Jen

So what exactly did happen in the Human-Yeerk Alliance Community Center on that fateful day? Let's start with the "official" story, the one that the media will be repeating to us for as many days before the next big news item comes along. Gedis Eight-Seven-Nine, or Gedis Makatdol as the media will refer to him now, entered the community center with the intention of killing as many people inside as possible, and he managed to claim the lives of at least three people. But what wasn't revealed to the media—or anyone else who wasn't inside the community center at the time of the attacks—was that Gedis' shooting spree was actually just a way to disguise his attempted assassination of Tarash Five-One-Four, the founder of the Yeerk Peace Movement and an instrumental figure in the "Yeerk question," the issue of integrating Yeerks and Yeerk nothlits into human society following their defeat thirteen to fourteen years ago.

As for me and Tarash, the police and the SWAT had already been camped outside the community center, waiting for an opportunity to enter and/or negotiate with Gedis. We had made our break at just the same time that the police had decided that there was no use negotiating with Gedis, so they went in just as we were coming out, and in the ensuing confrontation, Gedis refused to lower his empty pistol and received a face-full of lead for his trouble.

What was my part in the whole thing? Well, I was just content with being the one person—or should that be one person and her Yeerk?—who managed to save the founder of the peace movement, but Tarash just had to go and praise me and my actions on national television, and now I was being hounded by reporters who wanted to know my side of the story. Also, apparently I—or that should probably be Yemra, because she was the one who made the call in the first place—had left my phone on after calling 911, and the operator heard every word in the battle of words between Tarash and Gedis, and that was apparently what had influenced the cops to go in hot on Gedis even though he'd held the community center hostage for just an hour or so at most. All I know is that I'm not going to like the look of my phone bill when it comes next month.

Because of my "heroic acts" on that fateful day, I was now some sort of local celebrity in my city. To be honest, I really didn't like all the attention and publicity I got, my introverted side really wishes that the whole thing had never taken place at all so she could just curl up at home without worrying about anyone recognizing her on her way to her job at a local diner. Speaking of home, my parents' reaction when they found out that I was right in the heart of the crisis as it happened was something you should see to believe. Mom was crying a flood of tears because I, Jennifer Carson, her only child and daughter, had been right in the middle of the community center shooting and was very lucky to have escaped with her life, and then she praised me for being so brave as to save the life of a fellow person. Dad was much, much calmer than Mom was, but on his part, he did admit that those few minutes in which he saw me and Tarash running out of the community center were some of the most heart-stopping minutes of his life.

Now that the "fun" part—if it should even be called that—was over, the survivors of the attack who weren't injured or hurt that much had been brought over to the PD's headquarters for their statements. They were treating it as a crime even though it was basically a mass shooting and Gedis had all but admitted that he was part of the Nothlit Rights Movement, or maybe a branch of it that had become radicalized. Or maybe Gedis had gone lone wolf and abandoned the movement in favour of doing something big by himself.

I had just finished my signed and sworn statement and was waiting for nothing in particular when I saw Emily/Tarash walking towards me. "Hey there, stranger," I said as she sat down beside me.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked me. "You look like the kind of person who would want to go home immediately after something this had happened to her.

"Don't worry about me, Emily," I told her. "I am going home. It's just that my parents have told me to stay put until my uncle comes over to pick me up. The perks of being an only child," I added with a laugh.

To my surprise, Emily laughed along with me. "I know that feeling too, Jen," she said.

"Really? You're an only child too?"

"No, not really, but I've got two sisters and no brothers, so my parents are very much worried about the three of us whenever we go out."

I nodded. "I wish I could relate to that," I said. Then, after a few moments of awkward silence, I continued, "So what were you doing in the community center in the first place?" I asked her. "I mean, I know that you live here in Pennsylvania and all that, but as the leader of the Alliance, I'm sure you move around a lot."

"Oh, yeah, that," Emily muttered as she smoothed over her skirt, and then she straightened her back a little bit. "This is Tarash speaking now, Jen," she said. "What I am about to tell you is confidential and must not leave this room."

"Ooh, I like this," I said, sitting up straighter on the couch and leaning closer to Emily/Tarash. "I feel like I'm a secret agent or something; you know, Mission: Impossible style!"

"I wish it were that simple," Tarash sighed. "Emily also wishes that it were that simple. But, unfortunately, it isn't. When the video of the two nothlits stating that they were the ones who had attacked Flight 6569 was released to the public, the Human-Yeerk Alliance was worried about a more militant and extremist branch or offshoot of the Nothlit Rights Movement that had arisen and was planning further attacks on both the humans and the hosted Yeerks," she said in a lowered voice. "The HYA maintains a presence in all fifty states of the Union, and we were aware that this more extremist branch of the NRM was planning more attacks following the bombing of Flight 6569, but we were not expecting it to happen here in Pennsylvania. I was here to talk to someone in the area who possibly had information for the Alliance before Gedis attacked the community center, but I still have not managed to talk to that contact since then, and I do not know if she survived the attack or not. And Gedis also said that the attack was a plot to kill me. This has me worried and anxious more than I thought it would."

