Chapter 19

That night, I was sitting in the lounge, half trying to finish my homework, half trying to ignore Tom's attempts to drag me along to another Sharing meeting. I was tired and worn out from the day's work and the battle the night before, wishing that I could just go to bed.

"You could do some real good for the community, you know," he was saying, as I rolled my eyes and tried to stop myself from falling asleep. "Didn't you hear the news about that water facility this afternoon? We're helping clean that all up as well."

My ears pricked up at this.

"Water facility?" I asked, trying not to catch his eye. "What happened?"

Tom raised his eyebrows. "You haven't heard? What, have you been living in a closet for the last three hours? Dad's been on about it all afternoon. It's on all the local news and everything."

"What happened?" I repeated, knowing the answer.

"That water pump up by Grove. Some gang broke in last night and wrecked the place. And I mean totally. Completely thrashed up one of the tanks. Vandalised everything in their path. They even shot some poor security guy. Left a district without running water last night."

I knew what we'd done last night wouldn't stay secret for long. It wasn't as if we'd bombed the school, or anything as big as that, but it was sure a blow to the Yeerks, and would have had an effect on the local community. I supposed it was only a matter of time before the media would be on to it.

"Wow," I said, pretending to be shocked. "I wonder who they were. Did you say The Sharing were helping clearing up?" I asked.

"Yeah. We were out this afternoon, helping clear up some of the mess. Those kids left the place in pretty bad shape, I can tell you. We're going out again tomorrow, after school. Maybe you could join us?"

"Eh, think I'm busy," I said vaguely. Obviously, if The Sharing were helping to clear up, the Yeerks would be making sure that there would be not a trace of anything remotely alien left at the scene of the battle. No strange Hork-Bajir blood. No damaged Dracon beams. No tiger fur or rhino hide to cause a suspicion. The Yeerks were good at covering their tracks.

"Shame," Tom went on. I turned back to my math notebook and tried to tune him out. But it was difficult to concentrate on algebra when thoughts of last night's alien battles are spinning in your head.

Just then, my dad entered the living room. He settled himself down onto the couch and threw his evening newspaper on the coffee table. I grabbed the paper, flicking though hastily for any news of what we'd done. My eyes landed on a medium-sized article, containing a page's worth of news coverage, and a large black and white photo of the aftermath of the facility. I looked at the picture of the damage we'd cause last night. I could feel Tom's eyes watching me. I skimmed through, pretending to be mildly interested in what it said. There wasn't much to be worried about. Just a last-minute story pretty much saying what Tom had told me. Probably written by Controllers, though. That a couple of street kids, possibly gang members, had broken into the facility, then vandalised some of the tanks and tried to hack into the computers. They said that the police didn't yet know why they broke in, or who the kids were, but anyone who had any information should phone some hotline. Your usual newspaper story. No sign at all that it was really a cover up. To be honest, even the picture didn't really show much damage to the place. I think it was just the media was making a big thing about it, as if they were over-emphasising the fact that it had been teenage vandals, and nothing else, that was the cause. I placed the newspaper casually down on the table, as if I was already bored with the story. My dad saw the page and looked up.

"Oh yeah," he said, flicking though the TV channels. "You just been reading about that water thing? I just got a call from one of the consultants at the hospital earlier. They are putting out a warning to local residents over on the east side of town not to drink any tap water until that whole thing is cleared up."

"Really?" I asked. "People are being advised not to drink the water?"

"Apparently. Everyone is being told to boil their water or buy bottled stuff for the next week or so. Scientists had found that some chemical was leaking into one of the main tanks and causing the water to become contaminated. That's what was causing people to become ill. The vandals were probably a good thing in a way. The damage they caused showed exactly where the chemical was seeping into the reservoirs. Environmental agencies are on it now."

I wasn't too sure what to make of this. People were being advised not to drink the tap water sounded like a good thing, but there was still a chance this could all be another Yeerk attempt at salvaging their problems.

I glanced indifferently at Tom. His eyes were narrowed, and he seemed to be deep in thought. He didn't exactly look pleased with this news.

"Dad?" I asked nonchalantly. "You said this news came from the consultants at the hospital? Any idea which department? I've got a friend whose mother is a doctor there, just wondered if they would know anything about it at school tomorrow."

"Emergency room, I think," my dad replied, shrugging.

So not the department that the Yeerks had taken over. This didn't mean that this was definitely not another cover up, but it did look less likely.

I decided to call Marco, and we chatted briefly about what I'd heard, being careful to use the same sort of language we'd read in the newspapers, just incase Tom or anyone else was listening in.

"If you ask me, buddy, I'd say for once we've got some luck on our side," Marco said. "If everyone is being told to buy drinking water, they can't drink anything that's dirty or contaminated. And that means they won't… you know. Get ill and have to go to hospital."

I heaved a sigh of relief. Marco is probably the most cynical and sceptical member of the team, but I trusted his judgement. If he thought that something was safe, it usually was.

"So you think it was all a good thing?" I said, referring to the mission. "I mean, obviously people are going to be pretty irritated for the next few days, but at least they'll be ok."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Plus, that department at the hospital will have a bit of weight taken off their hands! And, who knows?" he said, trying to make a joke, "it might even affect the school and we could have a three-day weekend!"

I laughed. "Don't think we'll be that lucky, dude!"

I hung up and went up to my room, putting my finally finished homework in my bag. I could already hear Tom picking up the phone, probably ready to call Chapman or one of his other fellow Yeerks. I left him, and laid back on my bed, gazing absently out of the window. Another day, another blow to the Yeerks. Without people drinking their water, the Yeerks were unable to lure people to their department at the hospital. And with fewer people to lure, the less Controllers that would be made. For once, it seemed like our mission had been a success. We'd worked well as a team, we'd had our scares and our uncertainties, but we'd done it and prevented the Yeerks from carrying on with their plans. If only all our missions would be so easy.