Copyright 2001
Chapter 16
At around seven o'clock, my parents left with Alexis. Cameron and I looked at each other.
"So? Are we going, or are we just going to sit here and think about it?"
I nodded.
My parents were walking. I didn't comment on it, though. I mean, why would I?
After the door closed, Cameron and I got up slowly. We watched through the curtains until they were out of sight.
"Come on," I said silently. I really didn't want to do this. I really didn't want to do this. For some reason I felt as if I were betraying them.
As soon a they left around the corner, Cameron pulled my hand. I tried not to go with him, part of me realizing that I didn't want him to be holding my hand. But then again, I didn't want to do anything, and I think Cameron knew that. I just wanted to crawl and hide under a rock somewhere and let the world go on without me. It could do that. So why wouldn't it?
We followed my parents for what seemed like a mile, but no matter how far back we walked, we could still hear Alexis asking impatiently, "Are we there yet?"
Cameron looked at me and rolled his eyes.
My parents finally walked to where they wanted to go. The library.
Alexis looked up. "The library? What's in here?" I could tell she was still hoping for some great gift or something, but I could hear the disappointment in her voice from back there.
Cameron and I looked at each other. Why would the Yeerks have an entrance in the library? No one ever went there. Besides, the library was closed.
My parents went inside. We followed.
* * *
"Any bright ideas now?" Cameron asked dryly.
I looked at the floor, where there was now a dark stairway. Alexis had finally caught on that something weird was going on. I could hear her screaming all the way from here. I shrugged. "We follow."
I took a step down through the gaping hole. Cameron grabbed my arm. "Man, do you know what's down there? We don't even know if the others have gotten there yet."
I ripped my arm out of his grip. "You don't get it. This is my family. My entire family is going down there. If I let this happen, what would happen? I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror. I wouldn't be able to trust my own parents. My own sister. I want to trust my family. I want to be able to trust them."
Cameron sighed. "Fine."
I nodded and took another step down. Cameron pulled on my arm again. I flew backwards and landed on the ground, hard.
"What did you do that for?!" I shouted at him.
He shook his head at me and looked at the ground. I looked too. The carpet was neatly in place. There wasn't any hole in the ground anymore. I realized what had happened. Cameron had pulled me out of the doorway before it closed.
"Thanks," I told him. I looked at Cameron a bit harder. He was sweating and staring and the spot on the floor where the hole had been in shock.
He caught me staring at him and shook his head. "I guess I had still been hoping that none of this was real," he told me. "But my BO suggests otherwise."
We grinned and got up.
Suddenly, I heard voices coming our way. I pulled Cameron behind a bookcase and put a finger over my mouth. He nodded.
A few moments later, peeking between the books and metal of the bookcase, we saw three teenage kids come in. It took me a few moments, but I finally realized that one of them was the captain of the basketball team. One of the others had quit a while ago. The third guy I didn't recognize.
They pulled a book halfway out of the shelf and waited. I bent down close to the floor and looked under the bookcase. Sure enough, there was that same gaping hole in the floor. I stood up and looked at Cameron. He bent down and looked. I saw his mouth drop. He stood up again.
A few seconds later, the three boys disappeared and the hole closed again. Cameron and I walked around the edge of the bookcase again and stared at the empty space in front of us. Cameron looked at the shelves of books and ran his hand across the spines. The book had slipped back into place.
"Which one?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Try them," I said.
He pulled on one; it slid out easily. "This one?" he muttered to himself. "No. Can't be. The other one stayed on the shelf." He pulled another one out. "Tolstoy. You've got to be kidding me. Dead guys. They write the worst-" He paused. "'War and Peace?' Maybe..."
He pulled on it. "It's stuck!" He grabbed the binding and pulled harder. "Is that hole opening yet?"
I shook my head. Cameron cussed.
"Wait a minute," he finally said after a few more minutes of trying. "There's a button or something under here."
"Push it," I urged.
Cameron obeyed.
Suddenly, the floor opened up to reveal a huge hole in the floor.
"I hope we're not too late," I muttered.
Cameron shook his head in pity. "I hate big brothers."
Chapter 17
We started walking down the stairs. After a while, the light from the library completely disappeared and another dim light took its place. When we were halfway down, Cameron poked me in the side. "Get a load of the walls," he said.
