Deedle-deedle-deedle deet!

Sighing slightly, Sara looked up from the book she'd been reading, curled up on the sofa in the poky living room of her flat.

Deet-deet deedle deet!

She stretched out a hand for the phone lying on the coffee table. It was a little too far away to reach easily, so she scrabbled for it, almost knocking it onto the floor before she grasped it more securely. Flipping the lid open, she brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Elsa," came a cheerful voice. Far too cheerful, in Sara's view: Elsa tended to become even bouncier and sillier than usual when she was nervous. "What's up?"

"Not much. I'm just reading. You?"

"Oh, same. Well, the not much. Not the reading right now, though. Wish I was. Well, not that I don't want to be talking to you, either..."

Sara sighed again, modifying her earlier thought: Elsa also entirely forgot how to deliver a coherent sentence when she was nervous. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

"Why would anything be wrong?"

Taking her time, Sara slid a bookmark between the pages with her free hand, putting her book to one side. "Give me some credit, we've been friends for a while now. I know when you're worried."

"Well... you know Kalran?"

Sara sighed. "Vaguely. Was she the one who was in my head at some point, or am I getting confused?"

Elsa made a slight sound that might have been amusement, but did not laugh. "I'm being serious."

"I'll get you a card," Sara muttered, unable to resist. She spent enough time laughing at Elsa's ridiculous jokes, she could at least reciprocate.

This time there was a laugh. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Anyway... well, you know the campaign?"

Sara rolled her eyes. "I just spent half my week delivering flyers, what do you think? Elsa, just get to the point."

There was a short silence. Then, her breath coming out in a rush: "I've got someone new who wants to help. Well, two new people, actually..."

"That's good, isn't it?" Sara registered the anxious edge to Elsa's voice, and gave a long-suffering sigh. "They're voluntaries, aren't they?"

"One of them is," Elsa said slowly. "But I'm not too bothered about her, you guys already agreed to voluntary hosts being involved."

"Yeah, so long as they're nowhere near me."

"It's the other one. She... she's a Yeerk."

Sara frowned. "So? So's Illim. And Kalran and Ilkiss, not that they're involved, but we are doing this for them."

"Not a peace movement Yeerk," Elsa clarified, confirming what Sara had already begun to suspect.

There was a long silence. Sara pulled the woolly blanket she'd draped over her more snugly around her shoulders, and switched the phone to her other ear.

"I... I wanted to check with you all that you were OK with her helping. I mean, obviously she won't come to meetings and stuff, but if I shared with her what we were doing... of course, we might start to do stuff in person soon, protests or whatever, but I could always ask her to sit those out."

Sara didn't answer for some time, her mind churning with emotion. She hated Empire Yeerks with a passion... but this was for Kalran, and hadn't she already put up with some pretty unpleasant Yeerks just to spend time with hers? Alniss in particular was an irritation Sara was extremely glad to do without... and as for Hallim...

"Fine. I'd rather not ever have to meet her, unless it's essential for the campaign, but the more..." Sara hesitated, "...people... we have helping, the better. But I want to know who she is."

"I get that," Elsa said with emphasis. "Nothing worse than a mystery Yeerk. Her name's Akhir. You... you've probably not met her, unless you worked with her in the Sharing. The last couple years of the war she had a human host and did Sharing stuff. Before that... before that, she was a Pool guard."

Sara jumped, the blanket slipping from around her shoulders. She only just managed to hold onto the phone, her fingers tightening around it until they turned pale. "What?" Her mind raced. "Doesn't that mean she was still a guard when you got infested?"

"Yeah," Elsa said slowly. "For a few months after, actually."

There was a very long silence.

"Elsa... how can you bear to..." Sara began eventually, her voice tight from imagining the sheer impossibility of working with someone who'd thrown you into a cage. She still couldn't speak to Hallim, she couldn't stand to do it without swearing.

"Akhir isn't too bad." The casual words were belied by Elsa's voice, which sounded thick, teary even. "And I want to help Kal."

"You don't need to do this. I'm not asking you to do this, and Kal would never want..."

"I know," Elsa said quietly. "I'm doing this because I want to."

Sara sat in silence for a few minutes, stunned by her friend's commitment. She couldn't understand how Elsa could bear to do it, but if she could, then so could Sara. "Are you going to be meeting her?"

"Yeah. In a couple of days. If it's OK with everyone to work with her, that is." Elsa's voice dropped to a whisper, tight with anxiety. "Oh... oh, Sara, I've got to ask Kelly."

