The walk home was the strangest of my life. The sensations of my legs moving, my arms swinging, all without me doing it. I wondered if this is what it felt like to sleepwalk. Your body doing things without you knowing. When I got in my apartment, it was even stranger. The way Tergiv said hello to my parents. There was nothing in the voice, the inflections, that would alert Mom and Dad to the fact that their daughter was no longer in control of her own body. It would be easier to figure out your kid was an addict or something. Then, there was the way Tergiv went through my usual routine. Shower, brush my teeth, go to bed. Wake up, get dressed, go to school. Everything exactly the way I would do it.
For most of the day, Tergiv did everything I usually did. However, at lunch, Tergiv suddenly seemed to be on a mission. I watched myself looking through the cafeteria like a hunter searching for prey.
«There she is,» Tergiv said. «Iniss 226 put out the word not to take her, but I figure if she comes to the Sharing on her own, and happens to stumble upon something she shouldn't see, then…» I had no idea what Tergiv was talking about. Suddenly, I found myself sitting next to Cassie, the girl who always seemed to be wearing something that looked like she just finished shoveling fertilizer. Luckily, she did not smell like it. Across from us sat her friend Rachel, who always looked like she just walked out of a fashion show. Next to Rachel was Melissa Chapman. Tergiv stared at her. I realized Melissa was who Tergiv was talking about.
"Hey, Melissa!" Tergiv said. Melissa looked startled, and both Cassie and Rachel glanced over.
"Um, hi, uh…" Melissa clearly did not know my name. Not surprising. I think this is the first time "I" ever spoke to her.
"Shana!" Tergiv said brightly. "I just wanted to say, your dad is so awesome!"
"Excuse me?" Melissa said, choking on a tater tot.
"You think the assistant principal is 'awesome'?" Rachel asked. "No offense, Mel."
"None taken," Melissa replied. "What are you talking about?" she asked "me."
"I got invited to the Sharing," Tergiv explained. "It was so great! There's this guy, Lucas… I've had a crush on him for so long, but I've neer been able to talk to him. Well, it turns out he's in the Sharing, and that whole place… The relaxed vibe and all… I was finally able to talk to Lucas without getting all tongue-tied, or sounding dumb, and guess what?! He asked me out! We're totally together now, and it's all thanks to the Sharing! And I know your dad is really instrumental in keeping that place going, so I just wanted to say thanks!"
"Um, that's great," Melissa said.
"So, how come you don't go to the meetings? I mean, if it's just because of your dad, no one there is going to care." Cassie and Rachel exchanged a look, but Tergiv was too focused on Melissa to really notice.
"It's just not really my thing," Melissa mumbled, and she focused more intensely on her lunch than any other student in history.
"All I'm saying it that it's not really anything like anyone thinks at first. I thought I was going to hate it, but…"
"Look, if she wants to check it out sometime, she will," Rachel said, her tone clearly saying to leave Melissa alone.
"Actually, I did go a few times," Melissa admitted. "I just… I didn't like it, okay? I'm glad you had a great time, and I'm happy for you that you and Lucas are gonna go out now. Me, I'm satisfied with staying at home with a great book, or going to the mall with my friends…" She nodded her head to Rachel and Cassie, although I doubt Cassie has ever seen the inside of a mall.
"It's so much better, now, that the Community Center is open," Tergiv insisted. "You should…"
"Didn't we say we'd join Jake for some three on three?" Cassie said suddenly.
"Oh, right!" Rachel exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. Melissa shoveled in one last bite of food, and got up to follow Cassie and Rachel. Tergiv turned to watch them leave, already planning to try talking to Melissa again, hopefully without Rachel or Cassie around.
«What's so special about Melissa?» I asked.
«Visser Three does not like that the girl is uninfested, while both her parents are Controllers,» Tergiv explained. «However, apparently her father's host made an arrangement that he would be a voluntary if Melissa remained uninfested. I can only suppose he's important enough that Visser Three does not want to risk anything, so he tolerates her freedom. But, if I can convince her to go to the Sharing on her own, and she accidentally stumbles upon something she shouldn't see, well, there would only be one course of action...» I could feel Tergiv's giddiness. «There's no way the Visser wouldn't give me a promotion for accomplishing that!»
The rest of the day was spent either in class, or establishing the fantasy that Lucas and I were now a couple. We held hands walking down the hallway, even made out in a quiet corner partially hidden by the lockers, but where the occasional student might pass by and see us.
Within a week, word had spread about us. Kassidy took all the credit for getting us together. Tergiv gushed about being forever in her debt. Lucas, or Herthen rather, promised that Kassidy could be my Maid of Honor at our wedding.
«Give me a break!» I could not help myself.
«Don't you like out little charade?» Tergiv asked me.
«What's not to like? I no longer have control of my own body. The guy of my dreams is finally all over me, but he's not in control of his body either. Both of us are doing things to each other we don't want done!»
«You don't want to kiss Lucas? You don't want him to run his fingers through your hair as he...»
«NOT LIKE THIS!» I actually managed to startle Tergiv. Herthen knew something was wrong, because my body spasmed, or something.
"Something wrong, Tergiv?" Herthen whispered, concerned.
"Apparently Shana thinks we're committing some sort of moral crime, interacting this way while they aren't in control."
"Lucas was saying something similar," Herthen replied, "but what happened?"
"She had a rather...violent...mental explosion," Tergiv said, struggling to describe what I had done. "My control over her is absolute, but every so often she causes a disruption. I'm working on preventing them, that's why I haven't commenced with the next step yet…"
"I understand," Herthen said.
«What next step?» I asked.
«None of your concern,» Tergiv replied. However, the echos I got from Tergiv flashed images of my father.
«You're going to try infesting my father!» I accused. «I won't let you!» I struggled against the "force field" in my mind, desperately trying to reach the "controls" of my body. However, since my outburst, Tergiv was alert as ever, and held me at by quite effeciently.
«That's right, little human,» Tergiv mocked. «I'm going to infest your father! That's why we took you in the first place! You think we went through all that trouble just to get you? What are you? A stupid child with no friends, no connections, no special skills, nothing. Your father, however, is far smarter than you'll ever be! The things he's working on, we can use those. There's one, in particular, that if we can get him to make it go our way, we won't need portable Kandronas anymore! We may not even need to leave our hosts anymore! Your father is the key to making sure we Yeerks never leave Earth!» I shuddered in my little brain corner. The one thing I knew for certain was that I could not let them get my father, all the while knowing there was no way I could stop them.