PART ONE
The Capture
CHAPTER I
"All right, so, we know that the Yeerks are planning to use a public charity show or something to pass themselves onto involuntary hosts…but how?"
"I don't know. There's a meeting of 'The Sharing' today. Tom's going." Jake shook his head.
I felt dread. There were many times I felt like we could not complete a mission and fail and the end result would not be pretty. We were lucky to ever come out alive. But we were confused with this mission. We were on a mission to save people from becoming hosts, but we had no idea what the mission was. We had to infiltrate "The Sharing" meeting and spy on them, but the meeting was being held at the Beach and "The Sharing" had made specific instructions that NO TRESPASSERS were allowed and they had posted guards. Correction: YEERK guards.
"Well, let's go one step at a time." Jake paused. Waiting for the effect to take place. Nothing happened. He went on, "First, we need to figure out a way in. Seagulls aren't nocturnal and no other birds hang around the Beach, so forget about flying in." He thought for a moment, "No, on second thought, we'll go as flies."
Great, my favorite morph. People say I have talent for morphing, but the fly? How could you make a fly beautiful?
"Me, Cassie, and Tobias'll go in as flies. Marco? Rachel? Ax? You guys get in battle morph in case we need you guys, alright?" Jake smiled, "Meeting adjourned." He winked at me.
We went home.
Jake called about 2 hours later. " 'Houston, we have a problem.' Tom just invited me to 'The Sharing'. He won't give up this time. What'll I do? He insists upon my going there, because he says Chapman's willing to accept me into the inner ring immediately. Uh-oh. What if they know? What if he knows?"
Jake's never this worried. I tried to act calm myself. "Jake, calm down. Remember? Tom always insists and he always loses the argument. Has he convinced your parents yet?"
"Well, no, but—"
"Well, then, it's settled. You should have no problems."
BIG mistake. Jake didn't show up at school the next day. The meeting was on Saturday, what could possible be holding him up? He called in sick, but I very much doubted that. I went right over after school. I knocked on the door. "Who's there?"
"Um, Tom, this is Cassie, could I please see Jake?"
"Oh, uh…mm…sure. Come on in. He, uh, has a fever, so he's really weak."
"Alright, I promise not to bite." Tom just smiled. The smile wasn't good.
I walked into his room. "Jake?"
The minute he saw me he mouthed the word "no", but it was too late.
CHAPTER IIJake.
Cassie had just walked into a trap. And I had caused it, no, correction, Tom had invited her in. He had been hoping for Rachel. I was guessing he had wanted to be promoted or something. I guess the system works that however many hosts you bring in, you get promoted and also, if you catch the so-called "Andalite bandits", you get higher points or something with the Yeerk Council. Well, Cassie had walked into a trap since Tom had called Rachel earlier and she had declined his invitation. Me, being his brother, I guess I was considered an immediate member. Cassie saw me and she was shocked. She turned and Tom was there, right behind her, leering at her and staring with a strange sort of smirk on his face. I can assure you, it wasn't good.
Cassie screamed and pushed past him and ran, right out the door, while I lay in bed. I guess what she wanted to do was alert the other Animorphs, but of course, they wouldn't be stupid enough to trust Tom, but I had been "sick" today and the next person I expected to visit would probably be Marco or Tobias, maybe even Ax. But Rachel went flying with Tobias every day and she probably already warned him. So, one less item off my agenda—good. And Tobias was an immediate connection with Ax, they practically lived together. So they trust each other with anything. So, I only had to worry about Marco. I crossed my fingers and prayed—I never do that.
Please, Marco, don't come over. Actually, if I was all of a sudden very sick, I doubt anybody would fall for it, but Cassie and me, well, we have sort of a connection. Okay, I admit, there's some chemistry, magic, anything you have for the word "crush". But I doubt Cassie came over because she was a fool-in-love. She suspected something and probably wanted to find out about it, and talk to me about it, but she could not in the house. Tom would be there.
Tom interrupted my thoughts, "Jake, are you okay?" There was real concern showing in his face. The creases in the forehead, the worried look in his eyes. I felt the real Tom gazing out at me, but then his eyes became clouded and emotion showed no longer. "Why am I asking you that? Of course you are, you're my kid bro."
I'm sorry, but that's just plain wrong. We all have causes for wanting the Yeerks to lose this war. First and foremost, they would totally ruin our world. Number two was the most personal for everyone. Me? That should be obvious—Tom. Tobias—he's a hawk because of all this. Ax's bro was killed by Visser Three, so his is a little more personal. Marco wants them all dead because his mom was formerly Visser One, but still a Yeerk nonetheless. Cassie wanted peace in the world, but she didn't want her family possessed by some crazed alien "I wanna take over the universe" species. Rachel, for the same reason, but maybe a little more because Tom's her cousin and anyone who hurts her family should be hurt, too.
