Invasion a-1

by Katherine Alice Applegate

  And there were creatures everywhere. Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and other things I couldn't even begin to guess at.

  But mostly, there were humans. A lot of them.

  At the very center of the cavern was a pool, like a small lake, maybe a hundred feet across, and perfectly round. Only the water wasn't exactly water. It moved more like melted lead, and was about the same color. The sloshing sound we could hear was the liquid of the pool being rippled and splashed by hundreds of fast-moving things below the surface.

  I knew what they were. Yeerks. Yeerks in their natural, sluglike state. They were swimming and cavorting in the pool like kids on a hot day.

  Near the edge of the pool were cages. In the cages were Hork-Bajir and human beings.

  Some of the humans screamed for help. Some cried silently. Some just sat and waited, all hope lost. There were adults there. And kids. Women and men. More than a hundred, packed ten to a cage.

  The captive Hork-Bajir were kept in separate, stronger cages. They paced and howled and slashed at the air with their bladed arms.

  I almost lost hope. I felt like my heart had stopped. This was a place of unimaginable horror. And we were so few, and so weak.

  Below us on the stairs I could see the Controller cop and Cassie. He was dragging her roughly whenever she stumbled. They had reached the bottom of the stairs.

  "I'm going to morph," I said. "I'm going to get Cassie away from him."

  Marco put his hand on my shoulder. "Not time yet, dude. Be cool."

  Tobias said.

  "He'd better not hurt her," I said. "Keep an eye on them, Tobias."

  There were two low steel piers built out over the pool. On one, Hork-Bajir-Controllers politely guarded a line of humans and Hork-Bajir and Taxxons.

  This was the unloading station.

  One by one the people knelt down, bent over, and dipped their heads toward the slimy surface of the pool. The Hork-Bajir helped them.

  As we watched, a woman calmly bent over, her head just inches above the lead-gray pool. A Hork-Bajir held her elbow gently, to help her keep her balance.

  Then we saw the thing dribbling, sliding, squirming, crawling out of her ear.

  A Yeerk.

  "Oh, no… " Rachel moaned. She sounded like she might be sick. "Oh, no. No."

  When the Yeerk was all the way out of the poor woman's head, it dropped into the pool and disappeared beneath the turbulent surface.

  Instantly the woman cried out. "You filth, let me go! Let me go! I am a free woman! You can't keep doing this! I am not a slave! Let me go!"

  Two Hork-Bajir grabbed her. They dragged the woman to the nearest cage and threw her in. "Help!" the woman screamed. "Oh, please, someone help. Help us all!"

  CHAPTER 23

  "Help! Please, someone help us!"

  We had been hearing cries like that all the way down those steps. But now we were close enough to give the cries a human face. It cut straight to my soul.

  There was a second steel pier. That was the loading station. There the host bodies were dragged from their holding cages to have the Yeerks reenter their heads. It was a pretty basic process. They grabbed the hosts, whether human or Hork-Bajir, and forced their heads down into the pool.

  The people sometimes fought and screamed, and sometimes just cried. But they always lost. When their heads were yanked back up out of the pool, we could see the slugs still slithering into their ears.

  After a few minutes they would become calm again, as the Yeerks regained control. Then off they went, once more slaves of the Yeerks.

  It was a horrible assembly line, from the unloading pier, to the holding cages, to the infestation pier. They moved the poor victims through at a pretty speedy rate.

  But there was another area we could only now see. There humans and Hork-Bajir waited on comfortable chairs, sipping drinks and actually watching TV. Taxxons squirmed around like gigantic spiny maggots.

  I heard the faint sound of a television set. I was sure I could hear laughter from the humans. They were watching the show and having a good laugh.

  Tobias said.

  "What are you talking about?" I demanded.

  Tobias replied.

  "I can't believe that," Rachel said. "No person would ever let this happen to them. No one would ever give up control of himself."

  "Some people are scum, Rachel," Marco said. "Sorry to burst your balloon."

 

  "Like spending all their time as a hawk," Marco pointed out.

  Tobias had nothing to say to that. He spread his wings and flew up and away.

  "Tobias! Come back," I called to him.

  "We have to get moving," Rachel said. "We've been standing here staring for too long." She looked at Marco. "Don't be a jerk to Tobias, okay? We need everyone."

  Tobias came swooping back toward us. he said.

  With my normal human eyes I couldn't see that well in the purple gloom. I could just make out the cop's uniform and the small shape beside him.

  "Do you see Tom?" I asked Tobias.

  In answer he flapped his powerful wings and gained altitude. I saw him high over the pool. Then he came back toward us in a power dive.

  he said.

  I hesitated before asking. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. "Is he in the cages? Or is he… voluntary?"

  Tobias said.

  "Yes!" I knew Tom would never have gone voluntarily. I knew they must have taken him kicking and punching.

  Tobias warned.

  It was time. We were at the bottom of the steps.

  We ran over to hide behind a storage shed of some kind. Marco pulled me around the corner, drawing me close so that I could hear him whisper. "Look, before we do this, there's one thing, Jake. You have to promise me."

