That way, Aftran and I decided to walk home from school, instead of taking the bus. It wasn't too far of a walk, and it gave us a chance to talk without either of us worrying about keeping my facial expressions under control. There were several Controllers in my grade who knew Gariss, so there was always an act to keep up.
Anyway, we were only a few blocks from the house when we noticed Dad's car. I didn't think too much of it, and so, neither did Aftran. After all, he was a doctor. Probably had to drive to another hospital or something. Maybe, he was taking a late lunch. So, without any commentary from either of us, I kept walking.
Dad must have seen us-well, technically me-because he slowed his car and lowered the window. "Hey, Tom!" He greeted, stopping entirely.
"Uh, hi, Dad," I replied, stopping in my tracks. "Everything okay?"
He gave a little laugh, but it sounded off. "Hop in. I'll give you a ride the rest of the way home."
It was only another four blocks or so to our house, and besides, why was Dad headed home this early?
(You'll have to ask him that,) Aftran told me, laughing a little.
(Yeah. Guess so,) I agreed.
Outwardly, I shrugged, then headed into the street around the car, and opened the passenger side door. Dad waited until I had put my bag on the floor in front of me and buckled myself in before shifting the gear back into "drive".
"Thanks," I smiled, glancing at him. "You know, for the ride."
"Oh, it's no problem. I had actually wanted to talk to you about something, so I'm glad I ran into you." Dad then laughed. "Not literally, of course."
I forced a laugh at the obvious dad joke. "I'm not in trouble or anything, am I?" Then, after a second, I added, "Or Jake? He's okay, right?"
Dad laughed again. "No, neither one of you boys is in trouble. Unless there's something I'm not aware of?"
(Oh, nothing, we're just fighting off an alien invasion,) I told Aftran.
(That's hardly something he would punish your for,) Aftran replied, sending me a mental eye roll.
(Right. Just stick in the looney bin,) I remarked, a little darkly.
Realizing that Dad had asked me a question, and not wanting Aftran to need to take over, I forced myself to shake my head. "I mean, I got a C on a math quiz, today, but it was a pop quiz, so that should hardly count."
It was true. Granted, with Aftran's help, I could have gotten an easy A, and Gariss or Temrash probably would have had me score at least a B. But I didn't want her extra help when I didn't-well, not deserve it, exactly, but need it to seem human. I was sure that there were Controllers who would be happy enough to let their Yeerks earn all A's on their behalf, but even if our vice principal was infested, the Yeerks had to take on the semblance of their hosts. If every Controller started getting all A's, there would probably be rumors about The Sharing getting access to all of the tests, and a so-called cheating scandal would ensue. They couldn't have that.
Dad shrugged, even though a C in our house was hardly cause for celebration. In fact, it was hardly considered an acceptable grade, at least on most days. "Well, you'll do better next time, I'm sure. Pop quizzes may aim to keeping students studying the latest material before the test is announced, but on the whole, they're a poor judge of knowledge."
I just nodded. "Okay. So, Dad, what's up?"
Dad pulled into our street. "It's your great grandfather."
"Grandpa G?" I asked. "Is he okay?"
He'd pretty much lived by himself for awhile, but he had to be ancient. I wondered if they received word that he'd fallen down the stairs at his house, or something like that.
Dad didn't respond immediately, just maneuvered the car into the driveway. "He passed this morning. Mrs. Molloy-"
"Wait, who?" I interrupted.
"Mrs. Molloy," Dad repeated. "She was his housekeeper. She found him on the floor. He'd just started to make himself breakfast, she told the doctors. Toast and jelly. He hadn't even had a chance to take a bite out of it." Dad swallowed. "I mean, he lived a good, long life, Tom. I guess we knew it was only a question of when. Still, it's always a shock when you hear the news."
I took his hand, squeezed it. "I'm sorry, Dad."
He looked at me, tears in his eyes. "Thanks, son."
We sat like that for a little, then he unbuckled his seatbelt. "We better get inside. Your mom knows already, since I found out from her." He forced another laugh. "She's going to head up first. Talk to your grandparents and make the funeral preparations. I need to clear my work schedule, since we'll be down at the cabin for a few days."
"A few days?" I repeated, hoping my voice sounded normal enough.
