CHAPTER 3
A chill spread through my mind, a glacial onslaught that purged all hope, dread, joy, sorrow, leaving nothing but an icy calmness. All emotion died. I felt sharp, brittle, frozen. Everything seemed so much more real, so much more matter of fact. There was an Andalite. He was dying. The Yeerk are here. They are here to destroy us. There was no room for any other thoughts, no room for doubt or fear.
They are here to destroy us.
«I am sorry. I only wish it could be otherwise.»
"You mean they're here already? On Earth?"
«At least one hundred and twenty thousand, yes. Possibly many more.»
"Surely we'd have noticed an army of small grey men wandering around the planet by now?" Mai questioned. Her tone was almost pleading, like she wanted the Andalite to suddenly admit that there were no Yeerk, that it had all been some kind of prank.
«No. Yeerk are not like that. Not like me. Not like you. They live within the bodies of other creatures. They are...»
I can't really describe this next thought as words, as I've done so far, so I'll explain it as I saw it. An image suddenly appeared in the forefront of my mind, so vivid it seemed almost superimposed in my vision. It was... slug-like. It was a sickening sort of grey-white colour, with irregular pink blotches – a corpse-like complexion. At the front it had the same eyes on stalks thing that snails have, only this had no shell. The size was hard to judge from the image. Slightly smaller than a rat, I guess.
«Yeerk are parasites. They must have a host body to live within, and it must be a creature with a central nervous system, and an external orifice of a certain width that leads directly to the central nervous system. They enter the brain through the orifice, and spread themselves out extremely thinly over the prefrontal cortex, or any equivalents, and in doing so, take over the host's body and thoughts. A Yeerk within a host is known as a Controller. Hosts can resist, at least a very little bit, but most either give up shortly or voluntarily accept the Yeerk. Without hosts, Yeerk are powerless.»
Just as he finished speaking, another spasm of pain coursed through him, and his despair grew deeper.
Only... I don't think it was despair, any more. Now that I look back, I think it was sadness. Sadness for the way things are.
"So you're saying these things are body snatchers?" Sean demanded. "They just... take over people, just like that?"
"Why are you telling us? Why not the government or the United Nations? We're just a bunch of teens, nobody would even believe us."
«We did not know..»
«The galaxy is vast. You are 27 parsecs away from the centre – that places you on the border of space known to Andalites. We did not know about you until very recently, when we discovered that one of the Yeerk Sub-Vissers was only using half of his available forces. The rest had retreated into unknown space. I was sent to command a Dome Ship, to investigate Yeerk movements. We knew he had a half fleet of fighter ships, mostly Weevil Fighters and Scarab Gunships, with a few heavier Deathwatch Cruisers, stationed around that area but he surprised us – there was a Blade Ship hiding just above the surface of Jupiter. We'd just finished a scan of your planet, checking your international computer bases – "The Pentagon" seemed to be a frequent one - when they ambushed us, and boarded our Dome Ship. We fought... but we lost.»
"How do we know you aren't a Controller, then?" Sean said. It sounds kinda stupid now, but even then I knew what he was trying to say. How can you be sure of anything when your enemy could be anyone?
«There are no known Andalite Controllers. We each have a chip installed in our ear canal which will detonate if intrusion is detected or it is tampered with in any way. And... if that fails... if the worst comes to the worst, we have our tails and we have our dignity.»
It took me a while to understand what he meant. I blanched slightly when I did.
«I will die shortly. They will dispose of my body and my ship – they would not want humans to find it. Their Mantis Rays will leave nothing behind but... ashes.»
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Fahd spoke gravely.
«What do you mean?»
"It's a phrase humans use to honour the dead."
The eyes of the Andalite seemed to smile.
«Thank you. Although, I do not think I am worthy of your honour. Now, quickly! You have no time. You must tell your people!»
Again, his body arched and twisted, his legs kicking out wildly. He was almost gone.
"You don't understand." I said. "We have no authority. No-one would believe us. We're just a bunch of teens. People would say we'd gotten drunk or high or something. If the Yeerks destroy you and your ship, we'll have nothing." I was trying to keep my voice as level as possible, to hide the creeping desperation. I didn't want the Andalite to have to suffer a hysterical human child in his last moments.
"Surely we could get you out of here quickly? We could place you in my wheelchair, and Lyall could carry me, or something." offered Sean.
«Not enough time. Not enough...» He was struggling now. His thoughts seemed slightly scattered. «Taxxon venom runs strong in my veins.» His eyes cleared briefly, and he managed to hold my gaze. «Unless... I have an idea.»
"Yes?"
«Go into my ship. You will see a small cube, of a pale blue colour. Bring it to me, quickly! The Yeerks cannot be far away.»
There was a brief pause as everyone looked at each other. Sean probably couldn't even get into the ship, and Mai seemed too scared. Fahd briefly looked me in the eye, and I lost.
