given a Taxxon.>
          "And we do what about this?" I asked.
          <You do nothing. We seal the bridge and open the outer hatch.>
          "And that would do what?" I asked, angry and confused.
          Elfangor figured it out, though. He was waaay ahead of me.
          <Prince Alloran, we can't just kill them all.>
          He looked hard at Alloran. I still didn't get it.
          Guys? What would that do? Hellooo? Peoples?
          Stryke, that would cause all the little Yeerkies to fly out into space.
          Oh.
          I say we do it. Anna said.
          Anna, as much as I hate Yeerks...
          Alloran interrupted our little head-debate.
          <Aristh Elfangor, I give the orders. You obey the orders.>
          <But they're helpless.> Elfangor protested.
          <They are Yeerks. And this is war. Would you rather wait until they have Taxxon bodies?>
          The argument dragged on. I could see what Alloran meant, war was about killing. Destroying your enemies was a part of war, true. But they were defenseless. And there was no need to kill them now. Finally, Abron pointed out how close we were to the planet and ended the argument. But the air between Alloran and Elfangor seemed to crackle with tension.
          Wait until Alloran is infested, Anna. I said to myself.
          We all walked over to the Taxxons and the Andalites acquired them. Elfangor morphed first.
          Let me tell you, it was disgusting. His upper body melded in with his lower. His stalk eyes shriveled. His legs shrank and mutated. And that awful mouth appeared.
          Finally, he was fully Taxxon. I knew what was going on inside of his head. The Taxxon mind would emerge, hunger, instincts, and all, any minute now...
          Elfangor turned his worm body to face us. He used his red eyes to look at Alloran and Abron first, I think. Taxxon eyes don't focus very well. Then he looked at me.

          Elfangor-no, the Taxxon looked at me and charged! I guess, as a human, I looked weak and defenseless. And I looked like food. But he lost control and charged at me.
          "Yaaaa! Elfangor! Get a hold on those instincts! Help! Abron! Alloran! Heeeelp!"
          I ran to the side. The Taxxon hurtled after me. I grabbed a hold of some cord that was hanging from the ceiling and flipped over on it. I climbed up that cord and hung on for dear life. The cable was barley in there. Just something stuck on a blown-out ceiling. I was screaming in a very Navarazzi voice. Abron and Alloran were trying to get Elfangor under control. Elfangor was beginning to emerge from the Taxxon's control.
          But the Taxxon wasn't done yet. At the last second, it powered up at was about to bite my lower leg off. I screamed again and kicked him in the face. He fell over on top of Abron and I fell on top of Alloran. And that's what it took to get him under control
          <Oh, oh, oh. Anna, are you all right? Abron?>
          <I'm fine, now get off me, what do you weigh, two hundred pounds?>
          "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just. Don't. Eat. Me."
          <I'm sorry, I-the instincts, they are so strong-I lost myself-I'm sorry.>
          "'So'kay. Sorry about landing on top of you, Prince Alloran."
          <What? 'So'kay?' what does that mean?> Abron asked.
          "It's okay. Should I get out of harm's way while you guys morph?"
          <That would be a good idea, alien.> Alloran said coldly.
          "I do have a name, you know. And it's not 'alien'. It's Anna." I said with false respect.
          I climbed the cable back into the busted ceiling and watched the others morph. When they were done eying me hungrily, I climbed down. If they lost control, I'd be Taxxon chow.
          "Ready, guys? Now what?"
          <Now, we find out what to do with you.>

          It would be half a day before the Yeerks could be unloaded. Alloran, Abron, and Elfangor in Taxxon bodies, needed to look for the Matrix. I was finishing off my last apple as the repetitive debate droned on.
          <If you hadn't joined the fight, none of this would have happened. You don't even know how to use a Dracon beam!> Elfangor yelled at me.
          "Yes, I do," I said in defense. This argument had been going on for about ten minutes
now.
          <Yes, she does, Elfangor. I saw her set the thing like she was an old hand at this kind of thing. She definitely knows how to operate a Dracon beam. And she said she learned how to in->
          I interrupted Abron. I couldn't afford to interfere with anything at all. Absolutely nothing. I was beginning to to think like an Ellimist. But if Abron quoted my joke, they'd know. Xenobiology is an Andalite class, not a human's.
          "I saw you guys do it, okay? Geez, I learn one little thing and boom. I'm accused of messing up the whole mission."
          <When you Arisths have enough time, we are about to set down. If you will, figure out something to do with the alien.> Alloran ordered.
          "For the last time, I have a name, and it is not alien."
          <Do you think you can hide in here without being seen or heard?> Elfangor asked a little more calmly.
          "Of course. That's what I live for. But there is no way you are leaving me here."
          <We will be back to get you. Now see if you can climb up that cable again and hide in the ceiling.> Abron said simply.
          <And try to stay out of sight.> Elfangor added.
          "No duh," I said as I climbed up the stupid cord.
          I settled myself in between some hoses and wires when a thought occurred to me.
          "Hey, guys?"
          Elfangor, or at least I think it was Elfangor, they all looked about the same, turned to face me.
          <What?>
          "Could you be, you know, infested?"
          <Not very likely. There will probably be a lot of danger. Some battles, maybe. We are deep in enemy territory.>
          "Hey, waitaminute," I said as I started down the cable, "No way you guys are going into all this danger and leaving me behind. I can fight just as well as anyone. Better than most, even. I've got a Dracon beam. I can fight hand-to-hand if I have to. I know combat. I've been in my share of fights. At school, at home, people I don't know, at the Ye-"
          I was going to say 'Yeerk Pool', but that would have been an all-time dumb. Plus, Alloran was there. And my knowledge of Yeerks would have led to questions. And if Alloran knew that the 'Andalite Bandits' were human...
          <Get back up there.> Alloran snapped.
          <Anna, you can't morph at all. And if you did come, you'd just be a pain in the hindquarters. You'd be just a little obvious walking around among Taxxons and Hork-Bajir and Gedds. So stay here.> Abron said sarcastically.
          Honestly, Abron can be so much like Marco sometimes. Or Marco can be so much like Abron, since Marco hasn't been born yet. But either way, they both got on my nerves a lot.
          But they were right. I made a very low growl as I climbed up the cable again. But even as I did that, I was making a plan of how I'd get out and help them.

          About an hour later, I crawled out of my little roost. I slid easily down the rope and looked around. The last thing I needed was to have a Hork-Bajir-Controller find me. I dragged my bag out of a bunch of exploded wires. I put it around my shoulder, and slipped out of the ship.
          I stayed inside the shadows and just wandered around for a while. I was amazed. Ships, like Monorails, only faster, zoomed around above me. Hundreds of ships were docked above, and at the same level as, our Yeerk transport ship. Taxxons, Gedds, Hork-Bajir, and some other species I didn't recognize, were running around all over the place. It was busy. And it looked like it wasn't done yet.
          And the sky was about the same color as dust. Grey-brown and with clouds so high up you can barley see them. There was no vegetation, or at least none I could see, and the ground was dry and dusty. The whole place made you want to scream.
          I had no idea of where to go. I knew more than the average human, but I wasn't exactly an Andalite. I didn't know the purpose of the mono-trains, or the way around the port, or even where the others might be.
          I was lost, and ultimeately, helpless.

          About an hour later, I heard shouting. I didn't recognize a single word of it, but I think it was Galard, although I don't speak a word of it, I just have a general idea of how it sounds. I peeked out from behind a really bad smelling ship cradle. I think it was covered with sewage, although the stuff could have been Yeerk versions of stink bombs, who am I to know? All I did know was, it tasred real bad over there. Navarazzis smell with their tounges, so that's why I made a point of keeping my mouth shut.
          I looked in the general direction of where the Controllers were pointing, and almost fainted. The Jahar! The Jahar was landing! But that was impossible, unless...
          "Chapman!" I hissed. Literally.
          That total-
          Thank, you, Lex, I'm sure we don't need to use that kind of language.
          Well, he is. I mean, he did give us that detention for bringing that little Walkman to school. And we didn't even use it! Anna backed up.
          Anna, as I recall, you talked me into bringing it, AND using it during class.
          Well, it was Marco's inspiration, really. Remember? He told us about how he started singing along? I would have paid to see that.
          Yeah, well, we'll discuss that again later. Right now, we gotta figure out what the heck is going on.
          Bossy, bossy, bossy. Anna replied jokingly.
          I sighed. It's kind of hard to hold a conversation with yourself and not respond physically. Like, during class, I'll suddenly break out laughing because of a joke Lex just made. Or I'll make these facial expressions during dinner because Anna was arguing again. It's annoying, really.
          The Jahar settled down and at least half a dozen leveled their weapons. I saw one of the Monorail trains slam into two Gedds as it sped toward the Jahar. I got a really bad feeling from that train. Like I was looking at something I hated and feared...
          After about ten, twenty minutes, the door opened and out stepped Chapman. I decided right then, no matter how much he sacrificed himself for his daughter, I really did not like this guy.
          "Hey, hey. Relax. You can put down the weapons. I'm not here to fight, I'm here to trade."
          Realizing that the Yeerks had no clue as to what he was saying, Chapman made a gesture of giving something, then getting something in return.
          A really tough-looking Hork-Bajir walked up to Chapman and spoke in a language I didn't understand. Chapman smiled in understanding. It was like they were understanding what each other said. Witch they basically did.
          Chapman backed out into the ship again and brought back Loren, tied up. Her arms were bound in wire, and Chapman knocked her to the ground.
          "That's what I have to trade," the jerk said, "A whole planet full of...that."

