Down they came, slowing their fall with their short wings. Each of them was no more than half my height, but there were so many!
They fell and fell and fell, landing noiselessly. They stood on four legs. They had two elongated arms. They had faces dominated by the glittering eyes and small, red mouths.
"They're chadoosl" I blurted. "Like large cha-doos. But so colorful!"
«Not chadoos, just distant relatives, I think,» Aldrea said.
The creatures began to walk past us, ignoring us as if we weren't there. They were heading calmly out of the cavern, turning left or right along the walkway outside.
But half a dozen of the creatures headed straight for us. One in brilliant purple spoke.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"He speaks my language," I said to Aldrea.
"How I communicate is irrelevant," he or she
113 said. "You heard me. You understand. Therefore, answer my question."
"We are ... I mean, I am from above."
"Yes, yes, I'm not an idiot. You are a Hork-Bajir. What are you doing here, Hork-Bajir? There are no trees here. There is no bark for you to eat."
I shrugged. I looked at Aldrea, waiting for her to jump in. But she seemed as taken aback as I was. "They were chasing us. We came here to escape."
" Who was chasing you?"
«Yeerks,» Aldrea said.
"What are you?" the creature asked Aldrea.
«l am Andalite.»
"This is not your place, Andalite. It is not your place, Hork-Bajir. Leave."
The creature turned and began to walk away.
"No," I said.
The creature stopped.
"No?"
"No," I said firmly. "You will explain who you are. What this place is."
"We are the Arn," the creature said. "I am named Quatzhinnikon."
«Do you realize that the Hork-Bajir don't even know you exist?» Aldrea demanded.
"Of course they don't. We don't want them to know. That's why we created the various species of creatures who live in the zone of separation. We
114 wanted to keep the Hork-Bajir on their side of the zone. Now I must go. I have work to do."
He started once again to leave. I grabbed him. I wasn't rough, but I was firm.
"Ahh! Ahhh!" Quatzhinnikon cried. A dozen Arn turned to stare. They were horrified, afraid.
"Answer our questions," I said.
"Are you threatening me?" Quatzhinnikon whimpered.
I started to say "No, of course not." But Aldrea answered for me.
«Yes, we're threatening you, and you appear to be appropriately frightened. So answer our questions and spare us the arrogance.»
Quatzhinnikon gave her a poisonous look with his glittering, diamond eyes. "You are not part of the balance. You will upset everything. I will not help you."
In a flash, Aldrea's tail was at the small creature's throat. «We're in a hurry. We don't have time to be diplomatic. So let me make this simple for you: Answer us, or I will twitch my tail and your head will go rolling across this floor. Do you understand?»
I can't say I was completely shocked. I'd begun to get a fuller picture of Andalites in general and Aldrea in particular. But Quatzhinnikon was definitely shocked.
115 "Everything will fail now," he moaned. "The careful balance we've built!"
But he told us what we wanted to know. He answered our questions.
When he was done, I wished he hadn't.
116
ALDREA
We went to a different place, along a walkway, down more stairs. Just another Arn hole in the wall, at first. But then Quatzhinnikon touched a blue pad set into one wall.
The wall opened.
Behind the wall was a long, long room, dug deep into the bedrock. The room was filled with row after row of long cylinders. The cylinders were covered in dust. It had been a very long time since anyone had been there.
Quatzhinnikon walked past the cylinders, row after row of them. At the far end of the room I saw what could only be a large computer console.
«Well, well,» I said. «Not simple cave dwellers after all, are you?»
Quatzhinnikon went to the console and stepped confidently up to a bank of strange controls. He pressed several buttons. And on the wall behind him, a huge viewscreen appeared.
117 It showed a lush, green and blue planet in orbit around a red giant star.
"Twelve thousand years ago," Quatzhinnikon said.
The screen showed something new twirling through space. An asteroid. It was impossible to judge the relative size, but it was big.