Her stomach swooping, Sara tensed her fingers again around the phone. She and Kelly weren't close, but Sara knew enough about her to realise that she and Elsa had been infested for around the same length of time, and had presumably both known this Pool guard. "Oh, Elsa..." Sara had intended her tone to come out more sympathetic than despairing, but it seemed to have ended up the other way around.

"I know, I know. But I couldn't exactly turn down help, could I? I did say I'd have to check with everyone else first, make sure it was OK with them..."

"Am I the first you've asked?"

"No, Adam, Huan and Alma already said they're fine. I figured Illim would probably be OK, too. It's just Kelly."

Sara paused for a moment, thinking. She wasn't particularly inclined to refuse help either, and she supposed if they were going to let all the pool-bound Yeerks take hosts they would come across some Empire loyalists eventually, there was no avoiding it. But she wanted to know for herself what they were like: to protect Kalran and Illim, if nothing else. Some of Kal's flatmates had been horrible to her at first, and if this Yeerk was going to be the same then Sara wanted nothing to do with her.

"When you go to meet her, can I come with you?"

There was silence for a moment, and Sara began to doubt the wisdom of asking. She was hardly sure of her own ability to be in the Yeerk's presence for any length of time... but as Elsa had said, there was nothing worse than a mystery Yeerk. Sara wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment 'better the devil you know'.

"I guess," Elsa said slowly. "You really want to?"

"Uh-huh," Sara murmured.

"I'll have to check it's alright with Akhir. She might not want to be outnumbered. But some moral support would be great, if you're sure."

The relief in Elsa's voice was palpable, and Sara was glad for her friend's sake now that she'd made the offer. "No problem."

"You'll have to promise to be nice."

Despite the fact that Elsa couldn't see her, or maybe because of it, Sara rolled her eyes. "If she's nice to me."

Two days later, Sara and Elsa got off the bus in the centre of town and headed along the sidewalk, the tarmac gleaming from the intensity of the sun, towards the Starbucks on the corner. It was a big cafe, with a mix of tables and booths along the wall. The latter had comfortable padded bench seats that had enough height at the back to offer a little more privacy. It was in one of these that Elsa had asked Akhir to wait, if possible. Sara was anticipating the Yeerk would be there first: they were, of course, late.

The walls of the cafe were coloured in bright, warm oranges and reds. It was reasonably busy, loud with chatter, but it did not look too crowded and Sara hoped there would have been a booth space free.

"Do you know what she looks like?"

"No," Elsa admitted. "But she sent me a description, and she knows me. Besides, it's a fair bet she'll look at least a little bit like her host, and I've met her."

Sara frowned. "Why would she look like... oh. DNA."

"Generally is the reason anyone looks like anyone else. Or I guess coincidence. Or plastic surgery."

Sara snorted, which caused Elsa's smile to broaden. Elsa had been sillier even than her usual joky self on the way over, which Sara was pretty sure was merely a mask for her fear. It was more reassuring, though, than sharing a bus with someone who was visibly scared, and Sara was glad of it.

Searching the booths, it did not take them long to find one with only one occupant, a slim woman with long, jet-black hair tied back elegantly in a ponytail, which swished slightly as she turned to look at them. She'd been fiddling with a bracelet on her wrist, but as she looked across to them her hand stilled, and she uncrossed her arms with what seemed like conscious effort. Her expression was still nervous, though, as she made eye contact with them.

"Hello, Elsa," she said quietly.

"Akhir?" Elsa confirmed in a whisper, after a glance to either side to ensure there were no eavesdroppers.

The Yeerk nodded, slowly beginning to stand. "Can I get either of you a coffee? By... by way of apology."

Sara's nose wrinkled with instant disgust. "It's gonna take a bit more than a fucking coffee, Yeerk," she snapped.

"Shhh," Elsa urged her, glancing around. "What happened to nice?"

"If she thinks-" Sara began, then stopped herself. Wrestling with her hatred, she managed to regain a modicum of control, and lowered her voice. "I'm getting my own coffee."

"Of course," Akhir said smoothly, turning her eyes to Elsa.

"Sara's right, it is going to take more than a coffee." Elsa gave Akhir a quizzical look. "How about you throw in a muffin?"

Akhir looked uncertain. "I'm not sure whether you want me to laugh or not," she admitted.

"Go for a smile, a large cappucino with two sugars, and a double chocolate muffin. Oh, and maybe a slightly less casual apology when you get back."

