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Chapter Text

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Animorphs, Book 19, Chapter 23 | Jake:

<We need to land and demorph,> I said.

<We can't! She'll get away!> Marco said.

<Ax? How's our time?>

<We must demorph, Prince Jake. Unless we wish to become trapped in these morphs.>

Down we went, spiraling down through warm updrafts, to land on the shady forest floor. We quickly demorphed, all but Tobias, of course. He stayed aloft, keeping an eye out.

Then, after a few minutes' rest, we morphed again and took to the air once more. Now we had a solid two hours.

But we had also given Cassie, or the Yeerk inside her, plenty of time to hide or escape.

We flew toward where we'd last seen her. Through the trees, we began to catch glimpses of a search force up ahead.

<Those are state police uniforms,> Tobias observed.

<We have to find Cassie and that girl Karen before they do,> I said. But I wasn't thinking anything more about it than that.

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PROLOGUE

J A K E

Maybe a dozen state troopers were clustered together up ahead. I dove down to listen in.

<Guys!> Tobias yelled as I closed the distance, <there’s…> He trailed off shakily.

<Marco?> He asked, <... About two hundred yards to your left, in that huge old oak tree. There’s a dead little girl. Is it….>

<Yeah,> Marco said. <That’s— that was her. Karen. The kid who was infested.>

Everybody went quiet. We were all thinking about what that meant.

I flew faster. My chest weighed me down like lead. I tried to push the feeling away and push my wings harder. We needed information.

The cops below me were all standing around the base of a tree. There was a small corpse hanging in the branches. Several of the troopers were talking quietly – I made out some of the words as I circled above the treetops:

“... No, nothing,” one was saying. He sounded stressed. “And soon, someone will have to report this back to the Sub-Visser.” His face twisted into a snarl, “It will not be me!”

"Me either,” the other Controller he was talking to said. He glanced around at the others and lowered his voice, “but… Why even come out here?" He asked. “It wasn't an assignment….”

The first cop shook his head. They exchanged a complicated glance. Neither of them said anything else.

I hung a quick right and flapped hard back the way I came. Above me Rachel’s huge eagle body soared in the sky and turned in circles while she searched.

We were all spread out as we scoured the area. We were looking for anything that might be an infested Cassie sneaking away in morph.

<The state troopers are all Controllers,> I said, once I thought I could sound like I wasn't totally frantic. <It sounds like Cassie hasn’t approached them. Yet.>

It didn't make any sense. Why not?

<Why not?!> Rachel demanded. <Why wouldn’t that thing go straight to them!?>

We all chewed on that.

<... A bigger payoff?> Tobias asked hesitantly. <Think about it: what makes more of an impact? Going back with these Controllers now, or that Yeerk going to the Sharing on her own and proving that Cassie can morph in front of the highest ranking Visser she can find?>

<Yeah, he’s right,> Marco said darkly. <The slug wants as much glory as she can get. The big dramatic reveal for when she turns us all in and gets bounties put on our heads.>

<So how do we stop it?!> Rachel demanded. <She could be anything! Acquiring a new morph takes, what, two minutes? Tops? She could already be on her way there!>

<We keep searching.> I said as calmly as I could. I tried not to think about it: Rachel was right. Our chances weren’t good.

I tried to focus. I watched the ground for Cassie. I started handing out orders.

<Tobias, Ax, cover the sky. Marco and Rachel, help me search the ground.> I scanned through the tops of the trees again. I scanned the ground and terrain. I scanned the sky. She was nowhere.

How were we supposed to find her?

<Okay…> I thought out loud, <Okay. She wants to get back downtown. They both went missing yesterday, so unless that Yeerk was at the pool just before that she needs to go again. She’ll try to get Cassie to one of the entrances... She’ll probably go straight to the Sharing— the building they have downtown is a few blocks from the entrance behind the Qwik–Stop.>

I scanned the forest floor continuously while I spoke. I desperately searched for any suspicious animals heading west.

<That can’t happen,> I said. I felt ill. <We can’t let Cassie get out of these woods. That Yeerk cannot reach town.> My stomach did a barrel roll, <we take her out however we can. Even if it means taking Cassie out, too.>

Nobody said anything. I tried not to think about what I just said. I couldn’t worry about that; I had to worry about finding her.

We searched.

Ten minutes into it, Tobias broke off and turned back towards town. That was smart: we needed someone in a fallback position in case she got past us.

It was something I should have thought of. It worried me that I hadn't.

<Marco, go with Tobias.> I said as he flew off. <Stay near the edge of the woods and watch for her trying to get to town. Rachel, Ax, you guys stay with me. We watch the ground and the sky. We’re looking for…> I thought frantically, <a wolf, or an osprey. Or… Maybe a even a seagull?>

I started mentally listing every morph Cassie had. I cursed to myself. <... Or a skunk. Or… Or... I don’t know,> did I even know all the morphs she had? I couldn't screw this up.

What would the Yeerk use? Was Rachel right? Would she pick up something new, an animal we wouldn’t expect her to be?

Marco peeled off and spiraled up, following Tobias. <Yeah,> he said. <You got it, Jake.> He sounded grim.

<This sucks!> Rachel yelled as he flew off. <How do we fix this?!>

She dropped into a long dive and blazed over the river in a rush. <Aggggghhhhh!! What do we do?!> She screamed, zooming through the foliage. She buzzed a big tree in frustration: a sleepy owl startled and a small flock of songbirds raced away.

<This is like twenty square miles to search!> She yelled. Her momentum carried her back up into the sky. She banked sharply and circled higher. <How are we supposed to find her?!>

<We continue to try,> Ax said. <The longer we spend delaying the farther she will be able to travel.>

He was floating above us both. He sounded infuriatingly cold and calm. He said, <she could have covered perhaps a quarter of your miles in the time since Rachel last saw her. A half a mile, perhaps, if she chose to morph a wolf.>

My stomach flipped over again.

<Yeah,> I said. I tried to project all the confidence I didn’t feel into my voice. <Come on, guys. Spread out, we’ll keep looking. We'll search as long as it takes. We’ll catch her soon.>

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ONE

J A K E

We didn’t catch her at all.

I kept us searching for almost four hours. I finally called it when we all landed to demorph for the second time. I picked a clearing well away from the smaller groups of searchers still looking for her.

The sun was setting when I hit the ground and focused on my own body. The light streaking through the clouds turned them into a riot of pinks and yellows and golds. I lost most of the clarity and detail as I got larger.

I resented the way it made me feel. It was way too beautiful for what was happening.

<That's it,> I said as I sprouted upwards, <stop searching, everybody. She’s—> my thought-speak cut off and I had to wait impatiently for my beak to finish disappearing before I could continue. It only took about five seconds, but the wasted time felt longer.

“—Not here,” I said as soon as I could talk again. “She’s gone. We missed her.”

“Nvrothersphocker!!” Rachel yelled half-incoherently. Her mouth was halfway through emerging into teeth and lips. She yelled something more impolite next, and I winced.

I knew exactly how she felt. It was how I felt.

Marco tossed his growing thumb towards her. Feathers were still sucking back into his skin. “Yeah,” he said, “that. What she said.” He grimaced while his arms straightened out, “Jake, this is bad. This is so bad.”

He threw up his hands once he could. He made comments that I don’t need to repeat.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s not good,” I glanced around at everyone. All I could think about was how bad this was.

I sighed.

“Go home, everybody,” I said. “Marco, Rachel, try to get some rest. But… Be alert. Be ready if…. ”

I didn’t finish. They knew what I was saying: be ready in case you need to run. In case you need to fight. Be ready for nightmares in your own home. Understand that your family will probably be taken and infested even if you escape.

I meant: be ready to do what you need to do to remain free and breathing. Do what‘s necessary to fight another day.

<... I can keep going,> Tobias said. He was perched overhead in a pine, glaring down at us. <My eyes are lousy at night, but… I can keep looking for her. Maybe she’s still out there. Maybe we can still….>

<I can as well,> Ax said, right behind him. <It's not yet completely dark.> He was already remorphing back to northern harrier. That was smart. There were way too many searchers combing the woods too close by.

I shook my head. “No,” I said. I felt heavy. Big and clumsy and tired. I felt like I could lay down right there on the ground and sleep for a week.

“We're all exhausted,” I said. “And… It’s over, she’s already gone. She got past us.”

My words caught, and I cleared my throat. I tried to ignore how my eyes stung.

“We'll regroup tomorrow,” I said. “In Tobias's meadow, right after school. We’ll figure this out then.”

Nobody said anything. Nobody mentioned how ridiculously optimistic what I'd just said was. Nobody mentioned how utterly unlikely it was that tomorrow would still be normal enough to go to school.

I waited for Marco to make a smart-mouth comment. I waited for Rachel to say something gung-ho and confident. But no one said anything. We all just stared exhaustedly at each other.

I closed my eyes. I concentrated on the peregrine again.

I tried not to think about the chaos that was probably waiting for me at home.

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TWO

M A R C O

I flew closer to Jake than I normally would.