Dad nodded. "Yeah, remember, Tom? The cabin's nearly a day's drive away. Even if we had the funeral the day after we arrived, which would be unlikely, we wouldn't be able to leave the following day. Probably, the one after that. I imagine that if we left on Saturday morning, we wouldn't be able to leave before Monday. Or Tuesday. I'm sure that you wouldn't need to miss more than two days of school, though. Even two days would be a lot for you and Jake to catch up on."
I nodded, like my main concern was making up classwork. "So, we'll be away for at least three days, then?"
"Well, four, to be safe," Dad answered.
I nodded, like it didn't matter, but inwardly, I was trying not to panic. Aftran couldn't survive four days without Kandrona rays, and there was no way that we would be able to get a portable Kandrona for her to bring along. Maybe, had she-or Gariss-been a sub-Visser, it would have been possible. A Visser-sure. But even though Gariss had been on good terms with my brother's vice principal's Yeerk, that didn't exactly translate into rank.
(Okay. What in the world are we gonna do about this?) I asked her, as we walked out of the car. Aftran, I noticed, had not exactly taken control from me, but I could feel her move alongside me. Sort of like helping limping person by giving them an arm to lean on.
She also reached out to me, inside my mind, tentatively initiating a hug. At my mental nod, she wrapped herself around my mind, pulling me into what I'd learned-several weeks ago-was a "mental hug". I let out a sigh-audible and mental-and hugged her back. Of all of Aftran's calming techniques on my still not recovered mind, this was one of my favorites. Having my mind, my consciousness, wrapped in the "arms" of a caring Yeerk was sort of like sinking into a warm bath or shower. Her presence, her affection, surrounded me, protected me. When she held me this way, I felt completely safe and at peace.
We couldn't stay like that for very long, not in front of my dad. Maybe, if Aftran had taken over my body completely, but I still wanted to be in control, and that overrode any enjoyment I received from her mental hug. So, we both let go sooner than we normally would have, and Aftran didn't speak for several minutes.
Even though I'd have preferred that she speak to me, I drew some relief in the fact that her emotions weren't panicked. She seemed reflective, more than anything else. And this was her life at stake.
Finally, after we'd left the car and headed into my house with my dad, she spoke up.
(I could probably stay with Cassie while you were gone,) Aftran told me, her voice gentle. (The Chee could get someone to play you when I would normally feed.)
(That doesn't change the fact that we'd be gone for four days,) I pointed out. (You heard my dad. We're leaving on Saturday, and he's getting us excused from school on Monday and Tuesday. Chapman will know.)
Aftran gave me a mental smile. A rather sly one. (Not exactly, Tom. All he'll know is that you will be out of school for two days because of a family funeral.) She paused for a moment, and we headed into the kitchen, where I saw my mom's note. (It's not necessary for us to inform him that the funeral is several hours away by car. As far as your principal, and The Sharing, is concerned, your family funeral is on a Monday, and you be in class again on Wednesday.)
I frowned, considering this. It certainly made sense, and if the Chee were willing to fake a Yeerk feeding in the meantime, and we could get Aftran Kandrona rays by another Chee during that same four day period, it could work.
(Exactly. Besides, even if we were forced to admit that the funeral required travel time to excuse you from a Sharing event over the weekend, you could say your parents were relying on you for preparation purposes. As long as "you" made a trip to the Yeerk Pool on Sunday evening, or afternoon, and then again on either Tuesday night or very early on Wednesday morning...)
(Right,) I agreed, now following her logic. (It'd be pushing it, especially waiting until Wednesday, if "you" fed on Sunday afternoon.)
(Yes,) Aftran admitted, (which is why we should ask for the Chee who's playing you will appear at the pool on Sunday evening, and again very early on Wednesday. Or Tuesday evening.)
I nodded-for real. Fortunately, no one was in the kitchen with us, so it hardly mattered.
Aftran voiced what I was not saying. Because, if there's one thing I knew about Yeerks, it was that you didn't have to say anything for them to know exactly what you were thinking.
Even the thoughts you tried not to think about.
(Tom. I'd stay with you if I could,) Aftran told me, and I knew she meant it.
"So, Dad told you?" I asked him.
Jake nodded, eyebrows furrowed, no doubt in concern. Dad placed a hand on his shoulder.
"He lived a good, long life," he told us. "Of course, it's still natural to mourn. To be sad that he's gone."
