Perched on the edge of the sofa, Carla fiddled nervously with her bracelet, glancing at the clock. Eventually, Kalran pushed the door open. She looked very pretty, Carla noticed, wearing a skirt and a flowery blue top, both of which were unusual for her, and perfect makeup, which was even more so.
"You look nice," Carla said after a few seconds.
Kalran laughed bitterly. "It's silly, isn't it? It isn't like Oglud can see me, I could be wearing tattered old pajamas for all they know."
"I don't think it's silly." Carla glanced down at her jeans and hooded sweatshirt. "Should I…"
"Goodness, no," Kalran said. "Oglud can't see you, and they wouldn't care what you were wearing even if they could. I'm just being… I don't know… well, silly."
"You're not," Carla repeated, getting to her feet. "How are we getting there? The bus?"
Kalran sighed. "Three buses, and then a lot of queueing, waiting and putting up with Andalites and human guards insulting you. Our actual appointment's not till eight… it'll be about half nine by the time we get home."
Carla nodded. "Okay."
"You're sure you still want to come?" Kalran's voice was anxious.
Carla smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way, stepping towards her. "Of course I am."
The bus stop was dark and deserted. Carla rested herself against one of the pathetically small plastic bars that didn't really serve as seats, but she supposed were better than standing. Kalran stood, perhaps not wanting to dirty her clothes.
"The bus takes about an hour, with all the changes," Kalran said, absently tapping her finger against the plastic of the bus shelter.
Carla frowned. It had never taken her that long to get to the Pool, no matter which area of the city she was in. She supposed she'd moved town since, but they were only about a twenty minute ride away from the centre of the city the Yeerk Pool had been built under. "Our nearest entrance is that far away?"
"There's only one open, and it's the other side of town. Not that I mind that, it keeps it much more secure, but it's hard to get to. The central entrances were all destroyed when the Animorphs attacked the Pool, and they didn't bother rebuilding them… they thought a central entrance would be a bigger security risk and it would be too much in the way of people's daily lives. This one's in the middle of a field on the outskirts of town, though at least now they've paved the path into the field."
At that moment, Carla saw the warm orange glow of the bus's lights as it turned down the street towards them. The bus was almost empty, so once they had seated themselves Carla dared to whisper: "Are we meeting Isaac there?"
Isaac was Ilkiss' alias: none of the Yeerks used their real names where there was a chance they might be overheard, it was too risky. Carla wished she could be as anonymous, though at least her name didn't give her away- humans who hadn't been involved in the war had no idea who she was, it was only if she ran across an involuntary who happened to recognise her that she had to worry.
Kalran nodded. "Yes. He lives a fair way away from us, though he's a little nearer to… where we're going."
Carla nodded, and settled back against the cushions. Kalran made small talk with her for a while, asking her how work was, but it was clear from the halting nature of her speech that the Yeerk was struggling to concentrate. Eventually, the two settled into silence, which was broken only by a few words as they changed buses. Carla yawned: buses and trains always made her sleepy.
"Close your eyes, if you want. I'll wake you when we need to change again, and then it's only a short ride."
Carla nodded, letting her head fall back against the seat and her eyelids fall together. She wasn't sure she actually slept, but fell into a dozy state that was half-sleep, half-waking, until she felt Kalran nudge her side and stumbled off the bus and, after a few minutes' wait in the cool night air, onto another one. Eventually, they alighted by the side of a suburban road, where Ilkiss was already waiting for them, leaning against a wall. There were more people around than you might expect mid-evening on a quiet street, most of them heading in the same direction.
Ilkiss pushed himself off the wall as they got off the bus, taking a few steps towards them. He and Kalran exchanged hellos and a brief hug, but the greeting was less intimate than Carla had expected.
"Hi, Carla," Ilkiss said, turning towards her. "It's very kind of you to come."
"It's okay. I'd like to meet her… I mean, them."
Kalran smiled. "We use both; sometimes 'them' is confusing, and we don't want to use words from…" Kalran hesitated, and dropped her voice. "… from our own language, or Taxxon, because… well, you can guess why."
They began to walk along the street, turning left after a few metres to follow a pathed pathway through a copse of woodland. Soon the trees cleared, and they were crossing an open field. At the other side of the field, they reached an ancient, solitary oak tree with a wide trunk. Carla assumed some part of the tree itself had acted as the way to open the entrance during the war, but now the entrance was standing open: a square hole in the ground with a steel ladder leading down into the darkness. In front of it stood two humans with lanyards around their necks and hand-held shredders resting on belts around their waists.
