Controller

(I don't own Animorphs)

Chapter Ten

Tehlit 286

" Tehlit, what is that thing?" Edriss pointed to the state-of-the-art Dracon Beam I was holding, " I want one! Do you think I could just… try it? You know… after you're done?"

I sighed. I knew watching me train would be too tempting for her…

" No way, Edriss," I reminded her in a whisper. " I told you you couldn't touch anything."

It was the next day. The day after I had been told that my two best friends had swapped hosts. The day that I learned that for three days and only three days Edriss would be able to see.

... And Orifix would not.

We were at training. Edriss had insisted to come watch me. I told her she could, but only if she stayed seated patiently on the sidelines of the training field, watching me, and of course acting like Orifix.

I knew how much she wanted to just jump up and join me in my training. But I couldn't allow it.

I guess Edriss would... someday... just have to get used to the fact that it would never happen. That she would never be able to become a Visser. That she would have to live like the other females did.

Seeing or not.

But she would see forever. Someday. I swore it to myself every night before falling asleep. It was a good comfort.

" Oh, Teeeeeeeeh-LIIIIIIIIIT!" I heard another Hork-Bajir-Controller call from the other side of the field.

A Hork-Bajir-Controller I knew.

And oh, God I despised him...

I turned and looked at him running up to us, a handheld Dracon beam in his left Hork-Bajir hand.

" Essam," Edriss sighed in annoyance, raising her eyes to the sky.

" Hello, Essam," I said as the annoying Yeerk caught his breath, " Nice day, isn't it?"

I shot a look at the dark green clouds and at the acid droplets they produced.

Yes, what a beautiful day!

" Great day," answered Essam. He laughed. " Morning, Ed."

I rolled my eyes. Essam recently got into the habit of calling Edriss "Ed". And sometimes, Edriss calls Essam "Essannoying". But that's a completely different story.

I gave Essam a nudge. I sort of dug painfully into his Hork-Bajir ribs while I was at it.

" Not too loud, you big dapsen!" I whispered. " If someone hears you call her Edriss, the whole plan is completely blown!"

Essam jerked back, offended. In case no one mentionned it by now, calling someone a dapsen is horribly vulgar. The word "dapsen" means... something I definitely won't repeat...

" Well I'm sorry," Essam said stiffly. " I called her ED! ED! Not EDRI"

Edriss slapped her hand violently against Essam's Hork-Bajir mouth before he had time to finish.

" Shut up, you imbecile!" she yelled, " We don't have time for this. You don't call me Edriss, you call me Orifix. And that's final! Understand?"

" Yes, Visser." Essam said, shooting me an icy look. " I understand you perfectly. Although I am having a hard time understanding mister high-rank wannabe over here."

Edriss looked surprised. Probably because Essam had just called her "Visser". I hated Essam even more from that moment on. I glared at him. He simply smirked.

" Okay, back to the field, everybody!" Sub-Visser Eighteen, in charge of training us, snapped. " Come on! Come on! We've got no time for delinquents!"

" That's right, guys, go on!" Edriss, typically agreeing with the Sub-Visser.

Essam and I didn't speak a word to each other for the rest of training. Or for the rest of the day after that, either.

In fact, even as we crossed paths in the hallway later that night, going in separate directions, not a word escaped our mouths...

It was late, late in the night, when I heard knocking on my door.

That's a bit strange, I thought to myself as my eyes snapped open. I felt a long chill go down my spine. Who would come visit this late at night?

I checked the clock. Two thirty-four in the morning. Our clocks go all the way to sixteen o'clock, and then go right back to one. When it gets to one the second time, the new day begins. We have thirty-two hours instead of twenty-four.

And two thirty-four was awfully late.

Possibilities came rushing through my mind as I stood up and walked towards the door. What if something had happened to one of my friends? What if something terribly, terribly wrong had happened? I was scared. I was very scared.

I got to the door, took a deep breath and pressed the "open" button.

The door slid open. And I found myself face to face with three Hork-Bajir. Two small ones, and one taller one.

The small ones were definitely Orifix and Anati. I could tell. Orifix was slightly smaller, though. What could possibly have happened for Orifix and Anati to show up at two thirty-four in the morning! I silently asked myself. And then I replied, just as silently: Nothing good...

I looked at the taller Hork-Bajir. A wave of relief swept through my whole body. Kitek. She was safe...

But she seemed distant. Sad. My hope vanished instantly.

" Hi guys," I said sleepily. " What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

" Tehlit." said Orifix. " I am sorry for disturbing you. But we bring awful news."

" What awful news?" I pressed. " What happened?"

" Please, Tehlit, calm down." Kitek said in her sweet voice, " You must let us inside."

They were all speaking in the same tone. Despair. Complete and pure despair.

" Alright," I sighed. I stepped aside and allowed my friends to enter the room. I then shut the door tightly and turned on the lights, sitting on my bed. I looked at each of my friends' faces.

They all looked sad.

But the saddest one was Orifix.

" Okay." I said calmly and monotonally. " What happened?"

" Tehlit, we have some very bad news." said Kitek, " I hope you will not take this too hard."

My mind was swimming in terror. " What is it?" I choked.

" It's Edriss," Orifix said, " She has gone missing."

I felt as if I'd been slapped. I was dizzy. No. How could this happen? How!

