trans_9 | Disturbance At The Tree

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Disturbance At The Tree

It had taken some doing to convince Ax not to immediately hunt down Prince Jake's older brother and bludgeon him unconscious when Tobias told him that he was awake and infested on board. But once Tobias had managed it, Ax insisted that Elfangor be brought into their conspiracy. Not that he doubted Marco's ability to trick the Controller of course, but someone on the Command Staff should know.

He'd sent a locked and encrypted message to Elfangor over the comms, asking him to meet them at the Garibah tree. He trusted that his brother would realize that the matter was important based simply on that.

Ax shifted his weight nervously, his stalk-eyes scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary, though Tobias would probably spot an attack first.

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< Yes, I agree. > said Tobias. < And yeah, this will be a lot easier. > Tobias knew what Ax was talking about, but he had a feeling the Andalite was trying not to let on about it to Elfangor.

< You're being careful, aren't you? I don't know how he'd react either if we told him about Jake > he said privately to Ax.

< Not many of them. Although things did get heated before. > he said in reply to Ax's comment about getting rid of the Yeerk.

< It's Stacy that worries me. She doesn't like fighting between crew members...I really hope she won't consider the yeerk a crew member and try to protect it. >

< ...what do you mean he doesn't have the ability to morph? > Elfangor asked. There had been a cut off. If it had been Visser Three, there would be no cut off.

< Just the Command Staff for the moment. We may not have to mention the Yeerk at all to the crew as a whole depending on how things go, > Elfangor said.

Elfangor paused for a moment and there was a slight sag in his shoulders. < She does. The fact she defended him proves it. >

Ax focused on keeping his racing thoughts from showing in his body language. To tell Elfangor about Prince Jake's infestation, or to tell him about the Yeerks obtaining the Escafil device? Or to do the unthinkable and lie to Elfangor? He knew he was capable of lying to a superior officer, as he had when Estrid and her party had come to Earth, but to lie to Elfangor? Unthinkable.

< He doesn't have the ability to morph, > Ax said carefully, focusing his main eyes on a point just above Elfangor's own. < What I was recalling isn't really relevant at the moment. > Hopefully, Elfangor would accept that, and not order an explanation out of him.

< I'm sure that Marco would request that we involve as few people as possible, > he continued on the next topic. < If only because the more times we have to explain it, the more opportunities the Yeerks have to overhear. And if Stacy will defend him, then we just need to find a place where her anti-violence protocols can't reach us; or render him unconscious with a single blow and accept the Violation. >

And finally Loren had found them. "Hey, I'm sorry if I messed everything up." Loren walked beside Elfangor and put one arm around him- because at the moment, she really needed it.

Ax was taking a cautious approach, not telling Elfangor about the Jake incident. Tobias couldn't say he blamed Ax, really.

< Yeah, that figures...I remember that. What I'm most afraid of is, her trying to keep the yeerk alive he's wherever we stash hi somehow. I'm not sure how that would work, though. >

< Hi, mom > Tobias said, looking up as Loren came in.

< What happened? > he asked. Her tone and expression worried him.

"I ran into Tom, or rather the Yeerk inside Tom. I can't believe Stacy defended that-" She had to cut herself off before she said something she shouldn't say in front of her son.

Elfangor ALMOST asked about what Ax was talking about, what wasn't relevant, but then Loren arrived. His eye stalks were already scanning her for any injury, an arm moving around her shoulder to comfort her.

< Then Stacy definitely protected the Yeerk. Which means she sees him as crew, > Elfangor said. < We will have to tell the highest of the command, though no necessarily all of it. Just those with the most power. I'm hesitant to say just Kirk as that might put him in a tight spot, so we at least need a few others. I'm sure they'll agree the host should be freed and if the Yeerk surrenders and relinquishes that control, we can't kill him. Stacy may even allow us to do that, since then we don't kill either one. >

Loren seemed to be distracting Elfangor from Ax's slip. Ax had never felt more favorably inclined to her.

< Who in particular should we tell? > he asked, pressing onward before they could back-track. < But we should hold him in a place that we could keep him for three days, in case he doesn't surrender. Then we can give him the option. >

Tobias listened, wondering the same thing. He wasn't totally sure who they could trust or who was the best to tell. Heck, with so many people on the ship, it was hard just to keep track of who was who. Plus, they had to be careful who they told, or they'd have another riot like they had before.

< I don't like it either > he said, agreeing with his mom.

< I have my doubts about whether he'll surrender, but I'm willing to try it. And yes, I agree with Ax that we should hold him somewhere just in case.>

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Disturbance At The Tree

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