We weren’t supposed to. It wasn’t how birds of prey flew. Tobias would give me a ton of grief if he knew I was doing this, but I didn't really care. It was too dark for anyone to see anyway.

My wing muscles were already getting sore again. Flying was always harder after the sun went down, plus I was already exhausted from searching all day.

And I was losing it.

Everyone's freedom was on the line. Cassie’s dumb decision might cost us everything: our families. Our secrecy. Maybe even our lives.

I might be flying home to twenty Hork-Bajir crammed into my living room and my dad already infested. I might be spending the last normal night of my life tossing and turning in bed before all hell broke loose first thing tomorrow morning.

I knew I wasn’t getting any sleep— I’d be too busy staying alert. I’d be too busy staying ready to get my dad out if Yeerks rolled up to my curb at two in the morning and turned my life into even more of a live-action terror-fuelled nightmare than it already regularly was.

<... I’m not gonna get any shuteye tonight,> I said when we were close to our neighborhood. <Not with this stuff going on.>

<Yeah,> Jake replied tersely. He sounded run down. Too tired. Like he wanted to go to bed and sleep for a million years, <... I... don’t know what I’m walking into at home.>

<You think we’re already hosed?> I'd been wondering about that already for the last couple hours.

<... I don’t know,> he said again. <If she made it back into town….>

If she made it back into town then that was it: Game Over. Our families were already taken, and me, Jake, and Rachel were spending the rest of tonight being hunted down.

<You want backup?> I asked.

Jake was silent for almost a minute.

<No, stay in the air,> he said finally. <I’ll go straight up to my room. I can give you an all-clear from there if I‘m safe.>

<And if you’re NOT?!> I snapped. That sounded like a stupid plan. We’d already lost Cassie. We could not lose Jake!

<You’ll have to make the call.>

He started slanting down in the air. <If you don’t see me... It… Might turn into getting Rachel and getting out.>

<That's bull—!> I griped. Then I stopped, because I thought about my dad again. I wanted to puke. I felt like my head was going to explode.

Who was more important? My dad, or Jake? If this was it, right now, if we had Yeerks ready to fight at both our houses and I could only try to save one of them… If my dad was still free….

Would I let him be taken if it meant keeping Jake?

... But was that even the choice here? If Jake’s house turned into an ambush right now... Chances were that my dad was already infested. That it was already too late.

<Why are our lives like this?> I muttered. <This is the worst.>

<Yeah,> Jake glided down to the ground. <I know, Marco. I know.>

He landed and demorphed in a little patch of woods not far from our neighborhood. He changed into the clothes he had stashed there and started walking home. I flapped hard overhead and tried not to think about how I was probably watching him walk straight into a trap.

He got to his front door and opened it. He went inside. I swept over the roof and looked for a good place to hunker down and remorph for firepower. I wheeled uselessly in the sky while I waited.

I checked his bedroom window every couple seconds. I didn't relax until he threw it open and waved at me. His shoulders were tense. His face was set with fresh worry lines.

<Stay safe,> I said, and I turned towards home.

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THREE

M A R C O

“Mar–co! Phone!! Are you still asleep?”

I jerked upright from my spot dozing off at my desk. I was abruptly wide awake. There was a long gross line of drool hanging off the page of my Social Studies book. I wiped my mouth with the side of my hand.

Then I made a face. I wiped my hand on my shirt.

“MAR-CO!! GET THE PHONE!!” My dad bellowed from downstairs.

“OKAY!” I yelled back at the door. I lurched out of my chair and stumbled over to the cordless next to my bed. I picked it up and pressed the button.

My gut started to clench: nobody in my life called this early with anything good to say.

“Hello?”

The line clicked as my dad hung up.

“Oh, hey, Marco! It’s Erek.”

My heart stopped beating for half a second. It started up again a few seconds later hammering away double-time.

“Hey! Um.” I gasped, fumbling, “hey, Erek. Busy morning?” This couldn’t be a coincidence.

… Unless this was it. Was he calling me with a warning to get out?

“Yeah, a little!” He said. He sounded upbeat and casual. Normal. Relaxed, “I realized last night that it's been a while since we hung out. You wanna do that today, after school? At my house? You should bring Jake, it'll be fun.”

There was the slightest stress in his voice when he said ‘today.’ Something happened last night. This was about Cassie.

“Yeah,” I said. My mouth went dry. “That sounds great, man. Let’s catch up later today.”

“Okay! That sounds great. See you then. Bye, Marco!”

“Bye.”

The line clicked. I stared down at the cordless in my hand. I pressed the button and hung it up on the base. I flopped facedown onto my bed.

I grabbed my pillow, pressed my face against it, and screamed.

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FOUR

J A K E

My alarm went off too early. For a split second I fumbled around to hit snooze. But… There was something wrong. There was some reason I shouldn't do that….

I sat straight in bed up a quarter second later, instantly awake. The early morning sunlight lit up my room too bright as it spread over my bunched-up comforter.

<Morning, fearless leader.>

I snapped my head up and glanced out the window directly ahead of me. A dot circled high up. A hawk, barely more than a speck in the sky.

Tobias.

It relieved me to hear from him: taking the time to fly by and say hello meant Rachel and Marco also had quiet nights. But… That didn’t make me any less worried. That just meant the ambush was scheduled for later today.

<Ax helped me cover Marco and you last night,> Tobias said. He sounded exhausted. I wondered if he’d gotten any sleep. <Marco was fine. Nothing happened at Rachel’s, either. She convinced her mom this morning to let her ask to stay at Cassie’s… You know… In case her parents hear anything.>

I nodded to myself. That was smart: that way maybe we could get advance warning if Cassie showed up anywhere. Maybe enough warning to flee and regroup.

<There’s nothing else going on,> he said. <Not yet, anyway.> He flew out of sight, <I’m getting breakfast. Stay alert.>

He didn't say anything else.

I got up and got ready for school. I showered, I brushed my teeth. I got dressed and packed my backpack. I had a pit in my stomach the whole time.

I headed downstairs with my heart beating out of my chest.

The TV was on in the living room when I walked past. CBS’s This Morning played footage of a desert somewhere in Africa while a reporter talked about ongoing sanctions. My mom was sipping her coffee on the couch and looking at the newspaper crossword. She was barely paying attention.

I made it into the kitchen and put down my bag. I fixed myself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. I dug in. I said hi to my mom when she wandered by in her bathrobe and fuzzy bunny slippers to put her mug in the sink.

Tom stampeded down the stairs five minutes later. He blew into the kitchen, scowled, grabbed a poptart from the cabinet, and stuck it in the toaster. He opened and shut the fridge. He barely grunted when mom asked him how he slept.

I tried not to track his every movement. I tried not to see if I could tell if we were done for solely from the expression on his face. I glared at my cereal instead.

He barely glanced at me. He sat at the table across from me a few minutes later and scarfed down his breakfast. He got up, muttered goodbye, grabbed his bag, and left in a rush five minutes later.

It was completely normal. It was just like every morning.

... Why was it all completely normal?!

“You okay, mister grumpy-gus?” My mom asked. She was standing at the toaster and slathering cream cheese on an onion bagel. She sounded half-awake. “Worrying about Cassie?”

I jerked upright and wrenched my head around. I remembered at the very last second that Cassie was still supposedly missing in the woods.

I rubbed at my eyes.

“Yeah,” I said. “I'm just tired, mom. I didn't sleep well. I'm worried about her.”

That was all true. It was nice to not lie to my mom. For once.

“Well, you should do something,” she said. “You can go without seeing Marco for a couple of days. Do something productive instead, you'll feel better."

Mom turned. She glanced at me. She shook her head, “I don't know why you're so against Tom’s little Sharing club. Logging some community service hours with them would do you a world of good.” She gave me a pointed look, “they were out there in the wilderness yesterday, you know. They were looking for Cassie. While you were busy all afternoon playing games with Marco."

I shrugged. I looked down at my bowl. I pushed away that feeling like I'd swallowed razor blades instead of cereal.

“It's… Not my thing, mom,” I said lamely. "I think the Sharing is kind of hokey. It’s lame.”

I couldn't give her a real reason. It's a front for an alien slug invasion, mom, would get me laughed at now and maybe killed later.

Hopefully killed later, anyway. Killed was better than infested.

Mom turned back to the counter. She unplugged the toaster.

“Then you need to spend less time with Marco and more time on what matters," she said, not looking at me. "Your schoolwork. Your homework, Jake! We don’t need another repeat of the last two parent-teacher conferences.”

I winced.

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry. My grades are getting better.”

“Then that better be what your next report card says, sweetie.” She picked up her bagel in a paper towel and said, “I love you, kiddo… But you need to shape up. No more C's — or there’s going to be a lot less time for playing games or Marco in your future.”

I dropped my spoon and listened to it rattle. I wasn't hungry anymore.

“Okay, mom,” I said. “I understand. I love you.”

I got up and put my bowl in the sink. I hugged my mom and tried not to let my mind wander to dark places. I grabbed my bag and said goodbye.

I left for school. I walked the whole way there with my stomach clenched in knots.

