Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Andalite Chronicles-Chapter 6

quote:

<Okay, this part is a little tricky,> I told Loren and Chapman. We were moving from the central shaft out onto the dome floor. There�s a ninety-degree gravity change at that point. I mean,�down� in the main shaft is a different direction from �down� on the dome floor. It�s confusing at first.

We were safely aboard the StarSword and Arbron and I were giving the humans a brief tour. The debriefing officers were too busy to see us yet, I guess, and we couldn�t figure out what else to do with the humans.

<You just walk naturally along the curving floor,> I explained. 

Arbron and I held our breath, watching the ungainly two-legged creatures trying to stay upright.

Amazingly, they did it.

<They have very excellent balance,> Arbron whispered.

<They�d have to.>

We emerged from the shaft out onto the grass of the dome and Loren cried out.

�It�s huge! It�s like a whole park in here! Trees. Grass. Flowers. Wow.�

<You have these kinds of things on your planet?> I asked her.

�Well, similar. Our trees are almost always green. And the grass is all green, too. More green than this, I mean, not so much blue. And no red.�

<If you are hungry, please feel free to eat as much as you like,> I suggested.

�Eat what?� Chapman asked.

I waved my arm widely to indicate the entire dome. <We have seventeen species of grass in thirty different flavors.>

�Grass? You eat grass?� Loren asked.

Chapman nodded thoughtfully. �That�s why you have the dome, isn�t it? You graze. Like horses or cows. Only you don�t have mouths. So how do you eat?�

<Wait a minute, you eat with your mouths?> Arbron asked.

�How else are you going to eat?� Chapman said.

<With your hooves, like any sensible creature,> Arbron said. Then he laughed. <Do you mean that on Earth humans walk around pressing their mouths to the ground to eat?> He looked at me. <Okay, even you have to admit that would be funny to see.>

Chapman started to explain how humans ate but it was hard to picture, really. It involved spearing chunks of hot, dead animals and stuffing them in the mouth. But I refused to believe that was really how they ate. I assumed Chapman was making things up. Later I found out the truth.

Elfangor, trying to deal with the concepts of "mouths", "cooking", and "carnivorous" all at once.

quote:

In any case, I was relieved when Loren interrupted Chapman�s gruesome story to ask,�Do you mind if I take my shoes off? We�ve been cooped up in that Skritchy Nose flying saucer. It�d be nice to walk on the grass.�

Of course, I had no objection because I had no idea what a �shoe� was. And I could certainly identify with the idea of running on the grass. I was hungry, too.

But then Loren sat down on the grass and began ripping her hooves off! Ripping the very hooves from her legs!

<What are you doing!> I cried. <Stop that! Stop! Why are you hurting yourself?>

�What? What are you yelling about?�

<You�re going to hurt yourself, and I don�t think our doctors know how to help humans,> I said.

Loren stared at me. She was still holding her leg awkwardly in her two hands. Then she laughed out loud.

It was an alarming, yet strangely pleasing, sound.

�These aren�t hooves, Elfangor,� she said. �They�re shoes. See?� She untied the tiny ropes and before I could stop her, she ripped the white hoof clear off!

<Noooo!> I moaned.

<Ahhhh!> Arbron yelled.

But Loren was not in pain. And there was no blood. Then she removed a layer of white skin from the exposed leg end. Suddenly, I was staring at five tiny pink fingers. They were growing from her leg.

�See? This is my foot. We don�t have hooves. And we wear shoes over our feet. See? They keep the rocks or whatever from hurting our feet.�

I felt a wave of intense pity. What had gone wrong in the evolution of this species? The entire species had to cover its �feet� to keep from being injured? An entire race crippled?

Suddenly the funny mental image of a planet of humans falling over all the time was replaced by the sad picture of a species of cripples, hobbling along on their weak, injured �feet� and covering them with artificial hooves.

Loren stood up on her delicate pink feet with their ridiculous, short pink fingers and started to run across the grass. She wasn�t very fast, but she obviously wasn�t crippled.

And then she did something amazing. She turned her head around. She turned the entire thing so it was pointing backward. �Come on!�

But I couldn�t move. I noticed Arbron was as amazed as I was.

<What the � what�s she doing?> he asked. Then it dawned on him. <It�s because they only have two eyes! They turn their heads around to see behind them!>

I stifled an urge to laugh. I broke into a gentle trot and quickly caught up to Loren.

�Feels � good � to stretch � my muscles,� she said, speaking in a halting way as she ran.

She stopped running and twirled around. Twirled right around, and her golden hair flew out behind her. That was something to see. A two-legged creature can twirl better than a normal person.

�I was sure I was going to die on that flying saucer,� she said. �But here I am! Amazing.�



�Oh, yeah. Strange isn�t half of it. This is a beautiful tree. Pink leaves. Incredible.�

<It�s called a therant tree. It�s in its creast phase. Do you see the way the grasses become more gelasic and less escalic as they grow near? That is because ->

I stopped talking then, because Loren casually reached up and touched a low branch. There was nothing wrong with that, of course. But then she wrapped both her hands around the branch and lifted herself clear up off the ground!

That alone was a miracle. But as she stretched, I saw the white, pastel-marked skin of her upper body come loose! It lifted away and revealed a layer of pinkish, tan underneath that matched her face and arm skin.

Arbron came running, with Chapman struggling to catch up.

Loren held herself suspended and laughed at us. I guess we�d been staring.

<Very strong arms!> Arbron remarked. <Can you imagine lifting your whole body up with your arms?>

<That skin is very strange,> I said. <It�s almost as if it�s not attached.>

Loren let herself drop back to the grass. And she didn�t even fall over.

�It�s not skin,� Chapman said. �It�s called clothing. Like the artificial hooves? This is artificial skin. It keeps us warm.�

<You�re cold?>

�No. But that�s why we have clothing. To keep us warm in cold places.�

<Why would you be in cold places?> I asked, curiosity overcoming my dislike for the human.

He shrugged his powerful human shoulders. Shoulders capable of lifting his entire body. �Parts of Earth are very cold. Parts of it are so cold you�d die without many layers of clothing.�

<But why do you live in those places?> I asked.

Chapman smiled. It was interesting, because already I was getting the feeling that not all human smiles were pleasant. �We�re not going to be kept out of a place just because the weather�s bad. We adapt. We grab whatever�s available and make the best of it. At least that�s my motto: Grab what you
can.�

I would have asked him more, but just then the call came for Arbron to go to debriefing. And I was ordered to take the humans to a holding room.

This will probably come up more later, but I don't really like this treatment of Chapman. We don't really know much about the human Chapman, because by the time we meet him, he already has a Controller in him. All we really know about him is, first, he's sacrificed his humanity to protect his daughter, and second, he finds Marco annoying, which, if were I in charge of discipline at a middle school, seems fair. While the human Chapman may be a nasty person, there's no real evidence of that, and the fact that he's willing to go as far as he did to protect his daughter suggests the capability for self sacrifice. So why make him antagonistic here? Obviously, he's a good deal older in the main books than he is here, and people grow, mature, and change. But still, it seems kind of gratuitous?

