At this point, it may be worthwhile to acquaint the reader with the Yeerk pool's basic system of (for lack of a better word) host-herding – the process, that is, by which involuntary hosts are conducted to cages after their Controllers leave them to feed. It is often vaguely assumed, among those who have never been infested, that each host is invariably put in the same cage – which, of course, in a culture dependent on breaking the wills of sentient beings, would be manifest idiocy. To put a host regularly in contact with the same two other hosts would foster precisely that spirit of friendship and mutual support in suffering that the Yeerk Empire worked so hard to extinguish in its human chattel.
The Sulp Niar pool of Earth, therefore, rotated its hosts every feeding cycle, according to a complex algorithm that (factoring in the continual addition of new hosts and the occasional death of old ones) effectively prevented any two given hosts from being caged next to each other twice in the same lifetime. Thus, for instance, the four conversations that Teresa had had with Toloth had each been conducted next to a different host or pair of hosts (except the second, in which Teresa had happened to be sandwiched between two empty cages).
Of course, this system produced a certain hazard of its own. If friendship between hosts became less likely, the odds that some small gesture of defiance on a host's part might inspire a neighboring host to renewed courage became all the greater as hosts were circulated. This, however, was considered by far the lesser of the two evils.
And it must be acknowledged that the system worked fairly well. One might have expected, for instance, that the sight of a Hork-Bajir-Controller coming up to a human host's cage every feeding cycle and engaging her in a lengthy dialogue on the particulars of Christian belief and practice might have attracted some attention from the neighboring hosts, and, if the neighboring hosts had been constant and known to Teresa, it might well have done so. The principle of host rotation, however, ensured that all the hosts who were imprisoned next to her during her discussions with Toloth were perfect strangers, who were generally too far gone in either rage or despair to pay any attention to the abstract philosophy next door.
On the day that Teresa and Toloth had read Galatians 5 together, however, a different sort of host happened to be occupying the cage to Teresa's right. This was Ewart Velsko, a veterinarian and amateur geologist who had been lured into the Sharing by his wife's Controller that April, and infested on the first of July. Like most hosts (including Teresa), he had done his share of screaming uselessly at his captors; after a while, however, he had come to see that there was little point in that, and had decided to make the best use of his few hours of freedom that he could. Thus, he had begun to study the floor and the bars of his cage, and work out the structure and composition of the alien minerals that composed them; by now, about five months later, he had arrived at about as thorough a knowledge of Yeerk chemical technology as a host life-form could reasonably expect to attain.
This was partially due to his remarkable ability to phase out the noise of his fellow involuntaries as they screamed or sobbed around him. It was a skill he had first developed in the operating room (since the alternative was going deaf while his patients barked in his ear), but his pool experiences had honed it to a stunning degree, so that he was now almost physically incapable of hearing anything outside his cage unless it was specially tailored to attract his attention.
It is, perhaps, something less than a credit to male humans everywhere that what thus attracted his attention to the conversation to his left was the three-word sentence, "Everything means sex." Nonetheless, so it was. His ears perked up, and he left his speculations on the lattice structure of inert actinium to focus on Teresa and Toloth – and, as a result, he became the first human to witness the missionary activities of Teresa Sickles.
The specific doctrines he heard made no particular impact on him. He was a regular churchgoer in a vague, Congregational way, and the basic ideas of Galatians 5 were too familiar to leave any lasting impression on his mind (although the particular form they took on in Galard translation provided him a certain amount of amusement).
But that was scarcely relevant. The substance of the reading may have been commonplace, but the fact itself – the mere image of a human captive and a Yeerk soldier reading the Bible together – stirred Dr. Velsko's soul in places he hadn't realized it possessed. Even an Congregationalist may well be pleased that a slave is communicating the Gospel of mercy to her captors – and impressed, also, by the courage that the slave in question is thereby shown to possess.
That's a brave girl, the good doctor reflected. Crazy, maybe, but definitely brave.
And, a few minutes later: I wonder what her name is.
At about the same time, his Controller, Oglud Eight-Six-Nought, was learning the answer to that question.
*Teresa Sickles?* he pulsed, bewildered. *That name means nothing to me.*
*Oh?* said his hostless compatriot (a member of the Arssis spawn, whose number Oglud hadn't caught). *Well, that's a pity. We had hoped you might be able to tell us something about her.*
*But who is she?* Oglud demanded. He was understandably a bit out of sorts at being addressed during a feeding (didn't these izcots have any sense of propriety?), and being questioned about a mysterious human whose name he seemed to be expected to know only added to his frustration.
*She is the human who gave herself to Oliss Three-Eight-Three,* said Arssis Whatever-It-Was solemnly.
*Oh,* said Oglud, with a dismissive gesture. *A voluntary.*
*No, that's the point,* said Arssis. *She is not a voluntary. On the contrary, she hates her Controller with a passion, and yet she was still willing to give herself to Oliss Three-Eight-Three so that it could experience the visual revel on Esiln Kalkat.*
That got Oglud's attention. *Indeed?* he said. *Well, that's curious.*
*No, Arssis, that's wrong,* said another hostless Yeerk. *She doesn't hate her Controller. Remember, she doesn't think she's allowed to hate Yeerks.*
*You know what I mean, Illim Eight-Seven-Seven,* said Arssis, annoyed.
