The Hork-Bajir Chronicles

by K. A. Applegate

  149 The Yeerks moved into other valleys. We spread the resistance, but we were never fast enough. The Yeerks were spreading through the Hork-Bajir like a virus. They had thousands, tens of thousands of Hork-Bajir hosts.

  And we began to notice other things. The shredders we captured were being altered. The Yeerks called this new weapon a "Dracon beam." It did not kill as cleanly as a shredder. It caused more pain.

  And even more ominous, huge excavations were occurring. The Yeerks were mining. Iron, uranium, nickel, bauxite. Diamonds and rubies. They were building stronger bases. And from the far side of the planet, we heard stories of vast constructions.

  I had very little doubt what the Yeerks were building, and eventually we had proof: They were building more spacecraft. Craft that would be manned by Hork-Bajir-Controllers and armed with the new Dracon beam weapon.

  The Yeerks had learned very fast. They had An-dalite, Skrit Na, Ongachic, and Hawjabran technology to dissect. And now they were no longer held back by a lack of hosts.

  It was a dark day. Mother Sky was weeping, sending down tears to soothe Father Deep's anger. It was raining.

  Our little army came back from a harassing at-

  150 tack. We retreated to the dwellings of the Arnr carrying a badly wounded warrior.

  Quatzhinnikon greeted us in the vast cavern where we had first met him. It was still daylight and his people were awake and about.

  "Why have you come back here again?"

  «We have a wounded warrior herer» I said. The Am had lost none of their skill in biology. We'd suffered very few wounds they couldn't treat successfully.

  "I have told you. You are not welcome here. You will bring your war to us."

  "It will come anyway, Quatzhinnikon," Dak said. "The Yeerks are more powerful every day. How long do you think it will be until they tire of enslaving Hork-Bajir and begin making hosts of the Arn?"

  The small, purple creature smiled smugly. "A very long time now, seer of the Hork-Bajir. We have been busy. We have not rested." He turned a cold, dismissive look on me. "And we have not put our faith in your never-appearing Andalite fleet, either. We no longer fear the Yeerks."

  My first thought was that the Am had invented some powerful weapon. But no, the Arn were not builders of weapons. They were creators of life, however twisted.

  151 «Explain. But first, tend to this injured Hork-Bajir.»

  "We have altered our own DNA," Quatzhin-nikon said complacently. "We have altered our own physiology. We have weakened a blood vessel in our own brains to the point where any increase in cranial pressure will cause the vessel to rupture. Should a Yeerk attempt to enter any Arn brain, the vessel will rupture and the Arn will die. A dead host is of no use to the Yeerks. Therefore they will leave us in peace. All Arn in all the valleys of this world will be altered this way within days."

  For a moment, I stared. Then I laughed. «Fool. Do you think the Yeerks will let you live here on a world they intend to possess?»

  Quatzhinnikon shrugged. "They will have no use for us."

  "Exactly," Dak said. "And what they do not need, they destroy."

  Quatzhinnikon's complacent face twitched. "Leave this place. You will find no help here."

  "I will kill him," Jagil said, glaring at Quatzhinnikon.

  "No," Dak said. "The Yeerks will kill him."

  "I will kill Yeerks," Jagil said. "I am a great Yeerk-killer!"

  "Yes, you are, my friend," Dak said sadly.

  152 "He is a great Yeerk-killer!" Delf Hajool echoed staunchly.

  Dak smiled at Delf Hajool, who stood beside Jagil. Delf and Jagil had become a couple. The Hork-Bajir pair off earlier in life than we Andalites.

  It was almost too painful to think of the future Jagil and Delf faced.

  I looked at Dak and felt a wave of self-pity. No future for Jagil and Delf. No future for Dak and me. In some ways we had become even closer, fighting side by side. But the easy fun, the trust, of our earlier times was gone. I often recalled the time when I had morphed a chadoo and climbed to the top of the Tribe Tree. I held on to that memory.

  We climbed wearily back up out of the Am wall-city. We rested in the zone once inhabited by monsters and now empty. The wounded Hork-Bajir died. That night we found a tree away from any Yeerk concentrations. We dug a hole at the roots and buried him, in the Hork-Bajir tradition.

