Copyright 2001
Chapter 21
"There you are," Alexis said as I walked through the door. "I'd almost forgotten what you looked like. But you're ugly as ever."
"I know how you feel," I agreed. I had just come back from Taco Bell with the others. "I hadn't seen you in so long I was beginning to picture you as being human."
"Ha ha. Not funny."
I grinned at her. It was hard to grin at her. I knew I had let her down. I wanted to run up to her and tell her everything. I wanted to kill the Yeerk inside her. I wanted- No, I couldn't do any of that. I wasn't stupid. My entire family was full of slaves.
But I could still fight. More than that, I was actually alive. That was the best thing. We all were. And I had even been told that there were others like us and that Hardy had apparently tackled on of them. The others seemed kind of pleased.
"I call the wolf," Cameron had said. "No one calls me an amateur and gets away with it."
Samantha had shrugged. "Whatever. I'll probably be going home. Back to my old, boring life."
"At least you'll be able to be different animals," Laurel said.
Samantha had laughed. "It loses its attraction when you don't really have someone to share it with."
Cameron, Hardy, and Laurel and immediately started to whistle. "I don't mean that," Samantha had said.
Cameron had started laughing, but he was still trying to whistle at the same time. He ended up having a choking fit and Samantha gladly slapped him on his back, making him fall out of his chair.
"I'm not even jealous of you, man," Cameron had said.
"What?"
Hardy and Laurel had started laughing insanely. Cameron had scooted away from Samantha before he started laughing. Samantha was blushing.
"What?" I asked again. Then I had caught on. "Oh... Oh no..."
Samantha had sat back down. "Oh yes," she had replied.
"They think we're-"
"Uh-huh."
"Are we-"
We had looked at each other.
"It'd be hard to keep up a relationship over distance," Samantha had said slowly.
"How would you know?" Hardy had retorted.
"Shut up."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Agreed."
"Dinner and a movie?"
"Sure."
Cameron had tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Boy. You guys are moving really fast. Just remember- keep the shirts on, huh?"
Samantha had slapped him. I had punched him.
"So what are you doing tonight?" Alexis asked.
"I'm going to dinner and a movie, actually. With Samantha."
"Ah," Alexis said as if she understood. "You and Sammie. You guys, you know, you didn't..."
"Why does everyone think that?" I shouted. "No, Alexis. We did not do it."
"Okay. Just checking."
"Who did it?" Mom asked, coming into the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream.
"Forget it. Just forget it."
iJake
I watched him through the leader. The other leader. They'd done what we had said and held him for three days. I admit that I had someone, either one of us or the Chee, watching them all the time, but maybe we shouldn't have bothered. They'd done that one thing well.
But they did need our help. He'd only gone into the Yeerk pool with one morph. That was unacceptable. He ran a risk to everyone. He hadn't even thought about it until he was there. They needed help.
I wondered if that was what the Ellimist wanted. For us to help them. Marco had already expressed his disbelief at having to baby-sit plenty of times.
Well, we'd have to help them anyway. Eventually. If they got caught, it didn't make our lives any easier, having them running around like idiots. Yes, we'd have to talk to them./I
Chapter 22
"So," Samantha said. The announcer had just announced that her flight was ready for boarding. "This is it."
"Yeah."
"Hey," Cameron said. "If you see any cute girls down there, feel free to give them my number, okay."
"Right. 1-800-OLD-NFAT. Got it."
Cameron grinned agreeably. "That's just the free line," he said.
Samantha rolled her eyes. "Bye, Alexis. Laurel. Hardy, don't have anything to do with me, please. You're too annoying. Chris: Call me."
"Sure."
"And another thing. Call me Sam."
"Sam?" I asked. It felt weird.
"Yeah. You know. After all we've been through, you can actually shorten my name, you know."
"Uh-huh." Sam? It felt weird.
"What about me?" Cameron asked pitifully.
"You leave me alone," Samantha- I mean, Sam, said. "Freak," she muttered loud enough for him to hear.
"Well, I'll see you guys around, I guess."
"Yeah."
She stood in front of me for a few minutes. "Be sure to call," she said again.
