Hello everyone! It is now November, and even though I have 2 papers left, they're multiple choice, baby!! XD I feel really free! Especially considering I think I did pretty well :) But those 2 papers may destabilise things. Hmph.
Anyway, chapter 3! Again, I HATE the way ff can't do thought-speak brackets :(
P.S. Any of you guys like/have read Lord of the Flies? Only it happens to be my favourite book of ALL TIME and it would ROCK that other people actually like it. Yes, I watched the movie yesterday and am now filled with goodwill towards all man and a desire to continue my LOTF fic... XD
Chapter Three
(Quick!) hissed Jalilan. (Hide!)
We scrambled from the clearing the fighter had left into the relative cover of trees and shrubs. As I turned to go, I hesitated.
"What about you?"
(I know my fate. I am resigned to it. Go!)
He saw the look on my face. (I am an aristh. A warrior cadet. I can face this.)
He was just a kid. Whenever I remember him now, I always see him as he was at that moment. I think fear was eating away at him even more than at us. He knew what he had to do, the sacrifice he had to make.
This is the way it has to be.
I turned without a word and ran for cover. Jon pulled me behind some bushes, and I sank to the ground. Maria helped Will out of his wheelchair so he could lie flat, while Hannah pushed the chair off into the trees.
All these small actions seemed to take a lifetime; I could see the Bug fighters now, balls of light getting closer and closer to the park, and I thought they would surely see five frightened kids scrambling behind bushes. I won't lie, I almost forgot about Jalilan, standing tall in the clearing, tail cocked up over his shoulder, illuminated by the lights of the Bug fighters.
Waiting for the Yeerks.
There were three Bug fighters in all. They landed almost silently. Out jumped the strangest creatures I had ever seen.
On average, they were about seven feet tall, hulking creatures, with skin that looked scaly. It was about the colour of, you know, army camouflage material? Only the patches of different colours were actually shifting and moving on these aliens' skin. Somehow, the patterns on their skin corresponded with the scenery, so that you weren't sure whether they were there or not.
The broad, muscle-bound shoulders were surmounted by a head that looked absurdly small compared to the rest of the creature. You know the common perception of aliens, way before the Yeerks and the Andalites and all the rest of it? Venusians, Grays and little green men? Well, their heads were pretty much the standard alien, oval and elongated, with huge black eyes that dominated their features. I couldn't see any nose. The mouth was a V-shaped gash in the face, and as I watched then fan out around Jalilan, Dracon beams at the ready, several of them flicked absurdly long tongues out, as if they were tasting the air.
Their legs were very long, and bent slightly at the knee. The foot didn't have toes; it was like a flipper instead.
They had four arms. Two of the arms had a three-fingered hand at the end. These were the ones holding the Dracon beams.
The other two ended in wickedly-sharp blades.
Jalilan waited calmly as they surrounded him. (These aliens are known as Hols'aars. They are allies of the Yeerks. They enjoy killing. Watch and remember.)
The Hols'aars made no move towards the lone Andalite. Instead, they inclined their heads to the sky again. Waiting.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, as if it was just an extension of the dark sky, something landed. All four of Jalilan's eyes were riveted on it.
The Blade ship.
We'd all seen pictures of the Blade ship before, of course. Our Social Studies textbook had one on the cover page. So we were all familiar with the battle-ax shape, the huge wings that tapered back in lethal curves. We knew that the handle of the battle-ax was actually the bridge of the Blade ship.
The trouble is, a picture can't make you tremble and want to pee your pants. The Blade ship emanated an aura of pure, absolute evil, which radiated and seemed colder than the winter air.
A ramp descended from the side of the Blade ship. And call me weak, call me a coward, but I didn't want to see what was going to come out. I did not want that door to open, because if it did it would be irrefutable proof that the Yeerks were back, and I didn't think I could handle that, not here, not now. I felt my breath coming in great gasps.
I don't know what kind of creature I was expecting to emerge from the Blade ship. Some alien from the deepest reaches of space, probably. Or another Andalite.
Instead, a human walked calmly down the ramp and stepped onto the muddy ground. The Hols'aar-Controllers all made a kind of bow as he walked past them, towards Jalilan. The Andalite staggered – I guess his injuries were getting to him – but managed to stay upright as the human approached him.
I put his age at about thirty. He looked very fit, with dark hair cut close in a military-style crop. He wore some kind of uniform, too, and he had this unconscious air of command that subdued even the seven-foot-tall Hols'aars. There was a smile on his face, and it was not a nice smile. I shivered. Even though he was handsome, by human standards, there was something twisted and wrong about him. He radiated menace.
