CHAPTER 7

I didn't get any sleep for the rest of the night. It didn't help that it was almost four in the morning by the time I got home. I just couldn't get to sleep, I had so much on my mind – the possibility that my family had been taken by the Yeerks, the fact that I could change into any animal I chose – so long as its genetic code was mixed with my own and I didn't go over the two hour time limit – the fact that I had now been swept up into a guerilla fight against an alien invasion….

The sun had risen and it was time to go to school before I knew that any time had gone by.

It was only my second day of school here, so I did my best to look like I was paying attention. A teacher asked me why I looked so tired; I simply told him that I was just adjusting to my new home and had a hard time getting to sleep. Sort of a half-truth, but still a lie.

Then again, for all I knew, this teacher was a Controller.

The day seemed to drag on, until it was lunchtime. I stood in line, my tray in my hands, waiting to get my meal. Hunger wasn't my main focus, though – I was so tired, so worried about, well, everything. Still, I had to put on an act, so I reached for a bowl of fruit salad and a chicken patty sandwich.

"Yo Penny! Over here!"

I followed the sound of Marco's voice to where he and his friends were sitting and sat down. Cassie put a reassuring hand on my arm.

"Tobias told me what you said to him last night," she said. "I'm so sorry to hear about it."

"Join the club."

"Have you thought about what we should do about this?" Jake asked.

"What's this 'we'?" I asked, almost snapping at him.

"Hey," Jake said, pointing his finger at me. "We're a lot more experienced than you are at this sort of thing. In one form or another, we've all dealt with people we love being taken by the Yeerks. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're alone in this, because you're not."

"Okay, I'm sorry," I said. "I – I don't know what to do. I'm – I'm scared, worried…." I looked up at them. "I guess you could say that I need experts' advice."

"Ask and ye shall receive, milady," Marco said. He turned to Jake. "So, what's our first plan, Fearless Leader?"

"We can't do much brainstorming right now," Jake said. "So we'll meet at Cassie's barn after school. We'll confer with Ax and Tobias and come up with a plan from there, but I can tell you right now that we're going to have to eavesdrop in on Mr. Chapman, and I'll see what I can hear from Tom later on. But right now we'll do our usual thing and act like nothing is wrong. So, just to reiterate, we'll meet at Cassie's barn after school, but until then, we'll act casual. Deal?"

I just nodded my head among the chorus of "Yes"es.

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The rest of the day seemed to just drag. I couldn't focus on anything, my mind just wasn't in it. There was another test, this one in math class, which I once again got to sit out. So I made it look like I was studying, the whole time keeping my eye on everyone else in class. With everything that Jake and the others had told me, anyone here could be the enemy.

The end of the day came after what felt like an eternity. I stopped in the restroom to splash some water on my face, trying to wake up. Nearly twenty-four hours without sleep, with only one short three hour nap in between can really do a number on a person. I splashed another handful of water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Buck up, Penny," I said to myself. "Everything's going to be fine. Your family's going to be okay. Jake and the others will help you find them, and if we have to, save them. You'll get them back and everything will go back to normal. It will be just like it was." I looked down at my hands. "With some…variations. I'll bet Jonah will flip his lid when he sees me turn into a Komodo dragon." I shook my head. "No, I can't show them. I can't let any of them know." I picked up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. "I've got a meeting to attend, and I'm already running late."

I headed out into the hallway, trying to look casual, and made my way down the hall to the doors. Most of the buses were already pulling out, as were some of the cars that students or their parents had driven. Me, I headed in the direction of Cassie's farm.

Part of me hoped that I would encounter Marco or one of the others on my way, Another part of me hoped that that wouldn't happen. I wanted some time to myself. I wanted time to think. You could say that I've already had plenty of time to myself, and that may be true, but with everything that had happened, everything that was going to happen, I needed time to figure some things out. What was going to happen? Would my family be safe? What if they were already infested – would I have to take them captive and starve the Yeerks out, or would I have to kill them? I hoped it wasn't going to be the latter. I couldn't even think about killing my mother or father, couldn't think about killing Jonah.

As I walked down the street, I kept looking around, keeping my eyes on everyone I passed. Controller, not Controller – look at me, I was already feeling paranoid. But with everything that happened in the past two days, everything that I had learned, can you really blame me?

I left the city limits, and after a few moments, Cassie's farm came into view. I stopped for a moment, thinking about what plan the others may have come up with. No, no, I couldn't think about that. Their plans would probably involve killing my family. I couldn't think about that, and if I could, I would try to convince them otherwise. Jake wouldn't want Tom dead, and I'm sure that if his mother were still alive, Marco wouldn't want her dead.

I walked to the barn, saw everyone was already gathered. Jake and Marco were sitting on a bale of hay – I heard them having an argument about something called Death Battle, whatever that was – Cassie was tending to a horse, Rachel was leaning against a beam with her arms crossed, Ax was off with Tobias – the latter of whom was perched on a rafter – and were probably talking to each other with thought-speak, since I couldn't hear anything coming from them.

