She knows her best shot is to drive Visser Three into a rage. Even if that means he kills her in a fury, that's still a win condition compared to dying of slow torture.
I meant Marco's mom, Eva, rather than Visser One.
Yeah.... and humans being what we are, you'd get a lot of suicide bombs, people fighting to the death, and generally wasting good hosts. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it wouldn't be easy
A threat like this, yeah that's the kind of thing that would get lots of nukes and other WMDs fired. And not even necessarily at the yeerks.
I meant Marco's mom, Eva, rather than Visser One.
Whoops.
Chapter 20
quote:
Live Memory Transfer Protocol
"No, human, don't be a fool. The superstring theory is more correct than you think. You've simply failed to see the next step."
I spoke aloud to my host. I'd had her for six weeks at this point. I was driving her car. We were stuck in traffic. Typical human disorganization and chaos. I was heading for a scientific conference in a city called San Francisco. The subject was superstring theory, a simplistic precursor to what even we Yeerks refer to as Andalite Harmonic Theory.
"It's not an end, it's a beginning," I said.
Allison Kim pressed for an explanation. She was trapped, helpless, but she still cared about learning. It was something we shared in common. She wanted to understand. And if that meant being pleasant to me, she was willing to do so.
We spoke a great deal. About physics. History. About biology. She was fascinated by Yeerk biology. I was fascinated by human history. All her memories were mine to command, to open or close as I chose. It wasn't necessary for me to converse with her. But I found it pleasant. Yes, it was pleasant.
Essam had found and taken the human Hildy Gervais. He was often away, passing as a true human. He was gaining tremendous experience. Insight. And I got the impression that he enjoyed his human occupation.
I was alone most of the time. Alone among humans. Far, far from any fellow Yeerk besides Essam. I knew that by now a death sentence had been issued for me. I knew that my only hope of survival was to bring the humans, gift wrapped, to the leadership of the Empire.
And yet, now, at a time when I should have been all energy and excitement and defined purpose, I felt loose, lost, drifting. Lazy. Unmotivated.
<It's L.A.,> Allison said. <It does that to everyone. Too much sun, too much easy living.>
"Nonsense," I said. "Your human pleasures mean nothing to me."
<And you have no pleasures of your own, do you? You Yeerks are all work and no play.>
"When we have taken Earth you will learn to live without distractions."
<You'll never take Earth.>
She was so definite. So confident. "No? And why not?"
<You think you know us. You know nothing. You've seen the world through the eyes of a defeated soldier and a junkie bimbo. You know nothing. We'll defeat you, Edriss.>
It was my nightmare, of course. The fear that I was missing something. Overlooking something. Humans were so different, one from the next. I had seen so small a sample.
Of course Allison knew some of this. She thought she was manipulating me. She thought she was being clever.
Yes, she -
Suddenly, sitting beside me in the car was Garoff. The garb of a Council member was gone. He was a Hork-Bajir, sitting calmly in the passenger seat of a Toyota Camry.
"Are you sure she wasn't succeeding?" He asked me.
It was absurd! Insane! In my mind I was there, back there, years in the past. And here was a Hork-Bajir, a Council member!
My mind was reeling, swimming. Too many voices in my head.
"No, no. She never tricked me!"
"Let's go forward one month," he ordered, and my mind simply leaped the weeks and month.
Then he was gone. Evaporated.
<Better focus, Edriss,> my host taunted. <Can't make another mistake. Visser Three is already warming up the torture chamber for you.>
Eva! She was seeing my memories. The intrusion of the probes had opened them to her. Garoff, Eva, both inside my head! Get out! Leave me alone!
<What's the matter, Edriss? Don't you enjoy irony?>
Ignore the host! She was in the present. Not here, not now in the past. She had nothing to do with me waiting impatiently for Essam to come home. Waiting for Hildy Gervais. Where was he? He was always late.
I walked to the balcony and looked out over the water. Malibu. Allison Kim could never have afforded this place, of course, but Essam and I had emptied Lowenstein's bank accounts before vaporizing him.
And why not live well? That was part of my bet with Allison.
"A bet?" Garoff asked, appearing in the middle of the room.
"Yes, a bet," I said. "She ... my human host, she challenged me. Challenged my knowledge of humans. If I wanted to conquer humans I would have to get inside them, know them, not just the few I could infest."
Garoff shook his head, disbelieving. "You made a bargain with a host?"
"Not a bargain! I was using her. Using her to ... "
"Right now, in this memory, you're worried about Essam. You want him to come home from his work. Why?"
"Why? I ... I miss him."
"More than that. I see it clearly in your memory, although you never admitted it. Your host finds Essam's host attractive."
"Irrelevant. Humans are prone to all sorts of ridiculous emotions."
"Forward one month," Garoff ordered.
"Ah!" I yelled. The volleyball was heading toward me in a fast, flat arc. I ran, planted my feet in the sand, and stretched out my arms to slap the ball back upward.
"Go, Allison!" Hildy Gervais yelled.
All this played in my head as though I were there, back there on that beach, feeling the sun on my human flesh, feeling the excitement, feeling the adrenaline.
And at the very same moment I saw Garoff standing invisible to everyone but me, insubstantial yet real, among the three players on the other team. They looked through him, ran through him.
I knew what was coming next. Knew, and couldn't stop it from happening all over again.
The ball flew. A man on the other team slammed it back. Hildy ran for it. I ran for it. Slipped. Fell in the sand. Hildy fell atop me.
Face-to-face. Sudden silence. All the world outside was moving in slow motion.
I looked into his eyes. Knew that those eyes were being aimed by Essam. But knew, too, that Allison was looking at Hildy.
Yeerk looking at Yeerk. Human looking at human. None breathing. No heart beating.
Slowly, strangely reluctant, he pulled away.
I climbed up, brushed the sand from my lower back and legs.
Garoff stared at me, grim. "You experienced human emotions that were not derived from the host. It was you, Edriss, feeling a sort of exaggerated sympathy for Hildy, and for Essam within him."
<Can't be,> Eva whispered. <You were falling in love with him. You?>
"No, Council member, I was merely simulating human ... human exaggerated sympathy ... as a way to ... to understand, Council Member Garoff. I never -"
"Forward one month!" he snapped.
Dinner. Candles. Lobster.
We were outdoors, on a veranda restaurant. The shadowed beach below us. The darkening ocean sighing beyond. Stars just beginning to twinkle into view.
Allison Kim loved lobster. Hildy Gervais loved crab. We were having both. Sharing bites across the table. Thinking nothing of it. But thinking of nothing else.
His fingers, holding out a white chunk of crab, dripping butter. I reach to take it with my own fingers, but it slips away.
He lifts another piece, places this one directly into my open mouth.
"She took you, Visser One," Garoff said contemptuously.
"No! No! All of it was part of learning, part of coming to understand humans. I had to know them to enslave them!"
"Forward. Six months."
"No, Garoff, there's nothing ... "
"I see your memory as clearly as you do, Visser One. I see your memory as clearly as if you were my host body. I know what lies six months from this point."
"No," I whispered, helpless.
"I don't know if this will be good news or bad news, Allison," the doctor said. "But you're going to have twins."
She moved the primitive sonogram equipment over my swollen belly.
"Twins? You're sure?"
I looked at Hildy/Essam. He smiled.
"A little boy and a little girl. Twins."
Garoff walked through the doctor and looked down at me with furious Hork-Bajir eyes. "All a part of understanding humans, Edriss? All in service of the Yeerk Empire?"
From the bed, looking up helpless at him, I said, "No."
"No? You admit it?"
There was no point in lying. I had lied to myself then. Lied and told myself that I was simply investigating all aspects of human experience.
"Your host, this human, she turned you, Edriss."
"Yes. I ... I was far, far from home. Far from the Empire. Sentenced to death for disobeying stupid orders. My host ... her mind, her senses, she ... she ... "
"She what, Visser One of the Yeerk Empire? She what?"
"She was alive! She was alive! She was more alive than me. More alive than any of us."
Garoff nodded. "You had become Jenny Lines, Visser One."
"What?" It didn't make any sense.
"You were addicted, Visser One. You became addicted to humans."
So what do you think about Garoff's claim that Visser One is addicted to humans? Edriss certainly had a relationship with Alison that seems kind of similar to the ones in the Yeerk Resistance Movement, without, of course, giving her freedom of action.
I sort of stand by what I said earlier, which is that humans express a particular challenge for controllers. Gedds are semi-sentient. Hork-Bajir are sentient, but their intelligence is so much lower than a Yeerk's that a Yeerk wouldn't feel a bond. Taxxons are intelligent, but most of their energy and their controller's energy is taken up in resisting their impulses, as they're at a constant state of near starvation. Humans, though, can actually make conversation, can be interesting. It's easy for a Yeerk to slip and feel some sort of connection with them. I'd assume the same is true for Andalites too, but Visser Three is the only Andalite controller, and the sheer hatred between Andalites and Yeerks makes relationships difficult. Some people here have suggested that some o Visser Three's sheer aggression and arrogance is Alloran's personality influencing him, though.
Chapter 21
quote:
"This is very troubling, Visser One," Garoff said.
"I am no traitor! I am not an Andalite sympathizer!"
"No. I don't think you are. But you are ... or were ... a traitor, Visser One. Memory forward three months."
I was in a bed. A narrow bed. I wore a simple pink robe. It was drenched with sweat. My hair was plastered down. My face was red from the strain of the previous four hours.
Essam/Hildy leaned over the bed, smiling. I smiled up at him, but only briefly. Then, I looked back down at the two very small faces. The boy, my son, had not opened his eyes, yet. But the girl, my daughter, blinked and looked up at me, her mind perfectly empty, receiving its first images. Images of me. Mother. Mommy.
Allison Kim. And a Yeerk named Edriss.
"What are we going to do?" Hildy/Essam whispered.
"I didn't know. I don't know."
"Allison, the shipboard Kandrona generators can not last much longer. We will need to replenish our supplies, if we are to survive."
I discovered I was crying when a tear dropped onto my son's face.
"I love you, Edriss," Essam, Essam himself said. "And I love these small humans. Our children."
Of course they weren't our children. They were the progeny of Allison and Hildy. These were infant humans, not Yeerks. Yeerks do not have any involvement with their progeny. Yeerk parents do not live to see their "children."
"What have we done?" he whispered.
"Signed our own death decrees," I said. "If we contact the Empire, and they learn of this, we will die. It won't matter what else we can tell them."
<The children must survive, Edriss,> Allison said inside my head. <You know that. You feel that. I know you do. You've come so far, learned so much. You know that the children, my children, and yes, your children, Edriss, they're what it's all about.>
"They will live," I whispered.
Essam/Hildy looked puzzled. Then he nodded. Essam and Hildy conferred within their shared brain. Then he said, "One thing we swear, the four of us, the children will survive."
"Stop," Garoff said. "Stop! Memory stop."
The memory disappeared. So sweet a memory, those small faces. So sweet a moment. The pain of it twisted my insides.
<I didn't know,> Eva said. <You never let me see that part of your past, Edriss. You loved them.>
"It was a powerful emotion, Garoff," I said. "I was not prepared. It had never been planned. Allison, my host, she never planned for things to go so far. Her plan was only to show me human happiness, human hope, human love. To weaken me, to make me see humans as far more than mere host bodies. Things went too far. Essam was captured by the emotion of love."
"As were you, Visser One."
"I was ... unprepared. Humans are complex. Gedds are barely sentient, Taxxons are mad beasts. Hork-Bajir, you take them, you see them from the start as intellectually inferior, primitive. You can tell yourself ... you can shield yourself ... but humans."
I was pleading. For what? Mercy? From a Council member of the Yeerk Empire?
"I was the first! We were the first, Essam and I. No one knew what humans held in their minds, no one knew. They weren't intellectual inferiors. They were impossible to dismiss as sub-Yeerk, not when you knew them."
Garoff nodded. He was in the room with me. Watching as I held the little girl to my breast.
Watching with a mixture of disdain and worry on his Hork-Bajir face.
"I have learned all I need to know, Visser One. Terminate Live Memory Transfer Protocol."
I felt Garoff leave my mind.
Felt the probes being withdrawn.
It was all over. Over. My children ... not mine, Allison's, but yes, mine, mine, too, mine! Lost!
Visser Three would unleash his war on Earth. The humans would resist. The violence would escalate. Out of control. The humans would lose every battle, every confrontation, and yet, they would fight on. And we, proud Yeerks, we could not let them survive to make fools of us.
I saw it all, as clearly as if it had already happened. Humans exterminated. Earth a blasted, blackened cinder. My children, my twins, my little ones ...
I waited for the sound of Eva's crowing triumph. But she was silent.
The Council became visible again before my clearing vision. And Visser Three, waiting, tense, ready beside me.
All awaited Garoff's statement. For a long time he was silent, staring at nothing. Then, at last, he shook his head and apologized. "I'm sorry to delay," he said. "We will now proceed with Visser One's statement."
I stared. What? Continue? From what point? Why? Why? I was convicted. I was guilty.
<There's another game being played here,> my host said. <Another game altogether.>
<No, no,> I argued. <He's just waiting ... just ...> But I didn't have an explanation. It was absurd! I wasn't an Andalite spy, but a traitor? Yes. Or had been.
<He's hoping for a way out,> Eva said. <You were not supposed to be convicted. They want a way out. You have to find it. You have to discredit Visser Three.>
"Marco," I whispered voicelessly.
<Yes. Marco. My child, to save yours.>
Oh, and apparently Visser One came to the same conclusion I did in regards to the special appeal of humans. Also, Eva's right that this is screwing up Garoff's plans.
In addition, romantic and parental love are probably very heady emotions for Yeerks given how powerful they are for humans while Yeerks seem to have no equivalent. As mentioned Yeerks die when they give birth and I think we've only seen one other mention of romance or partnership between Yeerks - that was Eslin 359 the Yeerk who worked at the observatory Ax was using to communicate with the Andalite homeworld in The Alien. Though Eslin 359 said he had become close to a poolmate who Visser 3 killed, a plausible headcanon would be that that feeling was enhanced by closeness or intimacy between their hosts. He certainly seemed deranged and unstable about it.
quote:
<He's hoping for a way out,> Eva said. <You were not supposed to be convicted. They want a way out. You have to find it. You have to discredit Visser Three.>
To me, that's the money line of the book. The whole thing was a setup, a trap, all along. Not for Visser One, for Visser Three. The Council isn't stupid; they've seen Visser One's reports and Visser Three's, and for all the oddities in Visser One's, it's painfully obvious when you read both reports that Visser Three is fucking this up and needs to be removed from authority on Earth. But unless you accept Visser One's reports unquestioningly - which, because of the oddities, they won't - the Council doesn't quite have the smoking gun they want, and the Visser has too many Yeerks loyal to him for them to proceed without one.
Then Visser Three hands them this golden opportunity. He wants to prosecute Visser One on what appear to be trumped-up charges of treason, but he doesn't think about the fact that doing so puts him at the Council's mercy as much as Edriss is. The Council gets Visser Three in front of them, with Visser One there to provide testimony against him, at the acceptably low cost of Visser One and her host body getting some minor torture. If it goes right, the power struggle ends, Visser Three is disgraced, as they suspect he should be, and Visser One is in complete control of the Earth invasion, as they suspect she should be. (And, small bonus, some councillor probably gets a used, but still nice, Andalite host!) The only way it could go wrong is, well, if the evidence of treason turns out to be more substantial than they ever suspected.
I also like the fact that Eva is still - after all these years of slavery - still very astute, and will now be rooting for V1 to win the trial. When the result seemed like a foregone conclusion she was more than happy to accept freedom via death, but when something else appears possible, she'll happily live to fight another day and maybe one day reach true freedom.
I can't remember - was there a particular reason V1 was revisiting Earth in #5? Or was that just before KA had sort of mapped out the history and the politics of everything yet?
Probably just there to fuck with him inspect the situation
I also like the fact that Eva is still - after all these years of slavery - still very astute, and will now be rooting for V1 to win the trial. When the result seemed like a foregone conclusion she was more than happy to accept freedom via death, but when something else appears possible, she'll happily live to fight another day and maybe one day reach true freedom.
I can't remember - was there a particular reason V1 was revisiting Earth in #5? Or was that just before KA had sort of mapped out the history and the politics of everything yet?
Maybe she was laying the groundwork for the shark project?
Chapter 22
quote:
"At ... at what point shall I pick up the story, Council Member Garoff?" My voice was shaky, my hands trembling.
"At the point where I terminated direct memory contact, Visser One. Of course. Begin by telling us what became of the human progeny of your host and the host of your subordinate, Essam."
<Yes, tell us that, Visser One,> Visser Three agreed. <We would all be interested in that answer.>
I was lost. Confused. My human stomach was twisting. Head swimming. "I ... the progeny, the humans?"
<The truth, Edriss. Tell me quickly!>
What? My host was now making demands? Impossible.
<I'll help, Yeerk, but tell me the truth!>
<Visser One seems unsure of which lie to tell next,> Visser Three said.
<They're free! But I can't tell them that! I have to say that I killed them!>
<No!> Eva shouted. <Visser Three is too eager. He can barely contain himself. What if Visser Three has them? What if he has your kids?>
I was stunned. I hadn't thought of that. Of course! First force me to confess to procreating as a human, then catch me lying to protect the children ...
"The human progeny, the children, were given to other humans to raise," I said. "I terminated contact."
I felt Visser Three slump beside me. Just the slightest movement. But Eva had been right: Visser Three had them!
"And the host human, this Allison Kim?" Garoff asked. "Tell us what happened to her. Pick up the narrative, Visser One."
"Yes, Council Member Garoff. Only ... "
"What?"
"This body, this human host requires some moments to perform necessary biological functions. Waste elimination and replacement of fluids and food."
<She doesn't need food!> Visser Three roared, completely forgetting his place. <Let us have the results of Garoff's investigation, let's end this face and get on with the demands of justice! She doesn't need food! She needs to be executed! She doesn't need FOOD!>
"Perhaps not," Garoff said blandly. "But Hork-Bajir, too, need food, Visser Three. With the concurrence of my fellow Council members? Yes? We will adjourn for one standard hour."
The hologram went blank.
I was in the room, surrounded by Hork-Bajir, and faced with Visser Three.
<Aaaarrrgghhh!> Visser Three screamed and slammed his tail blade into the wall.
"You really should learn some self-control, Visser."
We stared at each other. Hatred, pure and undiluted.
<Take her to the feeding building for human-Controllers,> Visser Three ordered the Hork-Bajir. <I do not need to remind you that if she so much as thinks of escape, you will each be killed.>
I stood up, slowly, awkwardly. My injuries had made me old. "I don't think I'll be running very far, Visser," I said wearily.
Visser Three walked behind me as I shuffled down the hallway. The Hork-Bajir guards flanked me, left and right, jostling me as I went.
Then, we stepped out into the main Yeerk pool. It was a vast, domed, underground space. The floor and walls were mostly still bare dirt. The arched roof was supported in part by steel beams, but was still mostly just so much dirt held in place by force fields.
A number of structures surrounded the pool itself: the various temporary housing facilities, the feeding sheds of the Taxxons, and storage warehouses. Two long, steel piers extended out into the pool. One was used for Yeerks leaving their hosts, the other one for Yeerks returning. There were cages, of course, for the temporarily freed hosts. The hosts often cried or shouted.
Pointless, of course. They could not escape.
The cafeteria for humans was a long, narrow tin-and-plywood structure. It was filled with noisy human-Controllers eating and talking.
Our appearance killed the conversation.
Room was made for me. I sat on one of the benches. The service Gedd came hustling over with a plate. Grilled chicken, boiled potatoes, steamed broccoli. The Yeerks who ran the facility stayed current on human nutritional needs.
I sat. A Hork-Bajir guard sat on either side of me. Visser Three watched as I ate.
Across from me the human-Controllers kept their eyes on their plates and ate with mechanical speed. No one was interested in making small talk with me. At the same time, no one wanted to insult me by leaving.
I was a pariah. Unless I wasn't. I was a loser. Unless it turned out that I was a winner. I almost felt sorry for my brother Yeerks. So hard for them to tell which Visser to obey today.
I needed an opening. Just a small one. Anything.
But there was nothing. Hork-Bajir everywhere. Visser Three himself almost breathing down the back of my neck.
I had to push. I had to create an opening.
"Deeedly-deet. Deeedly-deet. Deeedly-deet."
Someone's cell phone ringing. A person three places down on my same side of the table. A human woman.
She smiled nervously. "It's ... it's necessary for my cover," she explained to Visser Three, to me, to Visser Three, her eyes darting back and forth.
<Then answer it!> Visser Three snapped.
"Hello?" A pause. "Yes, sir. I'm en route to the client now, but I'm tied up in traffic."
Cell phone. It worked from here? From this far underground? They must have installed
transponders to allow Yeerks to stay in touch while passing through. Cell phone. If I could take that phone. If I could ...
But how? One wrong move and Visser Three would have me cut apart.
No. No, wait. He wouldn't. Couldn't. Oh, he'd stop me, but he couldn't kill me. Not now, now that he was under suspicion himself. It would look to the Council as if he was trying to protect himself by killing his accuser.
I had one good hand, fingers still fairly limber. Was it enough? Would I have the strength, the finesse?
I finished eating, watching the woman out of the corner of my eye. She pushed her plate away. I stood up.
"I'm done."
She stood up. Both moving, Hork-Bajir standing up, moving back, Visser Three backpedaling to make way for me, the woman moving toward me, saw her mistake, saw she'll run into me, stopped, too late, I stumbled, tripped on my wrecked feet, fell into her.
Down I went! Me on top. I cursed, annoyed. Like the visser I am.
"Clumsy idiot!"
Hork-Bajir rushed to grab me, picked me up. The woman tried to help, pushed me up, but politely. Not angry, just wanting no part, even indirect, in this civil war between visser. A Hork-Bajir grabbed me and yanked me straight up. The pain in my shoulder was shocking, like an electric shock.
But I had the cell phone.
So, Visser One gets some actual food! It's pretty bland food, the Yeerk Pool being more concerned about keeping hosts alive than making an enjoyable meal for them, but still, it's no head of lettuce and egg. Also, we can talk about how Visser One got the cell phone, but how awkward was the situation for that Yeerk who got the call? You know your boss is in a bad mood, and all of a sudden, you become the object of attention.
Chapter 23
quote:
Toilet facilities. Not very elegant, but very clean. They were cleaned every twenty minutes by Gedds. We didn't want to be transmitting human viruses back and forth, after all, and reduce the efficiency of our human hosts.
In the toilet, the door closed, the tiny building ringed by Hork-Bajir, I dialed the number.
Ring. Ring.
My heart was in my throat. My emotions. Eva's emotions. Nothing clear in this moment of desperation. All insanity! Madness! I was calling my enemy for help against a creature who should be an ally. I was using my host's child to save my own.
Ring. Ring.
Answer! Answer, damn you! Answer!
"Hi, we're not at home, or maybe we just don't feel like answering the phone, so leave a message, you know the drill."
Answering machine. His voice. All over. All over.
Beep!
<Take the chance, Yeerk! You have no choice!>
"Mar ... " My throat was dry. I took a breath. "Marco, if you're there, pick up."
Click.
I breathed again.
"What?" he asked, carefully masking the fear, the despair, he must be feeling. Visser One was calling him. Visser One knew! He must be seeing the end now, feeling the hopelessness of final defeat.
I got some small pleasure from that.
"You know who this is," I whispered.
"Yes."
"Your mother."
"No," he said flatly. "Not my mother. A Yeerk."
"Okay. Granted. But she needs you. She needs you and your friends."
"My friends?"
"Don't play stupid, Marco. I know you. What you are. What you do. You are needed. Now. As quickly as you can. You need to be seen."
"By who?"
"Visser Three."
Silence.
"It's not a trap!" I whispered urgently.
"I know. Like you said, you know me. If you wanted me dead it would be easy. You could take me, infest me, and have all of my friends within a few hours. So you need me. This is about your little personality conflict with Visser Three. You're desperate. But you won't give me up to Visser Three because you hate him more than you hate us."
I almost choked. From almost no information he had painted a very cogent picture of the situation.
Then I almost laughed. "I once thought you were too soft, too gentle."
"Yeah, well, things change."
<You've had enough time in there!> Visser Three said from outside the toilet.
"Marco, I'm out of time!" I hissed. "Will you do it?"
"Where?"
"The pool."
"Forget it. Too tough a target, Visser."
"It's your mother's life on the line, he'll kill her, too! He'll use her to torture me."
"The Yeerk pool is too secure," Marco said calmly.
My mind was racing. Incredible! The little monster was cold-bloodedly writing off his own mother!
"They ... they deliver fresh meat for the Taxxons later today. This evening, I guess. In an hour and a half! Comes in by transport ship. They open the dome ingress."
He hesitated.
<Visser One, get out of there or I will have you dragged out!> Visser Three roared.
"Where's the dome opening nowadays?" Marco asked laconically. "I think we kind of messed up the last one."
I told him in quick, spare detail. Then "You'll do it?"
He didn't answer. Instead he said, "Mom, I know you can hear me. I don't know if I can save you. You understand that, right? I'll do what's right. I'll do what I have to do."
It was his only show of emotion. His voice cracked when he said "Mom."
<I know you will. I love you,> Eva said, silent, a prisoner in her own skull.
"Marco, your mother loves you," I said.
But if I'd been expecting him to soften, I got the opposite result.
"I know my mother loves me, Visser," he said. "And let me make one thing clear: There's no deal between us, you and me, Yeerk. I'll kill you for what you've done to her and to my dad. Count on that."
He hung up.
The door burst in as I slammed the cell phone into the toilet bowl and flushed.
Preposterous! A scrawny teenager threatening me. I was a prisoner of Visser Three, already all but condemned to a death by torture and starvation. Did the child think he could frighten me? It was laughable.
<And yet you're not laughing, are you, Yeerk?>
And this chapter is where we left off in the last book. Also, while not the point of the chapter, how low must you be on the Yeerk totem pole to be a Gedd Controller? I mean, it makes sense they'd use the Gedd for routine service jobs like waiting and cleaning....humans are too valuable for infiltration, Hork Bajir probably don't make good janitors, and a Taxxon waiter would probably eat the food before it got to the table, but still....
Even the Gedds are probably considered higher status than the Yeerks without hosts. The existence of the Resistance Movement means that at least some amount of Yeerks with hosts are reluctant to do so, but I think a big part of that comes from having contact with humans, so it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of Gedd Yeerks are true believers.
Chapter 24
quote:
They kept me waiting for almost an hour. I could only imagine what was happening among the Thirteen. Maybe they were dealing with some entirely unrelated matter. Perhaps the strange disappearance of the task force that had been sent to investigate the Anati planet.
But more likely they were debating my fate. Deciding if I would live or die. Or, if I was to die, how and when.
At last, when I felt I couldn't stand the suspense any longer, the hologram reappeared.
Garoff spoke. "Now, Visser One, you may resume your narrative. You were about to tell us what happened to the host Allison Kim."
"Yes. Yes, I was."
I was telling a story that was suicide to tell. My deadliest enemy was my prosecutor. My judge, one of them at least, was motivated by some impulse I could not fathom. And I had just called on a group of Andalites and morph-capable humans to attack my own people.
I was crippled with pain, weak, surrounded. Visser Three; Garoff; my host's child, Marco. Any of the three might kill me. And all I could do was talk.
"Essam and I needed a supply of Kandrona. The shipboard Kandrona was weakening. It should have been able to last another year, at least. But it was running low. We would starve. And that would mean the end of the mission."
<So, at last, after more than a year of passing as a human, procreating as a human, you decided to contact the Empire!> Visser Three said. He laughed. <How dutiful of you.>
"I contacted the Empire. They threatened me, of course. I had stolen a ship and disappeared. But then I said the magic words: Class-Five species."
Even now, even here in this terrible situation, I savored the memory. "It was a sub-visser Ninety-two I spoke with first. 'I have located a Class-Five species,' I told him. 'A Class-Five species with superior dexterity and above average sensory capabilities.'
"'Numbers?' the sub-visser demanded.
"'Five billion. Give or take.'
"I remember the way the sub-visser sat bolt upright. I believe he cut himself with his own Hork- Bajir blades.
"He repeated it back, cautiously. 'You mean five million, Sub-Visser?'
"'No, Sub-Visser,' I said. 'I mean five billion. As in five thousand millions.'
"I explained my concept for The Sharing and sent him a recording I had made of the very first voluntary human host. I outlined my plan for an invasion of Earth that would not require us to strip our forces from the rest of the galaxy, an invasion that would require a relative handful of Yeerks. After that, naturally, there was no more discussion of arresting me.
"I went home from that contact elated and found Essam/Hildy caring for the children. They were infants, of course. He was changing their diapers. I told him, casually, that a new Kandrona was on the way. He became irrational. Emotional."
"What was the cause of his irrationality?" Garoff asked.
"He said I should not have contacted the Empire. We could, according to him, fly our ship back to Yeerk space, invent some story of being lost, and obtain a new Kandrona generator before returning to Earth. He'd wanted to talk to me about it. He was angry that I'd gone, on my own, to make contact."
<She's trying to blame a dead Yeerk for her own treason!> Visser Three cried.
"I contacted the Empire!" I yelled in his face. "If I'd wanted to -"
<Months had gone by!>
"I had used the time to understand humans. To learn their strengths and weaknesses. I had already started The Sharing. I was a spy, Visser Three. A secret agent working undercover. It was me and Essam, alone. What did you expect me to do? Use our one ship to attack the White House?"
"A spy," Garoff said thoughtfully. "Yes, a spy would want to blend in with the surrounding world. Might even need to simulate certain sympathy with the local populace."
I saw Visser Three's tail twitch. A gesture of surprise. Garoff had just shown his hand: Garoff was on my side. Garoff had performed the live memory interface, and now he was defending me, however indirectly.
I enjoyed that moment. I enjoyed the frisson of fear that traveled along Visser Three's Andalite spine."
Continue with the narrative," Garoff said.
"Yes, Council member."
I adjusted my damaged arm, easing the pain just a bit. "Essam had become irrational, as I said. But I was able to convince him of the necessity and rightness of my actions. So I believed, anyway. I told him the children were irrelevant. We were Yeerk officers, representatives of the Empire, we had a duty, we had a joyful duty."
<That's laying it on a little thick,> Eva said. <Go with blunt and honest. I'm guessing they don't get a lot of that.>
Now my host was giving advice. Helping. Trying to save me. It was the ultimate humiliation.
"And what did Essam reply?" Garoff asked.
"He said, 'Yes, you're right, of course.' And I, for my part, continued to cajole and reason and explain. I still needed Essam's assistance, if I could get it. I told him I understood his concerns. And yes, I freely admit that the long time alone, cut off, and living as a human without the counter-balance of Yeerk companionship, had drawn me into an unprofessional sympathy with humans. With my host. And, through her, with the progeny. The children."
<That's it. Smart. Admit what's obvious anyway.>
"But my emotional sympathies did not obscure my duty. I knew where that lay. I knew that this Class-Five species was a vital natural resource. I assumed that Essam would see all that, too. I did not see that Essam was weaker than I. We all know that Essam had risen at one point in his career to sub-visser rank and had been demoted for improper behavior. Specifically, a lack of vigor. A lack of firmness. I thought Essam understood and agreed with me. I was wrong."
<Very nice, Yeerk,> Eva said. <You've dovetailed it all nicely with what Garoff saw in your memories. You had human sympathies, but you overcame them. How noble.>
"We had relocated from Hollywood. I'd concluded that Hollywood was not the best place for an invasion I knew would have to go unnoticed for some years. Hollywood is watched. And Hollywood was already saturated with movements bearing a superficial similarity to my concept for The Sharing. So we moved away, to a place where The Sharing would have less competition for the credulous.
"It was easy to find a new job for Allison. But my life was becoming more complicated. I had by this time begun The Sharing, and I was using a second host, part-time, for that task. I was constantly running from Allison's job to Sharing-related business, with a change of hosts between each. Very time-consuming."
"Where are you going, Essam?" I demanded.
"Don't worry, I'll leave you the Kandrona," he said. "I won't starve you. I ... I actually thought I loved you. And for that I'll not hurt you now."
"What are you babbling about?"
"I've just fed. I'll last three days. I'll release Hildy at that point. He'll be safe with the children by then."
"You think you're leaving?" I cried.
"Yes, Allison. I -"
"I am Sub-Visser Four-hundred-nine, not 'Allison'!" I roared.
"Yes, Sub-Visser," Essam said. "But I am no longer a member of the Empire. I have chosen death over a continuation of this despicable mission."
So, Essam has gone native. I think this actually helps Visser One's case some. Essam cracks under the pressure, but Edriss doesn't.
Chapter 25
quote:
I could not believe my ears, Council members. I was shocked. Stunned. I tried to understand.
"Despicable? Have you gone mad, Essam? We are Yeerks!"
"Yes, we are. But we will have to find a better way than this," Essam said.
I was in a rage. Betrayed! Betrayed by my own ... by my subordinate! By Hildy, by Essam, betrayed! I ran for the hidden panel where we concealed the weapons.
I reached in, grabbed one of the Dracon weapons, turned, and leveled it at Essam.
"Obey me or die now," I snapped.
"If you fire you may hit the children."
"Do you think I care? Obey me! I am your sub-visser!"
He put the children down and moved away from them. "Kill me then, Edriss." I ordered my finger to squeeze the trigger. But at that moment my host rose up against me. She had lain in wait, biding her time, lulling me into a false sense of security. She attacked with all the force of mind she possessed. Naturally I regained control within seconds. But in those few seconds Essam leaped and snatched the Dracon beam away from me.
<That's a nice story, Yeerk. Is any of it true?>
<I couldn't let him take my children. I told him, "Stop worrying, you fool, I can keep the children safe. They'll be ours. I'll be a full visser, don't you see? I'll be able to protect them.">
<He didn't believe you.>
<He believed me.>
<Then why?>
<It went beyond the children, can't you see that? He was in love.>
<With whom?>
<Allison Kim ... his own host, Hildy Gervais ... Humans. He was in love with it all. He was in love with love. He had gone over. He had become human, in some way.>
<And he chose to die rather than surrender his humanity,> Eva said. <And still, you think you will conquer us?>
Garoff cleared his throat. "Visser One?"
"Sorry, Council Member. I ... never mind. Essam was ... was larger than me, stronger, being in a male human host. He held me prisoner. He knew my feeding schedule. He held me against my will, waiting till I was starving. At last I had no choice: I prepared to enter our temporary pool.
"'The children will need their mother,' Essam said.
"'I am their mother!' I cried, a lie of course, but I hoped to manipulate him.
"'No. Allison Kim is their mother. You? You are no one's mother. You never could be.'
"'You've gone human, you fool!'
"He smiled. 'Yes, I have "gone human," Sub-Visser.'
"'What will you do, traitor?' I demanded. 'Will you leave me in this pool with no host? Leave me here trapped, eventually discovered, flushed down the toilet by whatever human comes to investigate the disappearance of Allison Kim?'
"He was troubled. He was reluctant. But at the end he agreed to lock my alternate host onto the poolside restraints. I had acquired a large, impressive male for use in speaking to my Sharing groups.
This alternate host spent his days in a padlocked, soundproof room.
"He brought me the second host, attached him using the restraining devices Essam himself had built, and left. I immediately entered this host and went in search of Essam and Allison Kim and the children."
"Why did you follow Essam?" Garoff asked.
"To kill him, of course."
<Liar. You loved him.>
"And the children?" Garoff asked.
"They were irrelevant," I said flatly.
<And you love them still, Yeerk.>
"I had created the children in an attempt to learn about humans. I had become attached to them, yes. Or at least my host had. And, as I said, I had become ... confused. But now that I was free of Allison Kim, my mind was clear once more. There was no need to destroy the children; they were infants and knew nothing. Destroying them would have involved risk for no gain. I knew that humans would adopt them and solve my problem."
"Logical," Garoff commented.
Visser Three was having none of that. <Does this traitor expect us to believe that she gave live birth to humans so that she could "learn" about humans? We have thousands of human-Controllers who pass quite well without procreating!>
"You've never understood anything but brute force and crude manipulation, Visser Three. Your plans are grandiose and absurd. You wasted how much time and how many resources inventing a clever potion to destroy human free will? A failure! As anyone who knows humans could have told you. You try and seize control of the head of state of the most powerful nations and end up alarming them, making half of them suspect our presence on Earth! You spend a fortune in pursuit of an Anti- Morphing Ray that doesn't work! Why? Because you cannot even manage to wipe out a handful of Andalite refugees!"
<You forget, Visser One, I have wiped out the Andalite bandits.>
"Yes, I had forgotten that little demonstration," I said with a derisive sneer. "Congratulations. You lost how many valuable Hork-Bajir hosts in the process over these many months? How many Yeerks killed?"
<The mistake was following the path laid down by you, Visser One. You and your Sharing, your one-host-at-a-time, your slow, steady infiltration. We took the Gedds. We took the Hork-Bajir!> He made a fist with his weak Andalite hand. <Took them! We made allies of the Taxxons, but if they had resisted, we would have taken them, too!>
He strode back and forth before the hologram, practically prancing in the excitement of hearing his own ranting.
<Do you think we will infiltrate the Andalites when that time comes? Will we form little social clubs and talk them into becoming our slaves? No! When we are ready we will take them, too!>
He stopped moving and turned all four of his eyes on me. <We are the Yeerk Empire! We are not a race of sneaks and spies. We are rulers, conquerors!>
This speech had an effect. I saw several of the Council members standing taller in their gravity neutral field, squaring shoulders and jutting their jaws. They were, after all, politicians and thus easily swayed by grand visions.
I waited till the echoes of Visser Three's thought-speak faded. Then I said, "You know, I was wrong about Visser Three, he's not a dupe of the Andalites. Rather, with all this bluster and raving he sounds as if he's been spending his time with Helmacrons."
There was a bark of laughter from some member of the Council. The Helmacrons were the tiniest sentient species known, barely bigger than a grain of sand, but with enormous egos.
Visser Three ignored the laughter. <It's very simple, Visser One: You pushed the policy of slow infiltration for one reason, and one reason only: You feared a war of conquest would destroy your children.>
<Careful! It's a trap!>
"Nonsense!" I cried. "I care nothing for the human children! Nothing!"
Visser Three smiled an Andalite smile, and I felt a sinking sensation. My host had seen it. I had not. Yes, a trap.
<As it happens, Council Members, this is my day for surprises,> Visser Three said. <Bring him in.>
The door opened.
The child walked in. He would be nine years old now.
I had last seen him years ago. For a long time, whenever I'd been on Earth, I had followed their progress, my twins, my babies.
This was my son. His name was Darwin. That had been a little joke on my part. He represented something never evolved: a human child with four parents, two human, two Yeerk.
<I'm afraid I can't trust you with a Dracon beam, Visser,> my enemy said. <But as you pointed out, human projectile weapons are quite effective.>
One of the Hork-Bajir produced a human handgun. I took it. No choice. MY hand was sweating, my heart ... no! Not this!
<A single bullet, Visser One. Show us. Prove to us that you care nothing for this human child.>
I really like Eva here serving as Visser One's conscience.
Say what you will about Visser Three being an arrogant ass, but he wasn't phoning it in for this trial. He definitely came prepared.
He hates Visser One more than the Andalite bandits. He absolutely was not going to let her walk if at all possible
"He made a fist with his weak Andalite hand" is a good line for summarizing a whole lot of things.
"He repeated it back, cautiously. 'You mean five million, Sub-Visser?'
"'No, Sub-Visser,' I said. 'I mean five billion. As in five thousand millions.'
This is the last thing I remember from this book. And this series, I'm pretty sure. It's all new for me from here.
I appreciate what looks like the authors making a billion/milliard reference here, though
quote:
You try and seize control of the head of state of the most powerful nations and end up alarming them, making half of them suspect our presence on Earth!
Absolutely love this throwaway line which contains a huge amount of behind the scenes implications
Chapter 26
quote:
I held the gun.
And Darwin, my son, calmly took the barrel in his right hand and pressed the muzzle against his own heart.
I understood. Darwin was a Controller. The Yeerk inside his brain was holding the gun so that I couldn't spin around and shoot Visser Three. Holding the gun so that the only person I could kill was Darwin.
The Yeerk's host body would die, my son would die. The Yeerk might be rescued in time. It was dangerous for him, though. Visser Three must have threatened him terribly to get him to do this.
I looked at my son, the features that were a unique blend of Allison's Korean and Hildy's French physiology. The eyes, the hair, were Allison's. The skin was pale, the mouth wide, all Hildy's.
Nothing of me, of course. How could there be? And yet, this child would not have existed but for me. Surely that made me in some part his mother.
I struggled to control my facial expression. I was helped by the injuries. I had seen myself in the mirror; my right eye always seemed to be crying now.
Darwin was a controller. His sister? My daughter? Where was Madra? Where was my little girl, named for the bright, tiny moon of the Yeerk home world?
The gun was trembling in my hand. Pull the trigger. It was all I had to do. I would be free. Visser Three had staked everything on this one showdown. If I refused I would be beyond even Garoff's power to save.
<Perhaps Visser One is unfamiliar with the operation of the weapon,> Visser Three smirked. <That seems unlikely in the extreme, but just to refresh her memory, you pull the trigger, Visser. Just pull the trigger!>
<You can't do this, Edriss,> Eva said.
<I have no choice! They'll kill me!>
<Once before you chose your life over love. Are you happy with the result?>
<Simply squeeze, Visser. Then ... bang! And the lead projectile tears a hole through- ->
"Will you fire or not?" Garoff demanded. He was trapped now, as well. He could do nothing to save me. He could only hope I would fire.
Strange how much Darwin looked like her. Like Allison. Strange, took, how much I thought I could see something, something, some small thing in his eyes that was from me.
I had to do it.
Had to.
Garoff staring. The Council all rapt. All four of Visser Three's Andalite eyes on me, straining. Even the Hork-Bajir guards were staring holes through me.
Only I was looking beyond. Only I could really see.
"No choice," I whispered.
I tightened my finger on the trigger.
Stall. Delay. A few more seconds. A few more seconds and the flea, the tiny insect, would be done growing.
I smiled at Visser Three. "You lose, Visser. You have misjudged me. I will kill this human grub and then, in my own good time, I will see you die the torture death of a traitor!"
<Fire then! Fire!>
"I hope this is a hollow-point slug, Visser Three. It would be a waste if the slug should pass through and kill the Hork-Bajir-Controller standing behind him."
<FIRE!>
Visser Three's host body was no longer the only Andalite in the room.
FWAPP!
FWAPP!
The young Andalite struck with lightning speed! Two Hork-Bajir dropped, each having failed to stand on a single remaining leg.
<Now!> The young Andalite yelled.
WHAM!
The door blew inward. A flash of orange and black, teeth and claws and dazzling speed, exploded into the room. A split second later there came a rolling, rumbling mass of shaggy off-white fur, large as a small truck.
The Hork-Bajir tripped into each other in their eagerness to attack. But now two new creatures were with us, two Hork-Bajir.
The two morphed Hork-Bajir dived in amid the massed Hork-Bajir guards, sowing confusion and hesitation.
It all happened in a second. A second to go from Visser Three's frustrated roar to utter mayhem.
<No!> Visser Three cried.
Darwin released his grip on the gun barrel.
I swung the gun toward the polar bear and fired. The bullet hit. But if the polar bear even noticed, it showed no sign.
"HHHUUHHHRRROOOOAAARR!"
Hork-Bajir-Controllers were down, left and right.
One drew his Dracon weapon and fired.
TSEEEEW!
WHOOOSH!
"Aaaahhhh!"
Backflash! The energy beam missed its target, burned into the rock wall and exploded in heat energy. Visser Three's blue Andalite fur crinkled and curled up black from the heat.
<Fool! No weapons!> Visser Three ordered.
Visser Three was in the battle, formidable as always in direct combat. But half the Hork-Bajir guards were already down, injured or worse. And from second to second in the melee it was impossible to tell our Hork-Bajir from theirs.
<Every Yeerk within the sound of my voice, to me!> Visser Three bellowed.
Reinforcements would be quick in coming. There were dozens of Hork-Bajir-Controllers within the Yeerk pool complex, and numerous Taxxons, as well.
"Andalite filth!" Darwin took a futile swing at the young Andalite and got the flat of a tail blade against his head in return. He went down, unconscious. Not dead! Safe! A Hork-Bajir talon stepped on his back. That would bruise but not cause permanent harm.
The tiger and the polar bear were everywhere, slashing, roaring till I felt my ears would bleed. I crouched in a corner, hands over my ears, cowering, afraid, stunned at all the concentrated violence. I was helpless amid all these claws and teeth and talons and slashing blades. Human fingers were nothing without a weapon to hold.
<Behind you!> one of the morphed Hork-Bajir yelled.
The tiger spun, slashed, hissed, slashed again, all in the time a human eye might blink. A Hork- Bajir staggered back, holding his own internal organs in his hands.
It was uncontrolled mayhem, a dozen combatants still standing, all crammed into a single room, no one running, not yet. Madness all around me!
The polar bear slammed a pile-driver shoulder into Visser Three's side and sent him sprawling.
But the visser was quick, with all the formidable physical prowress of a mature Andalite.
He leaped toward the young Andalite. Face-to-face, they tail fought, fencers whipping their blades at a speed that cracked the air.
I saw the Council, hovering safe in their hologram. Again they were spectators at a battle. Like human fans at a sporting event. They called out advice, groaned at defeat, cheered at victory. One of the Taxxon Council members became so excited he ate the head of a passing Gedd attendant in a single bite of his red-rimmed mouth.
Now the Council saw the truth: This was what it meant to fight the so-called Andalite bandits. Not the ludicrous shadow play Visser Three had staged earlier.
This was the reality.
I was almost afraid it would excite sympathy for Visser Three. Now the Council members saw for themselves what a handful of morph-capable warriors could do.
But no, no, it was too late for Visser Three now. He had lied to the Council. Worse yet, he had treated them like fools. And now he had been caught in that lie.
Visser Three slashed for the tiger, a blow no human could avoid. But the tiger jerked its eager, quizzical face back and swiped with claws that barely missed ripping open the visser's chest.
<Reinforcements! Every Yeerk within the sound of my voice!> Visser Three screamed. He was beginning to realize that he might be killed, right here, right now, with the entire Council watching.
But the next creature through the door was neither Hork-Bajir nor Taxxon.
It was a gorilla.
<So,> Marco said to me. <Was this what you had in mind?>
I nodded slightly.
The gorilla, without turning its eyes away from me, slammed a cinder-block fist into the face of a Hork-Bajir guard.
Then he knuckle-walked over to me. He drew back his fist and, a split second later, everything went black.
There's a lot I like about this chapter, but the thing that sticks out most in my mind is just one of the Taxxon Councilmembers getting so excited it just eats its attendant,
Chapter 27
quote:
I woke to pain.
Eyes open. My nose flattened. I touched it with my good hand then looked at my fingers. Blood, just starting to clot, not yet dry. So I hadn't been out for long.
I was in a small, dimly lit tunnel or cave. It took me a few minutes to figure it out. Then I realized I was in a Taxxon tunnel. The Taxxons had made several branching off from the main pool.
A dead, deflated-looking Taxxon lay twenty feet away down the tunnel, guts spilled and stinking.
I turned, looked over my shoulder, and got a terrible shock.
The Yeerk pool complex was plainly visible. Not fifty yards away heavily armed Hork-Bajir were racing here and there, looking, there was no doubt, for me. For us.
And yet, despite the fact that we should have been in plain sight, they did not see us. Evidently we were behind a hologram. I did not see any sort of hologram generator. But then there was no reason the hologram generator couldn't conceal itself. One of the rocks might be the generator.
The tiger, the polar bear, the two Hork-Bajir, and the young Andalite surrounded me, staying at a cautious distance. They were nervous, but not showing it too much.
Marco sat on his haunches, human now, wearing bike shorts and a T-shirt. He watched me, his expression unreadable.
"You need to see a doctor, Visser. That damage wasn't all my doing."
"Visser Three," I whispered through broken teeth. "Did you kill him?"
Marco shook his head. "No. He morphed. We took off."
"Pity," I said. "They'll find you here."
"We know. But not just yet."
"You have very sophisticated holographic capabilities, it would seem. Better than anything we Yeerks possess." I narrowed my eyes. "Better, perhaps, than the Andalites possess."
"Just a little something we put together from stuff we bought at Radio Shack," Marco said.
"Now. Why are we here?"
"You've served your purpose," I said. "You can go."
He nodded. "So we were just supposed to put in an appearance."
"Exactly."
"Interesting little war you Yeerks are carrying on. Are you sure you know who you're fighting?"
I laughed. "I know everything, now."
<You think you'll scare him, Edriss? You don't yet grasp what is right before your eyes.>
Marco seemed to echo his mother's confidence. "Don't waste your time trying to scare me, Visser One. If we ever get taken prisoner some Yeerk will have full access to my memory, everyone's memory, here. That phone call you made? Please come kick butt on my fellow Yeerks? That'll be known to your brother and sister Yeerks."
<He sees it,> Eva said. <He sees the trap you're in.>
<The boy is clever,> I admitted. <He has grown.>
<You infested me at random, so you believe. But I believe in higher powers, Yeerk. I believe I was taken so that my son would grow strong and wise and some day destroy you.>
"Yes, that may all be true, Marco," I said. "But if you are dead you'll talk to no one."
Marco bit his lip. Looked down at the ground. "Ax?" he said.
The young Andalite's tail blade was at my throat before I could blink.
"Here's the deal, Yeerk. You leave my mother. You do it right now. We'll throw you into the pool. Let you live a bit longer."
"Or?"
"Or my Andalite friend here twitches."
"You won't do it. You're looking at your mother's face. Her eyes. You can't. You're just a human, with all the usual human weaknesses."
Marco stood up, but even standing he was only a little taller than me, sitting. "You know what it says on the New Hampshire license plates?"
I shook my head in confusion.
"Access the memories," he said. "My mom knows. We talked about it. At the time we thought it was kind of corny. But then, the more we thought about it, it wasn't corny at all. It was ... inevitable."
I accessed the memories. "Live free or die?"
"Live free or die," Marco echoed. "My mother walks out of here a free woman, or she dies."
<He doesn't mean it!> I told Eva.
<Yes. He does. You have to let me talk to him. Me, without you. Me alone.>
"Ten seconds," Marco said. "Ticktock. Ten ... nine ... eight ... "
Live free or die.
It's nice to see an Animorph attack from the other side. Dropping half the guards within seconds is terrifying. It's not quite John Wick busting through a wall and braining your guard while he stares you down, but it's in the ballpark.
Wow this one really isn't messing around. I bowed out a long time ago back in the day so this is all new and exciting to me, I have no idea what happens next and it's really hecking tense.
Absolutely love this throwaway line which contains a huge amount of behind the scenes implications
I think this referring to the David arc?
Right, that's definitely the David arc.
I shook my head in confusion.
"Access the memories," he said. "My mom knows. We talked about it. At the time we thought it was kind of corny. But then, the more we thought about it, it wasn't corny at all. It was ... inevitable."
Lol I remember when I first read this as a kid I was confused and thought NH license plates said "ACCESS THE MEMORIES"
I think this referring to the David arc?
Yup, but I meant the fact that this was apparently a catalyst for some of the Earth's governments/intelligence agencies realising, at least on some level, what's going on (and presumably now working to learn more). That's a big deal in general but particularly when one of the major elements of this book is the V1/V3 argument between stealth and open conquest.
We're now past where I remember reading through and I'm so stoked to be able to read on, thank you Epicurious.
I hope we get to see Visser 2 and he's just a chill ass dude everyone likes who doesn't want to become a target as V1 but even V3 is afraid to challenge him because of his popular support
My assumption is V2 is in charge of the space war against the Andalites, and is thus a permanently panicking and overwhelmed grand strategist who nobody dares interfere with, lest the whole thing collapse instantly.
<You infested me at random, so you believe. But I believe in higher powers, Yeerk. I believe I was taken so that my son would grow strong and wise and some day destroy you.>
Interesting idea, there, Eva.
I missed that bit! Genuinely don't recall if it ever gets confirmed as canon or anything but... that can't be a coincidence, can it? Already knowing that Crayak and the Ellimist are playing chess with the universe, and we have Elfangor's son, his brother, Visser One's son, and a kid who's naturally really good at morphing and has a convenient barn full of animals. If you were Rachel and Jake you'd feel a bit left out.
If believing that gives her the strength to keep fighting, then don't stop believing
I missed that bit! Genuinely don't recall if it ever gets confirmed as canon or anything but... that can't be a coincidence, can it? Already knowing that Crayak and the Ellimist are playing chess with the universe, and we have Elfangor's son, his brother, Visser One's son, and a kid who's naturally really good at morphing and has a convenient barn full of animals. If you were Rachel and Jake you'd feel a bit left out.
Spoilers for Megamorphs #4, coming soon to a thread near you:
this is absolutely and specifically confirmed as canon, from the Drode's own mouth, and he's really not happy about it. I think it's the only time in the whole series where the Drode stops with the fake cheerfulness and obsequiousness and is just genuinely pissed off.
Marco is being ice cold here, and I have no doubt that he'd do it. Not quite "stamped with failure," huh, Visser One?
Must take after his mother.
To Visser One's credit, she admits to herself she completely misjudged him, instead of doubling down. She is by far the more dangerous of the two Vissers.
Chapter 28
quote:
<No! Do you think I'm a fool?>
<You don't have a choice, Edriss.>
<I can still choose between types of death, human. Do you think I will trust your vile, coldblooded son there? He's sworn to kill me!>
"Six ... five ... "
<He won't. Not if I tell him not to.>
<You'll leave me without a host. Helpless. Blind!>
<No, Edriss. Because Marco is my son. He has the ability to see clearly from beginning to end. He inherited that trait from me.>
It was monstrous! Impossible! My own host was bargaining with me. I had expected Marco and the bandits to attack. I had not expected them to seize me, take me prisoner. They had reversed the power dynamic.
"Three ... two ... "
And now, I had no chance to survive. Not unless ... unless, somehow Eva was telling the truth.
Could I trust her? I knew her better than anyone ever could. Had she seen the full picture? Would she do what she must?
"One."
"I will release your mother!" I said.
"I'll believe it when I see your nasty, slimy gray body come out of her ear," Marco said.
All lost, I told myself. All my hopes. All my great dreams. All come down to this pathetic hope: the mercy of two humans who hate me.
I began to disengage.
Moments later I crawled from the ear canal. I felt myself lifted up in a human hand. I saw nothing. Heard only distant rumbling. Waited for the strong human fingers to close around me, crush me, helpless as I was.
What now of all my power? I was helpless. Utterly, utterly helpless.
For a long time I waited for death.
And then, I sensed again the ear canal ahead of me. Eager, giddy, afraid I rushed to crawl back inside her.
Yes! Yes! I was in touch with her brain. Safe! Yes, her eyes were mine, her hands, mine, her voice, mine!
I saw tears running freely down Marco's face. The others, Andalite and beasts, looked away.
For a long time, as I rummaged frantically through Eva's most recent memories, trying to figure out what had happened, no one spoke.
And then, at long last, just as I began to access what I had missed, he nodded to the tiger.
"Sorry, Mom," he said to me. "But we have to make it look realistic."
The tiger's paw moved, withdrew, and left behind four deep, bleeding gashes in my good arm.
Another too-fast-to-see movement and the Andalite slashed a shallow groove down my cheek.
"Has to look like you fought," Marco, cold, calculating Marco said as his throat choked off the words and his eyes went blind with tears.
He turned away and in a ludicrous and yet touching spectacle, the monstrous bear put a paw around his thin shoulders.
<Okay. Put her down, Ax,> the tiger said.
Fwapp!
I remained semiconscious, as often happens when a host is injured. Many Yeerks know of this strange dreamlike state. Unable to make the host body do as commanded, unable to control the mind, but still sufficiently engaged to be able to see the dreams, watch the echoes of recent events.
In this dream state I saw what had transpired. Saw my host, the boy's mother, explain to her son.
"Marco, you don't understand. If she turns up without a host, without me, they'll know something went on. They'll dig till they get the answers, Marco."