I looked. They were completely stone.
"Can you imagine how hard it must have been to do this? How long it must have taken? What do you think they used?" Cameron droned on.
I looked at him. "Why are you so interested in stone walls?"
Cameron shrugged.
We kept walking down. "This place must be about a mile under the city," I muttered.
We reached the bottom of the stairs. "Dude," Cameron told me, "this place is entirely under the city."
In front of us was an entire cave that must have been twice the size of those mammoth caves I had heard of while snoozing in one of my classes.
"Let's find the others," I said as if I knew what I was doing.
"If they're here," Cameron added. He looked at me. "Hope they didn't chicken out."
I shook my head, even though I was thinking the exact same thing. "They wouldn't do that. They'll be here."
From the look Cameron gave me, I could tell he didn't believe me.
Something tapped me on the shoulder. "Yah!" I half shouted. Cameron cupped his hand over my mouth, trying to make sure I shut up. Hardy looked around to make sure that no one else had seen. After I had calmed down, they let me go. I turned around and saw Samantha standing, shaking her head at me with her hands on her hips.
"What?" I asked.
"Jumpy?" she shot back.
"A bit," I admitted.
"Hello," Cameron cut in. "We hate to interrupt the newly forming soap opera, but we have a show of its own going on. If you would be so kind as to check out center stage..."
I looked to the center of the cavern we were in.
My parents were standing there with Alexis between them. She was crying, and they had to work hard to keep her from falling on her knees. Visser Three was standing in front of her.
So. You are the Andalite scum.
"What?" Alexis wailed. "What in the world is Andalite scum?" She sniffled. I could hear it all the way from where we were standing.
Then you must work with them.
"Work with who?" Alexis shouted, frantic. "I don't work! Ask my mother! Mom- Mom, tell them." She looked to my mom, who was holding her left arm. Mom looked indecisive and then seemed to make up her mind.
"It is true, Visser. The girl is the laziest human there is."
My dad quickly tried to take over. "But, sir, perhaps she could be used to find the bandits?"
Visser Three seemed to be thinking. No, he finally said. No. She is useless to us. I'll kill her.
I almost screamed, and Cameron had to clamp his hand over my mouth again.
Samantha tapped us on the shoulders. "Morph," she whispered.
"Morph?" Cameron echoed. We realized that he hadn't even tried it out yet. "Crap," he said slowly.
Hardy and Laurel were already changing. Samantha quickly followed suit.
A few seconds later, a gorilla, a rhinoceros, and a cougar raced into the crowd.
So did another creature looking remarkably like Visser Three, a hawk, a tiger, a wolf, another gorilla, and an elephant.
What the- I heard Hardy ask.
"Chris," Cameron said as he turned to me. "How do you do this morphing thing?"
"Close your eyes. Think about the animal." Cameron closed his eyes. "Think about what it's like to become the animal. And then, you'll be the animal."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"All right." He started to concentrate. "Hey, wait a minute," he said as he opened his eyes again. "What are you going to do?"
"Huh?"
"What animal are you going to be?"
I thought. I had a dog, and- And nothing else? I tried to remember if I had acquired anything else. No, just a dog. "I can't. Unless a dog can do something."
Cameron grinned at me. "Knew you would chicken out somehow."
"I didn't chicken out!" I hissed back. "If you had let me get some bear-"
I stopped when I realized Cameron wasn't listening. I quickly moved away as he started to change.
A few seconds later, there was a huge grizzly bear standing in front of me. It roared.
I remembered to when I had first turned into Presley. I had lost it for a long time. But that was a dog- not a bear. Would there be anything different?
Cameron charged for me. Apparently there wasn't any difference.
iAx
As the others so often said, "Here we go again." This time I felt a bit better about fighting. Even if they were inexperienced, we still had new allies fighting alongside us. I went forward to Visser Three. This was always my job. Hold off Visser Three as best I could, since Prince Jake said I was the only one who could, and, if I was lucky, avenge my brother Elfangor's death.
Around me the battle raged, animals and hosts and free hosts who had been set loose to give them a chance all running around in chaos. I approached Visser Three calmly. Today might be the day./i
Chapter 16
At around seven o'clock, my parents left with Alexis. Cameron and I looked at each other.