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FIVE

T O B I A S

I was tired. I was worried. I was stressed and hungry. My attempts at hunting breakfast hadn't been successful.

I don’t know what else I expected: I was working off only a couple hours of sleep. I wasn’t always successful even when I was well-rested. Right now breakfast seemed impossible.

I’d convinced Ax to go graze and get some shuteye earlier. He’d gotten even less sleep than me. He swore up and down that Andalites were fine going without for a few days, but I was still worried about him. He’d been real quiet ever since Marco broke the news about Cassie yesterday.

I was half a mile up over Cassie’s farm. I'd been here most of the morning, turning in big lazy circles and watching for any suspicious activity. Whether that was from Cassie or from other Controllers was the question.

I was jumpy and cranky from too little sleep. I was stressed about what we were going to do when things turned ugly. I was exhausted.

I wasn’t going to fall out of the sky, or anything, but I was not a happy bird. The hawk wanted to catch a juicy fat chipmunk, settle onto a safe perch, and sleep. In that order.

But I couldn’t. I needed to keep flying. I had to stay alert if any of us were going to survive the next few days.

I spent the next half-hour like that, wheeling around the edges of Cassie’s farm and taking shots at anything small that ran out into the open. It forced me to stay active enough that I couldn’t fall into a stupor.

It was relieving when I spotted the northern harrier rising towards me from the forest. He was flapping hard in the mid-morning air.

<Hey, Ax. Get any sleep?> Even my thought-speak sounded like I was half-dead.

<Yes. I rested for an hour. Enough to stay active until the evening.>

<Great, but did you sleep?> I asked. <Sleep is kind of important, even for Andalites.>

<It won't be important if the others are ambushed in the meantime,> he pointed out. <I am fine, Tobias. This isn't my first night without rest. It will not be my last.>

<... Okay.> He knew himself best. <If you say so.>

<Did anything happen while I was away?>

I banked to the side and glided over the barn. <Not really,> I said. <Rachel’s still inside with Cassie’s parents. Nothing’s happened there yet. I’ve been flying around trying to keep myself awake.>

Rachel was down in the house so we knew how bad things were about to get. It was a risk, but the Yeerks knew who we were now. At least this way we had a shot at saving Cassie’s family when things exploded into violence.

And they would. A fight was coming. The only question left was when.

I’d followed Jake and Marco to school this morning after failing to catch breakfast. Just in case. Rachel and Ax had both been worried about them getting grabbed out of the halls. Or called out of class and attacked.

I’d hung around there for over a half hour before heading out to Cassie’s. Marco had been in math taking notes and looking bored out of his mind. Jake got a science test passed back that had a big red C minus across the top. Nothing else had happened. It was all regular school stuff.

<Tobias.>

I banked towards Ax. He was over the house now, turning in a slow circle. I was far enough away that I could see the front door under the porch from where I was. So I saw it when Cassie's mom came barreling out of the house like a woman on a mission.

<Showtime,> I said. <Here we go.>

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SIX

R A C H E L

“She’ll be okay,” Cassie’s father said from his easy chair. It was the fourth time he’d repeated that in the last hour.

He put down his paper and leaned forward. He looked at Cassie’s mother on the couch. “She’s been to— how many wilderness survival courses, now? At least three.”

“Five.”

Her mom stared down at her book. It was ‘Avian Histopathology.’ She hadn’t turned a page in almost ten minutes.

“You’re nervous,” she said. “You’re forgetting that survival day course back in March. And she had the fungal foraging class in August, while you were up north for the Kellers’ horses.”

“... I thought… That would be four?”

“Her first aid and CPR recertifications. There’s a module on natural disasters. Trust; she’ll extrapolate that to backcountry foraging and rescue. She’s your daughter: she’s smart.”

Her father nodded. He settled back and re-opened his newspaper. He’d already read through it twice.

I looked down at my lap. I was so tired. I was trying not to fall asleep right there on the couch. But I’d argued with my mom to come over here this morning. That isn’t easy to do when your mom is a lawyer.

If I nodded off, Cassie’s parents would take me home. If they took me home, I couldn't protect them.

And I had nothing to complain about. Tobias got even less sleep than me last night. Poor Ax hadn’t slept at all. He said Andalites could handle that better than humans.

“... It’s fine,” her father agreed a few minutes later. He sounded a little too upbeat. His head was still behind the paper. “You’re right, she’s resourceful. I’m sure we’ll get the call they found her any minute.”

We all sat there. Quietly. Desperately waiting for the phone to ring.

I both wanted the call and I didn’t. I couldn't decide which was worse: the Yeerks luring her parents straight into a trap, or the Yeerks getting up close and personal by bringing the fight here to Cassie’s farm.

Either way, I wouldn’t survive with just Ax and Tobias as backup. I’d been sitting here for over an hour thinking about it. Otherwise, I’d start thinking about how I’d yelled at Cassie the last time I saw her.

It might be the last thing I would ever say to her as a free person. And I'd yelled at her. Because she didn’t want to fight anymore. Because she didn't want to start enjoying it.

Basically, my best friend had said she didn’t want to turn into me.

Bedeley-bedely--bedely--bedely--bedely--bedely--be–

Cassie’s father shot out of his chair the second the phone rang. He was out of the living room and into the kitchen in seconds.

I leaned back against the couch to get a better view. All I could see was his back.

“Hello?” His voice came from the kitchen. “Yes! Officer Ga– yes. Did you– OH! Oh— oh, my God. No injuries!?”

Cassie’s mother closed her book. She covered her mouth with her hand.

“They found her!” His voice boomed from the kitchen. “No injuries!!”

Cassie’s mom got up from the couch. She walked as far as the kitchen doorway. She leaned against it and wiped her eyes. Her chest shook.

“Yes, yes, we can do that,” her father said more quietly. He was talking on the phone again. “We’ll be right there. Where exactly… ? Oh. Okay. Never heard of it. Out towards the coast?”

Her mother straightened up and walked into the kitchen. I heard keys jangle.

I got up. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I crossed my arms and dug my nails into my fists.

I needed to stay with Cassie’s parents. That meant Tobias would need to let Jake and Marco know what was going on. That meant the only available backup would be Ax.

Just me and Ax, against the entire might of the Yeerk empire. Whatever they could throw at us. And they knew who we were now. There was no more secrecy.

By now they already knew that I wasn't in school today. They already knew I was hanging out with Cassie’s parents and waiting for news. By now the Yeerks knew everything: who I was, where I lived, every morph I had. They knew everything Cassie knew, right down to what stores I liked best at the mall. They knew what my favorite breakfast was.

My sisters might have already been taken and infested. Staying home from school today might have been all that had saved me from infestation. Jake and Marco might have already been captured. Right now they might both be fighting their way out of school.

In less than half an hour I would be battling for my life against insurmountable odds. I’d be fighting for Cassie’s parents. And I’d be a liability if I was captured. I'd be infested if I let them take me alive.

If I had any choice, I would not let them take me alive.

My fingernails dug into my palms so hard they hurt. I breathed and shook out my hands.

“Rachel? Let’s go, honey. Are you coming?”

Cassie’s father waved to me from the kitchen doorway. The overhead light shone on his balding head. “I know you’re tired. We can drop you back at home after we pick her up. I know you can’t wait to see if Cassie’s okay. I know how hard this has been on you, too.”

I nodded. What else could I do? I smiled tightly, “yeah. Can’t wait.”

I followed him out of the house. I walked down the porch steps. I shaded my eyes and scanned the sky while he locked the door. I recognized the hawk above me immediately.

‘It's her!’ I mouthed. ‘I’m going!’

“Rachel! What are you doing?” Her dad was halfway to the car. He stared at me.

I shrugged at him and jogged over. Cassie’s mother started the car as soon as I shut my door. She drove down the driveway while I buckled my seat belt.

<Rachel, we're here,> Tobias said. He sounded tense. <I need to warn Jake and Marco. Ax is gonna stay on the car for backup.>

I almost nodded. I was too distracted. Our odds were so bad they made me queasy.

Everyone thinks I’m super gung-ho. Marco likes to joke that I’m Xena: Warrior Princess. The others think I don’t get scared on missions. That I’m totally fearless.

Have you ever headed towards a dangerous trap? A trap you knew was a trap? A trap that would either kill you or make you wish you hadn’t survived? Because if you haven’t, let me tell you right now: I was feeling fear.

<Be careful,> Tobias said. Now he was only talking to me. <If this… If this is it… >

I waited, but he didn't say anything else.

<We will fight honorably,> Ax said, like he'd heard that. <They will have to take both of us down with overwhelming numbers. We will not make it easy on them.>

< ...Yeah,> Tobias replied. He sounded off. <You and Rachel? I’m not even worried. The Yeerks won’t know what hit them.>

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SEVEN

R A C H E L

“Right ahead,” Cassie's father said from the passenger seat. He sounded rushed. Stressed. “Up here on the right, another quarter mile.” He put the map down in his lap and started refolding it. “Sully’s bait and tackle.”

Cassie’s mom nodded. Her hands were tense on the wheel. She didn't say anything.

I didn't say anything either. I hadn't said anything the whole car ride.

