Chapter Eight
Edriss 562
The chair spun. Around and around again. I couldn't get dizzy because I couldn't see the world spinning around me.
I spun in the chair in my room in Sub-Visser Nine's headquarters, hoping all the spinning would drown out Sub-Visser Nine's voice...
" I think we both got off on the wrong foot, Edriss." he said. " If you'll forgive me, we can start all over."
" Never." I said icily, all my emotions severely controlled.
" I don't think you mean it that way, do you? You're just in a bad way, needing time to--"
" I can assure you I will never forgive you as long as I live." I cut him off. " Now leave me."
I got up and walked off, strolling blindly around the room, my arms in front of me feeling for obstacles.
" You are..." Sub-Visser Nine continued, " A feisty little Yeerk, no doubt. You have a very strong will. And the confidence of a Visser. Unlikely qualities, especially for a female."
" Don't try to flatter me," I spat. " I won't go back on my word."
He was silent for a moment. I could tell he was taken aback by my confidence. ... My confidence was the last thing I had in this world.
Suddenly, I felt something take my arm. Another Hork-Bajir. Sub-Visser Nine. What did he want now? I yanked my arm out of his grasp.
" Let me out of here!" I screamed. " Why am I prisoner in this horrible place?"
" You are a nuisance with that host, I'm afraid." replied Sub-Visser Nine, suddenly in a very harsh tone, " And you can be quite destructive. You are to remain here until further notice. No exceptions. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"
" Have I?" I replied dryly.
Sub-Visser Nine didn't answer. I didn't expect him to. I just heard footsteps and a door slamming as he left the room.
I felt around, making sure he was gone. I didn't like it when he came in my room. We always had these little talks about forgiving him.
Each time I refused.
And this time, there was another reason why I needed to be sure he was gone...
" Okay, guys, you can come out now." I said, addressing the closet in a corner of my room.
" Fiou!" I heard a voice say, " Thank God, I was starting to think we'd never get out of here!"
I heard a squeak as the closet door slid open. Out came four sets of footsteps. They were four Hork-Bajir Controllers that had escaped from their own rooms, found each other, and then found me. They had come along with Tehlit to save Orifix and me.
" So, how was the talk with Sub-Visser Nine?" asked the Yeerk named Oria Zero-Five-Five-Six.
" Not so great," I said. " As usual, though."
" Don't worry," said Mahir Two-One-One, " I'm sure Tehlit has a plan to come save us. Or Kitek. Those two always figure something out."
" Yeah," added Zedan One-One-Four-Four, " We'll be out of here in no time."
I listened to their comforting words. At least now I had someone to keep me company!
But deep down, I was really wondering how it was that Zedan had the same number as Orifix. I mean, One-One-Four-Four isn't a number you see every day.
Could Zedan be... No, that was impossible. I could not be standing face to face with Orifix's twin sister. That would be just too much of a coincidence...
So I didn't even ask her if she had a twin named Orifix. I told myself I would ask Orifix when -- if -- I saw him again.
The Yeerk named Akalis Three-Four-Double-Two, the prime, remained silent. He stayed seated in the middle of the closet, his arms folded neatly on his lap, seeming intensively pensive. At least, that's how Mahir and Zedan described him to me.
And after a while, his lack of speech seemed to get on Mahir's nerves.
" You could at least say something, Akalis," he said rather cooly, breaking the silence that had settled into the room. " We all gave our opinions on getting out of here and I think you should pitch in a little too."
Akalis's eyes became stone. To Mahir's opinion he simply replied:
" I hate Sub-Visser Nine."
" Yeah," I said, " Who doesn't? But that has nothing to do with you creeping us out by not talking."
" How can you be so sure it has nothing to do with it?" snapped Akalis.
" Hey!" I exclaimed, indignated. " I told you what I thought in a simple, polite way. You don't just snap at me like that. Who stepped on your Kandrona?"
" Sub-Visser Nine did," Akalis replied simply.
" Yeah, well, he stepped on mine, too." I said in almost a whisper, " It's his fault after all that--"
" That she can't see an inch in front of her," Mahir finished for me. " So what could he possibly have done to you that's worse than being blind?"
They were all backing me up. But we weren't prepared for what came next. In fact, it hadn't even crossed my mind.
Akalis took a breath, swallowed, then answered Mahir's question:
" He killed Akalis Three-Four-Double-Two, the lesser. My twin."
