Quid Pro Quo
Prologue
David took a deep breath of air as he landed with a hard thud on his back. The cold concrete lay underneath him, chilling him to the bone. Gage looked over him, his large silver eyes watching David intensely, large, goblin-like ears twitching incessantly.
"Where am I?" David asked, looking around at the dark but large space. Rain pounded the closed windows. He was in a warehouse.
"Very good, David. Actually, it's a pier in San Francisco. Pier 21. Some good resturants around here. It was put up for sale. Guess who bought it." A pause and a creepy smile. "You'll be living here, preparing."
"How exactly am I supposed to be living by myself?"
"Oh, right, that." With a sardonic grin, Gage conjured up several framed certificates. The appeared three feet in the air, then fell to the floor with a crash. David picked one of them up, not caring that his fingers started to bleed from the glass.
"A high school diploma?" Yearbooks dropped and opened up, each to a page where David's picture was shown. "I don't remember any of this."
"Of course you don't. But it'll come when you need it. 'Till then, you know what to do."
"Crayak's really going to help me out, right?" David had a tinge of fear in his voice. He knew something was up, though he had never met the creature.
"Isn't he already?" David nodded, wondering exactly what he was getting into.
Gage disappeared, leaving David to shiver in the spandex suit he was wearing. The last thing he wore before...
David looked around, looking at the humongous space. These pier warehouses were huge. He touched the scars on his temple and behind his ears, wincing since they still hurt. Then he thought of a mirror, a nice big one, and it apparated, then turned solid. David grinned in shock and suprise, then caught the mirror before it fell, since he forgot to make it rest against something.
David looked at himself. He was older than he was four years ago, obviously, but still looking like a delinquit. He had grown nicely, now just above six feet. His hair was growing back, since it had to be shaved in order to do the operations. He was a bit lanky, also.
David looked around again, deciding how to start renovations on his new home. First off, weather control. The windows shut and became more modern, the walls were insulated against weather and outside sound, different colors of paint splattered against the interior. It seemed everything wavered a bit, changed, then solidified. The ground floor was dirty. David soon managed to take more control as he got used to it. The floor soon became clean of grime and dirt, revealing an even cement floor. The gigantic garage doors on the front of the pier were also modernized, chrome with a weather-repellant. Looking outside through the clean windows, he saw that the weather right now was pretty bad, and wondered if it was like that a lot.
Fifteen feet from the garage doors he made the floor rise up two stairs and made it wood from there. As he looked back to the end of the pier, he saw that he still had a lot of work to do. He felt an unnatural heat in his head, so he decided to give a break for a moment. Not before he conjured up a soft bed and some decent pajamas.
Chapter 1
My name is Cassie. And I had been in gym after school, thwacking a volleyball. My team had been trying to win, but unfortunately, Vicky was on the other team. She was usually an outcast by choice, but when it came to volleyball, her team would just let her be the team. She managed to anticipate exactly where the volleyball would be for her to hit it just right so that my team couldn't get it.
After Rachel came in, our side had lost. Again. I didn't care. I never paid much attention to the game, even though it was something that wasn't war-related. I was suprised that I was still on the team, since I had missed so many games. And I hadn't wanted to join after I went into high school, but my parents were starting to worry that I wasn't living a normal life.
"What's up Rachel?"
"Nothing much. I just saw Jake going through the mall for something to wear at the senior prom though."
Let me recap. All of us are seniors in high school (thus the senior prom). Now, see, we've won. Pretty much. The Yeerks are still out there, but they've stayed away from Earth while they play cat-and-mouse with the Andalites in space. Technology moved at a super-sonic rate when word of the invasion spread and humans fought the Yeerks with what they had in 2001. The Andalites had come, and the Yeerks started to run, but thousands of humans had died.
Today, we, the Animorphs, hold power. Political and influential. The Andalites only made treaties and alliances to Earth through us, along with the Leerans (who gave their thanks). But the thing is humans and Andalites don't know who we are. We've hidden behind cloaks and shadows. The Leerans respect our wish to not be identified. Only our parents and Tom know. Gonrod and Estrid? They died by the Blade ship when they left Earth so long ago. Ax showed no emotion when he heard. Just the comments he was supposed to say.
