"First off, we need to find out where he's staying," Marco said. "Obviously not at his old house."
"Obviously," I muttered.
"If he's at a motel, it's probably illegally," Jake inserted. "Any Controller at the desk would recognize him, and he can't afford to take that chance."
"So maybe he broke a window," Rachel said. "Let's go. We slide in through the broken window, do the deed, and forget it ever happened."
Forget.I laughed inwardly. Did the poor fools think that they could forget it? Did they know how hard it was to forget something?
The look on Rachel's face told me that she knew she would not forget. I stayed silent. I hadn't said a word since the meeting commenced.
"We can complete the first two steps," Cassie said grimly. "But I don't know about the third."
Marco looked away. "Not important. Let's do it."
"Ah-ah-ah," Rachel reprimanded. "Not your line. Never your line." She paused for effect, and then said, "Let's do it."
"Copycat."
"You're one to talk, Marco," she said with her Cover Girl smile.
"Let's just do this," Jake growled impatiently.
Do you harbor any doubts, oh leader? Do you feel any regret at taking a life? Or is it part of your day-to-day existence? I said silently.
We morphed quickly. We were in seagull morph. We'd find the hotel, then morph birds-of-prey or insects; if we had a golden opportunity, we'd stay as birds-of-prey to do the deed. If not, we'd morph insects and then one or two would morph under the hotel bed.
The whole thing made me sick.
I stayed silent the entire time. I finally heard Aximili's thought-speak in my head. ~Renee, is anything wrong?~
~Of course it is,~ I said calmly. ~I'm about to murder another human being. Think of being on your planet and walking up to another Andalite -- not a Controller, an Andalite -- and killing him.~
~No Andalite would ever betray another,~ he said quickly.
I decided to say it. I knew that I shouldn't. But I'm not an angel, I realize. ~Really? And I suppose that you never happened to be on a ship where the captain betrayed the entire Andalite race, did you? I suppose that the Animorphs fabricated the tale of the Ascalin? I suppose that you never heard the dying cries of...how did they put it...a hundred dying Andalites? I suppose they fabricated the tale of a captain who tried to doom the entire universe? They fabricated the tale of the traitorous ANDALITE who --~
~Stop it!~ he roared. I could hear the shame in his voice. I felt that I had gone a little too far.
But I had taken too much. I had been betrayed -- not for the first time. And another human might, perhaps, have been eager for vengeance, I did not desire his death.
~We don't even know if he's there, remember,~ Jake reminded us. ~Look for a broken window. If he is in this hotel -- he stayed here before -- then it will be there.~
~There,~ Cassie said flatly. I'd already seen it.
Why was I there?
~I don't see him,~ I said quietly.
~Neither do I,~ Tobias said. He alone was in hawk form, as he saw no reason to morph.
~I see a slip of paper, though,~ I said. I swooped closer, straining my eyes.
It was written in big letters.
I'M SURE THAT THE SEVEN OF YOU WILL SEE THIS. AFTER ALL, THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST PLACE YOU'D LOOK, WOULDN'T IT? SO, ANIMORPHS, LOOK UP.
I froze immediately after reading it.
~Renee, what did it say?~ Rachel asked me.
~DODGE!~ I yelled at the top of my lungs...or, at least, in the thought-speak equivalent of "top of my lungs."
~Why?~
~JUST DODGE!~
I turned and dived.
The golden eagle missed me by inches.
~David!~ Jake snarled.
~I figured I'd give you all a chance to read my note,~ he said nonchalantly. ~If you were in bird-of-prey morphs, I would have moved faster. But seagulls...well...you won't be so hard to take on.~
~David,~ I said calmly. ~We meet again. Do you feel the slightest bit of remorse? After all, if you had not turned on me, your parents would be free now. Wasn't that your only goal?~ I stressed the last two words. I knew that he had lied to me, but the suddenly vulnerable look deep within his eagle eyes was almost enough to change my mind.
~Of course...not,~ he muttered. But I could hear something in his voice that told me that maybe it was.
Suddenly it clicked.
~Oh, of course,~ I said. ~It was your only goal. But if you don't kill us all, you won't stay human and you won't have a chance to carry it out. Right?~
~What?!~
His tone told me that I had hit home. Cassie finished for me, knowing the story. ~Crayak brought you back on condition that you'd destroy us. If you don't, you won't have a chance to free your parents anyway, will you?~
~Fine. Maybe you're right. But that doesn't matter because either way, YOU'RE ALL DEAD!~
He dived straight at Cassie. She dodged nimbly. He flew past...straight at Aximili!
My heart caught in my throat, but he was a seagull, and seagulls are agile. He dodged away.