<I can see her,> Ax said from somewhere above me. He sounded wary, <there is an ambulance near a gas station, but… No visible Yeerk placement. No troops. Though there is enough space in the clearing for at least three concealed bug fighters directly above her. If the Blade ship also makes an appearance…. >

I frowned. It was a safe assumption the ambulance crew was all Controllers. I wondered what the plan was for when the car drove up: if they'd grab her family immediately, or pretend to be real paramedics first.

I wondered if they knew I was here with Cassie’s parents. I rolled my shoulders: all this stress and tension made me antsy. I was ready for a fight.

The car turned. The roadside sign for the service station was broken. The ‘S’ was gone. It had an arrow pointing down a one-car lane half-hidden by trees.

Cassie's mom slowed down and drove on the gravel until the main road was out of sight. The foliage around us pressed in as we crawled by. I got more uneasy by the second. This was a perfect place for an ambush.

The trees opened into a clearing and the car stopped maybe ten feet away from the old-style gas pumps of the fill station. The ambulance was parked maybe twenty feet farther down.

Cassie was standing close beside it. She was talking to a paramedic. Her dad's breath caught as soon as he saw her.

And… I wish I could say I knew. That I took one look at her from the car window and knew she was infested. Knew it was a nasty little slug, and not her.

But I couldn’t. She looked like my best friend. She looked like regular old Cassie. She looked exhausted and scraped up.

<I am in cover and currently thirty-eight percent Andalite,> Ax said. <I will be able to assist in battle shortly.>

Cassie's mom parked and turned off the engine. Her parents practically bolted out of the car. I watched while I got out of the back seat. I pasted on a fake bright smile and scanned the area. I thought it would take me about twenty seconds to sprint for the treeline on the other side of the car. I wanted Ax beside me when things went south. That tail was lethal.

I kept my focus on the ambulance when I looked back. I wondered how many Hork-Bajir were crammed into hidden bug fighters above us. I watched the paramedics.

They were… Acting like actual paramedics. They looked like they were all packing up. Only one was checking on Cassie. And Cassie wasn't really paying attention to him, because Cassie was looking right at me.

Her parents were all over her a split second later. Her father fretted over her. She said something back, but she turned her head again and glanced at me.

Her eyes were evaluating. Calculating. Sizing me up as the threat. That was when I knew for sure what I was dealing with.

<Her parents are too close to the ambulance,> Ax observed. <It will not be much effort to take them both.>

He was right. But something was off. The paramedics weren’t acting like Controllers. They were acting relieved, and joking around, and climbing in through the back doors. The driver laughed and said something to Cassie’s dad through the open window as he started the ambulance engine.

It started to move away as Cassie’s dad walked over to her. He leaned down and swept her into a hug. And everything changed. Cassie's body language changed.

She didn’t grab onto him like a Yeerk playing a role. She clutched against him like she was desperate. Like he might disappear at any second. Like she didn’t know if she’d ever get to touch him again. She hugged him like she was about to collapse on the ground and start bawling.

She did.

Not the Yeerk; Cassie did.

It was the way she was clinging to him, the way her breathing was so heavy and frantic: did that mean it was her? How? That was impossible, but I was almost, almost sure.

When she let go her eyes jumped to me again, and they were full of love and fear and confusion — right before her face shuttered and went hard and cold. Right before the Yeerk moved her head and looked away.

I stood there rooted to the spot. I watched her interact with Cassie’s parents. Every now and then Cassie’s eyes flicked over to me. Wary.

Was what I had just seen real!?

… No. No. That didn't make any sense. I'd seen a Yeerk give a host the ability to move and speak before. It took longer than that. You could tell, you could see the sag in their muscles and the clumsiness in every movement. You could tell.

This… Was something else. This was nothing like that. This was instant.

… Was this Yeerk playing games with me? Trying to get me to believe in her dumb tricks? How stupid was she?!

I caught a faint flash of movement from the woods, maybe fifteen feet to my right. Brush and leaves crackled faintly, like something came to a sudden halt. Someone.

<Rachel! I am… > Ax trailed off. He sounded alarmed. <Where is the ambulance? The paramedics were not human-Controllers?!>

I shook my head slightly. Andalites had three-hundred-sixty degree vision. He would see it.

His thought-speak turned sharper. <What is going on?! Why would they not—> he broke off. <This is all wrong. Nothing about this is right.>

Cassie's mom put an arm around her shoulders and nudged her back towards the car. Cassie leaned against her. She looked dead on her feet now. Like she was out of it.

… Like she was totally lost in thought. Like the Yeerk was barely paying attention to anything that was going on outside her head. I didn’t want to think about why.

<Rachel, she is still infested,> Ax said urgently. <She’s a Controller. And that means that Yeerk has been to the pool.>

I couldn't answer him. I barely nodded. Yes, that was the problem. Obviously.

Cassie’s mother guided her past me to the station wagon. I turned and pulled the door handle. I opened the door and sat down in the back seat. My head was spinning. I tried to think.

Cassie sat down beside me a few seconds later. I glared at her until it was awkward, then I glared some more. I wanted the Yeerk to feel uncomfortable.

I locked my eyes on her head, on her dark scalp under her dense short-cropped curls. I knew what that thing was doing to her: the slug was putting her through hell. She was forcing Cassie into a helpless paralyzed prisoner inside her own mind.

She wasn't going to be doing it for long: the second I got the chance I was letting that thing know what a huge mistake she made when she infested my best friend.

I was going to get her back. As violently as necessary. She would do the same for me.

<Remorphing now. The harrier's eyes are better at spotting cloak distortion.> Ax sounded strange, <though… There may be none to spot.>

I wasn’t sure what exactly he was implying, but I didn’t like the tone in his thought-speak. And I couldn't do anything about it, because I couldn’t answer back.

Cassie’s mom started the car and drove. I stared a hole through Cassie's head until her dad said, “good to have you back, sweetie,” for the second time. He sounded concerned. “... Real good,” he said again.

He glanced at her mom. He flipped his gaze up and met mine in the review mirror.

“Having trouble believing she's real?” He asked me. He smiled. Relief bled into his voice. “I certainly am. Those survival courses were worth their weight in gold!”

Her mom was quiet. I thought she was worried, but I couldn’t concentrate on Cassie’s parents. I was so angry for her. Nothing about this made sense.

She was clearly infested, but… This would have been a perfect opportunity to try to capture me at the very least. Let alone Ax. It didn't make any sense.

I chewed on that and glared Cassie down. Minutes passed in silence. Cassie’s dad tried to include me in the conversation, but I couldn’t pay any real attention to what he said. My answers were one or two words.

“Rachel, do you want me to drop you off on the way home?” Cassie’s mother asked, and I started in surprise. “You look like you’re about to fall asleep sitting there.”

“... Sure,” I said to her, “That’s great.” I looked away for a few seconds and met her eyes in the mirror. “I have a key, I’ll be okay. We have leftovers in the fridge."

I glanced back at Cassie. She looked dead tired. Her expression was a million miles away.

She looked like… Cassie. She looked like she needed an arm around her shoulders and a friendly head nudge before she settled in for a nap. I didn’t take my eyes off of her.

That expression on her face worried me. I wondered if she was screaming at the Yeerk. I wondered if she was taunting Cassie back.

What was the slug’s game? She was clearly trying to take Cassie home. Why hadn't she organized an attack, or an ambush? Why was she acting like we wouldn’t grab Cassie and starve her out the second we could?!

Why weren't we all being hunted down in broad daylight, right now? Why wasn't she leading the effort to capture us all?

I kept glaring. Whatever this thing’s game was, I wasn’t going to play along.

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EIGHT

A X I M I L I

I glided down in the sky and over the road. Through the car window below I could see Cassie in an angled view that improved with distance. She was staring out the window. She looked… Preoccupied. She appeared lost in thought and unaware.

The Yeerk in her head was likely still ransacking through her memory for every last scrap of exploitable tactical knowledge. Or, worse, the parasite had already moved on from reconnaissance; and whatever she was doing to Cassie, the slug was so busy doing it to her that she couldn't be bothered to show any outside attention or interest.

… Yeerks were known to… Play… with their hosts. To use a host mind as endless entertainment. Sometimes in relatively inane ways, but most often not. The tortures and cruelty they inflicted only reinforced why death was always preferable to infestation. The thought of Cassie experiencing this made me feel physically ill, even if she had brought it on herself.

The sooner we freed her, the better. For all of us and for her own recovery.

My exhaustion was heavy as I flew, but I was accustomed to several nights without sleep. The scant hour I’d gotten earlier this morning was enough for me to function, but I would need real rest in the coming days. I wasn’t sure how much I would be able to get.

My concerns were in the forefront of my thoughts: by now, there should have been an attack. There should have been a trap, or an ambush. By now there should have been some kind of a Yeerk response to a major victory on this level.

None had come.

The disparity was pressing: I no longer believed I was here, now, flying above Cassie’s mother’s car, to watch for an actual immediate threat. I was here for a different reason: providing pressure. Letting the slug know we were watching. Letting Cassie know that even in the grips of the truly foolish decision she had made, she was not without friends.