"Count on it."
"Yeah. Count on it," she echoed. She turned and walked to the gate. Before she walked away, she turned and waved.
iErek
We were in the airport, watching them.
"And the Ellimist said she would move here?" I asked for confirmation. Even though I knew the answer. After all, I couldn't forget. A blessing and a curse, but I think I was finally getting used to it. After so many years, I was just now beginning to accept it.
"Yeah," Jake said. He sat in a plastic seat next to Cassie, with Ax on the end next to him. Rachel sat next to Tobias. Marco sat next to me. I didn't like the coupling, but Marco was a friend. It's just two couples dating, and then another couple on the end. I felt kind of awkward. But they had also invited me to watch their- our- new allies separate. I was glad they had invited me when they didn't need to. Spying can get old, and Marisa had already said she felt as if she were serving four-year-olds. It was nice that they sometimes just wanted to be friends.
I was beginning to wonder if they felt a bit like parents to the others.
We watched as they went their different ways. Both Jake and Cassie and Rachel and Tobias did something like squeeze each other's hands. Marco saw and said, "Great. Thank you. I don't feel alone. Ax and Erek are going to be single a long time- no offense-" he told me. I waved it away. I'd have to pretend to live a normal life sooner or later. I'd probably date Marisa for a while soon. "But I'm human, I'm cute, I'm funny. Why can't I find someone?" He looked at me. "Got any girl holograms or something?"
I shook my head. "Thankfully, no."
The others watched her plane fly off and then turned back. Chris said something about going to the Star Wars movie. Hardy said he'd managed to get tickets, but it was a shame Sam couldn't go with them. As the girl Laurel walked by us, she looked at us oddly. I made the hologram look a different way, watch a plane land, but I watched her. She looked at us suspiciously. Suspicion wasn't bad. It might even help them.
I stood up and explained that I had to get home. We were cleaning. Marco rolled his eyes and said, "What else do you do?"
Jake and Cassie invited me to hang out with them sometime. I grinned and said, "Maybe later," but I knew I wouldn't be able to. I couldn't attract interest by hanging out with them. It might be too dangerous. I left with Tobias and Rachel and Ax. Tobias followed Chris. Rachel followed Hardy and Laurel. Ax followed Cameron.
I went home to the Pemalites and other Chee./i
Chapter 23
A few weeks later, I got a call for Sam.
"Hey, Chris," she said.
"Hey."
"I've got some good news."
"Like what?" I asked.
"I'm moving."
"You're moving. Why is that good news?"
"Well, I'm going to be living a few blocks away from you. Maybe less."
"Why?"
She laughed a little. "You know how I thought it was going to be boring here?"
"Yeah. Did you get into trouble?"
"A bit. Nothing I couldn't handle."
"That's good."
"A lot of it was luck, I have to admit that, but something's happening, Chris."
"What do you mean?" I asked. I lowered my voice. "The Yeerks?"
"Something like that. There are more people like us, Chris. More people who can- Well, you know. Listen, I can't talk long. I met my relative here. Liddy. You know her?"
"I think I heard Hardy talking about her a few times."
"Yeah, well, you're going to hate me. Maybe. I had to- Crud. Um, Chris, I've got to go. I'll see you later, okay? When my mom takes me up there to look for a house?"
"Sure."
I hung up. Too many questions. I shook my head and went to go watch "The Simpsons."
iI'd given them all the help I would be able to. I'd bent the rules, but Crayak wouldn't be able to interfere. I'd made sure of it. The girl didn't have much power, but she had more than she knew of. She didn't know how to use it, and now I'd given her more power. A different kind. Maybe by learning how to master one power she could master the other.
Crayak shouldn't have given her the other power in the first place, but he had to be a fool. Well, I'd done my share to make sure we would be able to continue our little game. The Animorphs would have to do the rest. Crayak was indebted to me.
But the new Animorphs. They'd figured out what they were, what to call themselves, with a little pushing on my part. Now I needed to make sure they stayed alive. Especially the girl. If her power got loose, untrained, it would be disastrous. Crayak should have thought more carefully before having children./i
Chapter 21
"There you are," Alexis said as I walked through the door. "I'd almost forgotten what you looked like. But you're ugly as ever."
