"I ... I had dreams ... I saw flashes of something . . . but this! This is unbelievable." 56 "l think that may be a hatch down there," Marco said. "You see the part that sticks out?"

"Let's try it," Jake said. "l can't hold my breath much longer." We arced down toward a part of the glass dome that seemed different from the rest. As we got closer, we could really begin to feel the size of the dome. It was like approaching one of those huge stadiums where they play football. But even bigger, if you can imagine that.

"It is a hatch," Rachel reported. She was a little ahead of the rest of us. " It's some kind of a glass door. On the other side there's a little room, then another door that leads into the dome.

There's a little red panel beside the outer door."

"Let's either try it or surface," Marco said urgently.

"That red panel. That's got to be the door-knob," Jake said. "Here goes. Let's hope this works." He pressed his beak against the panel.

Instantly the outer door opened.

"We should try this one at a time, see if it's safe," Marco said.

"Not enough time," I said. My lungs were burning. I needed air.

The four of us swam in through the outer door. There was a second red panel. I punched it with my beak and the door closed, sealing us into a small, glass room. We could see out and up into the ocean all around. But the side leading into the dome was opaque.

"l knew we'd end up in an aquarium sooner or later," Marco said.

The water began to drain from the room, slowly, a little at a time. This opened an area of air at the top of the enclosure. I raised my blow hole and sucked in blessed oxygen.

" Okay , let's morph," Jake said.

I had already started. By the time the enclosure was half drained, I could stand on my own human feet.

"We made it," Marco said after his human mouth reformed. "I don't know where we made it to, but we made it."

The enclosure was empty now. The four of us stood there barefoot, dressed only in our soggy morphing outfits. There was one last red panel beside the door leading into the dome.

"Ready?" Jake asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Marco said.

Jake pressed it with his hand.

The door slid open. I felt a wave of warm, incredibly fragrant air rush in.

57 I caught a glimpse of. . .

Then a brilliant flash of light. . .

And suddenly I was unconscious.

58 Chapter 18

I opened my eyes. I was staring straight up. I was on my back. Above me I could see the ocean all around. High overhead, fish swam by, sparkling. Higher still I could see the bright bar rier between sea and sky. But it was very far away.

I rolled my head to the side. Jake was beside me, still unconscious. There was blue grass under my head. I looked the other way.

"Yaaaahh!"

"Do not move. I stunned you to see what you are. But if you move, I will destroy you." He stood on four delicate hooves, looking, at first glance, like a pale blue and tan deer or antelope. But he had a strong upper body, like a mythical centaur, with two small arms and many-fingered hands. His face was almost triangular, built around two huge, almond-shaped eyes. There was a small vertical slit where his nose should have been, and nothing where his mouth should have been.

From atop his head rose twin horns. Only they were not horns. They each ended in an eye and turned this way and that, independent of his main eyes.

He seemed gentle, quizzical, almost delicate. Until you noticed the tail. The tail was like a scorpion's. It was thick, powerful, and ended in a wicked scythe blade that literally glittered along its razor-sharp edges.

I knew what he was. There is no mistaking an Andalite when you see one.

And there was no question about what he was holding in his hand, either. It looked a lot like a Yeerk Dracon beam.

He was pointing it at me.

The others were waking up all around me.

"What the ... Oh," Marco said. "Please tell me that's a real Andalite and not Visser Three."

Suddenly, without warning, the Andalite's tail arched forward. The blade stopped inches from Marco's face.

"Visser Three! Do not speak that name!" the Andalite thought-spoke.

"O -o-o-o-kay," Marco said slowly. "Whatever you want."

"We are friends," I said.

"l don't know you," the Andalite said. But he withdrew his tail and Marco started breathing again.

"You called me," I said. "We've come to help you."

"Called? You heard my call?" He fixed all four of his eyes on me. "What are you?" 59 "Human. A person of Earth."

"l have seen images of your kind. My call was to my cousins. How did you hear it?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I heard it in my dreams. So did a friend of mine. We guessed it was an Andalite. We wanted to help."

"What do you know of Andalites? My people are not known to humans. You do not travel the stars. You know only your own planet. My elder cousins have taught me this."

"We knew one Andalite. We were with him when . . . when he was killed."

The Andalite narrowed his main eyes. "Who was this Andalite you say was killed?" I searched my memory for his name. He had told us, but it was a strange, long name. "I can't remember all of his name. But part of it was Prince Elfangor."

The Andalite jerked as if he'd been hit. His entire body seemed to quiver. His deadly tail arched high in the air.

"Prince Elfangor? No one could kill Elfangor. He is the greatest warrior ever. No one could kill him!"

"Someone did," Jake said. "We were there."

"Who? Who do you claim killed Elfangor?"

"The one whose name you don't want us to speak," I said softly.

The Andalite held his head high, but his tail sagged and dragged down to the grass. He lowered his weapon. "He was my brother. Did . . . did he die well? In battle?" Jake answered. "He died protecting us, and defying the Yeerks to the end. At the very last moment he struck with every weapon he had."

The Andalite closed his main eyes for a brief moment. "My brother was a great warrior. His cousins loved him. His enemies feared him. No more can be said of any Andalite warrior." I was surprised by what Jake said next. "I've lost a brother, too. He's one of them. A Controller."

The Andalite opened his eyes. "And you, human. Do you serve the Yeerks or fight them?"

"I fight them. We fight them."

"With what weapons? Do you have powerful weapons?"

"Only the weapon your brother gave us," I said. "The power to morph."

60 "Elfangor gave you that? It is never done!" He seemed disturbed. "The situation would have to be very bad for him to give you morphing capability"

"The situation is worse than you think," Marco said. "The Yeerks seem to know you're here.

Some piece of Andalite wreckage washed up on shore. They are up on the surface right now."

For the first time the Andalite seemed uncertain. "What is your plan?"

"To get you out of here and hide you," I said.

"You came only to rescue me? This is true?"

"Yes."

He smiled with his eyes, just as Prince Elfangor had done. "You will be tired after this last morph. You will need to rest."

"A little while, yes," I agreed.

"What is this?" Rachel asked. "This dome, I mean. It's like a park or something."