He was taller than Jalilan even, and as he came to stand in front of the young Andalite Jalilan stared him in the face. Goodness knows how much courage it took to do that – I could practically feel my bones turning to jelly just watching this guy from a distance.
I knew Jalilan wasn't going to show his fear.
(Visser One.)
Hannah jerked beside me; I knew she was thinking of her answer to Nicholson's question in Social Studies class – had it been a year ago?
Then, knowing of Visser One had been a privilege, something to be proud of.
Now, I knew seeing the real thing made her sad and angry all at once.
Visser One smiled.
"Quite right, my dear young aristh. I see you know of me – or I suppose that's a foregone conclusion, isn't it?"
(Your atrocities are well known. And universally reviled.)
Now the Visser laughed, throwing back his head in a parody of mirth.
"Oh, still so defiant, even when you know death is imminent? Very good… I am glad we sprung a surprise attack on the Andalites. You know, if they'd known we were reviving the Empire they might actually have defeated us!"
(Yeerk filth!)
Jalilan almost made a lunge for Visser One, and then seemed to think better of it as the Hols'aar-Controllers raised their Dracon beams.
"Getting angry with me won't help, you know." The Visser's voice carried a current of condescending amusement, as if Jalilan wasn't even worth bothering with. "You poor Andalites. You think you're lords of the galaxy, and your cursed arrogance governs your every action. Yet you never thought that the Yeerks might not have been defeated. While I was in prison for my so-called crimes in the last invasion, I was merely biding my time. Waiting until my loyal subordinates came to release me…"
Jalilan sneered, but his mask was cracking. I could hear the fear that he was trying so hard to conceal.
(How exactly did you manage that? I had the impression that the humans would rather die than let you go.)
"Of course, my naïve young Andalite. Fortunately, we Yeerks don't really have to think to deceive them. Some of my loyal Sub-Vissers released me from my prison, meanwhile leaving behind a substitute Yeerk." He laughed softly. "Typical humans. They put me in the most high-security place they can think of, and it only takes a few accomplices and a substitute to fool them."
(As I recall, the last Yeerk invasion was foiled by humans. Five of them, weren't there? The Animorphs.)
For a moment, as Visser One stepped forward suddenly, I thought he was actually going to strike Jalilan. Then he controlled himself with an effort and forced out a laugh.
"That was a freak incident, nothing more! This time nothing of the sort will happen."
He even sounded jovial as he explained.
"You see, the humans know nothing of what is going on. We have made sure to target the Secret Service and authority figures first. There will be no dissent as we infiltrate again. And of course, since we have been successful in halting all the Andalite scouts leaving from wherever you have been hiding, there will be no help from you either, won't there? As I speak, all the scouts are dead. And I'm afraid that you will soon be joining those few. Or on the other hand…"
Visser One looked thoughtful. Then he spoke to the Hols'aar-Controllers.
"Grab the Andalite and get him aboard my Blade ship. I'm going to find out what he's got in that mind of his. Where the escapees are hiding, for instance."
He smiled at Jalilan.
"You see, Andalite? Soon you'll be telling me everything."
Hannah half-rose beside me. I have no idea what she wanted to do – charge out there and take on the Visser and the Hols'aars? This wasn't like her; she usually had the sense to work out the strategic option. I pulled her down roughly. This wasn't the time for stupidity.
There was nothing we could do.
Jalilan stood there, a lone figure poised against the Yeerk forces. As we crouched, shivering, waiting for the inevitable conclusion, his thought-speak resounded in our heads once again.
(Tell no one.)
He took a step towards Visser One, who laughed and drew back until he was behind the wall of Hols'aar-Controllers.
(The Escafil device is concealed in my ship.)
A Hols'aar tried to put a hand on him but Jalilan flicked his tail and the Controller fell back, roaring, clutching a bleeding arm.
Jalilan's next words came so softly I wasn't sure if they were for us. Or himself.
(I am the servant of the people. I am the servant of my prince.)
He sprung forward in a barely-controlled rush of speed and disarmed the two Hols'aars nearest to him. Heading straight for Visser One.
(I am the servant of honor.)
The Visser screamed in rage.
(My life is not my own, when the people have need of it.)
The Hols'aar-Controllers were in disarray. They fumbled for their weapons.
"Shoot him! Kill the Andalite!"
(My life is given for the people, my prince -)
The first Dracon beam raked Jalilan's side. The Visser had drawn one he had carried in his waistband. Jalilan, close enough now, raised his tail to strike. Visser One aimed his Dracon beam. It was a shot he couldn't miss.
TSEEW!
Jalilan was gone.
OK, chapter 3 down!! Forgive me for the DRAMA, but I'm a sucker for it. Maybe eliminating it from my personality would make me a better person :( Also, forgive my outrageous alien anatomy XD