"I know how you feel," I agreed. I had just come back from Taco Bell with the others. "I hadn't seen you in so long I was beginning to picture you as being human."
"Ha ha. Not funny."
I grinned at her. It was hard to grin at her. I knew I had let her down. I wanted to run up to her and tell her everything. I wanted to kill the Yeerk inside her. I wanted- No, I couldn't do any of that. I wasn't stupid. My entire family was full of slaves.
But I could still fight. More than that, I was actually alive. That was the best thing. We all were. And I had even been told that there were others like us and that Hardy had apparently tackled on of them. The others seemed kind of pleased.
"I call the wolf," Cameron had said. "No one calls me an amateur and gets away with it."
Samantha had shrugged. "Whatever. I'll probably be going home. Back to my old, boring life."
"At least you'll be able to be different animals," Laurel said.
Samantha had laughed. "It loses its attraction when you don't really have someone to share it with."
Cameron, Hardy, and Laurel and immediately started to whistle. "I don't mean that," Samantha had said.
Cameron had started laughing, but he was still trying to whistle at the same time. He ended up having a choking fit and Samantha gladly slapped him on his back, making him fall out of his chair.
"I'm not even jealous of you, man," Cameron had said.
"What?"
Hardy and Laurel had started laughing insanely. Cameron had scooted away from Samantha before he started laughing. Samantha was blushing.
"What?" I asked again. Then I had caught on. "Oh... Oh no..."
Samantha had sat back down. "Oh yes," she had replied.
"They think we're-"
"Uh-huh."
"Are we-"
We had looked at each other.
"It'd be hard to keep up a relationship over distance," Samantha had said slowly.
"How would you know?" Hardy had retorted.
"Shut up."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Agreed."
"Dinner and a movie?"
"Sure."
Cameron had tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Boy. You guys are moving really fast. Just remember- keep the shirts on, huh?"
Samantha had slapped him. I had punched him.
"So what are you doing tonight?" Alexis asked.
"I'm going to dinner and a movie, actually. With Samantha."
"Ah," Alexis said as if she understood. "You and Sammie. You guys, you know, you didn't..."
"Why does everyone think that?" I shouted. "No, Alexis. We did not do it."
"Okay. Just checking."
"Who did it?" Mom asked, coming into the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream.
"Forget it. Just forget it."
iJake
I watched him through the leader. The other leader. They'd done what we had said and held him for three days. I admit that I had someone, either one of us or the Chee, watching them all the time, but maybe we shouldn't have bothered. They'd done that one thing well.
But they did need our help. He'd only gone into the Yeerk pool with one morph. That was unacceptable. He ran a risk to everyone. He hadn't even thought about it until he was there. They needed help.
I wondered if that was what the Ellimist wanted. For us to help them. Marco had already expressed his disbelief at having to baby-sit plenty of times.
Well, we'd have to help them anyway. Eventually. If they got caught, it didn't make our lives any easier, having them running around like idiots. Yes, we'd have to talk to them./I
Chapter 22
"So," Samantha said. The announcer had just announced that her flight was ready for boarding. "This is it."
"Yeah."
"Hey," Cameron said. "If you see any cute girls down there, feel free to give them my number, okay."
"Right. 1-800-OLD-NFAT. Got it."
Cameron grinned agreeably. "That's just the free line," he said.
Samantha rolled her eyes. "Bye, Alexis. Laurel. Hardy, don't have anything to do with me, please. You're too annoying. Chris: Call me."
"Sure."
"And another thing. Call me Sam."
"Sam?" I asked. It felt weird.
"Yeah. You know. After all we've been through, you can actually shorten my name, you know."
"Uh-huh." Sam? It felt weird.
"What about me?" Cameron asked pitifully.
"You leave me alone," Samantha- I mean, Sam, said. "Freak," she muttered loud enough for him to hear.
"Well, I'll see you guys around, I guess."
"Yeah."
She stood in front of me for a few minutes. "Be sure to call," she said again.
