CHAPTER ONE

"Visser. Small shuttle craft approaching. Requesting com-link."

"Accept."

The command was not mine. It belonged to Visser Two, the disgusting Yeerk wrapped around my brain, connected to my neurons, controlling me...

My name is Rachel.

And I am a fighter.

The com-link flickered on. Tobias's face.

((Ah, it seems your friend has come for you.)) I could feel the Yeerk's joy, its pride. It thought I was beaten. It thought this was all over, that the Yeerk Empire was about to capture another Animorph...

But nobody was going to take Tobias. Nobody.

I wasn't going to sit back any longer. My friends were still alive. Visser One had told me otherwise, but that was a lie.. A lie to keep me weak, to make me think that the fight was lost...

But it wasn't. My friends had been fighting for years, and I hadn't even known... They were here all along, after all this time... And I wasn't going to let them down..

I wasn't going to let them take Tobias.

((What are you doing?)) The Yeerk was panicking. It could tell that something was wrong. It could actually feel me fighting it, resisting it, struggling to regain control...

((It's impossible, you know. A host cannot regain itself... It can't!))

((Who are you convincing?)) I asked.

((Why now? Why fight now?))

The Yeerk didn't have to ask. It knew. I had been saving all my strength for just the right moment. And this was it. This was for Tobias.

I managed to turn my body away from the com-link, away from the Controllers... My hands gripped the podium, and I fought... I fought harder than I ever had in my entire life. After all the battles I'd been through, all the blood I'd shed, nothing could compare to this...

It was painful. Extremely painful.

I felt like my brain was going to burst. It's hard to explain, but it's like I was mentally wrestling with the Yeerk, playing an endless game of tug-o-war...

((Stop it, Rachel.))

((You first.))

"Ahhhh! Ahhhhhhh!" The scream escaped my lips before I could stop it.

"Visser?" asked the Controller. "Visser, is everything all right?"

A steam of blood began to pour from my nose, splashing on the platform below me.

((No! No! Stop it!)) screamed the Yeerk in my head. ((You can't.. You can't...))

And then, it was over.

I had beaten the Yeerk. I had control.

"Visser, shall I call the medic?"

The slug's curses ran through my mind, taunting me, challenging me, begging me... But they were useless. The Yeerk's days were numbered.

I still had to play the part, pretend to be Visser Two. I knew that much. I couldn't just morph and tear my way out of the ship.

Think, Rachel. Think.

"No, I'm fine..."

"But Visser.."

I turned and un-holstered my Dracon, firing at the Controller's shoulder...

I formed a cruel smile. "Any other questions?"

Blood leaked from the Controller's wound, spilling onto the deck below us.

"Nnn... No, Visser."

"Good."

My eyes drifted to the com-link. Tobias looked sad, stern, ready for whatever fate I decided to bring him.

"This man wishes to board," another Controller said. "He claims to be Ingar 717 of the Sulp Niar pool."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Of course, you fool. There has been a change of plans."

((What are you doing?)) shouted the Yeerk in my mind.

"Ingar is to take me down to the Andalite world. Once I leave this ship, our forces are to fall back. Immediately."

The wounded Controller reappeared, his shoulder bandaged. "With all due respect, Visser... We are winning. Why turn back now? Visser One said nothing of.."

"Visser One is not in charge of this operation. I am. We turn back immediately. The Andalite fools will think they have won. But I will be on the surface. I will be right beneath their noses, preparing our next attack."

The other Controller turned to the com-link. "You have permission to dock."

"Thank you," said Tobias, cutting the feed.

"But, Visser... What about your replenishment? We have no concealed Kandronas on the Andalite world.. You would.."

I raised my Dracon again. "Must I remind you of your place, Ebiss? Or shall I destroy your other shoulder?"

With that, he hobbled away.

"Men, prepare to enter Z-Space. Order all surrounding ships to follow suit. You are to re-emerge in Sector 8. Understood?"

"Yes, Visser!" the Controllers shouted in unison.

"Very well. Good luck." I turned and exited the command deck.

Within minutes, I was onboard Tobias's shuttle craft, heading for the Andalite world. Behind us, the Yeerk forces were retreating. We would be safe, for now...

"You can relax, Tobias. It's me..."

He turned, a skeptical look on his face. "How can I be sure?"

"Hmmm..." I thought for a moment. "Well, for starters... If I was still controlled by a Yeerk, I would have killed you by now..."

"Uh huh... And I'm supposed to believe that?" he asked, smiling.

"Well... There is one other thing."

I took him by the arms and turned him around, so that he would face me..

And I kissed him.

"Wow," he said. "You have to be a Controller. The Rachel I know doesn't kiss that good."

I shoved him playfully. "Oh, shut up, Tobias."

I wrapped my arms around him as we drifted towards the golden red sphere of the Andalite world.

"What about the Yeerk?" he asked.

"We'll have to wait.. In three days, I'll be completely free again. One hundred percent Rachel. Until then, you guys should keep a watch on me... I'm okay now, but I don't know.. There's a chance that the Yeerk could take control again..."