Vanyel nods along. "We can get all of that under Truth Spell. Which won't prevent him changing his mind, but - going by the questions before, I'm more confident in my read of him. I think he's - straightforward, in a way, he's ruthless but he doesn't hide that fact. I think he'll tell you upfront what he is or isn't willing to do and stick to it, and he'll tell you if he decides to switch sides." Vanyel rubs his chin. "Out of curiosity, what are the Andalite rules for the treatment of civilians and enemies, there? If Valdemar sends me then I'll need to know too." 

<It is nearly impossible to fight Yeerks without collateral damage, as they are typically all infesting innocent people, but we are instructed to minimize it, and of course where it can somehow be avoided that is better. We do not have the resources to take Yeerks prisoner or keep them alive outside their hosts but should, where possible, try to accept a surrender from other enemies. In any context where the potential for honest negotiation has not already been fatally undermined by the actions of the other side, we are obliged to preserve it, by giving our word only cautiously, and keeping it when we do, and avoiding wherever possible not just actions that violate a negotiated agreement but also actions that could be mistaken for doing so. Prisoners must be well-treated, by the standards of their society whatever those are as well as ours. - I can pull up Earth's standards as of thirty years ago but they may have changed them.

The - contingency plan you were informed of - violates our laws. Any Andalite who took part in it, if they survived, would face a war crimes trial when they were returned home. I would not expect our government to regard itself as having any jurisdiction over humans who failed to prevent it or something.>

:That makes sense: It also sounds like another sad, awful situation - doesn't seem fair to the Andalites who might end up choosing between a war crimes trial or leaving the Yeerks with the resources to conquer the rest of the galaxy. 

He pulls up Earth's standards for laws of war and treatment of prisoners as of thirty years ago, tells the computer to attempt a translation into what it knows of Valdemaran. <This will probably not be very readable because there is so little available data about your language, but maybe it will be more useful than nothing.>

:Thank you, I appreciate it: 

Vanyel is happy to, for the rest of that afternoon, help draft some terms for Leareth, and offer his magic to the engineers rebuilding the ship and the Andalites experimenting with morphing Gifted people. 

- oh, and do they still want Sandra? Savil now has the whole ship covered in very thorough shielding, and if they give her a shuttle ride back to Haven she can trade off. 

They do! They will send the shuttle off to Haven with Savil so they can get Sandra instead.

Herald-Mage Sandra is a tall thin woman with short dark hair and visible scars around her throat. She gets a quick update from Vanyel and then demonstrates some of what she can do better than him - mostly, she has a lot of practice partially-melting and reshaping metals and glass, since she makes all of her own equipment. If they need replacement parts that are just some kind of metal, even one with complicated internal structure, there are half a dozen metals she knows how to extract from ore using magic, and she can copy an existing part or an engineer's drawing to a very fine level of precision. 

That's really useful! They have an object that prints machine parts and it's working full-bore but maybe some of the things in its queue could instead be done with magic, and it can't repair parts at all, just make new ones, while some are only a little bit melted. 

They sit down with their diagrams and figure out where she's needed most. They are so impressed and appreciative.

Sandra is delighted to help repair parts that are only a bit damaged, then, if that'll save time and duplication of effort for the printing-machine. (She is so awed by the printing-machine.)

Vanyel will direct his efforts mostly to helping disassemble and reassemble equipment with Fetching then. 

At the end of what feels like a pretty long day but not quite as long as yesterday, they have most of an agreement to propose to Leareth laid out, significant ship-repair progress has been made although there's a lot still ahead, and Vanyel beds down again in his floor-padded conference room and hopes to sleep better tonight. 

This is, unfortunately, not to be. 

<Van?> 

Vanyel jolts awake, or partway there, wrenched up from a deep sleep. He's so confused. Mardic isn't here. 

<What?> 

Mardic isn't here, he's over three hundred miles away, and he can barely manage the communication-spell at that distance so it'll have to be short. <Emergency. Highjorune. Need you> 

Hellfires. Goddamnit. Vanyel adds several more swearwords to the heap as he sits up. 

<Coming> 

...The question is how to get there. He's not at Forst Reach anymore. He can't Gate, he'll be incapable of fighting afterward if fighting is needed, and besides he's never been to Highjorune. Savil hasn't either and also she's back in Haven and out of Mindspeech range. 

Yfandes, shaken awake as well by Vanyel's distress, is several steps ahead of him. 

:Matirin: she sends, sharply. :Matirin, wake up - I'm really sorry - we need your help: 

- he startles awake instantly. <What>

:We just got contact from some Heralds sent undercover to another kingdom which is having political instability. Emergency, don't know what yet, but they want Van specifically so it's bad. Can you get Van over there if he gives you the location on a map: 

<We can do that.> Tail-swish. <Not Leareth's kingdom?>

:No, gods. This is Lineas, it's a tiny place west of Valdemar. Three hundred miles from here, give or take: 

<Are you ready to leave now?>

:Yes: 

Vanyel is already on his way over to them, blinking and rubbing his eyes but most of the way awake. 

One of the guards who was awake for this shift can pilot the shuttle. 

And Vanyel can direct them, using Farsight to skim the land below and check that they're on track.

He shields the shuttle from Thoughtsensing as they descend, just in case. 

:All right, um, can you land and wait five minutes so I can figure out what's going on and whether my colleagues need to be extracted from here?: 

The Andalite can do that.