"So? Are we going, or are we just going to sit here and think about it?"
I nodded.
My parents were walking. I didn't comment on it, though. I mean, why would I?
After the door closed, Cameron and I got up slowly. We watched through the curtains until they were out of sight.
"Come on," I said silently. I really didn't want to do this. I really didn't want to do this. For some reason I felt as if I were betraying them.
As soon a they left around the corner, Cameron pulled my hand. I tried not to go with him, part of me realizing that I didn't want him to be holding my hand. But then again, I didn't want to do anything, and I think Cameron knew that. I just wanted to crawl and hide under a rock somewhere and let the world go on without me. It could do that. So why wouldn't it?
We followed my parents for what seemed like a mile, but no matter how far back we walked, we could still hear Alexis asking impatiently, "Are we there yet?"
Cameron looked at me and rolled his eyes.
My parents finally walked to where they wanted to go. The library.
Alexis looked up. "The library? What's in here?" I could tell she was still hoping for some great gift or something, but I could hear the disappointment in her voice from back there.
Cameron and I looked at each other. Why would the Yeerks have an entrance in the library? No one ever went there. Besides, the library was closed.
My parents went inside. We followed.
* * *
"Any bright ideas now?" Cameron asked dryly.
I looked at the floor, where there was now a dark stairway. Alexis had finally caught on that something weird was going on. I could hear her screaming all the way from here. I shrugged. "We follow."
I took a step down through the gaping hole. Cameron grabbed my arm. "Man, do you know what's down there? We don't even know if the others have gotten there yet."
I ripped my arm out of his grip. "You don't get it. This is my family. My entire family is going down there. If I let this happen, what would happen? I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror. I wouldn't be able to trust my own parents. My own sister. I want to trust my family. I want to be able to trust them."
Cameron sighed. "Fine."
I nodded and took another step down. Cameron pulled on my arm again. I flew backwards and landed on the ground, hard.
"What did you do that for?!" I shouted at him.
He shook his head at me and looked at the ground. I looked too. The carpet was neatly in place. There wasn't any hole in the ground anymore. I realized what had happened. Cameron had pulled me out of the doorway before it closed.
"Thanks," I told him. I looked at Cameron a bit harder. He was sweating and staring and the spot on the floor where the hole had been in shock.
He caught me staring at him and shook his head. "I guess I had still been hoping that none of this was real," he told me. "But my BO suggests otherwise."
We grinned and got up.
Suddenly, I heard voices coming our way. I pulled Cameron behind a bookcase and put a finger over my mouth. He nodded.
A few moments later, peeking between the books and metal of the bookcase, we saw three teenage kids come in. It took me a few moments, but I finally realized that one of them was the captain of the basketball team. One of the others had quit a while ago. The third guy I didn't recognize.
They pulled a book halfway out of the shelf and waited. I bent down close to the floor and looked under the bookcase. Sure enough, there was that same gaping hole in the floor. I stood up and looked at Cameron. He bent down and looked. I saw his mouth drop. He stood up again.
A few seconds later, the three boys disappeared and the hole closed again. Cameron and I walked around the edge of the bookcase again and stared at the empty space in front of us. Cameron looked at the shelves of books and ran his hand across the spines. The book had slipped back into place.
"Which one?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Try them," I said.
He pulled on one; it slid out easily. "This one?" he muttered to himself. "No. Can't be. The other one stayed on the shelf." He pulled another one out. "Tolstoy. You've got to be kidding me. Dead guys. They write the worst-" He paused. "'War and Peace?' Maybe..."
He pulled on it. "It's stuck!" He grabbed the binding and pulled harder. "Is that hole opening yet?"
I shook my head. Cameron cussed.
"Wait a minute," he finally said after a few more minutes of trying. "There's a button or something under here."
"Push it," I urged.
Cameron obeyed.
Suddenly, the floor opened up to reveal a huge hole in the floor.
"I hope we're not too late," I muttered.
Cameron shook his head in pity. "I hate big brothers."
Chapter 17
We started walking down the stairs. After a while, the light from the library completely disappeared and another dim light took its place. When we were halfway down, Cameron poked me in the side. "Get a load of the walls," he said.