Kalran and Ilkiss dropped their eyes to the floor as they approached them, and Carla quickly followed suit. Kalran had told her that the worst aspect of the process was the human and Andalite guards, and that it was best to be as submissive as possible.
"Names?" One of the men sneered, his voice dripping contempt.
"Kalran Five-Five-Three of the Sulp Niar pool," Kalran murmured, her eyes still on the floor.
"Ilkiss Seven-Six-One of the Sulp Niar pool." Ilkiss' voice was similarly quiet.
"I'm Carla Roberts," Carla said, sensing their eyes on her.
One of the men laughed unpleasantly, while the other just glared. "Your real name."
Carla kept her eyes on the floor. "That is my real name. I'm a human."
She heard a slight hiss, presumably a surprised intake of breath, but did not look up.
"If I may," Kalran began submissively, "I did put in a request for Carla to attend with us. It should be in the documentation."
"Yes, yes, Yeerk, I can see it without your help," the man snapped.
Carla chanced a glance up, and saw the man getting out some sort of fancy handheld piece of electronics. He stepped towards Ilkiss, and waved it up and down Ilkiss' body; some kind of scanner, then. The other man did the same to Kalran, before the first stepped towards Carla herself. Reluctantly, she raised her arms, allowing them to scan her body; he was too close for her comfort, and she was relieved when he lowered the scanner and stepped back.
"Well, hurry up, then," he snapped suddenly at the three of them.
Kalran jumped a little, hurrying forwards towards the opening in the ground and swinging herself onto the metal ladder. Ilkiss gestured Carla ahead of him, and she rapidly followed.
The ladder was only short, about ten rungs down, then Carla's feet hit the rough stone floor of a passageway. It was dimly lit, but there was enough illumination to see three shadowy, four-legged figures with bladed tails looming out of the darkness. A second later, a sharp blade was pressed to her throat, and she froze.
(Names, Yeerk filth?)
Carla had never met an Andalite this closely before: she'd seen a few on the Pool ship at the end of the Yeerk war, but she'd been too consumed by grief and in terror for her life to take much notice. It was the lack of a mouth that scared her the most, even more than the scorpion tail and the extra eyes- it made it hard to tell what the Andalite was feeling, though she could guess it wasn't anything good.
(It's okay,) came a much gentler thought-speak voice. Not expecting it, though, Carla jumped a little, nicking her chin on the Andalite's blade.
(Oh, dapsen, sorry! I'd forgotten I've never spoken to you like this… it's just me, it's Kalran.)
Carla glanced sideways as much as she could without turning her head. Of course, the Yeerks could thought-speak! Carla couldn't believe she hadn't realised this before: after all, she knew the Animorphs could thought-speak while in morph, even if that morph was another human.
(It's okay,) Kalran repeated. (They've put their tails to our throats before, but they've never hurt us. I'm sorry, I should have warned you.)
Carla wished she could reply, but of course she couldn't.
(Your name, filth!) the Andalite repeated. (If I have to ask again it will be a three month ban.)
Carla didn't know for certain what that was, but she could guess. "I'm Carla Roberts," she said quickly. "I'm a human. Kalran did apply for me to come today."
The Andalite swung a third eye forward to look at her more closely. (If you are the human they brought before, I must inform you that you are still banned from visiting for another three months. My fellow warriors told me about your insubordination.)
"No, I'm not her," Carla whispered, trying to sound as submissive as possible. "I've never been before."
(Come with me,) the Andalite said simply, beginning to step forward with his blade still held to her throat. Kalran and Ilkiss were walking in similar fashion, being very careful not to change pace or trip. Carla was the same; she could feel how sharp the blade was against her throat, and could only hope the Andalite would have fast reflexes if she tripped, or she would fall right onto it.
It was a long, tense walk down the uneven stone stairs. Carla didn't dare glance sideways at Kalran and Ilkiss for reassurance, too afraid of cutting her throat against the blade. Eventually, the stairwell opened out into the Yeerk Pool proper. The first thing Carla noticed was that the cages had gone, making the cavern look even larger than it used to. The second thing was the sheer number of Andalite guards lining the sides of the chamber and conducting Yeerk nothlits around, and the third was the multitude of Yeerks waiting on rows of hard chairs along one side of the cavern wall: there were far, far more of them than Carla had expected.
