Chapter Ten:
"Marco. Hey, Marco, demorph."
"Aw, can't we leave him like that?"
Marco, that body is seriously injured. It would be wise for you to demorph.
Not exactly the words I had expected upon entering Heaven. Carefully, I opened one eye. My friends were gathered around me, kind of like at the end of "A Knight's Tale." Hey, that was a good movie. I was sad I wouldn't get to watch it ever again. Now that I was dead.
"Come on, Marco, demorph."
Oh, Cassie was in Heaven. Yeah, that made sense. Cassie was a nice person.
"I'm still for leaving him like that. It's better-looking than his normal body."
I focused on Rachel. Okay, maybe I wasn't dead. Rachel should not be in Heaven. Valhalla, sure, but that wasn't the same thing.
Monkey got hurt? I croaked.
"Yeah," said Jake. "Pretty bad."
Told you that stunt was a dumb idea. I realized I couldn't feel my legs. Or my chest. Or my arms. Couldn't move them, either. Was I a Controller?
"Hurry up and demorph, Marco, before I hurt the monkey worse," said Rachel. I was touched by her tender concern. She was putting Florence Nightingale to shame.
I can't. I said, simply. I'm a Controller.
"WHAT?"
I can't move. This isn't what I thought it would be like, though.
"Marco, you can't move because your spinal cord has been severed."
Then I am dead after all. People with broken necks die. You know, Heaven shouldn't be this dirty. I want to talk to the manager.
You're not dead, just paralyzed. And that will go away if you demorph.
Oh. Then I guess I should demorph.
"Yeah. Demorphing might be a good idea."
I thought about me. Marco. Marco the cute. Marco the brave. Marco the brilliant. Pictured myself. Slowly, I felt myself shrink, felt the strength of the gorilla leave me. Felt feeling come back into my limbs.
I sat up. The whole crew was gathered around me like doctors around an operating table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please. I'll be handing autographs out after the concert, just stand back."
They gave me a little room. I stood, still a little disoriented. But, you know what? I could stand up. My heart was still beating. That always just about makes my day after practically committing suicide. I blinked. "Look, it's Cassie without her bodyguard."
The truck followed your automobile around the curve, explained Ax. According to Cassie, they assumed that we were feeding you information about the road, and guessed that it was safe on the other side. They followed and were subsequently killed in the crash.
Cassie hung her head. It amazed me how she could mourn the death of her enemies. I don't know if I'll ever have that much empathy.
Hang on, wait a minute.
"Wasn't there a Yeerk pool in the truck?"
Rachel looked down. She raised her foot and brought it down hard on something I couldn't see. Yup.
I felt a sick knot twist in my stomach. It's a feeling I've come to recognize, and it's a feeling I really hate. It's suspicion of my friends. "How did you survive?" I asked.
"I morphed roach."
"In the middle of a truck full of Hork-Bajir and Yeerks?"
"It was that or be infested."
"She did morph roach," said Jake. "We found her after the crash. Apparently, roach is the body to use if you have to get in a car accident. She held up much better than you."
It was such an ugly thought, I hated to think it. But we couldn't take the chance. "Cassie, I hate to be the one who has to suggest this, but . . . how do we know you're not a Controller?"
That woke them all up. They stopped and eyed Cassie. I couldn't believe they hadn't already realized it was a possibility. Man, they'd lose the war in an hour if I weren't around to think for them.
"Well," she said, "I'm not. How do you want me to prove it to you? Lock me up for three days?"
"I'd rather avoid that, if possible," mused Jake. "You have a Hork-Bajir morph . . . "
She shifted her weight uncomfortably. I understood why. Her experiences in that morph had not exactly been the most pleasant. "I'm not sure they would want me using the morph for this."
Cassie, the Hork-Bajir wouldn't want us to be divided by suspicion. What better use could there possibly be? Ax prodded.
She looked doubtful.
"Cassie, hesitation doesn't look good right about now." It was a harsh thing to say. It was the truth.
"Okay," she said. "But only for a minute." She began to morph.