So, there you have it. "So, Jake, have you decided whether you want to go to the meeting? I mean, I think it should be really cool for you. Your principal is coming. He says you're the best hotshot he's seen in years. Hah-hah. And Melissa and Rachel are friends and Melissa would be happy to see you there." Nudge-nudge, hint-hint. But the truth was, I don't think Melissa was a Controller; the Yeerks had promised, but then there was the attempt with the cell phones and Yeerks going through the receiver end of the phone into the ear. The Yeerks could not be trusted. They'd kill you no matter what. Besides, Ax has developed a liking to her and Melissa hasn't had a boyfriend in the whole history of her life as far as I'm concerned. The phone rang. Tom picked up. "Yes, hold on, uh, Jimmy, I'll get the cordless." Great. He was attempting to cover up his phone conversation with his Yeerk leader. How pathetic, if only he knew. He came back. "Jake, they'll be holding a personal meeting tonight. They want you to come and meet and become a permanent partner." He smiled, but then I guess he looked a little bit too eager, so he added, "Come on, it'll be fun."
"Tom, it doesn't seem like the type of thing for me. I'm sorry—no offense or anything, but clubs are for sissies. And, uh, I'm not a sissy, like you." It was a poor attempt at a mock-ridicule-insult-joke.
"Yea, Jake, get beyond that. Cassie's not interested and since you follow her around like an eager puppy, why don't you get this point across—If she likes you so much, why hasn't she asked you out or anything?" There was a steely glint in his eyes.
If only you knew dear brother, if only you knew.
Before all the morphing and wars and infiltration and fighting—before all this, I had been a normal kid leading a normal life. Me and Tom used to play basketball, and I had idolized basketball and its leading man Michael Jordan. I liked his motto "I'm not gonna lose. I'm gonna go out, and I'm gonna win." That's what I have in my head every time we go out into battle. I want to be the ideal leader—anyway—then, the change came. The change in which girls and basketball didn't matter to Tom anymore. We didn't have those brother, man-to-man talks anymore. No more Jake & Tom, "THE brothers", just Jake…and Tom. I wanted to scream "What happened? Why aren't we friends anymore!" But of course, I didn't. And then, the Andalite cruiser decided to drop in. That night through the abandoned construction site, 5 kids, adolescents, juveniles, whatever, decided to take a shortcut home, and we discovered a VERY unholy truth—our world was being taken over by aliens. If it was all a joke, or hoax, then yea, we would've laughed in that idiot's face, but we were being told this by an alien, get this, a dying alien. He was Ax's brother, Elfangor.
Well, back to the story, Tom didn't give up, he just kept going at it. I guess his mind was made up: he'd tried too many times and failed, now, he wanted to succeed—in any way possible. I was a helpless human being as far as he was concerned and as far as I was concerned. I couldn't morph into a creature and tear him to shreds and disappear for a few days. I had to surrender. I was being taken in like a spider takes in its prey, except by my own brother. This was the Civil War of the world…and us humans were losing to our Human-Controller friends/relatives. The clock's digital numbers changed, and our grandfather clock by the staircase chimed seven o'clock. It was time for me to face my doom.
CHAPTER IIICassie.
I had to contact the others—fast. There wasn't any time to waste.
I called Rachel.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mrs. ———— . Is Rachel there?"
"Oh, yes, Cassie, of course, hold on a sec…"
Then the distant call of, "RACHEL!"
Then a distant answer, "Coming, Mom!"
"Rach, there's a phone call for you…from Cassie."
I knew Rachel too well…she probably made a face or asked "who is it?" before she would have actually taken the call. Yep, good old Rachel.
"Oh, hey, Cass, what's up? You know, Tom called earlier. I think he's interested in me." I guess her mom went away after that remark, but I knew what she was talking about.
"Yea, I know, I think he was interested in me, too."
"…"
"Hello?"
"Uh-oh, I'm thinking. Why are you calling again?"
A distant voice, "Rach, that isn't a very nice question."
A distant, "Sorry!" and then, to me, "No really, sorry, but, what's up?"
"Tom's force-I mean, inviting Jake into an early meeting of the Sharing…TONIGHT, at 7:30…it's ten till seven, we'd, uh, better hurry up…we wouldn't want to miss it for the-uh-world."
"Wait…do the others know?"