They were shown to three chairs at the edge of the group.
(Sit, filth,) one of the Andalites snapped. The three Andalites remained standing behind them, but thankfully took their blades away from their throats, allowing Carla to turn to Kalran. The Yeerk gave her a nervous smile.
"Are you alright?"
Carla nodded.
Kalran's eyes drifted across Carla's face and body, widening suddenly as they landed on her throat. "Oh, Kandrona, Carla, your neck…"
"It's just a scratch," Carla replied quickly. "I'm fine."
Kalran reached out a hand towards her, as if she might touch the wound, then suddenly stopped, as though thinking better of it, and pulled her hand back to her side.
"I'm okay, I promise." Carla glanced around at the rows of Yeerks, all sitting quietly and tensely, a few alone but most in pairs or groups, some holding hands. "Is it always like this?" she asked.
"Like what?" Ilkiss said, the tension in his body increasing the pitch of his usually deep voice.
"You know… blades to your throat, being insulted all the time… it's not nice for you."
(Do not criticise us, human.)
Kalran looked pleadingly at her, her expression fearful. Carla tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly to the Andalite who had spoken. "It won't happen again."
Where you can hear it, she added inside her mind, and felt a sharp pang of pain when she realised there was no Silrin to laugh at the joke.
They waited on the hard chairs for nearly half an hour, the atmosphere too tense and quiet to allow much conversation. Carla let her eyes stray around the cavern, which looked very different without its piers, buildings or… or cages. Carla shuddered without meaning to as she looked across at the place where they'd stood.
After what seemed like hours, a human guard strode up to them. "You're here for Oglud five-seven-five?" he said in a bored voice, glancing disinterestedly at them.
Kalran leapt to her feet instantly, hurriedly smoothing down her skirt. Ilkiss was not far behind. "Yes."
"C'mon, then," he growled, gesturing roughly at them.
Carla followed Kalran and Ilkiss away from the Pool, which was a surprise, and into a side room carved into the rock. They moved through a few more doorways until they reached a small, bare room containing a large array of buttons, switches and keypads, and a screen. The two Andalites from earlier moved with them, one standing guard outside the door while the other came in to type something into the keypad with his fourteen long, slim fingers.
(You may speak to your mate, Yeerk filth,) the Andalite sneered as he lifted his fingers from the keypad. (You have twenty Earth minutes.)
"Thank you," Ilkiss said hastily, he and Kalran rushing over to sit by the computer terminal.
Carla followed at a more sedate pace. The symbols on the keypad were foreign to her, though one or two looked familiar… she searched her memory. Galard? Were they Galard letters? Kalran's fingers were flying over them, making a line of text appear on the screen, then she paused and waited. A moment later, a line of equally incomprehensible text appeared back on the screen: presumably Oglud, though Carla could only recognise a couple of Galard words in speech, and none in writing. She stared avidly at the screen anyway, keen to make a connection with a Yeerk, a real Yeerk. Carla immediately felt guilty for that last thought, glancing at Kalran and Ilkiss, who must feel no less like real Yeerks for their human bodies.
After a few more moments, Kalran turned to her.
"Oglud says hello. They say it's an honour to meet you."
"Oh," Carla said, flushing slightly despite herself. "Tell them likewise."
Kalran nodded, letting her fingers fly across the keypad.
"What did you tell them about me?" Carla asked, while they waited for Oglud's reply to appear on the screen.
"About you and Silrin, and how you came to live with us," Kalran said quickly, glancing between Carla and the screen rapidly, as though her eyes were following a tennis match. "And that you were interested in helping them all get the right to take hosts."
Carla was prevented from responding by another line of text appearing on the screen.
"Oglud's asking how you are," Kalran read immediately.
"I'm fine, thanks. How are they?"
Kalran's fingers flew across the keypad again.
"Did you tell them that I'd offered to be their host?" Carla asked. "I mean, if they want…."
Kalran shook her head. "Not yet. I didn't know if you'd want me to."
"You might want to get to know them first," Ilkiss said slowly. "You might change your mind." He raised a hand, cutting off Carla's half-formed protest. "I know you don't think you would, but that possibility would definitely occur to Oglud. They'd spend the whole time feeling like they were being interviewed."
Carla nodded. "That makes sense. Maybe I can tell them, at the end?"