Chapter 7

quote:

<What? WHAT? Leave the ship?!> I screeched. <What do you mean, leave the ship?!>

Arbron did not look any happier than I was. <They just told me, okay? They didn�t ask my opinion. The captain called me from debriefing, had me run to the bridge, said,�You and Aristh Elfangor be at Docking Bay Seven in ten minutes,� and I said,�Yes, sir.�>

I had taken the humans to a holding room. And then, while waiting for my own debriefing I�d gone back to the dome to eat. I was very hungry. I was on my way to check back on Loren when Arbron intercepted me.

<This can�t be right,> I moaned. <The StarSword is my home. We�re going to find that Yeerk task force and destroy them.>

<Yeah, yeah, I know. And you�ll be a big hero and they�ll make you a prince without even slowing down to make you a warrior.>

<That�s not what I was thinking,> I lied.

Nice touch there.

quote:

<Well, forget it. Come on. We move out immediately. We�re supposed to meet up with our commander for this mission.>

Something about the tone of Arbron�s thought-speak made me wary. <Our commander? Who�s our commander?>

<None other than War-prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass,> Arbron said.

If you don't remember, we met Alloran in book 8, when he asked Ax to kill him and he couldn't. He's Visser Three's host in the present.

quote:

Both my hearts sank into my hooves. Alloran. Alloran, the disgraced. So this mission was definitely not a reward from the captain. Alloran had once been a great warrior and prince. But he had been disgraced. I didn�t know why. No one talked about it. Everyone just knew that Alloran had
broken some law or custom.

Being sent off on some stupid side mission with a disgraced war-prince was not a good thing.

I couldn�t believe it. This ship was my home. I didn�t want to leave her, not even for a while. It could take a long time before we could rejoin the StarSword, and by then, who knew? Maybe by some miracle the entire war would be over.

Which would be good, I supposed. <What�s in Docking Bay Seven, anyway?> I grumbled as we reached the right door.

Arbron swung his stalks back and forth in a �who knows?� gesture.

We opened the door to Docking Bay Seven. And there, standing awkwardly on their two legs, were Loren and Chapman. Behind them stood Alloran.

I had seen War-prince Alloran around the Dome ship at times. He�d always seemed to be deep in thought. Like he was off somewhere in his imagination or memory. He was not especially large. But he seemed to be carved from solid steel. Even his fur was a metallic blue. And the bare flesh of
his upper body showed faint traces of burn scars.

Beyond Alloran was a ship I had never seen before. It hovered just inches above the polished floor. It was three times the size of any fighter I�d ever encountered. The main section was a fantastically elongated oval that stretched way out in front of three oversized, swept-back engines.

Three engines, not the usual two! And coming up overhead was the long, gracefully arced spike of the main shredder.

Oh, she was a thing of beauty. I had never fallen in love with a machine before, but, oh, that ship was sweet.

 Alloran said.

<It�s the most beautiful thing I�ve ever seen,> I said. <Like � like a work of art.>



<Prince Alloran, what is our mission?> Arbron asked.

The prince sighed a little, but when he spoke he was firm and correct. <We are to take these two aliens back to their planet, erase their recent memories, and rejoin the StarSword whenever we can.>

<Transport work,> I said. I didn�t exactly sneer, but I felt like sneering. We were just running a silly errand.

�Excuse me? Erase my memory?� Loren said. �No one is erasing my memory.�

<It�s necessary,> I said as kindly as I could. <Your civilization is not ready for what you�ve encountered. If you go back to your Earth, you�ll have to have all memory of this erased.>

The two humans looked at each other. The one called Chapman made a snorting sound from his nose. Loren made a facial expression that looked troubled. At least that�s how it looked to me.

<Let�s move, arisths,> Alloran ordered. <Load the aliens. The captain wants to go to Z-space five minutes from now, and by then we have to be well clear of the Dome ship. Your personal belongings have already been brought from your quarters.>

No one was in a good mood as we walked up the ramp into the Jahar. The humans were stonefaced, angry, perhaps afraid. Arbron and I were both grim, feeling we�d been shoved off on some stupid side trip. And Alloran could not have been exactly thrilled, either. He was a great war-prince.

And here he was running errands with only a pair of arisths under his command.

The one good thing was the Jahar. It was as beautiful inside as out. There were small but luxurious quarters. And there was good green and blue grass under our feet, not hard steel. By some trick of gravity manipulation Alloran had even created a small waterfall in one corner that went down, splashed into a pool, then fell back upward to fall all over again.

Alloran took the helm, which left Arbron and me with nothing to do. He executed a smooth launch out of the docking bay, and then, suddenly, we were out in black space, looking up through the real windows at the Dome ship.

The StarSword was silhouetted against the bright rings of the sixth planet.

�Oh, my God,� Loren gasped. �That�s Saturn!�

As I watched, the StarSword�s engines glowed brilliant blue and the Dome ship picked up speed. Faster and faster, till suddenly, with a flash, she translated into Zero-space and disappeared.

�Faster-than-light travel?� Chapman marveled. �It�s physically impossible!�

<True. But Z-space travel doesn�t involve going fast. It involves tunneling through anti-space, what we call Zero-space, and then back into the normal universe at another point,> Arbron said.

�But I suppose you Andalites keep the secret to yourselves, eh?� Chapman said.

<Not always,> Alloran said darkly. <Once we shared it. The result was the Yeerk Empire that threatens all decent species. Be glad you are safe on your simple planet, alien. The galaxy is not a happy place to be anymore.>

Alloran entered the destination into the computer. We would make one brief Zero-space jump to approach Earth. But Z-drive travel is not very precise. Even if we were lucky, we�d probably emerge a million miles from Earth itself. It would be a trip of many days to get there.

<Make the aliens comfortable, arisths,> Alloran ordered.

<Prince, afterward may I use your ship�s computers?> Arbron asked. 

<An exo-datologist, eh?> Alloran said with a slight sneer. <The new ideal: warrior, scientist, artist. It�s not enough to be a fighter anymore, eh? They want a gentler, more balanced, more intellectual sort of warrior nowadays.>

Arbron looked helplessly at me. 

For a while Alloran said nothing. He just stared blankly, not at anyone. Or at least not at anyone in that room. <The Electorate wants war without slaughter. They want a clean, neat, honorable war. Fools.>

I was shocked. You didn�t call the Electorate fools. You just didn�t.

<Sir�> Arbron asked timidly. <The computer � ?>

<What? Oh, yes. The computer. Why not? Use it all you like,> the prince said. <We�re in for a long, boring ride.>

So that's Prince Alloran. As you can see, he's got that contempt that Elfangor mentioned before for the idea that a warrior should be skills other than fighting. He also...does not seem all that fond of the current government and the way it's handling the war.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 02:53

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# ? May 24, 2024 20:28

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

I remember reading this as a kid and thinking the andalites were dumb for not knowing of any species with clothing. Like it�s Impossible to me that humans are the only species that uses fabric like that. But in retrospect it is better than all alien species being humanoids that are very similar to humans.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 03:17

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

I'm fine with the way Chapman is here. It seems like he's at the exact age when you assume all authority figures are dumber than you and you absolutely have to inform them of this.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 05:29

Khizan: Jul 30, 2013

Fritzler posted:

I remember reading this as a kid and thinking the andalites were dumb for not knowing of any species with clothing. Like it�s Impossible to me that humans are the only species that uses fabric like that. But in retrospect it is better than all alien species being humanoids that are very similar to humans.

