Chapter 5
Needless to say the next few hours registered high numbers on my bizarre-o-meter.
"Um, yeah. I'm looking for Erek King." I told the man.
"Oh," he seemed taken aback a little, "I'm sorry Erek no longer lives here."
"Really? Sorry to bother you then…" and I turned to go but the man stopped me.
"No bother. Erek moved out when he got married. I'm his father, David King. Why don't you come inside." He turned in the doorway and I followed suit. He led me down the hall to a standard living room.
"Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?" he asked politely.
"No," I replied shaking my head, "thank you, but actually I'm in a little bit of a hurry." I reached into my backpack and pulled out the crumpled newspaper clipping. I passed it to the man. "I believe you knew my parents, the bird and the blonde chick on the left?" I wondered, praying this Mr. King was the right Mr. King. He took the paper from me and I watched his eyes grow wide with disbelief. He looked me up and down and then turned back to the picture.
"You're Rachel and Tobias's daughter?" he questioned
"Yup, one and the same. Name's Kit." I said, extending my hand. He reached out and shook in vigorously.
"I haven't heard from any of them in a long time…," he muttered as I watched the mixed emotions play over his face…or rather play over his hologram. I knew what Mr. King really was. He seemed to regain his composure then. "Well Kit, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You're the spitting image of your mother. Now, why do I get the feeling you're not here for a friendly visit?" he asked, seeming both warm and wary at the same time.
"Because I'm not. Something happened and…and I need some help, from someone who knows the Yeerks." I could tell that that piqued his interest. I continued, "My parents, they went miss-," but Mr. King silenced me with a wave of his hand.
"I cannot help you in that department. I'm surprised you didn't know that, since you seem well informed about my people." He seemed both bitter and disappointed at the same time.
"Hey, listen! My mother and father kept their promise, they told me nothing, about any of this. I found out on my own. Besides, I know you can't fight." I raised my hand to keep him from interrupting. "And I'm not asking you to, but I'm trying to find some answers and according to this," I said as I revealed my mother's writings, "your people usually have a lot of those." Mr. King didn't say anything, so I took that as a good sign. "So you can throw me out if you want and I won't bother you again, or you can help me save the only family I've got." I glared back at him defiantly. For some reason, the way he spoke put me of the offensive, and I had a feeling he would be key in helping me unravel this mystery. Finally, he spoke.
"Obviously your looks weren't the only thing you got from your mother," he said, but smiled to take the sting out of the words. "Come, lets go somewhere we can talk in private." He beckoned me to follow him and I did as he led me down a flight of steps and into a basement. "Would you like to see it?" he asked me. I was confused until I suddenly felt the floor lurch below me.
"What, you me the doggie park, sub-basement thing? Sure." Not that I had much choice at that point, what with the floor sinking deeper every second. Still, I was intrigued nonetheless. After a few minutes of sinking in silence, the floor stopped, not affecting Mr. King in the slightest, but sending me sprawling to the floor. Sheepishly, I got to my feet and followed him down a hall that seemed to stretch forever. But suddenly, I'd run out of hallway and there it was. Picture a nature preserve/pooch kennel the size of a football stadium, but completely underground. I mean, it was amazing. Every architect in the world would walk through fire just to get a glimpse of the place. And dogs, man were there a lot of dogs. Every breed imaginable, mutts, puppies, small, big. You name it, it lived there. And just to add to the weirdness of the entire scene, scattered about in groups were the Chee. The Chee minus the holograms. In fact, their android forms actually resembled dogs themselves, with floppy ears and paw-like appendages. But back to the matter at hand.
Mr. King sat down under an ancient oak tree in to the left of the door. He beckoned me to join him and I did, sitting down only to be practically crushed underneath 20 slobbering, barking, and drooling dogs. After they settled down (some on top of me) Mr. King got down to business.
"Now, what exactly do you need to know?" he questioned. To tell you the truth, I hadn't actually thought past getting him to help me.
"Um…oh, what really happened during that final battle. You know, between my folks and this Tom character?"
"Now that I do know," he began, when suddenly the air around me shimmered.
"What did you do?" I demanded, frightened at first, believing I may have walked into a trap.
