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you."
But that would have been fatal. And I'm not someone who does emotional,
stupid things. Sometimes I wish I were.
"Get to the lab," Visser One said. "Go to work."
She walked past me, like she'd already forgot-
ten I existed. I held my breath as she stepped out into the hallway.
But Ax and Tobias were gone.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Why? Maybe because Ax would have hurt her.
I don't know.
Then, through the massive round porthole, I saw something large and
sinuous. Like a snake. But a snake that was fifty feet long and thicker
than a Taxxon.
It was the yellow of poison. With a mouth that looked able to swallow a
small boat.
It was coming straight for the facility. And on either side of it, like
an honor guard, were a dozen Hork-Bajir in bizarre red diving suits,
propelled by small water jets attached to each ankle.
I had a feeling I knew this particular snake's name.
JL followed her out in the hall, but she walked away. Swaggering. Like
the Yeerk visser she was.
I watched her for longer than I should have. Then I ducked into a side
door. The room was dark. I expected to find Ax and Tobias there. I did.
I found Ax very suddenly, in fact.
THWAPP!
A tail blade was pressed against my throat.
"Hey, it's me. Please don't remove my head. I use it sometimes."
"We were just trying to figure out whether we should try and rescue you
or go join the fight outside," Tobias said in his now-unfamiliar human
voice.
could discover anything, you came in.>
Ax led me over to a glowing, three-dimensional computer display. It was
weird, the way most of the place was like any standard, boring human
office. Like an insurance agent's or a school secretary's office. But I
guess the Yeerks didn't want to be stuck messing with human-level
computers.
"Roooaaaarrrr!"
Jake's tiger roar sounded a little frazzled.
"We need to get out there and help them," Tobias said.
"No," I snapped. "They can't be helped by us rushing out there. Visser
Three is coming with more Hork-Bajir. He's morphed this giant snake from
planet Whatever."
They stared at me like I must be hallucinating or something.
"Look, it's him, okay? I saw it through the porthole. A huge yellow sea
snake with Hork-Bajir alongside. Who do you figure that would be?"
Ax pointed
out.
"I don't think it is a rescue mission. I think
it's a coincidence. I think he happened to be on his way here."
"Just our bad luck," Tobias said.
"Maybe not," I pointed out. "Visser One and Three are rivals. Visser One
let us escape to mess with Visser Three. This may work for us. But first
things first. Ax? Start questioning that computer."
I couldn't believe I was standing there so calmly while Jake, Rachel,
and Cassie were probably fighting for their lives. But I guess I'd had a
good look at the ruthlessness of the Yeerks. I'd seen it in Visser One's
cold eyes. I'd heard it in the pitiless voice that didn't care one tiny
bit that I was the son of the body it now controlled.
I guess there are times when the only way to survive is to be as
ruthless as the enemy. To destroy before you can be destroyed.
Ax said, staring with his main eyes at the computer
readout.
Most of the Leerans are resisting. Since the Leer-ans are psychic, it's
impossible for the Yeerks to deceive them. So the Yeerks have decided to
forget about stealth and go to a straight invasion by force. >
"But it's a watery world, so they can't rely on Hork-Bajir," I said.
"It's true. The hammerheads
are being reengineered to allow for Yeerks to make them Controllers.
The shark-Controllers will be the troops in the war for Leeran."
"Great. Now can we get out there and help Rachel and the others?" Tobias
demanded.
He hadn't waited for an answer. He was already demorphing. Red-tailed
feathers were sprouting from his hands.
"Ax, can you find a way to remove these things in our heads?" I asked.
Ax communicated mentally with the computer.
program but it's heavily encrypted. The only other way the implants can
be liquidated is in the event this facility is completely destroyed.>
"What?" Tobias said. "You can't eliminate these things without blowing
up the whole place?"
wrong. But in any case, we don't have a way to annihilate this facility.>
"Ax. How do they keep the water out of this place? How do they keep it
from flooding? If it were just air pressure our ears would be seriously
imploding."
animal life-forms to enter and leave.>
"Can you reach the controls?"
"Can you turn off the force fields? Without letting the Yeerks know?"
Ax laughed derisively.
unimaginative Yeerk computer presents any difficulties to me, you know,
unless it's specially shielded.>
Tobias demanded, once more back in hawk morph.
"Destroy the facility and it may trigger the liquidation of these head
implants," I said. "Ax, can you build in a five-minute delay?"
He communicated with the computer by thought-speak.
rushing into this place.>
"Yeah. And those who can't grow gills ... I guess they'll wish they could."
We ran from the room. I morphed as I ran. I morphed into a gorilla.
We were going into a fight. And although the gorilla isn't a mean or
aggressive animal, it is amazingly powerful.
By the time we reached the door to the outside, I was done. Tobias was
already flying, and Ax was Ax.
I threw open the door to the outside. Actually, I forgot I was in
gorilla morph and opened the door so hard it ripped clear off its hinges.
What I saw was a scene of destruction. There were injured Hork-Bajir
lying crumpled around the facility. There was a reeking, squashed Taxxon
being munched on ravenously by a fellow Taxxon. Rachel in grizzly morph,
Jake in tiger
morph, and Cassie as a wolf had done some serious damage. But now
they were cornered, almost surrounded by wary but determined Hork-Bajir.
Visser One, my mother, was striding toward them, seemingly unconcerned.
As she went, she was kicking the wounded Hork-Bajir, demanding they get
up and fight. Half a dozen had already rallied to her.
I said tersely.
Tobias reminded me.
come along and rescue his butt.>
I broke into a loping run. Tobias flapped away. And Ax ran, tail at the
ready.
Ax said gleefully.
I yelled.
Visser One and her group.>
Ax and Tobias went ahead. I hit the group of Hork-Bajir that was
following my mother. They didn't see me coming.
WHAM! I slammed a Hork-Bajir down to the concrete and he stayed down.
SWISH! A Hork-Bajir spun around and swung his arm, wrist blade turning
toward me. But he'd already been wounded. He was slow. I was slow, too.
But I didn't miss. I drove my canned-ham-
sized gorilla fist, with more power than ten Evan-der Holyfields,
into the Hork-Bajir's chest. The other Hork-Bajir stayed back.
My mother turned around. "Kill it, you cowards! Kill it!"
One of the Hork-Bajir leaped at me, arms and legs all flashing with
deadly blades. I tried to dodge, but gorillas are not exactly fast.
I was cut! My left arm was slashed deeply. Blood was flowing
out onto my dark, coarse fur.
"That's it! Kill it!" Visser One crowed gleefully.
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