Yeah, even if they don't need clothing, I can't help but think that they'd surely have cloth or something similar for other reasons. Did they never invent backpacks or saddlebags? Belts to hang things off of?

# ? Nov 15, 2020 06:08

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Epicurius posted:

quote:
<This can�t be right,> I moaned. <The StarSword is my home. We�re going to find that Yeerk task force and destroy them.>

<Yeah, yeah, I know. And you�ll be a big hero and they�ll make you a prince without even slowing down to make you a warrior.>

<That�s not what I was thinking,> I lied.

Big finale spoiler: Elfangor turns out to be a great hero, of course, but not quite this great. Ax, on the other hand...

Fritzler posted:

I remember reading this as a kid and thinking the andalites were dumb for not knowing of any species with clothing. Like it�s Impossible to me that humans are the only species that uses fabric like that. But in retrospect it is better than all alien species being humanoids that are very similar to humans.

You'd think Andalites would have had to have a plan for EVA in the early days of space travel, or would at least have some kind of pressure suit available for situations where they lose atmosphere.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 06:39

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Remember, too that these books don't have omniscient narrators. Elfangor and Arbron are young military cadets who grew up in a society convinced of its own cultural superiority, on a planet where civilization only exists in the planet's temperate zones, and with personal technology (like morphing tech and automatic translation) that appears to all be nanotech. Are there alien species out there that wear clothing? Did Andalites in their first journeys into space wear protective clothing and tool belts? Maybe. That doesn't mean that they'd be aware of it. They're not historians or exoanthropologists.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 07:04

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I have some thoughts on Alloran, but I'll save them for when we know him better.

# ? Nov 15, 2020 07:09

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Is it just me or does the description of Alloran's ship sound suspiciously like the blade ship?

I also just had a thought about the Ax saying Andalites invented the computer before the book. Maybe the issue is that the Andalites didn't have paper. Paper on Earth has been made from a variety of different plants that are processed into the resulting material, and paper is what makes books possible.

With the Andalite homeworld apparently having far less ecological diversity than Earth, perhaps they simply didn't have plants that could be made into paper, and so missed that entire avenue of technology.

Cythereal fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Nov 15, 2020

# ? Nov 15, 2020 14:29

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

To spoil a later book (don't recommend unless you know the series I guess) the andalites' evolution and technological development was pretty heavily messed around with in order to use them as proxies in the eternal hellwar

# ? Nov 15, 2020 15:11

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Andalite Chronicles-Chapter 8

quote:

It was a long, boring trip. We came out of Zero-space halfway between the orbits of Earth and a planet Loren called Mars.

We had to travel through conventional space. And we had to keep our speed down so as not to distort time too much. If we�d gone to Maximum Burn all the way to Earth, we�d have gotten there in a few hours. But on the planet, years would have passed. That�s relativity for you.

I had little to do. Alloran brooded alone at the helm, or else went to his quarters. And Arbron seemed to have found some project to keep him busy. He spent his time at the computer, muttering.

It was a side of Arbron I�d never really seen. Mostly he never seemed to take anything very seriously. At least he never took me seriously. But now he was spending days at the console. Whenever I asked him what he was doing, he�d just say, <Unraveling a mystery.>

So I spent most of my time with the two humans. Or at least with Loren. Chapman was as brooding as Alloran. I stood beside Loren at the window, and looked out at the blue and white planet.

Loren did a thing she called �sitting.� It�s funny to see at first. But of course very practical for a two-legged creature.

�The brown-and-green parts are land,� Loren was explaining. �The blue is ocean. Water. See the bright white at the bottom? That�s ice. It�s called Antarctica. It�s very cold.�

<What sort of ice? Frozen carbon dioxide? Methane?>

�Water. Just frozen water.�

<Ah. Of course. That would make sense. And where do you live?>

�Well, see that continent there? The one on the upper left part of the planet? See where the line between night and day is? Almost right on that line.� She bit her lip. A lip is a mouth part. �My mom must be dying from worry. I�ve been gone for four days already.�

Dying? Humans could die of emotion? <Yes, but soon you will be home. Then she won�t worry anymore. Maybe she won�t have to die.>

Loren smiled. �That�s just an expression.�

Then I noticed that there were glistening drops in her eyes.

�Do you have a mother at home? Does she worry about you?�

I felt a little uncomfortable talking about my parents. An aristh in deep space can�t start getting all homesick. Especially since Prince Alloran was nearby, able to overhear everything.



�We just had a war,� Loren said. �That�s � that�s what happened to my dad He was in it. He didn�t get killed or anything. But he kind of � I don�t know. After he came back I guess he couldn�t cope with reality. So he left.�

I saw Alloran�s stalk eyes swivel to look at Loren. It was practically the first time he�d even noticed her.

<You have wars?> I asked. <But you don�t have space travel. Who do you fight?>

Chapman arrived then, having arisen from a nap in his quarters. �We fight each other,� he said.

He winked one eye. �So, Loren, Daddy went nutso, huh? Another whacked-out �Nam vet? I guess some guys can�t take it.�

Loren�s eyes went wide, and then she turned on Chapman.

But it was Alloran who spoke. <Have you been in a war, human?> he asked Chapman.

�Me? No. Of course not. That war�s over.�

<Then be quiet, fool. Those who have been to war understand. Those who have not have no opinion worth hearing.> He looked directly at Loren. <Even those who return from war may never really come home.>

In a lot of ways, that's one of the themes of the series, I think. And Alloran knows PTSD.

quote:

Alloran turned his stalk eyes back to the helm, and said nothing more. Chapman shrugged, but I could see he was intrigued by Alloran.

So was I, to be honest. What was he talking about? I�d never heard of an Andalite warrior coming back from the war unable to cope, as Loren had put it. Or �whacked-out,� as Chapman had said. Why would Alloran feel such sympathy?

�Anyway � ,� Loren began, �tell me this. When you erase my memory, I won�t remember any of this? Not even you?�

I didn�t answer. What could I say?

�It�s okay, I�m not mad at you,� Loren said. �You�re taking us home. And you saved us from those Skritchy Noses.�

<Skrit Na,> I corrected.

�I know. It was a joke. Maybe not a very funny joke, I guess.�

<Ah. Humor. Yes, Arbron does that sometimes.>

�But not you?�



Loren tossed her head in such a way that her long golden hair shimmered very nicely. �That�s okay. I like serious guys. I guess if my memory is going to be erased, it won�t hurt if I ask questions. So. How come you don�t have mouths?� she asked.

Chapman seemed to snap out of a reverie. He�d been looking at Alloran. Now he joined the conversation. �Loren, how can he answer that question? He doesn�t have a mouth. We do. Why do we have mouths? Stupid question. I have a better question.� He looked closely at me, focusing first on my stalk eyes, and then back down on my main eyes. Like he couldn�t make up his mind where to look.

�Look, Elfangor, maybe we got off to a bad start, you and me. I wasn�t in a great mood, you know? But hey, you guys are really missing out on something here. Do you have any idea how much money we could get for this technology on Earth? I mean, you could ask for anything!�

It was my turn to laugh. <What would we do with Earth money?>

He shrugged. �Okay, forget money. How about power? We could snap our fingers and have all the presidents and prime ministers on Earth waiting on us. We could rule.�

<We�re Andalites,> I said, <not Yeerks. We aren�t interested in ruling other species.>

�Ah. Well, that�s good, I guess. Yeah, that�s a good thing. But we could bring peace to Earth. No more wars.�

I'm sure that would go well.

quote:

<Okay. That�s it. That�s it. Elfangor!> It was Arbron. He�d been totally absorbed in staring at the computer display. He�d barely spoken for the last two days.