Ax had shown the ultimate loyalty to us. When the Andalites came to take him back, he refused, giving the most heart-warming speech about how we're his people and family. The Andalites, and Prince Galuit honored this decision by making Jake an official Andalite Prince. Even though they don't know who he is.
Erek had helped us out with the influential power. He went back to the Hork-Bajir homeworld and retrieved Quafijinivon's machines. And gave the Arn a proper burial. We used the machines to bring back endangered animals. The Leerans had helped us in making lands underwater with air bubbles over them. The continent was hidden from any kind of view. There were seven large pieces of land, each endangered animal in their respectful "countries". Poachers could not get to these animals, since it was almost three miles deep. Some Hork-Bajir help us taking care of these animals, doing what they have to do to keep the animals alive, although they're not supposed to interfere with the normal circle of life.
And the Nartec. We had decided not to destroy them, as previously thought, since they were a great use to us underwater. We taught them how to get DNA without killing anyone, and they get human DNA bi-monthly, coming from willing human donors. They've tried it on other animals, and Queen Soco's daughter walks on four legs. They take care of the water animals, and document most of the animals for education purposes. Congress had a field day when they found all of this out. We've never given them the exact location, though, just in case.
"Oh, my God, did you hear?" A girl ran up to us, waving her arms like a lunatic.
"What?" Rachel asked calmly. I had almost gotten ready for trouble.
"A bomb, it blew up half the mall!"
"What?!"
"The news is covering it now. It was on the radio! Oh, my god, that's so sad!"
"Yes, it is!" I felt a chill go up my spine. After the girl had left, Rachel turned towards me.
"I swear, if The Limited is blown up, what's wrong Cassie? Yeah, I know that it's real bad all those people died, but, jeez, you look like you saw a ghost!"
My voice was quiet. "When did you say you saw Jake last?"
Rachel blinked once.
We ran.
Chapter 2
Jake was okay. By God, he was okay. He was shaken though. He got out of range of the bomb by seconds.
"A girl came over. She said that you wanted to see me in the food court, and I went with her and you weren't there, and then the bomb went off," he faltered a bit towards the end of the sentence, hugging me, me supporting him. The cop asking him questions took down notes. A medic was bandaging Jake's arm, which was suffering second-degree burns from the heat of the blast.
"What girl?" Rachel and I asked as I made him sit down.
"From our school. Brown hair, hazel eyes, she was the one who almost died in front of the school when that stage light almost crashed down on her." Not possible.
"Victoria? That wasn't possible, she was at volleyball practice with me," I said. Jake just nodded.
"She was wearing the uniform, she looked nervous, too. She had the ball under her arm." Jake mimicked the movement. "Where is she, anyway?"
"We're looking for her. Seems she just disappeared."
"She's also in track," I said absentmindedly.
"That could explain it. Just for the record, has she escaped death any other times?" I was distracted by the view of yellow body bags being moved out. A man was following one. He looked familiar.
Rachel answered, apprehensively. "There was that field trip where she pushed Lewitt out of the way of a speeding car. And the time when she caught the principal's coffee mug before it scalded his daughter. She escaped unharmed when a fire broke out at her house. And she came two days late back home from Europe. She said if she hadn't missed her first plane, she would have died since it crashed. She missed being shot in a drive-by shooting. She wasn't the target," Rachel said as the cop looked up. "And she managed not to get hit by that science lab blow-up, it killed a couple of kids."
"Thanks." The cop left, muttering to herself.
Rachel looked at me and Jake. "So, this girl can cheat death, or what?"
"Or what," Jake answered. He seemed calm now. "I'm pretty sure it's or what."