          "You little..."
          But my words were drowned out in the screams of Loren, the murmur of Hork-Bajir, and the huffing of the Taxxons. Loren was twisting and struggling. Chapman was attempting communication with the Hork-Bajir. Anna and Lex were having one of their famous head-debates. I was debating with myself, considering using Tele-speech to talk to Loren.
          Loren jerked her head and looked behind her shoulders. I hadn't said anything and she reacted like she was listening to someone. Then I realized. Thought-speak! An Andalite was speaking directly to her! They didn't notice me, so they weren't talking to me.
          And when they DO notice me, I'll be in so much trouble I don't even want to THINK about it. I said to myself.
          I heard a small rustling behind me, on the other side of the support pole. I heard a grinding, squishing, that sounded a lot like Aximilli did when he morphed. So, hopefully, it was an Andalite. I walked around the pole, hoping to see an Andalite.
          Turns out what I saw wasn't an Andalite.

          "Taxxon," I seethed.
          The Taxxon paused, shuddered slightly, and then spoke to me.
          <Anna! I thought you said you'd be in the ship!>
          "Whew. So it was an Andalite morphing. What can I say? I'm a natural born fighter. Not so much natural born as a fighter, but-never mind, not important. But no one can keep me from a fight. That's why my nickname is Gabrielle," I said as I shrugged.
          <Do you realize how dangerous this is? Do you have any idea what Yeerks do?>
          "Yes, I do," I said quietly.
          <How? How would you, a primitive race, know about the Yeerks?>
          "My race ain't so primitive. And you don't want to know how I know what the Yeerks do."
          <How? I'd sure want to know.>
          I spun around and saw another Taxxon. I was just a little edgy by the simple fact that, if they felt like it, they could easily devour me.
          "Abron?"
          A silence, then, <Yes.>
          "Good. Where's-where's Prince Alloran?"
          <We don't know. We got separated. Abron? Do you know?>
          <No.>
          I paused. Was he captured? Was he-was he now the Abomination?
          "Anyone got a plan?"
          <Yes. First, we find out how you know about Xenobiology, the Yeerks, how to set a Dracon beam, and how the Yeerks infest. We never told you those things.>
          "Abron, I can't tell."
          <Anna, do you know what the Time Matrix is? Did you see Loren, handed over by your fellow human? If it helps you to know, in my eyes, you are no better than Chapman. Self-serving, selfish, and strange.> Elfangor said.
          Those words battered me. I wasn't like that at all! I was the exact opposite! I risked my life every day! I wasn' t selfish! I was trying to protect the time stream! I wasn't strange! I was from the future!
          "Elfangor, if it helps you to know, I was a Controller once! I fight the Yeerks! I've seen what they do! I've fought at the Yeerk Pool before! I've met an Ellimist! I've seen what those filthy worms do! My friends morph. One of them is a nothlit. I-"
          Abron was very tense, even for a Taxxon. I collapsed on the ground, out of the trash. I felt incredibly tired suddenly. Elfangor and Abron were staring at me. I started crying, after all that had happened, I lost all emotional control.

          Did you know, that, among all the thousands of species in the universe, humans are the only species that cry with tears? At least that's as far as I know. But Yeerks, Andalites, Navarazzis, even, can't have tears. Their eyes aren't equipped properly.
          And since I had Navarazzi eyes, I can no longer tear. I don't really know what it's like to cry, I was never the kind of person to cry. No matter how much it hurt, I just bottled up the tears. So I never really knew what it was like, to cry. I've only, with tears, cried what, about three times in my life.
          Abron and Elfangor just stared at me a few minutes, then got down to business. I guess they were planning on interrogating me later on. I wasn't really listening. I was years, billions of miles, and emotionally, away from home.
          I think that, if I could, I'd just crawl into my roost and lie down and sleep. And I was unbelievably terrified. I just wanted to run into Aximilli's feeding grounds and wait for him. Then I'd tell him about the whole trip and we'd have a big laugh.
          No such luck.
          <Okay, lead the way. But what about her?>
          "I can provide a distraction or something. I'm sure the Yeerks have never seen a Navarazzi, at least not for another twenty-something years," I said ruefully.
          <Okay. You provide a distraction, and then see if you can escape. We'll come back for you and->
          "That's what wings are for, Elfangor. I can fly up and meet you guys in midair. Without getting Draconed in the process, however..." I let the sentence hang.
          Elfangor looked at me like I was crazy. To him, I just looked like a strange human who claimed to be from the future. But he trusted me.
          Never trust me.

          I watched as two Taxxons who were not Taxxons walked past some Gedds. I paused until they were in the ship, removed my outer shirt, my shoes, stuffed them in the bag, then started to Shift.
          I almost always feel safer in my Navarazzi body. It's like about one and a half times the strength of a human, about as tall as Jake, and extremely deadly. No one wants to mess with me, generally. I especially like the fangs. They are really cool to run your tounge over.
          Just as I saw the door close, I stepped out of the shadows. The result was instant.
          The Gedds ran right after me and made these little 'rrring' sounds. I picked up one and spoke to him in Tele-speech.
          Do you really want to mess with me? I'm not in a good mood today.
          I threw the little guy into his buddies and knocked 'em all down. Gedds don't really put up a good fight. I started to walk away, but one grabbed my leg and made the little rrr sounds again.
          Look, I've got a plane to catch, ya mind, buddy?
          Gedd-Controllers, I guess, aren't too bright. He didn't let go. The ship started to rise, pretty quickly, in fact. About the same speed as me in a dive. But not fast enough to escape in time.
          Can you just not take a hint? I said, HANDS OFF!
          Still didn't let go. That annoyed me. Badly. I reversed my knee and brought him close to my face.
          You are getting on my nerves and that is a very dangerous thing to do.
          He preferred to hang on and annoy me. I couldn't waste time. I clawed my way out of a wave of Taxxons and sank my claws into a support pole. I climbed up, and flew off to catch up with the Skrit Na ship. With the little bugger still hanging on. Still making rrr sounds. Still annoying the heck out of me. Still slowing me down.
          Okay, this is Shifter Airlines requesting that you land. Immediately.
          I slammed my legs together and knocked him off. Right on top of a ship cradle. I flew a little faster after that.
          Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Bug fighter start chasing the Skrit Na ship. And I knew there was no way they'd get outta there in time.
          Hey, guys? I'm sure that ships like that can go a whole lot faster than that. So why aren't they going faster?
          For us to catch up, but you probably already figured that out, oh intellectual giant that you are. Lex commented.
          AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! HHHEEEEEEEELLLLLPPP!
          You probably can guess witch one of us was screaming her lungs out.
          Anna! I am TRYING to fly here! So quiet. It's hard to fly with someone screaming that loud!
          Aaaaaah! Yaaaaaa! Woooooooaaaaah!
          She didn't stop entirely, but she did quiet down, a little.
          I released my mind. It helps sometimes, if you just let your consciousness slip away. It makes you fly, fight, hunt, etc. better. And faster.
          This is so cooooooooool! I roared.
          It was cool. I was going about two hundred miles per hour. While dodging Dracon beams. While chasing a spaceship. While catching every updraft, thermal, and slipstream. While listening to my Navarazzi instincts and bellowing out this war cry-roar-howl-scream. It was absolutely, positively, the greatest thrill of my life.

          Two more Bugs. Less time, more speed. Adjust tragdectory. Angle wings. Increase angle of attack. Lift wings. position tail. Shift weight. Move arms back. Ship going faster. Another two Bugs.
          I was about two feet from the edge of the ship. The air around me was unbelievably hot. If I got any closer, I'd burn up. The ship slowed down, and the air temperature became tolerable. Barley.
          A small porthole opened in the side of the ship. Elfangor was in the doorway. He didn't even have to say a word. I flew in, singing my hair on the hull as I brushed against it.
          Unfortunately, I misjudged how fast I was going. I had to fly around the cabin for about twenty seconds before slamming against the wall.
          <Are you all right?> Abron asked dully.
          "Yeah, I'm-ow-fine. I think I have a black eye. Burned hair. Noting serious. Oooohh. You?"
          He didn't answer. He punched up the speed and we were blowing outta there!
          <Three thousand two hundred miles per hour. Three point three K. Three point four K. Hull temperature is...you don't even want to know. Three point five K.>
          "I wonder how long this thing is gonna hold up," I said nervously.
          I saw a line of fire blow across the planet as we passed. The friction would soon kill us.
          <Pull up!> Abron yelled.
          <Where did they come from?!> Elfangor screamed.
          See, mountains tend to slow down a spaceship, just a little. I felt the ship rock as we pulled away from the mountains that threatened our existence.
          <Are we going to clear?>
          "We'd better! I'd like to die in my own decade, thank you!"
          YAAAAAAAAAAA! I TOLD YOU THIS JOB WOULD KILL UUUUUUS!
          ANNNNNNA! SHUUUUUT UUUUP! Lex and I yelled in unison. I really hated when Anna screamed so loudly in my head. It was very painful.
          TSSSSEEEEWWWW!
          "Those Yeerks don't say die, do they? We're burning from friction, and yet, they still shoot at us. And they're gonna blow at any second."
          I looked back and saw one Bug Fighter explode. The friction had finally got it.
          "See? Speak of the devil."
          <Ya-ha! One Yeerk fried!>
          <Elfangor, we're next if we don't slow down.> Abron warned.
          "Yup. And if we slow down, they shoot us. And if we don't, we still die-"
          I was about to make a joke about if you do, and if you don't, but I decided to save it, because they were simply ignoring me. Entirely.
          <I can.>
          "Huh?"
          <With Taxxon eyes? With Taxxon reaction times? With Skrit Na targeting computers?>
          "Dubwa?"
          'Dubwa' is just my way of saying, 'huh?'. I think it's more fun to say.
          <I can make the shot, Elfangor.>
          <Look, Abron, I want to come out of this alive.>
          I thought of a little joke, but I decided to save it. After all, I could sense something here was very wrong. Elfangor had demorphed, Abron had not. Bad.
          Very bad.