"Yeah," Jake agreed, giving me a quick glance. "Well, I should get started on homework, especially since we're going to miss school soon. Hey, Tom? Do you still remember pre-calc at all? There's something we covered today that doesn't make any sense."
"Sort of," I replied, knowing this had no relation to math. "Let me grab my book, and I'll meet you...in your room?"
At Jake's nod, I grabbed my bag from the floor. "That okay, Dad?"
Dad nodded. "Of course. Oh, kids? Your mom's probably not going to be up for cooking tonight. How about pizza for dinner?" Dad asked, just as we were out the doorway.
"I have no problems with that," I told him, laughing a little.
"Yeah, pizza's always cool," Jake added, grinning back at Dad.
Upstairs, under the guise of doing homework, we spoke quietly in Jake's room. His door was closed, which was hardly unusual. While we could speak openly among ourselves, now, we still couldn't let our parents know that anything was up. A few days after Aftran first began living in my head, my kid brother had pulled me aside one night and asked, in a sort of panicked voice, if either of my Yeerks had planted bugs in or around our house.
Given that we'd spoken openly enough up until then, he must have forgotten his fear, or figured that I would have said something if it wasn't safe to talk openly.
It showed the mental state I was still in that it was Aftran had to remind me about listening devices. Before I'd gone ahead and said something stupid about Yeerks not wanting ticks or roaches in the houses of their hosts. Granted, had I said something like that, Jake might have just laughed it off. Anyway, he'd been very reasured, even surprised, when I'd told him with certainty that neither of my Yeerks had placed any bugs around our home. Looking back, I figured that it wasn't because they couldn't have managed to get some, but, well, let's face it: neither of my Yeerks had had the faintest idea that Jake was part of the tribe of "Andalite Bandits", and my parents were just regular, ordinary humans. It would have been boring and time consuming to listen to everyone's conversations every day, and besides, knowing what I did now about how Jake and his friends operated (in complete paranoia, to be totally honest), a total waste of time. Maybe, in the case of Aftran spying on Karen's dad, there would have been reason enough to do this. She'd been assigned Karen in order to spy on her father, after all. My parents didn't merit that kind of attention.
Still, I was proud of my kid brother for his caution.
Of course, even now, we probably still acted like we were being observed. At least, by our parents. Temrash and Gariss had broken off the close relationship that Jake and I had shared throughout our lives, and if my parents noticed anything, they probably figured that we were growing apart as we grew older. Now, suddenly, we were friends again. Did they notice? Did they think that we'd had some big reconciliation, and not want to draw attention to it? I could tell that they were relieved that we were on good terms with each other, even as they acknowledged it without acknowledging it directly.
Even so. While it might have been overkill, we were definitely careful about anything we said to each other when they were at home that was even remotely related to the Yeerks. And on the phone? Jake and his friends practically spoke in code. I mean, if you bugged their conversations, they were probably all about school, and never revealed much in the way of that. You wouldn't even know what classes they were taking, based on how they spoke on the phone. Not that the Yeerks-if they bothered to bug phones-would have noticed, or cared.
Jake sat on his bed, me on the chair by his desk.
"Wow. Four days," was the first thing he told me, after closing the door.
"Yeah," I agreed, taking a deep breath.
"How-how are we going to manage this?" He wondered.
I was glad-as was Aftran-that he said "we".
"She says that Cassie can take her," I told my brother, paranoia keeping me from saying the name of my Yeerk. "Erek can handle her diet then. If she agrees."
"Can't imagine she'd say no to at least four days with her," Jake remarked, smiling a little.
I grinned back. "Well, yeah."
"But the other part. You know," Jake told me, giving me a hard stare.
"We can ask Erek, but I bet one of his friends can handle it. Like before?" I asked.
Jake nodded, then spoke up again. "Okay. But what if they need you on the weekend?"
I shrugged. "Can't make it-family funeral prep comes first. As long as..." I swallowed. "I mean, the funeral isn't until Monday."
I hoped Jake got what I meant. If he didn't, we'd find an excuse to go outside.
Fortunately, my kid brother was smarter than I was.
His eyes widened-in understanding.
"Do we need to have a group project meeting now?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he agreed, nodding his head. "Look, I can call Marco and Cassie. See if we can meet tonight at her place."
"In the meantime," I remarked, glancing at our book bags, "we should probably get as much homework done as we can before Mom gets home."
Jake gave me a half smile. "You want to work here?"
