The Reunion

by K. A. Applegate

  The Yeerks wouldn't get another shot at me. Not now.

  116 Oh, God. Jake! Cassie!

  The burning car was burning right inside my brain. The aluminum skin had been evaporated, leaving nothing but the bones of the car. Bare aluminum posts and fire.

  And, though I had not seen them except in my imagination, the singed, heat-cracked bones of my friends.

  What now? I asked myself. What now?

  The plan. Was there still a plan?

  I tried to think. But I could no longer see the bright, clear line. All I could see was flame.

  Visser Three. I'd been so busy worrying about Visser One I had forgotten that he was our main enemy. I'd intended to harass and trick and distract Visser One into carelessness. But I had tricked myself.

  Visser Three was going to win. He was going to kill my mother. And he would not die. He would kill her, and he would not die. I would have set up my own mother for murder by my own worst enemy.

  No. No. That couldn't be. I had to think. Had to think.

  Tobias, maybe. Rachel, maybe. They were the next step.

  Ax. Where was Ax? Clearing the place of campers? Scouting the location?

  Where? What were they doing? How . . .

  117 Show me the line, I begged. Show me the A to B.

  My friends. My mother. . .

  All my fault. And now I was lost. Nothing to do but stand and watch the horrible drama play out.

  No. No, the awful voice in my head said. The line was still bright and clear. The plan still worked. If Ax and Erek had done their jobs the plan could still work.

  Only one thing needed to be changed: I would have to play the part of Jake.

  118 22

  I flew ahead to the appointed rendezvous. I passed over Visser One on the way. She was still moving quickly up the hill. Had she heard the explosion? Did she feel the fear eating at her, the fear that death was coming up behind her?

  Or was she filled with anticipation? Was she giddy and energized with the thought of killing her foe, of annihilating the free Hork-Bajir, of living to dance on Visser Three's grave?

  I pulled far ahead. I headed for the clearing halfway up the mountain. There was a cluster of lean-tos for campers on the edge of the clearing. Ax, using his morphing ability, should already have frightened them from the area.

  We didn't want innocents caught in the cross

  119 fire. We didn't want bystanders hurt. That was our plan.

  «Tell that to that ranger back there, Marco,» I said to myself. «Tell it to his family. No innocent bystanders in our little war. No place for them, is there? No time to think about the damage you do with our bright, clear line.»

  A campfire smoldered below. In one of the shelters two sleeping bags were spread over bunk beds. Two backpacks sat propped against the wall. These nature lovers had left in a hurry.

  Ax at work. Maybe. Or maybe Visser Three's forces had come in from this direction as well. More innocents. Dead, or merely terrified?

  We'd chosen Wildwood Trail specifically because it wasn't popular. It wasn't very scenic. It wouldn't be wall-to-wall crunchies working out their Timberlands.

  And because, a mile or so up, we could cut away from the trail and go cross-country through terrain that would thin out the pursuit.

  I spotted Visser One laboring up the slope, fighting the gravity I could easily defy. Her pretty face was dripping sweat. Her lungs gasped.

  That was the plan, too. Too rushed, too scared, too tired to think. And yet, she already knew too much. She'd figured out what Visser Three had not.

  It was weird, perverse, maybe. But I was

  120 proud of her. As if it had been my mother, and not the Yeerk in her head, who had penetrated our deepest secret.

  I caught an updraft and soared high into the air. Up into the clean, clear air.

  I wanted to keep flying. Just catch a breeze and sail away and leave it all behind. But how could I? How could I, with the possibility of Jake and Cassie being dead?

  «No, no, Marco,» I sneered. «Far better that they should die to bring about more death. Yes, that would give their lives meaning.»

  I rose high and searched the trail ahead. But not even osprey eyes could penetrate the dense foliage. I did not spot Ax or Tobias or Rachel.

  Below, far back down at the trailhead, Visser Three was still in his human morph. He was moving swiftly up the trail. A dozen armed men before him, a dozen more behind him.

  But one man was out in front, all alone, moving very fast. He wore a camouflage jacket and blue jeans. A camouflage stocking cap was pulled down, hiding most of his red hair.

  The way he was moving he was either an athlete or a very experienced woodsman. He left the trail and went cross-country.

  Either going ahead to take a shot at Visser One. Or going ahead to spy out what was happening.

  121 I'd have to watch Red-hair. He made me nervous.

  I knew that what I saw was not even the thin edge of Visser Three's true forces. I knew that the sky above me was dotted with shielded Bug fighters. And maybe the Blade ship as well. Not to mention any of Visser One's loyal troops.

  The killing had only taken a rest break. It would start again once Visser Three was sure of Visser One's goal. Once all her forces were in the open and committed. Once he was sure of victory.

  I circled back to the campsite. Visser One had been instructed to wait there. I floated down, skimmed in, hidden from the Visser's sight. I landed in the middle branches of a tall pine.

  Only then did I see the goblin form of a Hork-Bajir, standing perfectly still. So still it could have been a statue.

  «Rachel? Tobias?» I called.

  «Rachel,» she answered. «Haven't seen Tobias, yet»

  «I'm here,» a thought-speak voice answered. «Right above you, Marco.»

  I jerked my head upward. The seven-foot-tall, bladed form rested comfortably another twenty feet up the trunk.

  «You guys forget: Hork-Bajir are arboreal. Why be on the ground when you can have some altitude?»

  122 «Where are Jake and Cassie?» Rachel asked.

  I didn't answer. I couldn't.

  «Marco?» Rachel pressed.

  I couldn't. Couldn't say it.

  «Marco!»

  «Visser Three. He got them.»

  «What?» Tobias cried. «Captured?»

  «No. No. I don't think so.»

  123 23

  We waited. Silent. Dangerous.

  I know Rachel. I know she wanted action, not playacting. I knew she would explode at the smallest provocation.

  I know Tobias. I knew that in the face of so much sadness he would retreat from his human side. I knew that he was more hawk now than ever, despite his Hork-Bajir morph.

  And what could I say to them? What could I say to lead them? Or control them?

  Nothing. Because I know myself, too. I knew that I was scared and desperate and that my in-sides were being eaten away. I knew that I was focusing all my mind, all my thoughts on the

  124 plan, the plan, the plan, shutting out all other thoughts.

  I had nothing to say to Rachel or Tobias. They would do, or not do, whatever they chose.

  Visser One wandered warily through the abandoned campsite. I saw her as Rachel saw her: the enemy. One of the Yeerk invaders who had cost her the life of her cousin and her best friend.

  She was a dozen feet away, two long strides away, from Rachel's Hork-Bajir blades.

  Rachel stepped into the open.

  Tobias dropped easily from the tree, landing on T-rex feet.

  My mother. . . Visser One . . . swung her backpack forward and reached inside. The Dracon weapon was in her hand in a flash.

  I breathed.

  Rachel was letting her live. For now. Fast as Visser One had been, she'd never have reached her weapon had Rachel not wanted her to.

  "You . . ." Rachel said, stepping forward and speaking in the Hork-Bajir voice. "Where are Andalite friends?"

  "Your friends ar
e fine, Maska Fettan," the Visser responded.

  "My name. You know my name," Rachel said, sounding relieved. Then, a slow Hork-Bajir scowl. "Andalite friends say password. All must speak password."

  125 I spotted a movement so slight only a hawk would have seen it. Red-hair. Only the red hair was hidden now by the camouflage ski mask he'd pulled down over his face.

  He was in a stand of bushes. Close enough to see. Not to hear. He had a Dracon beam in his hand. But the way he held it was for self-defense, not attack.

  "Freedom now, freedom forever," Visser One recited with an amused sneer.

  "Yes." Rachel smiled, if you can call what Hork-Bajir do when they're happy smiling. "You are friend."

  "Yes. I am a friend to all free Hork-Bajir." The Visser could hardly resist masking my mother's face with a grin of glee. "How is the free colony faring, Maska Fettan?"

  "Good, good! All free now. All happy. Much bark to eat," Rachel said.

  "That's good. Love to hear that the bark is tasty," Visser One said, dripping contempt. "Now, conduct me to the colony, as you were instructed to do."

  "You change to bird. Fly. Human slow walker."