Akhir did indeed smile then, although it was laced with anxiety. "Okay."

Elsa started to slide into the padded bench seat, then abruptly stopped and got back to her feet. "Oh, hang on, I'll have to come with you. Not sure it's safe for the two of you to go together," she added, glancing at Sara's stony face.

The three of them were soon crossing back across the expansive room to the booth, carrying their drinks. Elsa slid to the far side of the seat opposite Akhir, taking a massive bite out of her muffin as she did so.

"Mmm," she murmured through a mouthful of gooey chocolate.

Sara took a slower sip of her latte, not taking her eyes off Akhir, who was stirring her own coffee repeatedly, without even attempting to drink. The clatter of her spoon against the ceramic seemed unnaturally loud, even against the noise of chatter and laughter around them, and it soon began to irritate Sara.

"Stop that," she snapped eventually.

The spoon stilled, and was removed from the cup. "Sorry," Akhir murmured.

Sara felt Elsa nudge her side, and looked over. The muffin was completely demolished, only a few crumbs remaining on the plate, which Elsa was mopping up with a finger.

"You said you'd be nice," Elsa reminded her for the second time.

"When she apologises," Sara muttered. "Properly."

"Hey, it wasn't like she ever shoved you in a cage. If anything I should be the one taking offence."

Akhir jerked, her leg hitting the table as she did so and causing some of the coffee to slop over the edge of the cups. "Sorry," she said, looking at the drinks, then back up at them. Her expression was full of anguish: real or feigned, Sara could not tell, though automatic distrust made her suspect the latter. "And I am truly and deeply sorry for the suffering we... I... caused you in the war." Her eyes moved between the two of them as she spoke, but lingered for longer on Elsa.

Her apology made no dent in Sara's feelings of rage and loathing. Despite her resolution to stay calm, she couldn't help challenging the Yeerk further. "If you're that sorry, why'd you do it?"

"Cos they'd have executed her if she didn't?" Elsa jumped in, before Akhir could respond.

"That didn't stop Kal," Sara shot back, turning her attention to Elsa. "Why the hell are you defending her?"

"Defending? Not sure I'd go that far. Just trying to keep anyone from punching anyone else. And not everyone can be as brave as Kalran."

"They could have been, if they'd wanted to," Sara muttered, but without as much venom. She'd remembered she was partly supposed to be here to support Elsa, and she wasn't doing a great job of that so far. She still couldn't understand how Elsa was so calm near someone who'd wronged her so deeply... well, calm on the surface, at least. Sara could bet she was feeling pretty unpleasant underneath. The least Sara could do was avoid making things worse.

"It's OK." Elsa said gently to Akhir, whose eyes were cast down to the tabletop. "You were always pretty OK, anyway. Never hurt me."

Sara's newly-resolved vow of silence was shortlived. "Never hurt you?!" she exclaimed incredulously.

"Physically," Elsa clarified. "Some guards used to practically wrench your arms out your sockets, or whack you with their blades."

Akhir winced, her eyes cast down to the tabletop. While the distress was almost certainly feigned, it looked convincing, with her eyes beginning to fill with tears. Much to Sara's disgust, Elsa looked to be taken in, reaching across to cover the Yeerk's hand with her own.

"Hey, it's okay. Let's put it behind us, huh?"

Sara wasn't about to put anything behind her, but she managed to stay silent.

"Thank you," Akhir managed after a few moments. "You're too good, Elsa."

Elsa's sudden laughter almost made Sara jump. She laughed long and loud enough that a couple of people at other tables looked round.

When she had recovered sufficiently, she managed, in a quieter voice: "Sorry. Just imagining my former Yeerks' faces at that description. I've been called many adjectives by your lot, but strangely enough 'good' has never been one of them."

"Then either they don't know you very well, or they were too blinded by the Empire," Akhir said frankly.

Her words surprised Sara: talking about the Empire like that was something she was used to peace movement Yeerks doing, but she hadn't expected it from this one.

"It might also have had something to do with me singing irritating songs at them."

Elsa was straining to keep her tone light, but Sara could hear tension behind it, and could only imagine what Elsa might be feeling, remembering her infestation. Quickly, Sara decided to change the subject. "So," she began, moving her eyes to Akhir, who immediately looked nervous again. "You want to help Kalran, right?"

Akhir frowned. "Sorry?" Her voice was quiet and hesitant, as though she expected Sara to snap at her just from the question.

