My name is Eva. The Yeerk in my head is named Edriss.
My life turned out very different than how I imagined. Once upon a time, I was a little girl living in Mexico. Little did I know I would one day be an American divorcee subletting her body to an alien renter.
I'm not complaining. Everything I've done in my life, I've done for a reason. It's just sometimes I take a step back and I think: It's a lot.
I used to be funnier. I always used to tell Marco, "When life gets you down, you can react two ways. You can cry, or laugh. Laughing is usually better." I don't cry, but I don't joke as much as I used to either. I take everything so seriously these days. And I can only blame part of it on Edriss' influence on my brain.
My heart went out to them when I discovered the Yeerks. As a (legal) immigrant, I feel a lot of sympathy for war refugees who struggle so hard to find a better home. I agreed to become a new host. Although, right up to the moment the slug-like extraterrestrial touched my ear I kept wondering, Is this really a good idea?
But I don't regret it. Not really. Bonding with a Yeerk, quite literally, opened my mind.
The biggest issue is our religion. When we first met, Edriss was a firm atheist: There is no God. After spending time with me and listening to why I believe what I do, she has since become an agnostic: There might be a higher power, but it can't be proven. She comes with me to church sometimes and listens politely. But she feels that Christianity is too arbitrary and Earth-centric to really commit to.
As for me, as someone who accepted Jesus Christ as her savior, sharing my body and mind with someone who hasn't feels, somehow, inappropriate. I haven't given up on converting her one day, but for the most part, we just agree to disagree.
Sometimes I worry I'm not a good Catholic. After all, I vowed to be with Peter until death, then I got divorced instead. People from my old church let me know exactly how they felt about that. Perhaps the divorce wasn't strictly necessary, but Peter and I both agreed it was for the best. We've remained amicable.
And sometimes I worry I'm not a good mother. My relationship with Marco isn't un-amicable, but it's distant. Even when we're in the same room, there's a distance between us. I know he blames me for the divorce.
It's nothing like the Chapmans' relationship with their daughter. Melissa knows all about the Yeerks, about her parents' half-alien-ness, but they're still fine. Alison found a way to balance keeping Melissa involved and keeping her safe. And they make it all look effortless.
Sometimes, for a moment, I wonder if it would help to tell Marco everything.
But then I come to my senses.
Nothing good could come from telling Marco how much danger his mother is getting herself into.
.
Alison and I walked through the woods. It was late afternoon. The sun was just starting to go down.
"I hate to be THAT person," Alison said, "but this is not a good plan."
"It's not a plan at all. It's something we just have to do," I replied with deliberate calmness.
"You and I wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with ONE Hork-Bajir. If all twelve are there and they get violent, we wouldn't last five seconds."
"The same goes for any innocent bystander who accidentally crosses their path. The photographer last night got lucky. We need to negotiate with them before the luck runs out."
We reached the clearing. The wide open meadow surrounded by a fence of trees. In the center was the familiar mound of dirt and rocks that hid the refugee ship. The door was wide open - a big square of earth was flipped upwards and held in place by hydraulic beams.
We looked around the meadow. The setting sun and the trees cast long shadows everywhere. We couldn't find anyone in the darkness.
I called out using the alien language in Edriss' mind. "Don! Are you here? I want to talk."
A few moments later, she stepped out of the ship. She walked onto the grass and stared at us, who stayed near the edge of the meadow.
A Hork-Bajir.
Physically, a very dangerous alien. Taxxons might be a little more dangerous in terms of destructive power, but their defenses are weaker. Hork-Bajir are very hard to kill.
I'm short, especially compared to a man. The seven-foot reptile towered over me, and she had more knives than a chef's kitchen.
Don also had something metal on her head. It was clipped onto her horn and hung down the side of her face, like . . . a headphone? Or a camera? She had something metal in her claw too, but from this distance I had no idea what it was.
