Hear No Evil . . . (17)
The bright yellow of construction vehicles reflected in the street lights. Dimly silhouetted in
these satellites of color were pyramids of steel beams. From someplace unseen, the sound of
dripping water echoed across the deserted construction site. Well, that and the shuffling
footsteps of six teenagers.
The group of mall-crawlers emerged from one bank of trees which surrounded the site like seats in
an amphitheatre.
"So don't like, sidle up to her or whatever. Girls don't want you pulling the "smooth-daddio"
thing," Marco whispered into Jake's ear.
"If I don't," Jake replied, wiping the side of his face. "will you stop spitting?"
"Shut up, dude. I'm helping you."
Jake took a deep breath... and a step closer to Melissa.
"Um.. guys? Hi, um... there's- check it out." A timid voice from the back interrupted him.
With a nasty look on his face, the Commander whipped around to view the offender.
"What, dude? What?"
Tobias's mouth opened and shut a few times, no words coming out. Jake immediately felt guilty.
"I didn't mean to snap, I-" He realized that Tobias's arm still pointed straight up. His eyes
followed the finger's aim-
"Spy plane! We're being attacked!" Jake ran for the nearest cover, a brick wall with large
holes in it, presumably settings for future windows.
"We're being attacked?" Marco laughed. That is, until he looked up. Soon he was also peeking
over the windowsill with the five others.
They huddled together, equals in fear. Staring at the bright light in the sky. The light that
at first was suspiciously too fast and now was suspiciously too slow. Decelerating to the point
where it hovered hesitantly above the site. And then grew.
"It's getting closer." Marco whispered.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it..." someone was muttering.
"Primitives with planes!"
Jake hushed them then.
Ethan's mind erratically flashed to his memory of the cement mixer.
The photo of primitives.
I was right, he thought, panicking slightly. They are more advanced than the government says.
"Maybe we should run or something?" Marco said quickly. "I mean, sitting here isn't a very good
plan."
Jake shook his head. "If we run, they might... I dunno, throw poisoned spears at us or something."
After the hushed, nervous laughter quieted, Marco responded. "Please, Jake. With a weapon like
THAT thing, they'd THROW SPEARS?" His tone was a bit less hysterical this time as he rolled his
eyes.
Like he's the expert on primitives. Right, Jake thought, hurt.
They stayed close to the false security of the brick wall. The light became a shadow. About
the size of a trailer, only oval in shape. Absolutely seamless metal, connected to a menacing
tail curled over the end.
"That tail thing looks like a weapon," Jake reasoned, trying to redeem his earlier "spear"
comment.
"Yeah, weapon." Melissa nodded, eyes wide in fear.
The craft touched down without any disturbance to the earth beneath. An oval began to simply
appear on the right side. An eclipse of light. And inside the eclipse stood a silhouette.
Of Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. An Andalite champion who surpassed all.
And, by the way, was about to die in five minutes.
Which, sadly, he already knew.
Elfangor surveyed the area with his eyes... well the top two at least. The other set stared
stoically ahead of him. At the wall these teenagers were hiding behind.
Shaking his head, a habit Elfangor picked up during his last visit to Earth, he descended the
ramp.
Now to find the time matrix. Wait, that tree wasn't here before...
Elfangor sluggishly trotted between the two trees which were mere saplings when he had first
dug here, trying his heroic best to ignore the searing pain. The two reminded him vaguely of
Turkold and Blenish, his favorite trees at home, his mind wandered.
There was still a chance, he thought. If I can just-
He interrupted himself by arcing his tail around and bringing the blade down hard into the
gravely earth. This move was far more difficult than usual, considering the fatal gash burned
deep into his flank.
Between the desperate sounds of his thrusts, he could hear a faint scuffling of gravel behind
him and to the right. Scanning his eyes to the two hundred degree position, he saw human heads
slowly edging over the top of a nearby brick wall, reminding him of the life forms his Ship's
Organic Detector had highlighted earlier. Life forms he had ignored in single-mindedness. The
Matrix was unreachable, he now concluded.
Glancing at the wall again, he breathed deeply.