I feared the likelihood of that Yeerk trying anything was low. I feared it was because the slug already had what she wanted.

Because, for reasons that I was only guessing at, the Yeerk did not appear to have informed her superiors of who the members of our group were. Nor had she taken the accolades and easy climb to power that awaited any Yeerk who captured a morph-capable host.

These omissions were puzzling. They were alarming. This Yeerk's choices didn't make any strategic sense… Unless she was working towards some other goal I couldn’t identify.

It frightened me. An enemy who did not move in predictable ways was dangerous. And nothing about this Yeerk was expected or predictable.

This situation was forcing me to reevaluate my place in this group. I thought that I'd known Cassie. I'd fought beside her many times. I’d come to believe she understood what was at stake. But clearly she did not. She would never have put the rest of us at risk in this way if she did.

Worse, Marco said she chose it. To try to save a human child, yes, but he'd said she willingly chose infestation!

Why she would do such a thing? Surely she understood that this now put us all at risk. Surely she understood that the greatest immediate danger we now faced was her.

And it was not that I didn't sympathize. I would've also hesitated while contemplating killing an innocent child to destroy a Yeerk. But instead, she’d done something truly stupid. Her choice solved nothing. It was something I was not fully surprised Cassie would do.

Now we were all in an unworkable situation: a Yeerk infesting a human who could morph. A human who knew all our secrets, all our allies, and all our weaknesses. The slug would have to die, and soon. Surely Cassie understood that.

I paced the car below me. It slowed and turned, moving into the neat gridlike housing complex where Rachel, Prince Jake, and Marco all lived. I watched her exit the vehicle and open her front door. I felt conflicted.

… There were not… Often… Times that I truly regretted my brother's abrupt decision to break our laws, but right now? In this crisis, out of all others? Yes.

Right now, I did. I very, very much did.

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NINE

T O B I A S

Rachel’s window was open when I flew by. I angled down and blew through the open space, then turned sharply and flared to land on her bed. She wasn’t in her room.

<Rachel?> I asked. I kept my thought-speak narrow, even though she should be home alone. <You here?>

Her reply echoed up to her room. “Downstairs!”

Her door was open. I don’t like flying inside, but I got back into the stale air of the room and flapped gracelessly into the hall. My wingtips brushed the walls of the staircase on the way down.

I found her in the living room. She had her homework spread out on the floor in front of the TV. She was sitting with her back against the bottom of the couch.

<Social studies project?>

Her book was open in front of her with her pencil case holding the page in place. Leeza Gibbons gestured silently on the muted TV, microphone in hand.

I fluttered down to the carpet.

“Yup.” She finished writing a sentence. She straightened up and stretched, pen in hand. “I’m almost done, I just need to do the conclusion.”

<Cool. Jake and Marco know about the meeting later today,> I said. <Oh, and there's a meeting later today, right after school. My meadow.>

She rolled her eyes.

“There had better be,” she griped. “Nothing about this makes any sense.” She scowled, “what is that slug doing? Why weren't we attacked as soon as Ax and I got out there?” She put her pen down and threw up her hands. “I can’t believe she's trying to take Cassie back home. Does she think we’re stupid?” She made a face. “Is she stupid?”

I shifted from foot to foot on the carpet. Ax had already filled me in earlier.

<Did she… Do anything?> I asked. <Did she say anything to you? Or to her parents?>

She chewed the inside of her lip. “Yeah,” she said. “But…” She hesitated. She looked conflicted.

<... But what?> Rachel wasn't usually unsure. It worried me.

She shook her head. “You’ll think it’s stupid. It is stupid. It was just the Yeerk messing with me.”

I cocked my head at her and waited.

“... Ugh…” she said. When she spoke, she sounded embarrassed.

“I… I thought it was her, okay? For a couple minutes.” She tossed her hair out of her face, “and I know,” she said louder, “I know. It’s stupid. I know it wasn’t her.”

<That Yeerk that infested Jake tried the same thing,> I said. <You remember? The first thing that slug tried was to get us to believe it was him. And he almost did.> I willed her to believe me. <There’s nothing to be ashamed of.>

There wasn't. Yeerks are fantastic at acting.

“This is so dumb,” she said. “Why would she bother when she knows we know? Pretending doesn’t make any sense.”

I ruffled my feathers, <mind games, maybe? Trying to psych you out?>

“I don’t know.” She sighed and leaned back. “Even if it was her, it’s not like it would change anything. We’re still going to kill her.”

I felt a tinge of worry. She sounded like she was trying awfully hard to convince herself of that.

<... Did she say something to you?> I asked warily. I almost never saw Rachel like this.

She shook her head.

“At first she just…” She made a frustrated sound. She stopped. “No.”

She looked up at the ceiling.

“Okay,” she said. “Okay, she hugged her dad,” she moved her head back down and locked eyes with me, “and I swear, Tobias: I thought it was her. Not the Yeerk: her. It was like… The way she hugged him.” She looked upset. “... It was like she didn’t know if she’d get another chance. It looked like her.”

My heart sank. I didn’t know what to say. She sounded like she at least half-believed it.

<Rachel… > I said, <It’s a Yeerk. You know that. She’s trying to get a rise out of you. She’s messing with you.> I didn't like this. She knew better.

She shrugged carelessly. “Yeah. I don’t know what she’s doing.” She sighed and closed her social studies book.

“I can’t concentrate anymore,” she said. “I’ll finish this later.” She glanced my way. “I'm gonna make a sandwich. And then I might fall asleep. I didn't get much last night.”

<I'll stay with you,> I said. <Just in case. Ax has watch right now, and it's only a couple hours until the meeting anyway.>

She smiled at me and started to gather up her stuff.

“Thanks, Tobias,” she said. “I'd like that.”

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TEN

M A R C O

“Okay, here’s a question,” I said brightly. “How, how, I ask, are we not all dead or infested?”

We were in Tobias’s meadow after school: Jake, Rachel, Ax, and me. We were standing around totally freaking out. Tobias was there, too, but he was freaking out in his tree.

We were only five of the six who should have been there.

<That Yeerk has to have fed by now,> Ax said. <Marco's question is nessecary. The slug has gone to the pool.>

“Yeah, it’s Wednesday,” I said. “Wednesday afternoon. Cassie and that Controller kid both went missing Monday afternoon. There’s no way she hasn’t been there.”

We all looked at each other.

“You were closest to her when her parents picked her up,” Jake said to Rachel. He grimaced. “Did she… Do anything? Did that slug say anything to you?”

Rachel sighed. She looked unsure.

That scared me. Rachel is many things: beautiful, fearless, aggressive, utterly crazy… But almost never unsure. She’s decisive. As in, decisively trying to take on five Hork-Bajir at once during a battle. Just to see if she can.

She looked ticked about being unsure.

“Yes?” She asked tentatively. She said it like she wasn’t sure she wanted to say anything at all. “But it… Jake, it was weird. She—” Rachel looked frustrated. She scowled and looked at the ground, “look. I know how this is going to sound, okay? I know. But… I thought it was Cassie. And not the Yeerk. For just a couple minutes. I thought it might have been her.”

Ax swung a stalk eye around and stared at her.

“What does that mean!?” I demanded. I didn't like the way she said it. She didn't sound like she meant the Yeerk was trying to trick her.

Sometimes, if a Yeerk isn't paying attention, if the host tries as hard as they can, it's possible to fight back and grab for control. But Rachel didn’t sound like she was saying Cassie fought hard enough to break through. She sounded like she was saying….

Rachel bit her lip. “She hugged her dad,” she said. "It was the way she hugged her dad. I thought it was her."

Jake and I both started to say something at the exact same time. She crossed her arms. Her angry glare cut us both off.

“Look, I know how that sounds, okay? I know! But... I thought it was her. Not the Yeerk: Cassie.”

I snorted.

“Fantastic,” I said. “She's messing with Rachel.” I threw up my hands, “at least now we know she’s not intelligent.”

She rolled her eyes at me.

<Rachel… C’mon. We talked about this,> Tobias said. <You’ve seen how good Controllers are at playing a role, you know how good the acting can be.> He was trying to let her down easy. <You saw exactly what the Yeerk wanted you to see.>

She kept her arms crossed. She glared back at him and didn’t say anything.

<... But… What is this Yeerk doing?> Tobias asked us. <Does she really think that we’ll let her take over Cassie’s life? I mean, why bother with this? She’s seen Cassie’s memories… She knows we’ll kill her.>

I pointed at him up on his branch. “Bingo. That’s what I’m worried about.” I dropped my hand. “What's her ace? What does that Yeerk have on us that makes her so confident that she can pull off talking Cassie home and making her a host?”

We all looked at Ax.

<I don't know,> he said. <We...> He sounded like he really didn't want to say anything. <We… Need to consider that there have been no attacks. Ambushes have not taken place that should have.> He pawed the ground with his front hoof, <we must consider that she has made a deal of some kind with the Yeerk.>

Jake went pale. He turned to me with slightly wild eyes.

