Tom

I woke up to the sound of my mom's voice calling me to dinner. My eyes opened automatically, first registering that it was after 6:00, and then that the darkness (typical for a fall day) meant it was 6:00 in the evening, not in the morning. At first, confusion hit me, since I only napped during the day if I was sick. Then, the events of the last few hours came back to me, and everything became clear. I immediately wondered if I had opened my eyes or the alien had, and as I tried-and succeeded-to get up, relief flooded me as it registered that I was still in control of my body.

I could still feel his presence in the back of my mind. Which is where I would be, metaphorically speaking, had he taken charge. If he was going to take control. No, not if, when. Because even if the alien-the Yeerk-kept his word about giving me freedom to move my body-which in and of itself was something I had completely taken for granted up until my infestation-he'd need to take it back when he was with the other Yeerks at The Sharing, and when he went to feed at the hellish Yeerk Pool. Possibly more, if I didn't agree to cooperate with him.

Those thoughts weren't nearly as pleasant as my realization that I could still move on my own. In fact, they kind of soured the whole experience.

Still, I was in control now, and the Yeerk-Tellin? Temrin? Tillin?-was keeping to himself. It was a him, right? Anyway, I could feel his emotions, maybe distant echoes of his thoughts if I tried hard enough. Even when he wasn't speaking or taking control, he was still there. It felt so weird, so alien.

I left my bed and exchanged my t-shirt for a long sleeved one. My parents would notice my face and ask about that, and I would say something about a bike accident. Which could explain the marks on my arms, but still...Afterwards, I headed downstairs, aware that my Yeerk could take control again at any minute. Maybe he should. He could play me as well as I could, and at the moment, I didn't feel like myself. Weird, that a body stealing alien could play a better you than you could.

(Do you want me to take control?) he asked me.

(NO!) I practically yelled, panicking.

I could feel him wince. (All right, Tom. I won't. I promise.)

The words were reassuring, and I felt bad for snapping. (Sorry,) I told him.

(No need for that. This is all new to you,) he said, kindly. Then, (But I appreciate the thought. By the way, my name is Terlin.)

(Right.) I tried to give a mental nod without it translating into an actual nod. (Okay, Terlin.)

I saw my parents in the kitchen, engaged in some discussion about my dad's work. They turned when they heard me enter, smiling. Not looking suspicious or surprised, I thought, just happy to see me.

"Tom! What happened to your face?" Mom asked me, getting closer to inspect the damage. I was glad that she couldn't see my arms.

"Fell off my bike," I explained. "You know, idiots who can't give us a decent amount of space..."

Ordinarily, my mom or dad would have frowned at my use of the word "idiot", but they let it go. Mom inspected my face closely, and apparently deciding that I would survive, let the topic drop with a mere, "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

Okay, Mom gave me a big hug, something I ordinarily tolerated without reciprocating, but this time I squeezed back. What can I say? Aliens were making me go soft. Anyway, she smiled at my response, and Dad nodded at me with his own smile.

"How'd your day go?" she asked me. "I guess you didn't hear us come in?"

I shrugged. "School was school. I became a full member of The Sharing afterward, which was exhausting. Napped a little afterwards. I woke up when I heard you calling me for dinner."

My dad chuckled. "Your mom's meals can certainly do that."

Mom rolled her eyes at Dad. "I'm pretty sure he meant my voice."

"Maybe," Dad conceded. "So, what's this about The Sharing? I don't recall you mentioning it before."

I took a seat at the table, followed by my dad. "Community thing. It's for all ages. They do a lot of activities, plus community service events. The people are pretty nice. Anyway, you have to go to a bunch of meetings before they decide if they want you to become a full member. I made it, so I took them up on it."

Okay, so part of it was not the full truth, but I didn't want to make it sound like it was super easy to join. If I told them the truth-minus the alien part-they might end up getting sucked in and finding themselves hosts to Yeerks. Better for them to think it was this drawn out application process.

"That's great, sweetie." Mom put two plates of food down in front of us before sitting down. Chicken, some mixed veggies, and mashed potatoes. "Just don't spread yourself too thin. You have school, and basketball, and now this."

I began eating. "Yeah, but this will look good when I apply for college, so it's like an extracurricular."

"Your mom's right, though. Your grades are important, especially in high school. And you have a real talent for basketball. Everyone says so. Just don't get too bogged down." Dad put a hand on my shoulder. "It's good that you're going to be a part of a community organization, Tom. We're proud of you."

Mom nodded encouragingly.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, and then I spoke up. "Hey, where's Jake?"