"Don't think too hard about it, Tarash, it's understandable," I said. "I mean, if I found out that that someone was out there planning to kill me, I'd be very worried about myself too."

"I'm worried not only with just myself," Tarash continued. "I worry for Emily's life and safety too because, not only is she my host, she's my friend too. If I am killed, Emily will also probably be killed too. And I don't want that to happen to her."

((Aww, isn't that sweet?))Yemra said to me in my head. ((Visser Five cares about her host as much as you do with me!))

Well, duh, I told my Yeerk. She is the founder of the peace movement, after all.

I wonder what Emily thinks of that arrangement, though, I thought to myself. And right at that moment, Tarash smiled. At first, I was spooked, because some little conspiracy theory corner of my mind thought that Tarash had the power to read minds, but then the rational part of my brain kicked in and saw that Tarash was not looking at me when she smiled, but rather at the ceiling, or maybe the top of her head. Anyway, she was probably smiling because of something that Emily said.

Tarash then looked at me once again and said, "I have to be honest with you, Jen. Something about what Gedis said in the community center is troubling me. He said that he had been planning this attack ever since the invasion was defeated. This has me thinking that the rumors that I had heard in the last days of the invasion, when it was becoming clearer and clearer that we were going to lose, may actually have a grain of truth in it."

"What kind of rumors?" I asked, even though I had no idea if I was ready for that kind of information.

"This was an idea that the Vissers came up with in the final weeks of the war. The Vissers, having access to a vast array of human military knowledge and history, developed a plan for a secret war against the humans and the Andalites in the event of our defeat, to attack the humans in their cities and encampments—"

"Like a guerrilla war?" I asked.

"Yes, I think that's what it was called," Tarash replied. "But they were unable to contact the Council to ask for permission for the plan before the final defeat. I can only assume that some of the more… fanatical Yeerks who remained here have continued with the plan, and that is what is happening right now."

A secret guerrilla war by the Yeerks who were left on Earth? Now I knew that even the likes of Tarash also had conspiracy theory corners in their minds. But the way she said it, and the fact that she had been a Visser in the last days of the invasion, made me think that there might be more than just rumors going around in her head…

I let out a long breath and took another deep one before speaking again. "Look, Tarash, I know that this day has been probably one of the longest in your life. I'm sure you probably can't wait for it to finally end, but let's just sit back for a moment, relax, and thank God that we're all still alive. You, me, Emily, and Yemra. No one else is going to make an attempt on your life, at least not in the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, that what you're saying about the Yeerks' guerrilla war is true, and one of their main objectives is killing you."

Tarash laughed. "Thank you for giving me hope and then taking it away immediately," she said.

"Yeah, I have been known to do that to my friends more times than not," I replied.

"But you are right, Jen. If the radical members of the Nothlit Rights Movement, which may now have actually been inspired by the Vissers fighting their guerrilla campaign against the humans, believe that I am collaborating with your government to deny them their basic rights, then I am still a legitimate target for them, especially now that Gedis has failed in his mission."

"Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, it does suck." Tarash/Emily then stood up and said, "If you will excuse me, Jen, I now have to talk to someone here. Once again, I offer you my thanks for saving our lives."

We shook hands. "No problem, Emily, Tarash," I said. "If we were in each other's place, you would've done the same for me."

"Even if I doubt my ability to do what you have just done for me, I think you may be right," Tarash said. Then she blinked, and I knew that Emily was now back in control. "Good night, Jen, Yemra," she said as she walked out of the PD's lobby. Man, she's certainly one of a kind, isn't she? I asked Yemra.

((That she is, Jen, that she is,)) Yemra replied. ((Wait a minute. Are you talking about Emily or Tarash?))

Does it even matter now? I mean, they've both got that charm and charisma that just naturally attracts people to them.

((Ooh… Are you turning gay for Emily, Jen?))

Ha! You're one to talk, Yemra! Who was the one who went full retard when Tarash introduced herself to us again? Care to answer that?

((You win this time, Jennifer Yelena Carson. But next time, I won't admit defeat so easily!)) she said as she sent me a mental image of an evil grin.

Oh, you'll get over it soon, I replied. I then leaned back on the couch where I had been sitting for a long while now, feeling my upper body sink into the soft material. I yawned. My mind was well and truly exhausted from all the crap that I've seen today, and since I wasn't really in the mood to go out of the PD and face the press once again—God knows how hard that was—I decided to close my eyes and let my exhaustion wash over me.

I was standing in the middle of the hallway of the community center. Blood and bodies were all over, and they were the victims of the man standing before me: Gedis Eight-Seven-Nine. He was pointing his gun at me, and me alone, because this time there was no Emily or Tarash behind me. The entire thing looked like the aftermath of what could have happened if Gedis had been allowed to do his thing in the community center.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked Gedis. "Why do you want to kill all these and their Yeerks?"

"Nothing personal, bright girl," Gedis replied. "But you should've been able to figure that out already. I've got a cause, and I believe in that cause. I believe it so much that when I'm asked to jump, I ask how high? And now my cause has told me that I have to kill all of my brother and sister Yeerks who betrayed us to the Andalites and the humans. They would rather pretend that we are all equal and have the same rights when in reality it is they, the hosted Yeerks who collaborate with the oppressive regime, who have everything, while we nothlits have nothing. I'm just here to show them the error of their ways."

