"Anyway," I added, before I could stop myself, "we're not really close anymore."
Mr. Tidwell nodded. "He's your only sibling?"
"Yeah. I think Mom and Dad might have wanted to have a third child at some point, but Midget and I were probably a handful. You know, there's only a couple of years between us, and when you have two boys under three..." I shrugged, smiling a little. "Anyway, it's just us."
Mr. Tidwell smiled at me. It felt like a gentle smile. "Alison-my wife-and I always wanted to have two kids. We tried for a few years without any results. When she did become pregnant, we were elated. Then, she was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told us that the pregnancy hormones would speed up the progression of the disease. To the point where she would be unable to live very long after delivering the child, should the child live at all. Treating the cancer would kill her child, but give her an 80% chance of recovery."
"Wow," I murmured. "Talk about a Sophie's choice."
He nodded, face tightening. "We spent a week agonizing over it, Tom. In the end, we decided to go forward with the treatment. Even if the baby survived, I didn't believe I could handle the responsibilities of being a single father, and neither of our parents were in a position to care for an infant." He swallowed. "Alison was one of the 20%."
That had to hurt. Deciding to treat your wife at the expense of your baby, and then both end up dying.
"Wow," I repeated. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tidwell."
"Thank you, Tom." His mouth twitched, as though he was trying to smile, but couldn't quite force himself to do so. "Family is extremely important. Even if they don't always understand what you go through for them."
Did he know? Or guess? That I'd cooperated-at least partially-to keep Jake and my parents safe? That if I fought Terlin, or at least refused to be classified as voluntary, he would have less motivation not to pursue the infestation of Jake?
I forced a shrug. "Terlin's not so bad. Obviously. I mean, I'm here, after all."
I did a broad sweep of the voluntary area with one arm, to indicate what I meant.
"Yes," Mr. Tidwell agreed, "but it must have been a shock, all the same."
"Oh, I fought like hell when they dragged me down to the Yeerk Pool," I insisted. "And when they forced my head down in the water, I was sure they were going to drown me. You know, kill me to protect the alien invasion. I wasn't expecting to leave with an alien inside my head."
"Not the standard infestation procedure," Mr. Tidwell acknowledged, smiling a little.
"No kidding." I shivered, a little. "They should have locked the door, you know?"
"It would appear to be unnecessary," my teacher pointed out, diplomatically.
"Yeah, well, I'm here now. Just your average teenage voluntary Controller." I shrugged.
I intended my comment as much for Illim as for my teacher. Quit bothering us. We're not doing anything against the empire. Really.
Just protecting my family from the Yeerks, and all that.
Mr. Tidwell gave me a little nod. "And a future basketball star, from what I hear."
"Oh, that." I shrugged, modestly. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at it, and I love playing it. Hoping to get a scholarship and play in college, if everything works out. I'd love to go pro one day."
"You are very talented," Mr. Tidwell praised me.
"Thanks."
Another silence, and I was thinking about excusing myself to go to the bathroom (not that I needed to go), when Mr. Tidwell spoke up again.
"Have you heard about Aftran 942?" he queried, clearly changing the subject.
My mind went blank at the name. If Terlin had been in my head, he might have been able to recall something about her (or him-if the Yeerk had infested a male host), but I couldn't remember anything.
"No," I replied, truthfully. "A Yeerk, right?"
"Yes. Her capture and rescue occurred nearly a month ago," Mr. Tidwell explained.
I frowned, trying to remember anything about this.
Then, I remembered. Nothing about a Yeerk, but a series of "away" basketball games, resulting in Terlin almost missing his feeding. That, and Midget being really, really sick.
Nothing about a Yeerk being captured, though.
"Last month was kind of a blur," I admitted. "You know, we had a lot of basketball games. Terlin almost missed a feeding. Jake was pretty sick for almost a week, too. Maybe, that's why we didn't hear anything. Well," I corrected, "nothing that I remember. If your Yeerk wanted to talk to him directly, he might...you know. Remember."
Mr. Tidwell looked genuinely surprised. "Based on word around the Pool, I would have thought every Yeerk and their host knew about it."
I felt, at least a little, like I'd been reprimanded for not knowing the right answer to a very basic question in class.
"Like I said," I mumbled, "we were kind of preoccupied."
He must have realized how his comment had come across, because he nodded, smiling gently. "I meant no offense, Tom. I was just surprised."
"No problem," I answered, quickly. "So, what happened?"
"Aftran 942, according to Visser Three, was the alleged leader of a Yeerk terrorist organization called the Peace Movement." He smiled, laughing a little. "Rather ironic, but there you have it."
I frowned. "Never heard of them. What's the Peace Movement?"
"As I understand, it's a small group of Yeerks who outright refuse to infest any unwilling host," Mr. Tidwell explained.
"So...they just want Gedds and Taxxons?"
