But it was hard to believe the Hork-Bajir had ever been the sweethearts of the galaxy. They were death on two legs: seven feet tall, eight, if you counted the forward-raked blades that protruded from the top of their snake-heads. They had blades at their elbows, blades at their wrists, blades at their knees. They had huge claw-feet like tyrannosaurs, and a short, thick tail that ended in cruel-looking spikes.

They were walking razor blades. All sharp edges and lightning speed.

I've fought Hork-Bajir before. And I can count. Two dozen Hork-Bajir was at least a dozen more than we had any hope of defeating.

Then, behind the Hork-Bajir, beyond the retreating human-Controllers, outside the building, staring horror-stricken through the glass, I saw Erek.

Erek, who could do nothing at all to help us. Who was helpless to do anything but witness our slaughter. I felt like throwing up. The fear was all over me. The fear was surging through me, washing over me, drowning me from inside and out.

We were going to lose.

We were going to die.

And life, any kind of life almost, is so much better than being dead.

"Attack," the woman said. Her voice was nearly a whisper.

The Hork-Bajir leaped forward, a wall of slashing, whirling blades.

Right in front of me! SEEEEWWW! A huge Hork-Bajir slashed and a bright red line cut across my black leather chest! I swung my fist and hit the Hork-Bajir hard enough to fold him in two. But another leaped over him and came at me. I blocked his arm, but he kicked at me with his clawed foot.

I fell back. I looked down and saw a hole in my stomach.

A hole! I could see the gorilla's insides! My insides. My insides! "Ahhhhh!" I screamed in thought-speak, as the gorilla bellowed in agony.

The Hork-Bajir leaped on top of me. I swung again and knocked his legs out from under him. He toppled down, but landed beside me. My left hand went to his throat and I squeezed. I squeezed with all the strength I had. The Hork-Bajir slashed at me again and opened a gash in my hairy arm. But I kept my grip tight.

I screamed as the Hork-Bajir twitched and scrabbled wildly and began to jerk uncontrollably.

The battle raged all around me.

Screams. Cries. Bellows of animal rage. The garbled roars of the Hork-Bajir. Even the guttural roar of the human-Controllers, who watched and cheered the Hork-Bajir on.

I saw Jake leap through the air and close his jaws around a Hork-Bajir's face.

I saw Rachel swing her paw and open up a Hork-Bajir like someone cleaning a fish.

I saw Cassie dodging swiftly, biting, backing away, lunging to bite again, red foam flying from her muzzle.

And Ax, striking again . . . again . . . again with the deadly speed and perfect accuracy of his Andalite tail.

But we were losing. It would be over in a few seconds. We were losing.

"0h, God!"

someone screamed. Maybe it was me, I don't know.

"Help! Help! Get him off me!"

"Look ou!"

"No! Nooooo!"

It was all one combined thought-speech scream.

And still the alarm howled its screeEEEEET! I felt my grip weaken on the throat of the Hork-Bajir. But it didn't matter anymore.

It was safe to let him go.

My vision was red. Red and fading.

I felt a sharp stab as another Hork-Bajir sunk a blade into my gorilla heart.

None of it mattered, though. It was all coming to an end ... all coming to an end. . . .

Through a red mist I saw a face on the other side of the glass. Erek. Somehow, in the battle, I had ended up not far from the wall of windows.

Erek was just a few feet away. Just on the other side of the glass.

I felt something hard in my palm. The crystal.

I crawled. A vicious Hork-Bajir kick, and I went sprawling right against the glass.

"0h . . . no." I said.

I could see the damage the kick had done.

I was dead. I could feel my brain shutting down.

Human-Controllers were closing in around me, hammering me with the butts of their rifles.

With my last ounce of strength, I rammed my fist through the glass.

I felt strong fingers pry open my hand. I felt the fingers lift out the crystal.

And then . . . later, much later, someone slapped my face.

"Morph back, Marco. Morph back! Do it!"

-L woke up on the ground. Not a floor, the ground. Dirt and leaves.

I sat up very fast. I looked at my body.

"Human!" I said. I wanted to cry from the sheer relief of being myself again. Myself and alive.

I looked around. Jake. Cassie. Rachel.

Ax. All there! All human! Except for Ax, of course.

Tobias was perched in the tree above us.

Someone else was there, too. I heard a voice sobbing.

"You okay, Marco?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Man, I was so close to being dead!"

"You were," Jake said solemnly. "He gave you an electric shock to start your heart again."

"Who did?"

Jake jerked his head toward the source of the crying.

It was Erek, sitting in the dirt with his head down.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Little bunch of trees, just down from Mat-corn.

Or what's left of Matcom."

"How did we get here? How did we get out of that place? We were toast!"

Cassie came over and sat beside me. "You saved us by getting the crystal to Erek. He used it. He rewrote his programming. He's the one who . .

." She looked away. "He . . ."

"He took care of the Hork-Bajir," Rachel said. "I saw some of it. I was still conscious."

I was confused. "How did Erek take care of the Hork-Bajir?"

"He destroyed them all."

Ax said.

I almost laughed. "Erek took out two dozen Hork-Bajir?"

No one laughed with me. Erek had stopped sobbing.

I thought, Why would a robot cry? "AII the Hork-Bajir."

Ax said. "AII the human-Controllers. All of them."

I stood up. I could see the Matcom building. It was only a few hundred yards away. There was a big hole in the front glass.

I had a very bad feel- ing about what was on the other side of that glass.

All I could think of to say was, "All of them?"

"It lasted about ten seconds," Rachel said.

She closed her eyes, trying not to remember what she had seen. But I guess the images weren't easily shut out. She opened her eyes again, and to my utter amazement, I saw tears.

That's what brought the horror home to me -- Rachel's tears.

"lt was extremely brutal." Ax said. "Very brutal, and very swift. He carried us here. He revived you. He even reattached my arm."

I saw a scar on Ax's left arm.

"He hasn't said anything since then,"

Cassie said sadly. "He won't talk to any of us."

"He saved us, though, right?" I said.

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, smiling a deeply sad smile. "He saved our lives. And lost his own soul."

I went to Erek. I wanted to thank him. I wanted to tell him he'd done what was right. He'd beaten the bad guys. Saved the good guys.

He stood up as I came over.

"You okay, man?" I asked him.

He looked at me with holographic human eyes. Maybe he had to choose to make them cry. Maybe he had to choose to give them that empty, hollow look. I don't know what the connection is between the android Chee and his projected human body.

But his expression answered my question.

No. Erek was not okay.

"You saved our lives, Erek," I said.

"How do you . . . how do you live with the memory?"

he asked me.

I knew what he meant. See, win or lose, right or wrong, the memory of violence sits inside your head. It sits there, like some lump you can't quite swallow. It sits there, a black hole that darkens hope, and eats away at everyday happiness like a cancer. It's the shadow you take into your own heart and try to live with.