  I looked around at our small army: forty-two Hork-Bajir and me. Thirty-one of us armed with older-model shredders or newer Dracon beams. None of us without scars.

  We were winning small battles. We were losing the war. Soon there would not be enough of us left to carry on.

  The rain had stopped and the night sky had

  153 cleared by the time we emerged from the Arn wall-city.

  "Mother Sky's flowers are strange tonight," a Hork-Bajir named Had Kalpak said.

  I followed the direction of his gaze, turning one stalk eye skyward. Then, in a flash, all my eyes were lifted up.

  Mother Sky's flowers were strange, all right. Up against the black of space I saw the swift-moving lights. And then, the bright beams of light and the tiny, silent, far-off explosion.

  «Space battle!» I cried. «There's a space battle going on in orbit!»

  Dak grabbed me, almost too roughly. "The An-dalites?"

  I laughed. I laughed and laughed and danced around. «Well, it sure isn't the Skrit Na up there frying Yeerks!» I cried. «They've come! They've come! Everything is going to be all right. The fleet is here!»

  154

  DAK HAMTC

  Andalite fighters landed in the clearing where Aldrea's family had lived. They were battle-scarred. But when the hatches opened, the Andalites who stepped out seemed confident.

  «You must be Aldrea-lskillion-Falan,» one of them said. «Come with me. I'm Sofor. I'll take you to the prince.»

  «l'm glad to see you,» Aldrea said. «This is Dak Hamee, the seer of the Hork-Bajir people.»

  «Scary-looking bruter» Sofor said, looking me up and down. «Let's go, youngster. The prince is not known for his patience, and we had a hot welcome to this hellhole.»

  "Fortunately, we are patient," I said, stepping forward. "We've waited seven months for you to get here."

  «lt speaks,» the Andalite warrior said. «Mouth-sounds, of course.» He turned to Aldrea again. «Say

  155 good-bye to your pet, young one, I have my orders.»

  «Dak is coming with me,» Aldrea said.

  "No," I interrupted. "I am not going with you. These are my people. This is my planet. And for seven months, it has been a Hork-Bajir war. You," I said, pointing at the arrogant Andalite, "you will tell your prince that we welcome him. We will be glad to meet him . . . when he comes here."

  I turned and walked away. I didn't know if Aldrea would follow me. But after a few seconds I heard her hooves on the grass beside me.

  «Was that wise, Dak? They've come to help.»

  "No. They've come to kill Yeerks. Not to help."

  «lt's the same thing!»

  I stopped walking. "Listen to me, Aldrea. We are going to end up being pawns in this war between Yeerks and Andalites."

  «That's not going to happen. My people aren't like that,» she said.

  "We'll see," I said.

  Two hours later, a runner came swinging through the trees to tell me that a larger Andalite ship was landing in the clearing.

  «Happy now?» Aldrea asked me.

  I smiled. "It's a start."

  We returned to the clearing. We were taken

  156 aboard a rather beautiful Andalite warship unlike the others I'd seen. A name was on the hull in flowing Andalite script. It read Jahar.

  On board a large, powerful Andalite stood waiting. He glared at us with a look that could have been a shredder beam.

  «Alloran!» Aldrea gasped.

  «What do you mean by summoning me down here? When I give an order I expect it to be obeyed!» he roared. «And it's War-Prince Alloran to you, female child!»


  «My name is Aldrea-lskillion-Falan. Daughter of Prince Seerow. This is Dak Hamee, seer of the Hork-Bajir people.»

  «l know who you are,» Alloran said. «And I regret your family's death. You are no doubt to be commended for having hidden out for seven months. We will reward whoever took care of you. Was it you, Hork-Bajir? Anything you want. You have our official thanks for hiding this female.» To Sofor and his other officers he added, «Get us out of here. Standard orbit. Sensor sweep as soon as we clear the atmosphere. There may still be one or two Yeerk ships left flying.»

  Aldrea turned a stalk eye toward me. I met her gaze and smiled.

  She had once promised to take me flying. Of

  157 course, it was a promise she'd intended as a bribe. And yet here it was, coming true at last.

  But I had no time to enjoy the moment. That made me sad. There'd been little enough to enjoy over these last seven months. Now, however, I had more important matters to deal with. I had to remain totally unimpressed. I had to be the seer of my people.