"Um, hi guys," I said. I sat down on the hay bale next to Jake. "Have you guys come up with any plans? Because I haven't."

"Way ahead of you, Penny," Jake said. He stood up and made his way to the center of the room. "Listen up. I'm not going to tell you what's going on because you already know. I've come up with a plan, so after I tell you what that is, I want to hear what you guys have to say."

"Well, get to it, Fearless Leader," Marco said. "We ain't getting any younger."

"Shut up Marco," Rachel said.

"Okay, I listened in on Tom earlier, and he said something about three new Controllers," Jake continued. "My only guess is that he was referring to Penny's family. If that's the case, then they're most likely in the Yeerk pool." He turned to me. "We told you about that, remember?"

"Yeah."

"Like I said, that's probably where they'll be. Problem is, the last entrance that we found has been closed up." He turned to Rachel. "That's where you come in. Did Chapman say anything?"

"In fact, he did," Rachel said. She turned to Cassie. "It's in The Gardens."

"Seriously?"

"If I'm lying, then God's going to strike me down with lightning," Rachel said. "Nothing? Then I'm not lying."

"Where, exactly?" Cassie asked.

"He said that an entrance had just been erected in the roller coaster maintenance shed."

I saw the look on Cassie's face, a look of pure disbelief. After all, her family owned the zoo portion of The Gardens, and knowing that the entrance to the enemy's lair was right under her nose must have been rough. I couldn't begin to understand, but I also couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Jake turned to Cassie. "Cassie, you'll take Marco and Penny and go with Rachel to scope out the entrance. I'll go with Ax, Marco, and Tobias and keep a bird's eye view of the area for as long as we can. We can't be at this for any more than an hour and a half, though, so if nothing comes up by then, we'll call it a day and try again tomorrow. Everyone agree?" Marco raised his hand. "What's up, Marco?"

"You really expect us to sit in front of some random maintenance shed in morph for ninety minutes? Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen."

"You have another idea, Marco? I'll be happy to hear it."

"Scope out Chapman's house first," Marco said. "When he leaves, we follow. He'll probably lead us to the entrance to the Yeerk pool."

"I think that's a good idea," I agreed. "If we wait at the maintenance shed, Chapman may never show up. But if we follow him, he might take us where we want to go."

"You know, I like the way you think, newbie," Marco said. "So what's it going to be this time, boss? Shrew? Flea? Gonna have Rachel morph the cat again?"

"Neither," Jake said. "And we sure as hell are not morphing ant or termite." He turned to me. "Bad experiences, I'll leave it at that."

"I'll…take your word for it," I said. I couldn't explain it, but for some reason, I felt a shudder go down my spine and a sick feeling hit my stomach. "What should we be?"

"We have to give it to you first," Cassie said. She walked over to one of the shelves, reached for a plastic bin. "Here." She carried the bin over to me. I saw several things moving inside, several brown things. "Take one and acquire it."

"Are those…cockroaches?" I asked. "I am not touching a cockroach."

"Yet you'll gladly touch a spider the size of a dinner plate," Marco said. "Not only touch it, but declare it the cutest thing you'd ever seen."

"I can handle spiders just fine, but cockroaches are just disgusting," I said.

"Penny, you have to do this," Cassie said. "We've all had to do it." I was still hesitant. "Penny, I know you don't want to touch a cockroach, but you kind of have to. We've all acquired animals that we didn't even want to look at – and animals we're never going to use again. This stakeout might be the only time you'll ever use this morph."

I could feel everyone's eyes looking at me – Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, Tobias, Ax. Despite Cassie's reassurance, I was still a little unsure about the whole thing – not to mention a little queasy about having to touch a cockroach. I could hear their tiny legs skittering about in the plastic bin, the scratching sound actually starting to grate against my ears. And to think that I had to put my hand into that bin, pick up one of those disgusting creatures, and let it merge with my own DNA….It was just nasty.

But Cassie was right, it was something I had to do.

I reached my hand into the bin. Instantly I felt the roaches' legs tickling my skin as they crawled all over my hand. I snatched one up, curling my fingers around it. Its legs kicked and wriggled as it tried to get free, until it went limp as I concentrated on acquiring its genetic code.

I just wanted to get this over with as soon as I could.

After a moment, I could feel the cockroach's DNA swimming within my own. I opened my hand and shook it, flinging the disgusting bug off my skin and quickly pulled my hand out of the bin.

"God, that was too disgusting. Can I go wash my hands?"

"No time," Jake said. "We have to get to Chapman's house. Let's get going, everyone."

Our job hadn't even begun, and already I was feeling butterflies in my stomach. This was going to be my first mission with these guys. What if something went wrong? Could I trust them? Could I trust them to help me, and would I be able to help them? What if we didn't succeed?

I suppose there was only one way to find out.