"No, but you fly to Tobias and tell him to get Ax…we're gonna hold a meeting there, um, first. I'll talk to Marco. Although, he's probably already figured it out."
"I doubt that. Hah-hah." I laughed too. Then we hung up. We act like we're not trying to tie up the phone line, but the truth is, we try to throw off suspicion. I called Marco, his response was a little different.
"Oh, man! We're definitely in deep trouble…"
"We're gonna hold a meeting in the forest, so be there."
"Wait, Cass—"
"What?"
"You know that he's a lot more important to me and you, but I need to say something to you, me and my dad are gonna go out for dinner in about five minutes. I can't make it. He's been cooking and he promised to take me out and I said I would go. Fill me in, on second thought, I'll call you. Bye."
Then he hung up. Great, if Marco could get out I'm sure he would, but I understood. This was his dad, and they had already lost Marco's mom, but Marco still had hope—she was alive. His dad didn't—he didn't know she was. So, according to Marco, he was "all his dad had left". I forgave him for this.
I changed and told my mom I'd be going to Rachel's house and Rachel probably told her mom vice versa. We'd been using that cover for a pretty long time and it seemed to work. I got there with my osprey morph. We all demorphed except for Tobias.
All right, so, what're we gonna do?
"I think we should all agree on an alternate leader for the time being."
Um, Rach, we don't have time for that.
"Cass?"
"Okay, this is what we do. Remember our first battle? I'm sure that's where the meeting would be held."
"Yea, sure, Cass, why would anyone want to hold a meeting in a cave."
May I suggest that the best attempt to save Prince Jake would be to confide in the Chee.
"Yea, but it's kinda late to contact Erek."
"No, he has a point, Rach. Tobias?"
Yea, Cass.
"See if Ax can adjust your satellite and contact Erek—we should be able to form some phone line." After a questioning glance from Rachel and Tobias—well, whatever a questioning glance from a red-tailed hawk is supposed to look like—I ordered, "Just try it."
In about five minutes, which means it was 7 sharp, we got connection. But it was really staticky. "Erek, can you hear us?"
Bzzz…sshhh… "Casshy, would that…bzzz…you?"
"Huh? Could you speak up?"
"Great, this is gonna take forever." Rachel muttered.
"CASSIE! Sshh…bzzz…sshh…YOU?"
"Ax, could you try to get a better reception?"
I will try anything for Prince Jake.
5 minutes later…
"This is SO not gonna work."
"Rach, be quiet."
"Erek, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Cassie, I can hear."
"Do you know where the Yeerk hold their inside meetings for 'The Sharing'?"
"Um, only a few. There's the Beach. Then, the, uh, underground one under the Middle School. And one more…but it is only used for the most dire needs, to speak with Visser Three—Chapman's basement."
"Been there, done that." Rachel, of course. She seemed to be the wisecrack of the evening. But I guess she was just worried and anxious, which can turn into a pain-in-the-butt.
"Alright, do you know if they are holding a meeting tonight?"
"Not that I know of, but if it would be right before their Grand Opening plans for the 'Extra-TERROR-restrial' at Great America, it would be held in Chapman's basement. But at the entrance is an Identification pad where you need Identification to get in." I have a connection, and, as before, Yeerks may enter the Chee head, but they will not gain control. I will go with you and cloak you as well."
"That sounds great. Meet you there in about 5 minutes."
"K, everybody, we gotta morph owl, it's only right for this time of day."
"Hey, Cassie, you know why you and Jake make a really great team?" Marco, of course.
Rachel answered, "Uh, she kinda doesn't wanna know right now."
"Well, it's because we'll have a Mr. General and a Mrs. General."
That's nice Marco.
I had already morphed the owl. Rachel had been inside Chapman's house before…she would know where the basement was and we'd also get there a lot faster, since last time we went on foot and it took about ten minutes. I was estimating and hoped it came out right. Cross your fingers and say a prayer, Cass, you better not let the Animorphs down.
The reason why Jake is such a good leader is because he has the qualities: 'He always instills in us how essential it is to enjoy the process of life, regarding every moment and every act as having some importance." Every thing is a top-notch priority if you're an Animorph.
Last time we had this leader thing, it didn't work out. But it was because we had time.
Chapter IVEdriss-Five-Six-Two, of the Sulp Niar Pool
S T O R E D Me M oR y Transfer P R O T O Col
I was at the Anati planet. My host, Eva, was screaming insults at me, she had been ever since I enslaved her, but now even worse, for I had been condemned to Kandrona starvation and the only way out was for me to conquer and capture all of the Anatians. Eva, however, disagreed…
I helped you, for God's sake, I risked my son for your children, and what do I get in return!
