Chapter 10

Author Notation: The thanks for this chapter go to Sinister Shadow who kindly e-mailed me the English version of this conversation from Animorphs: The Reaction.

"It's not over as long as all those million teenage girls are in love with me," Jeremy said.

"All I'm saying is, big changes are coming. Big changes like them no part of the entertainment world has ever seen before, okay? Now, my company is part of the new order. You do business and business needs sacrifices. If we make the contract, despite all the drawbacks you would get parts in movies. Serious parts. Let you move beyond teenage roles."

Jeremy Jason laughed. "That'd be nice. I'm about sick to death of dopey obsessed little girls sending me love letters and mobbing me for autographs. See, that's part of the problem I have with your offer. I'm sick of my current imago. I don't want to be Mr. Goody Good all the time.

Visser Three stepped forward and the producer backed away. He had apparently noticed that the Visser was going to blow up on any second. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what he was doing, and shrunk back in my chair. Whatever it was, I didn't want to bother him either.

"Let's stop wasting time," Visser Three said. "We've been talking about this since yesterday and we have better things to do. I can give you everything that you want. Everything. Money, fame, power. But first, you have to agree to my, and the company's, conditions. They are simple. You become one of us. And then, you take on this quest. All you have to do is representing The Sharing. In exchange you get anything and everything your heart desires."

It was a fine speech, I must say. I wouldn't have been able to sound so human. I saw with my other half-blind eye a few of those white birds again, those that seem to appear everywhere on Earth. The human-Controllers had called them seagulls, I remembered. Two of them were flying around above us, very near.

Too near, actually.

When Jeremy Jason did speak, it was in a low, strained voice. "And if I say no?"

"You won't say no," Visser Three said. He looked at me and smiled. Then he turned to Jeremy again.

"You're an ambitious young man. You want from your life so much more than you will ever get without my help."

Suddenly Jeremy Jason laughed. "I guess you see through me." He stood up and looked the Visser to the eyes for the first time saying: "I let you perform this procedure. I sign up and trust that you make me a major movie star. Deal?"

Visser Three smiled his icy smile. "Deal."

I gasped in relief. The blockhead had given up at last. Now we just should bring the written contract and then we could take Jeremy to the pool hidden abroad and infest him. That would be an end to this ridiculous game. I showed my prettiest human smile to Jeremy.

Then I saw something that almost made me jump from my chair. The other one of the gulls floating above us was changing! Its yellow beak became something long, gray and slack. The gull couldn't carry it and dropped lower and lower, and the other gull wheeled around it looking anxious.

Andalites in morphs. Now I was sure of it. Probably the infamous Andalite bandits. I had thought morphing from an animal to another was impossible, but it was the only explanation.

(Look up and left), I whispered to Visser Three in thought-speech. The Visser gave me a wondering look, then he saw the Andalites too. His eyes flashed in hate. The Visser ran to the back deck of the boat just in time to see how the gull sunk to the water.

(I morph), Visser Three said. Surely the most dumbfounded expression of Earth's history appeared on Jeremy's face. Of course, the Visser had talked in public though-speech, as always. Except when we're having sex somewhere where the voices could be heard by his subordinates.

(But... what about Jeremy?) I tried.

(I do not fucking care! Those damned Andalites have bothered me enough!)

"What… how…" Jeremy Jason stuttered. I could have laughed at him, if the situation had been a bit less serious. He was such a typical example of a simple human who is totally out of everything where higher intelligence is needed. However, Jeremy didn't interest me any more on the next moment – what I saw in front of me was much more interesting to watch. Visser Three started to take away his outer clothing to get to his morphing outfit. There went the shirt and exposed the trained top body, there flew the pants and left just tight shorts covering the down body. I stared the Visser and drooled. He couldn't be even compared to the male human-Controller in the cabin. My fingers wanted to pinch that well-formed rear and take out why the front of the shorts was swelling out. We had to do it in human bodies some day!

Then Visser Three morphed to his Andalite shape. Although the bandits had apparently invented how to change morph without returning to their own body, the Visser wasn't able to do it. I heard a horrified scream behind me. Jeremy! I had forgotten him completely! So had the producer who ran to the railing and observed the sea. I jumped next to Jeremy and pressed my hand on his mouth.

"Listen, dude", I hissed. "No matter what you see – don't freak out. Don't bother your brain with questions how or why. You'll get to know all soon. Okay?"

Jeremy nodded with his eyes wide from horror. I moved my hand, but still held Jeremy's shoulder.

(Do you see them?) Visser Three shouted as he was a full Andalite.