Sure, there were a few Hork-Bajir in the voluntary area. Plus humans. But if you were going to refuse a host who was involuntary, your best bet was to stick with the type that was known to be voluntary.
"Gedds and Taxxons are...not exactly ideal host bodies," Mr. Tidwell reminded me.
Yeah. Gedds were native to the Yeerk home world, and the bodies they'd inhabited when Prince Seerow had first encountered them. Taxxons were basically giant caterpillars, or centipedes, but they stood upright. Aside from being kind of gross, they suffered from extreme, endless hunger. Like, they could eat their weight in meat in a matter of minutes, but feel no different five minutes later. They teamed up with the Yeerks to get a ton of fresh meat on the regular basis, but the Yeerk inside a Taxxon could hardly control the hunger better than the Taxxon could.
At least, that's what Terlin had told me. I wasn't exactly speaking from personal experience.
I imagined that even if a Yeerk was opposed to an involuntary host, they'd rather not infest a Taxxon.
"Yeah," I agreed. "So, Aftran was their leader, and Visser Three tortured her for information?"
Mr. Tidwell shook his head. "Illim was feeding when Visser Three planned to torture her. One of the Andalite Bandits rescued her." He allowed himself a small smile. "He was irate."
"Wow. Never would have thought one of them would rescue a Yeerk. Doesn't that kind of go against their whole MO? Kill as many Yeerks as possible?" I wondered.
Not that my teacher was in any position to be able to answer that question.
"It would appear so," he laughed. "Seems that their relationship with non-empire Yeerks is more nuanced."
"Well," I joked, "if I ever come face to face with an Andalite Bandit, I'll have to ask them about this."
He chuckled.
"Hey," I added, realizing what he'd just said, "you said it was one Andalite Bandit, right? Aren't there usually six?"
Mr. Tidwell frowned, then shrugged. "Perhaps, the others were on another mission? Or ready to attack, if need be?"
It was my turn to frown. "Don't they usually all attack at once? Seems risky not to, and from what I hear, kind of unlike them." I thought for a minute. "Think that one was acting alone? Like, they were okay with Peace Movement Yeerks, but the others weren't?"
He shrugged again. "We may never know."
My mind was filled with questions by the time Terlin was finished feeding, and he seemed to be just as perplexed. Illim had been talking with him in the pool, and while conversations between Yeerks during feeding wasn't exactly forbidden, it wasn't really a regular thing. Or, at least, not with Yeerks you didn't know very well. Which was pretty much where Illim and Terlin stood.
(You won't believe what Mr. Tidwell told me-) I began.
(Just a minute, Tom,) he interrupted, gently. (Wait until we're out of the pool area.)
I gave him a mental nod. It wasn't the first time he'd asked me not to talk until we'd left the Yeerk Pool, but it wasn't exactly a regular thing.
I couldn't read his thoughts as he could mine, but I trusted him. Terlin had never let me down in the time he's been my Yeerk, and if what he asked seemed strange at the moment, it always turned out to be right (or, at least, he'd meant well) in the end.
So, I shut up while he briskly and dispassionately left the enormous cavern, and then up the stairs.
Finally, he spoke, after giving me back control.
(Yes. Illim told me about Aftran, as well,) Terlin told me, quietly.
(You think they're members of this Peace Movement?) I wondered. (Or just in the know?)
(My instinct tells me they're both part of the Peace Movement, even though nothing either of them has said indicated any alliance with it,) Terlin answered, slowly, carefully. (Why else would they sudden approach us, individually and together, to ask about your voluntary status and knowledge of Aftran? Or to relay that she had escaped questioning?)
(You think we're being recruited?) I asked.
Personally, I did. Why take the risk of talking about such possibly traitorous topics as a rebel Yeerk going free, or whether or not your host was a long time voluntary one, if they didn't want to do something about it?
(I do.) Terlin's tone didn't exactly convey disgust, but it sure didn't show that he was jumping at the chance.
Really, who could blame him?
Joining up with a rebel group might make him feel better about what the Yeerk empire was doing, but what did it really mean? Anyway, was it an unnecessary risk? This Peace Movement was against taking involuntary hosts. Okay, fine, but I was already voluntary. Didn't this mean that Terlin was following the principles of the Peace Movement without being part of it?
Except. He could be reassigned. Or told to infest my family by force. Neither of which were very likely to occur anytime soon, but that didn't mean they wouldn't in the future. Earth might have more humans than Yeerks by a very long shot, but that didn't mean that the empire wouldn't try to kill any resistance. Or reproduce fast enough to try to make up for the deficit.
(I think we should join,) I told him, quietly.
It would be the best way to protect my family.
It would mean taking a stand against the crimes that Visser Three and the others committed on a regular basis.
It would be the right thing to do.
Terlin knew all of this. He could read my mind, after all.
(Let's wait and see what comes of all of this, Tom,) he answered, gently. (We haven't even been asked yet.)
"Yet" had different meanings to both of us.