Текст книги "Animorphs - 02 - The Visitor"

Автор книги: Katherine Alice Applegate

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"It was scary," I said. "But nothing happened." It wasn't exactly a lie. Kind of a lie, but not exactly.

Cassie thought for a moment. Her eyes went blank. Suddenly I knew what was going on: Tobias was talking to her privately. He was telling her something. She nodded like she was agreeing.

Tobias didn't know what happened with Visser Three. But he did know that I was pretty freaky when I came up out of that basement.

"I think we should find a way for someone to go along with Rachel," Cassie suggested.

"What are you going to do, turn into a flea and ride on my back?" I asked her.

She smiled and gave a little shrug. "I'm just saying we should think about it."

"Okay then," Jake said. "Rachel goes in one more time. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"We haven't gotten lucky since we walked through that construction site and met our first alien," Marco said.

"Maybe that's going to change," I said. "I'm going in and I'm finding a way to hurt those creeps."

65 "That's not the only reason you're going back in there," Tobias said in my head. "You're not just doing it to hurt the Yeerks, you're going back in there because you want to help Melissa."

"Same thing," I said. I guess the others wondered who I was talking to.

66 Chapter Fifteen

It was a dark and stormy night.

Sorry, I've always wanted to write that. But it really was a dark and stormy night.

"Where is Jake?" I asked as we all got together down the street from Chapman's house.

Everyone else was there. Cassie and Marco were wearing raincoats, although it hadn't started raining yet. Tobias was overhead, trying to hold onto a branch in a tree while the wind tried to knock him off.

"Jake had to stay home," Marco said. "Some thing about his dad grounding him."

"Why would his dad ground him?"

"How do I know?" Marco said, sounding grouchy. "You know how parents are. Don't ask me to explain them."

I bit my lip. Somehow I felt more nervous with Jake being absent. The crazy wind whistling through the branches wasn't helping my confidence, either.

"I've spotted Fluffer," Tobias said so all could hear. "He's kind of torturing a little rat he's found. But at least it's not a shrew. "

"Look, I'm not a big fan of shrews just be cause I sort of was one." I took a deep breath.

"Okay, look, we can't always count on all of us being together, I guess. So we go without Jake."

I glanced at Cassie. She smiled blandly.

Something was going on with her, but I didn't have time to find out what.

"l'll scope out the area," Tobias volunteered. He opened his wings a little and was immediately propelled out of the tree by the wind. I watched as he rode it expertly, swooping quickly up into the air beyond the range of my weak human eyes.

After a while we saw something shooting over our heads at about fifty miles an hour. "All clear," Tobias called down as he shot past.

I felt strange. A little nauseous. A little scared. Everything seemed strange tonight. The weird thing was, I knew I'd feel better as soon as I morphed.

I concentrated. The first raindrop fell just as I felt my tail grow out behind me. By the time I had fallen to the ground, surrounded by the tent of my clothing, the rain had started for real.

"Oh, perfect," Marco said. "This just gets more and more fun."

"At least you have a raincoat," I said. "I have nothing but fur. And this rain makes it impossible to smell anything out here."

67 Cassie squatted next to me. She's just a normal-sized girl, but when you're a ten-pound cat any human being looks like Godzilla.

"Be careful, Rachel," Cassie said. And then she stroked my back. I started to move away, but she kept her hand on my back for a few seconds. Then, smiling mysteriously, she stood up.

I found I soon lost interest in Cassie's expression. Cats really don't have much interest in humans at all, unless food is involved.

"I'm out of here," I said. I took off at a medium run. Cats don't like rain. I could feel the cat brain's distaste. I'd always thought cats hated all water. But that wasn't Flufer's attitude. See, to him it was all about the smells and the sounds. Rain washes away scents. Without scents, a cat feels cut off and lost.

Almost as bad as losing smells is the fact that rain plopping all around you makes it hard to listen for the important sounds: the tiny high-pitched squeaks and the little furtive scritching noises.

