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My friends and I at school are having a writing competition. We plan to have a series of competitions, but this is our first one. The catagory is mindeless, senseless smut. As in sex scenes. As in, if you're not old enough to handle NC-17, don't bother readint the rest of this, and just skip down to the chapter. There were originally three people in this contest but now there are only two, myself and a friend.
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Okay, about this next chapter: It's kinda long, for me. We're moving more into the centre plot. Thanks for everyone who has reviewed even if you don't feel like it's going anywhere! The Animorphs are coming up!
Chapter 9
It was raining.
"Perfect," I said, watching the raindrops splattering against the windows of the taxi.
Like little yeerks, exploding on impact…
I smiled briefly, then frowned again.
Fate. I hate fate. It never leaves me alone…
I had been shocked by those documents. Never mind how Harry got that information, or how he secured my interview. In the world of journalism, you learn not to be surprised by anything, cause at any moment your world can turn upside down.
And, in a moment, mine had.
What had been stated in those hurriedly typed sheets was the disturbing fact that the yeerks were more powerful than anyone had let on publicly. We're talking a couple thousand. Not many, but still, way, way too much.
And they were powerful in other ways besides population. Weapons. Infiltration. Masterminds.
But, what was surprising of all, their motive. What kept them going…
I don't know who was fool enough to try to infiltrate their closed ring of infestation. Whoever it was, he managed to report one last time before being killed.
The yeerks weren't out for world domination –yet. Instead, they had a much simpler goal. Way too strange for Yeerks. They didn't do revenge in large numbers. They hated the Andalites, sure, but they didn't consider their long, epic war revenge. It was a fight for survival. And I expected that's what they had been doing here.
But no.
They were after only six things. Six people in fact.
The Animorphs.
Having been thwarted by them those many years ago, they now were out for vengeance, for blood. Maybe they figured if they killed them all, they could prove the Yeerk Empire still existed, still was a force to be reckoned with.
Maybe they just figured if six teenagers could destroy them one time, how much more powerful would six adults be. Maybe it was a precaution.
Maybe not.
I pulled out my cell phone.
"Hi! This is the voice mail of Ashline, so leave a message, and I'll call back as soon as I can!"
BEEP.
"Hey, honey, it's me. Listen, I got called out to do a special interview, and I won't be there to pick you up. I'm real sorry. But I'll be back around four, so you can just head back to the apartment, okay? Do your homework, and clean up a bit. We're having company tonight. If you need anything, just go see Mrs. Garthia next door, all right? Bye sweetheart!"
I closed my cell phone and leaned back against the fake leather seat of the taxi.
What was life coming to?
I had avoided the yeerks for almost ten years. Why were they suddenly coming back into my life now?
And why did they think they could even find the Animorphs? No one officially knows where they are now…no one's known for sure for years…
I was worried.
I felt like I was in danger.
The cab slowed, and stopped outside a bleak, gray building.
"Your stop, miss," the cabby said.
I paid quickly and dashed inside to escape the heavy rain.
I shook out my coat in the elevator, much to the dismay of the other passengers.
I didn't give a damn.
Floor 23.
My stop.
I checked my watch: 2:55.
Almost right on time.
I stepped out, faced with a large reception room with a strict looking clerk.
"Hi," I said, approaching her, bringing out my notebook. "I have an appointment with a Mr…" I looked down. "Hoegen?"
"Jacob Hoegen?"
"That's the one."
"Appointment 3:00?"
"Yup."
"Sixth door on the right. Room 2313."
"Thanks."
I walked left, down the long dim hallway.
Room 2313. My stop.
What would I find here?
More information to torture me about my past. More dangers, more regrets. It's part of the job.
I opened the door.
A guard stepped out to meet me.
"Whoa!" I said loudly, snatching my arm back from his hands.
"It's all right," a mechanical voice said, and I looked past the guard to a glass divider, where a figure sat on the other side, shrouded in cloth to hide whether his features. "Let her go. Leave us."
The guard obliged.
"You are Jacob Hoegen?"
"Yes."
"And that's your real name?"
A strange laugh came through the intercom.
"No, but never mind. You won't be quoting me anyway. There won't be time."
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind." The figures shifted. "You may ask me questions."
"I don't know what to ask," I admitted. "My editor got some disturbing news today, about the growing numbers of the Yeerk Force. Do you know anything about that?"
"Yes," he replied, shifting again. "Most of the information was supposed to be a secret, but, as is usual, it leaked out somehow. I'm sure you know they were planning to attack New York City?"
"Were?" I asked.
"I do not know now. They still might. In time for the Anniversary."
"What do they want?"
"To take over."
"That's not all though, is it?" I asked hesitantly.
The figure sighed. "No. That's not all." he looked away. "They want the Animorphs."
"Why? Revenge?"
"No," he laughed derisively. "Don't you know your enemy? The Yeerks don't do revenge. Time goes too quickly for them."
"So why then?"
"Because it's all they know. They were defeated by the Animorphs. To be great, they must in turn defeat them."
"But no one knows where they are."
My face was getting hot. I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like where this was going. I didn't want to be a detective.
I didn't want to save the world.
I just wanted to be a normal person.
Please, I pleaded silently. Please don't give me anything to follow. Please don't make it difficult.
My pleas were not answered.
"The Yeerks know. They know where a least one is. They figure when the have one, they will find the others."
"And then what?" My voice was low, tense.
"Destroy them," he said non-chalantly. "Then go on with their plans to retake Earth."
"In only six days?"
"It has to be in time for the Anniversary. It's more symbolic. More final."
"So in six days, they will make their move. They will capture an Animorph."
Which one? I asked myself.
"No. Not in six days. Probably before that. Enough to give them time to infest and conquer, to have the unfortunate Controller there, on national TV, as he or she helps to launch a terror attack on New York."
"Why New York?" I needed water. My voice was rasping…
"Don't you know, Taylor?" The voice sneered. "Haven't you guessed?"
I stared through the glass.
We looked at each other, a stand-off.
I wouldn't face it. I wouldn't!
"What kind of attack?" I finally asked.
"Explosions, I presume. Fireballs look more dangerous. There's more drama. More attention."
"A yeerk attack on Earth? They'll get enough attention," I said sardonically.
Which one? I knew which one.
"Perhaps." That mechanical voice sounded bored, worried.
"And how do you play a part in all this?"
He laughed. "With privilege comes knowledge."
"Can I get your real name?"
"No," he said. "I can't risk that. They'd come for me."
"You really think they're that powerful?"
"Haven't you been listening?" He asked sarcastically. "They have thousands. No one knows where. I'd be a dead man."
Who are you? Why are you so careful? What do you really know?
"Do you know how to stop them?"
"If I did I wouldn't be here," he said airily. "Any more silly questions?"
My face burned. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Save the world, of course."
"How am I supposed to do that? Only the Animorphs would stand a chance!"
"That's the whole point, isn't it…Taylor?"
He was silent. I was silent. I felt like I was missing something. Like there was something that, for all this inside information, he still wasn't telling me.
"If I were you," he said slowly. "I would leave. Take your daughter. Things are going to get real shitty around here."
"What is it!" I demanded. "What aren't you saying! What do you know!
The door suddenly opened behind me. I stood up, facing the guard, and a new man who was with him.
"Who the hell are you!"
The man looked surprised. "I'm Jacob Hoegen. Sorry I'm late."
I swirled back to the glass screen, in time to see the large heavy door swing shut.