Another way. There's another way to save this miserable planet.
Tobias popped his head up over the wall. "Hi! Hello there!" he said brightly, waving for
attention.
Jake's arm reached up and grabbed the top of Tobias's head, thrusting him back down. "Shut up!"
he whispered, the anger etching his face.
Tobias set his mouth into a fine line. He had a feeling about this creature. Of total safety.
Did no one else feel this... vibe?
The creature turned his body slowly, clumsily, until Tobias could see a terrible red circle
on his flank. A burn of some type. The alien faltered and fell between two trees.
Tobias stood and dashed around the wall, before he could be stopped.
"What are you doing, are you insane?" screeched Marco.
"He's hurt!" Tobias yelled over his shoulder, as if that was the only explanation needed.
He stopped suddenly a few feet short of the thing, kicking up gravel.
He started to say something, then stopped. There was no articulate phrase his mind could
grasp for this sort of situation. "I- I won't hurt you." He offered gently, smiling.
"I know."
Tobias blinked away the tears rapidly. Somehow the creature had spoken inside his mind.
Emotions and images that his overwhelmed brain contorted into English words. Along
with his words came this incredible feeling of comfort and release. As if Tobias had been
waiting for this moment forever. He was.
The creature could only be described best as "centaur-like". As if someone had chopped a man in
half and sewed him onto the decapitated body of a small horse or deer. After dying both portions
blue first. But with graceful flowing curves that made his visage less gruesome than description
allowed. His horse body was imbedded in the dirt while he supported his upper body slightly off
the ground with a weak-looking right arm.
"I'm Tobias." He ventured, for lack of anything better to say.
"I know." The alien repeated. "I am Elfangor."
He had smiled so gently. Had spoken so diplomatically.
Elfangor experienced many dreams of his son. All of them nightmares. On Earth, Tobias was
likely to be as ruthless and ignorant as the other inhabitants. In his brief time on the planet,
Elfangor had come to know Loren's people well.
Maybe there was hope. After all, if this place had produced so lovely a creature as Loren,
Elfangor's wife, perhaps his son had-
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the other teenagers. His son's friends perhaps?
The largest one, a male, stepped in front of Tobias; shielding him.
"What is your business here?" he demanded. The others quietly stood behind him, snatching up
the generous protection he offered.
"I have come to warn you." Elfangor patiently responded.
A smaller, darker human approached, stepping around the larger, paler one. "You're hurt!" She
cried. "Someone give me-"
"Quiet Cassie!"
"Jake, he's hurt! Just give me your-"
"No!" The one called "Jake" barked. "For all we know, he's some genetic experiment from-"
"Oh, get over yourself, Jake." Another short one snapped, removing his shirt and handing it
to Cassie. "Here, Cass. Tear away. I'd like you to note: that's my favorite shirt."
Cassie bit at the collar with her small, white teeth and began to pull on the sleeves.
"No. I will die here. Do not ruin his clothing." Elfangor said dryly, stopping her motions.
"I was just kidding, man, I don't really care."
Elfangor sighed exasperatedly. There was no time for this.
Apparently "Jake" felt the same. "There's no time for this." He shuffled anxiously. "What
are you HERE for? What do you REALLY want?"
Ethan didn't like this situation one damn bit. There were many questions to ask the blue man.
But no way to communicate them.
Where was he from? What was his warning?
And why the HELL did he look so familiar?
Having no ambition to step any closer to the menacing ship or the alien's tail blade, Ethan stayed
a good few meters away. Until Cassie decided to be REALLY stupid and kneel beside the injured
animal.
Against his will, and all good reason, Ethan's body automatically followed Cassie's. Not that
anyone noticed. His mind caught up with his body, deciding that if anything was happening
to Cassie, it'd happen to HIM first. As Jake was slowly becoming irritated and the alien was
about to respond, Ethan grabbed Cassie's arm and pulled her upright. He cautiously directed her
away from the alien, just out of tail blade reach.
The others whipped around in surprise, none more surprised than Cassie herself.