“What, exactly, did you see happen yesterday?” He demanded. “Everything, again. Start to finish.”

I went over it: searching for Cassie. Saving the kid. The kid being a Controller. Cassie trying to convince her to make peace. All three of us arguing. Cassie choosing to let the Yeerk infest her to stop me from killing a Controller who had to die because Cassie couldn't bring herself to do it.

Jake frowned when I finished.

“Ax?” He asked. “How likely— I mean, is there any chance, any at all— that that slug is actually interested in making peace?”

Ax stiffened. His tail blade twitched.

<Peace?> He asked incredulously. He sounded furious. Scathing. <No, Prince Jake, the slug isn’t making peace. Clearly she’s willing to do and say whatever she can to remain alive and sustain access to Cassie’s morphing ability. That’s the Yeerk’s objective,> he scoffed, <not peace.>

He sounded upset. Agitated.

We all looked at each other.

“Okay," Jake dragged his hand across his face. “The Yeerk wants a host that can morph. She thinks she can take Cassie home and not get killed.” He looked around at all of us. “Maybe it’s a message to us: don’t go after Cassie and we don’t get infested?”

I hoped it wasn’t true. I didn’t like Cassie much, but I didn’t wish that on her. That was….

Rachel snorted. “Yeah, like that will stop us from rescuing her and getting payback.”

Tobias shifted on his perch. I glanced up at him, but he didn’t say anything. Rachel looked up, too, and frowned. Jake was busy studying Ax and forming new worry lines on his face.

I said, “Erek can hopefully tell us more. He called me this morning.”

I was immediately the center of attention. I liked it less than I normally did.

“He wants us to swing by today,” I said. “Jake and I specifically, at least.”

“We're flying over there right after this," Jake said. “Whatever's going on, he knows more than we do.”

“I’m going,” Rachel said instantly. Like anyone expected anything different.

<I’m not,> Tobias said right after her. <I have to go hunting. I’ve been too busy to eat much all day.>

“Ax?” Jake asked.

<Someone needs to remain on watch,> he said stiffly. <Cassie is already unattended now.>

“All right,” Jake said. He rubbed his eyes. “We’re going to head to Erek’s. We’ll let you guys know what’s going on later, once we know more.”

He looked around at us. “That's it. Let’s get in the air and get some answers.”

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ELEVEN

J A K E

Nobody spoke on the flight over to Erek’s house.

When we got there, all three of us demorphed in the ankle-high grass behind the garage. When we finished Rachel tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, “come on.” She walked over to the garage's side door.

She reached up to a dirty pollen-coated keypad mounted to the siding and pulled up the cover. She keyed in a code. When the door clicked and beeped, she opened it and walked inside. She went straight to a box on a shelf along the wall, opened it, and started pulling out pants, shoes and socks, and a top.

“Seriously?!” Marco scoffed behind her. “You have clothes stashed here?”

“Mr. King offered,” Rachel said. She pulled the shirt over her head. “It’s not my fault if you two want to look like the Spandex Duo everywhere we go.”

Neither of us laughed. We were both way too tense. Marco’s face twisted in a way that said he wished none of us had to be here.

By the time Rachel finished dressing the door from the garage to the house was opening. Erek stepped out and waved.

“Jake,” he said. He looked relieved. “Marco. Rachel.”

“Hi, Erek.” Rachel said. Marco waved back.

“You wanted to talk?” I asked. I was a little tense.

He nodded. He jerked his thumb behind him. “You all had better come inside.”

The three of us fell in behind him and filed into the house. Mr. King waved from the breakfast nook. He was busy watering a houseplant.

We followed Erek through the kitchen and into the living room. I sat down on the couch with Rachel and Marco on either side of me. Erek sat across from us in the easy chair.

“Cassie showed up here last night,” he said immediately. “Or rather, the Yeerk infesting her did.”

Marco muttered something foul. Rachel leaned forward and nodded like she wasn’t totally surprised.

“What did she want?” I asked apprehensively. Why go to the Chee?

“A portable pool,” Erek said. “Self-contained, with an attached Kandrona. Personal life support for a Yeerk.”

Rachel sucked in a startled breath. Marco cursed again with a lot more emphasis.

“What did you do?!” I demanded. I almost jumped out of my seat.

The Chee are programmed not to kill. To avoid causing harm. Would refusing to provide a Yeerk access to Kandrona rays qualify as harm? Why hadn’t he held Cassie prisoner here until the Yeerk was begging not to die, then had one of the Chee keep her alive and contained?

“You said no,” I said. I wanted him to say he had. Of course he wouldn’t—

“I said yes,” Erek replied, and my heart stopped beating. His expression turned pained at the look on my face.

“—In exchange for your and your families’ freedoms,” he amended instantly, and my chest wrenched.

“She’s running.”

There was something brittle in the way Marco said it. He met my eyes when I turned my head. “She's going on her own side,” he said. “That’s why we’re all okay. You were right: that's the price of everybody’s freedoms: Cassie’s.”

I looked away. I swallowed hard. My eyes stung.

“... Oh,” Rachel breathed. She sounded horrified. “It's bargaining with her,” her voice was raw. “I think…” She shook her head, “I think… She might have made a deal earlier. She frowned, “I… Maybe… Maybe think I might have seen Cassie earlier today. As in, Cassie. Not the Yeerk.”

“Hmmmmmm,” Erek said noncommittally. “The Yeerk was in control when she was here last night. I didn’t see any hint of Cassie at all.” He looked between Rachel and me regretfully, “as far as I can tell, it’s a standard infestation.”

My stomach rolled over.

“No, I saw her this morning,” Rachel said obstinately. “I think it was actually her in the car. She spoke to me.”

“What?!” I yelped. I whipped around. “You didn’t mention that!”

“I didn’t know what to think!” She said defensively. "I didn’t know! It could have been the Yeerk messing with me!” She scowled. She folded her arms and glared at me. Then at Marco, then at Erek.

“What I know is what I saw,” she said. “And I saw Cassie hug her dad next to the ambulance. And it was the Yeerk watching me before we got in the car.” She shook her head, “but halfway through the ride home she kind of gasped, and… Grabbed my hand…” She grimaced, “I thought at first it was just the Yeerk messing with me, but… It might have been her.”

She sighed again. She shook her head.

"I don't know,” she muttered. “She said that she wasn’t okay,” she looked like she didn’t know what to do with that, “she said that maybe things were getting better.”

She made a face and leaned back against the couch.

I tried not to roll my eyes. I saw acting that good every single day.

“That doesn’t—” I began, heated.

“—No!” She snapped back at me. “You didn’t see what— No, Jake! It’s been bothering me since this morning! I’m pretty sure it was actually her!” She was breathing hard when she stopped talking.

I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes.

No matter how much I wanted to believe it, I couldn’t take the risk. We couldn't take the chance that Rachel was right.

Years of friendship made me look up before Marco said anything. I turned my head when he was barely opening his mouth.

“What?” I asked him wearily. Because it was something.

He sighed. “This ‘deal?’ If Rachel’s right, and that is what it is…? Jake, it’s not enough to make the slug think she can get away with infesting Cassie. She’s got something else on us.”

He looked down. Then, after a second, he said, “... Man... Poor Cassie.”

I glanced back at Erek. He nodded seriously.

“I doubt this is true,” he said, “but… The Yeerk told me she has information set up on some type of dead man’s switch. It's why we didn’t restrain her, I couldn’t take the risk.” He looked frustrated. “Also, she’ll be meeting me here Friday morning. I’m transporting the pool to a location she has prepared.”

Marco and Rachel exchanged a dark look past me.

“Great,” I muttered. I had no idea what to do.

“Is there anything else?” I asked Erek wearily. I assumed no, and I was thankful for that: I wanted to leave. I was too exhausted to think after the last few days.

But Erek nodded instead. He started to speak again and I felt a sudden rush of resentment towards him. I tried not to let it show on my face.

“I should be able to free Cassie,” he said, and my eyebrows shot up. I instantly felt guilty about feeling that way about him. And then I felt… Hope.

Wonderful, fragile hope.

“I’m delivering a pool to her without a host control device attached,” Erek said. “She clearly expects it, but she didn't explicitly ask me for one.” He sounded proud. “So I'm choosing to interpret that as an addition that's not necessary.”

He smiled. It wasn't nice. “I extrapolated the Yeerk’s feeding pattern: she’ll already be uncomfortable by Friday morning. She’s demanded modifications as well, which I plan to take plenty of time to make.” Smugness crept into his voice, “by the time I’m finished she’ll be distressed enough to use the pool immediately. Cassie will be able to walk right out.”

Some of the extra weight dragging at my shoulders since Monday night fell away. Not all of it, but some.

“Yes! That’s perfect!” Rachel leaned forward beside me. Her grin was just as ugly as Erek's until her face fell.

“It’s a rough couple of days for Cassie,” she said. “She's going through a lot. We’ve got to be there for her this weekend.”

Marco snorted. “Yeah,” he muttered, “and make sure to kick her—”

“---Hey, thanks,” I said, standing up. Erek did, too. So did Marco and Rachel. “We all really appreciate this.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” Erek said. His voice was heavy. “She knew what to say. That made things very difficult.”

