Animorphs #3: The Encounter
Sample Chapter
Chapter 9:
<Dont act suspicious or freak,> I called down to the others. <But look
up.>
<Oh my God,> Rachel gasped.
<It's . . . it's huge!> Cassie cried.
It was huge. But the word huge dosn't really begin to describe it.
Have you ever seen a picture of an oil tanker? Or maybe an aircraft carrier? That's
what I mean by huge. Compared to this thing, the biggest jumbo jet ever built was a toy.
It was shaped like a manta ray. There was a bulging, fat portion in the middle,
with swooped, curvy wings, one on either side. On top of the wings were huge scoops, like
air intakes on a figther jet, but much bigger. You could suck a fleet of buses through
those scoops.
The only windows were in a small bulge at the top. The bridge, I realized. Focusing on it, I could see the shadowy shapes of Taxxons inside.
But mostly that ship was just big. Really big. As in blocked out the sun, it was so big.
Suddenly, out from behind the ship, a pair of Bug fighters zipped into view. We had seen them before . . .
<I have Bug fighters up here,> I called down to the others. <A pair.>
<Who cares about Bug fighters?> Marco asked. <They're nothing compared to that . . . that whale!>
<The bug fighters are circling the lake. I guess they're looking for trouble.>
<Try not to look like trouble,> Jake advised dryly.
I did my best to look like a normal, harmless hawk. Doing normal hawk things. But the main ship was unbeleivably intimidating. I mean, nothing that big should be floating in the air.
Suddenly one of the Bug fighters went shooting right past me, low and slow. I could see in the window. Inside was the usual crew: one Hork-Bajir and on Taxxon . . .
The Bug fighter shot past not interested in me.
The huge main ship snak slowly down toward the surface of the lake. <Are you guys seeing this? It looks like it's going to land on the lake.>
<Are we seing it? No. We've totally missed the fact that a spaceship the size of Delaware is hovering in midair.>
Marco, of course.
<It's incredible,> Rachel said. <Incredible.>
<You know, I hate to be a pessimist,> Marco said, <but when I look at that thing I get a bad feeling about our chances. Four hounds an a bird versus a ship the size of Idaho!>
<A minute ago it was just the size of Delaware,> Cassie
pointed out mildly.
<What's it doing here? That's what I want to know.> Jake said.
They had reached the shore of the lake and were prowling
along, looking like wolves should look. But they were also glancing regularly at the
massive ship. I worried a little that some Controller, human or Hork-Bajir, would notice
that they were paying a little too much attention.
<You guys? Watch how you act. The Yeerks will be looking for animals that act
strangely,> I said. <They're on the lookout for Andalites who can morph.>
<He's right,> Marco agreed. <Jake? Start peeing on
things again.>
<Very funny,> Jake said.
They something began to happen. <Hey. Look!>
From the belly of the ship, a pipe began to lower into the water. Then a second pipe, then a third.
<They're like straws,> Cassie said. <They're drinking!>
I could hear the sucking sound. Thousands, maybe millions of gallons of water being sucked into the ship.
<That's why it's so big,> Marco said. He laughed. <Well, well, well. What do you know? We have just discovered that the Yeerks have a great big weakness.>
<A weakness?> Rachel demanded. <You can look that that ship and talk about weakness?>
But I understood what Marco meant. <It means they need something,> I said.
<Exactly,> Marco said. <Those big scoops on the sides. I think those are for air. That's why they fly down so far through the atmosphere when they come down. They're scooping up oxygen. And now they are sucking up water.>
<It's a truck!> Cassie cried. <That whole huge ship is really just a truck!>
<Yeah,> I said. <It carries air and water up to the Yeerk mother ship in orbit. I guess they need Earth to supply them.>
<So. It's not like Star Trek, where they can just make thier own air and water,> Marco mused. <As long as they are up there in orbit, the Yeerks need the planet to supply them with air and water. Well, well. I think that's the first hopeful sign yet.>
<We're running low on time,> Cassie reminded everyone. <Time to get out of here.>
<Okay, but act cool about it,> Jake advised. <We act like we're just sauntering off to kill a moose -- or whatever it is wolves saunter off to do.>
They drifted back from the shore of the lake. I stayed behind. I no longer have a time limit to worry about.
The Yeerk ship was creating a warm updraft, so I spread my wings wide and rode it up. The two Bug fighters were still circling low and slow. On the shore all around the lake, the bogus Park Rangers and the few Hork-Bajir kept up their patrols.
Then I saw her.
I know to human eyes, every hawk looks pretty much alike. But I knew right away it
was her -- the hawk I had freed from the car dealer.
She, too, was riding the thermal, a thousand yards higher than me. Without even really thinking about it, I adjusted the angle of my wings and soared up to her.
She saw me, I was sure of that. Hawks don't miss much of what goes on around them. She knew I was coming towards her, and she waited.
It wasn't like we were freinds. Hawks down't know that "friend means." And she certainly did not feel any gratitude toward me for saving her from captivity. Hawk's down have that sort of emotion, either. In fact, in her mind there may have been no connection between me and her freedom.
Still, I soared up to her. I don't know why. I really don't. All we shared was the same outer body. We both had wings. We both had talons. We both had feathers.
Suddenly I was afraid. I was afraid of her. And it was insane, because there I was, floating above an alien spaceship so big it oculd have turned into a mall.
But it was the hawk that frightened me.
Or maybe not the hawk herself. Maybe it was the feeling I had, rising up to meet her in the sky.
The feeling of recognition. The feeling of going home. The feeling that I belong with her.
It hit me in a wave of disgust and horror.
No. NO!
I was Tobias. A human. A human being, not a bird!
I banked sharply from her.
I was human. I was a boy named Tobias. A boy with blond hair that was
always a mess. A boy with human friends. Human interests.
But part of me kept saying, "It's a lie. It's a lie. You are the hawk. The hawk is you. And Tobias is dead."
I plummeted toward the ground. I folfed my wings back and welcomed the sheer speed. Faster! Faster!
Then, with eyes that Tobias never had, I saw the wolf pack below. And I saw the danger before them.