  I knew what he was going to say.

  "If I have to die, okay. But don't let them take me. Don't let them put one of those things in my head."

  "It'll be okay — "

  "You!" a voice yelled. A human voice. "You two. Who are you?"

  I spun around. A man. Just one man. But beside him, flanking him, was a big Hork-Bajir, looking suspicious. And on the other side, a Taxxon.

  Somehow the man hadn't seen Rachel. She was just around the corner of the building. But he had seen Marco and me talking. I guess it hadn't looked quite right to him.

  "Us?" Marco asked. "Who are we? Hey, who are you?"

  "Take them," the man ordered.

  The Hork-Bajir advanced on us. The Taxxon slithered forward on its dozens of sharp spiny legs, red jelly eyes quivering, mouth opening and closing in anticipation.

  I knew I had to morph. But I was frozen with fear.

  Then I saw Rachel. She had gotten around behind the Controllers.

  And she was getting very, very large.

  CHAPTER 24

  Rachel was getting larger very fast. Huge leathery ears sprouted suddenly from the side of her head. Her nose stretched and stretched till it was longer than her body had been to start with. Her arms and legs were big as tree trunks. And from her mouth grew two enormous, curved teeth.

  My cousin Rachel now stood almost thirteen feet high and weighed about fourteen thousand pounds.

  The weird thing was, I was happy about all this. I heard Rachel's triumphant laugh. The Hork-Bajir and the Taxxon came closer.

/>   Rachel began twitching her little ropy tail. Her front legs pawed the dirt floor of the cavern. She raised her massive head and stuck out her three-foot-long tusks.

  The Taxxon was the first to notice her with his all-around red-jelly eyes, but I guess he didn't know how to react.

  Rachel charged. One minute she was standing there, and the next minute she was barreling forward like an out-of-control eighteen-wheeler.

  The Hork-Bajir was fast. He spun around and slashed at her trunk with his elbow blade. Too little. Too late.

  Rachel was moving, and no little flesh wound was going to stop her.

  Rachel cried, outraged.

  The Hork-Bajir went down, crushed under her monstrous feet. He bellowed, but Rachel's trumpeting was louder.

  The Taxxon tried to run. It turns out Taxxons can move out when they want to.

  It also turns out elephants are faster than you think. They can be very fast.

  Rachel's foot caught the Taxxon's back end. The needle legs collapsed, cracking like broken twigs. Yellow goo oozed from the popped flesh of the big worm.

  She just kept rolling over him, leaving behind a big, extremely disgusting pile of goo. The foul smell of the squashed Taxxon nearly knocked me out.

  The human was still just standing there. He said, "An elephant?" Like he couldn't even think a bout it being real.

  Rachel wrapped her trunk around his middle. we heard Rachel say.

  The man screamed. I guess he figured out it was real. Rachel threw him through the air. I never saw where he landed. "Quick!" I yelled at Marco. "Morph!"

  "Nice work, Rachel," Marco said. "Remind me not to ever make you mad."

  I focused on the tiger. I knew his DNA pattern was in me. I thought of him, lying there in his habitat at The Gardens wishing he were back in the jungle, hunting and taking down his prey. I guessed maybe he wouldn't mind the use I was making of his DNA. This wasn't quite a jungle, but it would have to do.

  Rachel said.

  Rachel turned to face them, tusks ready.

  I felt the morph begin. The hair grew from my face. The tail squirted out behind me. My arms bulged and rippled. They were massive! My shirt ripped. I fell forward onto my hands, now my front legs.

  The power!

  It was electric. It was like a slow-motion explosion. I could feel the power of the tiger growing inside me.

  I watched claws, long, wickedly curved, tearing, ripping, shredding claws, grow from my puny human hands. I could feel the teeth sprouting in my mouth.

  My eyes looked through the darkness like it was broad daylight.

  But most of all, the power! The sheer, incredible power.

  I was afraid of NOTHING!

  Hork-Bajir were running at me, their arm blades slashing at the air.

  I opened my mouth and I roared. The Hork-Bajir stopped dead in their tracks.

  That's right, my little Hork-Bajir friends, the human part of my brain thought. Time to meet the tiger.

  The muscles in my back legs coiled up. I bared my teeth and gave them another roar loud enough to make the ground quiver.

  I leaped through the air, claws outstretched.

  CHAPTER 25

  I sailed through the air and struck the closest Hork-Bajir in the chest.

  Down he went with me on top of him. He rolled over and tried to get up. He was fast. I was faster.

  He struck at me with his razored arm. I ducked under the blow. My left paw swung, so fast even I couldn't see it. It left four oozing tracks across the Hork-Bajir's shoulder.

  Another Hork-Bajir! Wrist blades, elbow blades and talons whizzed. They were like a pair of lawn mowers on full throttle.

  And still I was faster. I can't even remember what happened next. All I have is this image of the tiger — of me — with claws slashing and jaws snapping. I was a whirlwind of orange fur and black stripes.