"I know you," Don said in her own language that Edriss instantly translated for me. "You're Yeerks. I saw you here before."
"Yes. We know you too, Don. Toby told us about you."
She suddenly held her arms out wide. She gestured to the empty meadow around and between us. "I'm alone. I told my friends, 'Wait here'. They wait. Only I came here."
"Why are you here?" I asked her, making sure to sound authoritative and brave. "And why were you in the humans' home yesterday?"
She took only a moment to decide whether or not to answer, then said, "I'm looking for Yeerks. Not you. All Yeerks. Little Yeerks in pool." She gestured to the open door behind her. "That day, the other Yeerk said, 'Pool isn't here.' Said, 'Technology isn't here. We hide them.' But I looked here anyway. I didn't know another place to look."
Edriss thought this over. It's not that Don didn't know how to call us on the computer. She specifically said she was looking for the pool and NOT us. That got Edriss . . . not "suspicious" so much as "convinced" Don was up to something bad.
I agreed. Still, we gave her one more chance to explain. "Why do you want to go to the pool?"
"To make Hork-Bajir powerful!" she shouted. "Hork-Bajir are strong and fast . . . But we are not smart . . . We cannot fly the ship. Only Toby can fly the ship. But Toby say, 'No! I won't help Don.' So I look for Yeerks. If we put Yeerks in our heads, we'll know what they know. They will teach us to fly the ship ourselves. And they will teach us how to fight other aliens!"
"Why do you want to fight them?"
"To make Hork-Bajir more powerful," Don repeated. "We defeat aliens, we take their weapons, we get more power. Then fight more aliens, and take more technology. And we'll find more Hork-Bajir! More ships. More intelligence. More and more, until Hork-Bajir are the strongest in the universe!"
It was just as Toby said.
I shook my head. "No, that's wrong. Fighting is not the Hork-Bajir way."
She scowled at me. "Old Hork-Bajir way is gone. In the past, all Hork-Bajir lived on one planet, with Father Deep, and Mother Sky. My parents' parents' parents saw Mother Sky's flowers. Then, the Old Yeerks took them into the stars. Now, all Hork-Bajir are different . . . We all know the stars are not flowers . . ."
I expressed Edriss' thoughts. "I understand. The Old Yeerks did many bad things, and we're all hurting from them. Including the New Yeerks. You and I are the same. We have no home. No traditions. We need to find new ways for our people. But we can do it without violence. Without bloodshed."
"We are not the same. You have intelligence. Aliens only care about intelligence. Aliens tell Hork-Bajir, 'go here', 'do this'. They say, 'you're not smart', 'you don't matter'. They treat us like animals. They don't even ask our names. Hork-Bajir everywhere are weak against aliens. No more!" She slapped a claw against her chest. "I will MAKE Hork-Bajir powerful! And I will be best of all! Everyone, everywhere, will know the name Don Alddak!"
I blinked.
Alison and I looked at each other.
We looked back at the Hork-Bajir.
Then Alison blurted out, "Your name is 'Donald Duck'?!"
She looked confused. "No. Don Alddak."
"Don-ald Da-"
"Don Alddak!"
Alison paused. She opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind.
I spoke up. "Your plan won't work. You can't take the Yeerks away from the pool. If the Yeerks leave Earth for more than three days, they'll go hungry and die."
"We will take Yeerks and leave Earth. Then we will have three days to learn everything they know."
"No, you don't understand. They'll DIE."
"I understand." She narrowed her eyes at us. "I just don't care."
Alison and I exchanged another look.
"Well, there are two problems," I said calmly. "One, the Yeerks in the pool don't want to die."
"The same for us. We REALLY don't want to die," Alison said calmly.
"And two, we don't want you to fight aliens in space. So we can't help you," I said.
"We're sorry," Alison said.
"Yes, we're REALLY sorry," I said.
"Because we LIKE helping people," Alison said.
"But this time we CAN'T," I said.
"Too bad," Alison said.
