Destruction and despair
"The Yeerks are here."
" The what?" asked Ashley?
"The Yeerks," explained Mom." The Yeerks are aliens. They have invaded earth."
"Whoa, whoa whoa. Aliens? Mom, are you feeling OK?"
"Listen to me," my father said urgently. "The Yeerks are aliens. They are small slugs, almost like earth slugs. Some miracle of science has caused them to evolve to be able to control people. They crawl into your brain through the ear canal, and hook into your brain, causing you to be under their control. They control your movements, your voice. They look into your memories, and hear your thoughts as you think them."
"Dad? This is a joke, right?"
"Mom, you don't believe this, do you?"
My sisters looked puzzled. But in this one situation, my youth was a blessing. I asked only,
"Dad, Mom, how do you know all this? How can you know about this?"
Mom smiled at Dad.
"You, Jacqueline, will be a warrior. Ready to fight, no matter what. Blessings on you."
Dad gave Mom a look I couldn't read.
"You were always one for tradition, weren't you, dear." To my Mother, of course. Then to me, "Jackie, my true daughter, the Yeerks aren't the only aliens in the galaxy. There are many thousands of races, but the three others you need to know about are Hork-Bajir, Taxxons and Andalites. The Hork-Bajir are slaves of the Yeerks. They look like dragons without wings, with blades covering their bodies. Taxxons are evil, cannibalistic ten-foot centipedes. But the Andalites fight the Yeerks. The Andalites are the white knights of the galaxy. They look like blue centaurs, with extra eyes on stalks on their foreheads, and scorpion-like tails. They have the power to turn into other creatures. Anything with DNA they can turn into. That power is useful for fighting, but most fighting is done with laser weapons called Dracon Beams and Shredders."
Ashley looked at me, then turned to Dad. "How in the heck do you know all this, Dad?"
"We are Andalites. We were, anyway. We turned into humans, and stayed on earth. You see, there is a 2 hour time limit to the morphing power. If you stay more than two hours, you stay in that form forever."
"Your father and I used to fight the Yeerks with a small band of other Andalites stranded here on earth, but when we realized that we wanted children, I stayed as a human for two hours. I am now fully human, and will be forever. But your father is still an Andalite, and every two hours he demorphs, so he won't be stuck in human form."
Ashley and Deirdre looked startled. Deirdre looked at Dad.
"You, you… You're an.. Alien?"
"Yes."
I looked at my Dad. That face, those hands, those eyes were not really his? The lips that kissed my cuts and scrapes, the hands that held me when I was sad, they weren't real?
I somehow felt cheated, and was about to say so, when Mom brought out a small blue box. It was glowing, and somehow I knew what it was, before Dad or Mom said anything.
"This box gives the morphing power to the person who touches it. I.. no, We have decided to give you children this power, so that you can help us save earth. Will you help us? You will risk your life, and your freedom if you do this. You will have terrible nightmares. But there are good parts too. Being other animals, and helping to save the world, and being in on the biggest secret on earth. Will you join us?"
I thought a moment, then nodded. After a few minutes, my sisters nodded too.
"Don't be afraid" said Dad. Then I gasped, because his skin turned blue and brown. Two eyes grew out of his head, and his hands grew extra fingers. Legs popped out of the front of his body, and a tail sprouted. The tail grew a blade. His legs grew hooves and became like horse's legs. He had become an Andalite. He held the box out to me.
Touch it, Jackie
A voice! In my head! Not spoken aloud, but more like I had thought the words in my father's voice! I reached out and placed my hand against the box.
FLASH!
Five children, older than me, reached out their hands to touch a blue box. Many years in the future.
FLASH!
A tingle went up my whole body. I pulled away.
It's done. Touch an animal, concentrate on it, and it's DNA is yours. Concentrate again, and you will be that animal. Now, you, Deirdre
My mother gave a sad smile. Just as Deirdre put her hand on the box…
BANG! The door was knocked down! Strange, dragon-looking creatures that could have only been the Hork-Bajir my father told me about stepped through.
A voice, a gruff and scratchy, came from one of the Hork-Bajir.
"So, you are the last left of the Andalites. Yes, fools, we have taken all the others. They killed themselves rather than be taken, but they led us to you. Humph."
My father leaped forward, and began slashing with his tail. One Hork-Bajir's arm blade flew into my mother's lap.
TSSSEEEEWWWW!
My father glowed, then disappeared.
I grabbed the blue box from Deirdre and jumped out the open window as fast as I could.
I ran.
I ran and ran.
I turned back to look and see if my sisters and mother had gotten away. I turned back just in time to see my mother get shoved into a trunk of a car, and Deirdre's hands get tied behind her with a piece of rope.
I heard their screams. But I did not scream. I did not yell. I just ran, swiftly and silently.
No tears. No anger. No hurt.
For some reason, I understood that my father had been killed doing his duty. His honor would stand forever, while the Yeerks would forever have a bloodstained past. His death was part of his glory. I also remembered the vision I had had. Five children, older than me, but still kids. I knew my destiny.
Fight the Yeerks, and uphold my Father's honor, to meet these kids so much like me.
Fight the Yeerks.
Fight the Yeerks.