Epilogue
Part 2
Cassie
After telling me that the meeting with the officials would be the next day at noon, Marco left for other business. I again took position staring at the wall once more, ignoring the growing pile of "urgent" documents. For the hundredth time, I wondered what the point of all this was.
I got home late that night because of an assignment I had ignored earlier and had to rush to finish. I walked through the large, empty house the government had provided for me on the military base where Marco and I were stationed. Empty. That was a word that seemed to be coming up a lot in my life lately. The house would have been lovely, I suppose, had I really cared. I had stopped thinking about things like that long ago. Perhaps if I were allowed to live with my parents, it would have been easier. They wouldn't allow it though. Something about security.
I lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling. I could feel the sadness and the hate and the fear welling up inside me again. And I used to think that the end of the invasion, the end of fighting, would be a happy time, but it has only gotten worse than before. We constantly had to be alert and on-edge in case the Yeerks ever decided to return. We still hope the for the arrival of the Andalites as well. With the leaving of Yeerks, though, we have become an even lower priority.
We needed Jake. We needed him more than ever. We needed him to help us, to guide us, to get us through all this. It had been over two years since I'd seen Rachel. So she couldn't help me. No one could help me. I became scared suddenly, realizing what I was contemplating. Realizing that this wasn't the first time. Life for us, for me, had become so bad recently. I thought life couldn't get worse than it was during the invasion, but it had. I closed my eyes and hoped for the strength to make it through another day.
Rachel
"Where have you been?" I asked as Tobias settled in a tree near where I was sitting. Hunting. Our conversations had become very simple overtime. I looked out over the meadow we had called home for over a year. After the invasion was over, we had just decided to leave. There had been nothing left for us at home. We just set out into the woods one day and just kept going. We must have been somewhere in the next state once we stopped. Being out in the wilderness made up for all that I had lost when the war ended. Tobias said that living like this just suited him. "So, did you catch anything?"
Nope. Yes, this simple life was definitely for me. I suddenly wondered how Cassie was doing. I shook the thought from my mind. The place for me was here, in the woods. Not back in civilization, with all our friends and family. Though of course, not all our friends were back there anyway. Jake was gone. If I went back, I'd have to face that. Although, he was gone either way. I wasn't sure anymore where I should be. I hadn't been for months. Thoughts of home just kept coming up. What are you thinking about? Tobias asked, intruding on my thoughts. "Nothing." I wasn't sure how he'd react to my thoughts just then. You're thinking about them aren't you. Surprised, I just managed to blurt out, "I don't have to think about them anymore, the Yeerks are gone."
You know who I mean. You miss Cassie and Marco and Ax and everybody else. Maybe it was time to go home. "I'm not sure. I think we should for a really good reason." Just then a ship I recognized as Andalite in origin passed overhead.
Marco
"So, you believe that what the sensors picked up was a ship" I said to the faces positioned around the large table. Cassie and I sat next to each other talking to the officials in a meeting that felt like it had dragged on forever already. I glanced at the clock and was graced with the knowledge that it had only been ten minutes. I hated meetings. Ax couldn't get to the meeting because he was in the middle of conferences in China. Apparently the officials weren't too happy about that.
"We just want you to identify the images sent to us by the sensors." The officials never revealed more than they had to. "Well, how long ago did the sensors pick this up? How many were there?" Cassie asked, both of us already knowing the answer. "We just need you to identify the images." I studied the picture, more than slightly annoyed. My heart skipped a beat when I realized what I was looking at. Cassie and I exchanged a glance, both knowing what it meant. "What is it?" The officials didn't seem to like us knowing something they didn't.
"A dome ship," we said in unison.
Ax
I slunk wearily into my room provided to me by the American embassy. I was tired with annoyance at the stupidity of humans. When I stayed with my friends, the Animorphs, during the war, I had developed an odd respect for humans. Through my interactions with those few people, I had come to believe that they were a somewhat intelligent, mostly honest, and sometimes honorable species. This was especially demonstrated by my former prince, and I was deeply saddened at his death. But the conferences I had been forced to attend all over this backwater little globe had proved me wrong. Over and over and over again.
If I had to go to one more I swore I would knock someone unconscious. These people asked the most outrageous questions. Questions ranging from the mating habits of my species to what sort of celebrities we had. I had been deeply misled. I looked over at the "state-of-the-art" computer (it was all I could do not to laugh when they showed it to me) in the corner and saw I had an "e-mail" (a primitive but oddly effective form of communication). It was from Cassie. Every hair on my body stood up when I read it. I wrote Cassie back immediately telling her I would be back as soon as I could. I rushed out of my room and went down to the lobby.
