I don't know what sea the Taxxon race evolved in. I don't know what natural predators they faced there. But they were not ready for this ocean. They were not ready to go one-on-one with the masters of Earth's deep seas. They were no match for dolphin or shark.

" Okay , let's get out of here," Jake ordered. "They've had enough."

"Not so tough, are they?" Rachel asked, trying to sound tough herself. But she seemed shaky to me.

I shot to the surface and filled my lungs with warm evening air. The sun was dropping toward the horizon. Two ships were close by and steaming in our direction.

69 But far worse was the Blade ship, which hovered now just a hundred yards up in the air.

"We can't waste any more time," Marco said. "The plan was to head back for one of those little channel islands, unmorph, rest, and then take the rest of the distance. But even the island is almost two hours away at top speed. We have to make a run for it, or we'll have to choose between being trapped in morph or drowning. And that's not a great choice."

"You're right, Marco," Jake said. "Top speed for the nearest island."

"How do you tell the time?" Ax asked.

"Sometimes we can carry a watch. Some times, like now, we just have to guess and hope for the best."

" Oh . With your permission, I will keep track of the time."

"You have a watch?"

"No, but I have the ability to keep track of time," Ax said.

"Good enough," Marco said. "How much time left?"

"We have been in morph for approximately thirty percent of the safe time."

"Thirty percent?" I tried to think. Math was never my best subject. And it's hard to be mathematical when you've just come from a battle and are scared half to death. "That would be about thirty-six minutes. Which means we have an hour and twenty-four minutes left." BAH-LUMPH!

I heard a huge concussion behind me. Like someone had dropped a big truck in the water.

"What was that?" Marco wondered.

"Something hit the water," I said. Some thing big."

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

" Okay , now what is that? " Rachel asked.

I rose to the surface to breathe and look around. The two surface ships were still closing in, but they were not very fast, and they were not gaining on us. The Blade ship had disappeared.

I scanned the sky in all directions, but I couldn't see it.

"Does anyone see the Blade ship?" I asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean it isn't still nearby," Jake said. "lt may have recloaked." WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

70 "What is that?"

"Whatever it is, it's getting closer," I said.

Suddenly I remembered that I was not limited to the usual human senses. I fired off a rapid se ries of echolocating clicks.

The picture that came back was startling.

" It's something in the water. Big. Huge. The size of a whale, but not moving like a whale." Jake, Marco, and Rachel all echolocated.

" It's after us, whatever it is," Rachel said.

" It's big, it's fast, and it's after us," Marco agreed.

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

I rose to breathe again and looked back. At just that moment I saw, far behind me, a huge, dark red, almost purple hump above the water. It seemed to be covered with hundreds of small fish tails, all beating frantically.

I went under. "Ax, there's something back there. I don't think it's from Earth." I described it to him, at least what I had seen of it.

"Mardrut," Ax said.

"Mardrut? What does that mean?"

"A mardrut is a beast that lives in the oceans of one of our own Andalite moons. To think of that filthy Yeerk scum on our own moon! Acquiring our animals!"

"Ax, look, what is a mardrut?" I asked him.

"lt is a very large creature that swims by shooting water out of three large chambers. It makes a sound - "

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

"A sound like that?" Marco asked.

"Yes," Ax said. "l guess so. I did not recognize it. I have only heard it once, and that was in school, and I wasn't paying attentions It almost made me laugh, the image of an Andalite classroom where Andalite students zoned out on the lesson just like we did. But it really wasn't a good time for laughing.

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

"But this is no true mardrut," Ax said.

71 "No," Jake agreed.

"Then you know who and what is chasing us?" Ax seemed surprised. "You understand that this is Visser Three in morph?"

"We've met before," Rachel said tersely.

"You have fought Visser Three? And you still live?" That definitely surprised the Andalite.

"l honor you."

"Yeah, swell, thanks," Marco said dryly. "But I'd trade the honor for a good outboard engine so I could outrun that evil creep."

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

72 Chapter 22

The creature Visser Three had become did not tire.

We did.

I felt like I had been swimming forever. Half an hour into the chase, I was exhausted. We had been powering through the water at panic speed. Fighting every current. Fighting the terrible urge to rest as our tails weakened. Fighting the grow ing hunger.

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

The mardrut never tired. It never weakened. It gained on us a foot at a time, bit by bit.

I could see it now. A huge purple-and-red mottled bag that undulated and oozed through the water. It was propelled by the three huge water sacs, firing one after another. Between those loud bursts, the hundreds of tiny tails that covered its entire surface thrashed and kept up momentum.

WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

Then he spoke. We had all heard that silent voice in our heads before. It was like hearing the most terrible curses. It was pure malice and hatred poured directly into our brains.

"l am coming for you, brave Andalite warriors," Visser Three sneered. "l am coming for you."

That voice churned my insides. I felt my own hatred flaring up to match his. The images Ax had painted - an Earth brown and empty and filled with nothing but the slaves of the Yeerks. .

. .

I had lived my entire life without feeling hatred. It is a sickening feeling. It burns and burns, and sometimes you think it's a fire that will never go out.

"l am coming for you. You will be mine. Shall I make you Controllers? Or shall I simply eat you? The time for me to decide draws near. You weaken. Your time runs short." WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP.

We had all been exposed to Visser Three. Ax had not. He seemed to shudder, even in his shark body. The dead shark eyes showed no emotion, but his swimming became erratic.

"Ax," I said to him. He did not answer. "Ax, we have heard his voice before. We've heard his threats. And we are still alive."

"He will kill us," Ax said. "He will kill us! He killed Elfangor!"

"Ax, hang in there. Don't answer him. Don't think about him. Just swim!" But Ax's fear was catching. He was right. We didn't have enough time to make it to land without being trapped in our dolphin bodies. And we would never escape him, anyway. I glanced back.

73 He was only five body lengths away!

I demanded still more from my burning muscles, but there was nothing more to ask.

This is the end, Cassie, I told myself. This is the end.

I felt the terrible hatred surge in me again. But I didn't want to end my life that way. I would not die with hate in my heart. That would be one victory I could deny Visser Three.