"No", the producer said with a very humble voice. "Or wait… there! The water's bubbling and surging there, not so far."

(Not so far?)

The producer nodded.

(Great.) Visser Three laughed his vicious but sexy laughter. I saw in his eyes the same fire as always when he is torturing and murdering… and fucking. Oh, how well I knew it. I had seen it through my stalk eyes many, many times when the Visser had whipped me and mated with me. It was part of the deepest nature of Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six. It was the fire of lust. Lust for blood and everything else. Almost madness.

Visser Three stepped on the gunwale and began to morph again. His blue hair smoothed and became a slimy, yellow-green-blue-striped skin. That helped me to recognize the animal he was turning to. It was a morph which he had acquired from a DNA sample - the Lebtian spearfish.

Have you ever seen your loved one turning to a fish that looks like a living carpet? I think you have not. Well, I can tell you: it's not a thing you'd love to see. Visser Three's body melted and flattened, his face lost its features and blended to the other shapeless mass, long spears grew on his back. I felt a strange uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, as if I had wanted to spat my lunch out. I believe it was because of disgust. I turned away, I couldn't watch any more. On the other hand, Jeremy Jason didn't seem to mind at all now. Our roles had changed: his face had a grin which could have been described best with the saying: "Cool!" At least he didn't scream like a lunatic.

As I looked at the Visser again, his morph was completed and he was hanging on the railing ready to dive to the ocean. I would have liked to told him to be careful, but I didn't want to sound like an over-worried trainer of new-hatched grubs. Visser Three would surely have got mad. So I said nothing as the Visser dived down making a loud splash. Soon I didn't see him anymore.

Jeremy and I walked to the railing. His grin was almost covered his face, as he scanned the top of the water. Suddenly he pointed.

"Look! There! There he goes!"

I watched there. He was right - there the Visser was, I saw clearly his yellow and green. He flied through the water in a wild speed. Jeremy laughed in enthusiasm.

"That's incredible! See, he's gone there now! Damn fast! It's cool how he can change like that! He's great, ain't he?"

"Yes", I smiled. "He is."

I saw a couple of heads of water animals rising up to the surface a short way off. The Andalites.

"Oho!" Jeremy breathed. "I think he's chasing them! Some fish and an alligator!"

The producer, who hadn't said a word after the Visser's departure, rolled his eyes and sighed: "For me it looks more like a crocodile."

Jeremy looked annoyed.

"Who cares? What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? And what's a caiman then?"

The producer didn't answer. It interested me neither to lecture about Earth water animals and their differences. I heard a faint thought-speech scream somewhere. Great, the Visser had surely let the air out of his first Andalite.

(Or he himself is hurt), my host reminded me. I grasped the railing with my fists white. My mind got full of horrible thoughts as always in situations like that. What if the Visser was being ripped to pieces by the Andalites? Or… if he was already dead? I wanted to morph, swim to my Visser, but I hadn't any morph that would have been good in water. My thought-speech wouldn't even carry to the Visser anymore.

Then we all heard a pop under the water and flinched. The Lebtian spearfish dashed high to the air from the ocean! It flew in a parabola through the air and finally hit the surface of the sea making a splash even we abroad the yacht could hear.

We stared at the floating spearfish like idiots.

"Did it get broken?" Jeremy asked in silly way breaking the silence. I heard laughter behind us and turned around. All the crew of the yacht had come to see how the Visser chased Andalites, including the lame ducks and the male human-Controller I had seen in the cabin. Many of the people seemed to be happy for the embarrassing failure of the great and feared Visser Three. Suddenly something clicked in my head.

"What the fuck are you standing and laughing there for like a swarm of fucking retards?" I yelled to the whole crowd. "Let one of you drive this fucking tincan to the Visser and we'll pick him out of there and take off here before the Andalite scum attacks again! Or is that what you want? That the Andalites come and explore all this shit, eh?"

It took a bit of time before the troop did anything but stared. One man turned to his fellow and laughed running down. I wasn't the most beloved Yeerk in this part of galaxy, I knew that. It was easy to hate me. I had an Andalite host though I was a low-rank, and my position was despised but still enviable from some view. And I had too big attachment to Visser Three. Everybody should have hated him, it was an unwritten rule. If someone broke it, they would be outsiders among low-ranks.

Anyway, the drivers of the yacht left to the bridge and the crowd split up. I stepped back to the gunwale and watched the spearfish that laid on the surface looking dead. My heart was full of worry. Then I noticed that the fish was getting smaller all the time. Visser Three was alive and morphing!