"An asteroid in unstable orbit," Quatzhinnikon explained. "Each year, another near miss. We knew it would hit us. We tried to build spacecraft to escape. But we failed to manage anything more than local spaceflight. We were interested in biology, not physics. We made it as far as the uninhabitable second moon. No farther. So all we could do was wait. And recalculate the orbit and wait some more. And then ..."
On the screen we saw the asteroid suddenly plow straight into the planet. The impact was shocking. The entire planet shuddered. Pieces of it went flying off into space. A vast cloud of dust and smoke enveloped the planet, slowly settling over the course of years.
When the dust and smoke cleared, the planet was very much changed. Huge cracks had formed from the impact of the asteroid. Huge cracks that formed a belt of valleys around the planet.
"Much of the atmosphere was gone," Quatzhinnikon explained. "A few thousand of us had
117
,-??
118 waited on the moon, frozen in stasis. We awoke to find that." He pointed at the planet.
"We returned to our home world to find everyone dead. Our entire species. The air was un-breathable, except in the valleys. But even there, the balance was precarious. A hair too much carbon dioxide, a shade too little nitrogen, and even the impact valleys would die.
"So we went to work to understand this new environment. We needed a mechanism for controlling the atmosphere."
«The trees,» I said. I knew then where this was going. I turned one stalk eye to look at Dak. He had not figured it out yet. Should I silence the Am? Should I stop him before he revealed the truth to Dak?
"Yes, of course. The trees," Quatzhinnikon agreed. "Different species, each subtly different in its use of carbon dioxide and its production of oxygen. The perfect balance, the perfect mix, that's what we needed. But they would require constant care. And we were not willing to become a race of tree-herders."
Quatzhinnikon seemed to hesitate. As if he had read the doubts in my own mind. Should Dak know the truth?
«So you created a race of tree-herders,» I said. «Right here, in this room.»
119 "Yes. In this room we used all our genetic skill to design and build a species that would be perfectly adapted to caring for the trees, preserving them. We made them bark-eaters. We gave them bodies perfectly adapted to the task."
Dak's eyes widened. He looked at me, disbelief on his face. I nodded slightly.
«Yes, Dakr» I said. «This is your creators
Dak looked at the Am in shock. But he did not fall to his knees or tremble in awe. He was surprised, not impressed.
«Why the monsters?» I asked.
"To keep the Hork-Bajir separate from us," Quatzhinnikon said. "You see, intelligence was not necessary for tree-herders. The Hork-Bajir, as we called them, were intellectually inferior. We felt it was best if they lived in ignorance of us. So for twelve thousand years they have lived beyond the blue mist, kept away by the genetically engineered horrors they call monsters."
I swear I was ready to show the self-satisfied creature my tail blade. «You arrogant, contemptible ?» I began.
To my surprise, Dak cut me off with a raised hand. "You created the Hork-Bajir?"
"Yes," Quatzhinnikon said. "Or at least my people did."
"Then you need us," Dak said flatly.
120 Quatzhinnikon looked warily at the towering Hork-Bajir. "Yes. I su
ppose that's true."
"The Hork-Bajir will be destroyed. Enslaved and taken from this planet," Dak said. "You will lose your tree-herders. The Yeerks are already destroying us."
Quatzhinnikon shrugged. "What can we do? We have no weapons."
"The monsters," Dak said. "You control them, don't you? How else would you be able to keep them within the narrow band that separates your people from mine?"
Now it was my turn to be surprised. That had not occurred to me. But Dak was right! The Arn had control of the so-called monsters.
Quatzhinnikon gave Dak a hard look. "Of course. You're one of the smart ones, aren't you? A seer. We never could entirely eradicate that one bundle of genes. We did our best, but still, from time to time, one of you will arise."
"Yes, I am a seer," Dak said calmly.
"You're a freak, is what you are," Quatzhinnikon said. "A dangerously unstable element. It was our one great failure: One in ten thousand Hork-Bajir is born with intelligence that rivals that of the Arn."
"How do you control the monsters?" Dak asked.
121 "You'll ruin everything!"
