Anifan1: Thank you for your review.
Edriss: Thanks so much for your suggestions. I'll definitely include that. I did try to send you an e-mail with some suggestions for the hell of forty, but it kept failing to send. Maybe if you could e-mail me (the address is on my profile page), it would let me reply.
I hope you in particular like the end of this chapter… can you guess who… well, you'll know what you have to guess once you've finished reading it.
Quillian: Thanks.
Aizxana: No, that wouldn't fit into my story well, but thanks for the suggestion. I think there is a fic somewhere on this site with Eva's POV of the trial, if you search story by summary for Eva you should get it. I haven't read it, I just seem to remember noticing it in the summary.
Anonymous-cat: Well, if I told you that it would spoil the story… but I suppose I can tell you that I think there will be a different outcome, based on one event happening differently because of V1's slightly altered behaviour. Can you guess? If so, e-mail me your guess, so it won't spoil it for other readers. Thanks.
Sinister Shadow: Thanks for reviewing. I sent you an e-mail, have you got it? As you know, CF material starts this chapter.
Sinister2004: I realised I forgot to describe the Anati so I sort of worked that in here. Thanks for the review! This has less of the conflict over the children.
Voodooqueen126: Thanks.
Author note: Thanks to all my reviewers, particularly those who gave suggestions. Please give me suggestions if you can.
OK, everyone. This chapter adds a new dimension, but for those of you who may not like it, don't worry. It will be the focus next chapter, but other than that it won't be really in the foreground right now. But for those who do, it will be running along in the background. How much it features depends on how many people want it there.
Well, that's about it from me apart from Chapter dedication.
This chapter is dedicated to Edriss for her helpful suggestions and for actually answering my questions. I'm glad it happened to be this chapter in particular… maybe you'll see what I mean at the end.
On with the story!
My appearance certainly caused a bit of surprise. Yeerks leapt to their feet, having been lounging around chatting. It took them a few seconds to all realise that I had come in and to get silent ranks, standing in respect.
"Good morning," I said coldly. "Sit."
They sat as one movement.
"You." I pointed at the Yeerk who I had heard criticizing my son. And me. "What is your name?"
"Sub-Visser 12, Visser," he murmured nervously, avoiding my gaze.
"Well, sub-Visser. I do not appreciate being spoken about behind my back."
"I- I do not understand you, Visser."
"I also do not appreciate being treated like a fool. You know to what I am referring. Do not ever again say anything you would not say directly to me."
"Y-yes, Visser."
"I shall be watching you," I threatened.
I sat. The rest of the meeting passed in a blur. I was able to bluff my way tolerably through their questions, and by the end of the meeting, I had established a reasonable plan.
As I took the dropshaft back up to my floor, I realised I had been meeting with about fifteen Yeerks, a third or so of whom held Anati hosts, and had walked past Anati hosts the day before. Yet I could not clearly recall an image of one. Had I been so preoccupied?
Of course, I knew from computer data what they looked like. The Anati were, in short, birds. They had once in the past been able to fly, but had evolved to be too large for flight, and therefore instead of wings they had narrowed into something resembling arms, although their hands had far more and more delicate fingers even than an Andalite. The arms still had the residue of short flight feathers hanging off the bottom of them. They resembled an Earth flamingo in many other respects, save for their colouring. It is surprising that they are excellent speakers, despite having beaks, not mouths. The Anati are strongly differentiated between male and female. The females are the reddish-brown of the desert sand, whereas the males show bright colouring, varying from red to bright yellow. Their claws are their only natural weapon, but they need no other. They can retract them, but when they use them a paralysing poison, similar to Earth snake venom, is released. This would kill an animal the size of an Earth dog, and would paralyse a human for half an hour or so.
That night, I dreamt, and woke in tears. I dreamt, as may have been predicted, of my family. But not of my children alone. I remembered Essam, also. How I missed him! I wished with all my heart that I had been able to prevent him from starving. But it was all too late now, and dwelling on it would be no good. Yet I could not get him out of my mind.
(I'm a wreck,) I murmured to myself. (I thought I was over this.)
Eva did not speak for a while. Had we been in separate bodies she would have hugged me, but of course she could not. This pained her, for I believe she needed the physical comfort more than I.
Eventually she broke the silence. (I miss my husband, too,) she told me simply.
(Essam was never my husband, Eva. We lived together, but we weren't married. It would have been too easy a clue for the Empire to discover,) I said regretfully.
(I'm sorry.)
(You? You have nothing to be sorry for. I am sorry for what I did to your family. It was and is very wrong of me, but I hope you can forgive me.)
(Of course I forgive you. I've said that already.)
(Thank you,) I replied, truly meaning it.
There was a long silence, broken when Eva wondered aloud:
(But surely you Yeerks must have some form of romance in your society. You don't live to see your children, but you must still fall in love.) She couldn't comprehend the idea of a society without love.
(We do, although it is in groups of three. A female and two males, most usually, but sometimes a male and two females. But it's more a very close friendship rather than what you would call romantic love, for unless it occurs at the end of ones life, there is no sexual element. As you know, we die when we reproduce.)
(It sounds a better sort of love than humans', in many ways.)
(In some ways, I suppose. It's more support than much else, as we have no parents. Usually, those grubs coming from the body of the parent who was the sole one of their gender are the dominant ones. These take care of the others and are more likely to obtain a rank later in their lives.)
(So if Yeerks normally love, how come you were punished for loving Essam?)
(I wasn't. I was punished for loving the children. Plus, I loved only Essam, not Essam and another male Yeerk, and he loved only me. I was, in short, behaving more like a human than a Yeerk.)
(I see.) She paused. (So, have you ever loved anyone else? If you're supposed to love more than one, you must do,) She tried light-heartedly in an attempt to cheer me up.
(Eva!) I exclaimed in surprise. (That's a ridiculous question.)
She was surprised, to say the least. (You do, don't you? Someone you don't want me to know about?)
(Of course not, I-)
(Then why are you avoiding the question?)
(You should be asleep,) I said lamely.
(That was just pathetic.)
(Eva! Why should I have to tell you?) I shouted, beginning to be upset by the reminder of a feeling I was very, VERY reluctant to admit to.
(You don't,) she replied, sobered by my tone. (I was only teasing you. I thought it might cheer you up, but I obviously misjudged.) She paused. (I'm sorry if I brought up something that is painful to you.)
(It's not painful, so much as… embarrassing.)
(Oh?) She invited me to continue.
(I don't love him, Eva. I hate him, but I seem to be attracted to him as well. In some strange kind of way.)
(Hate him? Who?)
(Eva, there is absolutely no way you will ever know that. I've told you far too much already.)
She sighed. (OK. It's not my business, anyway.) But her guess popped up in her mind before she could stop it.
(No, it isn't him!) I exclaimed. It was, but there was no way I was going to tell her that.
Or you, whoever you are reading this. I'm not stupid.
You'll never find out.
(Edriss! It is, isn't it? I can't believe it!) Eva's shock was apparent.
(I wish I had a Hork-Bajir host. It wouldn't have guessed,) I said, trying to lead her onto a different topic.
(Edriss, I can't believe… well, I never expected that.)
(Be silent.)
(OK.)
(Not. One. Word.)
(I've shut up.)
(Good. Now go back to sleep.)
Please review! If you can guess who he is, please tell me your guess in an e-mail so you don't ruin it for other readers who may be reading reviews before the story or whatever. Thanks :)