Thanks to some gentle prodding I have gotten this chapter ready. It did help that I was bribed with a chocolate chip muffin, my favorite.
The Animorphs will not be taking a trip to the Yeerk Pool any time soon since Arbron is going to say that it's too dangerous and what not.
xxxxxxxxxxx
I woke up the next morning wondering if last night was all a dream.
I could hear the phone ringing but I really didn't care.
"Jake?" My Mom's voice called from downstairs. "What?" I called back. "Phone," she responded.
Curious as to who was calling so early on a Saturday I made my way downstairs and into the living room.
I took the phone from my Mom and sat down on the couch. "Hello?" I asked slowly, I was still a little sleepy.
"Is that you Jake?" Tobias's voice asked. "Who else would it be?" I asked, blinking sleep out of my eyes.
"I don't know, perhaps Data?" he answered.
"What do you want?" I asked. "I miss placed some of my math homework. Could you come over and bring yours so that I can get it done so my parents don't blow a gasket?" Tobias said.
I nearly frowned, Tobias never miss places anything unless it's on purpose.
"I'll be over in a few minutes." I said.
I quickly ate breakfast, dressed in clean clothes, grabbed my math homework and hurried for my bike.
I could have walked to Tobias's house but if it was something important then it was best to hurry.
Once I arrived I parked my bike on the front lawn since I had no idea what schedule his dad was working and I didn't want my bike to get run over.
I pressed the doorbell and Tobias's mom answered a few moments later. She looked tired but then who wouldn't be tired with a child a few years younger than me who can have meltdowns if supper isn't ready around a certain time or if something else happens that is beyond normal control.
Or it could be that one of Tobias's younger siblings was sick or something. He has one or two more than Rachel and she has two younger siblings. It really boggles my mind that there are people that have that many kids. But then as my Dad says as long as they can afford to take care of them and are than that's good enough for him.
"Hi Jake," Tobias's mom says pleasantly. "If you're looking for Tobias he's in his room."
I thanked her and headed for the stairs.
I paused as I passed by Tobias's father's study. He was at his computer wearing headphones and a look of horror on his face.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked. He jumped so high that you would have thought I had yelled into his ear while he was sleeping.
His head jerked in my direction and he seemed to very relieved. "Just some random chatter." He answered, his voice shook a bit.
"Sorry that I bothered you." I said and continued on to Tobias's Room.
Tobias was sitting on his bed, nearly bouncing on it with excitement. "Close the door.' He whispered.
I closed the door.
I had never seen someone so excited about the prospect of doing homework. Unless last night hadn't been a dream.
"I can change into Captain Picard!" He nearly whispered. At first I was confused until I remembered that Captain Picard was the name of Tobias's cat as well.
I stood there for a few moments stunned before I could speak again. "That's . . . cool, I guess." I muttered.
If he could turn into Captain Picard then either he had taken leave of his senses or last night really happened.
"I can show you." He said, excitement in his voice. I only nodded and before my eyes Tobias changed. He grew fur, a tail and his ears moved to the top of his head. Then he got smaller. Soon I was staring at Captain Picard.
/This is so cool!/ Tobias's voice said in my head. /You should try it sometime./ I just nodded, too overwhelmed to say anything.
I watched Tobias change back, totally weirded out.
A noise out in the hall had my eyes glued to the door. It sounded like someone was upset about something.
"Leilani," Tobias said as if that explained everything. "Mom and Dad said that we weren't going out to the park like we usually do on Saturdays and she's having a hard time adjusting to the change in her schedule."
I nodded even though I didn't completely understand. Tobias's younger sister, Leilani, has Asperger Syndrome so I know that some things bug her more than the average person. Once I thought that she was going to kill me for cracking my knuckles.
"Is your dad into CB Radio?" I asked, in an effort to change the subject. Tobias shrugged. "I honestly don't know. As far as I know he could be listening to aliens."
The thought that Tobias's father could be listening to aliens wasn't very comforting. He could be a Controller as far as we knew.
