My name is Tom. I was standing in a spaceship that was partially buried underground. We came here to hide from dangerous aliens in the woods outside. Eva and Chapman were explaining to me the reality of alien visitations on Earth, and the friendly aliens they were carrying around in their own bodies.

In retrospect, I should have been freaking out more. I was probably supposed to insist that they were tricking me, or I was hallucinating, or it was all a dream and I would wake up any second. Another person would have been in the "this can't be real, this can't be real" phase for a while. But I accepted the whole thing kinda easily. I mean, I'd always believed in aliens, deep down. But having proof thrown in my face was kind of a big deal. And yet I dealt with the whole thing so fast.

Maybe I was just weird.

Then again, Eva and Chapman were the ones weird enough to bond with Yeerks. I sympathized with the Yeerks' desire for eyes and hands and stuff, but I had trouble imagining why a human would decide to invite a stranger to live inside their brain.

"So what were those aliens out there?" I asked.

"They're called Taxxons," Chapman answered. "Very dangerous species. They're genetically programmed to be constantly starving. Their entire culture is based around looking for more food. And their favorite food is meat - the fresher the better."

"Would they really eat humans?" I asked.

"They would eat each other," Chapman replied. "That's how hungry they are."

"As far as we can tell, only one ship fell through the atmosphere," Eva spoke up, walking over to join Chapman by the computer screen. "And not even a very big ship. So it's probably not an invasion on behalf of their race. My guess: These are a small group of pirates acting alone."

"Okay, so Yeerks are the good aliens, and these Taxxons are the evil aliens," I figured.

Eva turned to me and shook her head. "Oh, no, no! Don't say that, Tom. Taxxons aren't evil. They're just hungry. It's easy to mix those two up when you're lower down on the food chain."

Chapman spoke up. "Think of it this way: Taxxons are to humans, what humans are to pigs. Well, Taxxons are like that to everything, really."

"That's not the same thing," I responded. "Pigs aren't sentient. They're not intelligent like humans."

"Maybe not, but they still feel fear and squeal before they get slaughtered. Doesn't stop you from eating bacon, does it?" Chapman asked pointedly.

"Actually, I don't eat bacon. I'm Jewish."

"What about beef?"

"I think I'm vegetarian."

"You 'think'?"

"I do now."

Chapman smirked, but said, "We're getting distracted." He looked at Eva. "You did contact the others before we arrived, I assume?"

Eva nodded. "Yes. I sent out a message to Tidwell and your wife. Don't worry."

"They're coming to help, right?" I said.

"No, I told them to stay away," Eva replied.

"What?!"

"They would have to sneak through a forest full of Taxxons to reach us," Chapman explained to me. "It's too risky, and they can't help us anyway, because our only weapons that can do any real damage are stored right here in the ship."

"So what's the plan, then? Are you gonna use the weapons here to blow up the Taxxon ship?"

Eva gave me a harsh look. "What anti-Yeerk propaganda have you been listening to? We don't just 'blow things up' first and ask questions later. We'll fight if we have to, but if there's any chance to solve this peacefully, we'll take it."

At the computer, Chapman said, "I can't get an exact fix on their ship's location, but I do have the frequency for their communications. We can send a live transmission right now."

"Perfect. Let's get started." Eva looked at me. "Tom, you just stay back, all right? Don't say anything. Just let us do the talking. If all goes well, we'll have you home in no time."

I stepped back to the side of the room. Chapman stood right next to me. He leaned over and whispered, "I turned on an English translator, so you'll know what the Taxxon's saying."

Eva stood in front of the main computer screen, looking confident and professional. A moment later, the screen's image showed a close up of one of the giant centipedes I saw before: A Taxxon.

"May I assume you're the pilot of the Taxxon ship?" Eva began.

The Taxxon made its half-hissing, half-whistling noise. Subtitles appeared on the bottom of the screen. The subtitles read:

"YOUR SIGNAL IS CONSISTENT WITH YEERK TECHNOLOGY. ARE YOU THE VISSER LEADER OF THE YEERK SHIP?"

"Yeerks don't have Vissers anymore," Eva replied. "Our group has a very flat power structure. Think of me as a spokesperson."

The Taxxon moved away from the camera. That seemed to confuse Eva. Was she being brushed off? Apparently not, because the Taxxon reappeared after a few moments. Maybe something in its own ship distracted it briefly.

"WHY ARE YOU CONTACTING US, SPOKESPERSON?" the screen read as the Taxxon pilot spoke with its alien sounds.

"I'm here to negotiate. I understand what you and your crew want: A nice place to settle down with lots of food stock nearby. And you figured Earth, with its primitive technology, would be an easy mark. Well, I'm sorry to tell you, humans are simply too much trouble to eat. They may not travel the stars, but they have lots of guns. And a crew of a half-dozen Taxxons in a worn-out ship just wouldn't last long against a hundred-thousand panicking humans . . . However, I'm offering a peaceful alternative."

The Taxxon paused. "EXPLAIN."

"Alien ships have stopped here before. Our group traded for some very useful technology. Namely, an Ongachic Food Generator. Using feedback energy naturally released by standard z-space engines, it can transform water into a nutritional paste. Not the tastiest food for Taxxons, I admit, but it comes in great bulk with only a low drain on resources. And you can have it. Free of charge. If you agree to leave this planet in peace, you can take the food generator with you."

The Taxxon pilot was silent for a moment. Then it made a very shrill whistling noise. But for some reason, no words appeared on the screen. The translator wasn't working this time.

I leaned over to Chapman and whispered, "What's it saying?"

Chapman stared at the screen with a grim expression. "It's laughing."

"WE KNOW OF YOUR ONGACHIC FOOD GENERATOR. WE KNEW THE ONGACHIC SHIP MET WITH YOU BEFORE. THAT IS WHY WE CAME."

Eva had the confident expression of a master negotiator so far. But now there was a twinge of worry. "What do you mean?"

"WE DID NOT COME HERE FOR THE HUMANS, YEERK. WE CAME FOR YOU."

"You knew we were on this planet?" Eva asked.

"CORRECT. AND NOW WE KNOW YOUR EXACT LOCATION."

There was a sudden bang against the door by the stairs, along with the hissing sound of Taxxons outside. I jumped back, my heart suddenly pounding.

Chapman said a word I didn't know. I instinctively guessed it was an alien swear word. "They found the door already."

"That door can hold them, right?!" I asked in desperate hope.

"Not forever," Chapman answered darkly.

"YOU WERE FOOLS TO NEGOTIATE. WE TRACED YOUR COMMUNICATION SIGNAL BACK TO YOUR SHIP. I SENT MY ENTIRE CREW TO ATTACK YOU THE MOMENT YOU CONTACTED US."

Eva looked back to the screen. "You don't understand. There's no need to fight. We're giving you the generator!"

"INSUFFICIENT. WE WILL BREAK INTO YOUR SHIP AND TAKE ALL YOUR TECHNOLOGY BY FORCE. WE WILL EAT THE GENERATED FOOD. AND THEN WE WILL EAT YOU. AND THEN WE WILL USE YOUR TECHNOLOGY TO CAPTURE AND EAT THE HUMAN CATTLE. WE WILL EAT OUR FILL."

Chapman stepped forward angrily. "A ship your size, there can't be more than four or five Taxxons out there! You think we can't beat them?!"

"CORRECT."

"Yeerks try to be pacifists, but we'll fight if we have to," Chapman continued. "We have weapons! Not just the stunner I used before - Dracon beam rifles! Even with just us, we can burst your crew open like water balloons!"

"STILL YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WE PLANNED THIS ATTACK. WE PREPARED. WE BROUGHT A THOUGHT-WAVE PULSE."

"A what?" Eva asked.

"A WEAPON SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED AGAINST SYMBIONTS. BASED ON COMPUTERS THAT INTERFACE WITH THOUGHT-SPEAK COMMANDS. IT IS A TELEPATHIC BOMB THAT SENDS FEEDBACK TO ALL MINDS IN THE AREA. HARMLESS TO INDIVIDUAL MINDS. BUT TO TWO-MINDED SYMBIONTS JOINED TOGETHER, IT WILL OVERWHELM AND RENDER THEM UNCONSCIOUS."

"That's ridiculous!" Eva blurted out. "There's no such thing as a 'telepathic bomb'!"

"IT IS EXPERIMENTAL TECHNOLOGY."

"Which is another way of saying it probably doesn't work," Chapman quipped. "What do Taxxons know about thought-speak anyway?"

"IT WAS NOT DESIGNED BY US. IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE ANDALITES."

Up till now, Eva and Chapman acted worried yet stayed strong. But their faces immediately paled. They were terrified.

"How did you get Andalite technology?!" Eva yelled.

Eva told me not to say anything, but I was sick of how they just kept talking instead of actually doing something about the Taxxons waiting right outside the door. "Who cares!" I cried. "They're bluffing! They're making it all up!"

Chapman and Eva looked at me. "What?" Chapman said.

"If they had an anti-Yeerk weapon, they would've used it right at the start, wouldn't they?"

For a second, Eva looked upset at me for butting in when she told me not to, but then she turned back to the screen. "That's a good point. If this weapon is as good as you say, why haven't you used it yet? Our walls can't block thought-speak."

"CORRECT, BUT YOUR WALLS ARE THICK. BREAKING INTO YOUR SHIP WOULD TAKE TIME. IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR MY CREW IF YOU SURRENDERED."

"Why should we surrender?" Chapman demanded.

"WE GIVE YOU A CHOICE. OPEN YOUR DOOR, AND WE WILL KILL YOU BEFORE WE EAT YOU. RESIST, AND WE WILL USE THE THOUGHT-WAVE PULSE, WE WILL BREAK INTO YOUR SHIP, AND YOU WILL SUFFER IN AGONY AS WE EAT YOU ALIVE."

All three of us stared at the Taxxon on the screen in dread.

I looked to the others and quietly said, "Are you sure about that whole not-evil thing?"

Eva looked up at me. She seemed more sad than scared. I'm not a mind reader, but somehow I understood. She was scared for herself, but more than that, she was scared for me. I was a child. An innocent bystander. It was her job to keep people like me out of danger. She really didn't want to get me involved. But here I was.

"I'm sorry," she quietly told me.

She moved forward and slammed a button on the keyboard. The screen went black.

Eva marched across the room while giving orders. "Tom, barricade yourself in the back room. Chapman, we're gonna have to fight our way out of this. Get the - AAGGHHH!"

She immediately clutched her head with both hands. I didn't see anymore because my own eyes winced shut. There was no sound - no obvious cause - but I suddenly had a piercing headache. Not bad enough to make me scream like they were, but irritating. It only lasted for a few seconds, and then my head was fine - the headache was gone like it was never there.

I opened my eyes just in time to see Eva and Chapman collapse to the floor. They didn't recover like I had. The telepathic bomb had worked. The Taxxons weren't bluffing after all.

"Eva! Chapman!" I kneeled down to the floor and shook Eva's shoulder. Then I reached over and shook Chapman. They were breathing. Alive. But unconscious.

BANG! BANG! Something was clanging against the metal door by the stairs. I could hear the hissing from outside again. The Taxxons were trying to break in.

I shook Eva harder in a panic. "Eva! Wake up!" I moved over and slapped Chapman's cheek. "Wake up! Please!"

BANG-BANG-BANG!

They wouldn't wake up. I was on my own. Me, trapped underground, against four or five Taxxons at the door.

I looked around the room, trying to figure out what I could do. I went to the computer. The screen was blank. The keyboard wasn't written with English letters or numbers - it was all alien language. In a panic, I pressed buttons at random. Nothing happened.

The banging against the door never stopped. BANG! BANG! The door shook on its hydraulic hinges.

I tried opening the cupboards on the walls, but they were sealed shut. Locked behind some kind of keypads. They were all labeled in alien writing I didn't know how to read. I didn't know how to open them. I didn't know where the weapons were. I didn't know anything about this ship. I didn't know how to save Eva or Chapman.

I stared at the door. I thought it was thick, but the metal was already dented. It shook looser in its frame. The monsters outside were getting louder and angrier.

Right then, I felt very young. I had an adult-size body, but I wasn't really an adult yet. I wasn't prepared to handle this.

"I don't know what to do," I whispered.

BANG-BANG, went the monsters at the door.

"I don't know what to do!" I shouted.

BANG-BANG-BANG!

I looked around the room again. Eva and Chapman were still unconscious. The only other creatures here were the Yeerks swimming in the pool, but they couldn't help. Yeerks couldn't do anything without a body. They needed a body.

I stared at the pool.

I ran over while pushing my sleeve up my right arm. I bent down. And I plunged my right hand and forearm into the pool. I felt around, searching.

"I'm not smart."

BANG!

"I don't know aliens."

BANG!

"I'm not 'special'."

BANG!

"But if there's one thing I'm good for, it's my body!"

I felt what I was searching for - a creature like a big slug. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled it out of the liquid. My hand and arm dripping with whatever the strange liquid was, I pressed the creature against my right ear.

The Yeerk took a second, figuring out what it was touching, and then it squeezed its body thin and entered my ear canal.

. . .

. . .

Pain.

I wasn't prepared for the pain.

My knees hit the floor. My whole body clenched and shuddered. I groaned and gagged. It hurt like nothing I ever felt in my life. It was like an electric drill pressing through my ear, digging into my skull. My eyes watered. I remembered, too late, my dad explaining anatomy facts about eardrums and small bones in the canal that you would have to cut through in order to reach the skull. You would have to cut through the skull in order to reach the brain. The pain was overwhelming.

But all that only lasted for a second. After that it was numb. The pain was gone, or at least far away. But discomfort remained. Discomfort from the pressure inside my inner ear. Discomfort from the knowledge that there was something inside my head, squeezing deeper and deeper. And then . . .

And then . . .

For the rest of my entire life, I will never experience anything so incredible, so exhilarating, so unusual, so scary, so mysterious, so unnatural, so fascinating, so new, as that first moment. My whole life up to that moment, I was just Tom, with just my own thoughts. And I was still Tom, I still had all my own thoughts, but now alongside them were someone else's thoughts! Not just words - it was more basic than words. I could sense someone else's emotions reacting to what my body felt. I wasn't alone in my head anymore.

I sensed someone else looking through my memories. Learning who I was. My name. My family. Things I did in daily life. They felt the floor I felt under my knees. They felt the liquid I felt dripping off my hand.

I sensed their memories too. Memories from their life flowed seamlessly into my mind. His name was Temrash. No last name, no number. Yeerks stopped using numbers a long time ago. He was just Temrash. He never had a host before. Lived his entire life blind in the pool. But Yeerks had a way of connecting to a computer from within the pool. Information was transferred to them through a simple language, very similar to the Morse code used by humans. Temrash had no where to go besides the pool, so he had a lot of time for reading. He researched all the information the computer had to offer. He never saw or heard before, and yet he was so educated about the universe and other species. And he knew everything there was to know about this ship - he never knew when he might get a host and would need that info.

We bled into each other so easily. We learned so much about each other in only a few scarce moments, and there was still so much to know. We both wanted to just sit there and savor it all, but I remembered the urgency of the situation.

[We're under attack!] I screamed inside my head.

BANG! The Taxxons crashed against the weakening door again.

It only took Temrash another second of memory searching to understand what was happening. [Get me to the keyboard,] he thought at me.

I got back up to my feet. I walked - a little unsteady, unbalanced - but I quickly got to the main computer console. I held my hands above the buttons, unsure what to do.

[Don't resist,] Temrash asked. [I'm gonna try using your hands.]

A second later, my right hand lowered and a finger pressed a button. Then another. It was a strange sensation. It was like someone else was grabbing my hands and moving them around, but I couldn't feel anything touching them. They were being moved from the inside - inside my own brain.

Temrash could read what the symbols meant. He was activating an emergency defense system: a quick surge of power to electrify the outside of the ship.

The lights dimmed for a second, and the Taxxons screamed outside. The banging stopped. That would buy us a few seconds.

My eyes looked around the room. Temrash and I had to decide very fast what to do next. Weapons? No, revive the others first. I looked for the first aid supplies. Temrash could read the language written on the walls. And because he could, I could.

I - we - whichever - ran to the first aid cupboard. It wasn't locked, but I didn't know that before. I didn't have time to try every door. My hand dug around inside and pulled out a thin metal tube - an emergency stimulant syringe, like space-age smelling salts. I kneeled down to Chapman and pressed it against his neck. He gasped as his eyes opened. Then I did the same for Eva.

Next I moved over to the vault with the weapons. Kneeling low, I typed the code for the lock. The short door slid open. Inside were two long, red-and-silver Dracon beam rifles. I grabbed one and tossed it. "Chapman, catch!"

Chapman was still a little disoriented from waking up, but he was able to catch it. I grabbed the other rifle for myself.

BANG! The Taxxons resumed their attack. The door was almost broken open, but that didn't matter now.

As Chapman and Eva got to their feet, I moved in front of the stairs. I pointed the rifle up towards the door, and I let Temrash fire.

There was no recoil from the weapon, but a hot flash of red light shot at the door and destroyed it. The Taxxons staggered back. I saw one of them holding up a metal ball in its claws. That had to be the telepathic bomb. The word "bomb" suggested a one-time use. But just in case, I aimed.

Now, I should probably mention, I had excellent aim when it came to throwing basketballs, but targeting with a gun is completely different. I never did that before. And neither had Temrash, obviously. It was only dumb luck that we actually hit what we aimed for. But, hey, it worked.

FSHOOM!

The beam destroyed the ball-shaped weapon, along with most of the Taxxon's claw. It staggered back and screamed. The other Taxxons stepped forward.

"Don't move!" I shouted. "You're covered!" Chapman moved by my side and aimed his rifle with me.

They hissed angrily, but stayed put beyond the doorway. At least for the moment.

With Chapman watching them, it was safe to look over my shoulder. Eva was at the computer, calling the Taxxon ship. The image of the pilot reappeared on the screen. It seemed shocked to see us again.

"We're still here, Taxxon ship," Eva announced. "Your weapon didn't work like you hoped! Your plan failed!"

The pilot on the screen was enraged. The ones at the doorway weren't any calmer.

"Before you think about rushing us," Chapman said to the Taxxons at the doorway, "I can definitely shoot at least two of you before you get in here. You sure you want to keep fighting?!"

The five of them glared at us like they were seriously considering it.

I could feel Temrash's nervousness inside me. They outnumbered us, but we had powerful guns pointed at them. They would probably lose. So they would probably choose not to fight. But then again, they put a lot of effort and planning into this attack. They were angry. And they were hungry.

[Let's bluff them,] I thought.

[What?] Temrash responded.

[I thought they were bluffing us. Let's try it ourselves. If you're gonna scare someone away, go big!]

I stepped backwards as I spoke. "Yeah, we could shoot some of you. You could bite some of us. Or, we could try this." I pointed the Dracon beam rifle at the main computer, right at the screen showing the pilot. "I'll blow up the computer and trigger the self-destruct! Kill all of you Taxxons at once!"

"What?!" Eva cried.

I ignored her and spoke to the Taxxon pilot. "You had a big plan to take our ship, but your plan failed. So now it's our turn to give you a choice. I can instantly kill your entire crew in a fiery blaze, make sure you never get our technology, and leave you here to fend off five billion humans by yourself . . . OR . . . You accept the food generator. You get off this planet. And you never come back!"

The pilot glared at me. Eventually, he spoke. I didn't need the subtitles this time. Because I could hear Temrash's thoughts, I understood Taxxon language now.

". . . We agree to your terms," it said bitterly.

In a show of surrender, the Taxxons outside took a few steps away from our ship.

Eva stepped towards me. She looked confused. She quietly asked, "Tom, how did you . . .?"

Then she noticed the liquid still dripping from my hand and the side of my head. I smiled at her and touched my right ear. "I had help."

She stared at me with her mouth open.

I grinned wider. "Does this mean I'm a full member now?"

.

The Taxxons took the food generator and went back to their ship. We followed them, carrying our weapons, watching and making sure that they all boarded and flew away. We used our ship's sensors to confirm that they left orbit. And before they left we made sure to tell them that if they ever returned, we would know. They hated feeling like they lost against us, but they didn't argue. Like all predators, Taxxons preferred meals that didn't involve a lot of risk. And we proved that we were simply too much hassle to eat.

These Taxxons were nasty, but I tried not to hate them for it. Like Eva and Edriss said, they were just starving predators looking for a meal. I know I tended to get pretty irritable when I was hungry enough.

With the danger and excitement dying down, I was able to think more as we tied up the loose ends. As I watched the Taxxons leave, and as we returned to our own ship, I communicated with Temrash inside my head. We learned about each other. And I learned all about the history of the Yeerks.

The Yeerks weren't always peaceful. Originally, many generations ago, Yeerks had the strength to dominate their hosts completely. They wore bodies like suits, controlled them like puppets, and the hosts cried inside their brains completely powerless to resist. The Yeerks were an empire that traveled to many planets and stole host bodies by force. They were conquerors. Enslavers. It was biologically natural to them.

But eventually they found a species too powerful to conquer: The Andalites. They took it upon themselves to rid the universe of the Yeerk menace. There was a war. And the Andalites created a terrifying weapon: A prion virus. A virus that attacked their very DNA. The virus spread throughout the Yeerk Empire and killed nearly the entire species in one sweep. The Yeerks who survived had their DNA damaged. They mutated. And then they died off too while their descendants devolved into what they are today.

Modern Yeerks are too weak to dominate their hosts like their ancestors did. Temrash could only move my body if I didn't resist his control, and even then he couldn't work my body for long periods of time. Every three days, a Yeerk must leave their host and return to a Yeerk pool in order to absorb Kandrona rays. If the host didn't feel like making a trip to the pool, the Yeerk wouldn't be able to force them, and the Yeerk would helplessly starve to death.

As a species, the Yeerks' whole culture had always been about conquering and using lower life forms. When they lost the power to do that, it scared them straight. Yeerks became totally dependent on the kindness of other species. They became pacifists, fighting only when unavoidable.

But that wasn't enough for the Andalites. They still wanted every Yeerk dead, harmless as they were, as punishment for their ancestors' war crimes. And they didn't mind killing Yeerk-sympathizing hosts along with them. To this day, the Andalites searched across galaxies, determined to shoot down every refugee ship out there. They almost succeeded.

As far as anyone knew, that one small pool in our ship, plus the five Yeerks in me and the Sharing full members, were the only Yeerks left alive in the entire universe.

Temrash, like all Yeerks alive today, was born generations after the war and the prion virus. The only life he had ever known was one of peace, studying inside of a pool. But there were fanatics out there trying to murder him because of something his ancestors did before he was born.

It was just . . . so unfair. That's a horrible understatement, but what else could I say to Temrash?

We tried not to dwell on it. Not when there was so much good about Earth, this new home planet.

.

We were back in the Yeerk ship. We called Mrs. Chapman and Mr. Tidwell, letting them know the danger had passed. They came to help with the aftermath. Tidwell brought pizza, God bless him.

I took a giant bite. As I chewed, I felt another strange sensation. My body tasted the food, and I had my own reaction to that taste, but I could feel Temrash's reaction too. This was his first experience with the sense of taste. Lucky him that it got to be pizza.

Temrash swore inside my head. [Oh, this is great. Can we please eat this every day?]

[I've been asking my mom that for years.]

A bit earlier, I helped Chapman carry out the spare door from a back supply room and lift it up into place. Now he and his wife stood on the stairs, connecting it properly to the ship.

"Tom, Temrash," Chapman-slash-Innis called. "You saved our lives, and don't think I'm ungrateful. But you know," he smirked with just a bit of annoyance, "you could have done it without destroying the door."

"Hey, give me a break," I called back. "It was my first time saving the world." Temrash and I grinned. "I mean, our first time. We'll do much better in the next adventure."

Eva-slash-Edriss set down her pizza slice and gave me a serious look. "There doesn't have to be a next time, you know."

I stopped. I set down my half-finished slice and stared at her.

"Tom, you only bonded with Temrash because you had to. You didn't really choose it. So I don't want you to think you're stuck with the consequences. And Temrash, I know how hard it is to go back to the pool after being spoiled with a host body - believe me, I know - but we need to be fair. Tom, if you don't want -"

I held up a hand. "Eva, Edriss, I'm gonna stop you right there. Almost getting eaten by Taxxons was terrifying. And putting Tem in my ear was really painful. But even so . . . This was the best day of my life!"

"Really?" She seemed confused. "Even with how dangerous it was?"

I grinned excitedly. "I met aliens. And I saved the Yeerk pool. I made a difference today! I've never made a difference before."

I looked around the room. Everyone was watching me. Four faces. Eight people.

"I want in. I want to be part of this, more than anything. And I wanna stay with Tem. I like him. We're already friends. Heh, I call him Tem now. Short for Temrash."

[Tem and Tom,] he said to me. [It's like destiny!]

"I know, right?!" I said out loud. I focused on Eva's face. "Please don't kick me out. I wanna help the Yeerks. And besides . . . This is so much better than being an astronaut."

Eva smiled, but she still seemed hesitant. "I still don't like the idea of dragging a minor into this."

Mr. Chapman shrugged. "I was his age when I started saving aliens."

Mrs. Chapman smacked his shoulder. "You were not!"

He smiled at her. "And I was great at it!"

She smirked. "You weren't that either!"

Eva nodded in resignation. She looked at me with a much more genuine smile.

"All right, then . . . Welcome to the Sharing."

.

I drove my mom's car home. I knew joining the Yeerk team wouldn't be all fun. There would be hard work and risks in the future, but I wasn't worried. I was thrilled. High on adrenaline. And why shouldn't I be? I just had my first battle against a dangerous enemy, and I won! Really won. It was a solid victory with no casualties - except for the Taxxon that lost part of its claw, but supposedly they grow back anyway.

I drove while Tem quietly observed from inside my head. After parking, I let Tem walk us to the front door. He moved my legs a little unsteadily, but he would get better with practice. We stood and looked up at the house. My home.

[I guess this is your home too, now,] I told him.

[I guess so,] he thought softly.

The house was the same as it always was. And my family would be the same inside. But I was completely different. I was starting a whole new life today.

I opened the door and went inside.

Jake was there in the living room. Tem had never seen him before, but he knew exactly who Jake was from my memories. It was a strange sensation for him, to be so familiar with someone he never met. Jake was sitting on the sofa watching TV. Homer, his golden retriever, was lying next to him. Jake turned his head away and announced, "Tom's home!"

My mom came in from the other room. She smiled at me. "Welcome back. How did the clean-up go?"

I smiled silently at her for a moment. Knowing.

And then I said, "It was canceled, actually. Not enough people signed up. But then there was sort of an accident at the Sharing headquarters, so I offered to stay behind to help with that instead."

"That was nice of you," my mom said.

I had considered telling her the whole story. The Sharing gave me permission. They figured I knew my family best, so if I really believed they were trustworthy enough, I could decide how much to tell them. I was excited by everything I learned, and I wanted to share that excitement with my family. And I wanted to introduce them to my new friend, Tem.

But not right away. I would probably tell them in a few days, once I was used to it. The truth was . . . It was fun having a secret. I was one of the only humans on the planet who knew aliens were real. That made me special. I wanted to enjoy being special for a while longer.

My mom left. I stayed standing there, smiling to myself.

"What are you so happy about?" Jake asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were cleaning all day."

I shrugged. "Just seeing the world in a new light, I guess."

He smirked and looked back to the TV. "You big weirdo." He absentmindedly patted Homer next to him.

I looked down at Homer. The dog looked up at me.

[Can I pet him?] Tem asked.

I stepped towards the dog on the sofa. "Hey, boy." Tem reached out my right hand.

In an instant, Homer got up and ran away from me, over Jake's lap, jumping off the couch. He hit the floor and ran towards the back door in a full panic. Jake and I stared after the dog in shock. "What got into him?" Jake wondered.

I stared at my right hand. It was the hand that reached into the Yeerk pool. I had washed it, of course, but maybe the smell lingered. The smell of Yeerk.

Suddenly, it hit me. Like a splash of cold water on my face. A sinking feeling deep in my gut.

There's an alien parasite living in my brain!

Up till then I thought it was cool. I had always wanted to meet aliens, but now I saw the other side of the coin. I wasn't "special" . . . I was "not normal" . . . I was one-half of an inhuman creature. Homer reacted the way most people would react if they knew. I didn't regret bonding with Temrash, but how would my family react if I told them?

Would my parents freak out?

Would my own little brother be afraid of me?

And not just afraid of Temrash, but of me, the guy strange enough to think putting this thing in his head was "cool"?

I realized then that I couldn't tell my family after all. Not anytime soon. Tem sensed my thoughts, but he couldn't think of any way to comfort my anxiety, so he was silent.


Author's Notes: I didn't really want the prologue to be this long. It just sort of snowballed and got away from me.

Fanfiction-dot-net's formatting doesn't allow the angle brackets used for thought-speak. I've seen people use curly brackets, but I chose square brackets.

I wanted the Taxxons to talk like Daleks. Just because.