Chapter Twelve:
The next morning, Jake called a meeting at the barn. I met Rachel in the air on the way there.
Hey.
Hey.
With the possibility of Cassie being a Controller, neither of us was much for bright, enthusiastic greetings.
Is she still being watched? I asked.
Before Tobias left, Ax had her come down to look at some animal tracks in one of the pastures. He was very concerned that they might belong to a mountain lion.
Ooh, scary. Did she hold his hand and tell him it was okay?
Rachel didn't answer, but then I didn't expect her to. We sighted the barn at about the same time and fell into a pair of long dives.
All clear inside? I asked.
Come on in. The party's just getting started. Tobias sounded the way he usually does when he stays up all night. Cranky. Very cranky.
Did she try anything last night? inquired Rachel.
Not a thing. But did that mean Tobias got any rest? Nope. Not a wink. Not a jot or a tiddle.
Tobias . . .
We swooped in, and started demorphing. Cassie was there, cleaning out animal cages calmly. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She seemed normal.
Hah. Like that meant anything.
"Hi, Marco. Hi, Rachel."
"You'll notice," I said, as soon as my mouth had formed, "she said my name first. And with more enthusiasm. She said your name with sort of a forced, phony cheerfulness. Almost as if it was a chore. Obviously, she likes me more than you."
"Marco. Do you talk in hopes that people won't notice that you were born without a brain?"
I sat down on a bale of hay, and we kept up our verbal sparring. All as part of the act. We couldn't afford to let Cassie - or, rather, Cassie's Yeerk, if she had one - suspect anything.
"Ha! Ha!" exclaimed a voice from outside.
Oh, man, groaned Tobias. Ax, I thought we talked about that!
"Sorry," he said, as he staggered into the barn and began demorphing. In private thoughtspeak, he whispered, I thought it wise to behave in a normal manner, to avoid giving the Yeerk cause for alarm.
Weirdly enough, for Ax, that was normality. Is my life insane or what?
Jake walked in, and I jumped up from my bale of hay, saluted, and started humming "Hail To the Chief," in nasal, off-key tones.
"Nee, neener-nee! Neener-neener-neener, nee-OW!" I dropped to the bale again, rubbing my stomach. Rachel smiled sweetly and brushed her hair back. Cassie stifled a grin as she scrubbed the cage.
"Thanks, Marco," Jake said.
"See?" I demanded. "He liked it!"
"Thanks more, Rachel."
"See?" she smirked. "He liked it."
"Okay, boys and girls," Jake sighed. "Time for the plan."
"Oyez, oyez, oyez," I announced, and then shied back as Rachel feinted another punch.
Can we get on with the plan? grumped Tobias.
"Yeah," Jake acknowledged. "Cassie, what did the inside of that truck look like?"
"Well," she said, thoughtfully stripping off her gloves, "the walls were clear on the inside. You could feel them, but it looked for all the world like we were just riding on a platform behind the cab. There were five Hork-Bajir inside, and a Yeerk pool with a glass cover overtop of it."
"A cover?" prompted Rachel.
"Right. I guess they didn't want the Yeerks sloshing around too much."
How was the cover sealed? asked Ax.
"It was bolted on," she said. "I think the truck was just for transport. They didn't even try to infest me."
Jake exchanged a glance with Ax, and sighed. "Okay, good enough." He turned towards the door. "You can come in now," he announced.
Ax stepped forward, and held his blade to Cassie's throat. At the same moment, in through the barn doors walked . . .
Well, in walked Cassie, for all any of us could see.
"What are you doing?" Cassie - the one a twitch away from decapitation - asked. "What's going on?"
"You remember Linda, who plays you during particularly lengthy missions." Jake said. Oh, right. Stupid of me not to figure it out immediately. The other Cassie was a Chee. The Chee, in case you haven't been tracking along, are androids with hologram technology. Under the hologram, they look kind of like metal dogs. But the hologram itself can look however they want it to.
Cassie frowned, then her face cleared to a look of blank surprise. "Is that what all this is about? That's why I haven't been alone since yesterday? I thought I had proven I wasn't a Controller!"
Sorry, Tobias grunted. Z-space hurt your credibility.
"Let's take a walk in the woods," Jake said. "When we get out of view from the house, Marco and Rachel will morph wolf, I'll morph tiger, Ax and Tobias stay themselves. Got it?"
Cassie nodded readily. "Absolutely. I definitely want this cleared up, once and for all."
I began to doubt my doubts. A Yeerk wouldn't agree so easily to starvation, would it? Cassie, of course, would recognize how necessary this measure was, and approve of it. But the Yeerk, if there was one, knew that, and could be counting on the fact that we knew it, too. Still, what sane Yeerk would earnestly agree to its own death as Cassie just had? Animorph or Yeerk? Cassie or Controller?
"Let's do it," said Rachel.