          <And you think I don't care if I live or die, right? Maybe you're right. This hunger...Elfangor, you've felt it. You know. But I can still mke this shot.>
          "Nothlit," I said solemly.
          Abron turned to face me, and Elfangor's main eyes widened. I smirked kindly. I could understand what Abron was going through, a little. I felt a dire hunger every day of my life. Navarazzi hunger. A hunger for anything living. A frightening hunger, terrifying, even.
          <How do you know what a nothlit is?>
          "I told you. I'm not from this place, or time. I know things you don't. I understand things Loren and Chapman won't. And now I've messed up the whole course of time. So, since the whole thing's a mess, I'm trying to clean it up."
          <How do you know what a nothlit is?> Abron asked sharply.
          "Because my friend is one. And, in a way, I am one."
          <You can't begin to understand this.> he said bitterly.
          "Yes, I can."
          <How? How would you know about this hunger? How could you possibly understand to have your->
          "-mind screaming at you to eat anything living. To want to devour your own people. You don't want to, but the instinct is strong. So strong, it's almost overpowering. You can barley control it."
          <How would you know! How can you know about the hunger?! How would you know what I'm going through?!>
          "I feel it every day!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing in the cabin, "I have those instincts, too! I can barley control it myself! You're stronger than me, Abron! Yo're so much stronger! I can barley deal! You can! I have to eat meat, or I die. I used to eat veggies all the time, but nooo, I have to be born a Shifter! Heck, I wasnt even born, I'm the result of two cells joining! I'm not even a species! I don't have parents other than the test tube I was kept in, I don't have a planet other than the the ship I was produced in, I am nothing but a few cells, growing and dying, all because someone could make me! So, you see, I think I have it a little worse off! You were at least born naturally! Me, heck no. I wasn't even born."
          Abron and Elfangor just stared. I could tell my little ramble had not helped the situation any.
          "Okay, I'm done now. Stress releved. Make the shot."

          Abron scuttled over to the weapons station and Elfangor kinda stared. I realised I handn't Shifted back yet. So I did. I was just about as emotinally dulled as anyone can get. Anna and Lex were silent. I was kinda mopy. I slupmed in the back of the ship, and watched.
          <Three...two...>
          Elfangor killed thrust and stopped the ship. We went from plus three thousand MPH to zero in about three seconds. And the shock was strong.
          Elfangor and I were jostled around like dolls. I slammed against the celing, he sprwaled on the floor. I landed on the floor on my head, giving you an idea of about how hard the impact was.
          "Ohhhh," I moaned. That hurt.
          Abron fired!
          TSSSEEEEEWWW!
          He fired again!
          TSSSEEEEEWWW!
          And again!
          TSSSEEEEEWWW!
          "Is it over?" I asked as I climbed to my feet.
          <Nice shooting! Seriously nice shooting!>
          "I'll take that as a yes."
          <Thanks. It turns out that Taxxon senses and reflexes are good at this kind of thing. Guess that's why the Yeerks use Taxxon-Controllers to fly their Bug fighters. It's nice to know that there's something useful about this disgusting body.>
          <We're going to find a way to get you out of that Taxxon morph.> Elfangor said kindly.
          I was worried. The whole course of time was messed up becase I interferred. If I wasn't here, Abron might not have been stuck in morph, the group might not have seperated, and the Time Matrix might not be in the hands of the Yeerks. Well, Abron and Elfangor's hands, technacly, but that's not the point. I had messed-up big time.

          "Abron, my friend, the nothlit, he escaped. You still can get out," I said, trying to give him hope.
          Elfangor left me the job of moral support as he navagaited the ship. I saw a line of daylight rush at us. I han't even noticed it was nighttime around us. Abron was not pleased.
          <What are you doing?>
          <I need a place to land and conceal the ship. I need daylight. And I need to be closer to the spaceport. We can't just leave the others behind.>
          <Others? You mean Alloran?>
          "Ah-hem. And the humans. Don't just overlook us."
          <Yes, they are our responsiblility.> Elfangor aggreed.
          <We are not going back to the spaceport. The Yeerks are back there. And Taxxons. They'll catch us. Do you know what they'll do if they catch me? They'll eat me alive, Elfangor.>
          "Hang on, Abron, get a grip," I said as I laid a hand on what I think was his shoulder, "Abron, it's terrifying, I know, but you need to hold on. You need to keep yourself together."
          <Hold on? Hold on? Are you insane, alein? If we go back there, they'll eat me! You say you've seen Yeerks at work, then you'd hasve to know what happenes to injured Taxxons! If you know so much, tell me! Tell me what happens!>
          "Abron, please, calm down."
          <Tell me! Tell me! If you know so much, tell me!>
          "Abron, tey are eaten. But you're not injured, and as far as they know, you're just another Taxxon-Controller, not important-that came out wrong, I swear!"
          I glanced over at Elfangor. He was steering our little tub as fast as he could toward daylight. Abron's Taxxon body was heaving and gasping. He was eying me like I eyed my prey. He looked at me with those dead, emotinaliss eyes. He rose his body up a little. I took off my hand and calmly returned his gaze. I wasn't about to show fear, that would signify weakness. And belive me, you don't want to show a preditor how scared you are. So I didn't show as much fear as I could. Anna, however...
          He'll eat us! He's gonna eat us! Ahhhhhhhh! No! Nooooo! Nononononono...
          If my mind had eyes, I'd be rolling them. Anna can really be a wimp sometimes.
          <Elfangor, turn this ship back. I'm going to use the Time Matrix. I'm going back in time. I'm going back to my life!>
          "Time travel isn't something to mess with, Abron. Take it from someone whoknows, you don't want to mess with time," I warned.
          Abron wasn't interested. He wasn't even listening. He was ignoring me completley. Probably because I couldn't steer a ship.
          <You can't light up that Time Matrix. The power signature will be visible to every ship in orbit, every satalite, every->
          <I don't care! I don't care if I die, just let this hunger stop. Stop it. Stop it. You fool, don't you know I could eat you right now?>

          I remembered overhearing a conversation between Chapman and Loren and Elfangor. Chapman had used the term, 'whacked-out', and I didn't think Elfangor understood. I backed away against the bulkhead.
          "This is whacked-out. He's lost control," I said under my breath.
          Inside that worm body, there was an Andalite. Just like there was a boy in Tobias's hawk body. But unlike Tobias, this nothlit couldn't accept his fate quite as gracefully.
          He looked at me. He looked at Elfangor. I reached for my Dracon beam. He screamed, then charged.
          He should have charged at me, really. I was the weakest looking. I was the closest. I was the one he knew couldn't fight back. I was the one he knew wouldn't be able to fight back until I was Shifted and probably dead. But he went for Elfangor instead.
          "Elfangor!"
          <Abron!>
          Elfangor dodged right. Abron hit the insturment panel and sparks exploded out of it. He pushed his body toward Elfangor, hoping to knock him into the wall. Elfangor dogded and sliced off four of Abron's legs, causing him to slump. I pulled out my T-shirt and flapped it against the bulkhead, trying to prevent fire. I aimed my Dracon beam, at minimum power, at Abron.
          <Just kill me!>
          "Nope. Not happening."
          <Elfangor, you know what happenes to wounded Taxxons! You know! Anna, you said you knew, too!>
          "First-hand," I said as I passed the Dracon beam to Elfangor, "but I ain't giving you up for dead yet, Abron, even if you are."
          <Fool! Nothing can stop them! Nothing can stop the hunger. I couldn't stop it. Alloran couldn't stop it. Don't you understand? I ate, Elfangor. I ate that wounded Taxxon. I couldn't help myself!>
          <Shut up!> Elfangor yelled, <Shut up!>
          Elfangor pointed the Dracon beam at Abron.
          <What are you doing?>
          <I need to land this ship, Abron. Keep quiet or I'll stun you.>
          <You fire that thing, you'll kill me.You have the settings backward. That's a Yeerk weapon. Setting one is the highest setting, not the lowest.>
          I knew he was lying, I knew how to set my own gun, thank you, but couldn't see the use of lying about it. Then I realized.

          Just as I thought, Abron scuttled forward, his intention clear. Elfangor spun the setting dail to ten. He aimed, and I bolted. Forward.
          "Elfangor, NO!"
          Evidentally, Elfangor had fallen for it. He didn't know alein technology as well as Abron. The Dracon beam was on maximium power. I was running straight for Elfangor. Abron was scuttling forward. I grabbed Elfangor's arm.It was like the world was in slo-mo. I was diving, Elfangor was dodging, and Abron was commiting suicide. It was a race of reflexes. If mine were faster, the Dracon beam would hit the inside of the ship, making a substantially large hole. If Elfangor's were faster, he'd fry Abron without meaning to. And Andalite reflexes are faster than human and Navarazzi combined.
          Either by some miricle my reflexes were faster, witch is very unlikely, or Elfangor figured it out. I'm still leaning toward the second one. But the Dracon beam did miss. And the ship did blow a hole in it's hull.
          And Elfangor did get thrown clear. And I did slam against the celing and be thrown into a pile of boxes.
          And we did crash.
          Boy, did we crash.