I looked. They were completely stone.
"Can you imagine how hard it must have been to do this? How long it must have taken? What do you think they used?" Cameron droned on.
I looked at him. "Why are you so interested in stone walls?"
Cameron shrugged.
We kept walking down. "This place must be about a mile under the city," I muttered.
We reached the bottom of the stairs. "Dude," Cameron told me, "this place is entirely under the city."
In front of us was an entire cave that must have been twice the size of those mammoth caves I had heard of while snoozing in one of my classes.
"Let's find the others," I said as if I knew what I was doing.
"If they're here," Cameron added. He looked at me. "Hope they didn't chicken out."
I shook my head, even though I was thinking the exact same thing. "They wouldn't do that. They'll be here."
From the look Cameron gave me, I could tell he didn't believe me.
Something tapped me on the shoulder. "Yah!" I half shouted. Cameron cupped his hand over my mouth, trying to make sure I shut up. Hardy looked around to make sure that no one else had seen. After I had calmed down, they let me go. I turned around and saw Samantha standing, shaking her head at me with her hands on her hips.
"What?" I asked.
"Jumpy?" she shot back.
"A bit," I admitted.
"Hello," Cameron cut in. "We hate to interrupt the newly forming soap opera, but we have a show of its own going on. If you would be so kind as to check out center stage..."
I looked to the center of the cavern we were in.
My parents were standing there with Alexis between them. She was crying, and they had to work hard to keep her from falling on her knees. Visser Three was standing in front of her.
So. You are the Andalite scum.
"What?" Alexis wailed. "What in the world is Andalite scum?" She sniffled. I could hear it all the way from where we were standing.
Then you must work with them.
"Work with who?" Alexis shouted, frantic. "I don't work! Ask my mother! Mom- Mom, tell them." She looked to my mom, who was holding her left arm. Mom looked indecisive and then seemed to make up her mind.
"It is true, Visser. The girl is the laziest human there is."
My dad quickly tried to take over. "But, sir, perhaps she could be used to find the bandits?"
Visser Three seemed to be thinking. No, he finally said. No. She is useless to us. I'll kill her.
I almost screamed, and Cameron had to clamp his hand over my mouth again.
Samantha tapped us on the shoulders. "Morph," she whispered.
"Morph?" Cameron echoed. We realized that he hadn't even tried it out yet. "Crap," he said slowly.
Hardy and Laurel were already changing. Samantha quickly followed suit.
A few seconds later, a gorilla, a rhinoceros, and a cougar raced into the crowd.
So did another creature looking remarkably like Visser Three, a hawk, a tiger, a wolf, another gorilla, and an elephant.
What the- I heard Hardy ask.
"Chris," Cameron said as he turned to me. "How do you do this morphing thing?"
"Close your eyes. Think about the animal." Cameron closed his eyes. "Think about what it's like to become the animal. And then, you'll be the animal."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"All right." He started to concentrate. "Hey, wait a minute," he said as he opened his eyes again. "What are you going to do?"
"Huh?"
"What animal are you going to be?"
I thought. I had a dog, and- And nothing else? I tried to remember if I had acquired anything else. No, just a dog. "I can't. Unless a dog can do something."
Cameron grinned at me. "Knew you would chicken out somehow."
"I didn't chicken out!" I hissed back. "If you had let me get some bear-"
I stopped when I realized Cameron wasn't listening. I quickly moved away as he started to change.
A few seconds later, there was a huge grizzly bear standing in front of me. It roared.
I remembered to when I had first turned into Presley. I had lost it for a long time. But that was a dog- not a bear. Would there be anything different?
Cameron charged for me. Apparently there wasn't any difference.
iAx
As the others so often said, "Here we go again." This time I felt a bit better about fighting. Even if they were inexperienced, we still had new allies fighting alongside us. I went forward to Visser Three. This was always my job. Hold off Visser Three as best I could, since Prince Jake said I was the only one who could, and, if I was lucky, avenge my brother Elfangor's death.
Around me the battle raged, animals and hosts and free hosts who had been set loose to give them a chance all running around in chaos. I approached Visser Three calmly. Today might be the day./i