  "Sadly, I am ill," Visser One said. She made a little cough. "I am unable to morph at the moment. I will have to travel as a human."

  "Human slow," Tobias interjected with true Hork-Bajir dimness.

  126 "Yes, yes, it's all a mess," Visser One agreed testily. "I wish I could morph to bird and fly, but since that is not possible, perhaps you two geniuses could follow the orders you were given."

  "Andalite friend says, Take her to colony,'" Tobias said.

  "Yes," Rachel agreed.

  "Up there." Tobias pointed off the trail. He pointed up toward a high, naked rock summit. "Up there is place. Up there Andalite friends hide colony."

  A naked rock peak. The perfect place to stage a battle that would involve forces on the ground and in the air. The perfect place for an Animorph.

  "Up there?" Visser One said slowly. Her eyes narrowed. "Holograms. Cloaking shields? Yes, of course. Few human interlopers, and camouflage and a force field would stop them. It would work. A small, deep valley most likely. Invisible from the ground because of the altitude. Easily concealed from the air or space by Andalite counter-measures. The energy drain would be immense, but not unmanageable. . . ."

  I would have smiled. Yes, Visser One, just what I hoped you'd think.

  Welcome to the OK Corral, Visser One.

  127 24

  I'd seen enough. Visser One had fallen for it. So far.

  Rachel and Tobias would handle the rest of the climb. It was unlikely the Visser would try to harm the two Hork-Bajir before she had been shown the way to the colony. Unlikely, but not impossible. She was armed. And I knew what Visser One was. Ruthless. Cruel. That she wore the face of my mother - the woman who had taught me about laughter - was a grotesque irony.

  «See, that's ironic, Alanis,» I muttered to no one.

  The ascent would take hours. Tobias and Rachel would have to slip away whenever possible

  128 to demorph and remorph. If Ax was nearby, on-station, it would work. He would substitute. One Hork-Bajir looked much like the next, but this substitution would be even more perfect than that. Some weeks ago, on a friendly visit with the free Hork-Bajir, Ax had acquired the same Hork-Bajir DNA Rachel was using. Not even a Hork-Bajir would notice any difference.

  I drifted back down the hill. Back down toward Visser Three and his Controllers.

  His force was growing. I don't know how they'd gotten there, but a force of Hork-Bajir was moving up the hill from the right flank, swinging through trees and marching along the ground. I counted thirty before I gave up.

  This would complicate things. I'd hoped to isolate the two Vissers. Visser One, prepared as we had prepared her with ropes and pitons, would be able to climb. So would Visser Three who would simply morph something capable.

  The jagged, naked rocks would delay the human-Controllers. But Hork-Bajir were strong. And, according to the Hork-Bajir we knew, they came from a planet where life existed entirely within impossibly steep canyons.

  The Hork-Bajir-Controllers would be able to keep pace with Rachel and Tobias. Only a limited number of Bug fighters could be brought to bear

  129 within the limited space, so the balance of power on the ground was important.

  Too much on Visser Three's side of the equation and he'd win without suffering much himself. And now, the wild card, we Animorphs, were reduced. Thirty Hork-Bajir-Controllers and a dozen human-Controllers, plus Visser Three. It was more than we could handle.

  Far back down the trail, Red-hair rejoined Visser Three. So now Visser Three knew that Visser One had linked up with two Hork-Bajir.

  Would he put it all together? Would Visser Three realize that these were free Hork-Bajir? That Visser One was on her way to the free colony?

  It was getting to be time for me to change morphs. The air was thin, the updrafts nonexistent at this altitude. Flying was a chore. And soon I would stand out all too obviously.

  «Where is Ax?» I wondered. «Rachel? Tobias? Have you seen Ax?»

  «No,» Rachel said.

  «He was supposed to do his best to clear the area then rejoin us,» I said in frustration.

  «Plan not working out so well, General?»

  «Just get Visser One up that mountains

  «Face it, Marco, it's a fiasco. It's a total fiasco! We're dragging this woman up the mountain

  130 for what? It'd be so easy to just give her a shove off the trail.»

  «Shut up, Rachel!» I yelled. «Just shut up!»