          I woke up with a feeling that I had been out for a vey long time. I tried to sit up, but knocked my head on something above me. I tried to move forward, but the same thing happened. I felt around me. I was in a large crate, and I couldn't get out.
          Panic. I kicked, jostled, and screamed. I heard my heart begining to race. I punched the walls of my cage. I was sweating. I listened to Navarazzi instinct and clawed wildly at the walls of the box, although I had no claws at the moment. I screamed again. I was gasping for air. It seemed like the whole world was tiny, and was slowly getting smaller...smaller...closing in on me, paralizing me...chocking me, smothering me...depriving me of air. I screamed again in the darkness that held me. I kept on screaming. And screaming and screaming and screaming.
          I'm claustraphobic, can you tell?
          <Abron!>
          The thought-speak voice cut through my growing panic. At least I stopped screaming.
          "How about Anna?!"
          <Where are you? Anna!>
          "I'm in one of the small boxes! I'm trapped! Help! Help me! Help me, please! Heeeeelp!
          <I can't hear you well. Where are you? Anna?>
          I'm in one of the small, tight boxes with very little air! And I'm trapped! Help! Help me, please! Ahhhhhh!
          I was probably scaring him half to death, I sounded like I was being killed. Plus, he heard my voice in his head, without the means of thought-speach. But I was too paniced to think about that. I was sweating, screaming, and scared.
          I heard a crashing around me, and then I felt like my little world was turned upside-down. I felt like I was slammed against the wall, and then toppled over.
          <I'm not seeing any small boxes with you in them! Where are you?>
          Elfangooorrr, help meeeeee. I'm stuck in a little box! And I'm claustraphobic!
          <What?>
          I'm afraid of tight spaces!
          My breathing was heavy, and the air left in the box was almost gone. Even more panic. More adrenaline. I felt my box being jostled again.
          There! The box you just moved! I'm in that one!
          I heard a kind of ripping sound, and the next thing I knew, Elfangor was staring at me with this amused look on his face.

          "What's. So. Funny?" demanded as I climbed shakily out of the box.
          <Look at the size of the box. It's not so small.>
          I turned around. The box was pretty large, about half the size of an Andalite.
          "Yeah, well, try getting stuck in it. And try being terrified of tight spaces while you're at it. Then tell me it's not so small."
          I was shaking. I was sweating. I was jazzed from all the adrenaline. I was also very tired and snappish, though I tried to stay calm.
          "Where's Abron?"
          <I couldn't find him anywhere. And the two Skrit cocoons and one active Skrit. They, too, are missing. I was afraid you were gone, too.>
          "Yeah, keep me in that box any longer, and I would have beaten myself to death in there. You don't mind if I look around, do you?"
          <Yes, but, don't humans sleep at this time of day? Or night?>
          "Humans, maybe, but not Shifters."
          <Shifters?>
          "Me. A Shifter. A human and a Navarazzi combined. A bit of both worlds, with no parents, no ancestors, no race. Capable of looking like a Navarazzi, or a human. Has three living, self-aware minds in the one body. Me, the Shifter, who has no name other than the one they give themself, the human host, Anna, and the Navarazzi host, Lex. Occasionally brushes against the minds and hears their thoughts, memories, and emotions. Not often, though. As the Shifter of the group, I control the motor skills, the voice, and just about everything else. Anna and Lex basically get their own ownership of the two bodies, and their own, individual names. I get squat."
          <But you said you name was Anna.>
          "Would you believe me if I told you I called myself Stryke?"
          <No.>
          "Bingo. I'm gonna look around."
          I pushed past Elfangor and wandered about the ship. Boxes were strewn about everywhere, things were broken. I opened a bottle of Dr. Pepper and drank it. An actual bottle. I guess that cans hadn't been invented yet, or something. I picked through some other boxes and rummaged through some crates. Mostly junk. Petrified animals, bundles of clothing, books and magazines, and, believe it or not, a mustang. Big and yellow. I sifted halfheartedly through all the stuff the Skrit Na had taken, hoping to find something useful.
          Then I saw it.

          Big and round, like a big egg. It was off-white, and glowing slightly. I felt the warmth it generated. I couldn't take my eyes off it.
          The Time Matrix.
          "Oh," I sighed. That's all I said.
          I walked over to it. I still didn't have a clue what it was, but it was awesome in a non-threatening way. I paused at about one foot from it. I was awe struck, yet I had no clue why. I had no clue what it was.
          I raised a trembling hand ad hesitated. Surely this was a great weapon, or a bomb of some sort. Otherwise the Andalites wouldn't take such measures to keep it from the Yeerks. So why was I about to touch it?
          I hesitated again, and slowly rested my hand on this thing. It warmed my hand all the way up to my arm. I started breathing again. I hadn't breathed since I spotted it.
          "What is this?" I asked in awe.
          Time Matrix, Stryke. It must be-it must be a time machine of some sort. Anna said in equal awe.
          So this thing can get us home?
          Yeah, Lex, but-
          Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! I exulted.
          Okay, anyone got an idea of how to work it?
          GUYS! If we take this thing, we'll mess up history, or did you not realize this?
          But if we use it, we get out of the Sario Rip effect! And we've already messed up history!
          We'll either get out of the Sario Rip, or speed it up. And there might still be a way to fix all this!
          Anna's right, I said, we might still find a way to fix things. And there's no telling what might happen.
          But Anna! Home! Stryke, come on, help me out here.
          I said no, Lex.
          I lifted my hand away from the Time Matrix, with a little resistance on Lex's part. But I managed.
          "Sario Rip, or no Sario Rip, we aren't taking this thing, Lex. Give it up."
          <What?>
          I spun around and faced Elfangor.

          "That's how I'm here. I'm in some stupid Sario Rip effect, and now I've gotta get home, to my own time, without using this thing and messing up the course of time. More than I already have, that is."
          Elfangor looked at me like I was crazy. But I guess I had already proven I wasn't your ordinary human, so he let it slide. Or at least I walked away before he said anything.
          I just wanted to be left alone. I wasn't where and when I wanted to be. I was twenty something years in the past, I was on the Taxxon homeworld, and I had probably gotten everything so mixed up that the Animorphs would never be created.
          Stryke, you okay?
          I am not okay! Okay? Just leave me alone!
          I was mad at the world. I had no clue or reason why, but I was stressed and snappish. I wanted to be left alone. And it didn't help that there were three of me. Three of me, and no privacy. Three minds watched me, three minds had access to my body, including me. I had no name, no family, and no life.
          I wanted my own body, my own mind, my own life.
          My own life.
          Careful what you wish for.

          We dismantled the car, removing the hood roof, the chairs, and Elfangor enlarged the hole in the cargo hold while I pushed the car towards the hole.
          I saw a tape player in the radio part of the car. I pulled out the tape inside. Rolling Stones. This would be interesting.
          So long as that no satisfaction song isn't on there, I'm fine. Anna said in disgust.
          I actually like that song, what's wrong with it? Lex asked.
          Look, this is excatly why we should not inhabit the same body, guys. We can't even agree on MUSIC, let alone everything else. What did we do to deserve this?! I moaned.
          They shut up, and I pushed the rest of the car out of the hole. Elfangor and I salvaged some junk out of the Skrit Na mess, and we were ready to leave.
          "Okay, turn the key right there and press that pedal. Or is it that one?"
          <I thought you said you knew how to operate this.>
          "I'm not an adult. People my age don't drive these things yet. And give me a break. I'm negative ten-something years here. That's a lot of knowledge for my age. Plus, I'm looking over your shoulder."
          Elfangor pressed the pedal and turned the key. Nothing happened.
          "Okay, that was probably the brake. Hit the other pedal there."
          He did, and the whole thing seemed to come alive. The tape drive started playing, too.
          "I can't get no...satisfaction!"
          Anna clamped my hands over my ears and I screamed.
          "Turn it down!"I don't think I needed to tell him, the thing was on max. Needless to say, he turned it down.
          <What kind of race would use a computer to play screaming sounds?!>
          "Forget it, Elfangor. Hey, I've never driven one of these things before, could I try, just for a minute?"
          <Go ahead.>
          He backed off, and I hung onto the steering wheel for dear life. I put the pedal to the metal and we were outta there!

          "YA-HA-HA!"
          This was so cool. One hundred miles per hour. I had given up the wheel when I accidentally skidded out. I figured an Andalite was a little more safe behind the wheel of a car than a teenage girl who'd do just about anything for a thrill, any day. Elfangor seemed to agree.
          <Yaaaaaa!>
          I fell back, and cut my hand on some broken glass. When I skidded, most of the bottles of Dr. Pepper Elfangor had brought broke. Blood tricked out.
          <I thought human blood was red.> Elfangor noticed. See, my blood is black.
          Navarazzis have black blood, or something. I'm not exactly an expert on my species, or rather, my origins. I said. I have a tendency to switch back and forth between Tele-speech and vocal speech.
          Some pop splashed in my face. Elfangor was drinking some of the D.P. he had brought, using a shallow pan. I wiped it off my face and hollered some more.
          FFFFFWWWUUUUMMPPP!
          "What the heck-yaaaaaie!"
          BOOM! BOOM! RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE
          We were falling, tumbling, through a dark tunnel. Down a dirt-filled slope into darkness. I sliced my hand on some more glass on the way. Then it occurred to me I wasn't wearing seat belts.
          "Yaaaaaa!"
          I flew through the air, with no restraints to stop me after the car did. I landed hard on my back and was looking straight up.
          All around me, a cavern. Filled with red light. Dim, but enough for me to see clearly. There were tubes lining the walls. And out of those tubes came-

          "-Taxxons! Elfangor, TAXXONS!"
          <Yes, I see them.>
          "Elfangor, my hand is bleeding!"
          <That's not good.>
          "No, it isn't," I said as I dived behind him. Let's face it, Andalite tails are very reassuring.
          If you're on the Andalite's side, that is.
          <IS THIS THE CREATURE?>
          A thought-speak voice the size of a mountain, roaring in my head. It was like all my thoughts were shattered at once. My mind was spinning. My brain was fried.
          I hovered, clinging on to consciousness, but for only a moment. I was barley aware of seeing Elfangor clap his hands over his ears. I think I saw a single Taxxon approach us. I was barley aware of a thought-speak conversation before blacking out.