Don replied, "You will show us where the pool is." Before we could deny her again, she waved and shouted. "Now! Come out now!"
The leaves rustled and the branches creaked. Suddenly, I saw more Hork-Bajir climbing through the treetops around us. For such large creatures, they were able to hide perfectly until now, moving through the trees as nimbly as squirrels. I counted a total of four as they jumped down into the meadow. They moved close to Don. Five, 7-foot-tall, living weapons staring down Alison and me.
Don laughed loudly. "I tricked you! I said, 'I'm alone'. I lied! Many of us are here! You think you're smarter than us, but I tricked you! Now we will MAKE you show us the pool."
They took a step towards us, but then -
TSSEEEW!
A red flash of light scorched the grass directly in front of their feet. The Hork-Bajir all jumped back in surprise.
[She was so proud of herself,] Edriss thought. [It's almost a shame to tell her everyone knows that trick.]
The Hork-Bajir looked to where the blast came from. There were many trees in these woods, but it wasn't too dense. When they looked carefully through the shadows, there was an unblocked line of sight going from the spot of scorched earth, out to the distance, straight to the Dracon rifle held by Tom.
They heard footsteps from the opposite side of the meadow. Tidwell stepped out from behind a tree, also aiming a Dracon rifle at them. "Don't move. We have many allies hiding close by. They all have powerful weapons aimed at you right now."
A bluff, of course. With Chapman at his office, there was only Tom and Tidwell covering us. There were 86 Yeerks in the pool when we stopped by to pick up the weapons, but there were so few of us able to move around on dry land. We had no choice but to bring Tom here.
Tom was only 16. Just three years older than my own son. And like all 16-year-olds, he believed he was indestructible. He was always in such a rush to prove himself. Always eager to help on these missions, regardless of the risk to himself. And I wasn't doing very much to stop him.
His mother Jean was my friend. If Tom died on my watch . . . It wouldn't even need to be that serious. If he got a broken arm or needed stitches, and Jean learned that I allowed him to be in that kind of danger while hiding it from her . . . she would never forgive me.
The Hork-Bajir looked at Tom and Tidwell, and nervously looked at the woods all around, trying to spot the other snipers who weren't really there.
Except Don. She looked right at me with a glare sharper than her horns.
"We don't want to fight," I said. "But we can't let you take the pool. Please, go back to your colony."
"No! We must find the pool," Don said. "The five are looking too. We must find it before them."
"The five?"
"The five came to me. They say, 'We help you, you help us'. The five teach me many things. Gave me technology. The five say, 'We find Yeerk pool together. We use Yeerks together.' . . . But they lie! I know they lie. The five will use the Hork-Bajir, like everyone uses the Hork-Bajir. I say, 'Yes, we find pool together.' But I must trick them. I MUST find pool before the five!"
"The five WHAT? Who are you talking about?" I asked.
"The five is the five," Don answered.
[Well that's useless,] Edriss thought.
Don continued. "I need the five, but I can't trust them. The five want to work with Andalites. Bad! If I find pool first, I won't need the five anymore." She took a step towards me. "Tell me where the pool is. Now! Or the five and the Andalites and the Hork-Bajir will destroy you!"
She took another step, and another Dracon blast hit the ground in front.
Tom marched towards us and spoke coldly. "The next one hits you. We have many friends hiding. You can't beat all of us."
One of Don's followers turned to her. "What happens now?"
Don looked angrily at the metal device in her claw. After a few moments of silence, she said, "No choice. We retreat."
"You should go back to the colony," I repeated. "Toby wants to talk to you."
She glared at me and said, "No. We must do the five's plan instead."
She dropped the device on the ground. Then she and all her allies turned away and walked towards the woods.
Edriss and I thought quickly. Should we just let them go? Would trying to stun them all unconscious be worth the risk of a battle? But then-
FLASH-FLASH-FLASH.
