mean, no one else even knows there is a Yeerk invasion. So if something happens to us …” He let it hang.
Ax said.
“So the question is whether this is something we can do without getting killed,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah, we’re mostly against the idea of getting killed,” I added. “So how are we supposed to grab a Yeerk ship? They’re up in orbit. We’re down here. It’s not like we can call them up and ask them to come down.”
Ax said.
“What?”
“Right.”
“You mean like, ‘Hello? Hello? Is this Visser Three? Could you send a ship down to pick me up?’” I said.
I expected everyone to laugh because the idea was so totally ridiculous. No one laughed.
“Um, excuse me?” I said, trying again. “Personally, I have had plenty of Visser Three in my life. I don’t need to call him on the phone.”
Ax said.
That was one thing I liked about Ax. He hated Visser Three. He reminded me of the Andalite prince, who was Ax’s older brother. When either of them said the word “Yeerk,” let alone “Visser Three,” you could just feel the air vibrating from their anger.
Ax said.
“There is always at least one Hork-Bajir and one Taxxon aboard each Bug fighter,” I pointed out. “Anytime you start playing with Hork-Bajir, it’s not a minor thing.”
Ax demanded. He stared at me with all four eyes.
“You better believe I fear them.”
He seemed a little too determined for me. I don’t know much about Andalites, but I had a feeling I understood this one, at least a little. See, he was alive. But every other Andalite who had come to Earth, including Ax’s brother, the prince, was dead.
So I took a shot. It wasn’t fair, maybe, but he’d made me mad, acting like I was some kind of coward. “How many times have you fought Hork-Bajir?” I asked him.
His stalk-eyes drooped. He pawed the ground with one hoof. he said.
I nodded. “I thought so. So let me tell you something, Ax. It’s scary. It’s so scary that sometimes you wish you could just go ahead and die because it’s easier than dealing with the terror.”
Well
, I thought as I looked around at my friends,
that pretty well killed everyone’s happy mood.
It was Tobias who broke the silence.
Ax seemed abashed, but he answered,
Jake took a deep breath. “Okay. Time for a vote.”
I groaned. I already knew what it would be.
CHAPTER 4
O kay, ready?” I asked.
Ax said.
It was Saturday. A couple of days after we had all agreed to go ahead with the plan to capture a Yeerk ship. We were in Cassie’s barn, surrounded by cages full of injured animals and birds. Cassie’s father and mother were both away for the day.
Jake checked his watch. “Ten after ten,” he reported.
“Ax starts morphing at ten twelve and is done by ten fifteen. The bus will be at the stop at ten twenty-five,” I said. “It will arrive at the mall at eleven. Bythat point Ax will have been in morph for forty-five minutes. That leaves an hour and fifteen minutes on the two-hour morph time.”
“Is it enough time?” Cassie wondered. She was biting her lip nervously.
I shrugged.
Ax said.
“So the question is whether this is something we can do without getting killed,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah, we’re mostly against the idea of getting killed,” I added. “So how are we supposed to grab a Yeerk ship? They’re up in orbit. We’re down here. It’s not like we can call them up and ask them to come down.”
“What?”
“Right.”
“You mean like, ‘Hello? Hello? Is this Visser Three? Could you send a ship down to pick me up?’” I said.
I expected everyone to laugh because the idea was so totally ridiculous. No one laughed.
“Um, excuse me?” I said, trying again. “Personally, I have had plenty of Visser Three in my life. I don’t need to call him on the phone.”
That was one thing I liked about Ax. He hated Visser Three. He reminded me of the Andalite prince, who was Ax’s older brother. When either of them said the word “Yeerk,” let alone “Visser Three,” you could just feel the air vibrating from their anger.
“There is always at least one Hork-Bajir and one Taxxon aboard each Bug fighter,” I pointed out. “Anytime you start playing with Hork-Bajir, it’s not a minor thing.”
“You better believe I fear them.”
He seemed a little too determined for me. I don’t know much about Andalites, but I had a feeling I understood this one, at least a little. See, he was alive. But every other Andalite who had come to Earth, including Ax’s brother, the prince, was dead.
So I took a shot. It wasn’t fair, maybe, but he’d made me mad, acting like I was some kind of coward. “How many times have you fought Hork-Bajir?” I asked him.
His stalk-eyes drooped. He pawed the ground with one hoof.
I nodded. “I thought so. So let me tell you something, Ax. It’s scary. It’s so scary that sometimes you wish you could just go ahead and die because it’s easier than dealing with the terror.”
Well
, I thought as I looked around at my friends,
that pretty well killed everyone’s happy mood.
It was Tobias who broke the silence.
Ax seemed abashed, but he answered,
Jake took a deep breath. “Okay. Time for a vote.”
I groaned. I already knew what it would be.
CHAPTER 4
O kay, ready?” I asked.
It was Saturday. A couple of days after we had all agreed to go ahead with the plan to capture a Yeerk ship. We were in Cassie’s barn, surrounded by cages full of injured animals and birds. Cassie’s father and mother were both away for the day.
Jake checked his watch. “Ten after ten,” he reported.
“Ax starts morphing at ten twelve and is done by ten fifteen. The bus will be at the stop at ten twenty-five,” I said. “It will arrive at the mall at eleven. Bythat point Ax will have been in morph for forty-five minutes. That leaves an hour and fifteen minutes on the two-hour morph time.”
“Is it enough time?” Cassie wondered. She was biting her lip nervously.
I shrugged.
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