          When I woke up, I was on my back, looking straight up.
          "Okay, that's the what, the fourth time? jeez. I gotta stay concius."
          <Yes, you were out most of the afternoon.>
          "Huh? Dubwa? Yaaa!"
          I turned around. A Taxxon was staring at me. I was, needless to say, a little startled.
          "Oh, oh, oh. jeez, Abron, startle me half to death."
          <You recognised me?>
          "Of course. Your voice, well, your thought-speak voice, it's still the same." I shrugged, not really realizing what I was saying, "Same old Abron. But don't sneak up on me like that, okay? I've been a very nervous person for the last few days. I mean, I travel back in time, I-I talk too much when I'm scared, can you tell?"
          <Yes, you have seemed to talk more latley.>
          "And with good reason," I added.
          Abron started walking, or rather scuttling away. I didn't really feel sorry for him. I mean, I knew he and Marco were very much alike. And Marco didn't want sympathy about his mom being the host body of Visser One. At least, that's what he told me.
          So I figured the last thing Abron wanted was for me to act all sorry for him. At least, I think that's not what he wanted. But I did notice the legs he was missing had grown back in halfway.
          "Your legs are healing," I said as kindly as I could.
          <Yes, Taxxon's legs regenerate.>
          "Where are you going?"
          <Elfangor is back by the machine.>
          "Abron? Where are you going?"
          <Ask Elfangor.>
          He walked away and seemed to zone out for a while. I was worried that some Taxxon would smell my blood and decide I was food. But, for some odd reason, that never happened.
          I walked around, looking for the Mustang, when I spotted something of interest. Whenever a Taxxon went down one of the tunnels, a wind blew in the direction in witch they were going. There was some sort of suction. And there were Taxxons all along the walls of the cavern. At about every ten seconds, another Taxxon would zoom through the tunnel.
          "Hey, Elfangor."
          <What? Oh, you are awake.>
          "Yeah, so to speak. What's going on?"
          <The Living Hive, witch is what we are in, is sending an army of Taxxons to destroy the spaceport. They will try and destroy as much as they can.>
          "No way they can win. Lost cause."
          <Yes, it is.>
          I looked up at Elfangor, my eyes glowing bright red.
          "Lost cause. Terrible odds. No way we can win. I'm in."

          <Are you sure? You might be killed.>
          "Lost causes are what I live for, Elfangor. I fight in a battle I have exaclty 99.9% of losing. You think I care? Hah! I just fight on and on, scared as scared can get, but I don't just be safe."
          <You're talking a lot again.> Abron, who had just walked up, notcied.
          "And with very good reason," I added, laughing.
          Elfangor looked at us like we were crazy. I explained to him how I talked a lot when I was scared out of my wits. Abron started laughing.
          "See? Same old Abron."
          I guess I said the wrong thing, because he then left. And I got this wierd feeling, like I'd never see him again. But I had no time to think about it, because, about two minutes later, Elfangor and I would be shooting down a tunnel.
          A very small tunnel.
          A very small tunnel, with no free room.
          A very small tunnel, with no free room, and very little air.
          A very small tunnel, with no free room, very little air, and little light.
          A very small tunnel, with no free room, very little air, little light, that stretched for what looked like hundreds of miles.
          Did I mention I am claustrophobic?
          "Oh, no, no, no. Please, please, PLEASE tell me we are not riding in that thing."
          <What are you afraid of? Oh, your fear of tight spaces.>
          I nodded vigorously. I stared in fear at the tunnel.
          <It's nothing to be afraid of, I mean, it's not like it's going to pressurize you to death.>
          "Don't even joke about that. Not funny. Scary. Oh, yes, very terrifying. PLEASE tell me we're not going in there."
          <We have to. And it's almost time to go. We only have about one minute left. Try morphing into your other form.>
          "Navarazzi form. And it's Shifting. Okay," I said as I squeezed my bag, "I'll go in, it's not like I'll die, or anything. Just keep my eyes closed, imagine I'm in my roost, imagine I'm safe, pretend I'm not rushing to my doom, picture I'm not going to-HELP ME!"
          Without even realizing it, I had hopped into the Mustang and sat down. And now I was zooming inside a dark tunnel, going about two hundred MPH, and TRAPPED!
          "Oh, no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," was all I said on the way down.
          I was having a total coronary failure. I was having a spaz attack, whatever that means. I was freaking out big time. I was afraid I'd lose all control if it didn't end soon.
          JUST MAKE IT END! I screamed.
          And then it did.

          "Elfangoooooor!"
          We were flying through the air, out over a huge battle being waged. Taxxon against Taxxon-Controller. Hork-Bajir against Taxxon. Yeerk against Taxxon. And I was scared out of my wits.
          The wheels squealed as they spun in midair. We hit the dirt and I flew. I simply flew. And as I flew, I spread my wings. Just before I hit the ground, I lifted off. And I screamed my lungs out the whole way, of course.
          Okay, I'll admit, that was kinda fun. I said to no one but to those inside my head.
          Yeah! That was so cool!
          Lex, shut it. Stryke, let's not ever do that again.
          What? Like I'm gonna?!
          Just making sure. Anna added.
          Dracon beams shot all around me. I had to swallow my Navarazzi urge to go hunting in all the panic. It has become a familiar sensation, suppressing that urge. But it always burns to do so. I mean, imagine you're about to be hit in the face with a lead pipe. Now, try to keep yourself from ducking.
          Hard, isn't it?
          I had no clue what to do. All I could do was pull out my Dracon beam and shoot at as many ships as I could. All except the Jahar, that is. Once I spotted it, I headed straight for it. And that's when I saw the mob.
          A mob of rampaging Taxxons, all trying to get up the ramp leading to the Jahar. And I could see one of them had shorter legs than the rest. Abron.
          Abron! What's going on?!
          No answer. He seemed to be struggling. And I could see why.
          Two humans. Loren and Chapman. They were at the top of the ramp. There was something wrong there, but I couldn't figure it out...
          And, just then, I saw Abron turn tail and run. At the two humans. At Chapman. He raised his body, and prepare to slam down on who would be my vice-principal.

          "ABRON! NOOOO!"
          No good. He didn't waver at all. I dived down, straight for him.
          Okay, whatever happens, happens. But if Chapman gets eaten, we are in so much trouble you can not believe. He's still got a major role here!
          To be honest, I wasn't speaking to anyone but myself. I wasn't trying to reassure Lex or Anna or anyone else.
          I was trying to reassure myself.
          I wouldn't kill Abron unless I had to. If it came down to my life against his, it would be a battle to the death. But I wouldn't hurt him unless I absolutely had to.
          At least, that's what I hoped.
          At about fifty feet away from the ramp, I knew I'd never make it in time. It was hopeless. Hopeless. But, like I told Elfangor, lost causes, hopeless fights, impossible odds, I lived for them.
          I can sound so much like Rachel sometimes, it scares me.
          "Abron! NOOOOO! Stop!"
          I saw Abron rear up some more, and stop. I knew what would come up next.
          All because I interfered, I thought.
          What had I done?

          I slowed down, my wings aching from the sudden drop. I landed on the ground, and just started running, on all four limbs. I ran until my muscles burned. I bit into Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and Gedds to get through. I slashed, I clawed, I sliced.
          And when my Navarazzi muscles couldn't stand the fight any longer, I Shifted back to human form, and fought my way through that way.
          Finally, I made it to the ramp. I powered my way up, past a bunch of mad looking Hork-Bajir. Please don't ask me how I did that. I was on automatic. I just know I made it past them without killing myself. Not necessarily unharmed, but...
          "Yaaa! Okay, I missed something here."
          Six or seven Hork-Bajir. Abron and Elfangor facing them. Loren and Chapman behind them. Me, standing on the edge of the ramp, wobbling from what I had endured. Ducking Hork-Bajir blades.
          All the Hork-Bajir, except one, were slicing wildly at the air. I could actually hear the air whistle as their blades whipped by.
          I guess should explain what a Hork-Bajir is, though. They are seven feet tall lawn movers, kind of resembling Navarazzis. Blades at the wrists, tails, knees elbows, and forehead. Males have three head blades, females two. I was told they were once a very kind species, but the Yeerks got 'em. Now, blades once used to gather tree bark are used to slaughter innocent people. Sucks, doesn't it?
          "Holy-"
          One of the Hork-Bajir spun around and pressed his wrist blade at the one Controller who had not attacked Elfangor and Abron. One twitch, and the Hork-Bajir-Controller's head would hit the ground and roll.
          Then I realized.
          "Prince Alloran?"
          He ignored me, naturally. Usually these people did.
          The Controller barked out some commends and all his men backed away. Down the ramp.
          "You're still alive!" Loren cried after she stopped the flow of blood Elfangor had running down his chest, "I was so worried."
          I shot Chapman a dirty look as I walked up to join the others. He seemed to smile. I made a mental note to trash his office when I got home. Or at least annoy him in detention. Most likely the second one.
          The Controller and Alloran had some conversation either I didn't hear or didn't understand. All of the Hork-Bajir backed down.
          We all backed away into the Jahar. All except Abron, that is.
          "Hey, Abron, you comin'?" I asked casually, trying to lighten the mood.
          <Come with us, Abron.> Elfangor said,
          <Elfangor, there's no future for me anywhere> Abron said.
          I raised one eyebrow. That's basically how I look when I give someone a meaningful look.
          "Bull. Come on, Abron. Who's shoulder am I gonna look over when they're working on the computer? Who am I gonna annoy?"
          <Who's going to remind me not to be so stiff? Who's going to laugh at me when I start talking about being a great prince?>
          I laughed inside my head at that.
          <You go, Elfangor. Go save the galaxy.>
          <Leave him. Aristh...I mean, Warrior Abron is a casualty of war.> said Alloran.
          If I had eyes capable of crying, I'd be doing so. But, as I said, Navarazzis can't cry.
          No matter how much it hurts.