"Might as well, since Dad thinks I'm helping you with math," I told him, ruffling his hair. I paused. "Do you? Need my help?"
He shook his head, running a hand over his hair to mitigate the damage I'd caused. "Well, not right away," he added. "I'm going to head downstairs and call them."
"I'll be here," I promised, giving my kid brother what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
Then, Aftran and I got down to work.
Even though I'd effectively missed out on over two years of education, what with being a slave in my mind and having other things to think about besides classes, I'd managed to catch up since my time with Aftran. Part of it was that Yeerks were naturally good at math and science, so she could teach me what I'd missed in class, and in a way that I understood it, so I ended up learning the material way faster with her than I would have in class. Or, even, with private tutoring. Which would probably be what most humans who were involuntary Controllers would need to do after Jake and the others finished kicking Yeerk butt. As for the other classes? As long as we paid attention, between the two of us, we managed to keep up. English and history didn't exactly build on each other the way math and science did. Spanish could have posed a possible concern, but that's where extra study and Yeerk tutoring kicked in. During the first several weeks, it took me a little longer to finish work than it would have had I never been infested. By now, I was completing assignments as quickly as half my normal time.
This also meant that we could help Jake with his work. I'd known his grades had gone down a little since the war started, but if my parents complained, he could now attribute that to having entered high school, and the work being a lot harder. I, of course, was all too willing to vouch for this. Even Gariss had done so, back when he'd been my Yeerk. As much as he disliked my family, he had needed to play my part, and I'd always had Jake's back. While I still had Sharing meetings, Aftran and I made it a point to spend time with Jake, and that involved making sure he didn't fail out of high school.
Without being too obvious about it. Or a jerk.
I was sure our parents noticed that we were hanging out together more, now. Temrash hadn't really been playing my part when he acted like a self-righteous jerk for not spending time with Jake after it was clear he would never join The Sharing. Then again, I'd kind of let that, and my crush, get in the way with my entire family life. So, it probably hadn't been completely out of character for him to avoid spending time with Jake.
(You can't blame yourself, Tom,) Aftran told me, as we scribbled down an answer to a math question.
I sighed. (Hard not to.)
It was, of course, a conversation we'd had before. On more than one occasion, really. Usually, at night, when I couldn't sleep, when I'd lay awake, worrying about Jake and how he was handling everything, and how my Yeerks had made things that much harder for him over the past two years. I knew that Aftran was right, and there was no going back in time to prevent myself from going to that first Sharing meeting, or any of the others after it. Still. If I could have just prevented myself from being so reckless, from busting into that full members only meeting.
Aftran tried a different approach, this time. (You wouldn't be fighting with him if you'd remained oblivious to the Yeerks. He might never have joined the fight, if it hadn't become personal.)
(True,) I allowed.
Marco's mom had been infested long before me, but as far as he and his dad had been concerned, she'd drowned a couple years back. If they hadn't gotten involved in the war, he wouldn't have learned the truth. Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias didn't have any other close family members who were slaves to the Yeerks. Jake never told me exactly what made them decide to fight, just that he'd entered the war in order to save me.
Had I remained free, and they'd gone on living their normal lives, there would have been no resistance. Probably, the majority of the planet would still be free, thanks to the empire's idea for a stealth invasion and Visser Three's overall incompetence, but it would have only been a matter of time. Unless, of course, the Andalites arrived in time to fight off the Yeerks. They sure were taking their sweet time with that. Yeah, I knew that they were busy fighting the Yeerks in other parts of the galaxy, but hadn't they gotten the memo that humans were not only Class Five, but that there were several billion of us?
Anyway. What had happened, had happened. We were all dealing with the aftermath of things, and I was glad that my brother and his friends were on good terms with at least one Yeerk.
(Two, if you include Illim,) Aftran reminded me, smiling as she finished the math assignment.
I made a face. Jake and I had both had him for History. Well, Tidwell, anyway. Decent enough at teaching the subject, but the strictest teacher in the school. Not that he had been cruel to either of us, and you couldn't get away with corporal punishment anymore, thank God. Still. His class wasn't one I had enjoyed.
(Tidwell was voluntary, then?) I wondered, as we switched to-appropriately enough-History.
Aftran shook my head. (Illim was one of the Yeerks who heard about the Peace Movement, about Yeerks who felt it was cruel to take unwilling hosts, and slowly had a change of heart. That's how he described it, anyway. To be honest, I learned more about it from Cassie's memories that she shared with me than what he told me directly.)