Rain to cats is like being in the dark is to human beings. It just makes the whole world kind of boring.

So I ran toward the kitty door, actually looking forward to the friendly smells and sounds of home.

At least, that's what Fluffer was thinking. I was still wondering why Jake hadn't come. And I was wondering if it was some kind of bad omen. There was a bad feeling over this whole mission.

I knew my way around the Chapman home, both as a cat and as a human. And I was pretty sure I knew the routine. Last time Visser Three had made contact right at eight o'clock. If Visser Three communicated with Chapman at the same time every night, then I had arrived right on schedule.

Chapman was sitting on the couch, same as last time. And just as I'd hoped, at three minutes till eight he stood up and headed down toward the basement.

My whole plan was to go down there with him. I remembered the layout of the little secret room. I remembered the desk. I knew if I could somehow follow him down without him seeing me and then get under the desk, I would be invisible to him, and to the Visser Three hologram.

The problem was that the whole plan counted on Chapman not noticing me.

He headed for the basement door. I fell into step right behind him. The trick was to stay just inches behind his feet. From there he couldn't see me. But I had to watch his feet closely. If he hesitated, I could plow right into him. That would be a very un-catlike thing to do.

He walked. I kept pace perfectly, just behind.

He headed down the stairs. I figured this part would be easier. When people walk down stairs they usually look where they are going. They don't turn around and look behind them.

68 But one sound, one clumsy move, and I was finished.

We reached the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly Chapman stopped dead.

I leaped behind the couch. He looked around, like he'd heard a noise.

Or maybe he just sensed something.

I froze. I didn't move a muscle.

He started on toward the door. I fell into step behind him again.

"So, what's happening?"

I nearly had a heart attack.

My tail puffed up. My back fur went straight up. I almost bolted.

Chapman stopped and I nearly got entangled in his legs. His left foot moved. I dodged.

He backed up a little. I squirmed out of the way.

"lt's me, Jake. What's going on, Rachel?"

Jake?

Chapman opened the door of the secret room. He stepped through. I was right between his monstrously big feet. If he happened to glance down . . .

But he didn't. He didn't, and when he turned around to shut the door behind him, I bolted for the desk. I jammed my body as far back in the dark corner as I could.

I'd made it ... barely. I was alive ... so far.

"Rachel? Can you hear me?"

"Jake! Where are you? You scared me half to death. "

"Are we okay?" He sounded concerned.

Me, I was just angry.

"What do you MEAN are WE okay?" I yelled silently. Where are you?"

"Well ... I'm kind of on you."

"On me? Jake, this is not the time to be playing jokes. " Chapman sat down at the desk. His feet pushed beneath the desk, just narrowly missing me as I once again dodged nimbly out of the way.

69 "Sorry. I can't exactly see."

I kept my eyes focused on Chapman's feet.

Cats have incredible powers of concentration. I focused hard on those big feet, each almost as big as I was. I had to stay out of their way. That was the key to staying alive.

"Jake, we're in kind of a situation here. In like ten words or less, where are you"

"In ten words or less, I morphed," Jake said. "I'm a flea."

"Excuse me?" It would have been funny if I hadn't been so terrified. "Are you telling me you morphed into a flea? A flea?"

"Yeah. I'm on your back. Or your head. I can't tell. I don't really have eyes. At least not eyes that see anything I can understand. I mean, all I know is warm or not warm. I ... I think I can sense blood. That's about it. And I can kind of sense motion. Like when your hair stood up, I knew there was something going on around me."

"Jake, this is sick. This is beyond sick. What is the matter with you? A flea? Are you insane?

Just being a lizard made you sick. This is way worse. "

"Actually, it's kind of okay," he said. "I mean, I don't know how to explain it, but the flea mind is so limited it's not hard at all to control. All it knows is to move toward the sense of warm blood, and eat. It's like ... I don't know, like in a way I'm not even really in the flea because I can't see much or sense much. I expected it to be horrible, but when Cassie and Marco and I tested it out -"

"They're in on this with you?" Of course! That's why Cassie had made such a point of patting my head. She was depositing Jake on me.

"Rachel, we were worried about you. We figured someone should go along with you. Tobias said -"

"Ah, so Tobias is in on this, too. "

"Tobias said you were not telling us every thing. He wasn't sure why, or what it was you weren't telling. "

I sighed inwardly. I guess it's good to have friends who care about you. But on the other hand, Jake had practically made me run into Chapman. Besides, the idea of Jake morphing into a flea and crawling around in my fur just gave me the worst creeps you can imagine.

Suddenly the brilliant light went on.

Visser Three appeared in the room.

"Jake. The Visser is here in hologram. So don't distract me, okay? We're hiding under the desk about half an inch away from Chapman's foot. "

70 "Oh. But it doesn't matter if he sees you, right? I mean, he'll just figure you're the cat. No biggie. So you shouldn't be acting suspicious. "

I hesitated. Oh, well, it would have to come out sooner or later. "Um, Jake? That thing I didn't tell you? It's that Visser Three saw me in here last time. He told Chapman he should probably just . . . you know . . . kill me. He was worried I might be an Andalite in morph. " For a while Jake didn't say anything. I had the feeling he was trying to keep himself from yelling at me. He failed.

"Rachel, are you CRAZY? You came back down here after that? Are you INSANE?" But just then Chapman began to speak. "Welcome, Visser. Iniss two two six of the Sulp Niaar pool submits to you. May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you."

"And you," Visser Three said curtly. "Report."

"I have four new voluntary hosts, Visser," Chapman said. "Two are children recruited through The Sharing, the front organization. Of the two adults one is an agent for the FBI, a sort of policeman. He may be very -"

"FOOL!" Visser Three's artificial voice was flat, but still carried a load of anger. "Do I care about a handful of hosts? What have you learned of the Andalite bandits?"

"Visser, what can I do ... unless they show themselves?"

"They used Earth animals in the attack on the pool," Visser Three said. "They used powerful, dangerous Earth animals. Find out how they obtained such morphs. My experts here tell me such animals are rare on this part of the planet."

"Yes, Visser. I will do -"

"Yes. You will.

And we have another matter. We need six more human-Controllers, suitable for work as guards. They will be used to increase the guard around the Kandrona."

"What's happening?" Jake asked.

"Chapman is getting reamed by Visser Three. "

"Too bad Marco isn't here. He'd enjoy seeing Chapman get chewed out."

"He wants us bad," I said. "Or at least he wants the Andalites he thinks we are. He's put ting extra guards around the Kandrona. Human-Controllers."

"That's interesting, maybe he'll -"

The foot moved too quickly. The point of the shoe hit me in the ribs.

71 "Mrrrraaaoowwww!"

Chapman pushed back from the desk. He passed right through the Visser Three hologram.

For asecond I saw them united, as if they were one horrible creature.

"What's happening?" Visser Three demanded.

Chapman stared at me, horror and fury in his eyes.

I flattened my ears back against my skull. My claws came out. My teeth were bared.

"It's the animal, Visser. The cat," Chapman said in a voice full of loathing and fear.

Visser Three seemed to make a seething, half-hissing noise.

"You should have killed it when I told you to, Iniss two two six."

"But Visser -" Chapman protested.

"And yet it all works out to my advantage," Visser Three said. "Now there can be no doubt that this cat is one of the Andalite bandits."

"Jake? We're busted," I said. "We're busted really bad." 72 Chapter Sixteen

"We will no longer have to search for the Andalites," Visser Three said. "We have one right here with us."

"Shall I kill it?" Chapman asked.

"No. Don't kill it. Seize it. Seize it now, be fore it can morph back into Andalite shape. By the time I am done with this one, we will have them all! It has been a long time since I tortured a proud Andalite warrior. But I know how to break them. Seize it and bring it to me!"

Chapman knew better than to argue.

Chapman dived. His hands were open wide, grabbing for me.

