The cannon lost in the cold

Author's note: This volume is a rewrite of volume 24. Knowing in advance what happens in this volume only brings spoilers, so I won't say more.

oOoOoOoOo

All seven of us were gathered in the usual meeting place for the Animorphs: Cassie's barn. Rachel sat in one of the few places without straw to avoid getting her dress dirty, Tobias on a rafter of the barn used his eagle eyes to spot if anyone was approaching the building, Aximili in his human form in case Cassie's parents showed up unexpectedly, Cassie herself tending to one of the many animals taken in by her parents. And of course Marco, Jack, and I who had just arrived by car. I sat a little apart and let Tom take control. Despite his recent efforts in this regard, I still felt a bit apart from the rest of the group.

Jack then spoke:

If I asked you to come, it's because Erek gave us new information.

(Tom, can you ask him who Erek is?)

Excuse me, but who is Erek?

Ah yes, that's right, you don't know. Erek is the informant I told you about with the Yeerks. It's a (...)

I urgently took back control to interrupt him:

Stop! The less I know about this Erek, the better. No need to unnecessarily expose your other spy among the Yeerks.

No, you are a member of the team now, you have the right to know. Anyway, if you are unmasked, we will soon be too. Once captured, Erek's secret will no longer be one. Jack replied.

Not one protested. I was touched by this sign of trust and handed control back to Tom, who was beginning to wonder if I was deliberately finding excuses to take it from him. Even if it was just to sit and do nothing, he liked having control, whereas I was completely indifferent. But it's true that unlike him, I had the ability to take back control by force at any time.

Catie then explained to us: Erek is a Chee. It is an extremely advanced android race created thousands of years ago by a race, now extinct, called the Pemalites. Their bodies allow them to produce holograms which they have used for thousands of years to go unnoticed by humans and now by the Yeerks.

When she had finished her explanation, Tom and I were completely stunned.

So if I summarize, they want to get involved in this conflict to protect the dogs? I summarized

They agreed and inwardly, I was doubled over with laughter. I was quite happy not to be in control.

(They don't give a damn about humans, Andalites, freedom, or resources. The only thing they care about is dogs) I exclaimed between fits of laughter.

(Don't make fun of me) Tom reproached, who was also having a hard time keeping a straight face.

I'm not mocking. Of all the ridiculous reasons to go to war that I've heard throughout my life, this one is undoubtedly the most reasonable. Well, so to speak, since their programming prevents them from committing any act of violence even to defend themselves. Well, it's a stroke of luck for the Yeerks. If that hadn't been the case, they would have easily exterminated us.

I forced myself to refocus my attention on what Jack was saying.

Erek did not manage to find out where this secret base is located. However, he did manage to discover its nature. It is a construction site for an orbital defense cannon.

If they are allowed to build this cannon, then the Andalite fleet will have no chance of landing. Aximili commented calmly.

Exactly. That's why the ches want to help us destroy it. Visser-12 will soon visit the site. We'll take the opportunity to sneak aboard his ship. That way, he'll take us directly to the location. Once there, we'll do as usual. We'll cause as much damage as possible and leave before they can react. Meanwhile, the ches will replace us so that no one notices our absence.

Let's do it, exclaimed Rachel.

The 3 words I hate the most. Commented Marco.

For a reason I did not understand, everyone smiled at that last line. Once again, I felt left out for not understanding the reference.

Out of politeness, I asked Tom if I could take back control long enough to intervene, but what I had to say was too important for me to accept a refusal. Deep down, Tom wasn't fooled, but he was so eager for control that I forced myself to play this charade. I really needed to find something so that he truly had a say in who controlled his body.

I am against this mission.

Everyone turned to me. There was a hint of suspicion in most of their eyes. Especially in Aximili's and Rachel's.

Why is that? Jack asked calmly.

I have so many reasons that I don't know where to start. For one, it's a perfectly unnecessary risk. Visser-12 is not building one orbital cannon, but several. Even if you destroy that one, it won't make much difference to our planetary defenses.

<How can you know that, Yeerk?> asked Aximili.

Because due to the curvature of the earth, a single cannon would be useless. At most, a cannon can only cover half the sky. If we had only one cannon, the Andalites would have a one in two chance of landing on Earth without even realizing the existence of this cannon. And that's being generous. In reality, given the speed of Andalite world ships, it's more like a 9 out of 10 chance of arriving out of the cannon's range before it has time to fire. If Visser-12 wants to equip the planet with a minimally effective defense, then at least a dozen cannons spread everywhere around the globe must be built in parallel. Destroying just one won't change much.

Even if it has a small impact, we must try. We have to do everything we can to facilitate the Andalite fleet's landing, declared Rachel.

The other reason is that I don't want to facilitate the Andalite landing. Jera456 has managed to gather quite a few Yeerks and he's starting to talk about overthrowing Visser-12. If he succeeds, then his cannons will be a valuable asset to convince the Andalites to leave us alone.