(Yeah, but he's still infesting Tidwell,) I pointed out.
(Only because Illim has his consent,) Aftran clarified, her tone reassuring, as it so often was. (Initially, your teacher thought that they could do more for the Peace Movement as Yeerk and host than he could on his own. Besides, freeing his host would have presented similar problems to the ones you would have faced. Although, I suppose, Tidwell could have fled the country to escape from the Yeerks. Anyway, after they reached an agreement, it appeared that they became friends. Cassie says that he prefers Illim in his head to him not being there.)
That made me shiver, a little, even though I knew it wasn't Aftran's intention. How would I manage, if humans won and infestation became outlawed? Or, if there was no way to know which Yeerk was decent, except by waiting out a whole feeding cycle?
(He joined The Sharing after his wife died, Tom,) Aftran explained, soothingly. (She died of brain cancer a few years after their wedding. Before they were able to have any kids.)
(Well, he was lonely, right?) I guessed. (Which is probably why he'd rather Illim be in his head than not.)
(Yes,) Aftran agreed.
I couldn't believe that living with a Yeerk in your head could be anything like having a spouse. Okay, maybe a nothlit Yeerk as a human, but even that would be really weird. Still. It made sense, that after Illim rejected the whole mentality about hosts being inferior forms of life that the Empire spewed, he and Tidwell could form a friendship.
(Tom, after the war, if I survive, I promise not leave you until you're ready,) Aftran promised, once again hearing what I wasn't thinking verbally. (If you would prefer to take on another Yeerk, we'll ensure that he will be good to you.)
I closed my eyes, reaching out to hug my Yeerk in thanks, which she returned.
We remained like that for a long time, and I could feel myself smile contentedly. Aftran, too, in our mental shared space.
Dinner was kind of a sober affair. Dad confirmed that we would be leaving on Saturday morning, first thing, even though the funeral wouldn't be held until Monday. The wake would be on Sunday, and on Tuesday, we would head back, and arrive home around eight hours later. Which meant that, if anyone asked, it would be completely reasonable for Aftran to be able to feed on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
As her feeding schedule worked out, she was supposed to go to the Yeerk Pool on Friday after school. Going again on Sunday would mean going before she was hungry, and this was frowned upon. The great Yeerk Empire had to ensure that their Yeerk soldiers went as long without feeding as possible, as long as they didn't actually enter into Kandrona starvation. At least, that's how it worked with Yeerks with non-human hosts. Aftran had a little more leeway, because as a Yeerk infesting a human minor, a lot of factors in her host's life were out of her control. So, if it came down to feeding more often than was considered standard, or outright starvation, obviously, the empire preferred the former.
In all likelihood, Aftran and I would head down to the Yeerk Pool on Friday afternoon. Then, probably, we'd hand her over to Cassie or a Chee for the next several days. Neither of us could imagine Cassie not wanting, or being able, to host Aftran for that long, but hey, stranger things had happened before. We needed to be prepared.
Under the guise of dropping Jake off at Cassie's for a school project, and me notifying Chapman that I would be unable to participate in The Sharing that weekend, we headed off in my car. I would tell Chapman, or his Yeerk, but not until the next day. Probably.
(It might seem odd if he suddenly saw you with your younger brother,) Aftran had pointed out. (And we don't want him to think that Jake is suddenly interested in joining The Sharing.)
To keep up with appearances, Jake brought his school bag with him, even though he'd (for once) finished his work earlier that day.
"You know," he told me, after we'd buckled ourselves in and the car was at a red light, "This would have been more difficult had you not been on our side."
"The bag?" I asked, imagining him trying to morph with it. Next to impossible, of course. Jake had told me that he and his friends could only morph the basics as far as clothing went. Not even shoes. Forget carrying stuff like backpacks.
I saw Jake nod from the review mirror. "That, too, but I mean...all of this."
Oh. Yeah.
"He'd have done everything he could to wheedle his way out of it," I told Jake, my tone bitter. "Which never would have worked. He'd probably have gotten our parents infested."
I felt Jake grab my shoulder. Thankfully, we were at another red light. "I'm glad it's not like that, anymore."
I made a sound resembling a snort and a hiccup. "Yeah. You and me both, Midget."