"It's only twenty minutes," Ilkiss reminded her. "Not very long to get to know each other."
Carla shrugged. "It's long enough. Longer than I had with Silrin."
"They're asking where you work," Kalran interrupted. "I mean, obviously I know, but it might be nice for you to tell them in your own words."
Carla nodded, and rattled off a few sentences about work, which Kalran rapidly typed into the computer. "What did Oglud do in the Empire? Unless you think that question might upset them?"
"Of course not." Kalran's hands continued to fly across the keyboard.
Ilkiss smiled. "We could tell her now, of course."
"Not very natural, though, is it? I think they want to talk naturally to each other… right?"
"What exactly is natural about this?" Ilkiss asked, gesturing around them.
Kalran ignored him, peering at the latest line of text that had appeared on the screen. "I had a Taxxon host, most recently," she said, now reading the screen verbatim. "Her name was Srynala. We worked in engineering. Before that, another Taxxon, Halisssa, and before that a Gedd, Rhish." Kalran stopped reading suddenly, and looked hesitantly at Carla. "Oglud says they'd like to ask you about Silrin, but they aren't sure if it would be too painful."
Carla felt a sharp twist in her belly and a tingling at the corner of her eyes, but despite that said: "it's fine."
"They're asking what she did," Kalran said gently, after a few seconds.
"In me? Just general Sharing stuff, and I think the same in her human host before me. She had a Taxxon before that, though… she was a fighter pilot. She was excellent, but… she tired of the battles, after a while, wanted something safer. It wasn't that she wasn't… I mean, she was really brave, always, I just think it must get too much for everyone after a while." Carla reached up to wipe a tear away from her cheek.
Kalran's fingers flew over the keypad, the buttons clicking rapidly. Oglud's response took a few seconds to come through. "Oglud says: 'Yes, it sounds an incredibly difficult job, and I'm sure she must have been brave to do it for any amount of time.' Oglud's done a new line here, Carla… they say they're very sorry for your loss."
Carla couldn't speak for a moment, for fear of giving in entirely to her tears. Eventually, though, she steeled herself enough to say: "tell Oglud thank you. I… I miss her very much. We… I don't even know how to describe what our relationship was, but…"
Kalran nodded, dutifully typing in Carla's message and relaying the response. "'I know what you mean. Srynala was voluntary, too- all my hosts have been- and we were very close. I'm sure on the homeworld we must have had a word for it in our own language, but it's hardly something the Empire would preserve.'" Kalran paused, waiting as more text came up on the screen. " 'I want to thank you for trying to help us- it's so incredibly kind of you all. This way of communicating doesn't let me relay it to you properly, but just knowing there are some humans on our side raises all our spirits so much. You've made me very happy today, Carla."
Carla felt a warmth spread itself across her cheeks. "It's nothing," she murmured. "I wish we could do more… if it was up to me you could come into my head right now, but…"
Kalran paused in her typing, turning her head towards Carla. "You're sure you want to tell them that?"
Carla nodded.
It was a much longer delay than usual before the line of yellow text that was Oglud's reply appeared on the screen: so much longer that Carla felt her stomach beginning to tighten with anxiety, and glanced at Kalran for reassurance. At that moment, however, she saw the screen change, and peered desperately at it, as though if she looked at it hard enough the letters would suddenly change into English.
Kalran didn't keep her waiting long, however. "They're asking if that's a serious offer."
"Not the right now bit. They'd get in trouble. But the rest of it, yes."
Kalran's typing seemed suddenly very loud to Carla's ears, and the silence that followed it was almost unbearable. Carla stared at the bright light of the screen, her breath short and tense in her throat, stopping entirely when a line of indecipherable yellow writing appeared.
"I hardly know what to say," Kalran read. "I feel very touched: you've done me a great honour with the trust you've shown in me. I know it will never be allowed, but if it were I would be very glad to accept. Thank you."
Carla felt suddenly lighter as a wave of relief washed over her. "Tell Oglud that… tell them I'm going to try and get the government to allow it. Tell them I'll do anything I can."
"Oglud thanks you," Kalran said after a few moments. "But they say they hope you'll be careful, that you won't put yourself at risk."
"I will," Carla promised instantly.
As she watched Kalran dutifully type her reply in, a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Oh, God, they said you'd only have twenty minutes… I've taken up almost all of your time, and they must want so much to talk to you." Carla glanced between Kalran and Ilkiss. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be silly! I can tell how pleased she is to talk to you: it's someone new to meet, something different. We talk to her every fortnight."
