Visions
By Starseeker
Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs, the Yeerks, or any other aliens. I did create Alyssa and everyone else in Stryfer, so please don't use them without my permission.
Other notes: Jeez, it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the looooooooong delay…I got sidetracked with Gundam Wing stories. Keep in mind that I haven't read any of the books past number 38 and MM 4. At first, this may not have a lot to do with Animorphs. But they show up later in the story. In the next 2 or 3 chapters, actually. I love reading reviews... *hint, hint, wink wink* So on with the story!
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Previously, in Visions:
Alyssa escaped from the Yeerk base and returns to her school…but it gets blown up. One of her classmates, Brad, becomes an ally as they go back to rescue Trei.
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Chapter 7
I threw my head against the airplane seat and sighed. Trei looked at me from the other seat.
"I screwed up," I muttered. "Trei...I'm so sorry. What happened was all my fault." Trei laughed.
"You can't blame yourself if you mess up a mission. Things like this happen all the time...you did better than some other soldiers on their first mission."
"Really? You're not just sayin' that to make me feel better?" He shook his head and closed his eyes.
"People mess up all the time. So we failed our assignment. And we got captured and almost killed by the Yeerks. But I got a little bit of valuable information. You got us a new soldier. I'd say that this turned out pretty well," he told me. I looked over at Brad, who was sitting in the seat beside Trei. He had his eyes closed, but I didn't think he was asleep.
"What'd you find?" I asked, turning back to Trei.
"I'll tell you when we get back. Professor Idia's going to want my report as much as you do." I nodded and leaned back, trying to get a little sleep before we got back.
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"Alyssa, wake up." I opened my eyes.
"Huh?" Trei was standing over me.
"We're home." I jumped out of my seat.
"We are?!" He nodded and laughed. Brad was standing behind him silently.
"Come on, let's go." Trei turned around and led the way. I grabbed my bookbag out of the overhead compartment above my seat and followed, bringing Brad with me.
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Professor Idia was standing by the baggage claim, waiting for us. All three of us walked towards her. She looked at Brad, then in confusion at me.
"I messed up," I said quietly. She looked at Brad again.
"Yes, I can see that," she replied.
"I'm Brad Doralle. It's nice to meet you." He extended his hand.
"You can call me Professor Idia." Without shaking his hand, she turned and led us out of the airport.
"Is she always like that?" Brad asked me.
"Only when someone's made a mistake."
"Oh. Alyssa, I'm really sorry if I'm getting you into trouble."
"It's okay, Brad. Not your fault at all. Come on, we're getting behind."
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We were back at the base. Professor Idia instructed me to go back to my room and to lead Brad to room 05. I did as she asked silently. Brad didn't say anything either.
"I hope you're not expecting anything more than a bed and four walls," I told him. He shook his head and opened the door. He closed it behind him and I went to my room. I was soon called to Professor Idia's office over the speaker system. I responded quickly and without question.
I knocked on the office door and she let me in. Brad and Trei were standing there with Professor Idia.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked her.
"Trei has some news that he'd like to share," Professor Idia told me. "Trei?"
"When I was in the Yeerk prison, some of the other prisoners gave me some information. They're building a weapon to destroy Stryfer's headquarters, completely get rid of it. They want to hit us hard," he said. "I heard that this weapon will take two years to complete, and that it's being built near the headquarters.
"Unfortunately, because of security, we won't be able to do anything about the weapon until it's complete. But we can do some training until then."
"They're...they're...they're going to..." I stammered. Trei nodded. "Those bastards."
"I vote we get ready for this," Brad suggested.
"That's the plan," Professor Idia informed him.
"Good," I said. "When do we start?"
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Two years of preparation for what I thought at the time would be the most important thing I ever did. It didn't seem like enough to me. We all took it very well. I guess we did well. I began to notice subtle changes in all three of us. I didn't know whether they were for better or for worse, but they were necessary if we were going to win. And we had to win, no matter what. It was all that counted.
At the end of the two years, we were ready for anything. It was 2002. We were ready...at least, we thought we were.