Chapter 3
Jake and I caught up with Vicky the next day during school. As I told you before, Vicky is an outcast because she chooses to be. She dresses like a tomboy, more popular with the boys than the girls, has a strong voice and personality, always keeps her hair in a ponytail, and has wire-frame glasses. But she turns down dates and parties, doesn't give out her phone number and is a techno-geek.
She was pulling out three thick textbooks from her locker and was trying to stuff them all in her backpack. "Hey, Cassie, hey, Jake," she said monotonely.
"How did you know?" Jake asked.
"Vibes, dude. You're the most weirdest couple in school. It's just because you both still haven't admitted it and you've liked each other for such a long time, it's pathetic."
"Why would you care? You turn down every boy in school."
"Well, that's because none of the girls ask me out. I'm thinking of becoming bi for awhile to get a good kiss. I'm moving to San Francisco after graduation. They're more open about this kind of stuff."
It took me awhile to figure out what she was talking about. "Oh," I said stupidly.
"Exactly. Open-minded. I have an internet relationship, but she's an absolute ditz."
"Um," Jake licked his lips. The grapevine never even suspected.
"Exactly. I'm also going to S.F. cause I got into Berkeley. It's a great school."
"Yeah, I've been there,"Jake said. "San Francisco, I mean. Nice place, though a little cold. The one-hour drive is pretty hard on my butt, though."
"Vicky, Jake and I wanted to talk to you about yesterday."
"Oh, that reminds me!" We had walked outside the school, and she had walked towards her motorcycle. She opened the seat to reveal a large bag. "This is yours Jake," she said as she handed it to him. Tux Delights.
"Oh, uh, thanks. I forgot about it."
"No problem. How's your arm?" she asked, indicating Jake's bandages arm. She had put on a helmet, and was turning her motorcycle around.
"Fine." She had got on her motorcycle, and it revved.
"Are you leaving now?" I asked.
"Yes." She left.
Jake looked at me and heaved a sigh. "I guess that didn't go as planned."
"No, it didn't."
Wolf whistles were heard. I looked. Some of Jake's friends were looking at him and the bag.
"Oh..."
Chapter 4- David
San Francisco had been pouring again. There didn't seem to be any difference between the City by the Bay and Seattle. He was lounging at the back of the pier, watching the drops splatter into the bay. He was outside, kept dry from the rain by the plexi-glass over his head and around him, a glassed-in patio.
David took another swig of beer. In between being in the U.S. Marines and the hard-ass college he was going to, he was exhausted. He didn't let anything aboout what happened last week get to him. He tried not to feel any guilt, to his suprise, he succeded every now and then.
Not now. The weather matched his mood. He took another swig. He was aiming for Jake, dammit. Rachel should've been there, too. He had tapped her phone line. He heard her making plans with friends. How come she hadn't been there?
This for that, he thought. Gage's own words. If David failed to do what he had to do, something would happen. It made sense to him, in a way, but it was't fair. She was his mother, for crying out loud. He had hoped being drunk would help him foget about his hurt, but it didn't. Instead he remember with clarity how she would tuck his hair back and comfort him when he never made any friends. He never liked moving around. He never made any friends. And he didn't like beer.
The rain had stopped. David went into his house, carpet, wood, metal, cement and plastic all mixed in. He went into the large kitchen, padded over the wood floor to the fridge, looking for something to eat. Nothing at first glance. He checked the cupboards. Chewy Chips Ahoy. He popped some into the microwave and poured a glass of milk.
He hadn't taken too well of the Animorphs success over the past five years. It had been five years. He had managed to get all of the details when NBC ran a special.
He thought about what he had to do. He went over to the living area, up the circular metal stairs, to the second floor, where his equipment was kept. He clicked a few switched on, then turned dials and listened carefully.
"Hew, Jake," Rachel's voice came over the static. "I'm going over to Tobias's place. It's Saturday, so we thought we might be able to go to the movie's. See the new Matrix movie."
"That sounds cool. We're really going to relax?"
"Yeah. Movie starts at four. See ya there."