The metal thing on the grass let out a rapidly blinking white light. It was silent, but blinding in all the shade and the twilight. So bright my eyeballs burned in the micro-second before I pressed my eyelids shut.
I heard the footsteps of the Hork-Bajir change from a walk to a run. Then jumps. Branches creaked and leaves rustled.
I tried looking through my fingers, but I couldn't see clearly through the flashing. It was about fifteen seconds before the machine stopped. Then it took several more seconds of blinking for my eyes to adjust.
For such large creatures, Hork-Bajir were extremely fast and agile. They were long gone now.
.
The device Don left behind was about a foot square. Half of the surface was a screen. It was almost like a flat laptop computer. Alison kneeled down on the grass and held a scanner over it.
I called Chapman with a handheld communicator and explained what happened - though it took a minute to find a signal. An Earth cell phone might have been better. Not all the alien tech we scavenged was super-advanced.
Tidwell set his Dracon rifle on the ground, but Tom kept a careful grip on his, turning all around to watch the trees, just in case. The sun was still setting. It was getting darker.
"They seem to be gone," I spoke into the communicator. I held it out so we could all hear. "But they may still try to follow us to the pool. It wouldn't be safe to go back yet."
"Agreed," Chapman said.
Alison seemed confused at her scanner. "There's something organic in this. At least I think it's organic . . . It's some kind of computer, but the superconductors have DNA."
Tidwell wondered, "Someone used plant life to build a computer?"
"I dunno what they used. Honey," she spoke up so the communicator could hear, "I'm gonna send the data over to you."
She pressed some buttons on the scanner. In a few moments, the readings would appear on the computer screen in Chapman's office, where he would match it against the database.
Tidwell looked closely at the device on the ground. "This didn't come from the Dayang ship. Could Don have gotten it from the Andalites?"
"It's not Andalite technology," Chapman replied over the speaker. "They wouldn't make . . . Hold on."
"What?"
"No, that can't be."
Tom turned to look at us. "What?"
"I think this is a Venber computer. Yes, these readings are Venber DNA."
"What's a Venber?"
"But these things are ancient, and they were banned everywhere. How did a bunch of Hork-Bajir . . . Oh . . . Oh, of COURSE."
Alison grabbed my wrist and spoke directly into the communicator. "Honey, come back to us. What's going on?"
"I know who Don's allies are," Chapman said. "The five aliens. She kept saying it, but we all misunderstood. It wasn't 'five', it was 'THE Five'."
"The five who?"
"Elfangor told me about them. When the Andalites first discovered z-space and traveled to other planets, The Five were the very first alien species they met. It was their First Contact."
Edriss and I were both puzzled by something. "So 'Five' is the name of a species? Why would they name themselves after a number? Wouldn't that mean there were four others species before them?"
"I don't know. Nobody knew. The name isn't the point." Chapman continued, "There was this other species from some moon. The Venber. Sentient, but primitive. The Five attacked them, and melted down their bodies to make material for their computers. They hunted the entire Venber species to extinction."
Alison looked at the machine again. "You mean this thing was made out of a person? Oh, that's disgusting!"
Chapman's voice replied, "It must be centuries old, though. If technology made out of Venber can last that long, I kind of get why The Five did it." Then, "That was Iniss' thought. I want everyone to be clear on that."
"If The Five are so bad, how come we've never heard of them?" I asked.
"Well, when the Andalites learned what they did to the Venber, they got so angry they did a genocide of their own."
"As Andalites do," Tom muttered.
"But dear," Alison said, "The Five aren't extinct. They're helping Ms. Duck."
"It must be just like with the Yeerks. The Andalites tried to wipe them all out, but a small handful survived. They could've been lying low all this time. Waiting for their chance."
"So the theory is," Tidwell spoke up, "refugees from The Five - somehow - found Don, gave her some technology, and are helping her look for the Yeerk pool. But why?"
"There's a good way to find out," I said.
We all looked down at the Venber computer.