Marco shook his head. "Oh man, now is NOT the time for retard to rebel." He gently cooed to
Ethan as if he were a dog. "Come on now, buddy, let go of your master. No trouble. Be nice,
now."
Elfangor's right front hoof lifted and his upper body recoiled, almost driving him off-balance
and fully into the dirt. He recovered in time. "A vecol? I . . . I suppose that's only
fitting."
"Fitting?" Melissa questioned.
"I am not the only alien on this planet. There are many others with another agenda. Ones which
I have vowed to protect Earth from... but I am beginning to question my vow." He said with a nasty
thought-speak chuckle.
"Now just one-"
"There is no time to discuss politics or why I think humans have slowly degenerated into
despicable beings to the like that become Yeerk role-models. Now is time for you to learn about-"
"Yeerks?"
Elfangor continued as if uninterrupted. "They are parasitic slugs who crawl into your brain and
capture control of you. They slither in through the ear canal and wrap around every part of
your cranium. You become a prisoner in your own mind." He sneered insensitively. Anything
to get through to these children.
They all stood motionless now. Frozen in disbelief and fear.
"But there is something to help you stop them." Elfangor said placatingly, try to strike the
emotions left by his earlier impatience. "I cannot aid you personally, as I am going to
be unavailable for combat soon. In my ship there is a box. Blue. Very plain. If you believe
a word I emit and want to save your own lives, I suggest one of you retrieves it."
Now was the time for command, Jake's chance for authority. He gladly grasped it.
Aliens taking over the world? A weapon to stop them? If this alien was for real, Jake could
definitely benefit from being the one to push the red button on this weapon. War heroes are
quite influential.
His face hardened and his spine straightened. "October Six, go get this weapon thing."
Not seeing any motion towards the ship, Jake turned around, the group nicely lined up behind
him. "I said, get the box, October. Don't make me say it again."
Jake would certainly go in himself, but he was the highest ranking man here. If this thing was
a trap, the leader is the most important person to protect. Being a slave and, more or less, a
labor animal, October was simply the most expendable. Right after that waste Tobias, Jake
mentally smirked.
Now it was one thing to have radical ideas like banning corporal punishments and requiring
notified reasons for said punishments- but it was quite another to suggest equality.
The Alien was the deciding factor. "Please do as he says, child. There is little time for
arguments. They will be here soon."
Ethan sucked up his miniscule moment of pride and rebellion. Practically racing up the ramp,
he quickly found and grabbed the blue cube that could only be the "weapon". He efficiently ignored
the panels, knickknacks and glowing holograms, in a hurry to complete his task. Just like he
was trained.
As he exited into the red light-
Wait. The red light?
"Quickly! Give me the cube! We've used too much time!"
Ethan rushed the cube to him. The others were in mid-motion, turning slightly preparing to
run for it. They had the right idea.
"This cube will give you the power to become any living creature. You can become another human,
alien, animal, ANYTHING! Touch it quickly for the power to destroy as bears and lions! As
rhinoceros. To spy as mice. Anything!" He yelled desperately.
"Touch this cube to defend your world, or leave now!"
With no discussion, each deciding in their own minds as quickly as a bat of an eye, they all
slapped a hand against a side of the cube. All but Ethan.
They shuddered and pulled away. Slowly walking backwards out of the red light, Marco and Jake
forcing the struggling Tobias. "A final warning! Do not remain in morph for a time exceeding
two hours. It is very dangerous. You will be trapped as that creature for the remainder of
your life!"
Nodding quickly, Jake turned and ran for the trees, leaving only Ethan and Cassie behind.
"Come on!" Cassie grabbed his sleeve.
"Wait!" Elfangor cried. "Touch the cube young man."
"It is not my right." Ethan lisped.
In his most human moment, the alien growled. "Like hell it's not!"
Ethan grinned broadly and slammed his hand against the cube. His body tingled like a foot after
falling asleep.
Reluctantly following Cassie's direction, he gave the Alien a final wave and ducked into the
darkness of the trees. Running towards home until their lungs were bursting. Until they lost
the others who had gone in the way of their own places of safety.
And never knowing what happened to Elfangor.