"Bye." Too perfect, David thought. Tobias, Rachel, and Jake would all be there. It would be a one-hour drive by car, but by speed-train it would be ten minutes. Getting his things together while buying a ticket over his cell phone, he left, driving his new Mercedes to the train stations. He got onto the train, gave his name to the conductor, who checked on a palmpilot, and confirmed.
David laid back into the plush chair, and held eye contact with the woman sitting across from him. She flirted back.
Chapter 5- Jake
Most of us were at the movie cinema. Ax was at his home, trying to fix the static problem he had in his phone. Marco had been tied down with house chores. Tom was hanging with us, too, on a rare trip home from college.
I felt a little troubled. The bombing at the mall had been the first of few, the media saying that the bomber was trying his skill, each bomb becoming more and more elaborate.
"Think this one will be as good as the last two?" Tobias asked, referring to the last two Matrix movies. By the way, he had chosen to lose his wings and stay as human. By that time, the Andalites had updated the Escafil device, giving Tobias his wings back.
"Of course. This one has holograms in it," I said.
"Sony rules the world," Tom said.
"Along with everything else."
"Come on, I want to buy some snacks first and get a good seat," Rachel said, and dragged Cassie in.
We went in, lagged back by Tobias.
"What's wrong?" I asked him. He looked apprehensive.
"I just feel something's bad is going to happen. Real bad."
"Yeah? Well, Rachel finally got to talk to Vicky, and she says that Vicky can predict the future. Weird, I know, but..." I saw Vicky come in, past me to Rachel and Cassie.
Right after her was Ax, in human morph and waving his arms frantically. And at the same moment, the carpeted floor shot up, enclosing me and everyone else in.
"What the hell?" Tom yelled. We were enclosed in, then one part sort of opened up. Ropes of red shot up from the ground, and wrapped around my wrists. They burned.
Vicky had screamed. Someone stood in the opening, looking at all of us.
"The pain lasts just for a minute," his voice said. It was true, the burn started to subside. Then I looked up. The guy was about my height, but he looked familiar.
"David," Rachel gasped. Recgonition slapped me in the face.
"Who?" Tom asked.
"Ah, you're Jake's brother. Shame to see he didn't kill you. You're not an Animorphs, so." David looked at Tom, and more ropes shot up, this time green, and Tom fell, binded and gagged to the floor.
"No use trying to morph, that's what the red cuffs do. Quite nice, isn't it?" David put on latex gloves, then took out a small silver suitcase he had in his duffel bag. He opened it. I saw ten syringes filled with pink stuff.
"You're not injecting that stuff into us," Cassie gasped.
"Don't worry, it's just a tranquilizer. I need to bring you back to my little hide-out." He saw Vicky, and cocked his head at her. "You aren't an Animorph, either." More green things shot up from the carpet. I never saw anything so unbelievable.
Then David swabbed my arm with alcohol. I tried to struggle, but that only caused more of the red cuffs to shoot up and wrap around my ankles. I couldn't morph, no matter what. Then I felt the sting of the syringe, and...
The last thing I remember seeing is my brother, lying on the floor.
Chapter 6- Marco
"I don't get it, Vicky, why on Earth wouldn't David just kill them?!" I yelled at her. All of the parents were situated around the living room of my house, worrying. Euclid had managed to get her teeth in into my ankle. I didn't care. Tom was comforting his mother, red marks on his face from the gag.
"Don't you have anything, Vicky?" Erek asked calmly.
Vicky sighed. "Well, the last thing I remember before the ground came up, Ax in his human morph was coming in, he was about to tell Jake about a bug he found in his phone."
"A bug? Did he have it with him?"
"Yeah. It's probably back at the movies."
"I'll be right back." Erek left. Ten seconds later, he was back.
"That was fast," I said.
Erek didn't say anything. He held the bug in his open palm. His real palm. Wires had gone into it. "I'm trying to trace it," he said.
"Getting anywhere?" I asked. I tried to kick Euclid off.
"Somewhere in San Francisco." Vicky said.
"How'd you know?"
"You were just about to say that."
"Yeah, I was, but how'd you know?"
"I just did. How do we get there?"
