Notes:

--Rewritten for easier digestion. :3

--…I can't figure out how to get the brackets to work anymore, so now thought-speech is encased in (parentheses). Yay.

--This is especially dedicated to Mysti, who totally brightened up my day after I read her review and made me realize that I still had this fanfiction alive and unfinished. Thank you very, very much!

--...unfortunately, it's been FOREVER since I've been writing this, much less reading the books – so if anyone sees any inconsistencies within the fic itself or related to Applegate's works, please don't hesitate to point them out. Thanks!

The Hybrid Project

Chapter 14

Jake

By Aura Kage

"Bring them down," the blue-banded Gyuren instructed gruffly, motioning to the ground that had been earlier broken when we had emerged from the world of the moles. As the Gyuren moved forward, with us grasped firmly in grubby fingers and held about two inches off the ground, the blue-band added, "Keep your footing even and don't hurt them, either."

Well, at least he doesn't want to hurt us. That's a good sign, right?

The Gyuren obliged, carefully moving their claws so they were positioned completely linear from their hands, far away from us. One by one we were brought back down into those dark tunnels, and I suppressed a yelp as the Gyuren that had custody of me hopped into the hole with the ease of a big cat and the sensation of falling caught me off guard.

Anku was last – the blue-band himself enlarged the hole in the ground for her, somehow keeping the sand from filling up the hole as the Gyuren that held her tail blade rudely shoved her in. Blue-Band hissed at him reprovingly, and the Gyuren gave something of a whimper and held his head in embarrassment.

Okay…that was strange. How come I had been able to understand Blue-Band earlier, but not when he had been chastising the Gyuren? In fact, how could Blue-Band speak coherently in the first place? No one on this planet should be able to speak English unless they had had contact with humans somehow…

A cold thought struck me. Of course – the Yeerks, the ones who had escaped, had some here. What if…what if we had finally been caught, and these were the Yeerks in morph?

But no – they would have killed us outright, not made an effort to keep from injuring us.

The Gyuren led us through the maze of their small tunnels, and again I tried to memorize the path and gave up just a few minutes after we started. I could hardly see anything anyway…and if we managed somehow to break away from the Gyuren, we could easily go bat and escape.

But – no, not we. Menderash had no such ability to turn into a bat, and I wasn't sure about Anku…she would probably have a morph that could see in the dark, but I probably couldn't trust more about it. And after Cassie's outburst, I'd have to be a little bit more careful about how I treated our new Andalite friend…

God, she must have been really ticked by what she saw. But knowing Cassie…and knowing what she had witnessed…I guess I would have been that angry too.

I guess.

Blue-Band finally stopped and turned around, lifting a hand to signal the Gyuren holding us to stop. He spoke again, and I strained to hear anything of groan in his voice, but there was nothing.

"Stop. Everything will be revealed in a few moments, if you will please respect our customs and keep good behavior here."

"What, no making out?" Marco, of course. Several glares went in his direction, including Blue-Band's, and he resumed speaking in a lower, more tolerant voice.

"I would advise that you don't," he said curtly, turning back behind him. I realized now that the tunnel had long since faded away – well, at least, the dirt in the tunnel. Now the sides and ceiling of the cave were paved with a smooth, formless but sharp-edged tessellation that melted into a thick bar that curved from the bottom of the cave and arced over the mouth.

In the room past the door, something gleamed a very mystical, very…eye-smarting lavender.

It was so…familiar. Something about it that made my insides shiver; I looked to Cassie, but her eyes were closed, feeling it out, brow furrowed. Her eyes opened, and she looked back. Did she feel it too?

"This is the Chamber of the Glyph, a sacred place to us," Blue-Band whispered as he walked into the room, beckoning the Gyuren holding us captive to follow. "Just as I would not disturb your beliefs, you must not disturb our own. Keep your tongue quiet of its insults, human."

Marco opened his mouth to give another smart reply, and Blue-Band watched him expectantly. Then he closed his mouth and nodded, giving a slight shrug.

The Gyuren nodded himself, and then proceeded further into the room, where the source of the emanating glow was revealed.

A massive purple crystal hovered in midair, between two short cylinders in the ceiling and floor that crackled occasionally with what looked to be violet electricity. The whole place was paved in the glow, the soft aura of tranquillity and sense of one-ness, of spirituality – all at once it seemed that all my troubles had faded, been pushed to the back of my mind, where I felt they would never be uncovered again. I sighed in relief and bliss, my dimmer logical thoughts wondering how stupid my action had seemed, but then I realized that all of those that had entered had given some sign of relaxation as well.

And then, Anku's demand, softened by the same dreaminess that had taken all of us: (Who are you?)

