The Refugee
Chapter 1- Cassie
Rachel and I met Feralae at her locker during fifth period. "Hi!" I said cheerfully.
"Oh! Cassie! Hi!" Feralae said with a pleasant smile. "I wanted to talk to you about something." Then she blushed shyly. "Who's your friend?"
"I'm Rachel. Who do you have next?" Rachel asked, holding out her schedule. "I have gym, lunch, and Mr. Tidwell for English."
"So do I. What do you know? We're in the same class!" Feralae said cheerfully.
We were making our way to the gym. Inside, Marco was singing kareoke. Jake was shooting hoops against the basketball team captain. Somebody in the crowd around Marco muttered, "Fagot." Feralae stomped on his foot, pretending that it was an accident. "OW!" The boy hissed.
"Oh so sorry, I didn't see where I was going there." Feralae said with a sneer. "But you know, you should watch your language. You never know how people will react to what you say." She giggled maliciously as she walked away. "If there's two words that piss me off the most, they're 'Fagot' and 'Dyke.'" Feralae explained as she followed us to the bleachers.
"Yeah, but Gay people are so gross!" Rachel exclaimed.
Feralae turned an icy stare on Rachel. "What makes you think that? It could be your children when you grow up Rachel. And no child wants to be told that they're disgusting. I've heard of gay youth hanging themselves because the people that they cared about, that they trusted turned against them. In my opinion there is no excuse for intolerance."
"I suppose." Rachel relented, but I could tell that she didn't entirely agree.
"Look." Feralae led us to the highest bleacher, furthest away from the door. She dug through her backpack. "What do you guys make of this?" She asked.
I almost fainted. The object she pulled out of her backpack was a small, sky blue cube, about six by six by six inches. It seemed harmless enough.
But I knew that it was a morphing cube. I knew what it represented. That cube represented the most dangerous power on the planet. I was speechless.
Rachel answered for me. "What is it?" She asked. "Where did you get it?"
"I'm not really sure what it is." Feralae explained. "It belonged to my father. He said that it's been in my family for four generations. It's part of some weird ritual that happens when each member of my family turns fifteen. I'm not really sure what it's about, but my Dad also asked me to take on a lot of responsibility. Stuff that I'm not sure that I'm ready for. It's pretty odd. When I asked him why I'd need it, why I should take part in the ritual, he answered that, 'You have to be strong, because I cannot be.' But that's bull isn't it? I mean, he's a blacksmith, he even does a little bit of glass blowing so that he can add eyes to his sculptures. I've tried, and the best I can manage is pumping the bellows and melting the glass. There's no way that he can't be strong."
I realized what she was getting at. Her father was asking her to take on the morphing power. He knew that either the yeerks were here, or guessed that they were coming. For some reason or another Feralae's father could not morph. He wanted Feralae to morph and fight the yeerks. He was trying to get her ready. He was trying to possibly save his daughter by preparing her for the battle against the yeerks. Feralae was disturbed out by the whole thing and wanted to be reassured.
"I'm sure it will be alright Feralae." I said with a smile. "It will be fine. Your father is giving you a chance to grow. He cares about you and doesn't want you to go out into the world unprepared." I said with a smile. "I know that my dad wouldn't let me go out into the world unprepared."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Feralae said with an introspective smile.
"And what have we here?" Asked Mr. Chapman.
I gulped. "Hi Mr. Chapman. Feralae was just showing off something that her dad gave her." I said meekly.
"I see." His eyes turned on the blue box. I saw surprise on his face, then hatred. "What exactly is it?"
"We're not sure sir!" Rachel said quickly. "We were trying to figure it out, but so far, no luck."
"Well then, this is gym class, put it away. I don't want to see it again, or I'll take it. You know you shouldn't bring valuable belongings to school." Chapman chided.
"That was WAY too close." Rachel said with an exaggerated sigh.
~The Barn~
"SHE WHAT?!!" Was the collective cry.
Prince Jake I do not think…
"This is easily the most insane…"
She has a pet golden eagle named Lexus? Marco that is what's…
"Her father gave her a blue box?" Jake asked. "I'm more worried about what Chapman will tell Visser three."
We all looked at Jake in horror. "I don't even want to think about that." I said with a shiver.
We must think about it unfortunately. Ax said with a sigh. If the yeerks get the box, then as Marco would say, 'We can kiss Earth goodbye.'
There was silence. Jake if you like I can keep an eye on her. Tobias said slowly.
"And mom and I are going to be working with Feralae and her mother at the Gardens this afternoon." I said with a smile. "Me and Tobias, and I'll bet that the rest of us could find a way in today."
I was hoping to acquire a new morph. Ax said calmly. The hork bajir have been having problems with wolves and a mountain lion. I was going to see if I could acquire them before chasing them away.
"Go ahead Ax. We all have wolf morphs except for Tobias. This new crisis may keep us busy awhile." Jake said darkly.
