THE HUNTED




Chapter 21 Rachel

First he ran about as usual. I was feeling more and more tense, more and more afraid. What if the hologram Jenny created us didn't fool the Yeerks?

Then we are in a serious mess, I answered my own question. A really serious mess.

We watched. And waited. The Visser ran. And ran, and ran. And he stopped, turned and ran some more. Once or twice he ran past us really close. Close enough to make my heart miss a few beats. Almost close enough to break through the hologram.

I started getting anxious, and that's when it happened. The Visser turned one stalk eye towards the Bug fighter, seemingly deciding to go back. So he did a sharp, quick turn.

A too sharp, too quick turn. Turns out, he can't do such a turn. His front hoof slipped to the side, and as his back hooves scrambled to get hold in the muddy grass, his other front hoof slipped.

Visser Three was down! He fell, tumbled once or twice, and then he remained still.

If I was lucky, he'd have broken his neck, too.

"Go," Jenny whispered.

We ran up to the Andalite, as fast as Jenny dared go of fear of changing her hologram too slowly. She had to make the hologram look as what was on the opposite side of us.

When we were only a few steps from the Andalite, he moved.

"Quickly," Jenny urged. "This is your only chance! Keep your hand low so nobody on the other side of the Visser sees it sticking out of thin air."

I bent down, inside the hologram, and stretched my fingers outwards… out of the hologram. This was dangerous. Fortunately, Hork-Bajir don't see well in the dark.

I touched the blue fur lightly. I was scared that he'd wake up and see my fingers. But I needn't just touch the fur. I had more to do. I started the acquiring process.

"Help gochda Visser Three!" a Hork-Bajir called.

"They're coming towards us," Jenny warned in a low, stressed voice. "One… two… five… seven of them! Hurry!"

Visser Three went into the acquiring trance. I could feel his - more correctly Alloran's - DNA flowing into my fingers. I was making a copy of it. The copy I would use to morph him later.

If I survived this.

Finally, after what seemed like a decade, I was done. Jenny and I sped away from the place, not turning once to look at what happened to Visser Three and the Hork-Bajir.

But we heard the Visser's angry cries rise over the distances;

WHY DID SOMEONE OVERLOOK THAT THE GRASS WAS SLIPPERY!? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!!? WHO SHALL BE SORRY THAT HE DID NOT CHECK THIS PLACE BETTER!!!?

We hid again a bit from there, in a hollow tree. Jenny covered the opening with a hologram so that the tree looked like any tree, without a cave in it. And without any Chee or any run-away Animorph in it.

But no Hork-Bajir came to look for either of us. We had gotten away.

And I had acquired Visser Three.

I had the ultimate morph for entering the Yeerk pool.

Unless I happened to enter at a time that Visser Three himself was there.



Now all I had to do was wait until Monday. I went back to my tree. Jenny returned to wherever she and the other androids were hiding. When I reached my tree, it was almost dawn.

I dragged the hammock up into the tree, one branch at the time. I dragged it up one branch, climbed up, and tried to pull it after me. It took a very long time to get it even half-way. By then, I was very tired. And also, when it finally was half-way, there wasn't any branches close enough for me to pull the silly thing any higher.

I morphed the great horned owl and looked the tree over from all sides. No, there wasn't a branch close enough. I sat down on the closest branch above… about 2 and a half or so meters above.

And realised that there was one thing I could do. I could use the ropes on the hammock. If I was lucky, they'd be long enough. And if they weren't, I'd use the blanket to make them longer.

A troublesome thing to do, but it worked. After that, hauling the hammock and blanket up became easier.

Fastening it in it's place was another story.

That night, I slept with only the blanket, and my normal branch.

The next morning I spent trying to place the hammock on a reasonably good pair of branches. I skipped breakfast, and by lunch I was starved. I hadn't had any dinner the night before either.

So I morphed the fox and caught a squirrel. Rodent wasn't, as you know, my favourite meal, but it filled my stomach well enough.

And when you're stuck deep in a forest, hunted by evil aliens and your very own friends, and you can't turn to anybody and your enemies know all your secrets, you're very happy with any meal as long as it fills your stomach.

Believe me. I know.





Chapter 22 Rachel

From what Jenny had told me, the day I'm going to tell you about was a Sunday. Sunday afternoon, just after I had managed to catch and eat a fat fish for lunch, they appeared.

"They"? Who is "they"?

A being, I guess you can call the first one. We've never figured out if this being is male, female, singular, or plural. But whatever he/she/they is or are, the being is called the Ellimist. This time, he had taken the form of a kindly old man.

