As Aftran monitored her host's sleep, she noted to herself that, in this way, being back in her Yeerk body was not quite so different than her humpback nothlit form. Humpback whales, she'd learned early on, were conscious breathers, and this meant that she could only sleep with half of her mind. Yeerks slept, but lightly, and not for the amount of time that humans needed each night (and certainly not for the amount of time that Karen required, being a small child). A Yeerk would sleep for five hours if there was nothing within the host's mind or surroundings to wake them up. A host's nightmares, for instance, could hinder their Yeerk's sleep.
Kandrona rays restored the Yeerk body completely, even if a Yeerk went without sleep during the entire feeding period, but this was hardly pleasant, nor ideal. A Yeerk had to keep its body in good health if it was to be an asset to the Yeerk empire.
Of course, the empire was gone now, but the need for some restorative rest was not. Aftran had released her tentative, gentle control over Cassie's mind, but she was still connected enough to be aware of her thoughts, memories, and dreams.
The dream that visited Cassie that night was, Aftran learned later, a familiar one. The final battle, with Jake's cousin being sent to kill his brother, who had still been infested. The images flooded Cassie's subconscious as enhanced memories. In this dream, Cassie took the place of Tom at the last moment, and Rachel killed her instead. The dream changed, then, into a far more pleasant one of Cassie playing basketball with her children. Aftran felt her host's mind relax as the transition to the pleasant dream was complete.
There were other dreams, but they passed too quickly for Cassie to remember them when she woke up. Aftran would remember them, but without searching out her host's full memory, she would lack any context surrounding these images. That is, if such context existed. Human dreams, based on Aftran's experience with Karen, were often absurd and illogical.
To Aftran's surprise, when Cassie rose the next morning, her mind recalled no memory of the nightmare, nor of the more pleasant dream that followed. As far as she was concerned, she had passed the night without dreams.
(Hello, Cassie,) Aftran greeted, speaking softly, for fear of scaring her host.
Cassie may have sought Aftran out, but it had been decades since she'd been in her head.
Cassie, fortunately, remained calm. (Hey, Aftran,) she replied, her voice cheerful, yet sleepy.
She even yawned as she "spoke" to Aftran, to the Yeerk's amusement. (Did you sleep well, Aftran?) Then, she added, (Do Yeerks sleep?)
(We sleep, although not as much as humans,) Aftran confirmed, with a mental smile. (And yes, I slept well. Thank you, Cassie, for asking.)
She had received, by her approximation, at least five hours.
(I looked up the sleeping habits of humpback whales before trying to track you down,) Cassie said, stretching her arms, and smiling to herself. (Fascinating species. You know, with the conscious breathing and all that. Was it hard for you? Getting used to everything?)
Yes, it had been. Aftran knew this, now. At first, she was surprised that her host had asked. Surely, it had been in her memories? But, no, despite Cassie having searched her memory less than a day ago, her human host had resumed her human form. And besides, Yeerks never remembered everything about their hosts, not after being away from them for any length of time.
Aftran gave Cassie a mental shrug. (Yeerks sleep lightly, so it wasn't a great leap. Becoming a human nothlit would have been more of an adjustment in that way.)
(Yeah, I guess that makes sense,) Cassie agreed, now rising entirely from her bed, and folding down the sheets in blankets in what humans call "making your bed."
(Or,) Aftran mused, (a cat. Now, they sleep most of their lives away.)
Cassie chuckled at this. (I could have kept you as a pet,) she teased. (Given you head scratches and all that.)
Aftran laughed to herself. (I probably would have been dead by now, though. I'm glad I chose a body with a much longer lifespan.)
(Mmm,) her host agreed. (Hey, how long do Yeerks live, anyway?)
(Up to three hundred years, provided we don't reproduce,) Aftran answered. (We can reproduce up to a year before death.)
(How do you know when you're that close?) Cassie wondered. (Assuming, you know, you're not living under a Visser who's liable to kill Yeerks for any reason.)