I went to him. I was glad to be away from Chapman. He bothered me. He was completely different than the human Loren.

<What is it?> I asked Arbron as I came to stand beside him. I looked past him to the computer display. It showed a power field, lines of intensity in three dimensions. But it also showed lines extending strongly into Zero-space.

It was impossible. A simulation of some sort. A fake.

Arbron turned only his stalk eyes toward me. <This is from the Skrit Na ship. From the computer download. It was encrypted, but I broke the code. I�ve been going through the ship�s log. A bunch of stupid stuff, mostly. Junk. But yesterday I found this. I�ve been trying to figure it out, because, see, there�s no way these sensor readings can be right. But now I think I�ve got it. I know what it is.> He turned all the way to face me. <Elfangor, I think this is real.>

For several seconds we both just stared at each other. <This can�t be,> I said. <Any first-year student could tell you this is impossible. Unless �> I felt a chill run up my spine. <Alloran! Prince Alloran! Sir, you should see this.>

The prince turned away from the helm and trotted back to us. <What is it, arisths?> he said wearily. But then his stalk eyes focused on the screen. A second later he was staring with full intensity at the image there. <Computer. Cross-check for any visual files!> To Arbron and me he said, <They would have made more recordings!>

And then it appeared. It simply appeared on the computer screen.

It was perfectly spherical. A simple white sphere.

It looked harmless, even dull. And yet it was the most dangerous, deadly weapon any race had ever created.

Because of what it was, it could not be physically destroyed. But it had been hidden. As we watched, dumbfounded and afraid, the computer replayed the Skrit Na computer log.

It had been hidden on the planet called Earth. It had been buried deep in the ground in a desolate-looking area of blowing sand. And a huge stone pyramid had been raised over it.

Hidden for fifty thousand years.

Hidden on an insignificant planet at the far end of the galaxy. And now it had reappeared.

�Hey, what�s the matter with you guys?� Loren asked. �You all look like you�ve seen a ghost.�

<The Time Matrix!> Arbron said. 

<The second Skrit Na ship!> I yelled, suddenly realizing the truth. <The Skrit Na dug it up. They have it aboard the second ship, the one that escaped into Zero-space!>

I looked to Alloran. To my surprise, his eyes were alight with fierce pleasure. <The Time Matrix! Hidden for fifty thousand years, and now dug up by the Skrit Na. The deadliest weapon in all of galactic history � and no one but us to go and get it back.>

It was as if Alloran were suddenly ten years younger. <Elfangor! Arbron! Get back on that Skrit Na computer log, both of you. We need to know where that second ship ran to! Now!>

He turned to Loren and Chapman. 

Arbron looked at me and sent me a private thought-speak message.

So, now they have a quest! To find the Time Matrix, originally hidden under a pyramid.

Chapter 9

quote:

Arbron and I tore that Skrit Na computer download apart. And before we translated into Zerospace we had a destination in mind. One of the last places in the universe that any sensible Andalite would ever want to go.

The Taxxon home world.

As we spent timeless time traveling through the blank white nondistance of Zero-space, Alloran called a council. It was just for the three of us, but the Jahar was too small for us to keep the two humans out. They squatted on the floor near our hooves.

We excluded them from our thought-speak at first, keeping our conversation private.

<Taxxon home world is our destination,> Alloran said. <But the Skrit Na would not be taking the Time Matrix there. So I believe the Skrit Na don�t know what they have. They saw strange power patterns and decided, with the usual Skrit Na simplemindedness, to steal first and figure it out later.>

 Arbron said. <If they knew they had the Time Matrix they�d do one of two things. Head straight for the Yeerk home world to sell it to the Yeerks. Or else head home to use it for their own people. But the Taxxon home world is ->

�Hey. Hey!� Chapman interrupted. �You�re doing your little telepathy thing and keeping us out. I�m not an idiot.�

<This does not involve either of you,> I said curtly.

Chapman stood up and grabbed me roughly by the shoulder. I twitched my tail out of reflex. No Andalite would ever grab another Andalite.

Chapman laughed rudely. �You don�t scare me. I know you can kill us both. But that�s not your style, is it? Dragging us off across the galaxy is your style.�

<We have an emergency,> I said. <We regret that we cannot take you straight back to your planet. However ->

�However nothing,� Chapman said. �This little trip involves danger, doesn�t it? You boys are in deep. Like I said, I�m not an idiot. I can see you three are tense. I can see you�re worried. Wherever it is we�re going, you�re scared. Which means me and the girl here should be afraid, too, right?�

Loren stood up and looked right at me. �Is that true, Elfangor? Are you taking us into danger?�

I turned one eye toward Alloran. He nodded slightly, giving me permission.

<Yes, Loren,> I said. <We are going into terrible danger. If we are taken, the two of you will be killed or enslaved.>

Chapman�s eyes blazed. �You�re dragging us into a battle and we can�t even know what�s going on? Is that Andalite fairness?�

I started to tell the annoying creature to be silent, but Alloran spoke.

<You two aliens have a right to know what you are being �dragged into,� as you put it. We are going to a planet of creatures who are allies of the Yeerks. The Yeerks are parasites who seize control of the bodies and minds of other creatures. The Taxxons have been enslaved this way. By their own choice.>

I said, <The Skrit Na have apparently discovered the long-lost Time Matrix. This is a device that allows people to move forward or backward in time. It is the most dangerous weapon imaginable.>

�Why would a time machine be a weapon?� Loren asked.

But Chapman had already figured it out. �Duh. I go back in time and change history to wipe you out in the present. I could kill your parents before they had you, and you�d never exist.� He grinned.

�Better yet, I could go all the way back in time, back to prehistoric days and find the earliest ancestors of humans and kill them. The entire human race would cease to exist.� Chapman laughed. �I see why you guys are worried. If these Yeerks of yours get this thing, it�s bye-bye Andalites.�

That did it. I didn�t like this creature. I didn�t care if he was just a primitive alien, I didn�t like him. I pushed my face close to his. I brought my tail up into a threat position. <You�d better understand something, human. If it�s �bye-bye� Andalites, it�ll be �bye-bye� humans, sooner or later. Who do you think keeps the Yeerks from conquering every sentient race in the galaxy? We do.>

�Maybe I�m with the wrong aliens,� Chapman sneered. �Maybe it�s too bad I wasn�t grabbed by the Yeerks. They sound like the winners.�

To my surprise, Prince Alloran actually laughed. <You may be right, human. But you�d better hope you�re not. I�ve seen what the Yeerks do to captive planets. I was there when the Yeerks took the Hork-Bajir world. Pray to whatever primitive gods you have, human, that the Yeerks don�t ever take
your world.>

Chapman, making friends.

quote:

I shot a glance at Arbron. He was as surprised as I was. Alloran had been there at the loss of the Hork-Bajir world?