*One moment,* said Oglud, now thoroughly baffled. *Who is prohibiting this involuntary host from hating Yeerks? Her Controller? Her fellow hosts?*
*Her God,* said Illim.
*Excuse me?*
Illim emitted a chemical signature expressive of humble ignorance. *I don't know all the details,* it said, *but it seems that Teresa Sickles believes in a single god who made all sentient beings, and who expects them all to serve each other without concern for themselves. It was because of this that she offered herself to Oliss Three-Eight-Three.*
*Ah,* said Oglud, enlightened. *You mean she is a Christian.*
The two hostless Yeerks stiffened with sudden attentiveness, and their pheromone signatures began to suggest intense interest. *A Christian?* said Arssis. *Was that the word that Oliss used?*
*It may have been,* said Illim. *It certainly had a similar click structure. Tell us, Oglud Eight-Six-Naught, what is a "Christian"?*
Oglud hesitated. He was not at all comfortable with the interest these izcots were showing – it didn't seem healthy for loyal subjects of the Empire to be so curious about a mere human religion – and he certainly didn't want to encourage it by getting into a lengthy discussion. On the other hand, if he refused to say anything, that might merely add the allure of mystery to the subject. Best to give a simple, concise answer, and hope that his own level-headedness might cool their ardor somewhat.
*Well,* he said, *among the humans, there are a number of groups that claim to follow the teachings of a human called Jesus Christ, who lived about twenty-three cycles ago in a country not far from where Visser One first landed when she first came to Earth. The members of these groups are collectively called "Christians"; they are very common on this part of Earth, and one of the things they espouse is the equality of all humans. So I suppose your Teresa Sickles is probably one of them.*
*Is your host a Christian?* Arssis inquired eagerly.
*Er… yes,* said Oglud. *But…*
*Are you a Christian?* said Illim.
*What?* Oglud burst out. *No, of course not. There are no Yeerk Christians.*
*Why not?* said Illim. *If Christians believe that all sentient beings are supposed to serve each other…*
*Not all Christians believe that, shapluk,* said Oglud. *Most Christians are just like any other humans, except for a mild social veneer produced by the traditions of their particular sect. This Teresa Sickles is probably just one of the fanatics that the more primitive Christian groups produce every now and then.*
*Oh,* said Illim.
It and Arssis were silent for a moment, and Oglud breathed a little easier. One never knew, with these hostless ones, how they were liable to take things; the state of perpetual expectation they lived in had a way of keeping their emotions at a constant fever pitch. Fortunately, this also meant that they easily switched from one enthusiasm to another; presumably, in a few days, a new rumor would start sweeping through the pool about Elfangor's ghost inciting Taxxons to rebellion, and Teresa Sickles would become a thing of yesterday.
In the meantime, though…
*Are there many Christian fanatics?* Illim inquired.
Oglud groaned in spirit. *A certain number, yes,* he admitted. *But why are you asking me all this? If you are so interested in Teresa Sickles, seek out her Controller and speak to her.*
*Oh, we have,* said Arssis.
Oglud was caught off guard. *You have?*
*Certainly,* said Arssis. *She is in the pool right now. But, as I said, there is no love lost between her and her host, and the mention of Teresa's God causes her to… well, to overreact somewhat.*
That, Oglud could well believe. He couldn't even imagine what it might be like to infest one of the tireless zealots that the Pentecostal and evangelical churches, or even the Roman Catholics, seemed to churn out with such regularity. How grateful he was that his own host belonged to one of the nice, tepid "mainstream" denominations.
*She says that belief in Teresa Sickles's God is a cowardly, corrupting thing, and that no-one who held it could call itself a loyal subject of the Yeerk Empire,* Arssis continued. *That was why it seemed so strange when you said that there were no Yeerk Christians; Malcar Seven-Four-Five seems to take it for granted that there could be.*
*Perhaps there could,* Oglud conceded, *but I can't imagine why there should be. What sensible Yeerk would risk being accused of host sympathy for the sake of a primitive human religion, no different from a thousand other belief systems scattered throughout the galaxy?*
He had hoped that this less-than-subtle hint would discourage his inquirers from further interest in the subject. He was disappointed. *Really?* said Illim. *You mean that there are other religions that inspire their adherents to give themselves to their enemies out of disinterested kindness? Which ones?*
*Don't get smart with me, Illim Eight-Seven-Seven,* Oglud growled.
*Pardon?*
At this juncture, to Oglud's relief, the familiar call vibrated through the pool: *Oglud Eight-Six-Nought to the infestation pier!* He swam through the crowds of his fellow Yeerks and slithered back into his host, feeling rather annoyed that what should have been a restful sojourn in the sulp niar had been interrupted by such frivolous chatter.