I was trapped! No way out. No way to open that door and escape.

Trapped!

No sensible choice but to surrender.

But the cat and I were in agreement on this: You never surrender.

I felt my claws extend. My pupils were wide, ready to see every tiny movement. My ears were flattened back against my skull. My needle-sharp teeth were bared. My liquid steel muscles were coiled.

Chapman's hand seemed to slow down. It was like he was moving in slow motion.

Everything seemed slower to my heightened cat senses. Only I was moving at normal speed.

My paw lashed out. My claws bit flesh. I saw three bright red tracks on the back of Chapman's hand.

I could smell the blood that flowed.

"Ahhhhh!" Chapman howled. He backed away.

"Get it!" Visser Three shouted.

"What's going on?" Jake wondered. "I feel like we're bouncing around a lot. " Chapman got a determined look on his face. He came at me again. I was cornered. No way out.

I slashed. Chapman cried out. My claws were lacerating him, tearing furrows in his arms and hands.

He grabbed me around the middle. The cat in me hated being grabbed that way.

Hated it a lot.

I brought my teeth into it. I was a ten-pound bundle of lightning-fast claws and teeth.

Chapman's hands looked like raw hamburger.

73 "A magnificent animal!" Visser Three commented. "Twist it around. Hold it with your fore arm. That's right."

I did a lot of damage. Believe me, Chapman got hurt.

But in the end, no matter how tough I was, I was just ten pounds of killer. Chapman was about eighteen times bigger.

He got his forearm around my chest. He had me pressed back against his chest. My front legs were pinned. With his other arm he managed to grab my hind legs.

All I could do was bite.

I bit. I bit again and again. But although I could hurt him, I couldn't kill him. I couldn't stop him. His fear of Visser Three was greater than the pain I was causing.

"Bring it to me," Visser Three said enthusiastically. "Bring it to me. I will come to collect it at the nearest landing site."

"Visser, what if it ... Owww! . . . What if it resumes its Andalite shape?"

"You have weapons. If it tries to remorph, kill it."

"Yes . . . Ahhhh! . . . Rotten little beast! Yes, Visser. I will go directly."

"We will deal with this Andalite bandit. And bring the girl, too."

"The girl . . . Melissa?" Chapman asked.

"I have been indulgent too long. This Andalite spy has penetrated your home. It is because of the girl. I have already chosen the Yeerk for her. Bring her with the Andalite. Obey me, Iniss two two six. Or prepare to face the Vanarx."

Visser Three's hologram disappeared.

Chapman suddenly threw me across the room. I twisted in midair and brought my legs around for the landing. I hit the floor and skidded.

"Okay, something is definitely going on out there. "

By the time I was up, Chapman had reached his desk and opened a drawer. His bloody hand came out with a small pistol-like device I had seen before. It was a handheld Dracon beam.

Chapman leveled the weapon at me. He was shaking. His face seemed to be twitching. The weapon jerked a little with each spasm. But I knew he would still have gotten me if I had tried to move.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Jake demanded. "A few seconds ago I felt an other warm body close by. And I think I'm sensing blood. "

74 "We're in kind of a mess," I said.

"What kind of a mess," Jake asked.

"Chapman has a Dracon beam pointed at me. He knows I'm not exactly a cat. He thinks I'm an Andalite. He's taking me to Visser Three. "

"Oh. This is bad. "

"It gets worse. Visser Three wants Melissa, too. "

Chapman opened the door a crack. "Get down here! Now!" he yelled upstairs. I guess he saw my eyes flick toward the door. He made a fierce, vicious grin. "Try it, Andalite. Go ahead and try it. I'd love the excuse to fry you."

I decided not to head for the door.

"You've made life very difficult for me," Chapman said. "Very difficult. If I have to let Visser Three take the girl, my host will make life annoying for me. Do you know how tiring it is to have an uncooperative host? No, of course you don't. But trust me, Andalite: I will gladly kill you."

Ms. Chapman appeared at the door. "What is it?"

