Differential Geometry went well, I think. I've got Artificial Intelligence for Games tomorrow, but that should be OK. I hope. Grr, I hate exams!

Chapter Ten

The pain vanished. In less than a second, Tommy's head went from unbearable agony back to normal. Not even the faintest ache was left of the pain that had been burrowing through his brain. He sat up, almost afraid that the slightest movement would set it off again.

He saw Karone lying on the other side of the room, head clutched in her hands. Then she let go and looked around.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"I have no idea."

"I've never had a headache that bad."

"And I doubt it's a coincidence that it would happen to us both at the same time. Either there was a side effect from whatever knocked us out, or there was something in the food." He told himself that it might not have been deliberate, but he thought the Andelites would know enough about human biology to be aware what would do them harm. So much for this race being civilised.

Tommy had been hurt and seen friends hurt enough times that the mere thought of torture made him furious, but these creatures hadn't even been trying to interrogate them. There'd been no point.

Karone looked like she might break down and cry. Tommy moved to sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. "It's OK. It's over now."

"But what about Andros? What if they were hurting us as leverage to get him to do something?"

It was a possibility Tommy hadn't considered, but he had to admit it made some sense. He wasn't sure what to say because he wasn't sure what Karone most needed to hear; that her brother wouldn't let anyone hurt her or that he was too strong to give in to blackmail.

"We'll find a way out of this," Tommy promised.

He wasn't sure how, but he was already thinking of options. Making a break for it as soon as the door opened was probably the best plan. The difficulty was arranging things with Karone. The chances were the cell was under surveillance, in which case anything they said might be overheard. Tommy longed for the good old days when monsters explained their plans in details and then left him an easy escape route so he could go stop them.

But he was a Power Ranger. No mere headache was going to stop him finding a way out of here, finding his friends and finding a way to save his planet.

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"What's going on here, Ax?" Tobias asked.

"The scientists found one of your friends transmitting their research to a nearby Yeerk ship p p p." Ax's reverse stutter was back and Tobias almost raised a smile at the sound. He'd been on his own for far too long and now his friend was standing right in front of him.

And saying impossible things.

"There must be a mistake. We went there to help. We destroyed the Yeerk ships."

"One of your friends is a controller."

Tobias stared. "That's not possible. Andros checked to make sure Tommy hadn't been invested."

"Did you check him?"

"Well, no," Tobias admitted, "but if he was a controller, he wouldn't have cared if Tommy was."

"Perhaps he was trying to gain your cooperation."

"He didn't know I was there. This doesn't make sense."

"The one you call Andros is a controller," Ax said, with such certainty that Tobias had to accept he knew what he was talking about.

Not again. He barely knew Andros, but he'd already started to consider the man a friend. And now it turned out he had a slug in his brain. There were times when Tobias felt he was cursed, that everyone around him was doomed to get Yeerked or killed.

"What happens now?" Tobias asked.

"My father thinks we should use your friends as a test t t t."

"A test of what?"

"The research the Yeerks wanted to know about is a chemical compound that causes a morphing reaction in minds that don't normally have the ability. It makes the brain's shape alter significantly for a short time, forcing a Yeerk to leave."

"It frees controllers?"

"In theory. It has not been tested yet on a living subject."

"And your father wants to use my friends as lab rats?"

"This weapon could free all humans who are under Yeerk control."

A weapon. Finally, something that could help them win. Tobias had spent too long alone and disheartened. He couldn't quite believe what Ax was suggesting. A way to make every Yeerk leave its host.

"You said," a thought struck Tobias, "people without morphing ability."

"If an Andelite were to ingest the chemical, their morphing ability would go out of control. They may lose the ability. They may be stuck between forms. They may die."

"What about... what about people like me? What about those Elfangor gave the gift to?"

"Prince Jake?" Ax asked, sounding concerned. So he didn't know. He'd left Earth before Jake had been captured, he couldn't have known.

"And Rachel," Tobias said.

"What of Marco and Cassie?"

"They're dead. There's just me left."

Ax turned away. The grief was obvious, even on the face of one not used to human expressions. Tobias wished he'd thought of a way to soften the blow. He'd had a long time to accept the idea, but Ax hadn't. The Andelite had become one of them during his time on Earth. He'd been especially close to Marco and Tobias had just dropped the bombshell without even thinking.

"This chemical?" Tobias asked, "Can it save Rachel and Jake?"

"I don't know," Ax answered.