Chapter 2


≺Is anyone here?≻ I asked when I got to the parking lot in my seagull morph.

≺Finally!≻ Marco responded angrily. ≺You'd better have a plan, Jake!≻

≺Is the rest here too?≻ I asked worriedly.

≺We're all here,≻ Tobias responded.

≺Except we're not all here,≻ Rachel said. ≺How could you just let them take Cassie?!≻

≺Because there's nothing we could have done for her! If that Hork-Bajir had aimed a couple inches higher you'd be dust right now!≻

≺Yeah, great, now we'll all just be made Controllers when they find us, that's so much better.≻

≺I know! Look, it's not much of a plan yet, and I have no idea if we're going to make it out alive… but we have to get to the mothership somehow. And we need to deal with Sharon, too. I'm… w-well, I'm not so worried about Cassie spilling our secrets, but Jessica and her mom…≻

I didn't get any snarky replies that time. Just silence.

≺Let's go back to Erek first,≻ I added. ≺Hopefully Visser Three is gone by now, but try to act natural.≻

They stayed silent, but followed. I guess everyone was getting to terms with the fact that we'd probably be dead or slaves soon.

It was hardly the first time we'd gone through that. We'd been cornered, captured, or otherwise almost dead several times already. But it was different this time, because we could still choose to not go through with it. To save ourselves, for the time being, anyway. But that'd mean leaving Cassie to her fate. I'd never forgive myself for that, and I'm sure the rest wouldn't, either.

≺Erek, are you still there?≻ I asked when we got close enough to the hospital.

≺Yes. Are you and your friends okay?≻

≺We're alive. Is Jessica's mom still there?≻

≺Yeah. There's a Bug fighter on its way to take Sharon and Hank to the Yeerk pool, the one underneath the city. They should be here in fifteen minutes or so.≻

≺That can take us to the mothership, right?≻ Rachel asked.

≺Yes, but it will be guarded.≻

≺Whatever, I can take them.≻

≺Rachel, they almost killed you just now…≻ Jordan said.

≺I just have to not be a stupid bird this time!≻

≺That's not the problem,≻ Erek added. ≺You can't just attack the Bug fighter's crew. The Taxxon pilot knows access codes that the mothership will verify on its approach, and you won't be able to threaten a Taxxon into submission. You also can't secretly board the ship, because the mothership scans all incoming ships for non-Controller lifeforms. They would not let a Bug fighter dock in one piece if there is so much as a fly on board that isn't accounted for. They would also detect me.≻

≺Great,≻ Marco mumbled after a few seconds of discouraged silence.

≺There is a way… Half of you could morph Yeerk and infest the other half. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference between you and real Controllers.≻

≺But only Cassie can morph Yeerk,≻ I noted.

≺You can acquire the Yeerk that I keep alive inside my body. But the hosts would need to be in human, Hork-Bajir, or Taxxon form to be believable.≻

≺Rachel and I have Hork-Bajir morphs…≻ Tobias said.

≺And Ax could go as his weird combo-morph of us,≻ Marco added. ≺So Jordan, Jake, and I would be the Yeerks, right?≻

≺I think all of us should get Yeerk morphs if we're doing this, just in case,≻ I said. ≺Can you move again, Erek?≻

≺Yeah, I'm okay now. The Yeerks moved Sharon and Hank to a room on the fourth floor; I'm currently in the storage room next to it. I'll open the window for you.≻

≺Sure, that won't look suspicious at all, a couple of seagulls flying into an open window one at a time,≻ Marco said.

≺For as far as the Controllers here know, Visser Three has already returned to the mothership. It should be safe enough. And you need to hurry if you want to do this before the Bug fighter arrives.≻

≺Good enough for me,≻ Rachel said, and flew in first. Jordan followed her closely. I went in next, and the rest followed behind me.

Erek had already disabled his human hologram. Without it, he looks sort of like a dog standing upright. He's mostly made of shiny metal, laced with a white material that could be ivory.

While I was demorphing, I watched Erek split his forehead open to reveal the chamber in which he keeps his Yeerk alive. It's part of his disguise, in a way. The Yeerks think he's a Controller.

≺Prince Jake, I…≻ Ax suddenly said, directing his thoughts only to me. ≺I respectfully cannot in good conscience carry out your orders.≻

Huh. That's never happened before.

I stopped demorphing. Once I'd be human, I'd lose my ability to thought-speak, and I figured Ax wouldn't want me to respond out loud.

≺What do you mean? What orders?≻

≺I cannot… I cannot let myself be infested. To willingly be infested by a Yeerk… It is the highest level of treason Andalite law defines. The penalty is death, as is the penalty for harboring someone guilty of it. I would never be able to return to my homeworld.≻

≺But we're not real Yeerks, right?≻

≺I could see how an exception could be made for an Andalite to take control of another Andalite by means of morphing a Yeerk… But to my knowledge, even that has never even been considered. And I am already in violation of several laws by serving under you at all…≻

≺But Ax, we need you up there with us… You're the only one who has even the slightest understanding of how Yeerk technology works. If you don't come with us, this is a suicide mission for sure…≻

≺I… You are my friends. I will do it if there is no other way. But I would ask you to try to come up with a different –≻

"So, who's gonna control who?" Marco unknowingly interrupted Ax. He'd just started acquiring Erek's Yeerk. "Dibs on Rachel," he added with a smile.

Rachel frowned at him. "In your dreams, Marco. Jordan can take me. Although I'd rather have it be the other way around…"

"M-me too…" Jordan said. She was clearly terrified.

"I thought you wanted to fight?" Rachel said somewhat harshly.

Jordan looked away, on the verge of crying. She's the youngest of us, after all, and had never been in an actual fight until a couple minutes ago. The only missions she'd been a part of so far were faking Rachel's death and guarding Cassie's house while Jessica was around.

It's not like she isn't tough. She's definitely made of the same stuff as Rachel, whatever that is… But I'm pretty sure even Rachel was scared at first. Heck, I think she still is, and just hides it a lot better than the rest of us.

In any case, I also didn't like the idea of Jordan being in control of one of us on a mission like this, having so little experience. I mean, this might have just been the most dangerous mission we'd ever willingly gone on. The few times we'd gone to the Yeerk pool came close, but at least that was on Earth. If the Yeerks figure us out while we're still on the mothership, there'd be nowhere for us to go.

≺I kind of have my doubts about this plan as well…≻ Tobias said. ≺It'd be pretty weird for two Hork-Bajir to show up in a place like this. I mean, this is a public place, why would they be here? And what if other Hork-Bajir recognize Ket Halpak and Jara Hamee? Just because we can't tell two Hork-Bajir apart doesn't mean they can't. And I'm sure every Hork-Bajir would have been shown pictures of them to scare them into submission. We'd look immediately suspicious.≻

We'd helped free those two Hork-Bajir several months ago. We'd faked their suicide so the Yeerks would stop hunting them. That's why Rachel and Tobias can morph them.

So Tobias made a really good point. I hadn't really thought of it, but it'd hardly be different from sending Rachel and Jordan up there without morphing.

I sighed, now almost completely demorphed. "I think we're going to need human morphs."