The second one is the servant of Crayak, the Ellimist's opposite. He is called the Drode. He is a short, ugly dark green - or maybe dark purple - dinosaur-looking thing with small eyes and a humanoid face that thrives in evil.

The Ellimist and Crayak are playing a game, you could say. They have opposite motives that no-one else can understand, opposite goals, and they have rules of engagement. Every being and planet and star is a pawn on their board. To be moved at wish. All for the goal.

What do you want? I asked. I was a bald eagle at the time.

"Please, demorph," the Ellimist said. He was standing in thin air in front of my branch. There is something about him that awed anyone near. And frightened at the same time.

"Hello, Rachel the Warrior," the Drode said with a wicked smile. "Ready to join our side yet?"

Crayak has offered me to work for him. I've refused. Joining Crayak would mean betraying the Animorphs. But mostly betraying my cousin, Jake. Crayak has a grudge against Jake. Crayak wants me to kill my cousin. For evil Crayak wants to see him dead.

And I don't.

I'll never join you, creep, I told him. You've done your part, now. You've annoyed me already. So get lost!

"Oh!" the Drode said. He was standing on a branch near mine. "You're scaring me. At least, you would have if I was not the servant of Mighty Crayak."

"Actually, the Drode is needed here," the Ellimist said. "I asked him to come."

Asked it? What kind of game are you playing this time?

The Ellimist smiled. "We want to help."

That's what this creature - I pointed at the Drode with my wing - said the last time. That time, Jake got killed.

"Yes, but you managed to undo it," the Drode said and wrinkled his forehead. "My Master, the Magnificent Great Crayak, found that very annoying."

Any time, Big Red-Eye, I called out to the Crayak. He was probably listening from somewhere.

"Trust us, Rachel," the Ellimist said. "Please. We need to undo one thing here. The Yeerks have the… morphing cube, as you call it. They are making copies of it. That will give them a too easy victory over the galaxy. Even the Andalites…"

I thought dear old vile Crayak was on the Yeerk side, I snapped.

The Drode flashed a wicked grin. "They won't be responsible with this new technology. It will fall into the wrong hands. Hands that the meddling nit-wit called the Ellimist don't want it to be in."

As if that explained Crayak's motives.

That explained nothing.

So what have you got to say? Speed up. I need to start trying to catch my dinner early if I want to eat before I get too hungry.

"I love games," the Drode confessed. "So does the Great and Wonderful Crayak. And even he is a little worried about the Yeerks' irresponsibility. So there's a game here, for you to play."

The first and only thing I am doing is getting my friends out of the Yeerk Pool, I said quickly.

"Then this will not interfere," the Ellimist assured me. "We will give you a chance to go back…"

Go back? I snapped. In what way?

"Change all this. Undo it. Make so that it never happened."

"And here comes the game;" the Drode said and rubbed his flimsy little hands together. "You get your friends out. They need to be free. And alive. All of you are supposed to be out of the Yeerk pool. Not one of you being a Controller, and no Yeerk will have any clue where you are."

Only that?

"No, one more thing," the Ellimist said. "you need to keep free, and fulfil those demands, for two days. 48 hours after the demands are fulfilled, if they keep being so, you will be sent back."

Back to where? I demanded.

"Oh, just back to before this happened, Rachel," the Drode said. "We are bending the rules. The nit-wit here isn't allowed to do this without the Crayak's consent. And fortunately, the Great Master loves games. So if you win the game, you'll be sent back to just before Tom overheard Jake's raving. Just before Cassie called him. After that, it's all up to Jake."

If he remembers this it will be no problem.

"He will not," the Ellimist said sadly. "This will never have happened. None of you will remember anything. What he does will make the final decision."

"Yes," the Drode agreed. "We can't have anyone cheating."

And if we fail?

"Then you will be stuck here. All of you. In this time-line. The Yeerks win the universe. They defeat the Andalites… very soon, actually. And you are all stuck the rest of your lives as Controllers. Even you, Rachel. You will be caught, you know."

That sent a chill up my spine.

"It's your choice," the Drode said. "Just remember, that if you fail… then, in a way, you will be serving Master Crayak. If you succeed, then the Great Master will do you all a favour. So, in another way, you may owe him something in return."

Like what?

"Nothing," the Ellimist said, sending a stern look at the servant of his enemy. "And you shall be wise to remember that, Drode."

The Drode flicked his tail, unconcerned.

So all I have to do is get my friends - all of them - out of the Yeerk Pool alive, Yeerk-less, and keep us all hidden from any Yeerk for two days.

Yeah. That'd be easy.