"My Yeerk. Her mate's one of the ones who..." Sara trailed off, the words reminding her too much of the last time she'd seen Kalran. Kal had been even more upset than usual, and had eventually admitted to her host that she was going to counselling. Sara'd noticed that Kalran had been pretty miserable for the last couple of months, but she'd had no idea things were that bad. If only Kal could believe that they'd eventually succeed with Oglud and the others... she'd be fine then, surely?

"Oh," Akhir said quietly, breaking Sara from her thoughts. She was silent for a few seconds, watching Sara quizzically. "I... I'm sorry if this seems none of my business, but I have to say I'm surprised you're still in touch with your Yeerk."

"She was in the peace movement." Sara couldn't keep the hard edge out of her voice. "Some of your species have decency."

"Indeed." Akhir's voice was thoughtful, cautious. "She must have some courage."

"Unlike you, you mean?" Sara snapped automatically. A few seconds later, though, the surprise hit her. "You're not calling her a traitor?"

Akhir frowned slightly. "Were you expecting me to?"

"Half her flatmates did," Sara spat, her voice sharp. "Most Empire Yeerks seem to."

"Well, I'm not. I... the Empire was..." Akhir lowered her voice, glancing around nervously. "The Empire was horrendous. I... I wish I'd had the courage to-"

Sara felt her fury return in full force, making her stomach boil with rage. "Don't give me that, Yeerk! How convenient, to turn around now and say..."

"Whoa," Elsa cut in, laying a hand on Sara's arm. "Stop. I believe her."

Shocked, Sara turned to look at her, seeing only earnestness in her friend's face. "Elsa, can't you see..."

"I am the only one of us who's ever met Akhir before today," Elsa said softly. "I'm also the only one of us who's had more than one Yeerk. Most of them aren't mad keen on the Empire. I've only had a couple who I would say liked it, and one of them was..." Elsa cut off, suddenly, looking a little pale, then rapidly continued. "None of mine were peace movement, either. And you have to bear in mind this is with them trying very very hard to hide the fact that they ever thought the Empire was less than one hundred percent perfect."

Sara watched her friend in silence, surprised by the forcefulness of her speech She'd never heard Elsa defend a Yeerk like this... well, she'd gone off on a similar rant when she'd first heard about Kal, but that hardly counted. "Fine," she said eventually, not wanting Akhir to see quite how much she'd been convinced by Elsa's words.

There was silence for a while, strange set against the general hubbub of the busy cafe.

"I'm sorry to hear about Kalran's mate," Akhir said eventually. "That must be very difficult for her. I have a friend, Geltrin, who's in a similar situation. His close siblings... they're all in the Pool, only he morphed. He was the first to go, you see, so he couldn't simply decide not to take the power once he realised."

"I think Jasmine mentioned him," Elsa said quietly. "Sorry to hear that."

"How is Kalran coping? If you don't mind my asking?" Akhir's voice was gentle. "I'd like to help, if I can, especially if her flat mates are hostile to her. She must feel quite isolated... I could perhaps be some company to her, at least."

Sara opened her mouth, intending to give Akhir quite a cool reply. Kal's flat mates had got friendlier, after all, and she had other people to talk to now. Illim had gone for coffee with her a couple of times, there was still Ilkiss of course, and Kalran had a few close siblings left, though they'd been placed a distance away. And of course Elsa and the others made sure to include her at every possible opportunity. Sara was pretty sure she could do without the friendship of some uppity Empire Yeerk.

"That'd be great," Elsa cut in, before Sara could answer. "I'm sure she'd really welcome it. D'you want me to give her your number?"

Sara glanced sideways at Elsa: she was suspiciously enthusiastic. "She's not exactly all on her own, Elsa."

"Sure, but she could use cheering up as much as possible." Elsa was clearly endeavouring to look calmer than she felt: a grin was sneaking its way onto her face. "Can I give her your number?"

"I think you'll find you only actually have Jasmine's," Akhir responded. "But I can give you mine, which will also take Jaz out of the rather time-consuming role of messenger."

"Sure, that's great." Elsa rummaged in her bag for her cell phone, a process that took quite some time as Elsa dug through the detritus that inevitably seemed to accumulate in all her possessions.

Once the two had exchanged numbers, Akhir asked: "So, how else can I help? I've written to everyone on the list you sent Jaz... is there anything else?"

"Flyers to hand out," Elsa replied, rummaging in her bag again before passing them over. "If we get any interviews or anything like that I can get in touch with you, but that might be kind of risky. Other than that, I guess any other way you can think of."

