Chapter Fifteen:
"That's really sad," snorted Cassie, dropping her book in disgust. "A page- turner of a mystery novel, the detective's is sidekick missing, Mrs. Wendelworth is in hysterics, the candlesticks with the fingerprints all over them have vanished, and then he ends the chapter with a line like that?"
I looked up. "A line like what?"
She found her place. "He would have to hurry to get to his next appointment. He got in the car and drove away."
"Yeah . . . " I said. "So?"
"So, each chapter should end on a cliffhanger! It should scream at the reader to keep going, to continue the story! This is a sorry excuse for a final sentence to any chapter."
I hadn't realized Cassie even read books that weren't about how to feed an owl vitamin pills, much less mysteries with cliffhanger chapter endings. "Well," I said, "I guess not every chapter can end with a cliffhanger. I mean, some of them have to be mood pieces, right?"
"I guess," she said, obviously unconvinced.
I had arrived almost fifteen minutes late, to Jake's annoyance. He had morphed moodily, and left me alone with Cassie, or the Yeerk that was playing Cassie. There was no way to know which I was dealing with.
The hardest thing about holding somebody who may or may not be a Controller is that you're always trying to trick them into giving themselves away. Then, when they don't, you have this hope that maybe they're not really a Controller. But you also have the cynical part of your brain telling you that they outsmarted you this time. Then you feel disappointed that they didn't give themselves away as a Controller, and guilty that you feel disappointed that they don't seem to be a Controller, and angry with yourself for feeling guilty for something you can't control anyway.
If that made any sense, you should probably take your medication right about now.
I checked my watch for maybe the nine millionth time. Cassie, or the Yeerk in her brain, had closed her eyes and leaned her head back. But she seemed to know, without looking, what I was doing.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"4:56," I said. "Time's ticking down. Not long until your next feeding cycle, huh?" It was a feint. I wasn't at all sure that there was really a Yeerk behind Cassie's eyes. But I couldn't afford to assume there wasn't.
She didn't say anything for a long time. I glanced back down at my math homework. Yeah, Algebra. The work that Jake was having a Chee do for him because of "Leader's Prerogative."
Cheater.
"You really think I'm a Controller," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Does that scare you?" I asked. I couldn't tell whether I was addressing the Yeerk or Cassie. I wasn't sure if I was trying to intimidate a foe or trying to comfort a friend. I just didn't know.
She considered. "No," she said. "It's good that you do. I'm not sure . . . well, we need somebody to be suspicious, Marco. That's the only way we can be safe. If we were all trusting, we'd be dead."
"If we were all like you, you mean," I said.
She rubbed against the chair in thought. Her arms were bound tightly to the arms of the chair, allowing her to read. Also, I guess, allowing her to hold a dracon beam, if it came to that. But we had made sure she wasn't carrying any weapons, and none of us were bringing any up. "I guess so," she said. "Whatever happens, I want you to know I appreciate this."
"What? Our tying you up and treating you like one of the enemy?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes," she said, looking at me like it was the most important thing in the world that she tell me this. "Because we can't do anything unless we all trust each other completely."
I looked at her. She was so eager, so earnest, so completely serious about what she had said. It was so hard for me to believe, right then, that there was a Yeerk behind those eyes.
But I didn't know. Yeerks are actors to put all of Hollywood to shame. It could so easily have been fake.
I didn't know how to answer her. My math suddenly became very interesting to me, and I struggled with a difficult equation. At least in math, there was one right answer. One definite true-or-false situation. No doubt. No second-guessing. No guilt.
"Marco," she said, "I need a few minutes of privacy, outside."
"Huh?" I stared blankly, not understanding. Then it clicked. She had been up here all day and, Controller or not, she still had basic human needs. "Oh. Um . . . have we got a routine worked out for how we handle this?"
"Not really," she confessed. "Ax didn't let me out of his sight."
"Okay," I said, weighing my options. I hardly wanted to watch her for those couple of minutes. Yet, I couldn't allow her to just head out into the woods unobserved, could I?
Yes, I could. I suddenly realized that this was the opportunity I had been looking for. If she left, and five minutes later she still wasn't back, there could be no more doubt. And if she returned, and got back into the chair, and asked me to tie her up . . .
Well, Yeerks act like their hosts, but not to the point of suicide. And refusing an opportunity such as that to escape Kandrona starvation was, in effect, suicide. She would never get another chance like this.
What I was doing was both stupid and dangerous. Jake would kill me. Ax would kill me. Rachel would kill me multiple times, if she could figure out how.
I untied Cassie, and opened the door to the shack.
She stepped through, then looked back at me, puzzled. "You're not coming?"
"No," I said. "Be back in five minutes."
Her eyes widened in shock. She knew what I was doing as well as I did.
Slowly, hesitantly, she turned and walked around the side of the shack, and out of sight.