"What the heck, man? You're not making any sense!"

"That's the point!" Gedis shouted. "These attacks are not supposed to make any sense!" He then gripped his gun with both of his hands and said, "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, bright girl, but you have a traitor in your head, and you will have to die with her." Gedis then pulled the trigger without a blink.

I was jolted awake by the gunshot in my dreams. The shot had sounded so loud and so real that I thought that someone must have fired a gun in real life, and then I remembered that I was still in the police station, and therefore it was probably one of the CSIs firing a gun to compare the bullet to one of their cases or something like it.

And then I realized that there was some kind of commotion going on in front of the PD building, just outside of the entrance. All the cops had their hands on either their guns or their radios, and they were running for the front door. From what I could understand from all the chatter that they were saying, it seems as if someone fired shots at the building outside, and at least one of them had fired back. But why would someone do something as silly as that?

((Maybe one of Tarash's guerrilla Yeerks are finally starting their uprising,)) Yemra said. ((Or maybe they're just trying to say that they're everywhere and can hit anyone anywhere whenever they like.))

And you say I'm the one with the crazy, messed-up mind, I said. Wanna check it out?

((I wouldn't recommend that, Jen,)) Yemra said. ((But imagine that, though. You managed to survive a planned terrorist attack on the community center, only for you to kick the bucket after getting caught in the crossfire while trying to get a glimpse at a retaliation shooting on the police department. You'll be both a funny and dark anecdote for generations to come!))

All right, here's what I'm going to do, I told her. I'm going to stand up, walk over there, and try to see what's going on. It's your choice if you want to stop me or not. With that said, or thought, or however the hell you communicate to an alien slug in your head, I stood up and began making my way towards the front of the PD building. Yemra kept quiet, but she didn't take control or tell me to stop. I guess curiosity is natural for every living thing in the universe, even for those nefarious mind-controlling, body-snatching brain slugs. I knew it, I thought to myself as I couldn't help but let a smirk form on my lips.

But that smirk was quickly erased as I made my way to the makeshift human barricade of police officers trying to stop exactly what it was that I was planning to do: snoop around and see what's happening.

A ring of policemen had surrounded a small area of the pavement across the street from PD. A few people were trying to look over the shoulders of the police, but I had a much better view of what was going on inside from my vantage point at the entrance to PD. There was a man lying on the ground. Blood was seeping from a hole in his chest, and a gun lay beside him. There was some kind of black bandanna-like thing wrapped around the top of his head, and there were some white markings or writings on the bandanna, but I couldn't read them.

I turned to a policeman who was still holding his gun in his hands and asked him, "What's going on?"

"Some guy tried to shoot up PD," he replied. "Must be working with that guy in the Yeerk Pool shootout earlier. He was shouting something about rights for nothlits or something like that, and then he went postal and fired at the PD. We had no choice; we had to take him down. Shame that I didn't get here before they finally took him down. I would've sent one into his head for my sister, the body-snatching fucker."

((Wow, still not over it after what, thirteen years?)) Yemra asked in the privacy of my mind.

Yeah, I replied. Still, there's something fishy going on here, and I don't like it.

"All right, everybody, make a hole!" one of the policemen shouted at the forming crowd. "Let the paramedics through!"

Why in the world would a nothlit shoot up the PD just hours after one of his fellow nothlits had been killed while trying to massacre everyone in the Yeerk Pool? If this was some kind of terrorist plot, surely they would wait and lie low before their next attack? I hate to repeat myself, but something doesn't feel right. And then there was that cop that I talked to who had wanted to put a bullet in this second shooter for his sister. People have killed for much, much less, and could it be possible that this whole shooting was staged? I had fallen asleep when this went down, but I'm pretty sure that I would wake up if I heard someone shouting from just outside PD, but you never know. Besides, those last few sentences have probably made me sound like a conspiracy nut.

Gedis Eight-Seven-Nine had killed four people in the community center in an attempt to disguise his assassination attempt on Tarash Five-One-Four, and the police had had to kill him after he refused to put down his gun despite being surrounded. That was surely a terrorist operation if nothing else. But walking right up to the police station and opening fire in front of dozens of on-duty police officers was just suicidal and stupid. Or maybe that was the point, whatever point that was. That nothlits could strike us at any moment of their choosing, without care or concern for what's happening before?

"Jen?" a familiar voice asked. I turned and saw Uncle Earl standing at the foot of the stairs to the PD. "Come on, let's go now," he said.

As I walked up to him, he threw an arm over my shoulder and said, "You know, Jen, if I was your age and I had gone through the same things that you've just gone through today then people would think that I've had a very tough time. I say that you need a nice, long break right now."

A/N: The next chapter is about to get really heavy. And I'm going to write a companion piece for that chapter that's probably just as heavy, if not even more heavy, sometime soon. Remember to follow me as an author to get updated on that companion piece. And like always, leave a review whether you like this or like me or not.