"Count on it."
"Yeah. Count on it," she echoed. She turned and walked to the gate. Before she walked away, she turned and waved.
iErek
We were in the airport, watching them.
"And the Ellimist said she would move here?" I asked for confirmation. Even though I knew the answer. After all, I couldn't forget. A blessing and a curse, but I think I was finally getting used to it. After so many years, I was just now beginning to accept it.
"Yeah," Jake said. He sat in a plastic seat next to Cassie, with Ax on the end next to him. Rachel sat next to Tobias. Marco sat next to me. I didn't like the coupling, but Marco was a friend. It's just two couples dating, and then another couple on the end. I felt kind of awkward. But they had also invited me to watch their- our- new allies separate. I was glad they had invited me when they didn't need to. Spying can get old, and Marisa had already said she felt as if she were serving four-year-olds. It was nice that they sometimes just wanted to be friends.
I was beginning to wonder if they felt a bit like parents to the others.
We watched as they went their different ways. Both Jake and Cassie and Rachel and Tobias did something like squeeze each other's hands. Marco saw and said, "Great. Thank you. I don't feel alone. Ax and Erek are going to be single a long time- no offense-" he told me. I waved it away. I'd have to pretend to live a normal life sooner or later. I'd probably date Marisa for a while soon. "But I'm human, I'm cute, I'm funny. Why can't I find someone?" He looked at me. "Got any girl holograms or something?"
I shook my head. "Thankfully, no."
The others watched her plane fly off and then turned back. Chris said something about going to the Star Wars movie. Hardy said he'd managed to get tickets, but it was a shame Sam couldn't go with them. As the girl Laurel walked by us, she looked at us oddly. I made the hologram look a different way, watch a plane land, but I watched her. She looked at us suspiciously. Suspicion wasn't bad. It might even help them.
I stood up and explained that I had to get home. We were cleaning. Marco rolled his eyes and said, "What else do you do?"
Jake and Cassie invited me to hang out with them sometime. I grinned and said, "Maybe later," but I knew I wouldn't be able to. I couldn't attract interest by hanging out with them. It might be too dangerous. I left with Tobias and Rachel and Ax. Tobias followed Chris. Rachel followed Hardy and Laurel. Ax followed Cameron.
I went home to the Pemalites and other Chee./i
Chapter 23
A few weeks later, I got a call for Sam.
"Hey, Chris," she said.
"Hey."
"I've got some good news."
"Like what?" I asked.
"I'm moving."
"You're moving. Why is that good news?"
"Well, I'm going to be living a few blocks away from you. Maybe less."
"Why?"
She laughed a little. "You know how I thought it was going to be boring here?"
"Yeah. Did you get into trouble?"
"A bit. Nothing I couldn't handle."
"That's good."
"A lot of it was luck, I have to admit that, but something's happening, Chris."
"What do you mean?" I asked. I lowered my voice. "The Yeerks?"
"Something like that. There are more people like us, Chris. More people who can- Well, you know. Listen, I can't talk long. I met my relative here. Liddy. You know her?"
"I think I heard Hardy talking about her a few times."
"Yeah, well, you're going to hate me. Maybe. I had to- Crud. Um, Chris, I've got to go. I'll see you later, okay? When my mom takes me up there to look for a house?"
"Sure."
I hung up. Too many questions. I shook my head and went to go watch "The Simpsons."
iI'd given them all the help I would be able to. I'd bent the rules, but Crayak wouldn't be able to interfere. I'd made sure of it. The girl didn't have much power, but she had more than she knew of. She didn't know how to use it, and now I'd given her more power. A different kind. Maybe by learning how to master one power she could master the other.
Crayak shouldn't have given her the other power in the first place, but he had to be a fool. Well, I'd done my share to make sure we would be able to continue our little game. The Animorphs would have to do the rest. Crayak was indebted to me.
But the new Animorphs. They'd figured out what they were, what to call themselves, with a little pushing on my part. Now I needed to make sure they stayed alive. Especially the girl. If her power got loose, untrained, it would be disastrous. Crayak should have thought more carefully before having children./i