David wheeled sharply.
~Retreat!~ Jake called.
The little episode was revealing something to me. They were right. David had to be...disposed of.
He followed us.
I had no problem with injuring him. That would ensure an escape.
First I had to lure him to me.
~STAY AWAY FROM ME!~ I screeched in feigned horror. ~GET THEM, GET THEM!~
~You coward!~ Rachel roared.
David laughed and dived for me. I could feel him coming closer, closer... I spun and ripped my beak into him. It was not a carnivorous beak, but it sliced into his wing. I flipped in mid-air and clawed him with a talon.
~Gee, thanks, Rachel,~ I said sarcastically. ~He wouldn't have come near me if I hadn't acted terrified. Next time, wait until you see my motive or plans until you accuse me of being a coward.~
~Sorry,~ she muttered.
We had been friends. I didn't know whether we were friends now or not. I didn't want to be enemies, but I was not going to conform to her standards. I was beginning to draw my mask back over my face, to wonder if I was right to trust them, to wonder how much of myself I could reveal.
I'm not used to trusting other people. I still couldn't figure out why I had trusted David, unless it was only through the similarity of our situations.
He would pay for breaching my trust.
I felt anger boiling up. I released his wing as a scream split the air (or the thought-speech communication line, or whatever it was).
I could not let anger control me. I could not begin to feel hate. No. No.
See, I knew that if I started to hate, I would abandon myself to it. And I could not afford to do that.
I calmed down slowly. I could see blood on my talons. I shuddered. What had happened to me?
Tobias dived and hit David again. The other seagulls wheeled and began their weaker but more numerous attacks. I stayed out of it.
They knew hate. I did not. I didn't want to find out what it was. I didn't want to become addicted to the fight, like Rachel.
And I didn't want to be the one to land the killing blow, either.
Suddenly I felt it. An immense shadow above us. A dark presence.
I looked up. I could not see it with my seagull eyes. I focused on it with my mind. The shadow seemed to have a cloak of invisibility --
Cloaked!
Cloaked could only mean one thing: Bug fighter.
~Everyone, leave!~ I shrieked. ~Bug fighter! He teamed up with the Yeerks!~
~*~ Chapter Four ~*~
~Bug fighter?!~ Jake yelled. ~WHAT?!~
~They're here,~ David gasped through the pain. ~They'll force your secret out of you. I did not reveal it, if you're wondering; if they already knew the secret, what would be the point in torturing you? I'll let them find it out through torture or that Anti-Morphing Ray. I'll be sure to help them get it out of you, too. And if you don't break, I'll just tell them.~
~Hello?!~ I cried in frustration. ~Get away, scatter, leave, release the golden eagle, FLY AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!~
~If we leave him here they'll get him, and they'll make him a Controller. Then they'll know,~ Tobias told everyone in private thought-speak.
~Too late,~ I said suddenly, flatly. I could see them starting to rise up, David included.
I turned and wheeled away. I had been far enough away that they didn't have me in their tractor beam. I could make it.
~AAAAH!~ Cassie cried. ~They have us!~
I could still leave.
Physically, at least. I was physically able to leave. But I would not leave them, my friends.
I waited until they had almost disappeared. Then I shot up after them.
They'd turned off the beam, but, as I had expected, they had not yet closed the hatch (or whatever the Yeerks called it). I sped up, unnoticed. They'd already grabbed the others, except David, who was demorphing. They didn't see me as I maneuvered behind a steel crate.
"Those are the Andalites," David said. "I have delivered them to you."
~Well done,~ Visser Three said calmly. ~We will release your parents.~ Then, to the Hork-Bajir, ~Prepare the thought-speak proof cages. We do not need to hear any cries from the Andalites. They might weaken the morale of our young friend.~
I snorted to myself.
Something had to be wrong. He'd make David a Controller, he wouldn't just let him go. But maybe David was too ignorant to see it.
I had to demorph. I had to do something.
The silent, furious seagulls/hawk were piled into separate clear cages. Each of them were large enough to hold an Andalite. Of course, I realized. They want them to have room when the AMR hits them and forces them to demorph...to humans!
Bad thing. Very bad thing.
I demorphed rapidly. Then I prepared myself. I wasn't going to morph the cheetah, despite how much I loved the animal. I was going to morph the panther because it might be stronger.
I'd need all my strength.
I was fully human. I concentrated.
The first change was the fur. It covered my body in a beautiful black wave. I opened my dark hazel eyes and stared at the Animorphs in the dim light of the Bug fighter. Suddenly the light brightened -- or, at least, my eyes became better equipped to it. My eyes had changed to the eyes of a cat, a predator, a panther.
The claws sprouted. They curved in and then sharpened. They hardened and blackened.
