It's too much to absorb right now, what Vanyel really wants is about a week in a quiet room where no one is trying to talk to him and he can think, but - there's an emergency here, it might be very time-sensitive, and - gods, five billion people at risk... 

:Do you need help?: 

Matirin decides he likes humans significantly better than he did five minutes ago. <It would be useful to get an explanation of how you found us and what capabilities people on this planet possess. We can use that to figure out whether there's a significant chance there are Yeerks here undetected.>

Vanyel spends twenty seconds or so considering whether 'telling the aliens everything' is in fact the kind of decision he can reasonably make on his own without consulting Randi. 

:I have a request: he says. :We have truth magic and I - want to cast a first-level Truth Spell and ask you some questions. It's not the version that will force you to answer if you prefer not to, it'll just show me that you're being honest: Or not. 

<You may do that.>

Vanyel does so. 

:I suppose my main question is, what's your intent toward us? Are you going to tell us honestly what your plans are and work cooperatively, if we're offering that?: 

He pauses, <I intend to figure out whether there are Yeerks here and whether they have heard of this place, and then how to use its resources to get out of here and to where we're needed for the war, and hopefully better able to win it. I don't want to hurt anyone here. There is a great deal I cannot tell you because doing so would be prohibited by our laws, and many plans I would not intend to widely share because this would make them more vulnerable to interference or endanger the people working on them but I am not obliged to give you any misinformation, and will try not to. Andalites do not seek to rule other people and believe it is better when they rule themselves. We have not to our knowledge caused lasting harm to any of your people since we arrived here though we have used weapons that cause them to fall temporarily asleep in a few cases.>

Vanyel nods. :I get operational security concerns, that's fine. Er, why do you have laws prohibiting you from telling us things?: 

<When we met the Yeerks they were a peaceful people living on one planet, taking weak local creatures as hosts. We - wanted to help. We taught them - everything we knew, how to build ships like these, how to travel between the stars with them. We developed new technology for them, which would allow them to survive away from their sun, which they otherwise rely on for nourishment. And - they arranged a surprise attack, murdered thousands of people, and spread out to become a scourge upon the galaxy that has consumed eight worlds so far. We worry that - giving a civilization the means to travel the stars can be a great wrong to the rest of the galaxy, and is something to give great consideration.>

:- Oh, gods. That's - awful...: In the back of his mind Vanyel is wondering if this is actually a good argument against helping in other cases - wondering how much better this 'Earth' is, what would Leareth think here, but he's currently too stunned and upset to even start poking at it. 

<I want humanity to get their chance to reach the stars. But I don't want to do it wrong and it can't be undone.>

:That makes sense: Though Vanyel is already wondering how close a look Leareth would actually need at their technology in order to reinvent it within five years - gods, and whether he's already had that close look, they landed in the north, he might have - 

- actually he should just ask. :Did you by any chance run into a man called Leareth: 

<Is that the name of the ruler of the land north of your mountains.>

:I don't know anything about what's north of there except that he's in charge of it. We, um. Have a shared lucid dream where we talk to each other. He was planning to conquer Valdemar for some reason and I guess I've been trying to talk him out of it for the past decade: 

<Huh. A man who gave that name kidnapped one of our scouts to speak to him, offered to help us with the war on Earth in exchange for teaching him our technology, and then released him to convey this to me. I cannot accept his terms, as much as we are desperate for help on Earth. This rule is somewhat validated by learning that he is planning conquest here.>

...Oh, Leareth has totally gotten a close enough look at their technology to make some strides on replicating it. Vanyel doesn't know what to do about this, though, and also isn't sure how far he trusts this alien who he's just met, whose people somehow managed to horribly screw up contact with the Yeerks and have now swung far in the opposite direction. He doesn't mention it. 

:He wants to fix all the problems in the world: Vanyel says instead. :Or at least that's what he says, but...I lean toward believing him. He's, um, immortal, he's been doing this for at least a thousand years and maybe longer - he's written all sorts of books, made a ton of advances in magic and others things like economics. He claims he can run Valdemar better, which might actually be true. Doesn't mean he's right to do it, I'm probably going to end up fighting him. But...you should know that: 

<That is very good to know. Fixing all of the problems in the world is...harder than it seems at first and even second and third glance, but it's a better motive than most. Should we be concerned that if we outright refuse his offer he will just kidnap us and try to force us to teach him?>

:Er, he might do that. But - as far as I can tell he keeps his promises, and I bet I'll have the dream with him soon, I can ask him nicely not to do that. And - gods, I expect he's not any happier about your horrible war than I am and he wouldn't want to delay you getting back to fight it: Shrug. :Maybe take precautions, though. Can you send some of your people elsewhere? We have space in Valdemar and he won't be able to kidnap people from there without a huge fuss, we have a ward system that detects all magic use: 

<We can relocate to Valdemar as soon as we are sure there are not any Yeerks in this world. If they are, they would almost certainly learn of that, and if they captured our ship or any of our persons that would be devastating for the war effort. The reason we initially expected Yeerks were because we thought we were on Earth, and certainly the overwhelming majority of inhabited planets do not have an ongoing Yeerk infestation, so I consider it unlikely, but I do want to try to give it a bit more thought. Yeerks traditionally proceed by seizing the aides to the leaders of countries, and from there the leaders, who can then order their staff and soldiers to travel to a location where they can conveniently be infested. Could that process be ongoing in Valdemar or any of your neighbors, or would your mindreading make it impossible to fail to detect?>

:Everyone in Valdemar's leadership is bonded to a Companion, like Yfandes - you'd have to get both of them, and the Companions are all Thoughtsensers and are constantly talking to each other. I think it'd be very hard to do. It's...not impossible they could get someone into the Council, but the Council alone can't overrule the Heralds, and I would have noticed if they were pushing any different policies lately: 

<Is that true in other countries as well?>

:No. - Gods, it's not impossible they could be in Karse, I think they have fewer Mind-Gifted people than us and they don't have anything like the Heralds or Companions. Most places would be easier to get into than Valdemar: 

<And they started a war with you recently? Was that unexpected? Have they had surprisingly good coordination or weaponry in the course of it?>

:War started almost four years ago. It was - somewhat but not that unexpected? There'd been a treaty signed with our previous Queen but they attacked as soon as she died, clearly had been waiting for an excuse, we'd been on more tense diplomatic terms for a decade. They, er, had more mages than we'd realized and...more ruthless ones...but not really better weaponry or tactics otherwise. We're solidly winning at this point: 

<That does not fit very well with the things I would expect if there were Yeerk involvement. Who are your other neighbors?>

:East is Hardorn, southwest is Rethwellan, west is–: Pause. :The Tayledras would be really safe, I think. They're nearly all Thoughtsensers and they do concert-work all the time, so they're in and out of each other's heads constantly, and they're hard to get to - they usually kill intruders. They're, er, people who live in small clans in the Pelagirs damaged lands and have a pact with their Goddess to cleanse them and keep outsiders away. I have friends there. They might agree to help: