~Tobias~
I was back on the Andalite ship. I was with Ax.
Jake told me to stay put with him. He also told Ax not to let me out of his sight.
But I wasn’t supposed to know that. I wasn’t suppose to know that Cassie had seen my mother, she had seen her while fighting the three Hork-Bajirs.
She had told Jake that she had seen her in the forest, disappearing in the undergrowth.
Marco, Cassie and Jake were going to search for her. They think that I would act crazily or something like that.
After breaking up, I don’t think that I could trust me. I was too afraid of the answer. Was she a Yeerk, or was she not? Does she know that her husband was an alien, an Andalite?
Does she know he is dead?
< Tobias? > Ax said,
Ax had arrived on seeing Rachel leave. He didn’t know what happened.
< Ax? > I said with a sigh, < The adult human that died was her father, the younger one was Rachel’s youngest sister. >
Ax’s main eyes widened in shock, < That was them? What happened? >
< I don’t know, we should ask the two Andalites who were in the fighter, they’d know more than we do, Rachel would know too, but I don’t think that she’d like to talk about it. >
We were silent for a minute, we were in the dome, I looked around and though of what I should say to Rachel to make her feel better. I realized that nothing would. She had always known what to say to me to make sure and confident of myself. I never thought that I would ever come in the position of helping her.
Rachel was strong, I doubt that her father and sister’s death had snapped her. Rachel was too strong for that, besides. I heard what her father said to her, he probably realized that the aliens that attacked him were not panning to say hi to the president and leave.
He saw them as a threat, he wanted to warn Rachel.
It was a pity, I knew that Rachel had a strong relationship with her father, she told me a lot of stories about her and her father going mountain climbing, abseiling, skating, hiking and a lot of other exciting things. She wanted her dad to be proud of her, she knew hat her dad wanted a son to play with, you know, father son thing.
But he never had a son, he had Rachel. And Rachel was to him, was the closing thing he would ever get as a son.
I knew that Rachel, when the war was over, when we beat the Yeerks. She would have liked to go to her father and tell him that, tell him that she saved the world.
She wanted her father to be proud of her.
I think that Rachel would need a lot of convincing to understand that her father was already proud of her.
But, what could I really say to her that would help her?
Right now, nothing much.
But I could tell her if the Andalites she saved were all right, I could find out about that.
< Ax? > I said. Morphing to human.
He turned a stalk eye at me, < Yes, Tobias? >
“I thing that Rachel would like to know if the two Andalites were all right, that’s what she would have done if she were here.”
That was a lie. Rachel would not have really cared much, even if her father and sister didn’t die.
But it would be something to say to her.
Ax and I walked out of the dome ship and walked in the corridor.
He stopped in front of a room and talked to an Andalite, the Andalite frowned then shrugged (which are not like the human shrug and frown.)
Ax turned to me, < He said it was okay if we stayed for a while…
I turned around and looked at Ax, “And?”
He sighed, < He said that one of the Andalites, Tithilain, might not make it. He said that Rlilim is upset about it. >
Ax seemed depressed, or as depressed as an Andalite would come to.
They aren’t an emotional species, this was one of the reasons why Ax doesn’t like to stay in human morph for a long time, the scale of emotions we expose ourselves to is a lot higher than that of Andalites, they just can’t coupe with it. Funny how I always missed that point about him.
We entered in a room that looked a lot like the Ascalin’s sick bay. Only with one difference. It had more patients; I suppose it was because they fought a space battle.
It was weird, walking down the aisles; it was almost like an intensive care unit. Except what you would assume to be beds were big…twisted metal tables. The ones that had no one on them were metal but the ones with Andalites on were covered with a strange coating, I don’t know what it was, whether it was a sheet or a substances.
Also, the room was a lot, a lot bigger than the Ascalin’s sickbay. The tables were arranged in two rows, but they were not near a wall, the tables had a space round them enough so that three horses could walk around without pressing against each other. But more or less they were separated so that there was three clear aisles, one in the middle and two on each side of the walls.
The tables, unlike the ones you would expect at an intensive care unit, had no curtains around them. I mean, from where I was standing, I could almost see every surface of the twisted tables. It was uncanny, I don’t know how they could stand lying down without privacy, it was unnerving. They were not covered in blankets or anything, but I saw one that was, the sheet was not white, it was a strange grayish black, almost metallic in color. But it looked like something you’d want to to cover yourself in if you were cold.
Ax caught me staring at the blanket, “What are they covered in? Why isn’t it white?” I asked him.
< I have been in one of your human hospitals, and I want to ask you a question first. >
“Go ahead.”
< You use…what do you call them? The artificial skin covering? Not the clothing, the larger ones. >
I shrugged, “Blankets, bed spreads, whatever.”
< They are white, I have suspected that it is that color for a reason, but I am not sure. >
Ax is pretty smart, but I’m sometimes afraid of his analysis on human products, “They are white because our blood is red, it would be easy to see if someone is bleeding.”
He nodded, < Well, it is the same for Andalites, our circulatory system has two hearts, they both pump blue blood, we have another system, which would be similar to your lymphatic system, only, we bleed the fluid more often than humans, and the fluid that is released is as vital as blood. The color of the bedspread, as you call it, has nothing to do with making it easier to show the blood color. >
“Then why does it help to keep the color gray? How can you tell?”
< The color is actually a byproduct of a metal Derioxide, the pigment it releases has the ability to absorb the chemistry of an Andalite’s body fluids, and it shows this by turning yellow. >
Wow, that’s a lot better than having white bedspreads and covers.
< It can also be connected to a device, which would give off readings of the fluid bleeds or leaks; also, it can detect major internal bleedings, something that is not spotted easily. > He looked at me, < But as you might have guessed, the part of detecting internal bleeding is not very...sufficient. >
I continued walking and as I did, I realized that my watching the Andalites lie there did not affect me as much as it did to Ax. Walking down the aisle to him must be like the relevance of a human walking in a hospital, you know, the feeling you get?
As we neared to a table which had an Andalite on it I saw that there were little red button on the ground near each one, like the ones you find on an airplane, the emergency lights. They were bigger, and they were a bright green. Only the tables which had an Andalite on them had red lights.
I wondered why, but I soon got the answer.
As we reached near the table, one of the doctors on duty came to us and pressed something. Ax looked at my puzzled expression and decided it was a good idea to explain.
< It is a force field, > He said, < If someone was infected by a contagious virus, It would be best to isolate them, also, within the force field, one could adjust the temperature or atmospheric pressure and oxygen level. High levels of oxygen and high pressure make bodies heal faster. >
Oh.
One day, humans would be like that.
If we survive.
The Andalite lying down turned a stalk eye at us, he did not open his eyes. He was Rlilim, I knew him.
But it was hard to picture him upset. Even lying down, I could not truly tell if he was in a bad mood or not.
Andalites are just not an emotional species. What a shame. They’d understand us a lot better if they were.
< Warrior Rlilim? > Ax asked, and Rlilim opened his other stalk eye.
“I need to know,” I said. “What happened before you landed?”
Ax stared at me. At the back of my head an image was forming.
< You mean crashed? >
I nodded. “What caused you to crash?”
He frowned, as if the question I asked him was irrelevant. < The bug-fighter…no, it wasn’t, there was a human on the planet’s surface that shot me with a high powered dracon beam, it sent my fighter off course and I crashed into the advancing fighter. >
I nodded, “What happened to this human?”
< Oh, the human? She lurked away into the forest. If you ask me, she is definite trouble. >
Chapter Twenty
~Marco~
I am an osprey, flying high in the sky. Looking for a somewhat tame human, not looking for a Yeerk, not looking for trouble. Just my friend’s mother. What was so wrong about that? It should have been a perfect day.
Only, it was a nightmare day.
Rachel’s father and sister got killed, two Andalites were hurt, Tobias was acting weird and I was having problems.
As I flew, I kept picturing my mother, wishing that I was the one searching for her. Only I was searching for Tobias’s mother, not mine.
He didn’t know that. He was with the Andalites, with Ax. Jake said it was best if we investigated, then tell Tobias. No point disappointing him, or breading hope in his heart when the only thing he was hoping for was a dead corpse.
I flew over the lake, Jake was higher up and Cassie was with Rachel.
Rachel had insisted on coming along. Jake tried to stop her but failed.
Cassie and Rachel were off a long way from where we were. They were closer to the place were the two bug-fighter had crashed. The third bug-fighter was taken by the Andalites.
< There is nothing man, > Jake said.
< You’d keep looking if it was your mother. > I said.
He sighed. < Marco, she made it, okay? We found no body, no dracon burns over the rocks. >
< Don’t give me that. > I said.
< But it wasn’t your fault Marco; you were not responsible for what happened. Not that she died, I didn’t see anything. >
< Sure Jake, > I said, < What am I going to tell dad? Sorry I pushed mom off the ledge? >
< You didn’t push her. > He snapped, < She fell off. >
Little did Jake know that Visser one had figured out that there was one morph capable human, that human was me; her host’s biological son.
We were silent for a while, then I saw a bald eagle in the distance, a distance away was an osprey.
We flapped towards them.
< Jake? > Cassie said, < We found her. >
< That’s great! Tobia->
< And we found ourselves a problem… > Rachel commented.
< What? >
< What happened? > I said, feeing left out.
< Tobias is here. > Cassie said.
< Why is that a problem? What’s wrong with a family reunion? > I asked.
< He wasn’t suppose to be here you pea-brain. > Rachel said.
< You can call it a family reunion if you like, but that seems not to be the case. > Ax said.
< What? Ax? Weren’t you supposed to keep an eye on him? > I said.
< What’s happening? > Jake said, as we flew toward them.
< Come and look. > Cassie replied.
Rachel, Jake, Cassie and I landed on the same branch, must have looked weird, three birds of prey on one branch.
Below another tree a distance away, was Tobias, as a human. I saw a harrier three trees away.
In front of Tobias was a woman, the same woman in the photo but older.
< He has not yet told her who he is. He just approached her. > Ax informed.
< What? > I asked,
< Are you deaf? > Rachel said.
< Rachel, > Ax said, < Thought speak does not need to be heard by the ears, so, the equivalence of being deaf in hearing thought speak is brain damaged. >
< Oh great, that’s a lot better, > Rachel fell silent then said, < What are you? Brain damaged!? >
Since Rachel’s father and sister had just passed away, I let her off. I was felling kind of soft today.
< As a matter of a fact…no. > I answered, a soft comeback.
The woman held out a dracon beam and pointed it at Tobias, “Who are you? And what do you want.”
Tobias’s mouth dropped open. “You…you don’t know who I am?”
The woman, what had Tobias called her? Loren, stared at him, “What are you talking about? I never saw you before, this better not be a trap, Yeerk!”
“But…but I’m not a Yeerk! I’m human.” Tobias looked downcast, “Well, almost human.”
Loren stared at Tobias, “What kind of Yeerk trap is this?”
Tobias stared at his mother, his mother didn’t look like she knew who Tobias was, maybe she didn’t recognize him. I felt sorry for Tobias.
“It’s not a Yeerk trap!” He cried.
She walked towards him, “What kind of trap is this then?”
Tobias looked confused, as if this was not what he expected.
“Who are you married to?” He asked finally.
“Why do you care?” She asked.
“Please, I need to know.” He said.
She shrugged, “That’s a was, I used to be married. He’s dead now.”
“So you know?” Tobias asked, looking slightly revealed.
“Of course I know you dummy,” She snapped, “I’d know if Bret was alive or not.”
“Huh?” Tobias said. “Who is Bret?”
Looking exasperated she said, “Bret, my husband.”
Tobias sat down and shook his head. “Bret is your second husband?”
“He’s my only love!” She said in outrage.
“You… You never meet someone called Alan Fangor?”
“Fang who? I never heard of him!” She cried.
“You are Loren McShie?” He asked.
“Before I got married! Yes.”
“I don’t understand.” Tobias said slowly, then his eyes darkened. “The Ellimist!”
“Who?” Loren asked “Would you mind telling me what’s going on here?!”
The Ellimist was behind all this, no wonder, that guy loves to screw people’s lives.
NO I DON’T I AM HERE TO PUT ALL OF WHAT I EARASED BACK.
Good grief.
We were standing out of morph with Loren and Tobias on a hilltop on our dead moon, but we could breath.
“Who the hell are you? Were did you people come from?! Is this some kind of Yeerk trick?!” Loren shrieked.
“You’re going to be straight?” Jake asked.
AT A PRICE, LOREN COULD GET BACK WHAT SHE WANTED…AT A PRICE…
“Which is?” Tobias yelled.
ASK HER.
Then he disappeared, leaving us where we were, in the forest.
“Do you understand what he said? Does it mean anything to you?” Tobias asked.
“No it doesn’t…”
“No think, did you ever do anything…dramatic in your past?” Tobias asked.
“No but… Look, it’s like this, I sometimes feel like I have had amnesia, I can’t really look back in the past, but oh I don’t know, there was this time when I did something really stupid…”
“Which was?” Tobias asked.
She rolled her eyes, “It was my friend’s birthday, and it was my responsibility to entertain the guests, I’m like that,” She cocked her head and flicked her hair back making it shimmer in a nice way, “Anyway, there was this cool shop in this really bad neighborhood and I just had to by this game, it was an ancient board game and I remember getting stuck in this old dark big alley and I saw something that looked like an overgrown roach… ”
“And?” Tobias said.
“I don’t know that part but this name pops up in my head when I remember the incident and a face that went with it.”
“What name?” Tobias leaned in close, we crept nearer.
“Hedrick,” She frowned, “Hedrick Chapman.”
Chapter Twenty
~Jake~
“What!” Cassie yelped, “What does Chapman got anything to do with this?”
“Whoa,” I said, “It may not even be that Chapman, it could be another one.”
“Man, Tobias,” Marco said, “This universe is insane.”
“But there’s another...” Loren said as if in a half daydream.
“What?” Marco said, “What do you mean ‘there’s another?’”
“There’s another universe, one that was crated by-” She stopped and looked confused. “What am I saying?”
“Another universe?” Tobias repeated.
“Uhhh…” She sat down on a fallen log. “I don’t know.”
Cassie sat down beside her.
“Guys,” Tobias said impatiently, “We have to figure out the price, what is the price.”
We looked at each other and shrugged.
Again as if in a daydream, Loren spoke again, “Knowledge is everything…Knowledge is power…”
“Was that a clue or was it really the Ellimist after all.” Marco said.
“Whichever way, I think it is the clue.” Tobias paused and said thoughtfully, “Knowledge is power…”
< I suggest asking the human Loren, maybe she knows. > Ax said.
Loren stiffened and stared at Ax, “Do that again, what did you say?”
< I said, I suggest asking the human Loren- >
“Human Loren,” She interrupted, “I don’t know but it… It means something to me, I heard that before by…” She shook her head.
“GOT IT!” Rachel yelled.
We all jumped, Rachel had been quite all along.
She grinned savagely at us, “Hey this actually makes sense.”
“What makes sense to you? Warrior Princess.” Marco said.
“Loren must know something of what happened to Elfangor, right? She was with him.”
We nodded.
“She said she saw a big roach face,” She turned to Ax, “Is this something you know?”
He nodded < It must have been a Skrit. >
“And what do they do?”
He smiled; < They abduct resident aliens and take them to their home world. Or they fly around with them then release them back, sometimes when a SkirtNa does such thing and an Andalite ship is passing by, we would often stop them and return the aliens back to there home world. >
“Okay,” Rachel said, “Loren must have been taken with Chapman, how else is his name going to crop up? I say the price for this is that when Loren knows what she missed, Chapman would know too.”
“But why is that fatal?” Cassie asked.
Rachel shrugged, “You work out the rest.”
“I think.” Tobias said, “Remember when we were trying to get Visser four, with the Time matrix? Ax had suspicions that Elfangor was somehow involved, so I’m guessing that these three people know where it is.”
We looked at each other.
What are we going to decide, I hoped this kind of decision was not going to fall on my head.
I hoped.
Chapter Twenty-One
~Hedrick Chapman~
I was in one of the cages, all around me, people were screaming, people were crying, people were yelling and others were silent.
I was one of the silent ones.
I buried my head in between my legs, I was sitting down and was leaning on the rocky part of the cage. Since most of them are built in.
Why me? Why my family? Why us? Why the humans? Why not some other race?
Those were the questions that surfaced me, every time. Every time. My Yeerk was swimming in his pool, actually that was phrasing it wrong, his pathetic host is sitting in the cages waiting for him to finish.
As I was sitting with my head blowing up in worry over my family, the strangest sensation happened to me, it was like this door opening in my brain, and as it opened, a flood of valuable information rushed into me.
I remembered.
No, no the Yeerks shouldn’t get hold of this.
After losing me, I don’t think they'd know I was the ‘Human who gave away humanity’…
It was me!
It was me!
And I didn’t know it! It was I who gave information to the Yeerks, telling them about my species, tried to trade with them!
I am a fool.
And all those years with me cursing the being who betrayed humanity and it was me all along!
When I thought I was cursing the person to blame for this invasion I was blaming myself! Cursing myself!!
No! I caused this to my race! It was my fault!
“Noooooooooooooooo!” I moaned, how could have I trusted those slimy filthy slugs?
A Hork-Bajir came to me, he had opened my cage and I jumped up, “Get away form me! Get away from me!”
He grabbed me and dragged me out, he took me to the infestation peer.
My mind was racing.
In a few minutes, a Yeerk would know what had happned, he would know that there was a human who knew of the time matrices’ place. They would conclude it, after all, Visser Three and his host would be know a lot more than me.
Loren, I had seen her yesterday, passing by the market. She doesn’t know!
I have to warn her! She has to go away, she didn’t recognize me!
Too late.
My head was driven into the water and I felt the Yeerk enter and take full control of me.
Using my mouth he smiled.
Using my tongue, lips and throats he said, “Get the Visser.”
Using my eyes he made them dance with evil glee.
My race is doomed.
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