          <Your orders, sir?>
          We were in the Jahar. I was slouched against a far wall, as usual. I was just watching. Still trying not to interfere. Tempting as it was.
          All I'm saying is, we kill, or somehow get Alloran out of the way, and our problem with Visser Three is solved. More than solved. Never even existed.
          Anna was arguing with me, again. It seems like she's never really happy unless she has something to argue about. And Lex is never happy unless she's getting on Anna's last nerves. And I'm never really happy unless they don't agree. That's usually a bad thing.
          Yeah, and then we find out that if Visser Three is never created, then the Animorphs aren't. And we've all heard this story before. So it's not happening.
          <Ah. Now you want orders. When I ordered you to flush those pools full of Yeerks out into space you disobeyed me. But now you want orders Now you want to be told what to do.>
          "This guy has serious problems," I mumbled
          Elfangor and Alloran directed one stalk eye each in my direction. I pretended to care deeply about the blue grass beneath my feet.
          <Sir, the Time Matrix is->
          <Silence, young fool!> Alloran snapped. I jerked my head back up in a very un-human like way.   <We don't have time for that yet. No, first we have to take care of the business you kept me from taking care of.>
          "You mean that big shipment of Yeerks?!" I asked. Okay, he was definitely insane. "Does the word 'priorities' mean anything to you? If the Yeerks get the Time Matrix, it's toodle-doo Andalites! After Seerow transfers technology! And, while I'm at it, does the word 'noninterference' mean anything to me!"
          I shut up, and everyone was staring at me. I acted like I hadn't said a thing. I busied myself in putting on my shoes and by now torn T-shirt. I will never know why, but Alloran didn't press me. Probably because he was too wound up in his little looney world.
          <Prince Alloran, I believe she is right. Is destroying the Yeerk ship really the most important thing to do?>
          <The most important thing in war is to destroy your enemies, Aristh Elfangor. Nothing is more important than destroying your enemies. Do you understand?>
          I thought the most important thing in war was DEFEATING your enemies, after savin' your own butt. Lex said.
          Lex, he is mad, or did you not notice? Or is this normal behavior for Navarazzis? But, hey, personally, I can't blame him if he wants to burn slug. Anna asked.
          Don't diss Navarazzis. I said, seeing where this conversation was heading.
          Alloran turned his stalk eyes to the Hork-Bajir. <You understand, don't you? You Yeerks understand.>
          The Hork-Bajir cried out in a language I didn't understand. I could tell he was worried, though. Funny. He seemed like a big-shot Yeerk. So why would he be so scared...
          <And so I will. Open the hatch, Aristh Elfangor. The sub-visser is going to see if that Hork-Bajir body of his can fly!>
          "Woah, woah, woah. No way. I don't care if he is a Yeerk. But there is no reason to kill him. None. You're just killing him because he's a Yeerk. Racism."
          <Silence! You do not know what Yeerks are, alien->
          "For the very last time, my name is not 'alien', it's Stryke. get it through your head. You'll be hearing it again. And I am very well aware of what Yeerks are."
          <Do you realize I could execute you right now?> Alloran said coldly.
          "Yes, I do. I 've experienced first hand what Andalite tail blades do," I said as I ran my fingers over my scar, "And I will carry a reminder of that throughout my life. And I know how fast your tails go. I know these things. But I really don't see any point in killing this guy."
          Anna-the-Yeerk-hater-I'd-rather-die-than-let-one-little-unimportant-Yeerk-live-an-extra-minute-and-I'm-ready-to-show-it-to-the-world-cocky-idiot disagreed, of course. She said some things I wouldn't be willing to repeat. In summary, she was giving me a hard time.
          Yet another time when I wished I had my own body, with no little critics inside my head.
          <Thank you, alien. Now I suggest you get back to where you were in the back of the ship.>
          I shook my head. I really couldn't believe what I was doing. I was scarifying myself for the enemy. Then I did the all-time dumb.
          "No one tells me what to do. I don't care if they're a War-Prince or a Visser or an Andalite or a Yeerk. You throw him out, and I go too."

          Of all our little group, I am the most idiotic. I'm not kidding. Rachel is kinda reckless. Marco uses at least half his brain to make up dumb jokes, and the other half to laugh at them. I use all my brain to put myself in the tightest, most intense situation. And screw up the time line as much as I can in the process.
          If I looked up the words 'common sense', I still wouldn't know what they meant.
          Okay, maybe what I was doing was admirable, in a way. Yeah, I was defending my virtues, my beliefs, and my respect for life, but I was putting my life on the line for a Yeerk. And I was interfering big time. And, like I said, there wasn't exactly a graceful recovery to this situation. At least, not with my head still attached to my neck. Or my body not splattered against the rocks of the Taxxon landscape. A big Shifter pancake. Not a pretty picture.
          The Hork-Bajir, Loren, Chapman, Elfangor, and Alloran all had these weird expressions on their faces. Chapman looked amused. Loren did, too. Elfangor looked as confused as anyone can, while giving occasional reports on the ship's speed. We were at dead stop.
          The Hork-Bajir was flexing his muscles, unless my little values speech did nothing to his benefit. Alloran looked ready to eat me, if he could. And with Taxxon morph, that was perfectly possible.
          <Get out, Yeerk. And you, human. If you truly love Yeerks as much as you say you do, get out with him.>
          "Fine by me," I said as I walked over to the door.
          Chapman's eyes were wide. They had this look of confusion, anger, and amusement. Like I was an ally, who didn't know they were helping, who were killing themself so he couldn't use them in the future. And I was.
          The Hork-Bajir stepped out and fell. Just fell. I backed up and hung onto the doorway. To the sides of the hatch. I paused.
          "See ya in twenty years, Alloran. My name is Stryke. Remember that name, buddy. Like I said, you'll be hearing it again. Very soon."
          I looked over to Chapman. I just bared my teeth. He looked back at me with the same deadening eyes I saw every day at school.
          And then I looked over to Elfangor.
          My friends were right. The greatest Andalite Prince ever born. Sorry to say, I'll never see you again. Been nice knowin' ya.
          After that, I let go.

          I expected to watch the ground rush up at me. I expected the Taxxon landscape to get much bigger, much faster. But that's not what happened.
          I hadn't watched Loren. Right when I let go, she grabbed my shirt. She held on. I flipped backwards, and was staring upside-down, at the Taxxon ground. And it was a long way down. A very long way down.
          "Oh. My. God. Loren. Do. Something. Either. Pull. Me. Up. Or. Let. Go. But. Decide. Fast. If. You. Would. Be. So. Kind."
          I talked in a even, monotone, one word at a time voice. And I bumped against the hull after after every word. I bruised my arm. But, then again, there wasn't one part of me that wasn't black and blue. Or bleeding. Or burned. So one more ouchie wasn't much.
          She pulled me up. Alloran was not happy.
          <So you aren't quite ready to sacrifice yourself, alien?>
          "Oh, I'm ready. BUt, considering Elfangor just closed the door, I don't think I'm gonna skydive just yet."
          Elfangor started pressing buttons and Alloran just stared at me angrilly for about five or ten minutes while we flew over to the spaceport. I gave him this, unimpressed, you're-not-so-tough lookt he whole way. Let's face it, it's hard to intimidate me. Impress me, yes, but intimidating me takes some work. But, let's face it, an insane Andalite is pretty intimidating. Even for me.
          Once we got there, I mosied back to the rear of the ship. I pulled out my bag, looking for anything edible.
          "Dracon beam...knife...journal...scrapbook...Arbian Nights...hmh. Didn't know I had that one. Bunch of mechanical equipment from the Na ship...where are my ham sandwitches? Great. All gone," I mumbled as I rummaged through the mess that was my bag.
          I shoved the bag to one side. I listened to Anna and Lex yell at me some more. I got bored, and walked bck to the front of the ship.
          "Um, did I miss something?"
          That was probably an understatement. Alloran's tail blade was presseed against Elfangor's throat.
          <What difference does it make how you destroy your enemy?> Alloran demanded.
          I looked over at the humans. Loren was kind of far away. Chapman and I were closer. I looked over to him.
          I guess he had the same idea. We made eye contact. I raised three fingers. One at a time.
          One...two...THREE!
          <I cannot have a weak, cowardly fool like you messing up->
          Chapman nodded and we lunged.
          At Alloran.