"She needs to die, Mom. You need ... Dad and me ... we need you back!"
Through Eva's eyes, through her memory, I saw myself, small and harmless in Marco's grip.
"I know you do, sweetheart. And, God, I need you more than life itself. But she's the one pushing for a nonviolent invasion. Visser Three wants all-out war! He wants to incinerate cities from orbit, kill and kill till we submit!"
"We'll never surrender!" Marco blazed.
Eva took his face in her hands. "Marco, that's a nice sentiment, a brave ideal. But the truth is, Marco, humans do submit. Not all, and not always, but some, maybe most. Enough will submit, Marco. Enough to give the Yeerks what they want. And the rest will be dead. Millions. Billions."
I saw Marco's hand tighten around me. I saw how close I came to that inexorable power crushing the life from me.
"You can't rely on slogans, my brave son. You have to win this war. For now Visser One must survive. Only she can restrain Visser Three. If she loses, or if she is seen as disloyal, he'll have his way.
Marco was not convinced. "Open war would mean humans could fight back, at least. Better to know the enemy. Know who to shoot."
"Yes, but we may well lose," Eva said. "And even if we win, how many millions or even billions of humans can we sacrifice?"
I saw his face through Eva's memory. Saw him consider. A child! And he was now deciding the fate of Earth and the Yeerk Empire.
"Doesn't make sense," he said at last. "If open warfare would work, Visser One would support it. So, either the Yeerks have reason to believe open warfare would fail, or Visser One has some other reason for going with the slow, infiltration thing."
Clever, clever boy, I thought. I'll enjoy the day I see the end of you. Standing there, smug, reveling in my weakness, imagining yourself invulnerable. I'll find the way to make you scream.
"She has a reason," Eva said.
"Tell me."
"She has children."
Yea, don't underestimate Marco.
Chapter 29
quote:
<Yeerks reproduce by fission,> the young Andalite interrupted. <They have no emotional relationship with their offspring. Indeed, Yeerks die in the act of reproducing.>
The Andalite's contempt was all too simple. But that was fine. The hatred was mutual.
"She has children by a previous human host," Eva clarified. "She has feelings for them. And, since she is no longer in command on Earth, she cannot protect them. If Visser Three launches a bloody war, they may die."
Marco was taken aback by this, though he tried to conceal it. Then he did something extraordinary. He turned to the polar bear. "Cassie?"
<I think she's telling the truth,> the bear said.
"Sorry, Mom. We can't trust anyone."
"No, you can't. But you need to know that Visser One is on trial, right now, today. On trial for her life. The decision will be up to the Council of Thirteen. They know very little about Earth. They'll choose between Visser One and Visser Three. If they choose Visser Three they will end up following his plan, in the end."
The tiger spoke again. <We may prefer Visser Three to be in charge. He makes stupid mistakes. His people all hate and fear him, which makes his people less effective. And, we know him. Know what to expect. Visser One might be a more dangerous enemy.>
Surely that succinct summary was from an Andalite mind. It was flattering, in a way. And true, of course.
<Besides,> one of the morphed Hork-Bajir said, <Visser One knows Marco now. If she wins over Visser Three and takes back control of Earth, she kills Marco, or takes him as her own host. That way she doesn't have to worry about other Yeerks seeing his memories. She can take him herself, hunt us down one by one, and we are done for.>
<Kill Visser One now, kill Visser Three later, when we get the chance,> the second Hork-Bajir said bluntly.
Marco looked to the tiger. "What do we do, fearless leader?"
<It's your call, Marco. Your mom, your call.>
By the Kandrona itself, the tiger was human, too! Were they all humans? All but the lone Andalite?
I wanted to laugh! I wanted to run to Visser Three and spit the truth in his face: You incompetent fool, your every move has been stymied, not by highly trained Andalite guerillas, but by humans. By children!
I know now that Marco looked down at me, helpless in his hand. He closed his hand around me but did not squeeze.
"I love you, Mom," he said to Eva.
"I know, sweetheart. I love you. And I am so proud of you."
"Yeah. Dad, he ... "
Eva shook her head. "He has to move on with his life, Marco. He thinks I'm dead. He's already grieved. And even now, the odds of my surviving are very small and remote."
At last the boy lost his composure. For a moment the self-control that made him seem so old, weakened. "You can walk away now, Mom, we can get you out of here. You could move somewhere far away, disappear. We can make it happen. We have the power. We have allies ... friends, who have the money it would take."
Eva hugged him close, squeezing with all her might. I lay there, still, in his fist.
"We each fight this war in our own way, Marco."
Marco pulled away. He stepped back. Ran his hand through his hair and almost seemed to beat on his own head.
"Okay. My call. Then, here's the deal. Tell Visser One when she ... well, she'll know, won't she? So, Visser One? The deal is this: If we hear that you have retaken control of Yeerk forces on Earth, we drop the dime on you. We contact Visser Three, the Council directly even, and we tell them how you reached out to us. We've recorded this little meeting. The recording goes to your bosses, and that'll be it for you. Other than that, this whole thing never happened. That's the deal. You don't know us, we don't know you, we were never here."
A recording? How? I looked around, searching for a recording device. Futile, of course. We were behind a hologram. With a hologram emitter this sophisticated anything could be hidden.
"And by the way?" Marco added. "If you get to thinking we can't contact the Council of Thirteen, guess again. Not all your fellow Yeerks are loyal."
He held out his hand, reluctance making him tremble. "Not this time, Yeerk," he said to me. "You don't die today. But someday."
He gave me back to Eva. That's when I discovered how my fate was decided.
So what do you think? Did they make the right call there?
I think so, even if it's a bit four-dimensional chess. Open warfare might actually be inevitable at some point, unless the Andalites wear down the Yeerks elsewhere in the galaxy. (Though this book makes it clearer than ever that Earth may actually be the make-or-break planet for the war.) But it's worth trying to avoid that slaughter and drag out the secrecy phase, continuing their guerilla campaign as they do, just in case it ever can be avoided.
But poor Marco
edit - or as to whether they could've tossed V1 in the pool and rescued Eva... I don't think that would work, it looks too suss, because why wouldn't a group of Andalite guerillas just kill the Yeerk?
Also I'll add that I quite like how Eva is an active participant in all of this rather than just a passive victim.
I think this is really the only option that leaves Eva alive. You could definitely argue that killing Visser One is the right choice, but just killing the Yeerk is definitely a bad move in that even Visser Three might be suspecting there's a reason they went to the trouble to rescue a random human host.
It was a great move to name the series bad guy Visser Three. I distinctly remember wondering what V's One and Two must be like if Three is such a monster.
Visser One found the closest thing to an infinite money cheat in the middle of a war.
Visser Three got the motherlode of war intel and the massive morale victory of making a war prince into a controller. And the Andalite body is as good a host as Yeerks can get.
Makes you wonder what Visser Two did.
Visser One found the closest thing to an infinite money cheat in the middle of a war.
Visser Three got the motherlode of war intel and the massive morale victory of making a war prince into a controller. And the Andalite body is as good a host as Yeerks can get.
Makes you wonder what Visser Two did.
Snuck in the Yeerk personnel office where they had a list of who fills the ranks and erased "sub" at the beginning of his title and "00" at the end?
I think this is really the only option that leaves Eva alive. You could definitely argue that killing Visser One is the right choice, but just killing the Yeerk is definitely a bad move in that even Visser Three might be suspecting there's a reason they went to the trouble to rescue a random human host.
Yup. Even if the Yeerks don't put two and two together and realize Marco and/or his father are aligned with the Andalite bandits, they will at least put one and one together and realize that if they're hunting down Marco's mother, Marco and his father would be useful hosts to have.
Garoff and the Council's disgust about Edriss and Essam making their hosts breed is understandable given the Yeerks' own reproductive cycle but also suggests they aren't having their Hork-Bajir hosts breed much which seems like an error when quantity of hosts is their primary issue.
Garoff and the Council's disgust about Edriss and Essam making their hosts breed is understandable given the Yeerks' own reproductive cycle but also suggests they aren't having their Hork-Bajir hosts breed much which seems like an error when quantity of hosts is their primary issue.
I thought we had seen Hork-Bajir born in captivity already. They are bred, just bred and infested afterwards.