Though they'd both been stationed on Earth at the same time, Visser Three remembered little of the Yeerk that was threatening him for leadership. A Human-Controller, the data files reported, one who'd been more involved with The Sharing. One of Essam's underlings, then? A coward?
No, it wasn't fair for him to judge all of them that way. That's what he'd thought of Edriss at first, nothing more than a sniveling traitor who wanted credit for a species that he'd discovered. And—though he would admit it to no one but her—he had been happy to be proven horribly wrong.
Perhaps she could be a useful resource. ((Did you know Sub-Visser Fifty-Four?)) He rose from the computer, his main eyes meeting hers while his stalk eyes roved restlessly throughout their temporary quarters.
"In The Sharing? Yes, he was always very ambitious. He had a couple host bodies, but most recently a young human. So it was difficult for him to get to some of our meetings without raising suspicions."
((But easy for him to get to another planet?))
"He's in a Hork-Bajir for now."
Visser Three trotted restlessly around. ((It seems like anybody can get here these days.))
"Everyone wants to come," Edriss murmured. "To get ahead, to watch, just to be in the know."
((But Under-Visser Nine? Surely he has no chance of getting "ahead"!)) Essam had undergone a series of demotions, and had not been placed in a command position for the last generation.
"He doesn't. You don't need to worry about him."
((I suppose.)) Esplin turned back towards his computer.
"What do you need that for? You just checked it!"
((I'm supposed to be meeting with Visser Thirty-Five right now. He hasn't checked in yet.))
Edriss sighed. "I'm sure the computer will let you know when he does."
((Just let me adjust the settings.)) He bent down, typing at the controls. ((This would be so much faster if I could use thoughtspeak.))
"Let Sub-Visser Fifty-Four go steal some technology for you," Edriss teased.
The Visser glared at her with his stalk eyes while his main eyes focused even harder on the keyboard. ((There. Now it will notify me when Visser Thirty-Five logs on. He said he would support me during the debates, we need to coordinate our timing.))
Edriss tried to change the subject. "Have you inspected the new defense systems?"
((I've seen the drafts. They should be fine, assuming they actually got built properly.))
"I'm sure they did."
Visser Three suddenly seemed to focus intently on nothing at all. ((That's a good point,)) he finally said—Edriss couldn't tell who he was addressing. As if suddenly noticing her, he elaborated: ((Maybe it's for the best that Essam is here. The more useless low-ranks there are, the less the Andalites will know what we're doing. If they think that this is a "civilian" as much as a military gathering, they'll be less inclined to attack. Foolish morals.))
"Hopefully."
The computer beeped. ((Finally!)) Visser Three read the message on the screen. ((Ah, good. He was just bringing Sub-Visser Five over to our side, she'll be there too. And...let's see...someone else wants to talk with me afterwards. Well, I'll see you when it's done?))
"Of course. I'll be right here."
((Good.)) His host's eyes sparkled as he left—the simplest of gestures, yet Edriss had to tighten her grip on Eva's body to keep from reacting. How could he respect her as an individual if a waving stalk eye saw her so easily pleased by another?
She flopped down on the uncomfortable Anati furniture. Visser this and Sub-Visser that—she was a Sub-Visser too, but nobody came to her for tactical advice anymore.
But while the young Sub-Visser who had left Olgin in search of a Class Five species so long ago might not have understood, she hardly missed that part of life. It had been a wonderful generation, if not one that she had expected. And had someone asked her at that moment for a detailed strategy to reorganize logistics on the Taxxon homeworld, for instance, or increase Hork-Bajir numbers, she wouldn't necessarily have been up to the challenge. Life was too confusing just then.
Eva tried to say something, but Edriss blocked her out. The last thing she wanted was to go riffling through somebody else's mind.
Sympathy for a host species? a worn-out memory teased her. It was not treason but gratitude; the relief that nobody could access her thoughts so easily. What if Esplin could? It was a ridiculous fear—it shouldn't have been a fear at all—but a chilling one nonetheless. She could imagine all too well him sorting through her past experiences, learning all her ambitions, her deepest truths. Some of it could seem humiliating, yes, but he was no fool. He knew that she and Essam had been close. He wouldn't need to know any more.
No, it was the small surprises that would be a shame to see go. How he had laughed when she had filled one of the long rides through Z-space by explaining how she taught Andalite harmonic theory to Allison Kim! Or how she had confessed that Hollywood had originally seemed the most important of human cities...though it took him some time to understand human society well enough to understand the humor of the situation. The fragments of her past, the quirks of her present, her yearnings for the future—tantalizing nuggets all, to be revealed one at a time.
But whether Esplin hypothetically devoured them all at once or she rationed them out to the very last moment, they would run out one day. And when they did? When the novelty of her company wore off? He would, Edriss knew, quickly grow bored.
It couldn't have been any better, though. Nobody knew less of her to begin with than Visser Three. There was nothing to do but to make sure their time together lasted as long as she could make it. And to savor all of it.