Chapter 4

I live a few miles from Cassie's place. Actually Rachel, Marco, and I all live within a few blocks of each other, so the original plan from the evening had made sense. But now I just drove to my place. Rachel and Marco were likely going to go back to Cassie's with me in the morning.

How could they not?

"The shit is going to hit the fan in the morning."

"Yeah, dude, I know."

We passed a few cop cars on the way, which may have been normal enough for a downed power grid, but after what Elfangor had told us about Yeerks, everything took on a much more sinister vibe.

I got stopped about half a dozen blocks from the house.

The red and blue lights flashed on as we came to a stop sign, and my heart started pounding in my chest. I got my registration out of the glove box and my wallet from the center console. I never take my wallet with me to work.

"Fuck. Do you think he knows where we've been?"

I didn't answer. It wasn't like I didn't have a good reason to have been at Cassie's and it wasn't like I could come up with a better alibi in the next minute or two. Besides, if I'm being honest, I'm not that good a liar. I tried to calm myself, to slow my breathing. I'm not sure that it helped much. When the cop tapped on the window, I nearly jumped in the seat.

The cop looked normal enough. He was just your average middle-aged white guy. He may have been a few inches taller than my dad and a few years younger, but there was nothing about him that screamed out that he was host to an alien brain slug. He asked for the usual, license and registration.

"What's on your hand, kid?"

I blinked. Through everything, else, I'd forgotten I had dried alien blood on my hands. My fingers were black in the light from the police flashlight. I stammered for a second. "Sorry, I helped my girlfriend start the generator. I didn't realize I got that messy."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied. Then he asked the obvious question. "What are you kids doing out this late?"

I told him I'd gotten off work at the multiplex around one, took my girlfriend home, and we watched the meteor shower, but then we kinda got stuck in the blackout. I told him I was worried about driving while the power was out and asked if he knew when they'd have the lights back on.

His expression softened. Did that mean he wasn't a Controller? Or did it mean he just decided I wasn't a threat? "It sucks working nights, doesn't it, kid?"

I shrugged. "Meh, work is work. Rather get free movies than flip burgers."

The cop laughed, and he handed me back my stuff. "Get on home, kid. Be mindful of intersections. They're working on the power, should be on in the morning."

And that was it. Nothing else happened. I didn't even get a ticket. I had no idea if he was a Controller or not, but either way, he had my information. I wasn't sure that was a good thing, but I figured I couldn't have been the only person driving in the blackout.

"Nicely handled, cuz."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No, I mean it. Nothing he can't verify tomorrow, and nothing suspicious."

"Well, at least he didn't ask where Cassie lived." Marco was right about that. We had a good reason to be there, but I had to guess admitting to being less than a mile from an alien crash site wouldn't have gone well.

"So, you said you were coming from your girlfriend's place…?"

"Shut up, Rachel."

"'Bout fucking time, Jake."

"Alien invasion, and you two are still giving me shit about Cassie."

"Hey, gotta keep up the façade of normality, don't we?" Marco asked. I couldn't help but smile. It made me feel better that he was still being himself.

Sure enough, it looked like the cops had their hands full that night. I saw more red-and-blue lights on the way home. Maybe they were looking for Elfangor, but I think the power outage was a legitimate problem.

We pulled into the driveway about quarter till four. I was exhausted, I knew the others had to be as well, but there was no time for sleep yet. I had to get Marco set in my room, and I had to get Rachel set up in the guest bedroom. And with the lights still out, it was going to be a bit of a hassle.

"Marco, is there a specific reason, tonight of all nights, you left your phone at home?"

He shrugged. "I had school and work and it's not like I'm glued to Facebook." Marco was not big on social media.

"Well stay close behind till I get some candles lit."

The three of us went in quietly. My parents were used to me coming in late on Fridays, and as long as we were quiet, they shouldn't wake up.

I got the candles we kept in the kitchen for just this type of situation and handed one to each of them. Marco went straight to my room. He had clothes in my closet, and he made no attempt to hide the fatigue that dripped from his joints. I was less sure about accommodating Rachel. I don't have any sisters after all.

"Do you know if your mom still keeps that emergency bag in the guest room?" she asked.

"Honestly, you'd know better than I would."

