Controller

Chapter Five

Tehlit 286

''Tehlit Two-Eight-Six?" asked a voice I didn't recognize, " The Minister wants you to wake up now. She prepared some food for you."

At first I didn't move. Then, reluctantly, I got out of bed and followed the newly met Hork-Bajir-Controller into the hall, the door closing behind us.

My name is Tehlit Two-Eight-Six. And this morning, I was in a very bad mood.

It was the crack of dawn, the dawn of a new day. And for me, it was also the dawn of a new life. A life without my best friends, Edriss and Orifix.

A life dedicated to setting them free again.

" Hi, I'm Kitek," said the Hork-Bajir-Controller walking beside me. " Kitek Eight-Nine-Three. From the Ket Minar pool."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Ket Minar? That was my home pool! When I was one Yeerk year old, it was destroyed by the Andalites. Over twenty thousand Yeerks living inside it got killed by the blast. But not me. I was one of the few survivors. And so, I supposed, was Kitek Eight-Nine-Three.

" Are you okay?" Kitek asked me, " Tehlit? What is wrong?"

" Oh, euh... Nothing," I said quickly. " It's just... the Ket Minar pool..."

" I see," Kitek finished for me, " You were born there also."

She smiled. I was in awe.

And it was at that moment that I realized that if there was one Yeerk who could help me find my friends, one Yeerk who could be a good partner and a sincere help, it was Kitek.

So I told her of my problem.

" Eum, Kitek?" I asked, " I don't know how to put this... But I need your help."

When I was done telling her my story, Kitek and I were already sitting in the cafeteria where they served our hosts' food. She was chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bark while looking at me with very wide eyes.

" So you're saying..." she swallowed a bit hard. " That your friend has a blind host body and Sub-Visser Nine refused to give her a new one, and captured her on top of that? Along with your other friend?"

" Precisely," I assured her.

" The freak!" exploded Kitek, " The idiot! I have always hated him... Of course I'll help you find your friends!"

The grin on my Hork-Bajir face stretched from ear to ear. With Kitek's help, Edriss and Orifix would be out of there in no time!

But somehow, I felt I needed more. If Kitek was helping already, imagine what it would be like if we had more people on our side?

I shared my idea with Kitek, and she agreed to help me spread the word. By tomorrow morning, we would hopefully have all the kids at the base aware of what was happening to my friends.

Another advantage we had was that Kitek was very popular with the Yeerks her age at the base. So as soon as we were done eating, Kitek led me to the room in which the kids like to just sit and talk, or play with their friends.

" Okay," she whispered. " Luckily for us, today is not a school day. So we'll have time to tell a lot of people. But we have to hurry up since training is at eleven."

" ... Training?" I asked, a little nervous about what could be awaiting me.

" Of course, training!" exclaimed Kitek, " Tehlit, where have you been all this time? War training! One day, we'll all have to fight. And, in my case, follow orders from the males. Sub-Vissers. Vissers. You must know that females can't have those ranks. We're more specialized in sciences and stuff. We build ships, too. I'd like to build a ship one day."

" Yeah?" I asked, " Well, when you meet Edriss you'll discover that you two won't have much in common. She actually wants to be a Visser. Why? I have no idea."

" Still, I want to meet her." said Kitek, " So let's hurry up and tell people your story!"

I nodded. She was right. So we ventured into the room and started talking to Yeerks. And as we told my story, I could see so clearly everything that had happened not so long ago... Meeting Orifix for the first time. How Edriss had been angry at him...

When Edriss received her host body, and us running away from Sub-Visser Nine.

And how we were so close to making it. All of us together. If we had arrived a few minutes earlier, we would be in a whole different situation...

After a while, we were finally done telling everyone in the room. It had been quite easy since once we started telling one Yeerk, the rest of them all grouped up around us to listen to the story.

" And so," I concluded, " That is why we need your help. We're planning to go out there and find my friends as soon as we're done making a bit of a plan. So, who's with me?"

" I'm in," said a Yeerk more at the back.

" Yeah, me too," said the tallest one.

A shorter one right in front of Kitek and I then added:

" An adventure? Count me in!"

That one really reminded me of Edriss.

And the Controllers kept on profounding the collective agreement. Soon, we had ten Yeerks out of the thirteen we had spoken to who were willing to help us.

As Kitek and I walked toward the "training" area, at eleven o'clock, Kitek was very, very excited. And so was I. But she was showing it more.

" You know, I think ten people will be enough, don't you think?" she asked with a large smile, " Plus us, that makes twelve. That's enough. I mean, we can't just drag twenty people with us. That would be far too obvious."

" Yes, ten is enough," I agreed. " So tonight, we can start planning."

We kept walking down the long corridor until we got to the doors that led to training.

And let me tell you, training is no picnic...

" Euf!" Kitek sighed, letting herself fall on the bed in my room, " That was hard!"

It was seven o'clock now. Training had just ended. We had an hour intermission to eat, since Hork-Bajir eat twice a day, at four o'clock, and at five we were back on the training field. Training included Dracon Beam drills, combat training (one on one with another Hork-Bajir-Controller), running for thirty minutes... You get it, it was excruciating.