The loss of the Hork-Bajir was the single biggest disaster in our war with the Yeerks. The Hork-Bajir were the slave warriors of the Yeerk Empire now because we�d failed to save them.

<Translation to normal space in one minute,> the computer announced without emotion.

<Okay,> Alloran said, breaking the spell he had cast over us all. <We�ll be coming out of Zspace fairly close to the Taxxon world. The area will be thick with Yeerk ships. The Jahar has excellent stealth shielding, but we may still be detected. From now on, we are on battle alert.>

<What�s the plan?> Arbron asked nervously. <What do we do?>

Alloran laughed. <What�s the plan? We locate the Skrit Na ship. And if it has landed, we go down after it and take back the Time Matrix. Of course, we�d be a little obvious walking around as Andalites. So �>

<Down to the surface of the Taxxon world?> I asked in horror. <You mean � sir, are you planning for us to morph Taxxons?>

Alloran looked very seriously at Arbron and me. <You two arisths are going to have to grow up very fast now. I need warriors at my side. Are you ready to be warriors?>

In my daydreams as a young aristh I had imagined a moment like this. I had imagined a time coming when I would be called upon to be brave and to save my people. And in my imagination I had always faced this kind of moment with pride and without fear.

And now, suddenly, my daydream was reality. And all I felt was sick dread.

The Taxxon world! It was a place from a nightmare.

<We�re ready, Prince Alloran,> I said, as boldly as I could. <We are ready to be your warriors. We�re not afraid.>

I saw Arbron�s face. He was as sick with fear as I was. But still he managed to smirk. He knew me too well.

He knew I was lying.

No real comments tonight, but does anyone have any thoughts about this?

# ? Nov 16, 2020 01:14

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

Now that we've reached this point I think the characterization of Chapman is fair. He's under a lot of stress, and instead of just being stupidly antagonistic he's bringing up good and insightful points, almost like a Cordelia if we're talking Buffy. I still think it was a bit much in the earlier chapters though.

Spoilers for the end of the series: We don't ever find out what happens to Chapman after the thing with Erek, do we? Is he on the Blade Ship at the end?

# ? Nov 16, 2020 01:44

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

I'm with you (EDIT: but less so with Rochallor, it seems!), I've never really liked this characterization of Chapman. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with having him be the more antagonistic of the two humans, and I think, done right, it could have fleshed out the Chapman we know a little better, by giving him a cynical, snarky (Marco-like?) side that's since been suppressed by his Yeerk. But the book goes too far and just makes him a loudmouthed rear end in a top hat with nothing really in common with main-series Chapman. So, instead of fleshing him out, it doesn't even seem like the same character.

Rochallor posted:

Spoilers for the end of the series: We don't ever find out what happens to Chapman after the thing with Erek, do we? Is he on the Blade Ship at the end?

Same spoiler: no, nothing is mentioned about him or Melissa. Presumably he survives the battle, since Erek cooperates to a point, but he's not mentioned again after that.

disaster pastor fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Nov 16, 2020

# ? Nov 16, 2020 01:52

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I agree that it seems wrong. It feels like Applegate wanted one of the human abductees to be a shades-of-grey antagonist, but the publishers pushed her to make it a recognisable character from the main series in order to help tie this book in with the main series; this was after all the first of them, and they already felt nervous about its prospects enough to split it into three books.

Re: Elfangor's dad having being been in the military during a time of peace and Loren's dad apparently being a Vietnam vet, does that pin down the timeline a bit more for the Yeerk-Andalite war overall? I guess this must be the 1980s if Loren's in her early teens? The only other definite anchor I remember is in Visser, when it's established the first Yeerk scouts arrived on Earth during the Gulf War.

And I feel like a definitely remember a scene - don't remember which book it's in - when an Andalite character is remembering the immediate aftermath of Seerow's kindness, right on the Yeerk home world after some Ged-controllers steal Andalite ships.

Also - Elfangor being bemused that humans fight wars among themselves just raises further questions about the history of Andalite warrior culture!

# ? Nov 16, 2020 03:48

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Elfangor's reaction is incredibly accurate. Anyone who doesn't feel a sick dread at an emergency situation is a loving dangerous fool.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 04:12

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

Re: Elfangor's dad having being been in the military during a time of peace and Loren's dad apparently being a Vietnam vet, does that pin down the timeline a bit more for the Yeerk-Andalite war overall? I guess this must be the 1980s if Loren's in her early teens? The only other definite anchor I remember is in Visser, when it's established the first Yeerk scouts arrived on Earth during the Gulf War.

Warning...spoilers on dates and events in books We know this book takes place 21 years before the series. If we assume the events of the books books start in 1997, which is when the first book is published, then it would be 1976. In the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, we find out that the Yeerk attack on the Andalites/theft of the Andalite ships took place in 1966, and the conquest of the Hork-Bajir took place in 1968. Edriss and Essam discover earth during the Gulf War.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 04:33

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

A very dry sense of humour seems to run in the family...

freebooter posted:

Also - Elfangor being bemused that humans fight wars among themselves just raises further questions about the history of Andalite warrior culture!

That's another good point. Maybe it was mostly a ceremonial thing for a few centuries, and the Andalite zeal for battling Yeerks is at least partially due to the warrior caste being excited at the prospect of actually having something to do.

I wish I could shake the feeling I'm discussing 90's kid's book lore with former Prime Minister Malcolm B. Turnbull

# ? Nov 16, 2020 04:41

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I can also absolutely see the Andalites whitewashing the hell out of their NOBLE WARRIORS who would never kill an Andalite, which also squares with Alloran's disgust towards the council.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 04:45

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

Also - Elfangor being bemused that humans fight wars among themselves just raises further questions about the history of Andalite warrior culture!

I don't know that Elfangor does seem particularly bemused by it. I think the "You don't have space travel, so who do you fight?" question comes from the fact that Andalites seem to have a worldwide government, and he doesn't realize humans, who he's never encountered before, don't. After Chapman tells him that the humans fight each other, Elfangor and the other Andalites don't seem particularly shocked or horrified by the concept.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 05:04

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Tree Bucket posted:

I wish I could shake the feeling I'm discussing 90's kid's book lore with former Prime Minister Malcolm B. Turnbull

Yes, this is he

# ? Nov 16, 2020 05:06

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

I don't know that Elfangor does seem particularly bemused by it. I think the "You don't have space travel, so who do you fight?" question comes from the fact that Andalites seem to have a worldwide government, and he doesn't realize humans, who he's never encountered before, don't. After Chapman tells him that the humans fight each other, Elfangor and the other Andalites don't seem particularly shocked or horrified by the concept.

Yeah fair enough. My other line of thinking is that - since I think Ax mentions humans have an unusually fast technological curve back in book 8 - they genuinely never did fight among themselves (which doesn't seem impossible, since I they're herd animal herbivores compared to humans' chimp ancestors battling over limited resources) but have been spacefaring for hundreds of years and have fought wars against other species before, but the Yeerks are the first war in living memory.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 05:09

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

freebooter posted:

Yeah fair enough. My other line of thinking is that - since I think Ax mentions humans have an unusually fast technological curve back in book 8 - they genuinely never did fight among themselves (which doesn't seem impossible, since I they're herd animal herbivores compared to humans' chimp ancestors battling over limited resources) but have been spacefaring for hundreds of years and have fought wars against other species before, but the Yeerks are the first war in living memory.