"Go on, Lyall." Fahd said. "We'll stay with him." I looked at them. Fahd and Mai and Sean, all with the Andalite. They were right, I should go. They were friends, and I was not. I was only here because of a prank played by Jack. I didn't fit in with their group.
I walked to the entrance of the spaceship. The hatch was still open, and the red light was still pulsing. It was coming from a strange display at the front of the ship – it looked like a hologram, almost, a kind of dashboard made of light that floated in mid-air. There weren't many controls that I could make out. The inside itself was simple, a kind of bleached white colour like you get in hospitals. Everything was rounded in an oval shape – rounded edges and sides. It seemed almost relaxing.
There was blood spattered irregularly over the floor, presumably the Andalite's.
The blue box wasn't hard to spot. It lay on top of a smooth surface towards the back of the ship. It was glowing ever so softly with a pale blue metallic lustre, which is why I saw it so easily. I'd guess it was maybe four inches each side. I tentatively touched it, half expecting an electric current to surge out of the box, killing me instantly, or any other number of such horrors. Instead, nothing happened. Emboldened, I picked up the box. It was surprisingly heavy for its size, I almost dropped it. It felt ever so slightly odd to hold. You know when there's a really bad storm coming, and the air feels tight and drawn? Well, that's what holding felt like. Like the calm before the storm.
I left the ship, and went back to where the Andalite lay. I held out the box, afraid of what it might mean.
«This is my gift to you. It may help you fight the Yeerks. I know you are young, even by the standards of your species, but you are the only hope for your kind. You may not have the weapons or abilities of a warrior, but I can grant you this.»
"What is it?"
«It is one of the last pieces of Andalite technology the Yeerk have yet to pirate, and possibly our greatest. My kind has never before shared this power... but your species numbers in the billions. If the Yeerk were to use humankind as an army, this war would be lost. You are our hope, which is why I entrust you with this. It will give you the power to morph.»
"What do you mean, "morph"?" asked Sean, shifting forward in his wheelchair slightly.
«The ability to metamorphose your form. To alter your base DNA to that of any other species. To become another animal.»
"You have to be kidding me. Become an animal? Any animal?" Mai looked disbelieving.
«Yes. All you must do is touch another animal, in order to acquire its DNA, and then, you will be able to become that creature. There are limitations, and dangers, even, but if you have the willpower and the courage to try, I am sure you will succeed. There is no time to explain the details. You will have to learn for yourselves. Now, will you accept this power?»
"With great power, comes great responsibility." Mai said, only half jokingly.
I don't think any of us could have said no. The Andalite was dying, and our world was in danger. Perhaps the whole of space was in danger. Even so, there was a silent moment that seemed to stretch on for almost ever. So many thoughts were spinning round inside my head. Aliens! Andalites, Yeerks! Spaceships, morphing! Controllers! And we, four humans among six billion, had had the misfortune to bear the burden to deal with it...
Fahd spoke first. "I accept." His voice was absolutely firm.
I looked at him, saw the certainty in his eyes. "We need to decide together, Fahd. This decision will affect the rest of our lives. We won't be able to walk away if we make the wrong choice."
"What choice?" he replied. "I don't see a choice, Lyall. If you honestly think we could say no to this, that we could leave and pretend this never happened, you are a fool. If you turn your back now, then who will stop the Yeerk. There is no choice. No choice at all."
"Maybe the Andalites will win. Maybe they'll defeat the Yeerk, maybe we won't have to fight! They'll know one of their ships has crashed, they'll send another!" I was pleading with Fahd now.
"You heard him as well as I did, Lyall." said Mai. "If we don't fight, the Andalites can't win. Earth would be little more than a vast expendable army to the Yeerk."
I knew I'd lost, and I snapped. "Damn you! Why did have you have to crash your fucking ship here! Why did you have to fucking ruin my life! I'm just an ordinary guy, nothing special about me. You want to turn me into some kind of fucking freedom fighter, and I won't fucking do it!"
"This isn't about you, Lyall!" Fahd shouted back. Somehow, we were facing each other now, almost nose to nose, as we stared each other down. "This is about so much more than you! This is about the human race. Do you even goddamn understand that? The whole human race!"
Sean suddenly pointed up into the sky. I broke Fahd's gaze first, more to escape that look than to see where Sean was pointing.
"Look." he said.
Where he pointed, more hazes could be seen above in the sky. Ever so slight a red blur could be seen behind them, an angry crimson red.
«Yeerks.» spat the Andalite, his hatred once again rising.
Fahd spoke quietly now. "Lyall, you have to make your choice. You are our leader, whether you like it or not. Mai would hate it, Sean couldn't do it, and I wouldn't know where to start. But you... you inspire people to listen to you. Even people like Jack listen. Right now, I don't see that, all I see is a craven, spineless bastard. But I know you better than that. So, whatever decision you are going to make...
...make it now!"