"I am Dawlarson," Blue-Band replied, approaching the floating gem at the far end of the room while we trailed behind. It was massive – it was probably the size of a Gyuren itself, which was easily a few inches over six feet. And it also looked wide – Cassie and I, positioned on opposite sides, could probably hug either side of it and never be able to touch fingers.

What had Dawlarson called it? A glyph? Or Glyph, capitalized?

"It, as you have probably noticed, emits a sense of peace," Dawlarson continued, stopping his swagger-like walk just before the floor cylinder, which rested on a sort of intricately decorated pedestal. He touched his hand against something, the claw retracted so that it almost touched against his cheek, and he pressed his hand down on a flat area. Immediately the glyph flickered, the light fading a bit, and the Gyuren that were holding us exchanged wary glances.

But then the light returned, and this time with a very distinct difference – the semi-flat front of the crystal had now been brought to life in hazy images, colored with something other than the purple that I had seen too much. Dawlarson closed his eyes and tilted his head back somewhat, and the images came to more clarity – and now I could see what they were depicting. It was a very clear picture of him and the rest of the Gyuren approaching our unwary group of human and Andalite, listening in to our conversation from afar, without us even noticing. They had then dived down and continued coming, silently, from underground…and that was how they had taken up by surprise.

"I do know that you mean no harm to us by our eavesdropping," Dawlarson murmured absently, lowering his head a little and halfway opening his eyes, so he looked sleepy. "You in fact had a plan to ally with us, using our loathing for the disreputable Aagraah – whom you call Kelbrid – as the point for your alliance."

He seemed to be waiting for an answer, so I gave it to him, being the leader and all. "Yeah, we were."

Dawlarson nodded and moved his hand over a bit, turning to the screen of the crystal and giving a great sigh of inarticulate emotions. "Yes, I know. But you, evil form-stealers, cannot be trusted by our kind. You own the same powers of the Aagraah, whom we despise for this fact, for we are all born into our bodies and they must be kept."

"We don't steal bodies," Santorelli argued. "We just take a sample of DNA – that's like the structure, a blue print of a body. And with the amount we take, that tiny amount, we don't hurt anyone."

"You," Dawlarson said, "have not been attacked by your own littermates. Your own dam and sire, your own self."

I frowned. "Don't be so sure."

He looked at me. His eyes were dark.

"So," Marco continued, clearing his throat and rubbing his hands together, "hate to break up all this deep reminiscing, but…the Kelbrid…the Aagraah. Obviously you don't like them, and we don't like them either – at least not right now – so let's just set our noses down to the grind, get it done, and get started home. I have deadlines to meet, you know."

"And just how, Marco," Cassie asked, with something very close to a sardonic tone, "do you plan to get home? Nose-grinding aside."

"Goodness, Cassie. Sarcasm?" Marco said with a sort of fake awe; but then his own sarcasm faded, and he frowned. "That's right. Dawlarson, you wouldn't happen to have a few ships capable of space-flight lying around, would you? You know, that we could use later, after we kick a few Kelbrid butts."

The strange deep stare again. "We were once equipped with such technology. But it was lost in the First Tragedy."

"It…what?" Marco said, shocked.

(Lost technology?) Anku echoed with similar confusion. (But was not this 'First Tragedy' the asteroid that struck this world ages ago? How could your species have adapted to the seasonal environmental changes without ages in which to acclimate? And how could it have not re-developed that lost technology within those ages?)

If Dawlarson was surprised that an alien knew this portion of his history, he didn't show it. "That was the Second Tragedy," he corrected.

(Please explain.)

"The Second Tragedy is as you describe. However, in the First Tragedy, a fragment of our original homeworld was broken away, and careened through space. The length of the interval in which the broken fragment traveled is unknown, but is assumed to be not very long. At any rate, this fragment soon collided into another planet, which is our current one."

"And you survived being flung through space," Santorelli said skeptically. "Without an atmosphere, without food, shelter. I mean, I'm no scientist, but…don't you need those things to survive?"

"You do," Menderash agreed, suspiciously. "Usually."

"What little we Gyuren required for survival were, luckily, on the fragment of planet," Dawlarson said, almost defensively. "Many of the number on the fragment did perish, but the strongest of us persevered."

"But it is clear that you cannot survive in extreme temperatures," Menderash pointed out, "or else you would not flee the seasonal changes underground. And despite what your homeworld's temperature was, being flung into space…"

"We do not flee the seasons," Dawlarson said. "But what we need for survival is embedded in the earth. Thus we inhabit the earth."

"And what you need for survival," Cassie said, catching on as quickly as she always did, "is that glyph. That Glyph."

The stare. "That is correct."

"You eat these crystals?" Jeanne said.