Ax turned and left the barn. Tobias made a hasty exit to get a good head start. They had barely made it out when my mother came in. "Cassie, are you ready to go? Oh, Rachel, Jake, Maro welcome. Would you like to come along? We've set up new seats in the truck, along with that new cap. There's plenty of room and I'd get you into the Gardens free."
"Thanks." Marco and Jake chorused.
"I'd love to." Rachel said with a smile. "I wouldn't mind doing some shopping for Sarah's birthday. I think they have some pretty good toys for a six year old."
As soon as we set out Jake sighed. "Well, that was easier than we thought." He said, relieved.
"When things are easy I worry." Marco stated.
~Feralae~
Mom discovered that the white lion in the zoo was starting to show signs of liver failure. A white lion is incredibly rare, and all the known specimens were in zoos. I had decided that afternoon to accept the power to morph. It was an incredible chance. Cassie and I followed our mothers to the operating room. "Cassie, get the IV. Kirin, get the tools sterilized, hurry! I'll inform the vet staff." Cassie's mother started rapping out orders.
By some odd serendipity, I was alone in the room with the lion. "Poor boy." I said softly as I stroked his fur. The lion looked at me with the saddest eyes. I saw worlds in them. His eyes fluttered closed as I acquired his DNA. "I'm so sorry." I said, stroking his fur.
The lion blinked, as if to say, 'So am I.' But lions can't speak of course, so the lion was probably just sad, pained. Poor thing. But the genes of this huge cat were so rare that the usual practice of putting an animal down was out of the question. I had done some research on lions. The average lion was about four feet long, two and a half to three feet at the shoulder and about four hundred pounds. This guy was more like five feet long, four feet at the shoulder, and about five hundred pounds.
Cassie came back with the IV at this moment. "Can you help me with this?" Cassie asked as she pulled the machine into the room.
"Sure." I pulled away from the lion. "Cassie I've been thinking about this guy. They aren't going to… to put him down are they? I mean, the only white lions in existence live in zoos. This guy's genes are incredibly rare, and considering his size the gene pool of the lions as a species could really benefit from this guy's DNA."
"He won't be put down if mom can help it." Cassie assured me. "And for really rare animals the Gardens keeps a sperm bank. This guy's sperm will stay alive for up to a week. He'll pass on his genes. But I'm pretty sure that…" Cassie broke off.
"You think that this guy will die?" I asked.
Cassie forced a smile. "Not if my mom can help it." She said cheerfully.
"That's the spirit Cassie!" Mom said as she came in. "Now listen, your mother and I need somebody to feed the animals for us. You know more about the care of big animals. Why don't you show Feralae the ropes."
And a bunch of big morphs, I thought to myself.
"Okay then, come with me!" Cassie grinned.
I was amazed at Cassie's knowledge of animals as she breezed me through the preparation. Mother had been planning to teach me how to morph with a gorilla morph. But I had wanted to morph a big cat. Now I had my big cat, but I'd keep it a secret, for one of those times when I 'Had to be strong.' I acquired an elephant that reached down for peanuts. Then a grateful grizzly bear. I acquired a hyena and a rhino too. Then we made it to the orca whale, Swoosh. I was carrying a pail of fish out for the orca when I heard somebody shout, "CASSIE!"
A tall, muscular boy with brown hair and eyes called from across the arena where Swoosh lived and performed. "HI JAKE!!" Cassie called.
We had changed into wet suits. Cassie dove into the water and swam over to the edge of the tank. She hung onto the edge and tread water. I lured Swoosh over to the edge of the tank. Swoosh loved the fish and he loved being pet. Acquiring him wasn't a problem at all. As I fed I listened.
"Any signs?" Jake asked in a low voice.
"None at all Jake. I don't think there's going to be a problem, but if she's…"
Swoosh, being the playful Orca that he was, sprayed water in my face. I let out a screech. "CASSIEEEE!!!" I squealed.
"Whoops, I should have warned you, he tends to do that. It's Swoosh's way of saying thank you." Cassie giggled.
I flushed. "You're welcome big guy." I said.
Swoosh opened his mouth and gurgled.
Cassie whispered something to Jake. Jake nodded. "Well, see you later then."
We had made it to the dolphin tank when Cassie's mother came in, looking sad. "You guys, the lion died. Feralae, your mother is taking a sperm count for the breeding program. It's going into the freezers so that we can breed new genetic material in, but…"
Cassie's eyes filled with tears. "Mom…" She wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and burst into tears.
"Yeah, I know. Leroy died."
"Leroy?" I asked, still trying to absorb the realization.
"His full name was Leroy Brown." Cassie's mother explained. "Like the song?"
A lion had died? I shivered, looking down at my palms. It was a rather curious sensation, as I realized that the beautiful lion that had been alive a matter of minutes before now existed only as a few strands of DNA in my blood stream.