"Let's take the train," Tom piped up.
"One question," Vicky said. "Do we tell David's dad or something? I mean, he is still sort of an Animorph."
"Vicky. He never was an Animorph. He never will be." She looked at me, then nodded.
"I want to get there as soon a possible, guys," Erek said, putting the bug under his metallic skin.
"Let's do it," I said.
Chapter 7
We had gone there alone, without Tom, since he would just be holding us down. Vicky came with us, but she was cautious. I looked up to the domineering front of Pier 21.
"We go in the side door," Vicky said. So she could tell the future. Not a prolonged future, but just a few minutes into the future. Sometimes less, sometimes more, and sometimes not at all. It sorta sucked. I wanted to know what was going to happen.
We went to the side, past the No Trespassing sign, and down a long walkway to a large metal door. We opened it. Inside was the coolest place I have ever saw. Part of the room gave way to skylights at the top, a second level showed bedrooms. There was also a rounded wall. Vicky had walked behind it and found a door.
"Help me open it, Erek." He did. I didn't want to see what was inside.
There were cryo-tubes situated around the circular room. Six in all. Five had people inside them. Each person inside looked dead, floating in a pink liquid that felt alive. Ax's was an extra large cryotube, being supported by nothing. He must've demorphed somehow.
There were no oxygen masks, no IV's leading to them. All were stripped down to their underwear, no wires leading to them or from them. There were monitors around them, showing strong heart rates and brain waves. There was also a monitor for each that showed pictures. I looked, before I realized what it was for.
"They show memories," Vicky said in awe, looking closer at Rachels'. Hork-Bajir were getting their arms torn off, or she was flying through the air on the parellel bars. It was either a focus with a blank background, or a full setting with no people, as the computers getting the memories only registered figments.
Chapter 8
"Marco, Vicky." A voice came on, and a holographic picture showed up. David. "Who are you, boy?"
"My name's Erek. I'm just the sidekick here."
"Well. As you can see, your friends are still alive. The pink stuff that I shot them up with put them in a coma. One hell of a tranquilizer. That viscous pink liquid around them are nanocytes, basically, microscoptic machines. Got it out of The X-Files. It's what's keeping them alive, sort of preserving them in a living state. It sends their more vital stats to the computers, which you see on the monitors. Now, here's the clincher. You take them out of there, they'll die. You put anything with the nanocytes, they'll die. You so much as move them, they'll die. Quite nice, isn't it?"
I looked at the live representation of him. "You're sick."
"No, no. Just mad. Evil. Angry might be it. I have a few things to take care of. I'm supposed to let you try and figure out a way to get your fellow friends out of this, uh, jam."
"Do you know who you killed in that mall blast? I saw her picture on the news. Don't you feel anything? Why don't you stop?!"
"Basically, I'm not supposed to. Ask your female friend, she'll tell you what she saw at the movies. I know who I killed at the mall. My mother. It's a shame you didn't kill your own. Where is she, anyway? Still can't face her husband after all these years?"
I didn't speak, I couldn't.
Vicky did. "What do you mean you're not supposed to stop? You're supposed to let Marco go through hell? Who are you working for?"
I finally clicked. "Crayak. You've got to be working for Crayak." I saw a flicker of fear go through the holographic face. It disappeared under a cold mask.
"Basically, Marco, what you have to do is get the antidote. Your female friend will be able to figure out what to do, but after, and only after you catch me. Now, I'm close to San Fran, just in case, and to be fair, I'll stay in this viscinity. I'm preparing your death. I'm just keeping them alive, for now. It's what I'm supposed to do."
"You got all of this stuff from him?" I asked, pionting to the cryotubes.
"A man's power is only limited by the machines he builds. And you have to find me in order to get your friends back."
"You're playing cat-and-mouse?"
"I like to think of it as a wild goose chase."
With that, the hologram disappeared.
Chapter 9
The elevator doors in front of me slid open, leading to a short hall with bright flourescent lights. Erek led the way, taking a badge out of his pocket and letting the security guard see. He literally jumped up, taking the badge and putting it through the scanner.
