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ness to an area thick with tree trunks and shrubs.
I needed to be alone.
No matter what happened, I knew I would
never feel quite the same about Cassie.
Or any other human.
I stared upward, trying to glimpse the stars
through the thick canopy of trees.
My birthplace was somewhere out there. I had
come to believe I would never see it again. I
closed my main eyes, trying to remember it in de-
tail. Trying to remember the faces of my family
and friends.
But their faces kept fading away and chang-
ing into other faces.
Jake. Rachel. Tobias. Cassie. Marco.
The humans amazed me with their resilience,
their ingenuity, and their bravery.
They delighted me with their humor, their
passions, and their capacity for play. Their food.
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high command knew that. Their plans might be
But they truly sickened me with their self-
unspoken. But they were clear. Annihilation of
indulgence and their childishness.
the planet. It would be clean. It would be final. It
But then, I reminded myself, they are chil-
would be over.
dren. And so am I.
But.. . but Elfangor had broken the most
If I were at home, I would still be a cadet in
fundamental law of our planet. He had broken
the Andalite Military Academy. I would spend
the Law of Seerow's Kindness. He had given mor-
most of my time in my parents' scoop.
phing technology to another species.
But I had been thrust into the midst of this
To humans.
raging war on Earth.
Why?
I had seen more battles, death, and destruc-
To give them a chance?
tion than many seasoned soldiers in our Andalite
No. The Elfangor I knew was not sentimental.
fleet.
He would not compromise the safety of the home
I felt my throat tighten and constrict. My
planet and the galaxy to save one species.
hearts ached with a pain I could not describe. I
Elfangor knew what every other Andalite
wondered if I were dying.
knew. That the Yeerk menace had started with an
I felt not sadness. I felt pity. For myself. For
old fool's sentimental impulse. His inability to
us all. We were children no longer. And we never
understand that his enemy's goals and aspira-
would be again. tions were not his own.
"What do you think Elfangor would say?" It Seerow had let loose a plague of Yeerks upon
the galaxy. The rest is history. A sad, violent, de-
was if Cassie had looked into my mind and read
structive history of conquest and war.
the question there.
Planets ravaged and ruined.
Elfangor! Why did you have to die and leave
One species after another enslaved.
me here? I do not know what to do.
Countless dead.
Either path led me to betrayal.
All triggered by an act of kindness.
Elfangor was a great hero. A war prince. A
Yes. The Cassies of the world were infinitely
member of the Andalite military. Brave. When
more dangerous than the Rachels.
necessary, ruthless.
The Yeerks had to be stopped. The Andalite
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My brother had known this. So what had pos-
sessed him to give these human youths the
power to change the future of the galaxy?
What would he tell me to do now?
I heard a flutter of wings. Then, the long quiet
sound of studied stillness.
Tobias.
He had settled on a branch. He said nothing
for a long time. Then, finally,
I asked.
I was startled. But I tried to pretend I was not.
Tobias ruffled his feathers placidly.
My eye stalks waved in spite of my determi-
lowed you last night. I don't know who you were
nation to stay calm.
talking to. Or what you were saying. But I'm
that?>
guessing you were talking to the Andalite home
planet. Am I right?>
that the Yeerks are concentrated on Earth. I
I could not lie to my true shorm.
guess the question is, are you going to help them
do it?>
right thing to do.>
said.
I asked suddenly.
Yeerks. It's like, they're trying to survive. And
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we're trying to survive. I'm not really sure why it
Tobias said.
has to be an either-or thing.>
tested rules for dealing with these issues. Like
the morality of acquiring someone's DNA. So
that. Don't you see? What do the Yeerks need?
we have to see what works and what doesn't. We
Bodies. If they can morph bodies from their slug
can't afford to get so locked into one idea that
state then . . . they don't have to keep taking
we defend it to the death, without really knowing
other people's bodies as hosts. See? They'd have
if that idea works  in the real world.>
to deal with the two-hour time limit still. And
Tobias was silent for a moment, then flapped
they'd still have to feed on Kandrona. But. . .>
away.
So. Tobias and Cassie had been thinking sim-
My hearts raced. New possibilities were un-
ilar thoughts.
folding. New solutions.
Maybe Elfangor had seen something. A possi-
mans. Other sentient creatures, as well. Not just
bility that had seemed impossible because we
cats and dogs.>
Andalites had been so indoctrinated by our own
military thinking. Us versus the enemy. No com-
promise.
cially without first receiving the person's permis-
We had decided long ago that morphing was
sion. I cannot imagine a Yeerk asking permission
proprietary. Too dangerous to share. But maybe
to acquire a human's DNA. And I cannot imagine
Cassie had been right after all. Maybe the way
many humans who would freely give their DNA to to real peace was in giving choices to other
a Yeerk.> species.
Tobias adjusted his wings and appeared to
On the other hand, maybe it depended on the
tighten his talons on the branch.
species.
right. I don't know. Look, Ax, it's a whole new Humans.
world. We're having to make all this up as we go Yeerks.
along. There aren't any rules falling out of the sky
If each were freed from the fight for survival,
telling us what and what not to do.> would they use the morphing technology for good
or for evil?
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