Ehruf regards Reli's shock at his morph time. <It's hardly surprising that your time in that form is so limited. The Kelbrid have long told us of the Andalite assasin, Escafil, who entered Kelbrid space and stole Kelbrid Morphing technology in an attempt to assasinate Him. It's the entire reason the Kelbrid went to war with the Andalites. We had always been told the Kelbrid wiped you out.> He looks at Reli, <But that was clearly a lie. It was always on the posters on the Mining Worlds. Slaves would be constantly asked "Do you know who your fellow slaves are? Could be the Andalite tyrants in morph. Rewards for Slaves who alert the Shapers to suspicious activities."> Ehruf seems to boil in hatred at the memory.
He turns, looking at Ayrow, still brooding and glaring. <Do not mind Ayrow,> He says to Reli, privately, <He's always been that way. He lost a lot to the Kelbrid. He and I are all that's left. Even though he is not truly a Pemalite, he is sti-> Ehruf catches himself, <Never mind.>
I turn to Mesa. I never aquired a Ke sensetive Leeran, I say, I was born a Ke sensetive Leeran. The problem is I just couldn't get over... I spin my tentecle clockwise in the air, a human action when trying to look for the right word, The noise... The Ke aura of the people around me just made it that much worse. I could never tell what thoughts were mine. I felt more like a collective entity than an individual Leeran.
I keep thinking back to Leera, the oceans, the islands. The noise.
My family, they wanted to re-introduce me to Leeran life. Memory erasure and a Restart of Personality. So I swam away. During that time I cam across information on humans. Their concepts of lying and secrets. I wanted to be unique, like no other Leeran. I wanted to be able to keep secrets and, after some years, I could. And I did. But it took too much strain. I couldn't keep it up day after day, so I swam away again, to earth, where I could be more human. That how I met Tiberi, just after his trial and exile on Leera.
I look at everyone evenly. I owe him everything. My ability to morph in order to silence the thoughts of those around me. His friendship, my lifestyle. He only ever asked of two things in return. That I never lie to him and, when the time comes, that I remain completely honest to all of you. He used to tell me that secrets were only sometimes necessary, but trust was infinitely more important.
Jim finally steps into the pod, resting his back against the interior. "I'm ready to go to sleep now."
