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into walls in their panic to get out. People were
smoldering train.
knocked on the floor, stepped on by humans too
panicked to think.
thousand-pound bombs right behind you. No
All around us was chaos and madness and
lie.>
fear. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen in
For a moment I thought Visser One would
this horrible war. Desperation brought on by the
spontaneously combust. Rage emanated from
knowledge of imminent death.
his morphed body. Rage and frustration. He tried
We had just cleared the first major loop up
to speak but his voice came out as a choked gur-
and away from the pool complex when the first
gle.
bomb exploded.
And then the octopuslike creature sank below
BA-BOOOOOM!
the surface of the sludgy pool.
There was a short delay and then it was as if a
No doubt the visser was already morphing to
hurricane fueled by a blast furnace had come
something that would allow him to escape. Visser
raging through the tunnel.
One always looked after his own interests.
Large areas of the roof fell in. The floor buck-
By now the cages were empty of humans and
led and collapsed. My ears were bombarded by
Hork-Bajir alike. The pool complex was largely
screams and cries and shrieks.
deserted.
I had lost track of Cassie and Marco. I did not
The pool itself remained, stocked with those
know what to do except keep flying. The air was
Yeerks that had not died when the train crashed.
almost solid with dust and debris. The heat was
"Time for us to get gone!" Marco ordered.
overwhelming. But still I flew.
Rapidly, we morphed to birds. Two ospreys
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1
BABOOOOM!BABOOOOM!BABOOOOM!
Explosions reverberated through one cav-
ernous tunnel after the other.
Finally, miraculously, where the ceiling had
caved in up ahead, I saw light. Just a pinpoint.
But it was enough.
I flew toward it, rising out of the hideous un-
derground into the open sky.
Late that day, we perched on the roof of one
of the few skyscrapers left in the area.
The destruction was breathtaking. Below us,
there was a sinkhole where much of downtown
had been.
Everything had just caved in. Half the mall,
several office buildings, train stations, stores
all were gone.
Most of downtown had simply collapsed,
swallowed up by an explosion the size of a small
nuclear blast.
The buildings still standing were cracked.
Some listed to the side.
The entire area was ringed with fire engines,
ambulances, military vehicles, and onlookers.
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said.
Marco said thickly,
the area in time.> Jake paused. Then said,
rious damage. Just like we hoped to do. I'll bet
we killed a million Yeerks.>
Cassie agreed, no note of satisfac-
no telling how many human-Controllers the
tion or joy in her voice.
Yeerks created down there in the past week.
I felt no sense of satisfaction or joy, either.
Thousands maybe. No telling how many es-
There were many bodies down there. Human
caped^
bodies. Taxxon bodies. Hork-Bajir bodies.
Jake agreed.
And perhaps three of the dead or mortally
the Yeerks have no way to feed. It'll be a pretty
wounded were Jake's parents and brother. I knew
horrible three days, but at the end, we're going to
we were all wondering if they had been at the
have a lot more dead Yeerks. And a lot of humans
pool when the explosion occurred. I also knew
who have no illusions about what we're fighting
none of us would talk about it. Not to Jake and
against. Not to mention the Hork-Bajir who'll be
not to each other.
freed, t oo
What could we possibly say?
Also, I could not forget that many human-
Controllers had lingered in order to save other
whole situation is?>
humans who were not Controllers.
I suppose I had always known that Cassie was
Cassie answered.
right. Always known but had been reluctant to
admit that Aftran had not been the sole member
victory. And I've never felt more depressed in my
of a Yeerk resistance movement. That there were
entire life.>
many Yeerks who, given a choice, would choose
not to conquer. Would choose not to kill. If they
more depressed,> Tobias said,
ever were lucky enough to be given such a choice.
ping in.>
Yes. Cassie was right.
A large gray shadow fell over the city. We
We heard the heavy flap of wings and Jake in
looked up and saw Visser One's Blade ship hover-
peregrine falcon morph settled beside us.
ing, a swarm of Bug fighters surrounding it.
Everybody's back at camp and safe,> Jake
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Perhaps the only hope.
wouldn't survive,> Marco said gloomily.
Jake, addressing me in private
thought-speak.
through,> Tobias commented.
him. And he'll have some explaining to do to the
he said.
Yeerk High Council.>
I answered. Then to my-
Jake directed.
self, I mentally added,
here anymore. Let's get back to camp.>
One by one we took off and winged our way
back home.
Visser One wasn't the only one who would
have some explaining to do.
I, too, would have to justify my actions to an
angry Andalite high command. If I chose ever to
speak to the Andalites again.
They would never understand and I would
never be able to explain.
But for good or ill, I had thrown in my lot with
the humans.
Humans.
Violent but peace-loving.
Passionate but cerebral.
Humane but cruel.
Impulsive but calculating.
Generous but selfish.
Humans. Altogether a contradictory and
deeply flawed species.
And yet. . . And yet, somehow I knew that
they represented the best hope of the galaxy.
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