"This cat is one of the Andalite bandits in a morph. Visser Three wants him. Get me the cage we use to take him to the vet."

Ms. Chapman nodded and disappeared. "What's going on now?" Jake asked.

"Ms. Chapman is getting a cage," I said. I was feeling utterly defeated. Because of me, the Yeerks were going to take Melissa. I had failed. I had made a mess of things.

Ms. Chapman brought the cage. She opened the little barred door.

"In," Chapman snapped.

I didn't move.

"In," he said in a cruel whisper. "In or I'll finish you right here."

He looked like he meant it. I walked into the cage. Ms. Chapman closed the door and made sure it was locked.

Chapman snatched up the cage and carried me to the top of the stairs. "Now," he snapped at his wife, "go get . . . ungh!"

Peering through the slats in the side of the cage, I saw him stagger. His face was twitching like he was a crazy man. He seemed to be having a hard time getting control of his mouth.

"Go . . . get ... the ... girl," he said through gritted teeth.

Ms. Chapman started to obey, but then Chapman cried out.

75 "Oh! Ungh!" He fell to his knees. "He is ... urgh ... he is ... fighting me. . ."

"Host rebellion," Ms. Chapman muttered under her breath. She seemed horrified and fascinated all at once. Then, suddenly, her left hand slapped her own face.

"Ahhhhh! Mine . . . mine . . . too."

"Stop it, Chapman," Chapman said. "Stop it or I'll break you! I'll leave you nothing but a shell! You cannot win. No host has ever succeeded in rebelling!"

But the Chapman host wasn't giving up.

It was terrible. Terrible in a way that made you want to watch. To anyone else it would have just looked as if our assistant principal and his wife were nuts. Chapman was talking to himself and twitching and contorting, still unable to get to his feet.

"The hosts are fighting the Yeerks!" I told Jake. "The human brains are resisting. Chapman is out of control. Ms. Chapman is trying to choke herself with her own hand. The Yeerk is trying to regain control. It's incredible!"

"I can't believe it! I can't believe the hosts can fight back this hard."

"lt's because of Melissa. They're fighting for their daughter."

"Aaaarrrrgh!" Chapman cried. Suddenly he lurched to his feet. "I will win, Chapman. You cannot resist!"

And it was true. The Chapman host was losing. Iniss two two six was regaining control.

The same was happening with Ms. Chapman. The Yeerk in her head was forcing the rebellious hand away from her throat.

But neither of the Chapmans looked good.

"They're exhausted," I reported to Jake. "They're regaining control, but they're both a mess.

Sweating. Pale. Still trembling and jerking."

Chapman looked at his wife. Or at least the Yeerk slug in Chapman's brain ordered his eyes to look toward the body that was controlled by a different Yeerk. It was harder now to think of Chapman as just being Chapman. I had seen proof that there were two creatures inside him.

I even knew what that was like. There were two people in my head as well. I had fought to control the shrew, just as the Chapman Yeerk now fought to control Chapman's brain.

Chapman said, "I have control again."

Ms. Chapman nodded. "Yes. But just barely. They fight fiercely for their children, these hu mans."

76 "And they will not stop fighting. I can't maintain my cover with this host waiting to attack at every opportunity. I have to be at the school every day. The host is beaten and exhausted for now, but in a few days he will strike again." Chapman sounded angry and frustrated. "He's not a fool. He knows he can't win ... he knows each battle will leave him weaker and that eventually I will triumph."

Ms. Chapman kicked my cage, like it was all my fault. "He doesn't have to win. All he has to do is wait until you are in a meeting with parents or members of the school board, then strike.

They'll think you've lost your mind."

Chapman looked haunted. He checked his watch. "I'll take the Andalite to Visser Three. Maybe . . . maybe I can make him understand."

"Go, quickly," Ms. Chapman told her hus band.

Chapman snatched up the cage I was in. He barreled through the door. He slammed me into the doorjamb on the way.

"Daddy? Daddy? What are you doing?"