I dropped to all fours, the last change completed.
My tail whipped back and forth. It twitched angrily as the panther mind surfaced.
The panther did not like the enclosed Bug fighter. It did not being contained. It did not like the arrogance of the humans and the strange alien creatures around it. It was arrogant, but it had a right to be -- it was a panther, after all. These invaders had no right to feel arrogance.
Besides, it was hungry.
I forced myself to be still. David was apparently in charge of the AMR session. I was not surprised. After all, his deal with Crayak had been that he would kill the Animorphs. Besides, the Visser would enjoy the amusing sight of a human aiding the destruction of Earth.
The hawk was not to be first. My heart sank. That would be the only chance...but when the seagull demorphed, they'd see either a human or an Andalite, depending on whether or not they had Aximili first.
David raised his hand over the black button and --
I moved.
With all the silence, all the grace of the beautiful black animal that I had become, I moved.
David dropped under my weight. He stared up into my eyes and I felt pity for him.
Why?
RAAAARRR!
A Hork-Bajir grabbed me by the ruff of my neck and threw me off. I landed on my feet and spun. David raised his hand again.
Then he paused. "Visser, I would like to ask permission to torture them first."
What?
What kind of a sick, twisted being was he?
The worst kind, I answered myself.
The Visser smiled the Andalite smile -- in a very evil way -- in amusement. ~Go ahead.~
~DAVID, YOU --~ I erupted.
He laughed. "Kill me, oh panther," he snapped angrily. "I'm taking them with me."
Suddenly I realized that either way, I would aid in the murder of another. His murder, or theirs. I would aid in theirs if I did nothing.
He wasn't going to torture him. He was going to kill them.
I leaped through the air and hit him hard. ~I'm sorry, David,~ I said in a voice full of sadness. ~I didn't want to do this.~
"HELP!" he screamed. A Hork-Bajir reached for me.
I kicked out with my hind legs struck the Hork-Bajir in the stomach.
~David, I'm sorry,~ I said, my voice almost breaking. ~But it's you or us, isn't it? You made that clear.~
"You'll die!" he screeched. "You'll die anyway! While kill me?!"
His cries penetrated my heart. But I shook my panther head. ~I gave you a chance. More than a chance. But after you tried to kill me just now, why should I...how can I let you kill them? How can I let you live on when it will mean the doom of Earth?~
He screamed in terror. He was a coward. Just the look in his eyes betrayed that. He could kill one of us without remorse, but he could not stand the fact that his life was about to end.
"Fine," he said in a whisper finally. "My parents, though...just save them, Renee."
I couldn't kill him!
What was I thinking? I couldn't just --
GROOOOOOWAAAARR!
I roared in shock as the Hork-Bajir picked me up and threw me off again. David leaped to his feet, laughing. He grabbed a Dracon beam and aimed at me.
TSEEEEEEEWW!
It vaporized a Hork-Bajir behind me.
~So. This is what you want, David?~ I asked sadly.
Then I dived through the air and hit the Dracon beam. He fired once. The beam severed my paw. I almost screamed in pain but I suppressed it.
I knocked it away from him with my other paw.
~Sorry,~ I whispered.
Then I killed him.
~*~ Chapter Five ~*~
The guilt and sadness was almost too much to bear. I wanted to cry.
But I had never shed a tear. And I would not shed one now.
I turned from David to the Visser. ~Release the Andalites.~
~Give me one reason why I should,~ he spat. David's death meant nothing to him. He was just a tool, after all.
~How about this?~ I said softly. I knocked him to the floor and drew a paw back.
~RELEASE THEM!~ he shrieked hysterically, as cowardly as David. ~RELEASE THEM IMMEDIATELY!~
A moment later, we were all released near the woods. I had had no doubt that the Visser would agree with my...reasoning.
None of the Animorphs said anything. They knew what I was feeling.
David's body was thrown out with us. I looked away as I demorphed.
~You did what had to be done,~ Aximili told me.
"That doesn't make it right," I whispered.
"It was your only choice," Jake reminded me.
"It was a murder."
They left me alone after that. But, silently, we dug his grave. I don't know why we bothered. Perhaps because the corpse in the woods would be too awful for a passer-by.
I had one last thing to do. The Animorphs never even knew what I did. But three days later, David's parents were raving about the Yeerks. They were sure that it was the Yeerks who had killed their son.
They had escaped their Controller fates. Later, the Yeerk empire found them, perhaps. Maybe they recaptured them. Maybe they killed them. Maybe they just moved or something.
But I never heard from them again.
I had fulfilled my part in a bargain that had been broken. I had done what I had promised.
Goodbye, traitor.