" She's been abducted." Anati clarified. " And I think we all know by who."

Her voice was filled with hate. I understood immediately.

And then, if all this wasn't bad enough already, Kitek reached out and placed something in my hand. A ruffled piece of paper. We Yeerks seldom used paper to write messages. Only when we we're in a big hurry.

" We found this on her bed," said Kitek sadly, " It may come in handy."

With shaking hands, I unfolded the paper. The message was written in a faded ink. But,

nevertheless, nothing doubted what it said:

" You were wrong in assuming you were through with ME! Now you will all pay for what you have done. By the sacrifice of your little friend here.

He will talk. And then, it will only be a matter of time..."

I was speechless, not knowing if I should say something or not. All I knew for sure was that now, our lives were in peril again. He had come back for us... And this time, who knew how hard it would be...

Who knew if we'd even make it out alive...

I shot a defeated glance at the letter. The simple, primitive letter that had caused all our hope to disappear in a matter of seconds.

The letter was not signed. It didn't need to be.

The next day, I awoke early and walked down the few hallways to the cafeteria. When I arrived at our usual table, I noticed that Orifix was already sitting there, chewing on a piece of bark, his eyes fixated blindly straight in front of him.

Edriss's eyes.

He was not alone. Also at the table was... Essam. Oh, God, not him. I could not stand that Yeerk, and Orifix knew it!

But as soon as I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Orifix, I noticed that something was different about Essam. He wasn't acting normally. Not at all. Neither was I, I guess. Or anyone.

Essam placed a hand on my arm, turning me to face him.

" Okay, Tehlit, listen." he said, uncharacteristically serious, " I acted like a dapsen. So I'm going to apologize so we can all get along and find Edriss as soon as possible."

I was shocked. I was more than shocked.

... Was Essam Two-Nine-Three being nice! That was pretty decent of him to put Edriss's safety before our personal quarrels...

Strange... But I let it go.

" Alright," I said. " You're right. Thanks, Essam."

" No problem," said Essam. Then, with a laugh, he added, " See? This is much better than pouting all day long! We can do something productive with our lives, at last!"

I could not conceal a laugh. I guess it was basically at that moment that Essam and I became, more or less, friends. After all, we were all in the same situation.

We needed to find Edriss. And we needed to do it quickly.

Who knew what was happening to her now, right at this instant? Who knew if Sub-Visser

Nine... or whatever rank he was at now... would keep her long enough for them to discover our

secret?

The secret of the host swap.

... Hold on! That was it!

" You guys!" I exclaimed, " That's it! I think I just figured something out. The note said "He will talk". Sub-Visser Nine thinks he kidnapped Orifix, not Edriss. Maybe... maybe somehow, we could use that to our advantage."

" What are you talking about?" asked Orifix. " How would we use the host swap to our advantage?"

" I don't know..." I admitted. " I just don't know. All I do know is that we need to do something, and fast. We'll assemble the crew after we're done eating. We can meet in my room and make a decent plan. Then, we'll set out. Today. Tomorrow morning, at the latest. We don't have much time. So we'll use what we've got."

Zedan One-One-Four-Four. Akalis Three-Four-Two-Two, the prime. Janoki Four-Four-Three.

Essor Three-Five-One, Odanji Two-One-Six, Oria Zero-Five-Five-Six. Aneiko Two-One-One and Mahir Two-One-One.

And, of course, Kitek, Essam, Anati, Orifix and I.

Those were the members of my crew. Edriss was also part of it, of course. But, for now, she was the one the crew needed to rescue.

We had all assembled in my room. It was ten twelve in the morning. Still early. Lots of time to plan.

Orifix and Anati were sitting on my bed, quiet. Very still. I guess the fact that Edriss had been kidnapped was still hitting them pretty hard. It was hard on me, too, but I had realized that we couldn't just sit around feeling bad. We needed to do something about it. And quick.

We had fooled Sub-Visser Nine, in a way. He thought he'd captured Orifix. But he had no idea that who he'd really captured wasn't Orifix at all...

Although, that fact would serve us no purpose. We could not tell Sub-Visser Nine that he had captured Edriss. We needed to keep that a secret for as long as we could. Forever, even.

But still, it's good to look on the positive side...

" Okay, what now?" asked Anati, finally speaking. " We cannot have this. I'm sure you all agree that we can not have this!"

" Do not worry, I agree completely." Orifix muttered.

" We all agree," added Kitek.

" Yes. We will find Edriss soon." said Oria Zero-Five-Five-Six, " She counts on us to return her to her home. So we will do all that is possible. That's all we can do. And together, we can do a lot."

I smiled. Oria always knows how to make people feel better.

Even when it was hard to feel good about anything...

" Eu... I don't really have a plan," I confessed, " So I'm open to suggestions."

Essam jumped up.

" You don't have a plan!" he clapped his hands to his face in mock terror, " Well, that does it, then. We're all dead."

Anati stared at him attentively for a moment. " Are you through?" she exclaimed.

" Come on, people," said Akalis, " We have to think of something here."

" We don't really have time to argue," Kitek added. " Edriss's life is in danger. We have to do something."

I thought it over or a moment. Then, I looked at Kitek.

" Yes, we do have to do something. And I just may have an idea." I said. " But I believe the true question is: Will we have enough time?"

Please review if you want me to continue...