"I will save my people," Dak said. "In saving them, I may save yours as well. The Yeerks will not be frightened off by the blue mist and children's stories of Father Deep. They will come for you next. Help us now and you may live."
Later I complimented Dak. «You have learned to go right to the point. You've learned to always keep your own goals in mind and not be distracted.»
"Yes," he said. "I am beginning to learn ruth-lessness. I have had a very good example to follow."
I knew what he meant. But I wasn't going to acknowledge it. What could I do? Laugh and say, «Yes, we Andalites certainly are good teachers when it comes to ruthless self-interest» It might have been true, but it would have been stupid to admit it.
He'd caught me off guard. I didn't know what to say. «Y-y-yes, the, urn, the Yeerks are good examples of ruthlessness, aren't they?» I stammered.
Dak smiled.
122
Fitting in with the Hork-Bajir had been pitifully easy. The host body I'd taken was named Fet Mashar. His friends had seen him taken into a fighter. They had seen him being dragged away by Gedds.
And yet when I reappeared among them very few questions were asked. I simply said, "I am back." And the Hork-Bajir would say, "Yes, you are back."
I began to realize that we Yeerks would have a very great advantage as we went conquering through the galaxy. We might come across races that were smarter, more powerful, more dangerous than the Hork-Bajir. In those cases, we could infiltrate slowly. Take one host at a time, build slowly, never letting our victims know what was happening until it was too late.
But those tactics were hardly necessary here. We
123 were able to simply set up a ground base and do business in the open. We were capturing and infesting a hundred Hork-Bajir a day. That number would rise every day as we acquired more and more Hork-Bajir hosts to do the hard work.
In fact, even my efforts to infiltrate the Hork-Bajir were unnecessary. The first Hork-Bajir I asked gave me the name of Dak Hamee as the Hork-Bajir who'd been in touch with the Andalites.
Dak Hamee and a friend of his named Jagil. We looked for Jagil to infest him, but he couldn't be found. Nevertheless, we were soon quite sure of the name Dak Hamee.
Dak Hamee was not my main concern, though. It was the Andalite I wanted. And I learned her name, too.
Aldrea. She was, as she had said, the daughter of Prince See row.
The irony was too perfect. The fool Seerow, who had blathered on about peace and brotherhood while Akdor and the others had prepared to attack, had a daughter. Obviously, the daughter was less a fool than her father had been.
But had she somehow survived the trip into the mist? No one had seen her these last two days. There would be an armed expedition into the mist once we were strong enough. For now there was
124 the simple work of rounding up Hork-Bajir from all over the valley and bringing them to our hastily dug Yeerk pool.
This new Yeerk pool had not been easy to create. The ground was at such a slant we'd have had to dig out thousands of tons of dirt. So a better way was found. We used a shredder to cut down a big, hollow tree the Hork-Bajir used to communicate. The tree fell sideways, landing level. It rolled to a stop, held back by the other trees. After that it was a simple matter to burn away the outer covering on the top, creating a very long, narrow Yeerk pool.
It was, actually, an impressive sight. The tree was over a thousand feet long to begin with. We burned away most of that, but it still left us with a two-hundred-foot-long log. Lying on its side, the trunk towered overhead, more than sixty feet. We built stairs going up one side and down the other, with narrow platforms around the open pool.
We did all that. But we did not mount shredder cannon on this log. Nor did we keep a secure perimeter. Why bother? The Hork-Bajir were completely harmless.
I was not in command of the Yeerk pool. I was not responsible for what came next. Although, to be honest, I wouldn't have thought to do anything different. Still, I wasn't blamed. The Yeerk who was blamed was later executed. He was slowly starved
125 of Kandrona rays. Very slowly. It took him weeks to die.
However, I was there that terrible evening. I was there, laughing and joking with other excited new Hork-Bajir-Controllers. We all loved these host bodies. We were all sure these hosts would make us the match of Andalites in personal combat.
With these bodies we could build the things we could never have built with clumsy Gedd hosts. We would build our own weapons. Our own ships! Vast, powerful ships that would make the galaxy tremble.