  The Hork-Bajir fell back. I roared. They turned and ran.

  On one side I saw Rachel. She lifted a Hork-Bajir up on her tusks and tossed him back over her shoulder like he was a doll.

  And then I saw Marco. Big Jim's massive body was ripping its way out of Marco's slight frame.

  Marco said.

  The truth is, like Cassie said, gorillas are very gentle, peaceful, quiet creatures. The truth also is that they are strong. Real strong.

  Basically, compared to a gorilla, a man is something made out of toothpicks.

  Now, Hork-Bajir are pretty large creatures. They stand about seven feet high and are built for trouble. But Marco swung one big gorilla fist and hit the nearest Hork-Bajir in the stomach. The Hork-Bajir went down. Hard.

  I roared. Rachel trumpeted. Marco lifted the Hork-Bajir up and tossed him aside like a rag doll.

  The rest of the Hork-Bajir turned and ran.

  I shouted.

  We charged. Rachel just plowed right through some of the small sheds and buildings like Godzilla heading for Tokyo.

  Marco came loping along, swinging his massive forearms, punching anything that got in his way. Whatever he punched stayed down:

  And I ran right down the middle, looking for any Controller dumb enough to mess with me. We reached the cages. The people and Hork-Bajir inside shrank back from us. They were almost as afraid of us as they were of the Controllers. Let's face it — a rescue party made up of an elephant, a, gorilla, and a tiger is not what they'd been hoping for.

  Marco began ripping at a lock on one of the cages. The lock gave way. The door flew open. Marco did something very human to reassure them. He made a little bow, then crooked his finger at them as if to say come on out.

  Tom was the first out. He looked scared and mad and determined. I was going to send him a thought message, telling him who I was, but suddenly there was Rachel, screaming in my head.

  Rachel said.

  Cassie was nearly at the end of the infestation pier. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxon guards were still sticking to their duties. As I watched, another human was shoved headfirst into the Yeerk pool.

  I cried.

  Marco said. I hesitated for only a second, as a thousand thoughts went through my head. Later I would think about that moment. Think maybe… maybe… if only… I broke into a run. I had to get to her!

  As I watched, the two Hork-Bajir on the pier grabbed Cassie by the arms. "Nooooo!" she cried.

  I tore at full speed. I leaped over Taxxons. I dodged around Hork-Bajir. I practically flew. But I couldn't really fly. Not the way Tobias could.

  I saw him high, high up in the cavern. Down he came.

  Like a bullet.

  The talons came forward. Tobias hit the first Hork-Bajir at about fifty miles an hour. He swooped away, leaving the alien clutching at the slimy mess where his eyes used to be.

  That was all Cassie needed. She broke away and ran back down the pier.

  I finally got there and went after the remaining Hork-Bajir-Controller.

  I yelled to Cassie.

  She looked at the other humans and Hork-Bajir behind her in the line. "Run! All of you, run!"

  They did. Cassie plowed into the panicky crowd. Moments later a black-maned head appeared above the shoulders of the crowd. Cassie had become a horse and was racing for the stairs.

  I started after her, racing back around the pool toward Marco, Rachel, Tom, and the crowd of hosts they'd freed from the cages.

  The Controllers were starting to get organized. A group of Taxxons were slithering out to stop Cassie and me. Both the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons were carrying weapons now.

  I said to Cassie as we neared the line of Taxxons.

  she yelled back.

  I leaped. Cassie jumped. Side by side, we sailed over the startle
d Taxxons. They fired their hand-held Dracon beams, but too late. The beams sizzled the air behind us and we blew past.

  I could see Rachel's towering gray bulk just a-head. The stairs were near. I saw Marco with Tom.

  We were going to make it!

  And then he stepped out daintily from a group of Hork-Bajir.

  He seemed almost harmless in his Andalite body. A gentle half-deer, half-human-looking creature with bluish fur and an extra set of eyes on comical stalks.

  Visser Three didn't look all that scary. Not compared to the Hork-Bajir, the Taxxons, or even our own Earth-animals.

  But Visser Three had an Andalite body. He had an Andalite's power to morph. And he had been all over the universe acquiring the genetic patterns of monsters like nothing ever seen on Earth.

  A Taxxon slithered up beside Visser Three and spoke. It was a weird, half-whistling sound. "Ssssweer trrreeesswew eeeesstrew."

  Visser Three said nothing. He just looked at me with the vertical slits that were his eyes.

  Visser Three said. He laughed silently.

  It took me a couple of seconds to realize what he meant. Then it hit me. Of course! He thought we were Andalites. He'd guessed that we were morphs, not real animals. And he knew that the Andalites were the only species with morphing technology.

 

  He began to morph.

  I realized I'd been wrong to be hopeful.

  We were not going to make it.

  CHAPTER 26

  From Visser Three's Andalite body, the creature grew. Tall as a tree, towering over even Rachel. Eight massive legs. Eight long, spindly arms, each ending in a three-fingered claw. And from the place where the top set of arms grew came the heads.