This is my take, the Andalites have fought wars against each other, but the Yeerk war is the first in a long time, after Andalite culture had settled into pacifism.

On the other hand, I could also easily see the Andalite warrior caste as being very myopic and culturally isolated, that there have been internal Andalite wars in living memory but the warrior caste decided they didn't count as proper wars for whatever reason.

I think this series has been quietly leaning hard into the idea that there's a serious disconnect between the Andalite military and the Andalite civilian culture. I still don't think we've met an Andalite civilian. Or an Andalite woman.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 13:21

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

Andalite wars seem unlikely to me because A) they've had a one world government for a while and B) any disputes seem much more likely to be resolved by a duel between heads of state rather than a war

# ? Nov 16, 2020 14:53

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

But that just raises more questions! How have they been able to maintain their incredibly smug warrior culture for so long with no actual war? Surely honour duels can only get you so far before the whole soldier caste becomes foppish and aristocratic?

And the Andalites are quite the opposite of foppish, if older soldiers like Alloran are anything to go by. He and others imply that the 'poet' half of warrior poet is being forced on them by the civilian government to make war more paletable.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 17:12

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

I think there must have been some other interstellar wars that Andalites fought before the Yeerks. They�ve done enough travel through space to come across plenty of other species of varying physiology and philosophy. It�s not too outlandish to think they�ve had other wars against foes that didn�t approach conflict with the same secret invasion strategy as yeerks need to use. It would explain why there�s a strong, active warrior culture going back at least a couple of generations. And after all, they developed morphing tech for some reason, and it wasn�t for battle.

Is it made clear if Andalites, Yeerks, Taxxons, Hork Bajir, Pemalites/Chee, Skrit Na, and the other critters that show up throughout the series are all meant to be native to the Milky Way galaxy? I can�t remember what they said about how far away the Andalite command is, and Zero space travel could work however the authors want for story purposes.

I do seem to recall that the Ellimist, at least, originated in another galaxy and spreads across the universe throughout its development.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 17:41

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

feetnotes posted:

Is it made clear if Andalites, Yeerks, Taxxons, Hork Bajir, Pemalites/Chee, Skrit Na, and the other critters that show up throughout the series are all meant to be native to the Milky Way galaxy? I can�t remember what they said about how far away the Andalite command is, and Zero space travel could work however the authors want for story purposes.

I do seem to recall that the Ellimist, at least, originated in another galaxy and spreads across the universe throughout its development.

I believe the Ellimist is from this galaxy, along with almost all of the other species we see. The Ellimist specifically says Crayak came from outside the galaxy, chased out of his previous galaxy by something even more powerful.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 17:49

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Everybody we meet in this series is from our galaxy with the exception of Crayak, and the Andalite, Yeerk, Taxxon and Hork-Bajir homeworlds are, as I understand it, fairly close to earth on a galactic scale, which is why this war has spilled over to Earth. Galaxies are just big.

Also, regarding the Andalites and recent wars, in addition to whatever wars they may have fought, the fact that the Andalites stopped the Skrit Na ship to search for contraband suggests that they've set themselves up as sort of galactic policemen/peacekeepers.

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Nov 16, 2020

# ? Nov 16, 2020 19:04

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Strategic Tea posted:

But that just raises more questions! How have they been able to maintain their incredibly smug warrior culture for so long with no actual war? Surely honour duels can only get you so far before the whole soldier caste becomes foppish and aristocratic?

And the Andalites are quite the opposite of foppish, if older soldiers like Alloran are anything to go by. He and others imply that the 'poet' half of warrior poet is being forced on them by the civilian government to make war more paletable.

I think Alloran and Ax are pretty good examples of either sides of the spectrum. It is also very clear that Alloran is an aberration, probably even considered an abomination by most Andalite standards. I still genuinely think he isn't wrong.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 21:15

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

Also, regarding the Andalites and recent wars, in addition to whatever wars they may have fought, the fact that the Andalites stopped the Skrit Na ship to search for contraband suggests that they've set themselves up as sort of galactic policemen/peacekeepers.

I always sort of saw the Andalites as a stand-in for modern US imperial power.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 23:03

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

I always sort of saw the Andalites as a stand-in for modern US imperial power.

The Andalites are very much a stand in for the modern US, I think, and I think that's something to talk about both in this book and future ones.

# ? Nov 16, 2020 23:17

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

<Oorah>

# ? Nov 16, 2020 23:47

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

Epicurius posted:

The Andalites are very much a stand in for the modern US, I think, and I think that's something to talk about both in this book and future ones.

They definitely have a "World Police" vibe, which is fitting for when these books were written�especially considering (late book spoilers) their willingness to kill innocent aliens to achieve their objectives in winning the war.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 01:58

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Andalite Chronicles-Chapter 10

quote:

Down to the Taxxon world!

The Jahar was cloaked, hidden from sight and from most sensors. But a close sensor sweep by a Yeerk ship would reveal us. And we would never be able to land on the planet in the Jahar. We needed a victim.

We found it, out beyond the Taxxon world�s third moon. It was a slow-moving transport ship. It was just arriving in the system, which meant they would be expecting it down on the surface. Perfect for our needs.

The trick was to disable the ship to make it stop, but not destroy it.

<This will take precise aim,> Alloran said. <Which of you two is a better shot?>

I wanted to say that I was. But I knew Arbron was better. And we could not afford to fail.

<Arbron is the one who hit the Skrit Na ship.>

So, this is pretty much just Elfangor putting the good of the mission ahead of his own glory here. He wants to be the one to take the shot, he wants to be the big drat hero, but he knows Arbron has a better chance than he does.

quote:

Alloran nodded. <Let�s see what you can do, Aristh Arbron. We need to hit one engine, but leave the other functioning. And we don�t want any unfortunate explosions.>

Arbron took the shredder controls in his hands. The Yeerk transport ship was two thousand miles away. The target engine was about forty feet long.

Arbron keyed into the computer targeting system and made careful adjustments while all of us -Alloran, the two humans, and I - watched.

There was a hum as the shredder fired. We saw the pale green beam lance forward into darkness. And on the screen, with magnification at factor five hundred, we saw the near-side engine pod of the Yeerk ship glow red and green.

<Good shooting!> Alloran said. <They�ll waste half an hour trying to figure out what happened and reconfiguring to fly with just one engine. Aristh Elfangor, take us in fast!>

I punched up a burn and we rocketed forward, descending on the crippled transport. We were alongside the transport before they knew we were there.

<Jam their communications,> Alloran ordered, and I feverishly punched the flat surface of the tactical board with my fingers.

It was my second boarding of an alien vessel. I guess I should have felt like I was an old hand.

But this wasn�t some lame bunch of Skrit Na. This was a Yeerk ship. We had no way of knowing what we would encounter. Would it be Hork-Bajir-Controllers? Taxxon-Controllers? Or some other fierce, unknown species the Yeerks controlled?

<A word of advice,> Alloran said. <Taxxons may be repulsive, but never forget that down in their brains they have a Yeerk. You�re dealing with a Yeerk, not just a Taxxon.>

Alloran, Arbron, and I pressed close to the hatch, waiting for it to blow open. We carried handheld shredders on setting three. There are six power levels on a shredder. Level one delivers a mild charge that will stun a small creature for a moment or two. Level six will blast a hole through
ten feet of solid alloy. Level three wouldn�t kill most creatures, but it would certainly knock them down so hard they wouldn�t get up for hours.

At that moment, waiting to rush a deadly enemy, I struggled to recall everything old Sofor had ever tried to teach me about combat. But I swear I couldn�t remember a word. Maybe Prince Alloran was calm, but I sure wasn�t.

<Remember, don�t kill them all,> Alloran said. <We may need to acquire them.>

�Good luck,� Loren said.

And then the hatch blew.

BOOM!

In a rush of wind from the explosion, we launched ourselves into the Yeerk transport. Taxxons!

If you�ve never faced a Taxxon, let me tell you: They are shocking things to see up close. They are tubular, like a monstrously thick, ten-foot-long hose. They have rows of needle-sharp, coneshaped legs. The upper third of their body is held upright, and there the rows of legs become smaller
and form tiny two-and three-fingered hands.

There is a row of dark red eyes, each like congealed liquid. At the very top is the mouth, a round, red-rimmed hole circled with vicious rows of teeth.
There were half a dozen of these creatures practically encircling us. For a frozen moment no one moved. I don�t think the Yeerks could quite believe that they were being boarded by Andalites, right there in orbit around the Taxxon home world.

Then everyone unfroze at once!

On my left, one Taxxon raised a Dracon beam and aimed it at me.

<Ahhh!> I yelled and pulled the trigger of my shredder.

TTTTSSSAAAPPP!

The Taxxon crumpled.

TTTTSSSSAAAAPPP! TTTTSSSSAAAPPPP!

Shredders fired.

TSEEEEWWW! TSEEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW! Dracon beams fired!

The air was instantly as hot as an oven. Shock waves from all the weapons rocked the enclosed area. Screens blew out. Sheet-plastic panels crumpled. Sparks exploded in brilliant waterfalls from popped conduits overhead.

<Stop firing!> Alloran ordered. <We�ll destroy the ship!>

Behind me, a Taxxon! Dracon beam coming up!

I didn�t pause to think. I just jerked my tail. My tail blade sliced through the air and separated the Taxxon�s arm from his body. The arm fell to the deck, still weakly clutching the Dracon beam.

�SSSRRREEEE-WWWAAARR!� the Taxxon screamed.

Now there were only two Taxxons still standing, and they knew they were beaten. They backed away as fast as they could motor their cone legs. But even then, and even with the Yeerks in their heads, the Taxxons� evil instincts would not be denied. As they backed away they bent low to tear
chunks of flesh from their dead companions.

The Taxxons are cannibalistic. Not a nice species. And according to everything we knew about them, not even the Yeerks inside them could control that foul hunger of theirs.

There's got to be something horrible about being a Taxxon. The idea that you're always hungry, that no matter how much you can eat, that hunger will never be satisfied, is just horrific. And it's so strong an impulse that not even Yeerks can stop it. Just to live like that, day after day, knowing that you'll ALWAYS be hungry. They may disgust the Andalites, but in a lot of ways, I just feel sorry for them.

quote:

<All right!> Arbron cried. <We got �em!>

<Shut up, you young fool,> Alloran snapped.

Alloran had already guessed why the Taxxon-Controllers were pulling back. They didn�t want to be in the way when serious trouble showed up.

And that serious trouble was just becoming visible through the haze of smoke from burning, sparking panels.

Seven feet tall. Razor-sharp blades at the wrists. Razor-sharp blades at their elbows. And knees. And tails. And two or three huge, forward-swept horn-blades on the tops of their snakelike heads.

Hork-Bajir!

<Well, well,> Alloran said, <it�s been a while since I fought a Hork-Bajir. I�ll take the two big ones in the middle.>

That left a Hork-Bajir warrior each for me and Arbron.

Two full-grown, adult Hork-Bajir, each with a wily Yeerk in its head.

<I�m thinking maybe we should both have paid more attention to old Sofor,> Arbron said, making a grim joke.

I saw the Hork-Bajir advance on me. I heard Sofor�s voice in my head. Don�t think, Elfangor. It�s all instinct and training now.

I let go of my conscious mind. I simply let it slip away. And in its place, a tingling energy seemed to fill me up. It was as if I were charged with electricity. As if sparks might fly from my hooves and tail.

The Hork-Bajir came on toward me. And I struck.

I struck!

And when Alloran was outflanked by one of his opponents, I struck again.

And when Arbron was knocked down by his Hork-Bajir opponent, I struck again.

I struck and struck and struck till Hork-Bajir blood ran on the decks.

And when my own conscious mind returned, it seemed as if hours had gone by. Arbron was staring at me like he�d seen a ghost. Alloran was nodding grimly, as if he recognized something about me.

Wounded Hork-Bajir, and worse than wounded, were lying in Taxxon gore on the deck.

<No,> I whispered.

I turned and ran back through the hatch to the Jahar.

I ran and slipped and fell to my knees, with nowhere else to run.

It was the human, Loren, who ran to me and put her strange human arms around my chest and with one hand pressed my face into her long golden hair.

So that's Elfangor's first battle. And he's good at it!. But this is also, in a way, the loss of his innocence. And I think Alloran's grim nod is recognizing that. People may disagree, but I sort of get the impression Alloran sees the way he used to be in Elfangor.

Chapter 11

quote:

I shook myself free of Loren, appalled and ashamed by my behavior. What was the matter with me? I was behaving like a child, not an aristh.

Then I saw Arbron.

He had been cut. He was bleeding from a deep gash in his left arm. His main eyes were wide with what might almost have been panic.

Alloran was busy tying up the injured Hork-Bajir. The injured Taxxons were shoved into a small storeroom. Alloran sealed them in by welding the door with his shredder.

�Are you okay?� Loren asked me.

<Yes. Of course. I�m fine,> I said harshly. But my insides were churning. Some awful feeling was eating into my thoughts. I felt stunned. I felt like I wasn�t even me. It was like I was some totally different person, standing off to one side, just watching myself.

Loren left me alone and went to Arbron. She tore the sleeve off her shirt and wrapped it around Arbron�s bleeding arm.

Alloran came over and glanced at Arbron�s arm. <You�ll be okay, aristh,> he said. <Go back to the weapons station. We�ve just started here. We have to fly this Yeerk crate down to the planet. Aristh Elfangor, you take the helm. The controls are more primitive than our own ships, but ->

Neither Arbron nor I had moved. Alloran glared at me, furious that I was ignoring his order. But then I saw his expression soften.

<It�s your first time. You fought well. Both of you. It�s always hard the first time. And it never gets easy. But I need you both. Now.>

I nodded. <Yes, Prince Alloran. I�ll take the helm.>

<You. Alien,> he said to Loren. <Get back into the Jahar. We�ll be away for a while. Don�t touch anything.>

Loren turned her head to look back over her shoulder. Humans have to do that in order to see behind them. She was obviously hesitating. She bit her lower lip with her short white teeth.

<What is it?> I asked.

Still she hesitated. Then, �Look, tell me the truth. Swear by whatever it is that is really important to you. Swear that you�re going to take Chapman and me back to Earth.�

<Of course we are. As soon as we can,> I said.

