Chapter 25

I was fully eagle. And Sam, Ferdie and Philip were fully Andalite. Three tall, strong, identical Andalites, perfect copies of the brave warrior I had watched die aboard the Skrit-Na ship. Four blue furred, scorpion tailed, four eyed aliens. The instinctive mind of a solider, lightning quick reflexes, lethal tail blades. Three very deadly creatures. Even in one of my favourite bodies, I must admit, I was a little bit jealous.

--I forgot how amazing these bodies were,-- said Ferdie, taking a little step forward and swinging his tail expertly. --Everything is just so easy and natural. You don't even need to think about moving. You just do it.--

--Come on, guys, we'd better get out there,-- urged Sam. --Maggie, you keep as high up as you can. I don't know how high the ceilings are in there, but do your best, ok? Tell us about anything you think is necessary, however silly it seems. Everyone else, this is what we've been gearing up for.--

--What exactly are we going to do, when we get in?-- Ferdie asked. --Just attack the first Controller who gets in our way? We have no idea what's behind that door.--

--Locate the resistances ASAP,-- said Sam. --That's our priority. Then, get a feel for the place. See exactly what it is we are up against. Thirdly, we try and free the hosts. This might be the only chance we get to come down here in a long time. Forth, we get out, on my say. If we can't get out, then we fight our way out.--

--Why didn't we just stay as flies?-- I asked. --We should have got a feel for the place first, before we just barged in.--

--Our senses are no good. Plus, if we'd gone in a flies, we would have had to demorph out there. If we go in as Andalites, the Yeerks might assume that's what we really are - Andalite Bandits. Give their morale a kick at least. Try and shake things up a bit.--

Sam stepped forward, her pale blue, multi-fingered hand on the door handle.

--Be ready guys,-- she said. --This is it.--

Sam flung open the door and stepped out of the corridor, her tail held high above her head in a true fighting stance. Philip and Ferdie followed. Immediately, the cries and screaming filled my sensitive ears.

--Oh, god…-- moaned Philip. --Maggie, get out here!--

I powered up my wings in the dead air and swooped over their heads, soaring out into the Yeerk headquarters. And in those first few seconds, a million pieces of information hit my brain at once. A million pieces of information which I would remember for the rest of my life.

We were in Hell. That was the only word I could use to describe the place. Hell. An immense underground cavern, that was what we had entered. An enormous domed chamber, large enough for several shopping centres and a football stadium. There were yellow construction vehicles - bulldozers and diggers working away at bare earth to the far end of the chamber, ever expanding this colossal cave. Around the sides of the dome were dozens of elevators and staircases, all leading down to the bare ground of the chamber. They led up to entrances like the one that we had come down. I realised that this cave, the headquarters of the Yeerk empire, wasn't just the basement of a hotel. It probably stretched underneath half of San Francisco.

Hundreds of cages lined the walls, all containing a number of humans or Hork-Bajir. The hosts who were to be infested. Many were crying. Many more were screaming. They were calling out, begging to be led free, pleading with Hork-Bajir guards to be let out. My sharp eagle eyes spotted a tiny child, a boy, no older than five, sitting in the corner of his cage, crying for his mother. Tears streamed down his face. There were other people in the cage with him, a young girl and an old man. Neither attempted to comfort him. They sat by themselves, the girl staring silently into space as if she has accepted her fate, the old man mouthing what might have been a prayer. Hundreds of humans beings. And Hork-Bajir too. Stronger, thicker-barred cages stood on the far side of the cage, where I could see these enormous blade-covered lizards crying out like children. Hundreds, enslaved to this silently invading alien race.

In the centre of the cavern floor was a large, perfectly circular lake, about a hundred meters across. It was filled with what looked a sludgy, lead coloured liquid. Above the pool were what appeared to be floodlights, radiating an almost ultra-violet glow onto the pool. If I looked carefully enough, I could make out tiny, individuals shapes moving slowly through the liquid, leisurely soaking up the violet rays. Yeerks, in their natural state, I realised, a sickening sensation running through my body. Leading into the pool were two metal piers, each around ten meters long, one on each side of the pool. At the end of one of the piers stood a line of orderly humans and Hork-Bajir, waiting patiently in line. They, I knew at once, were Controllers. Standing at the end of the pier were two burly Hork-Bajir and a human Controller carrying a Dracon beam. I watched in horror as the Controller, a teenage boy, at the end of the queue knelt down on the ground, supported gently by a Hork-Bajir, and turned his face sideways so that his ear was facing over the liquid. Suddenly, something dropped out of his ear and plopped into the pool with a little splash. The Hork-Bajir grabbed him, holding him still. The boy immediately began to struggle, scream and wail, spitting and cursing, kicking and hitting out at the guards who frog-marched him to a cage and threw him unceremoniously inside. The boy continued to fight, but the Hork-Bajir turned away, as if they were oblivious to his pleas. As if they had seen it all before, a thousand times a day. They made their way back to the end of the pier, and the process started all over again.