Carla was surprised at that: twenty minutes every other week was all the time they got? She bit back the exclamation she was about to give, though, conscious that every second must be precious to Kalran and Ilkiss. Instead, Carla waited in silence, watching them as they took turns to type on the keypad in front of them. It was strange to watch the two of them together: there were no little touches or smiles, nothing that she would expect in a human relationship, and while their interaction seemed friendly, it seemed anything but intimate.
All too soon, the Andalite guard said: (one minute, Yeerk filth.) His thought speak tone was sadistic, gloating. (Say your pathetic goodbyes.)
Carla clenched a fist at her side, trying not to let her rising anger get the better of her. Bastard, she thought to herself. God, poor Kalran.
Ilkiss' hands flew across the keypad rapidly. A line of text soon appeared in response, at which Kalran stepped closer to the screen, lifting her arm and letting her hand come to rest on the edge of the terminal and slide across it, almost caressing it.
The Andalite scuffed his hoof against the cold metal of the floor. Carla didn't know what the gesture meant, but could guess by the contempt in his thought-speech when he next spoke. (You do know your mate can't feel or see that, don't you?)
Kalran jerked slightly and withdrew her hand.
At that, Carla felt her rage bubble over. "She's not fucking stupid!" she snapped.
A tailblade was at her throat the next instant. (Don't insult me, human.)
"Carla, no." Kalran had whipped her body around, away from the screen. "I.. I mean, please, don't."
Carla forced a few deep breaths down her throat, fighting hard to control herself, gritting her teeth to prevent herself speaking. Eventually, she felt able to speak without yelling. "I'm sorry, sir," she forced out.
The Andalite stared at her. (I heard you,) he sneered. (Offering yourself to that filth. Let me tell you it will never happen.)
Carla said nothing, aware that anything she said could easily be taken as offensive, and she didn't know what effect that would have on Kalran. The Yeerk had sounded desperate when she'd begged Carla to stop, and the last thing Carla wanted to do was make things worse for her.
After a few moments, the Andalite said: (Come then, filth,) and they were led back, blades at their throat, out through the cavern and up the steep, uneven stairs to the entrance they had come in by. The bus stop was busy for the area and the time of night, making Carla suspect that most of the passengers were Yeerks returning from the Pool, but she still didn't dare discuss their visit until they were back in the safety of the apartment.
Kalran turned to her immediately. "Oh, Carla, your neck…"
"It's fine," Carla repeated. "Really, it's not a problem." Hesitantly, she stretched a hand towards Kalran's shoulder. "I didn't realise how… how bad it was for you."
Kalran sighed deeply. "We're just pleased to be able to speak to them at all." Her flat voice betrayed her optimistic words. "Of course, I wish it could be longer, or more often, and I wish more than anything I could touch them, but there's nothing we can do."
Carla moved a little closer, letting her arm wrap around the Yeerk's shoulders. "I'm sorry."
Kalran shook her head slowly as she leaned in to Carla's hug. "You don't need to be at all. You made my Oglud so happy- I know it's hard to tell that through the limited communication you had, but you really did. And thank you for holding your anger in check, too… I'm sorry if I sounded like I was ordering you about, it just… it slipped out."
Carla frowned. "What do you mean? It didn't sound like that at all… you know what they're like, of course I should listen to you."
Kalran smiled ruefully. "Sara would have gone nuts. Perhaps even more so if I'd told her to stop like that."
"Was she the human they mentioned? The one they said was banned?"
"Oh yes." At Carla's curious look, Kalran continued. "They didn't even get her down the stairs when she came to visit- she wasn't happy about the blade to her throat. Well, no wonder- an involuntary host led down into the Yeerk pool like that?! I tried to explain that to them, but they wouldn't make any exceptions, and they were so rude to Sara, and to me, that they got her angry and… well, I think you might have noticed she doesn't have the most patient temper in the world." Kalran smiled slightly. "She called them a herd of jumped-up little ponies. It almost made the month's ban from visiting worth it, just to hear the disbelief in their thought-speech."
"They banned you for a month? It wasn't even you that said it!"
Kalran sighed again. "I know. For a species that hates us for taking hosts, they certainly expect us to have a lot of control over them when we're not in their head. Sara was banned for ten months, though."