Silence, fool, the day will come when your son and his 'Andalite' friends will be annihilated and I will be rejoined with my children.
I'm sorry to ruin your fantasies, Edriss, but the possible outcome of that is very unlikely—
Silence! I have had enough of this! I shut her cries and bellows out and I concentrated on a plan.
"What shall we do, Visser?"
"Silence, do not question my authority and only speak when spoken to!"
Yet, I see you are a compassionate creature…why do you torment yourself by becoming the monster you were meant to be but refuse to accept?
I ignored her.
You can ignore me, Edriss, but I will always be in your head—so, you're stuck with me.
Silence!—I can easily dispose of this body with its many injuries and wounds to another and you will never see your beloved Marco again!
That 'shut her up' as those Americans say.
Do what your heart tells you, I know you have this in you—
A Yeerk has no heart and I will tell you this one thing, Eva—if you do not stop these foolish remarks and subtle pitying words, I will be forced to dispose of you; to say I will, but I shan't for I still have uses for you…I enjoy tormenting you with despicable truths!
I wanted to go back to Earth, but I knew that was impossible. By doing so, I was already killing myself, although, I was dead anyhow if I did not make captives of the Anatians. I must bargain—yes, it was betraying the Council of Thirteen, but I had no choice, if I wanted to see my beloved children, I needed to survive—I needed to prevent an attack or attract an attack from the Andalites.
You still love them, don't you?
It is of no importance to you
As long as I'm with you, I'm with you all the way
She had changed her tone of voice. But I must guess it was all for the best.
Eva was thinking of something and realized I was reading her thoughts…it was an impossibility to build up a wall away from her thoughts…memories…ideas. I could read them like an open book. She had wanted to do something to me…something terrible…if only I knew what…
WHAM!
The minute I faltered…that one second that I used to think over what just happened was enough for her…she took over for that one millisecond and grabbed the nearest Hork-Bajir's dracon beam and was ready to fire towards the glass window in which the pilot used to fly the Blade ship…
CHAPTER VJake.
This was it. I was gonna become a Controller… again. I remembered it very clearly. I had experienced the death of a former Yeerk, and it still burns like a fire in my memory. Every now and then, I still dream about that one blood-red eye…the eye of Crayak, nemesis of the Ellimist, also controller of time and boss of Howlers…
I was brought into Chapman's house. Melissa saw. She saw me, looking grim and very unhappy. I wasn't in chains, so she had no idea what was going on. She screamed. And that's when I turned on Tom and gave him a kick in the you-know-where—nobody, but nobody—especially a guy—would have wanted to be kicked there. And as far as I was concerned, I ran out the back door as fast as I could before Chapman had any time to do anything.
I had been so obvious…
Edriss 562
She had fired! That idiot! How could she have been so ludicrously insane? We would all die for sure. The atmosphere of space was not an atmosphere any creature was designed to breathe in. We would be sucked out in seconds, no, milliseconds, and yet…everything was as if on slow motion—we were taking far too long to be dragged into space, and then, everything stopped…
Literally…everything had stopped…space and time as we know it…and then, everything went black…
Jake
When I had run out of Chapman's house…I felt like I wasn't running as fast as usual and Tom and Chapman and the human-Controllers were gaining. What was happening? My legs felt like lead; I hadn't done any serious running to have tired myself too much…
And then, white space…everywhere…Tom…Chapman…the lawn…the moon…EVERYTHING gone. Uh-oh, I thought, the Ellimist is here. Sure enough, I was right. And then, everyone was here. Cassie. Tobias. Rachel. Marco. Ax. They just popped in right with me in this white space and they seemed to be seeing spots, because they were confused and were shielding their eyes from this bright white light. Then, the Ellimist appeared…
CHAPTER VITobias.
I was amiss a white cloud of nothingness and I had no idea what was going on. One thing was for sure…I was me again…well, human again. I was guessing that the Ellimist was paying us another visit. Probably something to do with Crayak or 'not interfering with our lives and changing history' or whatever. One thing was for sure: I didn't like it.
Jake was there, which was good news, but was he a Controller yet?
We were all frozen in time, but we were all still conscious. Then, in a blinding flash, she appeared. Yep. It wasn't the Ellimist at all—in fact, it was Visser One. I thought, What's she doing here? But of course, the answer all relied on the Ellimist. He came all right, but it felt like forever. About what felt like an hour later, he arrived, but not alone. He was there, but different. There was something different about his appearance…an essence…he was missing something. What was it? Power? Grace? Then it came. Well, more or so, it. Crayak's messenger: the Drode. It seemed like all this was very new to Visser One.