I turned my attention towards the other pier. Here, the opposite appeared to be happening. Hork-Bajir guards would take a screaming human and fellow Hork-Bajir from their cage, and carry or march them towards the pool. From there, they would push them to their knees and thrust their head into the murky liquid, A few moments later, they would gently help them up, and they would be on their way. Controllers.

The celebrities were being rounded up like sheep, being thrown carelessly into cages. They began to shout and wail like the others. They had absolutely no idea what was happening to them. They had no idea of the Yeerks or the concept of being a Controller. And now, they had been plunged into it in the very worst possible way.

I noticed all of this in just a couple of seconds. Time just seemed to stand still as I glided over the pool, two hundred meters up. My eagle eyes saw everything. Every Yeerk crawling into a persons' ear. Every tear falling down the face of the prisoners. My ears heard every sound. Every cry, every shout, every curse, every slamming shut of the metal cage doors. I felt sick. I felt like a fool.

--This is bigger than we ever could imagined,-- I whispered to the others, who were standing as still as statues taking in the terrible truth that was dawning on them.

--There's no way we can fight this,-- said Philip, in monotonous tones. --We thought be were dealing with a few aliens in silver helicopters. This…this is like a whole country down here.--

Just then, several things happened at once. It was not possible for three Andalites and an eagle to suddenly appear in the very heart of enemy territory and go unnoticed.

The first thing to happen was a dozen Hork-Bajir suddenly turned around and pointed their Dracons at Sam and the others. The second thing to happen was for a forth Andalite to appear. A taller and stronger Andalite than the morphs of Eramas. I immediately knew who it was. It wasn't that he wore a badge or a sash pronouncing his position. It wasn't even the fact that he was the only other Andalite in the chamber. It was the fact that the Visser stood there gloating, resting daintily on his four hooves, radiating evil. He just oozed malevolence. The way he looked at us with his dark green eyes, so unlike Eramas's. The way he performed the slightest arrogant twitch of his tail blade, barely visible to a human eye. The way he didn't even hold a weapon. This was no coward. This was not Visser Five. This was an entirely new type of enemy.

--So, another team of Andalite bandits have decided to show themselves at last,-- he said softly, his voice permeating the chamber with malice. --I was beginning to think that your numbers were rather low. Perhaps I was mistaken.--

Sam stepped forward, her tail blade twitching, her eye stalking moving around three-sixty. --Don't say anything,-- she warned. --He thinks we're Andalites. Don't let him know we're Visser Fives' precious fugitives.--

--I agree with you on that one,-- said Ferdie, his voice quivering. --I just hope he doesn't notice we are all identical clones.--

--I see the nine of you fell for my little trap,-- the Visser drawled. --I was expecting just six bandits today to help rescue your pathetic celebrities. Instead, I get nine! Nine lovely morph able Andalite bodies, ready to go to my most loyal lieutenants.--

--Maggie!-- Sam called. --He thinks there are only three of us! He hasn't see you!--

--He said there were nine of us altogether,-- Ferdie said. --That means that the resistance are here.--

--I thought there were only five human morphers?-- I wondered.

--Don't worry about something like that, said Philip. --Try and get out of sight, but keep a look out and tell us what you see.--

--I have some interesting sights for you now, guys,-- I said. For the third thing to happen was another Andalite had suddenly appeared across the other side of the Yeerk pool. A smaller, younger looking Andalite. He stood with his tail poised, his main eyes fixed upon Visser Three. But his stalk eyes stared unblinking at Sam, Philip and Ferdie. I reported my sightings to the others.

--Another human in morph?-- asked Philip. --Or a real Andalite?--

--He's probably thinking the exact same thing about you guys,-- I said. --Hold up, there's more.--

Behind the Andalite, a flash of black and orange. A tiger stepped up beside the Andalite, his claws extending, his mouth open, growling softly. Beside the tiger was a gorilla. Huge and muscular, capable of tearing a human being from limb to limb. On the other side of the Andalite was a huge, brown animal, standing seven feet tall on it's hind legs. A grizzly bear. One of the most powerful mammals on earth. Beside the bear was a wolf. Large and grey, golden eyes like my own wolf morph. And finally, I noticed, circling above the pool like myself, was a bird. A large hawk, similar to Philip's buzzard, with menacing sharp eyes and a rush-coloured tail. It watched me, and for a moment I felt the eagles' mind grow a little aggressive as it considered the possibility of another raptor invading on its' space. All were looking at us as if we were either clones of Visser Three himself, or a gift sent by God to the help the. And they all looked ready to fight.