The first thing to change was her neck. It just stretched out and out and out, until it was about three feet long. She swung her head to the left and to the right, a surprised expression on her face. Then her feet changed, and a tail unrolled from her back. Blades shot out of her now- scaly skin, and her face erupted into the beaked visage of a Hork-Bajir.
"Cassie, no hard feelings but . . . Ax, would you mind?"
Ax had, apparently, been expecting the order. He brought his tail within twitching distance of her throat. I am sorry, Cassie.
"I understand," she grated, in her deep, gravelly, Hork-Bajir voice. "Here goes."
She brought one scaly hand up and sliced open her own head.
Oh, did I forget to explain all this? Hork-Bajir have the ability to perform open brain surgery on themselves. It smarts like crazy, but their heads heal back up quickly and they don't die in the process. I guess neurosurgery is not the most advanced field on the Hork-Bajir homeworld.
She grunted slightly, and lifted the skin flap, exposing her actual brain. I thought I was going to be sick. But there was no Yeerk there. Ax let his tail relax, and we all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Okay, Cassie, you can demorph," said Jake.
"So that's it, then," I said. "Mission's over, everyone goes home happy. No more screaming or bleeding, right?"
Jake and Ax exchanged an uncomfortable look.
"Right?" I prompted.
"Wrong," said Rachel, flatly.
"Sorry, Marco, but things are just getting interesting," Jake sighed.
I groaned, and sat down on a rock. "How interesting?"
"Very interesting."
"Oh, no."
Cassie had demorphed. "Remember, there are still hundreds of kids in Driver's Ed getting infested every weekend."
"But we did it!" I exclaimed. "I mean, we made the bad truck go boom! End of story, cut to Ax at Cinnabon!"
Marco, I've seen over thirty other trucks driving around, identical to this one.
"How identical?" I asked Tobias.
Exactly identical. Down to every nick, scratch, and dent.
Oh, man. We were going to have to take out every single one? I didn't even want to think about that. "I am just not going to break my neck thirty more times, Jake. Not happening."
Jake's jaw was set, and his eyes were focused on a piece of twisted metal a couple yards away. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Marco. Let's hope."
"Marco. Hey, Marco, demorph."
"Aw, can't we leave him like that?"
Marco, that body is seriously injured. It would be wise for you to demorph.
Not exactly the words I had expected upon entering Heaven. Carefully, I opened one eye. My friends were gathered around me, kind of like at the end of "A Knight's Tale." Hey, that was a good movie. I was sad I wouldn't get to watch it ever again. Now that I was dead.
"Come on, Marco, demorph."
Oh, Cassie was in Heaven. Yeah, that made sense. Cassie was a nice person.
"I'm still for leaving him like that. It's better-looking than his normal body."
I focused on Rachel. Okay, maybe I wasn't dead. Rachel should not be in Heaven. Valhalla, sure, but that wasn't the same thing.
Monkey got hurt? I croaked.
"Yeah," said Jake. "Pretty bad."
Told you that stunt was a dumb idea. I realized I couldn't feel my legs. Or my chest. Or my arms. Couldn't move them, either. Was I a Controller?
"Hurry up and demorph, Marco, before I hurt the monkey worse," said Rachel. I was touched by her tender concern. She was putting Florence Nightingale to shame.
I can't. I said, simply. I'm a Controller.
"WHAT?"
I can't move. This isn't what I thought it would be like, though.
"Marco, you can't move because your spinal cord has been severed."
Then I am dead after all. People with broken necks die. You know, Heaven shouldn't be this dirty. I want to talk to the manager.
You're not dead, just paralyzed. And that will go away if you demorph.
Oh. Then I guess I should demorph.
"Yeah. Demorphing might be a good idea."
I thought about me. Marco. Marco the cute. Marco the brave. Marco the brilliant. Pictured myself. Slowly, I felt myself shrink, felt the strength of the gorilla leave me. Felt feeling come back into my limbs.
I sat up. The whole crew was gathered around me like doctors around an operating table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please. I'll be handing autographs out after the concert, just stand back."
They gave me a little room. I stood, still a little disoriented. But, you know what? I could stand up. My heart was still beating. That always just about makes my day after practically committing suicide. I blinked. "Look, it's Cassie without her bodyguard."