Not enjoying this, are you, Visser One?
She was startled, and seemed utterly confused for a moment, and then she narrowed her eyes and glared at all of us. Well, we still had the ability to communicate in telepathy, which was strange.
Incompetent fool. Do you think you threaten me?
She had no idea who she was talking to, so she spoke to all of us.
No, but I think those creatures do.
Hmph! Impossible. This is all a mere dream in which I have been ungraced by your presences.
She just don't get it, does she? Marco seemed to agree on dissing his mom.
Mom, I know you're there…but I know you can't give me an answer He paused. Then, he went on, but, Mom, don't be afraid—there's been some sort of time rip—it'll be fixed once we listen to what this creep has to say, so don't be scared
It was a nice little speech. We were experiencing a tezeract, a rip in the fourth dimension: time and space. I think it was just a reassurance speech for everyone, but mostly himself. Nice schpeel, Marco—thanks for it
Hey, anytime, bird-boy, anytime
I guess Crayak's messenger could take it no longer. He finally decided to do and say what he came to do and say. "As you know, my master is the most powerful master of time and he wants a ransom for this Ellimist." He rolled the word 'Ellimist' off his tongue with the utmost disgust and hate like you've just experienced what dog's droppings tastes like.
Speak, Crayak's messenger Visser One, of course.
He smiled a malicious and mischievous grin, "My master Crayak demands that one of you must take Visser One's place as in so he may repay you."
This seemed pretty meaningless…why would he want this for no reason at all?
We all knew who he wanted…I guess that when Tom tried to force Jake…it was all Crayak's doing, but since the Controllers could not get a hold of him, he had to do it himself. The question was why?
Why? It seemed like the question of the day.
"My master Crayak does not answer to anyone. You will find out soon enough."
Hold it—put everything on rewind. I just realized. That bastard had said something. 'My master Crayak demands that blah-blah-blah, so he may repay you'—what was that all about? What did he owe us? Why did he hold the Ellimist ransom? What was up with the old creep anyway?
PART TWO
The Discovery INTRODUCTIONThe Animorphs were in deep trouble. Something had gone wrong in their lives and now Crayak was messing it up even more. What were they to do? Crayak had delivered his undecipherable message, but what did it all mean? He had us all, but he also had Visser One, hanging by a thin thread called fate, and if we didn't figure out what he wanted fast, we'd all plunge down into the River of Defeat. He always like to speak in undecipherable riddles, and only till the last minute did you ever figure out what his dire need was. Think, Animorphs, think…your time is running low…tick-tock-tick-tock…
PRELUDE
Jake. What was happening? We would never stop the Yeerks in time. We were in deep, DEEP trouble. Crayak wanted something from us, presumably, my destruction, because I brought some troubles to him in the past, but he wanted it to be by a Yeerk. I'd already been there and I'd already done that—what more could you ask for?
Well, I guess once wasn't enough. I doubt he was trying to help us because he never does. Think, Jake, think! He wanted to trade one of us for Marco's Mom, and it was obvious who, but would the Visser buy it? I knew Crayak wanted to put me under this pressure and it was impossible that I would make it. Everybody would freak and most of all, I would. But the last time I was controlled, my friends monitored me—this time, I wouldn't be so lucky.
Crayak only causes trouble, and since the Ellimist sort of brings good to the times and history, Crayak brought about this tezeract to deliver an undeliverable message—do as I say or your world becomes warped and full of Yeerks. What to do…what to do…what should I, what could I possibly do?
Rachel. Great. Just great. Just when Jake's about to be rescued, he's falling into the wrong hands again. Can life be any easier? First of all, he's our leader. Secondly? If he becomes a Controller, then Visser One will be the next morph-capable Yeerk leader. She won't be an abomination because WE KNOW ABOUT IT HAPPENING.
Crayak is a big jerk. He never helps us or helps out on anything. All he does is bring trouble. Nothing but trouble. Although, there was the time when he helped us—sort of, but letting us track down Visser Four and stopping him from ruining the world and Animorphs as we know it—I would have been at a rejuvenation camp! How cracked is that?
Anyway, he wants us to put Jake into the most powerful Yeerk position while we sit around, hanging by a lifeline because we have no idea what we're doing and we're crazy. Well, that's usually me, but, the point is…we can't afford to lose Jake! We did when Crayak demanded his life for us to capture Visser Four.
Ax. Prince Jake is wanted by the terrible Crayak. In ransom for the Ellimist, we can seal up the time hole and lose our fearless leader, and the Yeerks gain a powerful one. What could this change possibly mean?