She sighed, a sound that involved blowing air out of her mouth. �Look, it�s Chapman. I�m sure he�s a nice guy and all, really ��

<You don�t trust him.>

�If you leave the two of us here on the Jahar, he�ll try something. I know he will. And I know you think we�re too primitive to be able to fly your ship or whatever, but don�t count on it. Chapman doesn�t like you.�

<Yes. I got that impression,> I said. <But we can tell the ship�s computer not to allow him to do anything. He won�t be able to fly the ship or use communications. It will be all right.> With my stalk eyes I saw that Prince Alloran was busy with Arbron. <Here. Take this. Hide it under your clothing. Use it if Chapman makes trouble for you. It is set to level two. Just point it and squeeze the trigger.>

Is this a violation of Seerow's Kindness? I don't know.

quote:

Loren took the shredder from me and slipped it under her shirt. �Listen � good luck down on the planet. Whatever you�re doing down there.�

Then she put her face close to mine and pressed her lips against the side of my face. It was a very odd thing to do. Not something any Andalite would ever do. And yet I did not mind it.

<Aristh Elfangor? Whenever you have the time to join us � ,> Alloran said acidly.

<Ready, sir! Preparing to sever the connection with the Jahar.>

The hatch closed, shutting Loren the human off from sight.

She would be all right, I told myself. The Jahar was well-shielded. With the engines off it would be almost impossible for the Yeerks to detect. And she had the shredder in case the other human tried to start trouble.

I focused on understanding the ship�s controls. They were designed for Taxxon hands. But the basics were still the basics. I calculated a simple approach to the Taxxon world�s main spaceport. I fired the engines and then, as we moved away, gathering speed, I looked back and saw the Jahar.

I always wonder....Both Ax and Elfangor can fly Taxxon ships without trouble, but I sort of wonder about that. Taxxons have a lot of little hands, You'd think that, not only would their controls be smaller, so as to be comfortable for them, but they'd also require more hands to fly than controls made for two handed people, like Andalites and us. If a Taxxon is going to be flying the ship, why not optimize the controls for four or six handed flight?

quote:

<These humans are a pain in the hindquarters,> Arbron said. <As if we don�t have enough trouble? We have to watch over a pair of primitive aliens?>

<She�s a million light-years from her home, Arbron. Confronting species she never knew existed. Suddenly thrust into the middle of an intergalactic war. I think she is very brave.>

Arbron busied himself with learning the computer station of the strange ship. But then, in a carefully offhand way, he said, <By the way, thanks. You saved my life back there. I guess you absorbed more from old Sofor than you thought, huh?>

 I said.

<You were something, Elfangor. You scared me. Hey, I think you even scared Alloran. You really ->

<Okay, shut up, all right?>



I wanted Arbron to shut up. I didn�t want to think about what had happened. I didn�t want to remember it.

And yet this other part of me was hanging on every word. This other part of me was replaying the fight in my head, seeing myself as Elfangor, the great hero.

<Course laid in?> Alloran asked me.

<Yes, Prince. We should be arriving in thirty minutes.>

<Good. Then it�s time. We need to acquire the Taxxons.>

To acquire is to absorb the DNA of a species. It is the first step in morphing that creature.

We were going to become Taxxons.

So, I guess we're going to experience Taxxon hunger first hand?

# ? Nov 17, 2020 02:22

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Acebuckeye13 posted:

They definitely have a "World Police" vibe, which is fitting for when these books were written�especially considering (late book spoilers) their willingness to kill innocent aliens to achieve their objectives in winning the war.

See, even they agree with me. Alloran did nothing wrong.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 02:50

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

It's honestly really tough reading about Alloran and growing fond of him, all while knowing that he is going to be hosting Visser Three eventually.
On another note, it's interesting how this series handles identity. Hosts, morphs, and now Elfangor's battle fury... the nature of the mind/body distinction gets really thoroughly explored here.

Strategic Tea posted:

<Oorah>

That's a lol

# ? Nov 17, 2020 03:49

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

And FWIW, I always read that nod by Alloran as 'Yeah. He can fight.' Which, given his attitude towards them previously...

# ? Nov 17, 2020 04:02

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Tree Bucket posted:

On another note, it's interesting how this series handles identity. Hosts, morphs, and now Elfangor's battle fury... the nature of the mind/body distinction gets really thoroughly explored here.

Kind of a shame this was the 90s, or it would be really fertile grounds to explore a transgender or genderfluid character.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if Applegate snuck that in there after I stopped reading the books.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 04:08

wizzardstaff: Apr 6, 2018; Zorch! Splat! Pow!

Cythereal posted:

Kind of a shame this was the 90s, or it would be really fertile grounds to explore a transgender or genderfluid character.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if Applegate snuck that in there after I stopped reading the books.

I've never read Animorphs fanfic but I have to assume this is a major theme in that community. Right?

# ? Nov 17, 2020 04:33

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

I'd also be interested in seeing how many Animorphs kids refused to become Harry Potter kids!

# ? Nov 17, 2020 04:39

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Tree Bucket posted:

I'd also be interested in seeing how many Animorphs kids refused to become Harry Potter kids!

I liked both as a kid, but have found this series infinitely more complex and rewarding on revisit. Doesn't hurt that both JKR herself, and the level of milquetoast liberal Harry Politics stuff in the zeitgeist, have put me off the IP completely and permanently.

Meanwhile, war is still bad, brains and the concept of self and sentience are still fascinating, and aliens and animals and space and cinnamon bunz-uh are still fuckin cool as hell. Despite being much more firmly set in a specific time period, or perhaps because of it, this series has aged much better in my opinion.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 06:16

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# ? May 24, 2024 20:28

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I think it's hard now to talk about Harry Potter as a piece of literature, because while you certainly can separate a piece of art from the artist, Rowling's recent very public anti-trans statements has caused a pretty major reevaluation of the books by former fans of them and hers. So, because we're so close to it, it's very hard for people to go back to before and evaluate the books outside of Rowling's acts and opinions.

There's also the question of Harry Potter the books vs Harry Potter the phenomenon. In a lot of ways, the Animorph books delved deeper into a lot of important themes than the Harry Potter books. Of course, part of that was that there were 7 Harry Potter books and over 50 Animorph books, so you could have a book that dealt with divorce, or PTSD, or parental abandonment, or drug abuse, or the morality of war, etc. The difference was, Harry Potter was telling one really long story, and Animorphs was telling a lot of really short stories. And, while we haven't gotten to them yet, there were a bunch of Animorph books that just didn't work at all. But Animorphs could get away with some bad books, because there were so many of them, the same way you don't mind one uncooked kernel of popcorn in your bag (or, if you're Ax, savor the taste and texture of that kernel),

As far as the phenomenon of Harry Potter, the books were certainly a bigger deal than the Animorph books. They were long, a lot longer than a lot of young adult fiction. They were a major crossover hit, with not just kids enjoying them but their parents too. Rowling had a feel good personal story that the media loved...when she wrote the first book, she was a mother on welfare, having divorced her husband after he abused her, and then she became a big success. There were the big book parties on release night, where bookstores had kids and their parents lining up to buy the books, and a kind of carnival atmosphere, with events and costumes and all that. That's why it got 8 movies, while Animorphs got a low budget Canadian tv series.

Because of all this, I think it's hard to look at and analyze the Harry Potter books right now as books. But maybe that's just me.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 06:45

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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