"Yes," the Drode said, counting it up on his overly jointed fingers. "That is it, I believe. But if you succeed, it will all be up to Your Not-Too-Glorious Leader Jake again. And if you fail - or that little fool does - you'll be stuck here, in this reality. That means the Yeerks win the galaxy… including the ever-brave and ever looking-down-their-noses Andalites. And you Animorphs live out your lives as weapons in the Yeerk army."

"It is your choice, Rachel," the Ellimist reminded me. "This time, you have to chose for yourself."

"Let me know if you want to join our side, Rachel the Fugitive. All you have to do is call for me, and however this game goes, Mighty Master Crayak will be delighted to enlist you."

Go chew grass, ugly, I told him, puffing up my feathers to look larger. Or do you need me to place your face in it first?

"It's a way out," the Drode smiled, shrugging indifferently. "Even if the Yeerks get you, this is a way out. An escape."

So instead of being a Yeerk's slave, you want me to be the Crayak's slave? Wow. That's always an easy decision. I pretended to think about it. Pretending to think isn't easy when you are a bald eagle and have about three expressions to choose from, but I did my best. I think I'd stay with the Yeerks.

The Drode shrugged again.

What happens if I don't agree to this game, but get the others free anyway? I asked.

The Ellimist looked at me, pulling his fingers through his long beard. Not that the fingers or the beard was real. That's just the shape he had picked for meeting me. "You remain here. Free, yes, but you've got no-where to hide. They will be tracking you, and you will be living on the run. Worse than you are doing now."

"And," the Drode added, "no more going to the mall. Ever. No more shopping, Rachel. You realize that, don't you?"

No shopping? That was bad. I love shopping. I don't know how I had managed even that far without spending serious amounts of money.

Shut up, creep, I snapped. I still don't know why you and your despicable master are in this game.

"You don't need to know. It's far too complicated for your pretty little head."

I was getting worried. Annoyed. And from all that, angry.

You want me to rearrange your face? These talons of mine are sharp, you know.

"Please, Rachel," the Ellimist said. "It is the only way to give this planet - and many others - a chance. And you know that."

I glared at the Drode. And I glared at the Ellimist.

What's the catch?

"No catch," the Drode laughed wickedly.

There's always a catch.

"Not this time."

"No catch," the Ellimist said softly. "This is an offer. A gift, you might call it. Another game of ours."

Yes. A game. And I don't like it.

"Time's running out," the Drode said. "Tick tock. Better decide before it's too late."

Decide.

It wasn't really that hard. No catch. I believed many things of the Ellimist, but I didn't think he'd lie. Twist the truth, yes, but not lie straight out. The Drode would, though, if it suited Crayak's purposes.

What was the downside? If I won, and Jake didn't mess up again, we couldn't lose. What was there to lose, really? I didn't win anything from declining, but I did win a chance for us to un-do this by accepting.

Decline.

Accept.

Decline.

Accept.

Accept.

Ellimist, I said. I think I will accept this… game… of yours. On one condition.

"What?" the Drode demanded. "What condition?"

That we will all keep the memories from this. As a lesson.

"I fear that cannot be permitted, Rachel," the Ellimist told me. "Then Jake would have too big an advantage. We have already bent the rules. That would break them."

But couldn't you arrange for the memories to come after Jake's show has passed?

"Yes… I suppose I could. Drode? Any objections from the Crayak?"

"Nope. Not one. Just remember, too, Rachel the servant of Yeerk-killers, that you can join my Great Master at any time. And you will, too, some day. Any day now. We've got patience."

He did a carefree twist of his hand and was gone.

"So you accept our deal?" the Ellimist asked gently. "You play the game, and you try to win. And if you win, and Jake does not fail in his test, you will all remember this."

I accept…

I wasn't finished talking, but the Ellimist smiled and was gone.

And I needed to demorph unless I wanted to keep on being a bald eagle.





Chapter 23 Rachel

The next morning was Monday. I had managed to catch an old, fat rabbit for dinner the night before, and felt fine.

But I still needed breakfast. I had just morphed, to a fox, down at the forest floor, when Jenny came. She looked worried.

"Rachel?" she asked the fox that was me. "Rachel, is that you?"

Yes, it is, I replied. I sat down on the forest floor.

"There's trouble brewing. Ax is going away."

What? He's leaving? Has he escaped?

"No, no. But he knows very much about the security systems on his home planet. And about the Dome Ships. All the up-dated stuff that the Visser's host, Alloran, has no clue about. Sufficient to launch an attack on the Andalite home world. He is leaving this planet for good tomorrow morning. This evening is your last and only chance!"