The truck followed your automobile around the curve, explained Ax. According to Cassie, they assumed that we were feeding you information about the road, and guessed that it was safe on the other side. They followed and were subsequently killed in the crash.
Cassie hung her head. It amazed me how she could mourn the death of her enemies. I don't know if I'll ever have that much empathy.
Hang on, wait a minute.
"Wasn't there a Yeerk pool in the truck?"
Rachel looked down. She raised her foot and brought it down hard on something I couldn't see. Yup.
I felt a sick knot twist in my stomach. It's a feeling I've come to recognize, and it's a feeling I really hate. It's suspicion of my friends. "How did you survive?" I asked.
"I morphed roach."
"In the middle of a truck full of Hork-Bajir and Yeerks?"
"It was that or be infested."
"She did morph roach," said Jake. "We found her after the crash. Apparently, roach is the body to use if you have to get in a car accident. She held up much better than you."
It was such an ugly thought, I hated to think it. But we couldn't take the chance. "Cassie, I hate to be the one who has to suggest this, but . . . how do we know you're not a Controller?"
That woke them all up. They stopped and eyed Cassie. I couldn't believe they hadn't already realized it was a possibility. Man, they'd lose the war in an hour if I weren't around to think for them.
"Well," she said, "I'm not. How do you want me to prove it to you? Lock me up for three days?"
"I'd rather avoid that, if possible," mused Jake. "You have a Hork-Bajir morph . . . "
She shifted her weight uncomfortably. I understood why. Her experiences in that morph had not exactly been the most pleasant. "I'm not sure they would want me using the morph for this."
Cassie, the Hork-Bajir wouldn't want us to be divided by suspicion. What better use could there possibly be? Ax prodded.
She looked doubtful.
"Cassie, hesitation doesn't look good right about now." It was a harsh thing to say. It was the truth.
"Okay," she said. "But only for a minute." She began to morph.
The first thing to change was her neck. It just stretched out and out and out, until it was about three feet long. She swung her head to the left and to the right, a surprised expression on her face. Then her feet changed, and a tail unrolled from her back. Blades shot out of her now- scaly skin, and her face erupted into the beaked visage of a Hork-Bajir.
"Cassie, no hard feelings but . . . Ax, would you mind?"
Ax had, apparently, been expecting the order. He brought his tail within twitching distance of her throat. I am sorry, Cassie.
"I understand," she grated, in her deep, gravelly, Hork-Bajir voice. "Here goes."
She brought one scaly hand up and sliced open her own head.
Oh, did I forget to explain all this? Hork-Bajir have the ability to perform open brain surgery on themselves. It smarts like crazy, but their heads heal back up quickly and they don't die in the process. I guess neurosurgery is not the most advanced field on the Hork-Bajir homeworld.
She grunted slightly, and lifted the skin flap, exposing her actual brain. I thought I was going to be sick. But there was no Yeerk there. Ax let his tail relax, and we all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Okay, Cassie, you can demorph," said Jake.
"So that's it, then," I said. "Mission's over, everyone goes home happy. No more screaming or bleeding, right?"
Jake and Ax exchanged an uncomfortable look.
"Right?" I prompted.
"Wrong," said Rachel, flatly.
"Sorry, Marco, but things are just getting interesting," Jake sighed.
I groaned, and sat down on a rock. "How interesting?"
"Very interesting."
"Oh, no."
Cassie had demorphed. "Remember, there are still hundreds of kids in Driver's Ed getting infested every weekend."
"But we did it!" I exclaimed. "I mean, we made the bad truck go boom! End of story, cut to Ax at Cinnabon!"
Marco, I've seen over thirty other trucks driving around, identical to this one.
"How identical?" I asked Tobias.
Exactly identical. Down to every nick, scratch, and dent.
Oh, man. We were going to have to take out every single one? I didn't even want to think about that. "I am just not going to break my neck thirty more times, Jake. Not happening."
Jake's jaw was set, and his eyes were focused on a piece of twisted metal a couple yards away. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Marco. Let's hope."