Aftran gave a mental snort. (I expect most of us with hosts believed we were potentially hours away from death if we spent any time in his vicinity.)
Cassie rolled her eyes. (Right.) Then, she nudged Aftran. (And when an insane visser with an Andalite host isn't in charge of your fate?)
(It's actually not dissimilar to a human aging,) Aftran said, rather contemplatively. (It takes us longer to infest a host and to take initial control. If the host fights us, it's harder for us to regain control. And, sometimes, our instincts within the host body are slower than they should be. It's rather gradual, beginning around age 295, but it's impossible to deny by the time we're 298. It's taboo to kill an elderly Yeerk, so they just let them go without hosts and hope that they'll reproduce to create new ones, even if it means shortening their life. Not that I knew many Yeerks past 50 when I was younger.)
Cassie frowned, just a little. (Why's that?)
(Most of the older Yeerks didn't leave the home world, from what I understand. And my pool came after the Sulp Niar, so we were younger than the first generation to be spawned away from our planet.) Aftran gave a mental shrug. (There were likely more on the Hork-Bajir planet, when it was first invaded.)
Aftran felt some guilt at mentioning this. In part because of what she had done to her host, but also because of how the Yeerks had invaded the planet and stolen the innocent creatures as slaves. Had they not been so formidable, would they have even bothered?
Probably. They had existed in the hundreds of thousands, according to the old computer records.
(They're in Yellowstone, now,) Cassie offered, feeling Aftran's guilt. (Well, most of them.)
(Yellowstone?) the Yeerk echoed.
(Took awhile to remove the Yeerks from their planet,) Cassie summarized. (Even after we won Earth back, parts of the empire remained at large. And, when it was clear that they were going to lose another planet that they'd conquered in the early days of being an empire...they didn't react well. To put it mildly. It's taken about fifteen years to become semi-habitable for what passes for insects and cockroaches there, and will probably be another twenty before it's ready for the Hork-Bajir. You ever hear about Chernobyl?)
Aftran hadn't, but Cassie opened up the old memories from her history class. That had been an accident, a chemical explosion during the once powerful Soviet Union, wreaking havoc hundreds of miles away. Major death, disease, infertility. For many years, the entire town had been evacuated, because it simply wasn't safe for anyone to live in. Not until human and Andalite technology had sped up the process-but everyone was taking things slowly, waiting at least another ten years before allowing the repopulation, just in case.
(The Hork-Bajir planet's not as bad as that. Not from my reports,) Cassie concluded, once her memory stream cut off. (And we have a lot of volunteers trying to do clean up, so it could be as early as fifteen. Until then, maybe even after then, the Hork-Bajir have Yellowstone, and they're happy there.)
Aftran felt another spark of guilt. Yes, trust the empire to do this. The fact that the Yeerk empire ravaged and destroyed every world it conquered had not escaped her notice-it was something they were proud of. Species that did not benefit the bodies of the dominant species-the hosts for the Yeerk empire-were destroyed. As much as possible, anyway. Ecosystems were fragile, and you couldn't do away with every plant or animal without wreaking havoc. All the same, "extra" animals were eliminated.
Usually, not planets, but perhaps, after being utterly destroyed by a handful of human teenagers, their ego was frail.
(I'm sorry,) said Aftran, simply.
(Hey, it's hardly your fault. You're one of the few who appreciated how much variety of life Earth had,) Cassie reminded her, with a light laugh. (You told me we live in a type of paradise.)
Aftran sighed. (And if the Yeerk empire had their way, it would have been destroyed. I was too immature to realize this.)
(You can't be too hard on yourself, Aftran. You made mistakes, but you did the right thing in the end. You freed Karen. You fought to free us. You even helped me save Ax's life,) Cassie finished, with a chuckle.
(Ah, yes. Has he ever forgiven me for that?) Aftran teased.
(Probably. Deep down,) Cassie allowed. (Come on. I'm starving, and Ronny and the kids will be back soon.)