"We should call everyone else and go to the beach. See if we can find Arbron." Tobias commented. I nodded. If we were the only defense on Earth against the Yeerks then we needed to know as much as we could about them.
I waited for Tobias to call Marco and Rachel, telling both of them to meet us at the beach and for Rachel to call Cassie and tell her the same thing.
Then we got on our bikes and rode to the beach.
We didn't have to wait long for the others to show up. Once we were all there we walked to a secluded part of the beach.
"Last night wasn't a dream was it." Marco stated. Tobias and I shook our heads. "So what are we doing here then?" Rachel asked. "He told us to meet him on the beach by the ocean so here we are." I explained.
/I am so glad that you all escaped unharmed./ Arbron's voice said in my head. The others and I jerked and turned to see a dog watching us.
"Arbron?" Tobias asked slowly but excitedly. The dog's tail whipped back and forth. /Yes, it's me./
The dog, Arbron, replied.
Arbron as the dog trotted up to us.
/I will teach you all that you need to know so that we can fight the Yeerks effectively./ Arbron said as he sat in the middle of our little group.
We sat there for about an hour just listening to him tell us what we needed to know about the Yeerks.
/We came here to investigate and possibly fight any Yeerks that were here and then report back to High Command. However the Yeerks were ready for us. They attacked us shortly after we came out of Zero Space. We fought but it wasn't enough./ Arbron explained, pain in his voice.
/For reasons I am still unsure of I scanned Earth for Andalite technology and found traces of it in the area. So I piloted my ship for this area and landed where I landed./
"Why did you come?" Cassie asked. /A friend of mine disappeared with a human girl and boy years ago. I was hoping that I could learn his fate. If the Yeerks had captured him or if they had killed him or if he had escaped./ Arbron explained, pain in his 'voice'.
"I'm sorry," Tobias said.
/It's not your fault that I can't find my friend./ Arbron told Tobias. /However I found one of them. Hedrick Chapman./ Arbron said with a hint of pride. "Our vice principal?" Marco asked. /He's also the one who sold you all to the Yeerks./ Arbron informed us with disgust.
Marco snorted. "Should have known that he was evil." He commented.
We were silent for a while. Just thinking about what he had told us.
Finally Arbron spoke again. /You all should head back to your families. We will need to meet again and I will walk you through your first morph, unless you have already tried it out./ "My barn," Cassie spoke, 'my Dad rehabilitates animals so we have all sorts of animals and they would be perfect to morph into."
/Then I will follow you home./ Arbron stated.
xxxxxxx
We went our separate ways, Rachel went to the Mall, Cassie and Arbron went to her house and Marco, Tobias and I went to my house to play video games.
Marco was kicking our butts as usual when my older brother Tom came into the room. "Hey Midget." He said playfully. "Moron," I shot back just as playfully.
"Did you hear about what happened at the abandoned construction site last night?" Tom asked. "Yeah, some kids set off some fire crackers or something like that." Tobias replied. Tom nodded. "Some people claim that aliens landed there. Little green men from Mars." Tom said in a joking tone.
I felt like saying that they weren't little or green. But I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to have to answer any awkward questions.
"You mean Alpha Centauri." Tobias said flatly. "What?" Tom asked. "Captain Kirk joked that he was a little green man from Alpha Centauri in Star Trek The Original Series." Tobias said, a grin plastered on his face now.
After a moment a smile came to Tom's face. "Good one Einstein." He said.
"Well I've got to be going. Hot date." Tom said and left.
We heard the front door close Tobias stood and closed the door.
After a few moments both Marco and Tobias looked at me. I didn't like the look they were giving me.
"Jake, he's one of them." Marco finally said.
xxxxxxxxxxx
A cliffy! Ooh!
Next time Jake's reaction to Marco's claim.
I purposely gave Tobias more siblings and made one an Aspie. I myself am one along with one of my younger brothers and felt that I could write it the best. I have flipped out at people when they annoy me. Just ask my youngest sibling, I flipped out at her because she was stacking cups into pyramids then collapsing them and then rebuilding them while she should have been doing school work.
Am I going to fast?
Review and you get virtual cookies.
