A wonderful sort of fish in the shape of a screw that rotated its way through the water.

And these creatures weren't scattered here and there, but everywhere. The Leeran ocean was a madhouse of life-forms.

Spread around across the ocean were bubbling chimneys of rock and soil, encrusted with squirming, writhing creatures, small and less small. My shark senses could feel the electrical discharge from these chimneys, and the intense warmth.

As I watched, a massive school of the brilliant blue worms came swirling around one of the chimneys. It swirled and my shark senses could feel the energy flow from the chimney into the worms.

Look at that!"; Cassie cried, excitement overcoming her sadness. A thousand marine biologists could stay happy for a hundred years just studying this one small area. The animals. The plants. The ... the whatevers!

I wish I knew more. I know this friend of my mom's who studies the ecology of coral reefs. She would cut off her arm to spend an hour here!"; The creatures are feeding off the geothermal energy and electrical charge from these chimneys,"; I said. This may be an environment without predators."; It has predators,"; Marco said darkly.

The Yeerks are here. And we're here. For now. Until suddenly we go "poof!" like Rachel and Tobias."; That brought us all back to reality. Still, even afraid, even sad, even desperate, we could not ignore the wild, incredible scene all around us.

We glided, dark and deadly, through a peaceful sea. The Yeerks had been clever to consider using sharks to control this ocean. Wherever I looked I saw no razor teeth, no crushing jaws.

Marco was right: There were predators here. But they were us.

And then ...

Hey, aren't those Leerans?"; Prince Jake said. Down and to the left."; I looked. Yes, they looked like the one Leeran we had seen on Earth in the company of Visser One.

They were mostly yellow. They had skin that was slimy, as if covered with ooze, yet rough in texture, like gravel. They had large, webbed back legs. For arms they had four tentacles arrayed around their plump, barrel-shaped bodies.

The head was quite large, with a bulge at the back.

It sat right on the shoulders. There was no neck.

The face bulged outward and seemed to have just two features. A huge, wide, almost ridiculous mouth. And big, bulging eyes of a green that seemed almost to be lit from inside.

There were four Leerans. They were riding on water jets. The water jets were long, narrow tubes, flared in front to make a sort of wing, flared again in back to give extra maneuverability. Arrayed along the back wing were clusters of very narrow tubes pointed forward.

They had obviously spotted us and were coming toward us.

Probably wondering what we are,"; Cassie said cautiously. They've never seen sharks."; These are the good guys, right?"; Marco said.

I mean, these are the guys everyone's trying to save from the Yeerks."; all yes. Maybe we should contact them. They could lead us to the nearest Leeran city."; Do it,"; Prince Jake said.

Leerans!"; I yelled. Leerans! I am an Andalite in morph."; Chuh-wooomp!

The spear flew through the water only slightly slower than a human bullet. I jerked left.

Too late! The spear pierced my tail and kept on flying.

Hey!"; Marco yelled.

I'm an Andalite! Andalite!"; I cried. allyr friend! Your ally!"; Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and three humans from planet Earth. Not our allies,"; a cold, thought-speak voice said. He laughed.

ally have no secrets from these psychic Leeran minds."; And suddenly the water boiled with the firing of a dozen spears.

Chuh-woomp! Chuh-wooomp!

This time we were more prepared. Still, we were not fast enough. A spear hit me in the side and stuck.

Prince Jake avoided being hit, but Cassie was speared through and through. Marco was hit twice.

Shark blood billowed.

The Leeran-Controllers laughed. Die, Andalite! Die, humans! We'll carry your bodies to Visser Four!"; Hey, great war! You can't tell who's on what side,"; Marco yelled. What is this, Vietnam?"; Three of us had been hit. But none of us was dead. The spears were fast, but very thin. No doubt they were deadly to Leerans or to other creatures of this gentle ocean.

But we were only hurt. Not crippled.

We don't seem to be dead, just yet,"; I said to the Leeran-Controllers.

The Leeran-Controllers gaped with their big green eyes.

But ... but the haru-chin spears are deadly!"; one of the Leerans said. He sounded like he was pouting.

ationah. Maybe around here they're deadly,"; Prince Jake said. But we're from a much tougher neighborhood."; Think it's true what they say about frogs?"; Marco asked. Think it's true that they taste like chicken?";

We launched toward the Leeran-Controllers.

Sharks are very fast in short bursts. Too fast for the shocked Yeerks inside the Leerans to react.

They tried to turn their water jets around. They were still trying when they were hit by four frustrated, scared, angry people in shark morph.

Andalites understand about tail fighting. But there is something very intimate and intimately violent about attacking with a mouth. You have to get very close.

You smell and feel and touch your enemy.

We hit, mouths open. We hit, and in a flash the four Leeran-Controllers were off their water jets and trying to swim away.

They kicked their big hind legs, but they were too slow. Using their psychic powers, they could feel our anger. It must have been terrible for them.

It must have been terrifying.

I didn't care.

But then ... I was rocked by a powerful psychic vision. A vision that cried out in despair and agony and desperate hope.

One of the Leerans had managed to squeeze out this plea for help. The Yeerk in his head was busy trying to stay alive, and the real Leeran had seized the moment to send this vision.

The picture that appeared in my head was grizzly and awful. But I knew it was real.

Prince Jake! Bite their heads! Bite off the large lobe at the back!"; What?"; Cassie cried. They're beaten already. I'm not going to kill them."; I lunged for the nearest Leeran-Controller.

The Yeerk in his head knew what I was doing, but when he tried to jerk aside I slapped him with my tail, stunning him.

I opened my mouth, then bit down hard on the lobe at the back of his head.

But what was most shocking to see was the Yeerk itself. It was ripped from the Leeran's head. The Yeerk writhed, helpless in the seawater.

The Yeerks are positioned in their rear brain lobes,"; I said. Bite them off!"; It will kill the Leerans!"; Cassie said.

.ationo,"; a strange voice said. ..It will free us!"; It was four of us against the three remaining Leerans. It was short but brutal work. Four doomed Yeerks writhed, fatally out of place in the Leeran water.

.Thank you!"; the Leerans said. It wasn't normal thought-speak. It was deeper than that. Images, ideas that appeared in our minds that we then translated into words.

ally need medical help,"; Cassie said.

Maybe I could demorph and--"; ..ationo, we will be fine. We can regenerate most body parts. It will take some time and we will be weak, but there are caves nearby where we can rest and be safe. Thank you! Thank you!"; I've experienced some strange events. But four bright yellow Leerans with half their heads removed actually thanking us was definitely one of the strangest.

We need to reach the nearest Leeran city,"; Prince Jake said. Which way is it?"; ..It will be very difficult. In the last months the Yeerks have captured many of us and forced us to be Controllers. There are many like us between here and the City of Worms. You are powerful, but if even one Leeran-Controller encounters you and then escapes, your secret will be discovered."; So how do we get there?"; Prince Jake wondered aloud.