It was Melissa. She was across the living room. I hadn't seen her arrive. Where had she been?

I could only pray that she had not heard everything. If she'd heard it all, there was no hope for her.

Chapman kept walking. Out into the wet night. "Daddy? Do you have Fluffer in there?"

"lt's Melissa," I told Jake. "lf she doesn't back off, she's going to force them to take her!"

"Daddy?" Melissa sounded frightened now. She came running. Chapman moved quicker. The real Chapman was helping. He knew his daughter would only make things worse if she tried to intervene.

"Fluffer!" Melissa cried. There was only one hope. "Tobias?" I cried out, making my thought-speech as loud as I could. "Tobias, can you hear me?" His answer was faint, but it was Tobias.

"Yes, Rachel. "

"The real Fluffer! We need him. We need him right now!"

"Rachel, what is going on out there?" Jake demanded.

"Fluffer! Why are you taking Fluffer? Daddy, stop!"

Out the front door we went. Out into the night. Melissa, sobbing pitifully. Jake, demanding to know what was happening. Chapman, walking as fast as he could.

Melissa grabbed her father's arm. The cage wobbled wildly.

77 "Daddy, you can't take Fluffer. Don't take him away! What are you doing?"

The car. I could see it in the driveway. We were almost there.

Suddenly, I heard a yowling, yammering, high-pitched sound that started as a hiss and ended as a shriek.

Like a bullet he came, racing across the lawn. The real Fluffer.

He was running like every monster in the world was right behind him.

In the darkness the humans couldn't see what was scaring Fluffer so badly. But with my cat eyes I could see perfectly. Just a few feet off the ground, like some dark shadow of death, came Tobias.

Fluffer must have recognized his cage. He must have figured that if he just got inside he'd be safe from the talons of the raptor that pursued him.

Fluffer leaped toward the cage. He glommed onto it and tried to dig his claws into the plastic.

For one frozen instant Fluffer McKitty saw something he never expected to see. Fluffer saw himself.

It was almost as weird for me. The cat in my head was totally baffled. This new cat smelled exactly like himself. This did not make any sense at all. It meant nothing. It wasn't even a part of any cat reality. The human part of me noticed a small cut on Fluffer's head. Tobias had taken a good swipe at him to get him moving in the right direction.

"Fluffer?" Melissa said. "But . . ." She tried to peer inside the cage.

Chapman was quick. "No, sweetheart," he said. "This isn't Fluffer at all. It's some other cat that sneaked into the basement. He's different. I'm taking him to the shelter so his owners can pick him up."

"But why didn't you just tell me that?"

Chapman looked confused. "I ... I didn't notice you."

Melissa stepped back like she'd been slapped. "But Daddy, I was crying."

"Sorry." Chapman shrugged. He shoved the cage into the backseat.

We drove off. I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew Melissa wasn't safe yet, but she was safe for now, at least.

"Good work, Tobias," I said. But I don't think he could hear me. And I couldn't see out of the windows, so I didn't know if he or Marco or Cassie were anywhere close.

"Jake? You still with me?"

78 "Yes. Do you have a minute to fill me in? This flea existence is fine for hiding, but I can't tell anything about what's going on. "

"I'm in a cat carrier. Chapman's in the front seat. He watches me through the rearview mirror.

He still has the Dracon beam. I think maybe I'm in pretty big trouble here."

"We're not beaten yet," Jake said.

"Jake, time must be getting short. It's been at least an hour. You must have morphed before me. You need to get away and morph back."

"We still have time," Jake said.

"You have a watch, Jake?" I asked. "I don't think so. You're what, about twice the size of a period on the page of a book? You can't risk being trapped in a flea morph. Besides, there's nothing you can do."

We hadn't traveled far before the car started bouncing and rattling over rough road.

"As soon as we get outside you need to jump off, Jake," I said. "Just make yourself jump away from warmth and away from the smell of blood. You can do that " The car came to a stop.