"He went to his friend Marco's house to work on some school project. At least, that's what he said when he phoned," Mom explained.

"Given that it's a Friday night, I bet this assignment involves the playing of video games," Dad laughed. "He didn't take a change of clothes or anything, so he's not spending the night."

Mom shrugged. "He can borrow something of Marco's if he decides to stay. I told him to call me if he was going to be later than 10, or if he was going to spend the night there."

"He's got his bike?" I asked, between bites of chicken.

"Yeah, or Marco's dad can drive him," she confirmed. "Tom, do you have any plans tonight?"

I shook my head. "Some homework, but nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. Mostly studying related," I replied.

To be perfectly honest, Sundays were when I tended to do my schoolwork, and it was usually closer to Sunday night than during the day. Maybe Saturday night if it was a huge assignment. I wasn't a huge procrastinator, but I never saw the point of starting the weekend on the wrong foot.

I could hear Terlin laugh at my insight, and I almost jumped when I realized that I had-at least for a few minutes-forgotten that he was still there.

Fortunately, my parents didn't notice anything.

"I was thinking that we could have a movie night," Mom explained. "Your dad and I rented this movie that just came out on video. It's a little too mature for Jake, but you're old enough to handle it."

"Mature...how?" I asked.

"Rated R, but for violence," Dad explained. "Personally, I'd have given it a strong PG-13. So, what do you say, Tom? You up for it?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Do we have any popcorn?"

"I'll check after we finish eating," Mom said.

They talked a little about Dad's day at work-he's a doctor-which I tuned out, as usual. This time, it was less because I wasn't interested and more because I was focusing on the Yeerk in my head. I could tell that he was taking everything in around me. Getting a better idea of what my life was like in the event that he chose to take it over completely. But no, there was more than that. I remembered him saying that Yeerks were blind without hosts, and I was his first human. So, maybe he was just fascinated by all of the human senses that I just took as a given.

It wasn't something I had thought much about before. Sure, I had felt a little bad for Terlin when he said that Yeerks couldn't see and could barely hear without host bodies. But at the time, I had been a prisoner in my mind. It was one thing to believe in aliens, and another to have one inside of your head.

Now, back in control and feeling a little more comfortable with the whole situation, I could imagine what a change it must be for my Yeerk. In fact, he might even be happy that I was in control, not just for the sake of getting me to cooperate with his being in my head, but because it gave him more time to comprehend his new life in my head.

(That's true,) he said, responding to my observations. (Taxxons, Gedds, and Hork-Bajir all have similar lives, especially upon infestation. Given that most humans don't know about us and we want to keep it that way for as long as possible, there are advantages to having time to observe. Human lives seem to vary greatly on this planet.)

(Sort of,) I agreed. (Especially in different parts of the world. The language and traditions vary, for one thing. But there are definitely universals. Like school for kids, and work for the adults. The nice thing about being an adult is getting to choose what you want to do for a job. Also, being able to leave it if you decide to do something else.)

(We Yeerks don't have that luxury,) Terlin noted. (When you are part of an empire, you serve your superiors by doing what they tell you, or you starve in three days' time.)

(There are part of this planet where it's like that,) I pointed out. (We call them second and third world countries.)

(Visser One's initially landed in one of those regions,) Terlin told me. (But she, and the Council, thought it would be better to start in the United States.)

(Council?)

(Council of Thirteen. The highest and most respected level of command. Twelve of the Council members serve as, well, member of the Council. The thirteenth one-and only the other twelve know who that is-is the Emperor. Rumor has it that he has the majority of the power. But it's mere speculation, especially among Yeerks with my rank. We obey the commands of our immediate sub-visser, but Visser Three is the highest ranked Yeerk on Earth, and he is overseeing things with The Sharing.)

(He's the guy who actually looked like an alien? The one who communicated with his mind?) I asked Terlin.

(Yes. He has an Andalite host, and is the only Yeerk to have one. Andalites are actively fighting against us because they do not want us to have any hosts, not even Gedds.) He sent me the image of something resembling a human monkey. (Those are what we used on our home planet until they arrived. They are about as intelligent as your human monkeys, and we used them as our primary hosts before encountering the Andalites. Anyway, the visser was able to capture an Andalite of reasonably high rank, at least in Andalite society, and infested him. This contributed to his now very high rank.) Terlin shuddered. (He's very smart, but very ruthless. He's murdered many.)

I wondered how many Terlin had killed, and why he was telling me all of this, especially since he wanted me to be voluntary.