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I sat quietly in the airplane seat. Just two years before I had been in a seat much like it, on my way to tell Professor Idia of my defeat. But now I was on my way to what could become the beginning of a war. Although it was what Stryfer was against, war might have been a necessary outcome.
Brad and Trei were equally silent. No one needed to say anything. We were concentrating on our goal, not making unneeded conversation.
Stryfer headquarters was located near the area of Washington, D. C. I won't say how far it was from my home. It can put people in danger.
I didn't know exactly what the Yeerks planned to use against the headquarters. But it didn't matter. We had to destroy it, no matter what.
The plane reached the Washington D. C. airport and the three of us got off. I took a deep breath as I grabbed my bag and followed Trei. I was always following Trei. He was the leader, and I was his second-in-command. No questions were asked by any of us as we left.
A car waited for us outside of the airport. We were to be taken to the main building for Stryfer in Washington. I didn't know what we would do from there.
I got in first, Brad and Trei followed. It was hard for me to believe that we would be the only three going.
The ride wasn't very long. We were at the base in thirty minutes, tops. We got out of the car and looked at the headquarters. A few minutes passes as we stood in silence, and then someone came out to greet us.
"Hello," she said. Brad was the only one of us who returned the greeting. "I'm Commander Mandarea. I've been notified that you're here to further your training?"
"But we're-" Brad began. I elbowed him in the ribs.
"Shut up," I said through gritted teeth. Then, to the commander, I said, "That's right ma'am."
"Very well then, I'll show you to your rooms." She turned on her heel and walked, expecting us to follow her. And we did so.
"Why'd she think we're here for training?" Brad asked.
"There's no reason to get everyone worked up for nothing. Trei and I talked, and he's going to tell the head of operations in private. We're just trying to make sure that a panic doesn't break out."
"Ohhh," Brad muttered. "Okay then."
I was in my room later when I heard a knock on the door. Standing up, I went to see who was there. It was Brad.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," I responded. A short moment passed in silence.
"Y'know, this could happen any time," he told me.
"Yeah, I know."
"Alyssa, what if we can't win?" he asked.
"Losing isn't an option," I said coldly. "If we lose, we die."
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I lay on the hard mattress and thought, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing it. The words echoed in my mind over and over, each time filling me with a sense of dread for what we were about to do. "If we lose, we die."
The odds seemed impossible. There didn't seem to be any chance that we would win this. Three soldiers -no, three kids- against a whole alien army. No backup. No support.
Just us.
But all we had to do was destroy this weapon. A weapon we had absolutely no knowledge of. This mission would definitely be harder than anything else I had ever done. I sat in thought for a while, wondering what would happen if we -by some miracle- completed our mission.
"What does this weapon do, anyways?" I wondered, my eyes leaving the ceiling and landing on the wall to my left. I sighed and closed my eyes.
I never liked the way things had turned out. Every once in a while I would think to myself, "I'm not supposed to be here…I shouldn't be a soldier." And it would be so easy to just run away, or to kill myself…I had everything I needed if I wished to do that.
The only thing that kept me here was fear.
It may sound strange, but I don't have anywhere else to go. And even with everything I've been through, I can't kill myself. To tell the truth, I'm afraid of dying. I always have been.
Someone knocked on the door. I sighed.
"Come in," I said, expecting to see Brad standing there again. But instead, it was Trei. "Oh, hi Trei," I mumbled.
"We've discovered the location of the Yeerk weapon. We're leaving tomorrow."
"So tomorrow we trash this thing? Finally, I'll get to see what it looks like," I muttered, laughing a little. Trei nodded and left.
"Tomorrow," I thought. "Tomorrow..."
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I awoke to the sound of my door opening. When I opened my eyes Brad was standing over me.
"You slept in," he said. I groaned.
"I'm late…" I shooed him out of the room while I got dresses and then met him again in the hall. "Do you know how we're going to get there?"
"Trei showed me a map of the sewer system. One of the tunnels down there leads right up to the base."
"You'd think that the Yeerks would be a little smarter than that, huh?" I said, grinning.
"I'm just glad that they aren't," he replied.
"Me too." I jumped and turned around, relieved because it was only Trei.
"Well then," I said. "Now that we're all here, let's get going." And we did.
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To be continued...