Carla felt her stomach churn at the thought. "I'm so sorry… I snapped at them, too."
"By the Kandrona, Carla, don't worry about that. I'm almost glad you did- I could cheerfully have punched him. And anyway, you stopped."
"Why… why can't you touch Oglud?" Carla said hesitantly, pulling away a little to study Kalran's face. "I mean… if you told them you were going to go and put your hand in to a certain part of the pool they could at least come up and… well, they'd be able to learn your scent at least, wouldn't they?"
"The humans and Andalites won't let us," Kalran said simply. At Carla's puzzled face, she added: "they're worried about us trying to get a Yeerk out, or… or killing them, at their own request. A few Yeerks have asked, apparently, on the chats, those that have no-one close to them left in the Pool, or those that find it particularly difficult to live like that."
Carla felt icy horror fill her insides. "Not… not Oglud?"
Kalran shook her head. "No. You don't need to worry about that, Carla. Especially not now… you've given them some hope."
Carla flushed slightly. "They've only known me twenty minutes."
"You freely offered Oglud your mind in those twenty minutes," Kalran said quietly. "That made quite an impression on them. They want to speak more to you, they said how much they were looking forward to it." Kalran hesitated. "You will come again, won't you? I know it's not the easiest place to be in…"
Carla smiled. "Of course I will." Her smile faded slightly. "I need to start writing to people, I guess… you know, to try and change their mind about hosts. Is there anyone you'd recommend?"
Kalran hesitated, her expression tense. "Actually… there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
Carla frowned, puzzled. "Oh?"
"There's… erm… um, well, I suppose… I guess it starts with Sara doing something stupid."
"Right…" Carla said slowly, unsure what this had to do with her.
As Kalran related the story of Sara, Kelly and the others' promises to help Oglud, and Elsa's interest in recruiting Carla to their cause, Carla felt herself becoming increasingly baffled, almost dizzy from the information that was bombarding her.
"I… Elsa wants to meet with me? I… I don't know if I…"
Kalran laid a hand on Carla's arm. "It's absolutely okay if you don't want to do it," Kalran said softly. "Anyway, it wouldn't be meeting Elsa straight away, or at all if you don't want to. There's a Yeerk from the peace movement working with them… his name is Illim. He's offered to meet with you, to act as a go-between, if you like. Or of course you could campaign by yourself… please don't feel you have to do anything that would make you uncomfortable."
"And they all know where I live?" Carla asked, feeling suddenly panicked. She glanced around the living room as though expecting an involuntary to pounce on her from a dark corner.
Kalran gritted her teeth. "Trust me, Carla, I've never yelled at Sara so much in my life as when she told me she'd done that. But no, they don't all know- they all know you live with me, but only Elsa has any idea where I live and she only knows the block, not the exact address." She looked anxiously at Carla's face. "They all promised not to hurt you, if that helps."
For a moment, Carla was certain she'd misheard. "What? All of them?"
A slight smile appeared on Kalran's lips. "Yes, all of them. They really don't hate you as much as you think they do."
Carla turned her head away. "I don't understand why they..." she trailed off, shaking her head to clear it. "Anyway… I'd be happy to meet Illim, if it might help Oglud. I owe it to you, if nothing else."
"You don't owe me anything," Kalran said softly.
Carla looked at her again, surprised. "No, nothing at all. Just bed and board for three months, that only adds up to hundreds of dollars, why bother about that?"
Kalran sighed. "We had Jilran's bed spare anyway, which you very well know, and you pay rent now. And you must know how much joy it gives a Yeerk to care for a host. It's like Alniss is someone else entirely, she's been much brighter since you came."
That gave Carla pause. "Really?"
"Really. And I like you being around, too, so you honestly don't owe me anything."
Carla nodded slowly. "Okay… I'd still like to meet this Illim, though." Saying it to Kalran probably wouldn't help, but Carla was suddenly struck by how much she missed having a Yeerk… the effect of meeting Oglud, she supposed. She could feel the melancholy bitterness tugging at the edges of her mind, threatening to overtake her. Throwing herself whole-heartedly into the campaign to make hosting a Yeerk legal seemed the only way to fight it, and if that meant she had to work with Elsa, even maybe meet her… well, the thought was terrifying, but even now Carla felt it might be worth it.
"Thank you," Kalran said, breaking into her thoughts. "So much. I… I'll let him know."