"That's really sad," snorted Cassie, dropping her book in disgust. "A page- turner of a mystery novel, the detective's is sidekick missing, Mrs. Wendelworth is in hysterics, the candlesticks with the fingerprints all over them have vanished, and then he ends the chapter with a line like that?"
I looked up. "A line like what?"
She found her place. "He would have to hurry to get to his next appointment. He got in the car and drove away."
"Yeah . . . " I said. "So?"
"So, each chapter should end on a cliffhanger! It should scream at the reader to keep going, to continue the story! This is a sorry excuse for a final sentence to any chapter."
I hadn't realized Cassie even read books that weren't about how to feed an owl vitamin pills, much less mysteries with cliffhanger chapter endings. "Well," I said, "I guess not every chapter can end with a cliffhanger. I mean, some of them have to be mood pieces, right?"
"I guess," she said, obviously unconvinced.
I had arrived almost fifteen minutes late, to Jake's annoyance. He had morphed moodily, and left me alone with Cassie, or the Yeerk that was playing Cassie. There was no way to know which I was dealing with.
The hardest thing about holding somebody who may or may not be a Controller is that you're always trying to trick them into giving themselves away. Then, when they don't, you have this hope that maybe they're not really a Controller. But you also have the cynical part of your brain telling you that they outsmarted you this time. Then you feel disappointed that they didn't give themselves away as a Controller, and guilty that you feel disappointed that they don't seem to be a Controller, and angry with yourself for feeling guilty for something you can't control anyway.
If that made any sense, you should probably take your medication right about now.
I checked my watch for maybe the nine millionth time. Cassie, or the Yeerk in her brain, had closed her eyes and leaned her head back. But she seemed to know, without looking, what I was doing.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"4:56," I said. "Time's ticking down. Not long until your next feeding cycle, huh?" It was a feint. I wasn't at all sure that there was really a Yeerk behind Cassie's eyes. But I couldn't afford to assume there wasn't.
She didn't say anything for a long time. I glanced back down at my math homework. Yeah, Algebra. The work that Jake was having a Chee do for him because of "Leader's Prerogative."
Cheater.
"You really think I'm a Controller," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Does that scare you?" I asked. I couldn't tell whether I was addressing the Yeerk or Cassie. I wasn't sure if I was trying to intimidate a foe or trying to comfort a friend. I just didn't know.
She considered. "No," she said. "It's good that you do. I'm not sure . . . well, we need somebody to be suspicious, Marco. That's the only way we can be safe. If we were all trusting, we'd be dead."
"If we were all like you, you mean," I said.
She rubbed against the chair in thought. Her arms were bound tightly to the arms of the chair, allowing her to read. Also, I guess, allowing her to hold a dracon beam, if it came to that. But we had made sure she wasn't carrying any weapons, and none of us were bringing any up. "I guess so," she said. "Whatever happens, I want you to know I appreciate this."
"What? Our tying you up and treating you like one of the enemy?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes," she said, looking at me like it was the most important thing in the world that she tell me this. "Because we can't do anything unless we all trust each other completely."
I looked at her. She was so eager, so earnest, so completely serious about what she had said. It was so hard for me to believe, right then, that there was a Yeerk behind those eyes.
But I didn't know. Yeerks are actors to put all of Hollywood to shame. It could so easily have been fake.
I didn't know how to answer her. My math suddenly became very interesting to me, and I struggled with a difficult equation. At least in math, there was one right answer. One definite true-or-false situation. No doubt. No second-guessing. No guilt.
"Marco," she said, "I need a few minutes of privacy, outside."
"Huh?" I stared blankly, not understanding. Then it clicked. She had been up here all day and, Controller or not, she still had basic human needs. "Oh. Um . . . have we got a routine worked out for how we handle this?"
"Not really," she confessed. "Ax didn't let me out of his sight."
"Okay," I said, weighing my options. I hardly wanted to watch her for those couple of minutes. Yet, I couldn't allow her to just head out into the woods unobserved, could I?
Yes, I could. I suddenly realized that this was the opportunity I had been looking for. If she left, and five minutes later she still wasn't back, there could be no more doubt. And if she returned, and got back into the chair, and asked me to tie her up . . .
Well, Yeerks act like their hosts, but not to the point of suicide. And refusing an opportunity such as that to escape Kandrona starvation was, in effect, suicide. She would never get another chance like this.
What I was doing was both stupid and dangerous. Jake would kill me. Ax would kill me. Rachel would kill me multiple times, if she could figure out how.
I untied Cassie, and opened the door to the shack.
She stepped through, then looked back at me, puzzled. "You're not coming?"
"No," I said. "Be back in five minutes."
Her eyes widened in shock. She knew what I was doing as well as I did.
Slowly, hesitantly, she turned and walked around the side of the shack, and out of sight.