Akalis Three-Four-Double-Two, the lesser, had just awaken, that fateful morning, when he, his twin brother, and a few other Yeerks were called to the infestation pier at the Mat Seran pool, his home pool. Sub-Visser Nine, at the time Sub-Visser Ten, was there. He had come to monitor some of the Yeerk children at Mat Seran, to see if they behaved as well as the high-class-bred Yeerks of Sulp Niar. To see if they controlled their hosts as well as we, impeccably trained originators of the Sulp Niar pool.
Yeerks from the Sulp Niar pool, as myself, are like what you humans would call "first class". Born in the biggest, best pool, the main pool in the center of the Homeworld, we were better trained and taken care of than the Yeerks of the side pools.
Therefore, better able to take what came from controlling a host. Your first host, especially.
Akalis, the lesser, and his twin were two point five Yeerk years old at the time. They were very close twins, and great friends.
So of course, it took a long time for reality to hit Akalis, the prime...
The twins infested two Hork-Bajir. The tallest one was given to Akalis, the prime. It was a way of telling the two apart.
But the Yeerks in charge of capturing hosts for the young children did not know that the small Hork-Bajir, the one for Akalis, the lesser, had a birth defect in his left leg, which caused that leg to be completely paralysed. The Hork-Bajir could not walk at all.
And as Akalis, the prime told us the sad story of his twin's short life, I could just hear all their voices...
" But... Sub-Visser, he's just a child..." one of the host-captors pleaded.
" I don't care." Sub-Visser Nine's shrill voice rang in my ears, " We haven't enough hosts. There is absolutely no hope for this Yeerk. He is a nuisance. A complete nuisance. He will never serve any purpose in the Yeerk Empire with that crippled--"
" But you can't!" Akalis, the prime, sobbed. " He's my brother! You can't just--"
" Take him away!" Sub-Visser Nine ordered his subordinates, " Exterminate him. Make sure he dies quickly, by Dracon beam perhaps. Or the Gleet BioFilter."
And then, Akalis, the prime could only watch as his twin brother got taken by the arms and dragged away by two big Hork-Bajir. His brother did not know what hit him, and, not knowing what was coming next, he smiled at Akalis, the prime. Said:
" See you later, Akalis!"
And that was the last Akalis, the prime ever saw of his twin brother...
I jerked back. I could not believe my ears.
And it wasn't because of the story. Sure, the story was among the saddest I had ever heard, but it wasn't that.
No, it was the fact that I could still hear Sub-Visser Nine speaking. Speaking the words Akalis had told us he said to Akalis, the lesser.
But he wasn't speaking to Akalis. He was speaking to me.
His voice rang in my ears as he spoke those words. Those horrible words no Yeerk ever wants to hear.
" You are a nuisance." he said.
You are a nuisance...
... In a destructive state.
... We haven't enough hosts...
So what was I? Nothing? Was I also to die by Dracon beam? Or by unauthorised penetration of the Gleet BioFilter? Was I to die as well? And would my body be placed along with the other unfortunate Yeerk children who died because of unfortunate host disabilities?
No. I knew my life was worth more than that. If only I was given a chance!
But, unfortunately for me, Sub-Visser Nine did not know the meaning of second chances.
And if he wouldn't give me a second chance, I wouldn't give him one. End of story.
" So, now do you see why I hate Sub-Visser Nine so much?" Akalis asked. I knew he was addressing me.
I didn't answer. Couldn't. My mouth refused to open.
I let my Hork-Bajir body slump down on the ground. I lay on my side, motionless, hearing the voices in the room but not making any sense out of them...
I wanted to faint right there. I wanted to faint, and when I woke up I'd be back in Sulp Niar pool. And none of this would ever had happened. I would be in my home pool. Before the Andalite Homeworld. Before getting my host. And then I could get another host. I could see. And then I could just be normal...
I closed my eyes. "Normal" was something I would never be, I knew that already.
But everyone can dream...
A long time passed. I think I fell asleep sometime during that long wait, and I think some of the others did, too. And I would have stayed there, on the floor, even longer.
But sometimes things happen. Things you weren't expecting...
" Edriss?" I recognized Zedan's voice. She shook me slightly. " Wake up, there's something you should know about."
" What is it, Zedan?" I asked sleepily.
" Eu... How to explain this..." Zedan said thoughtfully. " There's a Bug Fighter parked at about three feet from the window, and two Hork-Bajir just exited the ship. These two signaled to another one, so I am supposing there may be more of them."
" Do we know these Hork-Bajir?" I asked. " Find out who they are."
" Got it," said Zedan.