"What about fundraising? I... I have some experience in event management, perhaps that might be of use to you."

Elsa frowned. "I bet I know which organisation for," she muttered darkly, her teeth gritted. It was the first time she'd shown her anger openly. "Fine. But if I even think I hear the words 'full membership' then you're fired."

The Yeerk looked unsure again, while Sara curled her hand into a fist under the table at the mention of the Sharing.

"Kidding," Elsa said quickly, at the expression on Akhir's face. "Well, kidding in the sense it's light-hearted, not in the sense it's not true. But I'm not mad at you. Anyway, there were people the Sharing actually helped, much as it pains me to admit it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sara snapped.

"I'm not." Elsa swallowed hard, and looked down at her lap, her expression miserable. "I... my Yeerks recruited some of them, and some of them definitely looked a lot happier afterwards. I... I wished I had... I wish we'd..." she trailed off, looking so upset that Sara reached across to touch her arm, immediately discarding any thought of asking more.

There was another silence, lasting until Elsa managed to lift her eyes up again, wiping at them roughly with her sleeve. "Sorry," she muttered, looking embarrassed.

"I've been meaning to say thank you," Akhir said gently, ignoring Elsa's apology. "On Jasmine's behalf. She... she doesn't really have any human friends. There are a few ex-voluntaries she keeps in touch with, but they aren't particularly close, and they rarely dare to meet together in public... the risk of being recognised is much greater when there's a group of them. But she always comes home from choir smiling. She's really been enjoying talking to you. Of course, she ruins it once she starts thinking, she worries about every single thing she's said in case she says something wrong, but that's just how she is."

"Bless her," Elsa murmured.

Sara was tempted to make a sharp comment: in her view, voluntaries deserved every scrap of worry that came their way. But Elsa seemed upset enough without adding to it. Struggling to make sense of her sadness, Sara wondered what it might have been like to spend long in the Sharing without the benefit of a peace movement Yeerk. Kal had avoided recruitment where she could, and she'd never got that deep into it. But Elsa's Yeerks would have been actively pursuing other hosts, using Elsa's body and mind to trick vulnerable people into agreeing to full membership... walking through that door to find a portable Yeerk pool waiting for them...

Sara shuddered, feeling sick. She suddenly felt her desire to be away from Akhir intensify, and could barely sit still as the other two continued their conversation. One of them seemed to sense this, though Sara could not tell who, as it seemed they began to draw their conversation to a close at the same time.

"Thank you both, for meeting me. I know it can't have been easy."

Elsa shrugged. "Hey, I got a free muffin out of it." The nonchalance in her tone failed to entirely hide the tension behind it. "I guess it wasn't easy for you either."

"You've been kinder than I have any right to expect. Both of you."

"I clearly wasn't trying hard enough, then," Sara muttered, unable to resist.

A few minutes later, Sara and Elsa headed outside into the last of the afternoon sun. As soon as they were past the cafe's windows, Elsa let out a loud sigh and slumped, her posture dropping suddenly into that of someone much older.

"Are you OK?" Sara asked, stretching a hand towards Elsa's shoulder.

"Yeah," Elsa replied unconvincingly. "I'm fine. It wasn't easy, but it was worth doing."

"How did you manage it?" Sara couldn't hold back her disbelief any longer. "After what she did to you..."

Elsa shrugged. "You can do most stuff, if you're determined enough. I wanted to make this work, for Kal and the others, so I promised myself I'd forgive her. I thought it'd be a pretty surface-level thing, I wouldn't actually have to mean it, but..." she trailed off.

"It wasn't a surface-level thing?" Sara guessed. She wasn't sure what Elsa meant by that, but she wanted her to continue: talking over things would probably help, and Sara couldn't bear the idea of Elsa going home to go over the afternoon alone in her own mind.

"I just didn't expect to feel sorry for her, that's all."

"Sorry for her?!" Sara squeaked, horrified. That was the last thing she would have expected Elsa to say. "Why?!"

Elsa hesitated before answering. "I don't know, I... how she felt about the Empire, everything... she just seemed like she didn't want to have done any of it."

"Elsa, you can't believe that? Of course she'd say that now."

Elsa sighed, looking so lost that the next words of disbelief died on Sara's lips before she even began to utter them.

"The thing is... I don't know, I worry about it because it's probably some sort of Stockholm syndrome thing, but... the thing is, I don't even know why, but I do believe her."