What? Last chance? Jenny, I don't like the sound of that. You mean…

"If you fail, the Andalites may very well be defeated," Jenny blurted. "Ax knows too much for the good of his species."

So that's what the Ellimist meant! I exclaimed. Then I added, with a growing notion of shrillness; Wait. The Andalites? DEFEATED?

I thought fast. Of course, it didn't change much. I had been planning the attempts that night anyway. Tobias, Cassie, Marco and Jake, out at midnight. Then right back in for Ax. Dangerous. But necessary. This just raised to odds. And it made me more nervous.

But I couldn't allow myself to be nervous. That lead to fear. Fear lead to panic. Panic meant I didn't have a chance. I needed to keep my head clear. Very, very clear. And that isn't easy when you are panicking.

Jenny ignored my remark. "The Ellimist?"

Yes. He was here. Together with the Drode. They made me an offer… one that I couldn't refuse. It will, if I manage to do my part correctly, send us back in time. Give us a chance for this never to happen.

"Gee. I think I'll never understand why, but of course, I won't remember this then…" She caused her hologramic self to shrug.

So does this make the attempts more dangerous, have they raised security, or anything?

"No, not that I know about. But my sources seem nervous. They are keeping such a close eye on everyone." She looked around. "But I've got some good news too. The schedule has changed. Ax is going to be in the cage with the others tonight."

Good, I said, relieved. That'll make my mission easier.

Yes, easier. Only one mission into the Yeerk pool. But less dangerous? No.

Jenny looked up at me. "Maybe so. But the Visser doesn't trust them together. He may have taken some… precautions."

What type?

"I don't know. But anyway. I better show you that entrance to the Pool that I was talking about earlier. It's the best way for you to sneak in."

I can leave any moment, I said. As soon as I have eaten breakfast.

Jenny nodded. "I thought about that. How about some toast?"

She took out a thermos from under her hologram, and also two toasts, wrapped in paper tissue.

I felt my mouth watering. Finally! Some REAL food!

I started demorphing. Quickly.

I hadn't even finished before I grabbed the toasts to eat them.

That was the best breakfast I had had for what felt like a hundred years. Toast and hot chocolate. But I had a new habit… one of gobbling food down as fast as possible. I needed to do something about that. Having no table manners as a fox or an eagle is one thing - as a human is another.

When I had finished, I returned to fox morph. I nodded at Jenny. Thanks for the food, I said.

Jenny smiled. She started walking with long, energetic steps. I came along, keeping reasonably out of sight a few meters behind her.

I was glad with every step that passed. The further distance between my tree and any place Visser Three might show up, the better. I didn't count the steps, but for a fox and a Chee the distance took about one and a half hour to cover. And by then, I thought it was best to demorph before I lost track of time.

Jenny showed me the entrance. She showed me how to open it, and she showed me a good hiding place near it. She went over the security systems in the pool area. She described the cage that held my friends. She told me to be careful.

"I can't hang around any longer. The other Chee are very worried about me. And I've got things to tend to."

"Okay," I answered. "I might as well stay here. No use going anywhere else to wait."

"I've gotto tell you some other things too," Jenny continued. "This is an entrance. You won't be able to go out through here. You need to go out somewhere else. Remember that."

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes. I guess I won't be seeing you around any more. So this is good-bye."

I nodded again. "Good-bye, Jenny. And thank you."

She walked away. I sat down in the hiding place she had showed me and waited. All I had to do was wait for the right time. (Not forgetting to take breaks from waiting for lunch and dinner.) And hope that I wouldn't fall asleep.

Because if I fell asleep I wouldn't be able to save my friends. Wouldn't be able to save Ax. Which meant that the Andalites had a fair chance of loosing.

Loosing?

The thought made me cold. I didn't have a lot to lose personally, at the time, except my freedom. But if I failed, and by that the Andalites fell to the Yeerks - morphable Yeerks - the rest of the galaxy would just be pulled along.

Along into total slavery.

Now that's a lot for a teenager to have on her shoulders, right?





Chapter 24 Cassie

My parents thought I was asleep. I had been working hard in the barn all afternoon. And even though the Yeerk in my head hated the barn and all the animals and even all humans, he had no choice but to play me. And that meant working in the barn. Otherwise he'd bring attention to himself.

And Yeerks don't want that type of attention.

But it was around half-past eleven when my Yeerk ordered my legs to carry me towards the window. My arms and hands opened it, and the Sub-Visser started the process from human to owl.