My Aunt Nicole and Uncle Dan sometimes have to travel for work, and on the rare occasions that both of them have to be out of town, my three female cousins take up the guest room. Other than the few times my grandparents come to visit, the only other person to use the guest bedroom is my dad when he and my mom are arguing.

I took Rachel to the guest room closet and held her candle while she rummaged through a canvas duffel bag. She found a nightshirt she'd apparently left over Christmas break and said she was good. I set her candle down on the nightstand and asked if she wanted the shower.

"Too tired. Marco and I will fight over it in the morning. Or I'll ask Aunt Jeanette if I can use hers."

I nodded. Marco was asleep in the old armchair I keep in the corner for my Xbox. My mom refuses to allow game consoles in the living room. I tossed a blanket at him and got clothes out of my drawer. I had no clue what was keeping me up, but between the distant smell of popcorn, the twigs and leaves from the footpath, the various smells of Cassie's barn, and let's not forget the purple-black of the Andalite's blood, I just couldn't go to sleep without a quick shower.

It only took seven or eight minutes, and it was weird taking a shower by candlelight. I wondered how Tobias was doing in the barn, sleeping in a hay loft with an actual alien. I wondered how Elfangor was holding up. I couldn't imagine what he was going through. He'd been shot out of the sky trying to defend a planet that wasn't his, and now he was stranded alone on a distant planet, surrounded by strange people and an invisible enemy.

It made me uncomfortable to think about it. I didn't want to fall asleep thinking about alien brain slugs, but of course I did. Too tired, too drained, I had no mental will to keep the thought out of my mind.

The last conscious thought I remember having was that we could never trust anyone ever again.

I woke unwillingly to the smell of bacon. I looked at the clock on my dresser. It was 10:43. I'd gotten almost six and a half hours of sleep, I think. Tossing and turning most of the night, I'm not sure it counted as sleep, but considering Marco had slept on the chair…

Where was Marco, anyway?

I heard voices and headed downstairs. Marco was cooking bacon and eggs, apparently. Rachel was sitting next to my dad at the kitchen table, both of them already eating. My dad and Marco were apparently having a heated conversation regarding the Warriors' chances in the NBA playoffs while Rachel rolled her eyes and just took a sip of her coffee.

Oh, please God, let there be coffee.

"Hey, there he is!" my dad said as he noticed me.

"Nice shorts."

I looked down. Apparently I'd ended up grabbing Scooby Doo boxers when I got my shower last night. I stared daggers at Rachel but couldn't keep it up without cracking up.

"So Marco and Rachel tell me you're starting a bed and breakfast."

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. Partially out of embarrassment but also because my back was surprisingly sore. "Yeah, sorry. With the blackout…"

"Oh, no apologies. If Marco's going to make brunch, he's welcome anytime. But seriously, I'm proud of you."

"Oh?"

"Rachel said you helped Cassie with her chores out at the barn during the blackout last night."

"We all did."

"And you apparently have a girlfriend now."

I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands. "I hate both of you. I don't care which one told, I want you to know I don't pick favorites. I hate both of you equally."

My dad laughed. "You're sixteen, son, it's part of life. Besides, they're only razzing you because they're still single."

That idea had not occurred to me yet.

"And if I want to keep enjoying married life, I have to get those gutters cleaned today. There's fresh coffee and looks like Marco's done with your plate. See you later, kids."

Oh, Marco. Sweet, perfect, magnificent Marco. I put bacon in my mouth and almost cried. "I'm still mad at the two of you…," I said, "but bacon helps."

Rachel smiled. "I didn't know Marco could cook."

Marco looked embarrassed.

"What?"

"Nothing, he just doesn't want you calling him Suzie Homemaker because he mastered the fried egg."

That was a lie, though.

The truth was that Marco cooked all his meals. Two years ago, Marco's mom died in a boating accident in Monterey Bay. Rachel knew that part. What she didn't know was that his dad was never the same afterward. His dad was an engineer, or used to be, anyway. But after the funeral, he'd just stopped going to work, stopped going outside. He just slept a lot, for a few weeks. He got fired, which is what happens when you don't go to work, and he ended up getting a job as a mechanic or welder or something. I didn't know and I didn't ask. But Marco was the one that did the grocery shopping, made sure the bills got paid, and cooked all the meals. His fridge was full of labeled Tupperware containers so his dad had work lunches.

