Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1
It was getting late, and I was freaked. Cassie was definitely in danger. I considered going over to the school and trying to catch up with the others. A bad idea. I couldn't risk blowing whatever cover they might have. Yet, at the same time couldn't stay at home while the other Animorphs put their lives on the line.
There was this suspicion that was nagging at me. During the chase, the policemen had seemed very nervous at the parking garage. They muttered about Visser Three. There might be something going on over there.
It was only a little bit out of my way, and since not many people can out-handle me on a bicycle, I decided to investigate the garage before heading to the school. The garage is used during the day for city government workers. Right now, though, it's pretty deserted except for a security guard. I ducked behind a car and waited until he headed down the ramp towards the entrance.
I was about to explore when I saw the guard wave in a large black van with tinted windows. Curious, I watched as the van headed up the ramp.
Instead of parking, the van pulled up directly in front of the elevators. A group of people got out. I recognized Jake's brother Tom. Controllers!
Someone pushed the button to summon the elevator. I knew that I had to follow this group, but I also knew that I couldn't stay in human form. I didn't know if Tom would recognize me or not, but I didn't want to chance it.
I had four morphs, Hyena, Giraffe, Ferret, and K-9 German Shepherd. The Hyena and Giraffe morphs I automatically ruled out. They would have seemed out of place anyway.
My K-9 dog seemed like a good morph, but I dismissed it. Like they would even let a dog onto the elevator. This job required stealth. Precision. I suddenly realized the full potential of this awesome power that the Andalite had given me. To change into animals meant I could change my size. I could shrink or grow. I could breath underwater, and I could fly
In this instance however, there was only one way to go. Ferret time.
I concealed myself in a dark corner of the garage. I felt the ground rush up at me as my bones compressed. Hair grew on my hands, on my face. My nose twitched. My body became sleek, and the ferret mind urged me to play. There were so many things to investigate in the garage! Wonderful smells, and things to eat.
I wrenched my ferret brain under control. Keeping to the wall, I got close to the group. As a small animal, I figured I wouldn't be noticed, but I also didn't want to take chances. The elevator dinged, and the first group crowded in. I slunk closer.
Dare I risk going onto the elevator? The lights on the elevator were bright, and I'd probably be noticed there. Normally humans would scream if they saw a furry creature in a small space with them. But these weren't normal humans. These were Human-Controllers. They might not care.
I had to chance it.
I slunk between the legs of the Controllers and headed for the corner. The doors closed.
"We have company," one of the Controllers said. They all looked down.
"It's not a cat," someone said.
"It's not a dog," someone else said. I resisted the urge to say, (Well duh! Genius, do I look like a dog to you?)
The Controller who seemed to be in charge turned and then gave me a dismissive glance. "Catch it. I'll throw it down the shaft."
Busted! I couldn't move I was frozen with fear.
"Wait," Tom said. "I've seen that animal. It's called a ferret. Belongs to Humphries, Mala Six-One-Three's host. Maybe we shouldn't touch it. Iniss said to take no chances."
"All right, Temrash," The other Controller said, turning his back, already bored with the conversation.
I was safeāfor now.
The elevator indicator lit up at the sublevel floor. That's as far down as the parking garage goes. But the Controller hit a series of buttons, and the elevator didn't stop. I made out the buttons barely with my fuzzy ferret vision: 9-4-6-6. I memorized it, figuring it might be important later.
The door opened into a room that seemed carved out of dirt and rock. Sheetrock was nailed up against the walls. I slunk out of the elevator and followed the group into a concealed door that led to an iron staircase.
I went down, down, down. My ferret eyes adjusted to the light, and my nose picked up the smell of dampness. I heard something, a comforting sound that reassured me for a brief moment. Like waves against a shore.
Then I heard the screams. Human cries of anguish, suffering. And I picked up a horrifyingly familiar smell: Taxxons.
I didn't want to see what was ahead. I didn't want to move. Dread filled me. It was so much more enormous than being afraid of a test, or the dentist.
I'd only hesitated a moment, but the Controllers have disappeared around a turning. I darted forward.
The first thing that hit me was how big the place was. It was about three times the size of the mall. Think Super Bowl stadium times two. And was all completely open, and carved out of rock and earth. There were still enormous pieces of earthmoving equipment down there, as though the space was constantly being expanded upon. I noticed other staircases winding up and disappearing. Jake was wrong. The Yeerk pool wasn't under the school. There had to be entrances under the entire town! The Yeerks were much more numerous than any of us had imagined.
That's when I noticed the cages. They were filled with humans and Hork-Bajir. Some of them were screaming. Some just sat numbly. Taxxons and Hork-Bajir patrolled outside the cages. Occasionally, one of the Hork-Bajir lashed out with a tail blade and rattled the cage. The humans shrank back, and the Yeerk-controlled Hork-Bajir let out those chucking sounds I'd heard at the construction site.
As I watched, to the best of my ability with ferret senses, one of the Hork-Bajir opened a cage and lead out a woman. She struggled, and the Hork-Bajir casually held a bladed wrist to her throat. I had no doubt he would slash her in a second. The Hork-Bajir led her onto a pier. It went out over a pool that looked as though it was filled with moving sludge. He forced her head under the surface. When he jerked her head back up, I saw a gray-green slimy thing finish slithering inside her ear. The woman stopped struggling.
And then I spotted Tom again. Another pier, he bent his head over the pool. The same slimy thing slid out of his ear.
Immediately, he began to scream. I couldn't hear the words, but I could imagine. The Hork-Bajir put a blade to this throat, but he struggled and fought anyway. It took three of them to get him to a cage and throw him inside.
I felt sick. Sick to my little ferret bones. I couldn't fight this. What made me think I could fight this? I should turn around and go back up while I could. Wait to fight another day.
Because it was hopeless, I didn't think it was possible, but I wanted to give up.
Then I saw Cassie. That policeman, Seidel, was dragging her down the "infestation" pier. Dragging her to Yeerk slime to invade her brain.
It was still hopeless, but rage filled me and sent my blood pumping. I remembered what it was that I always said: "You never have to be afraid to do what's right." I was afraid, of being killed or being infested by a Yeerk, but I wasn't afraid to do the right thing. I was ready to fight.