I nodded. “I know. It's not your fault.”

There wasn't much to say after that.

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TWELVE

T O B I A S

<What do you think she's doing?> I asked Ax pessimistically. I've been holding off for hours, but the guilt of missing her was eating at me.

He shifted his weight below me and stretched his tail.

<Nothing good,> he replied. <Of that, I am sure. Whatever it is, she has been doing it for almost five of your hours.>

Ax was keeping track of the time for both of us. I was pretty sure he also felt bad. Both of us had somehow missed Cassie earlier, despite keeping close watch. One minute she'd been getting back into bed after going downstairs, and a couple minutes later her window was cracked and her room was empty.

That had been five hours ago. Neither of us were looking forward to telling Jake in the morning.

I started to say something else, but movement from the east caught my attention. An owl. Much more importantly, an owl that wasn't flying like an owl.

<... Heads up,> I said to Ax. <She's back.>

I dropped off my perch and wheeled around as I flapped in the dead night air. I followed her at a distance while I watched her cross over the ground and fields of her farm. I watched her fly straight to the cornfield closest to her house.

Cassie walked out and headed to the back door maybe two minutes later.

<She has returned,> Ax observed he sounded angry and subdued. <Whatever that Yeerk was doing tonight, it was doing so to solidify and entrench the infestation.>

<Yeah,> I said, <well, that Yeerk can entrench all she wants. She's gonna get a nasty surprise from Erek tomorrow and that'll be the end of that.>

He was quiet as I flew above the house. Too quiet; Ax had been reserved and withdrawn ever since Marco broke the news. I’d been trying to get him open up about it all night.

<I’m… Gonna try and talk,> I told Ax. <I want to see if the slug tries to pretend to be her.>

Ax said nothing back.

<Rachel is convinced she actually saw Cassie,> I said a few seconds later. <We need to know what we’re up against. If she's that good at faking….>

When Jake was infested, the only lucky break we got was when the Yeerk who took him over freaked out at Ax. If that slug had been able to hide a genuine reaction… It would've been the end of all of us.

If the Yeerk infesting Cassie was even better at playing human than that… It worried me. Even if we were supposedly safe with the deal Erek made. Even with Erek's plan to free Cassie tomorrow.

Ax turned a stalk eye to me from inside the treeline. Then he started silently morphing northern harrier again.

<Thanks, man.> I said, and I took off for Cassie’s house. I could see her through the front porch window. She was standing at the fridge, lit by the glow.

I perched on the porch railing and waited. I walked up and down a few times to catch her attention.

I saw her turn. I saw her recognize me. Saw her freeze and then shrug. The fridge door swung closed. She turned for the kitchen door and I took off into the dead night air.

<Heading to the barn,> I told Ax. He dropped from the branch he'd flown up to and flapped hard to follow me through the hayloft door.

I swooped inside and perched on a crossbeam in the rafters, like usual. It felt weird. Ax settled down across from me about ten feet off.

Cassie was already sitting on a hay bale near the side door. She watched me as I landed.

It looked like her. It really did. It was her mannerisms. Her body movements.

Which meant nothing.

She stared at me, silent. We both looked at each other until I finally got tired of waiting.

<Rachel says she saw Cassie hug her dad,> I said.

I wasn’t convinced. I believed Rachel believed she’d seen the real Cassie. I wanted to see if the slug was going to try to pretend to be her to me and Ax.

She bit her lip, thinking hard. Her expression alarmed me; it really looked like Cassie. It really did.

I suddenly understood exactly how Rachel felt.

“What am I supposed to say?” Cassie said at last. Her voice was exhausted. Quiet and strained. “You can’t trust that it’s me talking to you. I can’t want you to.” She sounded frustrated. “Because if it wasn’t me talking to you, trusting lies coming out of my mouth could be deadly for you.”

I glared at her.

<What is that?> I asked Ax. <What is this Yeerk doing?>

<... I’m... Not sure,> he said slowly. <This is a very unusual tactic. It’s almost as if…>

She kept talking.

“I wish I could tell you that you could trust me…” She said, and her voice sounded so earnest and sincere that it hurt to hear.

That scared the crap out of me.

<Is this thing really trying this?> I asked him. <That slug has to know we both know she's full of—>

“—But just because she’s letting me speak now doesn’t mean she won’t use that against all of us in the future,” Cassie said. “Lie to you once you—”

And she just stopped. Like hitting the pause button on a VCR. Her face froze for a fraction of a second and went distant. Like she was daydreaming.

<Tobias,> Ax said quietly, urgently. <That may actually be Cassie.>

<No way,> I scoffed. <You cannot be serious.>

I watched her sit there, unmoving. It was kind of freaking me out.

<You okay?> I asked her.

Her body language shifted. Her hand came up and she made a ‘stop’ gesture I’d never seen her make before.

“Discussing,” she snapped out, superior and curt and dismissive. It sounded nothing like Cassie. It sounded exactly how Controllers sound when they aren't bothering to pretend to be human.

The Yeerk dropped her hand back to her lap.

<She is voluntary!> Ax snarled to me. He sounded disgusted. <She has taken some kind of deal!>

Anger came next.

<That Yeerk must be truly desperate,> he raged. <I’ve heard rumors of this, more vicious Yeerks allocating access for the host…> he sounded like he hated saying anything even slightly complementary about the slug's abilities, <… But it's for torture purposes,> he said. <To taunt the host. To keep them in line and break them down. I've never heard of using it like this.>

He sounded furious.

<That Yeerk must greatly enjoy the morphing power to even consider relinquishing this kind of control to her,> he practically spat. <Her own fellow slugs would be appalled at this.>

<... No way,> I repeated. <Cassie wouldn’t…. >

I went silent while I considered that.

Would she? Marco said she’d been trying to make peace on Tuesday. If that was actually Cassie that had been talking to us just now, then that was more freedom than I’d ever seen a Yeerk give to a host in the entire time I’d been a part of this war.

Cassie's body language changed again. Her movement altered. It turned familiar. Her eyes flicked up to Ax, then back over to me.

“She got mad at me,” she said. “We…” She looked away and hesitated. She looked back. She looked embarrassed.

“We have an agreement,” she said, “on how this… This Controller thing is going to work out. I broke it—"

<I told you!> Ax ground out. He sounded livid. <She is voluntary, Tobias!>

“—So. She got mad, cut me off.” Cassie finished. And it was her. I was pretty sure it was Cassie.

That didn’t make me feel any better.

<What kind of agreement?> Ax asked. He did an impressive job keeping his feelings out of his voice. It was almost impossible to tell how angry he was.

<There must be a reason,> I said to him. <Marco said she was trying to make peace.>

“Um.” Cassie said. Her voice shook. She sounded ashamed. Embarrassed and upset. “I have control if I want it. No endangering her life. No endangering my life.” She paused, “she can cut me off and take over if it's a life or death situation.”

<Wow.> I said to Ax. <That’s…>

<Rachel is correct. The slug is bargaining with her,> Ax growled. <To keep access to the morphing power. So Cassie will keep us from killing her.>

I could see him putting it together, stiff and still on his perch.

<Marco is also correct,> he said after a few seconds. <She is defecting. That Yeerk is going on her own side.>

<That doesn’t make her voluntary,> I snapped. <It makes her a hostage.>

“It's better than the alternative,” Cassie whispered, as though she’d heard me.

<The alternative only takes three days,> Ax sniped back. <At most.>

I’d rarely heard him like this. He only got this kind of mean when he talked to Yeerks.

Cassie blinked and went quiet. I got the uncomfortable feeling that’s not what she’d meant.

<Prince Jake needs to know,> Ax said.

<After school tomorrow,> I replied. <It’s not critical. If we were compromised it would already be way too late.>

<Then we should attempt to get more—>

“---Well,” she said, and she snapped up to her feet. That motion and tone of voice… It was enough for me to know it wasn’t Cassie.

“I'm glad she got that little heart-to-heart out,” the Yeerk said, and she walked over to the door. She paused. She turned Cassie’s head and glanced back at Ax.

“I'll sleep well knowing my own personal surveillance team is watching over me,” she needled, grinning.

Tame, for a Yeerk. Ax still bristled.

She turned away and reached for the door handle. Her whole body stiffened and froze. She turned back around again and stared straight at Ax. Cassie's face was suddenly serious.

It… still wasn't Cassie.

In a suddenly much more respectful voice, she said, “in the interests of a good working relationship with Cassie… I apologize.” She frowned slightly. “I am sure you both are stressed. So am I.”

Then she turned again. She opened the door and left.

I stared at the closed wooden door afterward. Too stunned to move.

<Did that Yeerk just apologize to you?!> I demanded. I wanted to make sure that had been real.

<... She… Did…> Ax said faintly.

Then, more strongly, he said, <this is troubling, Tobias. That Yeerk is negotiating with her. She’s trying to make her a permanent host. She wants shelter from us long-term.>

<Well, that's not gonna—> I said, and I stopped cold.

I considered.

… Would she?