Not long after I was flying through the night on silent wings, with ears that heard mice scurrying below me and eyes that saw every hair on the mouse as if I saw it up-close and in broad daylight.

But I found it very hard to enjoy the flight with a Yeerk controlling my every move. And even harder, for I knew where the Yeerk intended me to go.

And I didn't want to go there.

I didn't want to visit the Yeerk Pool. Because that meant facing the wails and screams of the other hosts. That meant sitting in a cage, like an animal on a zoo, and despairing with the others over our situation.

At least it let me spend a few minutes as myself. And with the others. With Jake.

Marco, though, didn't see that small advantage. Being in the cage made him more depressed. Tobias was glad for company, I guess, but he still roared at and insulted any Yeerk who happened to be in the pool area and in thought-speak range. Ax didn't do anything. He didn't say anything except when Jake ordered him to. He didn't even swivel his stalk eyes as he usually does.

Jake? Jake was torn down. I know. Our Yeerks had had a very embarrassing chat about hosts. But that's not the point. The point is that Jake's given up. He says nothing to his Yeerk. And he causes no trouble. He's still the leader when he's in the cage, and he's the one who tries to keep our hopes up, but he himself feels defeated.

He is convinced that this is all his fault.

Partly, maybe. Not that any of us would ever blame him. We should all have realised he wasn't himself, and avoided capture. But we all fell blindly into the trap… except Rachel.

Rachel who everyone was still looking for. That's the hope that we clung to; Rachel was still free.

I entered the Yeerk Pool as my human self, through the mall. I walked down the stairs, and to the pool itself. I stood in the line. The Sub-Visser hissed some threats and told me some warnings, and chatted with two Hork-Bajir. The two of them grabbed my arms, and then the repulsive slug crawled out of my ear.

I got an idea, just at that moment.

I started morphing. Quickly. I was morphing the wolf.

But then, when I had Hork-Bajir hands holding my arms, it didn't matter. I'm a fast morpher. I can morph much faster than the others, they say. But that didn't matter. One Hork-Bajir grabbed my front legs, and one grabbed my back legs. They carried me upside down. I was a full-grown wolf, and I struggled, but all that happened was that another pair of them came along to help their friends. A wrist-blade was held against my throat.

"Escape is useless," the Hork-Bajir said in unusually perfect English. "Where were you planning to go, anyway, little bandit?"

I growled at him, and twisted to get free. The blade cut through skin, and I stopped moving. I wasn't afraid of being killed. I knew of worse things. But I had promised Jake not to arrange an early death for myself.

"Now, stop doing that, before we put you in a separate cage today," a human voice said. "We've had enough of your escape attempts. You'll be separated further if…"

Oh, shut up, Tobias's voice said. I think she gets the picture.

I growled. But it was an empty threat. I let them carry me to the cage and throw me into it. I demorphed.

And looked at Tobias. He had regained all his feathers from when he had morphed to human on the last failed escape-attempt. Now he had begun to pull them out again.

"I've told you not to do that," I said, annoyed.

Sorry.

"Are you eating okay?"

Nope. The food here wouldn't be good enough for a vulture.

"Eat it anyway," I ordered.

Yes, mommy.

I pretended not to notice that. The others would arrive soon enough. I had been early. I sat down in a corner of the cage. I covered my ears to try and shut out the sound of the other hosts' screaming. And I felt the tears rolling down my face.

Marco arrived firstly. His Yeerk strolled into the pool area with the usual look of arrogance on Marco's face. Marco didn't try morphing. He came with the Hork-Bajir-Controllers to the cage, his face dark as ashes. Soon after, Jake entered from an entrance which I don't know where it's located. Somewhere north of our school, I'd guess. Tom came with him, at the same time. But Tom didn't go to our cage. Tom was taken to another cage, among the "ordinary" human hosts. Jake was brought to our cage. He didn't, as Marco, try to do anything noticeable about it.

As the cage door closed behind Jake Tobias began asking how we all were, trying to start a conversation. None of us wanted to talk. Tobias sat in my lap, and I was leaning - as always - against the bars/force field behind me. Jake held my hand, but said nothing. Marco sat staring into empty space, his expression completely blank.

Then who came into the pool but Visser Three himself?






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Author's Note;

I'll leave you hanging there, I guess. *grins evilly*

Oh, you mean you want to read more? *eyes go wide with faked innocence*

*readers nod energetically*

Are you sure?

*readers threaten writer with hammer. Writer decides now would be a good time to run.*

*Readers write reviews saying "and don't come back!" and writer never posts anything further in her miserable life - at least not for another day or so.*

*add; NOTE TO READERS; Don't forget to write that review!*