We rushed and stumbled to the room where Galuit waited. Only he wasn't waiting. He was rushing forward to meet us. He was flanked by three tough-looking Andalite security guards, and accompanied by his aide, an Andalite who had lost one stalk eye and half his face from a war injury.

.Aristh Aximili,"; Galuit said without bothering to introduce himself.

all yes, sir, I--"; ationo time,"; he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. I'm a member of the highest circles, so I know all about your escapades on Earth.

Yours and Elfangor's. Very disappointed in Elfangor. Although, by the galaxy, your brother could fight! I don't know how you came to be here with these humans of yours, but it is a stroke of luck! We need you."; I was almost completely bowled over. First of all, Galuit even knowing my name was incredible.

It would be as if a human child were sitting at home by the telephone and suddenly got a call from the head general of the army.

Second, Galuit needed me? Needed?

Me?

Sir, may I introduce this human named Jake?"; I said I need you. Now stand to attention and listen to my--"; Sir, this is Jake. My prince."; That stopped Galuit in mid-yell. The guards all stared incredulously at Prince Jake. Then at me. Then at Marco and Cassie, as if they might be able to explain.

Every warrior must have a prince to follow, and the princes must obey the People,"; I said.

Galuit looked like he was seriously considering using his old tail on me. But then he nodded stiffly. Just so, Aristh. No one is a law unto themselves. We each must serve."; Galuit turned to speak to Prince Jake.

I have need of you to save this planet from the Yeerks. Will you--"; all yes,"; Prince Jake said.

ally say yes without knowing what I'm asking."; Will it save the Leerans? Will it keep them free? And most of all, will it hurt the Yeerks?"; all yes to all three. Especially the last.

If we save Leera it may turn the tide of the war against the Yeerks."; Then we'll do it."; Galuit seemed surprised. Maybe even impressed. In private thought-speak he said to me, I have known worse princes than this one.";

Galuit explained what he needed and why.

It was exactly what I had suspected. The reason we had to flee the land and take to the sea.

The reason I could not risk being taken by the Yeerks: It had all been a trap.

A trap for the Yeerks.

We knew the Yeerks would take the battle to the continent,"; Galuit said. And we thought it very likely they would defeat us there. So we had a backup plan. We have planted a series of quantum bombs around the continent. Our plan was to wait until the Yeerks had moved all their troops down to the continent, then explode the bombs."; I nodded. all yes, I suspected this."; Prince Jake looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, then raised one eyebrow. It wasn't an angry look, as I interpret human expressions. It was a little reproachful, though.

We had transferred to one of the submarines and were already racing at maximum speed, south to a point on the continent.

The Leerans don't need the continent. They are quite happy in their underwater cities,"; Galuit said. But there's been some kind of problem with setting off the bombs. Our forces were overrun much too quickly. With the Ascalin's forces we should have held out longer. The main switch was never armed. We've been beaming the destruct signal for hours. Nothing. And the Yeerks will soon discover our trap. It's now or never."; I hesitated. Should I tell Galuit why our forces were so easily overrun? I took a deep breath. Sir, the Ascalin was never in the fight."; Galuit swiveled both stalk eyes toward me. What?"; Captain Samilin was ... a traitor,"; I said. He set the ship toward a landing behind Yeerk lines. He was killed. Once it was clear the Ascalin could not escape, Tactical Officer Harelin made the decision to fire all weapons while on the ground. No one survived.

Except for us and two of our friends who have disappeared."; I could see Galuit slump. He seemed suddenly older. More frail.

"Why us?" Marco asked. "Why do you need us to go in and arm this switch?"

We have few Andalites here on the planet now. And none who possess the wide array of morphs you have,"; Galuit explained. All Andalite warriors are morph-capable. But few acquire morphs or use them. That is mostly done by our people in intelligence. Spies. But you four may be able to penetrate the Yeerk forces."; Suddenly he looked confused. His eyes went left, then right. I was sure it was four. Where is the other human?"; A cold lance of fear struck my hearts.

Prince Jake was still there. Cassie, too. But Marco ...

"Marco!" Prince Jake cried.

"Marco! Marco!"

We are disappearing one by one!"; I said.

Galuit yelled a thought-speak summons that was heard clear through the submarine. Science officer, report to me, right now!"; "This is insane!" Cassie said, her eyes blazing. "What is happening? One by one we're disappearing."

Cold fear wormed through my insides. I felt sorry for Marco and the others. Very sorry.

But now I was more afraid than anything. It didn't take too much imagination to figure out that the rest of us would be disappearing eventually.

It's one thing to face an enemy. It's very different to wait, powerless, for some unseen force to simply ... delete you.

The sub raced on through the bright Leeran sea.

But there was no time to enjoy the view. Prince Jake, Cassie, and I were surrounded by Andalites. We were cross-examined by the sub's science officer. In between questions from him we were bombarded by questions from Galuit and a counterintelligence officer.

It was nerve-racking. But at least it kept my mind off the awful suspense of waiting ...

waiting ... waiting for another one of us to disappear.

How long were you in Zero-space?"; Are you sure Captain Samilin knew the ship was heading for Yeerk lines?"; What was the mass of the creature you morphed on Earth before being dragged into Zero-space?"; Did Captain Samilin seem embittered, stressed?"; At last, after an hour, Galuit put an end to it. Enough! Samilin was a traitor.

We have to accept that."; He turned to the science officer. And you've asked the same questions fifty times. Give me a hypothesis."; Sir, I don't have enough--"; the science officer started to say.

Just give me your best guess!"; Galuit demanded.

I ... I think these humans and this aristh are still caught in a residual flux field. It is pulling them back toward Zero-space. It may even be snapping them all the way back to Earth. But my best guess is that what's happening is a sort of elastic effect. They were stretched through Zero-space and back into normal space, but a small amount of their mass is still back on Earth. It may be acting like an anchor."; "We're on some big Zero-space rubber band?" Prince Jake asked. "It's been stretching all this time, and now it's starting to snap back?"

all yes,"; the science officer said, after I explained what a rubber band was.

"Maybe all the way back to Earth, in which case Rachel and Tobias and Marco are alive," Cassie said. "Or maybe just into Zero-space. In which case ..."

From the data you've given me, the effect appears to be accelerating,"; the science officer said. ally will go, one by one, faster and faster now.

Like your friends, you will each disappear."; Galuit said, Under these circumstances, I cannot ask you to carry out this mission."; Prince Jake shrugged. "Under these circumstances, it doesn't look like we have anything to lose."