And if this coup succeeds, the only thing that will prevent the rebel Yeerks from enslaving us will be the fear that otherwise the Andalites will intervene. The weaker the Yeerks are, the better it is for humans. Not to mention that if Jera456 fails, the Andalites will once again become our only hope of being freed.

Or to be exterminated. If we fail, it would be better for you if the Yeerks are able to repel the Andalites.

Stop telling your lies, Yeerk. My people are not like that. We would never exterminate an innocent race just to weaken the Yeerk, protested Aximili.

Oh really? I could tell you quite a few stories that would change your mind about your people. Shall I?

"When it became clear that you were going to take control of the Hork-Bajir home planet, did we exterminate them before our departure?" argued Aximili.

You tried, but your plan failed. It was for taking control of your campaign headquarters before you could spread the quantum virus that Visser-12 got his first promotion. I replied.

In fact, it was Jara Hamee's grandmother who prevented the virus from being spread. Declared Tobias in thought.

Everyone turned towards him.

In the evening, before falling asleep, the free Hork-Bajirs tell stories by the fireside. When I feel lonely, I go to listen to them. Jara's grandmotherHamee was an Andalite soldier who fell in love with a Hork-Bajir seer during the invasion war of their homeworld. Tobias explained.

Again! No, but did you invent morphing technology just to have sex with every species you encounter or what? I exclaimed towards Aximili.

(Personally, it always seemed suspicious to me that they don't wear clothes) Tom sneered inside my head.

(In fact, that's the case for most species in the galaxy. To my knowledge, you are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy who are ashamed of their genitals. But it must be said that yours are particularly ugly). I replied calmly.

What!!!

Aximilie was about to reply when Jacks authoritatively stopped us:

Stop! We don't need yet another argument between you two.

Yes Prince Jack

Don't call me prince.

Yes, Prince Jack

This reply made us all smile. I then realized that this time, I got the reference. Maybe I was finally integrating into their group. Tobias then continued his story:

In short, when Jara Hamee's grandmother discovered that her superiors planned to kill all the Hork-Bajirs, she rebelled and had to end her life in the body of a Hork-Bajir. Nevertheless, it was not the Andalites who wanted to destroy the Hork-Bajirs, but a desperate officer isolated from the rest of the Andalites by the Yeerk fleet. According to Jara Hamee, the officer thought that upon his return, the Andalite government would punish him for this genocide, but he didn't care because it was the only way he had to save his own skin and that of his men. Well, his Andalites. All this to say that the Andalites sometimes do monstrous things, but they are far from being the monsters you think they are.

Jack continued:

As for me, I don't know what Andalites are like in general, but Prince Galuit owes us a favor and he seems like the type to pay his debts. I don't see him letting the Andalites exterminate us. And we won't let him go after the Yeerks.

Provided they agree to release all humans who want it. Marco specified.

I was too surprised to reply with anything other than:

How do you know Prince Galuit? He is one of the most influential Andalite princes and the latest news is that his fleet is stationed thousands of light-years away from here.

It's a long story. Said Cassie

I have all the time in the world.

Not me. I need to be back before my gym class starts. Protested Rachel.

And I have to get home before 9 p.m. at least one night a week or someone will end up suspecting something. Marco explained.

And I have to go hunt that red-tail before it takes over my territory, declared Tobias in thought.

This last response left me incredulous. He certainly surprised me a lot. I spoke again:

Well, I propose a compromise: We will destroy the cannon if the coup d'état fails. In any case, we lack information at the moment. We don't knowDon't even know where it is. For all we know, the journey could last more than two hours and we'll be stuck inside the ship without being able to demorph.

It is precisely because we don't know where it is that we must take advantage of this opportunity. Following the ship of the visser is our only way to discover the location of this cannon. And there is little chance that he will warn us the next time he makes an inspection tour. Against Rachel

You could place a bug on his ship. I can steal one from the Yeerk HQ if you want.

Let's do it. Exclaimed Marco.

In front of the questioning looks of the others, he added:

What? This is the first time someone has proposed a plan where we have a reasonable chance of staying alive.

Finally, my plan was adopted unanimously and everyone went home.

oOoOoOo

Once at home, Tom asked me:

(By the way, what is a clairvoyant?)

This is the name that the Hork-Bajir give to members of their species who carry a very rare genetic mutation, making them as intelligent as an Andalite or a Yeerk. Yeerk scientists have calculated that this mutation has about a one in a hundred billion chance of occurring. Before the Yeerk invasion, Hork-Bajir religions considered Seers as messengers from the gods meant to guide them to survive a catastrophe. The birth of a Seer was therefore as feared as it was celebrated among the Hork-Bajir.

(And one of them was born just at the time of the invasion of their home planet by the Yeerks)

(Several in fact. But it's just a coincidence, nothing more. You really have to be as stupid as a Hork-Bajir to believe there's anything real behind this legend) I replied to him.