We were in the San Francisco offices of the National Security Agency, and they knew that the Animorphs sometimes had a message delivered to them by a messenger.
The guard let us through, talking on his two-way radio that we were coming. Erek led us through more furnished, by dimly lit halls, to a meeting room with a big mahogony table and leather chairs. People were already waiting there for us. They looked surprised. They had expected Erek, not the other two people behind him.
"Boy, word of arrival spreads around here fast, doesn't it?"
"Erek," a man said, lounged in one of the chairs. "What is it now? New species? Another war? New weapon?"
I talked. "The bombings around California."
"That has to do with aliens?"
"Yes and no. The person rigging them used to be an Animorph." They all straightened and paid attention. "Five years ago, he was made, given the morphing technology when the Animorphs faced one of their most difficult missions. He backstabbed them, trying to kill them all and use the Escafil Device, which is what gave them their morphing power, to make money. We stopped him. Now he's back, and, well, he captured my friends and put them in a coma."
"You're an Animorph?"
"Yes. And I need your help. My friends are unprotected in their cryotubes inside Pier 21."
"We'll get some agents."
A man walked in, carrying a superior air. The people in the room straightened up even more.
"Sir. This is one of the Animorphs," someone whispered to him. "He's here about the bomb terrorist."
"What should I call you?" he asked.
"What's your name?"
"This is Heath, he's the guy in charge, there's Ewing, Taylor, Brand, Rogers, and Diatchenko," Erek pointed them out. "Everyone calls the last one Michael."
"Call me Marco."
"Do you happen to know the bombers' name?" Ewing gave Heath a briefing. "Okay, what is the bombers' name?"
"David." Diachenko had paled slighly. "Diatchenko."
Chapter 10
"What?!" Diatchenko shot up, his chair flying backwards.
"Your son. He's the one who set the bomb that killed your wife. His mother." I stared at him relentlessly. He started to talk, and then paled, and I saw a shudder go through him. He collapsed on the floor. "You can't hide your emotions as well as your son can, Diatchenko." Someone helped him up and dumped him in a chair.
Erek and Vicky had slightly backed away from me. The adults were looking at me, a few of them calculating me, profiling. Doing their job.
"Michael. I let you be on this case because you promised to be sane. I can't let you be on this case."
"Sir..."
"Go home, Michael. I'm going to have someone watch you."
"Sir..."
"Go home. Rogers, go with him. Brand, bring Marco and his friends to the operation room. Do you know what you're doing?"
"Yes," I answered.
He paused. "Fine. Go with Brand, she'll help you with what you need to do, we'll get a few of our own to the Pier. We're also going to have to get a few people to sweep the place."
"Whatever you do, don't touch the machinery inside that lab. You might set something off."
"It's a Bomb Squad, once they run through the place, we'll be able to bring your friends here and..."
"No." My voice was harsh, and I pulled out a closed syringe, swirling with pink, and this time red, liquid. Warm, and still felt alive. "David's gotten hold of some of this, it's what's keeping my friends alive. Without what hospitals have today, oxygen tubes, wires reading heart rates, blood pressure, brain waves, these machines, yes machines! do all of that and also have the potential to kill whoever's inside of those cryo-tubes if you so much as tap the glass." He looked at me closely. He expected a scared teenager who didn't know what he was doing. All he saw was a hardened face with ruthless eyes.
"Jesus. Uh, Taylor, get this down to Pendrell, maybe he can analyze it or something. You three, go with Brand."
"Wait," Michael said. "What happened after... after I was infested?"
"David lived the past five years as a rat. It was what he really was." Rogers pulled Diatchenko away. "He came back after he made a deal with the devil. It seems I can't kill him." Michael nodded, then left.
"Erek, go with him," I motioned towards Rogers and Diatchenko, who were heading towards the garage.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing," Vicky whispered to me as we walked down the hall, past the looks of everyone in their offices.
"Of course." I had already seen the bright line from a to b.