The Predator Read Free

the major airlines fly to the Andalite home world,” I said.
    “Uh-huh,” he said with a nod. “I know. That’s why we’ll have to steal a Yeerk spaceship.”

CHAPTER 3
    T here he is,” Cassie said.
    I followed the direction of her gaze. Over toward the line of trees at the edge of the field, I saw him.
    Ax.
    The Andalite.
    From a distance you’d think he was a small horse or a deer. He has four hooved feet that flash with amazing speed. His upper body looks like a horse’s neck and head, except that when he gets close enough, you see that he has two smaller, human-sized arms sticking out.
    His head is kind of a triangle, with two huge, almond-shaped eyes. Those are his main eyes. Thereare two extra eyes, each stuck atop a sort of stalk. The stalks stick out of the top of his head and move, pointing the extra eyes in any direction.
    But the thing that really makes you stare is the tail.
    According to Cassie and Rachel, Ax is cute. I wouldn’t know, being a guy. All I know is, when you see that tail, you know right away that Andalites aren’t exactly cuddly koala bears or puppies.
    The Andalite tail resembles a scorpion’s tail. It curls up and over, and is armed with a wicked scythe blade. They can strike with those tails faster than your eye can see.
    I’d seen the first Andalite do it. In the seconds before the evil creature known as Visser Three murdered the Andalite prince, he had struck with that tail again and again.
    That memory came back to me as I watched Ax galloping toward us, tail arched and ready.
    “I hope there’s no one around,” Jake said anxiously. He scanned the area. It was pretty remote. Cassie’s house and barn were way out of sight. And there was no reason why anyone would be in this distant field.
    I looked up and saw Tobias’s reddish tail feathers. I gave him a wave.
     Tobias called down to us inthought-speak.
    Ax came galloping up. he said, also in thought-speak.
    Jake groaned. Ax had gotten it into his head that Jake was our leader, which was partly true. And I guess for an Andalite, any leader is some kind of prince.
    Ax has no mouth. No one had asked him yet how he eats with no mouth.
    He communicates by thought-speech. It’s the same way we communicate when we’re morphed. For us humans it
only
works when we’re morphed. For Andalites, it’s the normal way to communicate.
    “Hi, Ax,” Jake said, as the Andalite came to a skidding stop just a few feet from us. “How are you doing?”
    
    “I’m fine,” Cassie said.
    Tobias swooped down out of the sky. He braked and landed neatly on the grass.
    “I’m fine, too, Ax,” I said. “Or at least I was until I heard someone say something really stupid.”
    Ax looked uncertain. He swiveled one of his stalk-eyes forward to get a better look at me.
    “Someone said we were going to try and steal a Yeerk spaceship,” I said.
    He smiled an Andalite smile, which is hard to describe, except that it involves his main eyes.
    “Dangerous? No, jumping off a ten-story building is dangerous. Sticking your tongue in an electrical socket is dangerous—not to mention painful. But stealing a Yeerk ship is beyond dangerous.”
     Ax said.
    I gave Rachel a sidelong look. “I think we’ve found your future husband.”
    “It may be honorable to try and get a Yeerk ship, Ax,” Jake said, “but honor
isn’t
our most important goal.”
    The Andalite looked surprised — I think. His main eyes widened, and his stalk-eyes stretched up to their maximum height. It looked like surprise to me.
    
    Jake shrugged. “Look, we’re trying to do whatever we can to hurt the Yeerks. But we’re also trying to stay alive. We’re all there is. I