<We don't know. Since they intercepted communications between Mhalir and you we think they must have control of communications on the Pool ship, possibly with aid from the unknown ship that jumped to this system before the coup and that has not made contact yet. - it's possible that the Yeerks figured out how to feign a hyperspace jump signature to set up the coup, though I do not know how that could be done, or it is possible that the coup was opportunistic - or prepared for the next such opportunity, anyway. The Pool ship jumped out of normal space with our permission after the new ship's arrival and I am now worried it is fleeing towards the nearest Yeerk-controlled space. We are faster than it, though; we can try to go track it down.>

...Nod. Leareth thinks for a moment, his mind racing through various possibilities. And catching on some earlier ones. :- Yfandes is alive too?: If not then Van is - not going to be very functional. 

<Yes. She wasn't in the building and ran farther away when she sensed trouble. She is here now.>

:Good: Deep breath. (It feels so good to be able to take deep breaths again.) :What is our plan next: 

<We need to track down the Pool ship. I do not want all of us leaving this system on what might be a weeklong chase while there's a new ship in the system and we haven't secured the situation on Earth.> Tail-lash. <We have too many irreplaceable people right now and I don't like it. This falls apart if Mhalir dies, it falls apart if I die, it might fall apart if you die depending how fast you come back...>

Leareth grits his teeth. :Not fast enough. Weeks to months, I would come back in a - young body, somewhere random in Velgarth, and - I do not even keep all of my memories, I usually need months to get back up to speed: 

<Maybe we could hold things together for months. It might depend on whether the Yeerks really won at Anati.> Tail-lash. <I think we need to set up a much more secure operations base on Earth very fast and then send this ship after the Pool ship. Ideally it would have none of us on it, just a team that can take the Pool ship, but I'm worried that will require you, we probably want to Gate to it if we want to take it without destroying it.>

:That makes sense. I have not been to it before, which makes a Gate harder, but - I suppose Mhalir has: Deep breath. :I could try to obtain the memory of it from him clearly enough that I do not actually need him in my head for the Gate. It - seems suboptimal to risk both of us at once: 

<Yes. If Amanda has been to the Pool ship you could get the memory without letting him in your head again, even, but I do not know if she has.>

:I can check: He reaches for Mhalir in his fishbowl with Mindspeech. :Have you been to the Pool ship since switching to Amanda as a host: 

<Yes. Once.> 

Leareth passes this on to Matirin. 

<So perhaps the best thing to do is to leave you the ship with whatever resources you think you'd need to seize it, and you can get a memory off Amanda and then Gate to the Pool ship and take it. Mhalir and I can return to a shielded base on Earth and try to hold things together for the next week until you return.>

Leareth nods. He - doesn't like it, but he doesn't like anything about the situation right now, so he can't really be fussy there. 

Also he still feels unsteady, and - like his insides are jagged, the brittle-glass feeling is back except that this time it's as though he woke with shattered fragments of it already strewn around in his head, and he's trying to reassemble the pieces but it hurts. 

Focus. Think. :I believe that taking two dozen mages and Nayoki, plus some Healers just in case they are needed, and some Andalites to actually pilot this ship...: Deep breath. :I - think I need a little while. Not very long, but - waking up like that with Mhalir in my head was somewhat traumatic and I feel shaken from it: 

<Of course. I know - what an awful thing it is. Do you want to pet Yfandes, she is around somewhere.>

:Maybe: He still feels like he barely knows Yfandes, though, he knows Vanyel but that's different. :I - can you hug me again. I know Andalites do not normally do that but it - helped - last time...: And it means a lot more, right, from the person who just gave him morph so that he wouldn't die. 

<Yes, of course.> He can head over and do that.

The Andalite body plan is slightly awkward for hugging, but Matirin is soft and warm and - and clever and someone who will fight so hard for Leareth, because they're allies, because Leareth being around to achieve his goals helps Matirin achieve his. 

Leareth isn't crying but he is shaking, his breath unsteady. 

:Thank you. For - saving my life - I know you will have to deal with ramifications for that...: 

Hug. <Let's just focus on living long enough for me to have to defend my actions to my command.>

:Yes: Leareth is shaking less and feels a little more like it's safe to relax and won't result in his insides falling out or something. Now, instead, he just feels so incredibly tired. He can keep acting, keep making the smartest decision in front of him and struggling to get on top of a situation that keeps shifting under his feet, but it feels so uphill. And - some part of him doesn't want to go on this mission without Matirin, even though that's really stupid. 

Hug. <I might leave Cayaldwin on the ship with you so he can keep doing research with you on morphing Gifts, which would be more urgent to figure out, now.>

:That makes sense. I - might be able to Gate him out if it looks as though we will have a fight on our hands: He frowns. :- Does morphing and demorphing let you fix tiredness the way it does injuries? Or not because morphing is tiring in itself?:

<It does not because morphing is tiring in itself. Some people find morphing remarkably un-tiring and they might be able to get a net benefit out of it but most people find morphing quite exhausting.>

:Fascinating. I wonder what determines the difference there? If it is a matter of technique I could practice. I also wonder if it might be tiring in the normal way, but nonetheless benefit Gift-reserves in particular... I should experiment: He leans into Matirin's arms. :I think I should acquire some useful morphs before I go. If that is feasible. My thought is that I should acquire both Amanda and Mhalir, in case it ends up being useful to impersonate Mhalir either inside or outside his host: 

<That makes sense.> There is a little distaste in his mind-voice but only a little. <Also probably an Andalite, in case you ever need to have enough legs.> That part is teasing.