Ch.3 Confrontation at Rachel's House
There was no time to waste. I had to get home, and fast. The only way the Yeerks would be infesting my mother and sisters was over my dead body. I morphed to seagull and took off. For all I knew, I was too late. The Yeerks weren't famous for delaying when it came to this. The ten minutes I spent flying to my house seemed to last an eternity. None of us had ever faced the situation I was in. It would be hard enough to fight one of us, but I had to deal with four. Any random bug, any animal I saw on the ground could be one of my friends in morph.
The good news, if there was any, was that I didn't see any signs of the Yeerks when I got to my house. It was lucky that everyone was home, because my sisters had the day off from school. I demorphed in the backyard and hopped the fence. My mother opened the front door just as I hit the ground. "Rachel, is there some reason you're jumping fences?" she asked, a mix of concern and annoyance in her voice. "Get inside, quick!" I ordered. She opened her mouth to lecture me, but I cut her off. Now wasn't the time. "Don't argue, just go!"
I closed the door behind us, and locked it shut. All the while, my mother stared. "Are Jordan and Sara home?" I asked. My mother hesitated, not knowing what to think of my behavior. I got the answer to my question as Jordan came downstairs. "What's wrong, Rachel, are you mad at us?" Her voice was almost breaking. "No, sis." There wasn't time for this. We could have seconds, if not minutes before the Yeerks came knocking.
I quickly locked the back door as my mother followed me. "Rachel honey, are you in some kind of trouble?" I had to reason with my mother. "Look, I promise I'll explain everything. But right now, you need to get upstairs with the girls. Do you trust me?" My mother wasted no time. "Of course I trust you, I'm just worried. You're not acting like yourself." If she only knew. I heard the screeching halt of several tires. That could only mean one thing. The Yeerks were here.
I began the change to grizzly bear. It was my favorite battle morph. My mother nearly fainted as she witnessed my transformation. It was no surprise. We'd kept our secret for several years now. [Don't be afraid] I said in thought-speak. My mother looked around, wondering who was talking to her. [It's me] I said. "Rachel?" She reached out to touch the bear in front of her, her hand shaking as she did so. A knock on the door brought me back to the matter at hand.
Mom went to answer the door, but I stopped her. [You don't want to do that. Just get upstairs and I'll explain after, I promise.] She finally got it. She ran upstairs as a second knock sounded. The Yeerks were surprising me with their hospitality. Getting no answer, the front door blew off it's hinges. I entered the living room as three Hork-Bajir warriors stepped through. An Andalite stood at the door, but it wasn't Visser Three. That only left one possibility. Ax!
[It's easier if you don't fight, Rachel] he said in my head. [Ax, you know me well enough to know that I'll never surrender.] He nodded. [We just want you. If you come willingly, we'll spare your family.] The Yeerk must have thought I was stupid. [Something tells me you're gonna infest them anyway, weather I come willingly or not.] Ax laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. [Well, yeah. We can't have people who know what's going on running free.] His eyes made a weird Andalite smile. [One last chance, Rachel. I'd hate to have to destroy your lovely home.]
Again, the Yeerk surprised me. With all the resources the Yeerks had, they could afford to fix damage to a house. They certainly didn't care about collateral damage when it came to involuntary infestations. We had seen what they did to David's house. Heck, we'd barely escaped with our skins. Maybe they didn't want to create a scene because it was daylight. It didn't matter to me. [The only way you're getting my family is over my dead body!] I challenged. Ax nodded. [Very well, then. Try not to kill her. We want to perserve the host's body.]
With no further adue, the fight was on. The first Hork-Bajir attemted to slash me, but missed. With one well placed swipe, I put him down. The other two were smarter. They attacked at the same time. It was a situation I'd been in before. They tore at me like two weedwhackers on steroids. They got some cuts in, but not enough to stop me. I knocked one so hard, he flew through a wall. The other one pressed, but I swiped him in the head and he fell to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. [Is that the best you got?] I challenged Ax.
He seemed to know it would come to this. He entered the house and we faced off. I had to be wary of his tail. I'd seen both Ax and Visser Three in battle many times. I knew what an Andalite's tail was capable of. Fwap! He swung his tail low. It took a chunk out of my left leg, and I was forced back on all fours. I let the bear's instinct take over, and it had just been challenged. There could be only one response. I charged. Ax was taken by surprise. He tried to get me with his tail again, but missed. 'Forgive me, Ax' I thought.
I hit him with all the force of a mack truck. He went flying out the door, and landed in a heap in someone else's yard. Luckily, no one was home. I was sure, 'cause there were no spectators seeing the ruckus the fight had created. [Another time] Ax said as he retreated. I was begining to be delirious from the loss of blood. I had several serious wounds on my torso, and I could feel my insides trying to come out. [You can come out now, Mom] I said as I demorphed.
My mother and sisters took in the damage downstairs. Sara pointed at one of the fallen Hork-Bajir. "What's that, Mommy?" she asked. My mother had no idea. I'd just finished demorphing as my sisters saw me. "Ask Rachel," she said. "That," I said, my voice weary, "is a Hork-Bajir." Jordan tried to protect her sister. She was aware that somehow, I'd stopped them. "We need to get out of here," I said to my mother.
"Right, but where will we go?" she asked. I racked my brain. The only place I could think of was also the one place we couldn't go under any circumstances. The free Hork-Bajir colony. It would be fine, If I didn't know for certain that by now the Yeerks probably knew exactly where it was. I climbed into the front seat of my mom's van. "Head for the forest," I instructed. "I'll explain everything on the way." This was gonna take a while. I'd kept so much of my life out of my mother's knowledge, that this had to be a lot to absorb. She nodded. "I look forward to hearing this."