Chapter 25
I'm not proud of it, but I took off. Away from the shack, away from my friends, away from the Yeerk, away from Erek…but most of all, away from Arnold Underwood.
I thought that there could be nothing worse than the Yeerks. Now I knew better. At least they had a reason for the things they did. A goal. I'd thought they were cruel, and maybe they are. But compared to the evil person I'd just been inside of, they were saints.
I could hear my friends talking to me, calling me back, but I ignored them. To be honest, I barely even heard them. I noticed their shouts the same way I notice the crickets in my meadow at night – background noise. And as I flew away, they let me go.
I knew they'd know the deal by my reaction. I felt no need to explain what I'd found, exactly. I didn't want to subject them to it, and I didn't want to go over it. Not now, not ever. I would spend the rest of my life trying to forget the rattlesnake pit that was the mind of Arnold Underwood.
It was disgusting. Sickening. Marco had said the guy wasn't one of our own, but in the galactic scheme of things, he was. The thought that even someone like a Yeerk would judge other humans by that mind was physically repulsive.
I never thought I'd think these words: the Yeerk was right. That…man…had no right to exist. No right whatsoever.
I was almost back to my meadow when Cassie caught me on the wing. (Tobias? We -)
I cut her off. I was rude, even. (I won't go back there. I don't care. You're wasting your time.)
Before, than had been an unforgivable thing for me – to be rude to Cassie. I live by a modified version of the golden rule. Do unto others as others do unto you. It's simple, really. If someone is nice to you, be nice back. If someone is a jerk, give it right back. I knew that if I'd lived by that while I was still human, I would have avoided a lot of problems.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but it doesn't hurt to put your principles in action. Right now, I didn't care about principles. Not even my own. (He killed kids, Cassie. Before he was a controller. He killed a baby.) I don't know if I was explaining why I had been rude, or if I was just trying to get the memories out of me. That's not the way it works, though. You can't unsee what you've seen. You can't unknow what you know.
(We know,) she said sadly as I hit my hunting perch, the one at the top of the lightning-struck pine. She perched two trees over. (I know. As soon as he got control back, I guess he knew the game was over. He started bragging. I was hoping he was lying. I guess he wasn't.)
(What kind of a monster does that?) I asked bleakly. Then, I was struck with another horrifying thought – It's not over. I almost panicked. (The others are watching him, right? He can't get away. He can't.)
(It's over, Tobias. Erek handled it. The killer and the Yeerk.)
(How?) I didn't want to know, but I had to. I had to be sure that man would never, ever be allowed to walk free again. If I had to kill him, I would. And I wouldn't even feel as bad about it as I do about killing my prey.
I don't worry myself about the morality of my kills. That man deserved to be slaughtered like an animal. That, and worse.
(The Chee planted DNA evidence linking him to the crimes. Fitting, isn't it? He's been framed for crimes he actually did commit. The FBI has choppers on the way to the shack right now. Apparently, Lourdes – one of the Chee, remember? – used to be an agent during the Roosevelt Administration. She still has connections.)
(And the Yeerk?) I asked.
(Erek's got him. They have a modified Yeerk pool at the King house, in the underground park. They keep the Yeerks who are supposed to be infesting the Chee there. He'll live a normal, healthy life. The Chee are even working on a way to communicate with them in their natural states.)
(And what happens when the killer starts talking about Yeerks and Andalites?) I asked. I couldn't bring myself to think of him by his name. He didn't deserve a name.
Cassie spoke softly. (We thought of that. We figure either one of two things will happen. Either he'll start spouting off about that stuff to real, human authorities, in which case he's not going to help his case for being sane much. Or scenario number two, he talks about those things in the presence of controllers.)
She left it at that. She didn't need to say more. We all knew what happened to people who knew too much about the Yeerks and were dumb enough to talk about it.
I finally, finally felt something akin to relief as I realized that Cassie was right – it was over. With that feeling came the embarrassment of taking off like I had. (Cassie, I'm sorry. Sorry for running away like that.)
(Don't do that, Tobias.) Her voice was so gentle. The complete opposite of the man I'd just left bound on the shack floor. (I can't even imagine how horrible that was.) She was quiet for a minute, then she said, (I'm sorry. I'm sorry for standing by and letting you go through that.)
That little bit of kindness would have been enough to set me to weeping, had I been human. It might not have ever stopped, once it started. That's the way I felt – like I just wanted to cry forever.
Not for the first time, I thanked whoever was out there for the fact that hawks don't cry.
Cassie seemed to remember something important. (Sorry to do this, Tobias, but we have to go. Now. Both of us.) Without waiting for me, she left the wilting elm and spiraled upward for altitude.
(But you said it was over,) I said blankly, not comprehending.
(That part of it is,) she said. (But we have other problems. The Yeerks know we took down their distraction, and they don't have time to set up another. So, while the cops are still busy with this one, they're going ahead with their plan. They're taking their diamonds, and soon.)
(When?) I asked as I spread my wings to join her.
(We're not 100% sure, but Erek thinks it'll probably be within the next few hours. They have to strike before the FBI gets out word that they have the guy and the cops stop looking.) She stopped talking as a wicked cross-breeze threatened to send her sideways. She righted herself. (So that means we have to be ready now. Everybody's waiting for us.)
(We don't even have a plan!) I said.
(Yeah,) she agreed. (There's that problem, too.)