  «0h yeah, you're calm and in control,» Rachel taunted. «Jake's gone. Cassie's gone. And the person running this mission is working on setting up his own mother1? This is a waste of time. Marco, just fly off somewhere. Just get out of range so you don't have to see what I'm -»

  «Rachel, that's enough,» Tobias said quietly.

  I couldn't believe what I was "hearing." Tobias never messes with Rachel. I think Rachel was shocked, too.

  «Marco has enough load on his shoulders,» Tobias said. «l trust him.»

  «You trust him? You trust him?»

  «You just want Visser One?» Tobias said. «0r do you want them both? We need this woman alive as bait»

  All the while I could see Visser One scrambling over rocks, climbing, hauling herself up by roots and low branches. And Tobias and Rachel were with her, one ahead, one behind.

  «Yeah, his plan's worked out so well so far,» Rachel said. But she fell silent after that.

  I put her out of my mind. Besides, she was right. The plan was falling apart. I needed reinforcements.

  Where was Ax? Where was the Andalite?

  131 25

  I'd been a long time in morph. A quick check on Visser Three, and I would abandon the osprey.

  Visser Three himself was still with his group of human-Controllers. They were slowing down, worn out by sliding in their street shoes.

  But the Visser was no longer concerned with shoes. He had reverted to his Andalite host body. He was a nimble, dangerous deer.

  No one was sweating more than Chapman. I almost felt sorry for him. But not too sorry. If all went well, my school would be needing a new assistant principal next week.

  I circled behind them, staying out of sight as well as I could. I drifted close enough to hear scattered bits of conversation.

  132 Some of it was very interesting.

  "Let's kill her now," Chapman urged, gasping like a fish out of water. "Before they get away."

  «Why, because you are weak and tired? No,» Visser Three said. «She is heading for the Hork-Bajir fugitives. I know it! Either to unite with them, or to prove their existence to the Council of Thirteen and discredit me. I will have her and the Hork-Bajir fugitives!»

  "But, Visser, in these human host bodies, lacking equipment, we may be unable to keep up with you," Chapman said very respectfully.

  «Am I blind? Am I a foo
l? Two columns of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons are even now converging. If you fall by the wayside, so be it. I will not be denied my victory!»

  Evidently encouraged by Visser Three's seemingly tolerant mood, another human-Controller made the mistake of offering an opinion.

  "It's hard to believe that these Hork-Bajir hosts could form a colony right under our noses. How did we -"

  The Andalite tail blade whipped and stopped, quivering, pressed against the man's right leg.

  "No, I -" the man cried. "I meant no criticism! No!"

  "Visser, we need every man who can fire a weapon," Chapman intervened.

  133 «Yes, you are right, Chapman,» Visser Three said. «It would be foolish to cut off his leg. How would he walk without a leg?»

  The man almost had time to breathe a sigh of relief. Then Visser Three whipped his tail again. The man's left arm fell to the ground.

  «You all will only hinder my progress,» Visser Three spat. «l will proceed alone from here. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxons will join us soon. And the fleet stands ready. Catch up when your frail bodies allow. I have a morph that will do very nicely for this challenges

  With his entourage watching, Visser Three began to morph.

  Squeeeesh!

  His Andalite head flattened to the shape of a B-movie flying saucer. His main eyes closed and sealed. His stalk eyes remained but thickened. The eyeballs bulged and reddened.

  Multijointed legs sprouted from his sides. One, two, three - six, total, replacing his quick-disappearing Andalite legs and hooves.

  His blue-and-tan Andalite fur seemed to be absorbed into him, as though it had been sucked in.

  What remained was a translucent skin or shell of no particular color.

  The legs lengthened, becoming spindly, al-

  134 most like a spider's. The two front legs ended in claws. The back four legs ended in sharp, barbed spikes.

  And then, before my startled gaze, the shell began to change. From a translucence that revealed vague, distorted blue, red, and orange shadows of his internal organs, it became green and brown.

  It became the precise green of the trees overhead. The exact brown of the trail.

  «A chameleon!» I whispered.

  The Visser's bizarre, spindly land crab was nearly invisible, even to my eyes. The colors and patterns of its shell shifted as rapidly as it walked.