"No," Cassie said, her turn to correct now, "they gain nourishment just by being exposed to it."

"Radioactivity?" Jeanne said, straining for comprehension.

"No –"

(No –)

They had spoken at the same time. Cassie and Anku exchanged glances with their main eyes; Cassie smiled and waved her on to continue, and Anku did so.

(No. When a creature requires nourishment, it requires energy,) Ankulei explained, (which some, as you humans do, obtain via the physical breakdown and assimilation of certain elements into your body. However, some creatures can also obtain energy via pure exposure to an energy which they can assimilate directly and use to stimulate the function of internal organs and…so forth.)

"Somehow that sounds familiar," Marco said, hand to chin thoughtfully.

Yeah…it really did. But where…

"But you said that your technology was lost in the First Tragedy, not the Second," Menderash said. "If that's so, then you should have had more time to re-develop your technology."

"Unless you couldn't re-develop the technology of spaceflight," Cassie said slowly, "because you never developed it in the first place."

Dawlarson was silent. Anku and Menderash started – but they were too startled to say anything.

"It's true, isn't it?" Cassie said, shocked - but was it because she had actually guessed the truth, or because of the truth itself? "I can't believe it. You…the technology of spaceflight was given to you."

Marco's mouth dropped.

And that was when even I got it.

"You – the Gyuren – you're offset from the Gedd! And this – this Glyph – it's your kandrona!"

"The Gedd?" Jeanne echoed.

"Kandrona?" Santorelli echoed. "You mean like kandrona rays? But that's what the Yeerks…"

"Yeah," Marco said, "the Yeerks. All of you mole-guys, you…you evolved, or something, from the Gedd, when you got fragmented off your homeplanet. And you lost all of the – what was it called, the see – see –"

(Seerow's Kindness.)

"Seerow's Kindness," Marco agreed. "You lost it. And all of you guys are infested with Yeerks, and these Glyphs – are your kandrona. Oh my God."

"If this is true," Jeanne said hotly, "and you are Yeerks – then how dare you accuse us of stealing bodies?"

"I have no idea," Dawlarson said, "what you are talking about."

"What do you mean, no idea?" Santorelli demanded. "Yeerks? Little slugs in your ear? They need kandrona rays to survive – just like you."

"I do not understand."

"The Gedd changed," Cassie pointed out. "They grew…nails. And their legs seem to have evened out. It's possible that the Yeerks somehow…evolved into them, or maybe…"

"It does not matter," Dawlarson said with irritation. "The history and biology of my race is not what matters here. What does matter is its future. You mentioned working together. We are willing to do this. As you are, still?"

No, not irritation. Not an irritated voice…a desperate one.

We weren't killed immediately because our help was needed.

Which meant that we had the advantage of negotiations.

"Yes," I agreed quickly, "yes, we are. But without space-flight…"

"Well, wait," Marco said. "You sure our big blue buddy isn't just going to 'Scottie, beam us up' when we're all done with this?"

(I was given no such impression,) Anku admitted, when attentions shifted to her, (and had rather entertained the hope that there would be someone with ready transportation already available.)

"Maybe he only neglected to mention it?" Jeanne suggested.

"Nevermind it," I said. "We can't trust in the Ellimist anyway. Look, in order for us to help you, you need to give us a way to get back home. Don't the Kelbrid have anything?"

Dawlarson hesitated. "Not that we know of."

"Do the Gyuren have anything? Any failed projects?" Maybe Menderash or Anku could fix them up. Maybe…

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Jake," Cassie interrupted. "It's unfair. It's obvious they don't have any technology. We already established that."

"But Cassie" – I hesitated; I didn't want to argue in front of the Gyuren. It was never good to show group disagreement, but she looked like she was going to argue about it. "We can't just agree to do something like this without getting anything in return."

Couldn't she see that they were desperate?

"Can't you see," Cassie demanded furiously, "that they're desperate? God, Jake! If you needed a biscuit for everything that you did –"

"It's not about rewards, Cassie, it's about fair trade. It's about leverage. We need to secure a way back home – for whatever reason, they need our help. I just need to make sure that we get a way for us to get what we need."

"Well, what we need isn't just going to suddenly materialize just because you keep asking for it!"

"Alright! Fine! God, Cassie, when did you get so –"

I stopped. Oh, no.

Marco chuckled. "Oh, no. Top list of things you should never say to a girl. Didn't you read my book?"

"Get so what?" Cassie demanded, ignoring him. "Get so what, Jake?"

I turned away. "Dawlarson, we're tired. Maybe we can discuss this later."

"Yes," he agreed. "There are certain chambers you may use for rest. You will be guided to them."

He spoke to the Blue-banded Gyuren behind us; and, without further word, we followed. Without further word.