One bad thing about being a male Yeerk, though, is that once you are eight point five Yeerk years -- or seventeen Earth years -- old, you must take Sub-Visser training. It is not an option. And it lasts six hours a day for eight months! I didn't know if I'd be able to survive that.

Visser training is optional, though. If you want to remain a Sub-Visser, you don't have to take Visser training. Vissers work harder. And you must take a test before even going into training: From your performance on that test the Minister in charge of Vissers' training decides if you are eligible for Vissers' training.

I didn't want to become a Visser. Okay, fine, I'll admit it. I wanted to, but it was too hard. I'm sort of lazy. Visser training lasts ten hours a day, for eight point five months.

But see, I may have to one day: I promised Edriss that should she ever be accepted in taking the test for Vissers' training, I'd take it with her.

I doubted she'd ever be accepted. I mean, there has never been a female Visser. Not even Sub-Visser! But would I tell her that? Not in a million years!

She may not be eligible to become a real Visser, but I'll tell you she already has a Visser's attitude. She can make anyone -- and I mean anyone: even Sub-Visser Nine, for God's sake -- afraid of her. And she's not afraid of anything.

Except, just maybe, the fact that she doesn't know when -- and if -- she'll be able to see again...

" Okay, Kitek," I said, " You did tell everyone to meet in my room, didn't you?"

" Yeah, she told us."

I spun around. Three Hork-Bajir-Controllers, the smaller one who reminded me of Edriss, a taller one and a shorter one than even the Edriss-in- training. The taller one had a chip in his right blade. He was the one who spoke.

" The others should be arriving soon," Edriss-in-training assured us. " In the meantime, do you have all the necessary planning material?"

I was in awe. If Edriss had an identical twin, it would definitely be this Yeerk!

And then, a thought crossed my mind... Could it be? No...

" What's your --" I started, adressing Edriss-in-training.

" Anati Five-Six-Two," she replied, " ... Well, what did you expect? If somebody tells me my sister is in peril, then obviously I am going to help!"

" You are Edriss's sister?" I asked, " And you have the same number, but not the same name... Which means..."

" We would have been twins," said Anati, " But I was three weeks late. And she was two weeks early."

Kitek looked at me.

" I never knew Edriss had siblings at this base," she said.

" Well, she has two thousand and twenty-nine of them in all," I said, " Some of them were bound to end up here."

" And I guess we found her would-be twin," added Kitek.

I looked around the room, not paying much attention to Kitek. Anati was right. We would need planning equipment. I strode over to the floating table beside my bed, and picked up a couple holographic maps of the area and my portable laptop, and came back towards the group.

At that moment, five other Hork-Bajir-Controllers and one Taxxon-Controller entered the room. All that was missing was one.

" Okay, everyone, listen up," I said.

The door was closed. I had placed a hologram on the window earlier that made it look like there was no one in the room. We didn't want any non- members knowing what we were doing, for fear of them going to rat everything to the Minister.

" While we're waiting for the last member to show up," I continued, " I want everyone to come sign their name on the computer over here. It's a list of members. By doing this you pledge to help us with our mission, so think before signing."

Everyone rushed to the computer. Kitek and I had already signed our names to give everyone an example. When the list was done, it looked like this:

Members of the Freedom Project

Tehlit 286

Kitek 893

Janoki 443

Anati 562

Aneiko 211

Mahir 211

Oria 0556

Zedan 1144

Akalis 3422 (the prime)

Essor 351

Odanji 216

" There," I said proudly. " That's great!"

Everyone had signed my list. Now, I was more excited than ever: We had eleven members in our group! We were just about ready to start the plan...

Except for one thing: The last member hadn't shown up yet. Where was he? I was really starting to worry about that when suddenly...

- SWOOSH.

The door swung open, revealing a Hork-Bajir-Controller around the same size as I was. He entered the room with a straight posture, looked back behind him, smiled embarrassedly, and ran back to close the door behind him.

" Sorry I'm late," he said apologetically, " Family business."

I had absolutely no sympathy for this Yeerk. First he was late, then he almost broke my door, risking our cover being blown to bits!

" Yes..." was all I found to say, though I said it bitterly. " What's your name?"

" Essam Two-Nine-Three," he replied. " I swear, it was family business! What are you, a Sub-Visser?"

" No," I said, very angry now, " Just sign your name on the computer and we can begin, already!"

Essam obeyed, walking to the computer and adding his name to the list. I watched him the whole time. Expecting him to make some sort of mistake. To ruin something on purpose.

I had absolutely no type of trust for him. I mean, did I know I was looking at my future best friend? Obviously not!

When he was done, he walked off, leaving me to speak to the waiting crowd.

" Okay," I said, calmer now, " Let's start, shall we?"

Everyone nodded. And then, we got started on the plan.

It took us four hours. Four long hours of discussing and writing down.

But I will tell you that after those four hours, we had a plan. A pretty good plan, even.

And, well, as everyone went in their separate directions for the night, we were as ready as we'd ever be...

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