(I'm telling you this because you have a right to know what's going on. There are many Yeerks who are power hungry, who mistreat their hosts and would certainly kill other Yeerks for a small promotion. I am not like that, as I hope you will see firsthand, but I cannot shield you entirely from some of my things my species does. As you saw before you were infested,) he added, sending me an image of the Yeerk Pool and the cages.

I didn't respond directly, but Terlin could hear my thoughts, sense my conflicted emotions. While I appreciated not being lied to, I also wondered if it would have been better had I not known right away. Then again, why put off the inevitable?

Which meant that I should probably ask what had been on the edge of my mind since Terlin entered my head.

(I'm guessing that there are more Yeerks who don't have hosts who want humans. What are you going to do about my family?)

It was, I realized, somewhat of a dare. Terlin had to know that if his odds of me cooperating with him, of welcoming him back into my head after he fed every three days at the Yeerk Pool, were less than high, they'd become practically nothing if he was going to be responsible for my entire family going through that. Especially with one of the crueler Yeerks.

Terlin's tone changed from teacher delivering information to one that I expected a Yeerk to use when comforting a scared human teenager. (I've given that some thought. I know that your feelings towards me are ambivalent at this point, and you certainly don't want something potentially worse to happen to your loved ones. As a Yeerk, my primary duty is playing your role as you would, so that I can impersonate you without suspicion.) At my nonverbal protest, he added, (Whether it's you in control most of the time or me is not the point. Not to my sub-visser, who will not know how much control I allow you to have. I am merely saying that keeping things normal is the main priority.) He paused.

(Go ahead,) I requested, hoping I understood where this was going, but not trusting myself entirely to be hopeful about what Terlin was telling me.

(Since you hadn't mentioned The Sharing to your family or friends before today, there's no reason to make that a focal point of your life. I, or you, may have to issue an invitation to participate in a Sharing activity at some point...but that's it.)

(So, you won't go after them to become hosts to some cruel Yeerk?)

(No, Tom, I promise.) He paused before adding, (Now, should any of them become interested in joining and wish to complete the full membership process...I cannot exactly tell them not to without drawing attention to us.) I let that sink in, disheartened. (In that event, I will do whatever I can to ensure that the Yeerk assigned to them is a decent one. Yeerks often do these sorts of favors for friends.)

(Do you know many decent Yeerks?) I asked. Maybe it sounded rude, but this was my family's freedom and sanity we were talking about.

Terlin laughed a little. (Well, we don't exactly sit around in the Pool and discuss that. But you can usually tell which Yeerk is decent to their host and which Yeerk isn't. Someone who complains about having to silence a screaming host, someone who asks about discipline techniques...those are what you humans would call "red flags". More often, a Yeerk who doesn't say anything, or is glad to have a voluntary host, is someone who can be trusted.)

(Then, it's not a science, but you can take a pretty good stab at it,) I confirmed.

Not exactly comforting. I mean, Jake could go to one too many Sharing meetings and find himself leaving with this horrible torturer in his brain. I'd never forgive myself if that happened. Or Terlin. Which he knew.

(Yes. For now, though, your family is safe. What you said earlier about The Sharing membership being a long process...that was smart. Based on your memories, they didn't seem like the type to want to join anyway, but your comment further deterred them.)

It took a minute before it sunk in. (You went through my memories when I was sleeping.)

(Yes. Now, please don't be angry. It was something that I had to do at some point, and I thought it would be better for you if you were sleeping.)

(You could have warned me,) I complained.

(Would you have been able to sleep had I done so?) His reply wasn't snarky, just practical. Okay, and I could feel some concern, even some worry, in it.

(I guess not.) I cringed visibly-outwardly, I was still in full control. That realization softened the blow a little. Okay, it was still a total invasion of privacy, but I could, logically, understand why Terlin had to do it. Why he had done it when he had. In his own way, he was trying to protect me. Make things easier for me.

Still, it hurt.

He didn't say anything, probably aware of how I felt. I was quiet for awhile, and tried to focus my attention on the outside world. The popcorn in front of me. The movie. My parents.

After a half an hour or so, I "spoke" again.

(How often do you have to do that?)

(A full memory search? Once. Strictly speaking, whenever I need information from you, I am supposed to obtain it from your memory. Likewise, I am supposed to search your memories after I reinfest you after swimming in the Yeerk Pool.)

(Please. Don't.) It was the closest I came to begging.

A rush of emotions, mostly concern and some fear. (All right.)

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far. I hope you will continue to do so, including with this one! :)