  "War-Prince Alloran," I said, in a friendly but not deferential tone. "You have a lot to learn. If you'd like, we can give you a briefing on the situation here."

  «A briefing? Ahh-hah-hah-hah! You'll tell me»

  He and the other Andalites all laughed. I had to struggle to control my temper. Lately, I'd been having more and more trouble with anger.

  "There are seventeen Yeerk ground bases spread through fourteen valleys," I said. "There are three known mining camps where the Yeerks are busy extracting iron, bauxite, nickel, tin, copper, and uranium, as well as various gemstones I'm told are useful for focusing shredders. The largest construction area is two valleys west of here. It is well-camouflaged, having been dug back into the slope of the valley. We suspect that they have built fourteen fighter craft, based on a new design but similar in capabilities to your own Andalite fighters. These

  158 fighters are armed with two Dracon beam weapons, a blending of Andalite shredder technology with some Ongachic particle-wave technology."

  War-Prince Alloran stared. All the Andalites stared.

  "Shall I continue?"

  Alloran nodded his head slowly.

  "The Yeerks are also constructing a new type of ship, quite large, very heavily armed. It seems almost to have been inspired by Hork-Bajir physiology. We . . . Aldrea and I ... have taken to calling it a Blade ship."

  «You've actually seen all this?» Sofor demanded.

  «Yes,» Aldrea answered.

  «How?»

  "We have attacked several of these bases," I said. "Others we have infiltrated."

  «Attacked Yeerk bases? What, the two of you?» Alloran said.

  «No, War-Prince Alloran,» Aldrea said proudly. «We attacked with the Hork-Bajir army. That's what we've been doing for the last seven months. Not hiding out»

  "It has been a small army," I said. "We have had a total of eight hundred and twelve Hork-Bajir with us, at one time or another."

  «And now?»

  "Forty-two are with us now in this valley. Perhaps two hundred more are scattered in small

  159 groups in the other valleys. We have lost. . . many. Very many. I doubt we would have survived another month."

  «You've taken seventy-percent casualties?» one of the other Andalites asked, awestruck.

  "Yes." I closed my eyes. Had it been that many? Yes. Seven out of ten of the Hork-Bajir who'd rallied to me had died.

  I gazed through a transparent panel and saw my own planet for the first time. Was that my own valley? Or had we passed over some other valley already? Did it matter? Weren't all Hork-Bajir one people?

  «But now you're herer» Aldrea said enthusiastically. «Now we'll wipe the Yeerks off this planet!»

  Alloran sighed. «We would, if we were still facing the handful of ships the Yeerks had before. But if what you tell us is true. . . . How many Hork-Bajir have been made into Yeerk hosts?»

  «We don't know. We estimate they have perhaps forty thousand. Forty thousand Hork-Bajir hosts, maybe twelve of their new Bug fighters up and flying . . . that's what we call them. And the Blade ship, which we think is just coming online. Plus the Andalite and Skrit Na ships they already had.»

  There was a long silence. A very long silence.

  «But. . . but you'll destroy them,» Aldrea said hopefully.

  160 «We have eight fighters, two transports, one re-supply ship, one repair ship. A total of less than a thousand warriors. We destroyed two Yeerk fighters on our way in.»

  «But that's not enough!» Aldrea cried.

  «Days after we heard your message from here we received intelligence reports that the Yeerk fleet was in Sector Two. The main fleet is there. We assumed that since . . . that because you . . » He didn't finish.

  «l'm just a female. And the daughter of Prince Seerow. So you assumed I was a fool,» Aldrea said flatly.

  «lt will take a year for the main fleet to get here, unless Z-space reconfigures,» one of the officers said.

  «This is going to be a tough little war,» Alloran said grimly. «A very tough little war.»

  «And it's starting right now!» Sofor cried. «We have multiple contacts, closing fast!»

  161

  "We have multiple contacts, Sub-Visser Twelve."

  I heard the title and swelled with pleasure. I had been newly promoted. Up from Sub-Visser Seventeen, my first command rank. It was a jump of five places! Sub-Vissers Sixteen and Fourteen had been promoted. Sub-Visser Thirteen had been killed in battle against Hork-Bajir rebels. Sub-Visser Fifteen was being executed for incompetence and cowardice.