"Calm yourself. It's just a holographic projector. Now…" and as he began to describe that day, I watched it unfold before me. I watched the events take place as Mr. King's story carried me deep within the past. "Tom, or rather Kiflen 8391, was a power hungry Yeerk. He was the recently appointed Visser 1' right hand um, man, in a manner of speaking. But Kiflen wanted direct power. He was tired of waiting in the wings. When the Visser received his promotion, the Council of 13 decided it was time for them to inspect the Visser's progress directly. But Z-Space had shifted, and a journey that used to take 3 day, now took approximately 3 weeks, during which time, the council would be in a communications blackout. Nothing getting in, nothing getting out. Kiflen saw his opportunity. He planned to take control of Earth, to look like the hero when the council arrived. But first he had to get rid of the Visser. Now, the 'Andalite bandits' were a constant thorn in the Yeerk's side, but Tom planned to use them to his advantage. He approached them, claiming to have joined the peace movement. He offered to help them stage a direct attack on the Yeerk pool. Tom and several of his deputies had secretly met with a Skrit Na crew. They traded for a quantum bomb," Mr. King continued, pausing when he saw I was confused. "It's a really powerful explosive."
"Ah, okay"
"There had been problems with the pool's plumbing system at that time. One of Tom's followers was the head technician and installed the bomb in the plumbing system when they made repairs. But Tom created a fake. He told the Animorphs that he needed their help to plant in the pool. He planned to blow the real bomb while both the Visser and the Animorphs were at the pool."
"But Jake knew they couldn't trust Tom. He knew Tom was planning to double cross them. So they formulated a plan. Tom, with the Visser out of the way, was going to take control to the Blade Ship. His allies aboard the Pool Ship, hanging just beyond Earth's atmosphere, were to stage a mutiny. When the Council arrived he would tell them how the 'Andalite bandits' had destroyed the central Yeerk pool along with the Visser. Then how he had taken control of the Pool ship because he suspected they were harboring traitors and how he and his followers had then hunted down the bandits one by one. It wouldn't take long for him to rise to Visser status with credentials like that."
"But Jake and the Animorphs were ready. They knew about the bomb, Ax could instantly tell the one Tom had given them was a fake. The Animorphs escaped when the bomb was detonated, but faked that they had been killed. When Tom's forces tried to take the Pool ship, they had no idea that the other forces aboard were not the Visser's but rather the free Hork-Bajir, members of the Peace Movement, and the allied Taxoxns. They quickly squashed Tom's rebellion. When the ship was in Allied control, the Animorphs were smuggled aboard. Their allies pretended that Tom's rebellion had been a success. They planned to dock with the Blade Ship and capture Tom. But something went wrong. Months earlier Ax had created a distress beacon, designed to attract the Andalite fleet. Well, one heard it. The cruiser ship Escalade came out of Z-Space just minutes before Tom's ship would have reached the Pool ship. They engaged in a dog fight and damaged the right wing engine of the Blade Ship. Unable to fight, and knowing that they had been led into a trap, Tom and his forces escaped into Z-Space. Andalite forces attempted to follow, but it was too late. Today, the Blade Ship is to space what the Yeti is to the Himalayas. People claim to have seen it, but no one can confirm. It was believed they wanted to re-join the empire, the Andalite's launched a full out assault on the Yeerk home world before they arrived. It was a monumental victory. And when the Council of 13 arrived at Earth, there we're allied forces from across the galaxy waiting to meet them. It was the beginning of the end for the Yeerk empire."
The scene behind Mr. King suddenly darkened and picture began to fade. What could I say? I felt both proud of my parents and my people, and sick from watching the images of violence unfold in front of me. What could I say? The silence was broken by a buzzing coming from my back pack, laying in a heap beside me. I dove for it and rummaged around inside, finally grasping my cell phone.
"Hello?" I gasped into the receiver.
"Kit? It's Bobby."
"What is it Bobby? This isn't exactly a great time." I muttered, both relieved for the distraction and aggravated at the interruption.
"You were right! It was a fake. The ship-,"
"Whoa! Slow down. What ship?"
"The ship. The one that we found leaving the atmosphere yesterday." I caught the excitement in his voice.
"What about it?" I demanded eagerly.
"It blew up. Two hours ago it self destructed. And Kit?"
"Yeah?" My heart was in my mouth.
"There was no one on board. It was a decoy."
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Author's Note: Hi all. I know the last battle details are a combination of my personal ideas and KA's ingenuity. So no flames please! Also thanks for all the gr8 reviews. You guys have really kept me working on this story. Keep 'em coming. Until next chapter..Ciao!