"Rachel, there is no way I'm going to leave you alone. "

I knew he was trying to be brave, but he was making me mad. "Jake, we're trapped. He's got a Dracon beam and I'm in a cage. Visser Three is coming to get me. I can't morph back or they'll see I'm human. Chapman will recognize me. How long do you think it will take them to figure out who the rest of us are? It would be the end of us all. The end of the Animorphs.

The end of the only hope for stopping these guys. Come on, Jake, you know it's true."

"We're not beaten yet," Jake repeated stubbornly.

"The only hope is for me to stay in cat morph," I said. "They'll probably. . . you know . . .

but at least they'll never find out about the rest of you. Now jump off me. " Chapman got out of the car. He came around and opened the back door.

"Time to meet the Visser, Andalite. He'll have a wonderful time with you."

Chapman lifted me out of the backseat. I looked out through the bars.

"We're at the construction site," I told Jake. "Now get off me. "

"I'm not -"

I couldn't argue with Jake anymore. I was afraid now. Afraid. I could picture what Visser Three might do to me.

79 "Sorry, Jake, but this time I'm the boss," I said. I cocked my rear leg and started scratching in that rapid catlike way.

"What the ... what are you doing?"

"I'm scratching. I want you off me. "

"Okay, okay," Jake said. "Just stop it. It's like an earthquake here. Okay, Rachel. You're right. We've lost this battle. "

80 Chapman carried the cage into the construction site. I could see the ground go by beneath me.

I could see through the bars all the half-built cinderblock buildings. I could see the very spot where the five of us had cowered in terror while Visser Three had morphed into a monster and swallowed the Andalite prince.

The Andalite's last despairing cry came back to me. He had lost his fight. Now I was losing mine.

Maybe there was no hope. Maybe we were fools to even try and resist the Yeerks.

"Get out of here, Jake." I said.

"Okay, Rachel. Here I go. Look ... be strong, Rachel. "

"Yeah, Jake. You too. "

"Jumping . . ."

A few seconds later, Chapman put me down on the ground. He waited beside the cage. The two of us stared off into the darkness.

I decided to make sure Jake was gone. "Jake? Jake?"

No answer.

"Jake, answer me. I've changed my mind. I want you to stay with me. " If he had lied to me, he would answer now.

"Come on, Jake, I've changed my mind. I need you. "

No answer. He was truly gone. That fact filled me with grim satisfaction. If Jake and the others survived, there would still be some hope.

But the feeling of loneliness was awful.

Then I heard the sound of something large, moving swiftly in the air. I pressed my head against the door and looked up. Three craft were descending toward the construction site.

Two of them were smaller, about the size of one of those recreational vehicles, maybe a little larger. They had a cowled, insectlike look. They looked like beetles with twin long, serrated spears pointed forward on each side. The Andalite had called them Bug fighters.

The third craft was much larger, shaped like an angular battle-ax. It was black on black, sharp, and deadly looking. As it sank slowly to ward us I felt my fear grow.

It was not the cat that was afraid. It was me, the human. The cat didn't know what this ship was. I did. I had seen it before. The Andalite had called it a Blade ship.

It was the personal ship of Visser Three. And terror seemed to flow from it. I could smell the fear sweat on Chapman.

81 I guess I was glad he was scared, too. Maybe Visser Three would become the Vanarx and suck the Chapman Yeerk out of Chapman's head. Maybe the true Chapman would experience a few seconds of freedom before he was killed. Maybe the Chapman Yeerk would suffer before Visser Three finished him off.

Maybe.

Fear is like a worm inside you. It eats you. It chews your guts. It bores holes in your heart. It makes you feel hollow. Empty. Alone.

Fear.

The Blade ship landed between two half– finished buildings. The Bug fighters came to rest on either side. They looked so strange, parked between the yellow-painted earthmovers and graders in the construction site.

The earthmovers looked like toys. The alien craft looked like deadly weapons.

I was afraid. I tried to borrow the cat's courage, his indifference. But then the door of the Blade ship opened. I had no courage.