          I lunged straight at Alloran, with Chapman right ahead of me. He punched Alloran. I kicked under his hooves, causeing them to slip. He lost balance, but only for a split second. But it was more than enough.
          Elfangor snapped his tail at Alloran's head. Right before the connection, he turned his tail blade to one side. The back of his tail blade hit Alloran in the head.
          Alloran-Semitur-Corrass fell like a rock. His head cluncked against the floor on contact.
          "Is it just me, or was that a little too easy?" I asked as Elfangor injected Alloran with something.
          No one said much. Elfangor looked ready to faint. I just wanted to go to sleep. And then I'd throw up.
          "Now what?" Chapman asked rudley.
          <Now what?! Now what? I justknocked out my own prince!>
          Elfangor paused to calm down, then continued.
          <We have something to pick up. Then we are getting as far away from this evil place as this ship will go!>
          "Hey, I know this is probably the worst time to mention this, but what about the Sario Rip? When this is all over, can we work something up on that? I'm really sorry, but I have to go hunting. I eat meat, and I am currently out of food. And I have a really fast metabolisim." I said.
          <Yes, we will work out something. But right now, we need to get the Time Matrix.>
          "I'm there."
          Elfangor touched down the Jahar after a few minutes. I pulled out my Dracon beam. I folowed him to the hatch.
          <No, human. You should stay here.>
          "Look, Elfangor, I think we've established I have a name. Sort of. And I think we realize I'm not a human. And I think we all know that I am perfectly capeable of taking care of myself." I said in an anoyed tone.
          I guess Elfangor was too tired to argue. We both went out the hatch.
          It took several minutes to burn away all the junk blocking the tractor beam's path to the Matrix. Elfangor walked around behind the Matrix when we were done.
          "You know, if Chapman thinks Yeerks are bad now, witch I doubt, wait until he's-"
          Suddenly, I was hit! I rocked back under the idea's pressure.
          Alloran was going to become what the Andalites call the Abomination. Chapman was a jerk. Loren and Chapman both looked...well, they looked wrong when I was about to skydive. And if no one else was in there who wasn't either a Controller or an idiot...
          I looked at Elfangor. He looked at me. We both had realised it at the same time.
          "-infested."
          I quickly set the Dracon beam to its lowest setting. Three shots. That's all it would take.
          Except we couldn't afford to miss.
          I jumped out from behind the Time Matrix. Loren was raising a Dracon beam in her hand.
          I fired! Loren dropped, twitching wildly from the energy pulses. I hit the ground and rolled to my right, stopping behind a pile of debree.
          TSSSEEEWWWW!
          Chapman fired! But he missed, weak and shaky from what he had just endured.
          Elfangor and I fired at the same time, and Chapman dropped to the dirt. He didn't move again. But there was still one more shot left to make.
          Sudden movement! Hunt! Kill!
          I spun and fired! Missed! No, my gun hadn't fired at all. It needed recharging. Elfangor fired! Alloran's right arm dropped, and his Dracon beam clattered to the ground.
          He stood there, an expression of pure rage on his face. Alloran. War Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corass.
          But not really Alloran anymore.
          I would never forget the first time I saw him. Visser Three. And I would never forget that it was my fault he ever existed.
          <Very good, Aristh Elfangor. It took the help of a human, but you figured it out in the end.>
          <Sub-Visser Seven.>
          "Visser Three."
          <Visser Three? I like the sound of that. The Yeerk who made the first Andalite-Controller? The Yeerk who captured the Time Matrix? Yes, I can see a promotion like that coming. Don't you agree?>
          Elfangor raised his shredder and pointed it at Visser Three ... no, Sub-Visser Seven.
          <You made Chapman a Controller. You were in his head.>
          "And that Hork-Bajir was just a decoy."
          <Of course. And another one of my people made Loren one of us,> he sneered. I wished I could wipe that sneer off of his face with the back of my knuckles.
          He turned his head toward me.
          <And while you were so considerately working to clear away the Time Matrix, I revived Alloran and transferred myself into him. The first and only Andalite-Controller!>
          He looked back at Elfangor, feeling positively superior.
          <It was so kind of you to knock out the old warrior for me. I didn't know how I was ever going to take him. He was a wily creature. A bit mad, of course, but he knew war. You saw how ruthless he was in tossing out the poor Hork-Bajir who played the role of me. Yes, Alloran was a warrior.>
          I stole a glance at the Time Matrix.
          You guys...
          No, Anna. We don't know what will happen.
          C'mon! We have a chance to wipe out Visser Three before he even exists! We have to!
          No we don't. What happens if we end up wiping ourselves out in the process?
          Ugh! I wish I had my own life!
          That was not the first time any of us wished that.

          <Chapman told us about the Time Matrix, of course, but we needed you to show us where it was. The attack by the Mountain Taxxons could have disrupted everything. But, in the end, it was convenient. It kept you too busy to worry about how easily everything fell into place.>
          Elfangor's breathing became harsh as everything began to sink in.
          <But you know the best part? I really couldn't have let you burn that transport full of my people. It was one thing to sacrifice that poor Hork-Bajir who played the role of me, but ten thousand Yeerks? No, I would have had to act, and then you and Alloran would likely have made short work of me.>
          I raised the Dracon beam in my hand and aimed for the sub-visser's forehead.
          <But no, Elfangor is one of those good Andalites. Hah-hah! You won't kill a helpless foe. I have no weapon! I am your prisoner! Hah-hah! I surrender!>
          "We can still make short work of you."
          He whipped his head around, an expression of horror on his face. I squeezed the trigger.
          Nothing happened.
          Duh, Stryke. It still needs recharging.
          He smirked.
          <Is that->
          The sub-visser dropped to the ground. Elfangor still has his shredder aimed at where he was...which meant it was aimed at me now.
          "Um...Elfangor?"
          He blinked and shook his head a little, like he just now realized that he stunned the sub-visser.
          <Sorry.>
          Elfangor dragged Loren and Chapman into the Jahar. He was just about to drag the sub-visser in when two Bug fighters blew by overhead. They circled around and began to move back toward us. The sky was starting to fill with Bug fighters.
          "How are we supposed to get off the planet with all of them here?!"
          Elfangor was silent for a minute.
          <Get back on the ship. I have an idea!>
          I ran back up and ramp and into the ship, looking out the hatch at Elfangor. He had followed me. He ran past me and grabbed a medkit, digging through it, and pulled out a hypo spray. By the time I thought to ask what he was doing, he was already back on the ground injecting the sub-visser with it.
          He ran back into the ship and starting pressing buttons on his console like mad.
          <Close the hatch and get out of sight!>
          As I crawled behind the weapons console, a Hork-Bajir appeared on the screen.
          What are you doing?! I screeched in telespeech, so the Hork-Bajir wouldn't hear me.
          He focused all four eyes on the screen.
          <What? You don't recognize your sub-visser? Hah-hah! I have done it, you fool! As I said I would. I have acquired an Andalite body!>
          The Hork-Bajir looked at Elfangor suspiciously, narrowing its eyes at him. Not hesitating at all, Elfangor kept talking.
          <You see the Andalite down on the ground?>
          "Yes...Sub-Visser Seven."
          <Good. You're not blind as well as stupid. I want to see him run. Do you understand me? As soon as I have lifted off, make him run! And when he is good and tired, when his knees buckle with exhaustion, make him dead. Dead! If you fail me in this, I will feed you to the Taxxons. Sub-Visser Seven, out.>
          He switched off the screen as soon as he finished, not waiting for a reply.
          "Smooth, Elfangor. Think they'll fall for it?"
          <Let's hope so.>
          The Jahar slowly lifted from the ground. He switched on exterior view and found the sub-visser. He had just gotten to his feet. Not being a stupid Yeerk, he knew what was going on. He bolted, just as a Bug fighter fired a Dracon beam just a few feet away from his hooves.
          Woo! Look at him run! Yeah!
          I watched intently as he ran at full speed across the red sand. Bug fighters taunted him at every turn, their shots not quite hitting him.
          Elfangor pulled the Time Matrix close to the ship and held it in place with energy ropes. Up we rose, through the weird clouds, leaving the atmosphere.
          Then it began to dawn on them.
          The screen blinked, and an ugly Hork-Bajir face appeared. I was standing right beside Elfangor.
          He knew.
          Tactical showed two Bug fighters veering off from chasing the sub-visser. I leapt over to the weapons console.
          "Hey, how do you use this thing?"
          The Bug fighters were gaining on us.
          <Direct the crosshairs with the control stick and your mind. Press the red button when it is aimed correctly.>
          I grabbed the joystick...yes, a joystick...and the screen lit up with two targets.
          "Cool! This is just like a video game!"
          I moved the joystick until it was in the general area of the lead Bug fighter, and used my mind to fine-tune my aim. I fired!
          TSSSEEEWWWW!
          A ball of wreckage and flame fell through the clouds.
          I moved the crosshairs over to the other Bug fighter, but I never got the chance to fire. Space suddenly turned white, and the Bug fighter faded from my screen.
          "Hey! I was just about to cream that other Bug fighter!"
          He didn't bother to answer me.