I thought about it: everything I knew about her from all the time I'd known her. Everything she had ever done:

Cassie, forever trying to get me to spare skunk kits or opossum cubs or whatever cute baby animal she came across. Cassie, always insistent we kill as minimally as we could. Cassie, resolute that morphing other people was unethical.

… Cassie, always troubled by what we were doing in this war. Cassie, always helping treat wounded animals here in the barn. Cassie, leaving the group and telling us she couldn't do it anymore, that she couldn’t kill anymore.

Sweet, kind, gentle Cassie, who just wanted to help. Who just wanted to make it all better.

I looked back at Ax. I said something else I shouldn't repeat.

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THIRTEEN

J A K E

On Thursday, I tried to rescue my grades. I turned in two makeup papers and took a makeup test. I barely got a B minus on the test.

Marco and I ate lunch together. We didn’t say anything to each other. Again.

I went home after school. I did an hour of homework. Then I got up and stripped down to my morphing outfit. I opened my window and morphed the peregrine. I flew out into the late afternoon.

Everybody else was already there in Tobias’ meadow when I showed up.

“Hey, Jake.” Marco called out as I glided down. “The whole gang’s here early.”

<Yeah. Everybody’s stressed,> I said. I landed and started demorphing. <This situation is way weird.>

No one said anything. I waited until I didn’t have a beak, and said, “I guess the question is: what do we do? Do we let Erek handle it?"

<I dunno,> Tobias said, <but Ax and I talked to her last night. We talked to her, Jake. Cassie.>

“You what?!" I yelled, wheeling around.

<The conversation was illuminating.> Ax said pensively. He was standing beneath Tobias's tree. He twisted a stalk eye up to look at him. <She’s… voluntary.>

He said that like a curse. Like a slur. Something disgusting and foul.

<It was… It was so weird, Jake,> Tobias said. <She told us not to trust her, that it was her but that the Yeerk might try to use that and trick us. She went quiet and said the slug cut her off. She said they had an agreement.>

I looked between them, lost for words.

<There were terms,> Ax said. He sounded disgusted. <No harm to either party’s life. Cassie retains partial control. The Yeerk can take over if the situation is desperate.>

Rachel made a wounded sound. Marco stared at Ax like he'd just told us summer vacation was cancelled.

I stared at him, too. “You can’t be serious," I said. “You can’t actually believe that.”

I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t afford to believe that might be possible.

<That Yeerk mouthed off at Ax right at the end. She took a shot at him,> Tobias ruffled his feathers. <I think Cassie said something to her. She turned around and apologized to him.>

I raised my eyebrows. Marco spoke up from behind me. “No way.”

<Yes, way,> Tobias shot back. <Way way.> Then, <Jake--- I think… I think we actually talked to her last night.>

He shot a look down at Rachel. She crossed her arms.

“I told you,” she said. She glared up at him. “I said it was weird. I knew something wasn’t right.”

She huffed and tossed her hair back. She made a face.

We all exchanged dark looks.

“Nobody's watching her right now," Marco pointed out. He looked around at everyone. "Are we okay with that?"

I glanced between Ax and Tobias.

<Cassie's been working in the barn all afternoon,> Tobias said. <She was out laying in one of the fields earlier today. I don't think she's going anywhere.>

<No,> Ax agreed. <The Yeerk is bargaining with her for survival. She wants Cassie to harbor her as a host. Permanently. She will do nothing to jeopardize that.>

I grunted. "Sucks for the Yeerk: Erek’s getting her out tonight. Cassie will be happy, since that slug gets to live --- that's more than she deserves."

<Jake, man,> Tobias ventured, <I don't think she's gonna--->

“Cassie didn't choose this!" Rachel snapped. She glared up at his perch. "I know her. She's my best friend! I know she wasn't thinking about anything else but saving that kid!" She scowled at him, "that ugly worm has her hostage! She traded all our freedoms for hers!"

He ruffled his feathers and looked away. He didn't say anything back.

<... We must consider the possibility that she will not end the infestation,> Ax said quietly. <If the Yeerk was successful in bargaining with her...>

“She saved us all by taking a deal,” I said. I tried not to let how upset I was come out in my voice. “That's it. That's all this is. And I don't even blame her; I've been infested. It's terrible. If I'd been offered the choice….”

I scowled.

I wanted to think that I would've been strong. I wanted to believe that I would have never made any kind of deal from hell with a Yeerk. Not in any situation. But I knew better. I knew what it was like. If I'd thought it would have actually worked….

I don't know. I don't know what I would have done. I didn't want to think about it.

“You believe that?” Marco scoffed. “Yeerks don't give hosts control. Ever. And even if they do…” he shook his head. “Remember Chapman? The guy could barely move like normal. He talked like he was drunk! How does giving Cassie control even matter?”

“Cassie talked to me in the car, remember?” Rachel asked quietly. “She didn't sound drunk. She sounded like Cassie.”

I looked at Ax. He looked uncomfortable.

<... I do not know every last thing that High Command knows about Yeerks, of course,> he said. He sounded a little embarrassed. <I was only an aristh, you understand. But there is… Precedent. For what Tobias and I witnessed last night.>

We all waited. Ax dug into the ground with a hoof. <Sometimes the other warriors aboard the ship shared things they’d encountered amongst themselves. They traded war stories.>

He shook his head. It looked a little weird with him holding his stalk eyes in place.

<I have never before seen this myself, you understand. From what I have overheard the method is very rare. Yeerks are a species; there is some variance in their abilities and genetic traits. Most are not capable enough.>

“Capable of what!?” Marco demanded. “You're stalling, Ax-man. Spit it out.”

<Capable of permitting host control without relinquishing their hold on the mind and body,> Ax said gingerly. <It's… Sometimes used to help break difficult hosts. An advanced torture technique. This particular Yeerk seems to be using it in a much more unique way.>

Rachel's voice rose. “They can do that!? Those nasty little slugs can do that!?”

<No. Most cannot. From what I understand the few that can are typically chosen for strategic goals. For high-level host conquest.>

Ax looked away. He kept scanning the area with his stalk eyes. <You must understand: I was not, strictly speaking, cleared for this knowledge. Because I am Elfangor's brother, sometimes the warriors around me were more… Lax.> He stared off into the trees with his main eyes. <I should not even be aware of higher-level strategic intelligence such as this.> He said that a little bitterly.

We all stared. No one had anything to say.

“Well, that's great,” Marco muttered. “Way to give me a whole brand-spanking-new set of nightmares to wake up from.”

I took a deep breath.

“It doesn't matter,” I said. “No matter what deal she took, she's not going to choose infestation over freedom.” I looked around at my friends, “no one would do that. No one would choose that as an option when they could get out of it scott-free.”

“She only has maybe ten hours left,” Rachel said. “The slug is supposed to meet up with Erek early tomorrow morning. It'll be over then.”

I nodded. I looked at Tobias.

“I can't be there tonight,” I said wearily. “If I get one more C, we can say goodbye to me going on missions. I'll be grounded right through the holidays. My mom is not happy with how I'm doing in school, and I still have to finish the last third of my social studies project tonight.”

Marco snorted. “Don't remind me. I barely have more than my introduction done. I can't go either; my dad is more forgiving, but not that forgiving. I can't get a D this semester.”

I looked at Rachel, but she was already shaking her head.

“Sara's got a field trip tomorrow,” she said. “ I promised my mom I'd help her pack. And I have to get some decent sleep before I present tomorrow. I tossed and turned all last night.”

Marco rolled his eyes. “You look fine to me.”

“It's called good concealer,” she snapped back at him. “Without it I look like a raccoon from the bags under my eyes.”

“Okay,” I said. I was trying to head off an argument. “Tobias? Ax? Do you think you guys can handle it? I want somebody out there with her, wherever this place is, just in case something goes wrong.”

<I… > Ax said hesitantly <I can—>

<—Ax needs to sleep,> Tobias cut over him strongly. <He was up on watch again all of last night and into the early morning so I could get some rest. I don't care how good Andalites are at staying up, he hasn't gotten more than four hours of sleep in the last few days.>

Ax hung his head. He kept one of his stalk eyes on Tobias and the other scanning the trees. He didn't argue.

“Can you do it?” I asked Tobias. “I know we'd all feel better if there's somebody keeping an eye on her.”

<Yeah, Jake,> he replied. <I can head over to Erek's around midnight and hang out until she shows up. I'll fit it into my busy social calendar somehow.>

I smiled at him tiredly. “Thanks.”

<You got it.>

The meeting broke up after that. Ax wandered off into the woods. Marco and Rachel started morphing a little before I did. I was halfway through my arms sprouting feathers and my skull grinding as it lightened when Tobias said, <Jake, we need to talk. I really, really don't think she's going to ditch that Yeerk.>

My stomach rolled over. I kept morphing.

<That's why I have you going out there,> I said wearily. <I know Cassie pretty well, but… I'd rather have you out there with her. Just in case.>

He didn't say anything else, even though I kind of got the sense he wanted to. I knew I should probably stay and talk to him about it, but I was just too tired to.

I finished morphing and flapped hard to head home.