And Marco would kill me if I ever told anyone.

"Quit being so macho. Guys should know how to cook, too."

"Rachel," I said between a bite of eggs, "What do you mean 'too'? You don't know how to cook."

Now she was the one to look embarrassed. She took another sip of her coffee. Marco sat down to eat his breakfast.

"Rachel, cousin dearest, would it be misogynistic of me if I asked for a cup of coffee?"

"Jerk. No, I'm getting another cup anyway. Milk and sugar?"

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. I didn't know you drank coffee."

"I don't usually, but if we're going to Cassie's after breakfast, I needed the caffeine."

Fair enough.

"Marco, any thoughts since last night?"

Marco didn't say anything; he had a bite of eggs in his mouth. He just slid me my own phone. Bastard.

The top banner from the KION website showed links to President Trump's latest idiocy, a surgeon accused of molesting patients, and the 12th Annual Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza. But I skipped all that to read the article he had open:

"...Representatives from PG&E attributed the power outage to freak magnetic interference in the ionosphere caused by a small meteor shower in the early morning hours. Acting District Director Larry Crider of the San Francisco branch of the US Departments of Homeland Security assured that this was not an act of terrorism…"

The article droned on for awhile, apparently there was some minor looting and a few fender benders, but I skimmed through a little further down, and one of the last lines really caught my nerves.

"...believe an out-of-service satellite in decaying orbit was destroyed in the event. Some debris has been recovered from the Moore Creek Preserve and anyone with information regarding the debris should contact the number below…"

"They're looking for witnesses."

He nodded. "I was worried about the Men In Black when I thought he was going to die. Alive, this is much worse. If there's any truth to that brain-slug conspiracy, there's going to be a massive manhunt for him. And they've started it in the most subtle way imaginable, which is scarier."

I nodded. I knew what he meant. If we'd woken up to the sound of Black Hawk helicopters, that would've been bad. But they used the news as a craigslist ad for witnesses and that kind of calculated restraint was unnerving. It implied an Andalite survivor might be nothing more than an annoying eventuality. Not even a real threat.

We needed to get back to the WRC as soon as possible. "Any word from Cassie?"

Rachel handed me coffee. "She called to say her mom thanked her for turning on the generator last night but she didn't say anything about our, and I'm quoting here, 'friend from out of town.'"

"Smart. Keeping things off the phone."

I knew what he meant. By simply not mentioning Elfangor or Tobias, she'd told us everything was fine. Speaking of messages, I remembered the text from last night, before we'd left the theater.

"Has Tom been down?"

"No, we haven't seen him."

"Weird. Probably used the blackout to spend the night at his girlfriend's." My parents are fairly progressive about that kind of stuff, but still I knew my mom. Tom was eighteen, but my mom seemed rather oblivious to that fact. I just knew there were going to be safe sex pamphlets scattered ever so casually left around the house.

We finished our brunch, and I took Rachel home. While we were eating, she'd gotten a text that she needed to watch her sisters for the afternoon, which meant she wasn't going to be joining us at the WRC.

"We'll miss you, Rach," I shouted as we dropped her off.

She shot me the finger.

"And that, Jake, is why looks aren't everything."

"I heard that, Marco!"

"Oh, shit. Drive, drive!"

It was kinda weird, driving back to Cassie's during the day. And it was weird because it was totally normal. Last night I had alien blood on my hands, driving through the city in pitch black punctuated only by the red and blue lights of cop cars. There had been a sense of dread, of urgency. We'd been exhausted, overstimulated, and harried.

But now, in the daylight of a typical late-spring Saturday, everything seemed so normal.

Kids were playing outside, people were mowing their lawns, I could smell charcoal from Saturday cookouts. And the whispering doubt that creeped silently in my mind was whether any of it was real. Were these people Controllers? How many alien slugs was I looking at as I drove through the intersections of town?

My phone rang and I recognized Cassie's ringtone.

"Hey, Cassie, what's up?"

But it was Tobias' voice on the phone. "He's gone!"

"What?"

"Jake, El… Al is gone."

I looked at Marco. He'd heard it.

"We'll be there in ten minutes."