  "Relay the sensor data to the Blade ship, Alahar-Seven-Eight-Six-Five," I ordered. It was just the two of us aboard the tiny Bug fighter. But I was in command. I was the twelfth highest-ranking sub-visser. Beyond that there were nine vissers. But every day there were promotions. Every day new sub-vissers and vissers were added. We were growing! These were amazing, heady days.

  The only problems had come from the self-

  162 styled Hork-Bajir army led by that vile Andalite girl and Dak Hamee.

  I had underestimated them both. Especially Dak Hamee. We took more and more Hork-Bajir who had been close to him, and when we opened their memories we learned about the Hork-Bajir "seer."

  He had turned his people from peaceful, stupid herbivores into fearless and dangerous guerrilla fighters. I had not been able to catch the Andalite or the seer. I had not kept my promise to Akdor. But that no longer mattered. The great Akdor had been killed by a Hork-Bajir firing one of our own Dracon beams.

  And then, our second very unpleasant surprise. A small fleet of Andalite ships had popped out of Zero-space, shockingly close to the Hork-Bajir world.

  They had annihilated two of our ships in orbit. That's what had happened to Sub-Visser Fifteen. He'd been in charge of orbital defense. Sub-Visser Fifteen would die for his incompetence after a few more days of suffering.

  Slowly we'd come to realize that this was not the full Andalite fleet. This was a task force. Just fighters and transports. Faster than our ships, but not as heavily armed. And we had ground bases.

  "The Blade ship says they see the Andalites. Visser Four's orders are for all fighters to attack!"

  163 "Of course those are his orders," I grumbled. "Let the Andalites chew up the fighters and then he can come in with his Blade ship, finish the battle, and claim all the glory." There was nothing I could do about it.

  "Andalites," Alahar muttered unhappily. "Is it true that they control their ships with their thoughts?"

  I sighed. "The Andalites are very advanced, very powerful, very determined. But they are not unbeatable. Prepare to go to full space normal speed. On my signal . . . NOW!"

  We lit up our engines and hurtled along the arc of our orbit. Andalite ships ahead. My brother Yeerks all around us. The two fleets closed with shocking swiftness.

  I took the weapons station. I fit my Hork-Bajir hands around the stick. "Be ready. The Andalites will close to withi
n five thousand meters. Then they will break formation and attempt to dive beneath us so they can shoot upward into our bellies."

  The Andalites came straight for us. Fifty thousand meters. . . forty thousand . . . thirty thousand . . . twenty thousand . . .

  Some of the other Bug fighters were already firing, the fools. But at this range the Andalite defensive shields were too strong. The Andalite ships flared, shrugging off the energy.

  Ten thousand meters. . . five thousand . . .

  164 SHWWWOOOOOM!

  The formation broke, just as I'd known it would. We were ready. I hit the altitude controls, dropped our nose, and fired!

  TSEEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

  Twin beams of brilliant red light lanced toward the Andalite ship.

  BOOOOM!

  A hit! The Andalite fighter exploded into sizzling debris. I caught a split-second glance of an Andalite body hurtling by.

  "Yes! Now do you see? They are not unbeatable!" All the hours of studying the enemy was paying off.

  "Two of our Bug fighters destroyed," Alahar reported.

  That cooled my excitement somewhat. Two-to-one in favor of the Andalites. But the one kill had been mine! "Bring the ship around, but take us out of this orbit. Take us down a few miles. Let's see if we can draw the Andalites within range of our ground bases."

  "We have an Andalite fighter on our tail!"

  Down we went, down and down, till I could look down into one valley and see the trees. The Andalite stayed with us.

  "Evasive maneuvers!" I said.

  165 TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

  The shredders missed us by inches. We jigged left. We jigged right. But the Andalite pilot would not let go.

  TSEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

  "Ahhh! Ahhh! We've been hit! We've been hit!"

  "Give me a damage report, you coward!"

  "Urn ... urn ... left Dracon beam is out. Right side is still working."

  "Take us down . . . down to treetop level and head north along the valley."

  We dropped into the valley. Trees flashed by on both sides. The blue mist below swirled in our wake.