When I found the person who had been my representative at the conference, I asked him what the quickest way was to get to America. "Why, by plane of course," he responded in a tone I took as slightly surprised, "but you can't leave now. You have a conference tomorrow." As I looked around the room, I could see everyone staring at me. If it is one thing humans can do, it is stare. I must get back now. You must tell me how to get a plane to America. I tried to think of something that would impress him, It is of international importance. He looked disbelieving for a moment, but then took me to get what he called a flight reservation.
Shawn
"How have you been doing up in Oregon?" Marco asked as we waited for our meeting with the officials to start. He and Cassie had met me at the airport when I came in the day before. "Fine," I said absentmindedly. I had received Cassie's e-mail and came straight away. I had been the first to arrive. Ax, Katherine, and George arrived later that day. We were all ecstatic about what would be happening in the very near future. Waiting for this meeting to start had killed the mood.
"Is it always like this, waiting for them to come in?" I asked Marco in a voice that was almost a whisper for some reason that was a mystery to me. "Yes, and the meeting itself will be worse," Marco said, adopting the same volume. Our conversation and the others going on in the room ended when the doors opposite where we were sitting opened and the representatives of our nation, and some others, walked in wearing the same old, well-pressed suits they always wore.
"We've called you here to speak with you about the ship that has been sighted coming Toward Earth recently. I'm sure you've all heard about it," one of the officials said in a way that sounded like he was reading it off a cue card. These guys had to do everything just right. "Recent reports show that the ships have set up orbit around Earth. There have been no attempts from the ship at communication so far, but we want to be ready for anything. We would like your opinion on the situation."
"Well," Marco said, showing no interest in the round about methods of bureaucrats, "They probably mean no harm. What I'm worried about is if they can't tell whether the Yeerks are gone or not. I think what they're doing now is running sensor sweeps of the planet looking for any signs of alien activity. The long range sensors we set up probably aren't helping any.
"We've got to find a way of showing them that the Yeerks are gone," Marco concluded, saying the last sentence almost to himself. I could see everyone in our little group was trying to think of a way to solve this dilemma. "The only thing I can think of is sending a transmission with Aximili as our spokesperson," Marco said finally. "We were thinking the same," one of the officials said hurriedly. I'm sure they were. "We'd better do it quick," Marco said, "There's no telling how much time we have."
End of Part 2
Part 3 coming soon. Don't worry, it'll start getting less cliché by then, I hope.
Part 2
Cassie
After telling me that the meeting with the officials would be the next day at noon, Marco left for other business. I again took position staring at the wall once more, ignoring the growing pile of "urgent" documents. For the hundredth time, I wondered what the point of all this was.
I got home late that night because of an assignment I had ignored earlier and had to rush to finish. I walked through the large, empty house the government had provided for me on the military base where Marco and I were stationed. Empty. That was a word that seemed to be coming up a lot in my life lately. The house would have been lovely, I suppose, had I really cared. I had stopped thinking about things like that long ago. Perhaps if I were allowed to live with my parents, it would have been easier. They wouldn't allow it though. Something about security.
I lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling. I could feel the sadness and the hate and the fear welling up inside me again. And I used to think that the end of the invasion, the end of fighting, would be a happy time, but it has only gotten worse than before. We constantly had to be alert and on-edge in case the Yeerks ever decided to return. We still hope the for the arrival of the Andalites as well. With the leaving of Yeerks, though, we have become an even lower priority.
We needed Jake. We needed him more than ever. We needed him to help us, to guide us, to get us through all this. It had been over two years since I'd seen Rachel. So she couldn't help me. No one could help me. I became scared suddenly, realizing what I was contemplating. Realizing that this wasn't the first time. Life for us, for me, had become so bad recently. I thought life couldn't get worse than it was during the invasion, but it had. I closed my eyes and hoped for the strength to make it through another day.
Rachel
"Where have you been?" I asked as Tobias settled in a tree near where I was sitting. Hunting. Our conversations had become very simple overtime. I looked out over the meadow we had called home for over a year. After the invasion was over, we had just decided to leave. There had been nothing left for us at home. We just set out into the woods one day and just kept going. We must have been somewhere in the next state once we stopped. Being out in the wilderness made up for all that I had lost when the war ended. Tobias said that living like this just suited him. "So, did you catch anything?"
Nope. Yes, this simple life was definitely for me. I suddenly wondered how Cassie was doing. I shook the thought from my mind. The place for me was here, in the woods. Not back in civilization, with all our friends and family. Though of course, not all our friends were back there anyway. Jake was gone. If I went back, I'd have to face that. Although, he was gone either way. I wasn't sure anymore where I should be. I hadn't been for months. Thoughts of home just kept coming up. What are you thinking about? Tobias asked, intruding on my thoughts. "Nothing." I wasn't sure how he'd react to my thoughts just then. You're thinking about them aren't you. Surprised, I just managed to blurt out, "I don't have to think about them anymore, the Yeerks are gone."