          Loren was back to normal. She had asked about five times so far what zero-space was. I guess she was bored.
          The Yeerk in Loren's head had been needing to feed soon, so we made a deal with it. We could starve it out, or it could come out willingly. We would freeze it and eject it into deep space.
          We kept up our end of the bargain. After the Yeerk crawled out, we froze it and dumped it into space. Maybe someone would find it and revive it. Or maybe we'd be lucky and it would burn in some star. Like the one we dumped it near.
          I still feel kinda bad about that. I mean, we said we wouldn't kill it.
          What are you so worried about? It was a Yeerk. They're the enemy.
          That's what Alloran said. He made a mistake.
          Like being a Yeerk would justify what we did. But I didn't really care at the moment. I was hungry.
          "So where are we going anyways? Maybe somewhere with food? I'm really hungry here."
          My stomach chose right then to grumble. Everyone stared at me.
          "He doesn't know," Chapman said. He sat in the corner and glared at all of us. Like we didn't just save his hide.
          "Elfangor is confused. Isn't that right? He screwed up bad...Arbron taprred in one of those centipede bodies, Alloran made into the first ever Andalite-Controller. Almost lost the Time Matrix. Gonna be tough explaining all of it to the folks back home, huh?"
          Loren walked over to Elfangor. "Elfangor. Snap out of it. We're going in circles in zero-space."
          <Yes. I know.>
          "You did the best you could. You're just a kid, like us."
          <I am an aristh in the Andalite military. I disobeyed my prince and caused him to be enslaved by the Yeerks.>
          "That was partly my fault," I said.
          He ignored me. <The Yeerks will now know everything that Alloran knows about our defenses. Everything he knows about the capabilities of our weapons. Everything he knows about the locations of our ships.>
          "Well at least he wasn't a scientist."
          Elfangor looked at me as if he just realized that I was sitting there. <He is still the greatest intelligence victory in Yeerk history.>
          Chapman just shook his head. "Guess I was right to throw in with the Yeerks, huh? You Andalites are going down."
          I glared at Chapman. "Traitor."
          He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Unless..."
          Loren glared at him. "Why don't you just shut up? You've gotten us into enough trouble."
          Chapman just grinned and kept going. "Unless you Andalites use that Time Matrix thingy. Go back in time, find that first little tribe of Yeerk slugs. Kill 'em and the entire species is gone. Gone and never existed. What do they call that? Oh yeah, genocide. Up for a little genocide?"
          Elfangor shook his head. <Don't waste your time taunting me Chapman. It won't work. I'm not going to drop out of zero-space to use the Time Matrix and light up every Yeerk sensor withing a million light years.>
          "What?"
          "Dubwa?"
          <Sub-Visser Seven left Chapman instructions. They probably placed a homing beacon on the ship in case something went wrong.>
          By the look on Chapman's face, he guessed right. Elfangor turned toward the main console and started pressing buttons.
          "I thought you said we couldn't drop out of zero-space," I said.
          <We have to, eventually. We can't stay here forever. There's a place called the Graysha Nebula. There are rumors of a sentient species there. And there are rumors that the Yeerks are exploring the nebula.>
          "Wait a minute. You're going to drop us into unfamiliar territory? Not only unfamiliar territory, but someplace crawling with Yeerks?!"
          <No. My old ship, the Starsword, went there to see if it could locate a Yeerk task force we were pursuing.>
          "So when the Yeerks start showing up, the Dome ship will blow them away."
          <Exactly.>
          Loren looked up at Elfangor. She looked sad, like she knew something we didnt, and the something she knew was bad. "So we're going there to meet up with your old ship. Is the nebula any closer to Earth?"
          <No.>
          "Elfangor...are we ever going to get back to Earth?"
          <Loren, I will do my best.>
          Chapman snorted. "And you've all seen how good Elfangor's best is. You might as well kiss Earth goodbye."
          I snarled and bared teeth that suddenly became fangs. "That's it!"
          The back of my hand connected with Chapman's face. His head jerked back and hit the wall, then he slumped to the floor.
          "I think we can all agree that he deserved that."

          <Coming out of Zero-space ... now!>
          Suddenly, the space around us changed. You see, Zero-space is white. Just plain, blinding white. Normal space is usually black, with some stars and maybe a planet or two.
          "Woah!"
          "Jeez! Amazing!"
          <You've never been this close to a nebula,> Elfangor said. But I could tell even he was awed. I mean, who wouldn't be?
          I wish we had places like this near Earth. Anna said.
          Yeah! And a really good telescope. Lex added.
          This place makes our solar system look like a dust bunny. How many of them do you think'd fit in here?
          Do you always have to analyze everything? Anna asked me.
          Of course. Why do you think we're alive now?
          Elfangor and Loren were talking to each other, but I wasn't really paying attention to them. I was looking for the swarm of Bug fighters that would be here pretty soon. I glanced over at Chapman. He was still out cold.
          <I'm conducting a sensor sweep, looking for any Andalite vessels. But it's hard with the nebula around us. The dust confuses the sensors.>
          "Make sure you look for Yeerk ships, too. We don't want them sneaking up on us."
          Elfangor looked at me like I was crazy.
          I can just hear him saying 'Who does she think she is, a Prince?' Lex said.
          No, wait, a War-Prince! Anna laughed.
          Guys, be quiet. This is serious.
          "Are we a long way from Earth?" Loren asked.
          <Yes. Even by the standards of space. We are hundreds of light-years away.>
          I kneeled down beside Chapman and made sure all the ropes holding him were knotted tightly.
          "Scum," I whispered.
          <Any Andalite ship in this sector, any Andalite ship in this sector. This is Jahar.>
          I looked up, watching the viewscreen in front of Elfangor.
          <Jahar! Jahar! Alloran, is that you? Say again, under attack. Can you->
          <Starsword, I lost you! Starsword!>
          Elfangor started punching keys on his console. A blue dot showed on the viewscreen.
          <Get down on the ground. Back against the bulkhead. I'm going to Maximum Burn!>
          Elfangor punched in the burn before I had a chance to react, but the acceleration was hardly noticable. It was like a car going from 0 to 60 in no time flat.
          "Elfangor, what's going on?"
          <I don't know. But I'm powering up all weapons.>
          I jumped behind the weapons console and grabbed the joystick. The screen switched on as it sensed my hand touching the console. The Dome ship appeared near the edge of the screen, growing rapidly. It looked like a stick with a ball on one end, highlighted in blue.
          But what caught my attention was the little blips highlighted in yellow. It looked like the Starsword was parked in the middle of an asteroid field, except the asteroids were moving.
          "What are those things?"
          <They're asteroids. Nothing to worry about.>
          I focused my attention back on my screen, looking for any red blips. Red meant they were Yeerk ships.
          "Hey! It moved!" Loren said.
          <What are you talking about? Asteroids don't-> Elfangor turned a stalk eye to his screen. <-move.> In a flash, he focused all four eyes on the screen.
          <They ARE moving! They are under power!>
          We stared at the main screen as one of the asteroids slowly moved toward one of the fighters. It let loose a jet of gas to correct its course. The fighter fired a fully powered shredder blast at the asteroid. The green beam hit it ... and it only moved faster.
          The fighter turned tail and ran, but it couldn't lose the asteroid. It twisted and turned, jetting gas to stay on course, moving faster every second.
          "Elfangor! Look!" Loren yelled.
          I closed my eyes, already knowing what would happen. The fighter would never make it.
          <No! It's impossible!>
          I couldn't resist a peek. The asteroid grew an arm and smashed it into the fighter. The air puffed out into space. And then the rock simply oozed over the ship.
          Oh, God ...
          That was wrong.
          "The asteroid just ... ATE it."

          "What are those things?" Loren asked.
          <I don't know. I've never seen or heard of anything like them.>
          "Those things are wrong," I said.
          <They are impossible.>
          "They're like living asteroids or something," Loren said.
          <I think that's exactly what they are.>
          "But that's impossible!" I yelled. "Asteroids do NOT eat ships!"
          My hands were shaking as they gripped the joystick. The crosshairs were jumping all over the screen. As I watched my screen, the asteroid turned and started moving toward another fighter. It grew another arm and surrounded it. The fighter was going too fast to stop, and it plowed straight into the rock. Then the rest of the rock smashed into it. The pilot was thrown clear ... he spun around and around, his hooves kicking more and more slowly. And then, they stopped.
          The Starsword turned to bear its main shredders on the asteroid. They were HUGE cannons on the front of the Dome ship.
          <The Starsword will fire its main shredders now. That will wipe them out!>
          The Starsword fired! Twin beams as big around as a tree trunk sliced through space and hit the asteroid.
          "Yes!" Loren cheered.
          When the green light faded from the asteroid, we saw something that should not have been possible. That could not have been possible. The asteroid didn't get blown to pieces. It didn't get disintegrated. It didn't even melt a little.
          It turned around and flew toward the Starsword.
          "It's going after your Dome ship!" I said.
          Asteroids were swarming around the Starsword like bees around a hive. Dozens, then hundreds, were closing on it. Close by, another fighter was running from another asteroid. He didn't look like he was gong to make it.
          <Go to Zero-space!> Elfangor shouted at the fighter. <Whatever these things are, they can't have Zero-space flight!>
          The fighter powered up his engines for Zero-space, and suddenly three more asteroids blocked his path. This, I truly could not watch.
          Suddenly, the Starsword fired all shredders. Space was lit up with a green, eerie light. But more and more asteroids just started going for the doomed Dome ship.
          "Hey! That's just attracting them!" Loren cried. "The engines and the weapons ... it's just attracting them!"
          <You're right!> Elfangor said. He looked dazed for a moment, then turned to pucnh up communications.
          <Starsword, Starsword, this is Jahar! The asteroids are attracted to energy discharge! You're drawing them to you!>
          I doubted they would get the message in time to save themselves. I turned back to my console. Two red blips suddenly appeared on my screen. One was fat and the other was pointed. A Pool ship and a Blade ship.

          "Elfangor, we've got more problems behind us! Two Yeerk ships!"
          I didn't have to guess who the Blade ship belonged to. As soon as they finished materializing, the Pool ship started launching Bug fighters. Hundreds of red blips started to appear on my screen.
          I smirked. "They're in for a big surprise."
          The asteroids began to close on the Bug fighters, just like they had on the Andalite fighters. One by one, they were consumed.

To be continued. . . . in the process of being continued, so if you get tired of waiting, go on to the next book. O.o;