She left, her Hork-Bajir feet clapping loudly on the floor. I got up, and my extra-sensitive Hork-Bajir nose smelled an unusual scent in the air: Ship exhaust fumes. From the engines. Or engine.
There was a ship out there, all right. All we needed to know was who had used it to arrive here in such late nighttime.
I felt with my arms to find my way to the window. There, I bumped into Zedan. She seemed concentrated. Her arms were very tense. Or at least that's what I realized from what I could feel.
" One of them just... waved at me." said Zedan, sounding unsure. " Now he's waving at you. Another one has both his hands over his mouth... Hold on... The first one just told us to... to come! But how to we do that?"
" We cut through the glass, with our blades," I replied. I felt the window to make sure I was in the right position, and then I cut a thick gash through the window, letting the warm air from outside enter the room. " You see? I will need your help. Everyone, cut the window like I just did. We'll go outside and see what those Hork-Bajir out there want."
To my surprise, they all obeyed. Everyone started cutting up the glass, piercing holes, shattering the window little by little, on my instruction. And then, when the hole we'd made was big enough for the biggest of us to pass through, we squeezed through the glass, and out into the world outside.
" Edriss?" I heard a strangely familiar voice. " Are you there?"
" Yes, I am here," I replied. " What is the meaning of--"
" Edriss, it's me, Anati!" the voice said. " Your sister! I came here with Tehlit to save you, but everyone except this guy, Essam, and I got captured. So the both of us united with Orifix to get all of you out. Now we can go back to the base," Anati reached out and took my arm. " It has been such a long time... It's so great to see you!"
" I wish I could say the same," I said regretfully. " It's great to hear you, in my case ... But did you say Orifix was here? And what about Tehlit? Is he with you?"
" I'm sorry..." Anati said, " We weren't able to trace Tehlit and the others. But Orifix is here."
" Edriss," Orifix said, " You are safe. I am very grateful."
" Same here," I said happily. " ... Eu, Orifix?"
" Yeah."
" Where are you?"
" Up on the ramp of this Bug Fighter we stole to come save you." replied Orifix.
" Stole it? But how did you--" I started.
" It's a LONG story," said a Hork-Bajir I could only assume was Essam, " An incredibly sad, LONG story! Now come on, come inside, I thought I told you we had to do this quickly. It's a long way back to the base. If you want I can tell you the story on the way. It'll take my mind off of motion sickness."
I rolled my blind eyes and started up the ramp of the ship. If there was one annoying Yeerk, it was Essam. For some reason I couldn't stand him.
... Now, did I know that this very annoying Yeerk that I could not stand was my future lover? Absolutely not.
Half way up the ramp I stopped. Anati bumped into me.
" What's the matter, Edriss?" she asked.
" ... What about Tehlit?" I replied, " We can't just leave without him!"
" Sure we can," said Essam.
" Listen, you--" I started.
" Okay, whoa!" said Orifix, calming us all down, " Edriss, we decided that since we lack time, we will bring you back to the base, and then come back for Tehlit and the others tomorrow. We will find him."
" Hopefully." said Essam.
I clinched my fist, trying hard not to rip him to shreds.
Anati, the four Yeerks who were with me, and I climbed up the ramp. I ran into a sleeping Taxxon close to the controls of the ship, but didn't bother asking why it was there.
The ride lasted long. A good hour, at least. And before we sped away into nowhere, I took one look back at Sub-Visser Nine's headquarters. And smiled.
I was outta there.
We arrived at the base late. Anati told me someone called "the Minister" was going to kill her and the others for leaving so suddenly. We walked to the front door, and I heard beeping as Anati pressed in the code to open it.
When we arrived inside, we got applauded and congratualed by many other children at the base.
And that night, I got the first real good night sleep in what seemed like a while.
But before I closed my eyes to fall asleep, I whispered to Orifix, who was sharing a large room with me:
" Orifix? Thanks for saving me."
" No problem," he replied, " No problem at all."
The next day, at dawn, two members of Tehlit's crew left with the Bug Fighter to go find Tehlit. They succeeded, and a few hours later, he came back, the same, happy, smiling Tehlit he had always been.
Life became a bit more normal after that. And I don't know why, but I sort of missed all the adventure. I still had my blind host.
But I was happier now.
For we had all been reunited.
Sub-Visser Nine must have decided it was best to leave us alone for a while. And when he decided to come back, we were more prepared.
But now, Orifix, Tehlit and I just lived a mostly happy life at the base. Together.
And it was a long, long time before any of that changed...
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