You know who I mean. You miss Cassie and Marco and Ax and everybody else. Maybe it was time to go home. "I'm not sure. I think we should for a really good reason." Just then a ship I recognized as Andalite in origin passed overhead.
Marco
"So, you believe that what the sensors picked up was a ship" I said to the faces positioned around the large table. Cassie and I sat next to each other talking to the officials in a meeting that felt like it had dragged on forever already. I glanced at the clock and was graced with the knowledge that it had only been ten minutes. I hated meetings. Ax couldn't get to the meeting because he was in the middle of conferences in China. Apparently the officials weren't too happy about that.
"We just want you to identify the images sent to us by the sensors." The officials never revealed more than they had to. "Well, how long ago did the sensors pick this up? How many were there?" Cassie asked, both of us already knowing the answer. "We just need you to identify the images." I studied the picture, more than slightly annoyed. My heart skipped a beat when I realized what I was looking at. Cassie and I exchanged a glance, both knowing what it meant. "What is it?" The officials didn't seem to like us knowing something they didn't.
"A dome ship," we said in unison.
Ax
I slunk wearily into my room provided to me by the American embassy. I was tired with annoyance at the stupidity of humans. When I stayed with my friends, the Animorphs, during the war, I had developed an odd respect for humans. Through my interactions with those few people, I had come to believe that they were a somewhat intelligent, mostly honest, and sometimes honorable species. This was especially demonstrated by my former prince, and I was deeply saddened at his death. But the conferences I had been forced to attend all over this backwater little globe had proved me wrong. Over and over and over again.
If I had to go to one more I swore I would knock someone unconscious. These people asked the most outrageous questions. Questions ranging from the mating habits of my species to what sort of celebrities we had. I had been deeply misled. I looked over at the "state-of-the-art" computer (it was all I could do not to laugh when they showed it to me) in the corner and saw I had an "e-mail" (a primitive but oddly effective form of communication). It was from Cassie. Every hair on my body stood up when I read it. I wrote Cassie back immediately telling her I would be back as soon as I could. I rushed out of my room and went down to the lobby.
When I found the person who had been my representative at the conference, I asked him what the quickest way was to get to America. "Why, by plane of course," he responded in a tone I took as slightly surprised, "but you can't leave now. You have a conference tomorrow." As I looked around the room, I could see everyone staring at me. If it is one thing humans can do, it is stare. I must get back now. You must tell me how to get a plane to America. I tried to think of something that would impress him, It is of international importance. He looked disbelieving for a moment, but then took me to get what he called a flight reservation.
Shawn
"How have you been doing up in Oregon?" Marco asked as we waited for our meeting with the officials to start. He and Cassie had met me at the airport when I came in the day before. "Fine," I said absentmindedly. I had received Cassie's e-mail and came straight away. I had been the first to arrive. Ax, Katherine, and George arrived later that day. We were all ecstatic about what would be happening in the very near future. Waiting for this meeting to start had killed the mood.
"Is it always like this, waiting for them to come in?" I asked Marco in a voice that was almost a whisper for some reason that was a mystery to me. "Yes, and the meeting itself will be worse," Marco said, adopting the same volume. Our conversation and the others going on in the room ended when the doors opposite where we were sitting opened and the representatives of our nation, and some others, walked in wearing the same old, well-pressed suits they always wore.
"We've called you here to speak with you about the ship that has been sighted coming Toward Earth recently. I'm sure you've all heard about it," one of the officials said in a way that sounded like he was reading it off a cue card. These guys had to do everything just right. "Recent reports show that the ships have set up orbit around Earth. There have been no attempts from the ship at communication so far, but we want to be ready for anything. We would like your opinion on the situation."
"Well," Marco said, showing no interest in the round about methods of bureaucrats, "They probably mean no harm. What I'm worried about is if they can't tell whether the Yeerks are gone or not. I think what they're doing now is running sensor sweeps of the planet looking for any signs of alien activity. The long range sensors we set up probably aren't helping any.
"We've got to find a way of showing them that the Yeerks are gone," Marco concluded, saying the last sentence almost to himself. I could see everyone in our little group was trying to think of a way to solve this dilemma. "The only thing I can think of is sending a transmission with Aximili as our spokesperson," Marco said finally. "We were thinking the same," one of the officials said hurriedly. I'm sure they were. "We'd better do it quick," Marco said, "There's no telling how much time we have."
End of Part 2
Part 3 coming soon. Don't worry, it'll start getting less cliché by then, I hope.