The next morning, Jake called a meeting at the barn. I met Rachel in the air on the way there.
Hey.
Hey.
With the possibility of Cassie being a Controller, neither of us was much for bright, enthusiastic greetings.
Is she still being watched? I asked.
Before Tobias left, Ax had her come down to look at some animal tracks in one of the pastures. He was very concerned that they might belong to a mountain lion.
Ooh, scary. Did she hold his hand and tell him it was okay?
Rachel didn't answer, but then I didn't expect her to. We sighted the barn at about the same time and fell into a pair of long dives.
All clear inside? I asked.
Come on in. The party's just getting started. Tobias sounded the way he usually does when he stays up all night. Cranky. Very cranky.
Did she try anything last night? inquired Rachel.
Not a thing. But did that mean Tobias got any rest? Nope. Not a wink. Not a jot or a tiddle.
Tobias . . .
We swooped in, and started demorphing. Cassie was there, cleaning out animal cages calmly. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She seemed normal.
Hah. Like that meant anything.
"Hi, Marco. Hi, Rachel."
"You'll notice," I said, as soon as my mouth had formed, "she said my name first. And with more enthusiasm. She said your name with sort of a forced, phony cheerfulness. Almost as if it was a chore. Obviously, she likes me more than you."
"Marco. Do you talk in hopes that people won't notice that you were born without a brain?"
I sat down on a bale of hay, and we kept up our verbal sparring. All as part of the act. We couldn't afford to let Cassie - or, rather, Cassie's Yeerk, if she had one - suspect anything.
"Ha! Ha!" exclaimed a voice from outside.
Oh, man, groaned Tobias. Ax, I thought we talked about that!
"Sorry," he said, as he staggered into the barn and began demorphing. In private thoughtspeak, he whispered, I thought it wise to behave in a normal manner, to avoid giving the Yeerk cause for alarm.
Weirdly enough, for Ax, that was normality. Is my life insane or what?
Jake walked in, and I jumped up from my bale of hay, saluted, and started humming "Hail To the Chief," in nasal, off-key tones.
"Nee, neener-nee! Neener-neener-neener, nee-OW!" I dropped to the bale again, rubbing my stomach. Rachel smiled sweetly and brushed her hair back. Cassie stifled a grin as she scrubbed the cage.
"Thanks, Marco," Jake said.
"See?" I demanded. "He liked it!"
"Thanks more, Rachel."
"See?" she smirked. "He liked it."
"Okay, boys and girls," Jake sighed. "Time for the plan."
"Oyez, oyez, oyez," I announced, and then shied back as Rachel feinted another punch.
Can we get on with the plan? grumped Tobias.
"Yeah," Jake acknowledged. "Cassie, what did the inside of that truck look like?"
"Well," she said, thoughtfully stripping off her gloves, "the walls were clear on the inside. You could feel them, but it looked for all the world like we were just riding on a platform behind the cab. There were five Hork-Bajir inside, and a Yeerk pool with a glass cover overtop of it."
"A cover?" prompted Rachel.
"Right. I guess they didn't want the Yeerks sloshing around too much."
How was the cover sealed? asked Ax.
"It was bolted on," she said. "I think the truck was just for transport. They didn't even try to infest me."
Jake exchanged a glance with Ax, and sighed. "Okay, good enough." He turned towards the door. "You can come in now," he announced.
Ax stepped forward, and held his blade to Cassie's throat. At the same moment, in through the barn doors walked . . .
Well, in walked Cassie, for all any of us could see.
"What are you doing?" Cassie - the one a twitch away from decapitation - asked. "What's going on?"
"You remember Linda, who plays you during particularly lengthy missions." Jake said. Oh, right. Stupid of me not to figure it out immediately. The other Cassie was a Chee. The Chee, in case you haven't been tracking along, are androids with hologram technology. Under the hologram, they look kind of like metal dogs. But the hologram itself can look however they want it to.
Cassie frowned, then her face cleared to a look of blank surprise. "Is that what all this is about? That's why I haven't been alone since yesterday? I thought I had proven I wasn't a Controller!"
Sorry, Tobias grunted. Z-space hurt your credibility.
"Let's take a walk in the woods," Jake said. "When we get out of view from the house, Marco and Rachel will morph wolf, I'll morph tiger, Ax and Tobias stay themselves. Got it?"
Cassie nodded readily. "Absolutely. I definitely want this cleared up, once and for all."
I began to doubt my doubts. A Yeerk wouldn't agree so easily to starvation, would it? Cassie, of course, would recognize how necessary this measure was, and approve of it. But the Yeerk, if there was one, knew that, and could be counting on the fact that we knew it, too. Still, what sane Yeerk would earnestly agree to its own death as Cassie just had? Animorph or Yeerk? Cassie or Controller?
"Let's do it," said Rachel.