All the races of the galaxy would be our hosts. Our slaves. And when we were strong enough, we would go after the arrogant overlords, the meddling fools whose fleet kept our home world imprisoned. In our lifetimes we would attack, defeat, and enslave the Andalites.
It all seemed so easy then. Ten minutes later, we knew better.
I was standing by the edge of the pool, joking with my twin. Yes, of course, I am a twin. But I am the primary. He is the secondary.
We were talking about tactics for fighting with Hork-Bajir blades when we heard the cries.
I peered into the darkness beneath the towering trees.
"Aaarrrgghh! Aaahhh! Help! Help!"
126 The cries of several voices. All terrified. All panicked. Followed by the sizzling noise of shredder fire. And beneath all that, a low rumbling roar.
I saw Hork-Bajir and Gedds running our way. Stumbling as they ran. I loosened my shredder in its holster.
And then they appeared. You can have no possible idea how horrifying that sight was.
A line of creatures advanced. But creatures like nothing I had ever imagined. Huge, freakish, foul creatures with twisted bodies and massive hands and bristling horns.
But as frightening as this weird army was, what frightened me more, what made it all seem terribly dangerous, was a small, bluish-purple figure standing at the head of this mob.
A single Andalite girl. Beside her stood a lumbering Hork-Bajir I assumed must be Dak Hamee.
It was Aldrea. The daughter of Seerow.
She seemed beautiful to me. Is that strange? I suppose it is. But there is a compelling beauty in the sight of someone seemingly so small and yet so dangerous.
And even I, her enemy, could not help being impressed by the sweet irony of it all. Seerow, who had freed us without knowing his peril, was now replaced by Aldrea, who would send us back to the Yeerk pools. Or to death.
127 Yes, there was something beautiful in that small, delicate, dangerous creature.
Someday, I would tell her how I'd felt at this awful moment. Someday, I would live inside her head and I would tell her that I had admired her on this day.
Someday, when she was my host.
128
ALDREA
It took us a day to learn the mind-control techniques the Arn used to control their monsters.
Mind-amplifier implants were placed just under the skin of our scalps. We trained at broadcasting simple commands and simple images to the genetic freaks the Arn had created.
It took another two days to assemble the creatures from all around the valley. In the end, we had more than a hundred.
They were a circus of twisted DNA. The Arn had not missed a trick.
The Jubba-Jubba, like the three-fingered monstrosity that had attacked us.
The Galilash, fourteen feet tall, with green-and-red reptilian flesh and razored tentacles.
The Gorks, only three feet tall but twenty feet across, shuffling, twelve-legged horrors with snapping, extending mouths on all sides.
There was a monster called a Lerdethak, a bi-
129 zarre tangle of living vines surrounding a ravening mouth.
And then there were things the Hork-Bajir had never seen long enough to name. Things with mouths that could chew down a tree, things with needle-sharp quills ten feet long, things that squirted acid.
It was a sad, sick collection. In a better world, a world of peace and justice, someone would have punished the Arn for what they had done. Twisting life to make monsters is an evil thing to do.
But their evil served our purpose.
We had an army.
We advanced up the slope, up out of the mist. A hundred nightmares behind Dak and me. Silent and relentless, we advanced.
«l hope I get the opportunity to see the expression on the faces of the Yeerks who see us first,» I said. «l want to see what they think of this!»
"They will be afraid," Dak said. "So will my people."
«You have to try and get your people to come along with us. To fight beside us.»
"How do I do this?"
«Show them. Show them what to do and they will do it»
We had miles to climb before we'd reach the Yeerk camp. Hork-Bajir hid in the trees above us,
130 cowering, staring, whimpering as the army of terror marched beneath them.
«Call up to them, Dak,» I said. «You are their seer. This is your moment!»
He gave me a look I'd seen more and more often from him. A look of sullen anger, resentment.
That was to be expected. I understood. He resisted turning to violence. That just meant he was a decent creature. But he would come to see the necessity of fighting. He would see I was correct. When the Yeerks were destroyed and his people were free once more, he would see.