Chapter Nine

       The next day after that was Monday, and it was back to the usual school routine. You know, it had been a month since I had first been dragged to the Yeerk pool, since I had first become a Controller. And I still could not get used to getting together in a gathering with a bunch of regular people, like at school. It was strange, but when there was a meeting of Controllers, like Kareis's partners or associates, or of the Sharing, it didn't seem so odd anymore. I had almost accepted the idea of these evil aliens wearing human faces, talking in our voices and even using our gestures and expressions. In a way that was even more frightening than the circumstance itself, that this was all beginning to seem normal.

But here, like at school, you never knew who was a Controller and who wasn't. Even Kareis didn't know them all. There were some that she could point out, but most of her partners and associates were adults, since she used to have an adult host. I guess to her it was like remembering off the top of her head which people had their ears peirced. Unless they wore very conspicuous earrings or you wanted to buy them jewerly, there was little cause for one to notice. I could only look at their faces and think "Is she a Controller? Is he really a Yeerk?" Are they looking at me like that because someone told them about how "I" goofed in bio, or because they are wondering about Kareis, whether they should support her as their future leader, in their hierarchy of Yeerks invading the humans on Earth?

Appearances meant nothing anymore. I was thinking this as Kareis's slowly gazed around the cafeteria as she pretended to listen to my friend Sharon, who happened to not be a Controller -- yet. I saw their faces, and realized that even Kareis, not only "in" on the conspiracy that was being woven right under all the unsuspecting people's noses, but one of the most well-informed of these, didn't know about many of the people at school. The Yeerks could be anywhere. Even Visser Three, in his alien Andalite body was able to look like one of us, though he did it by morphing . . .

Then came a thrill of joy, something kin to the creative rush when I was writing a story and suddenly realized something, a whole new theme and a perfect solution to the problem. In this, case, there really wasn't any perfect solution, but it was something new. It was a whole new realm of possibility. It was a way, that just maybe Kareis and I could reach the Andalites.

<There's no way to contact them specifically,> I said. <The Andalite Renegade HQ is not exactly a listed number. But, look at all these people. If almost half of these people could be Yeerks, and even, if he saw fit, one of them could be Visser Three himself, could not some of them also be some of the infamous Andalite bandits?>

Kareis saw my point, but I could feel from her little more skepticisim, and any rises of hope quickly faded. And then she sneered at the uselessness of it. <You practically think that it is a victory,> she said, <an armistice already signed and just waiting for me to find it. It's only speculation. We in intelligence have thought of this ever since the renegades started showing signs of being separated from the Andalite ruling body and militia. In fact, despite their rigid laws, some Andalites might have actually shared their technology with a select group of humans. But we've checked all the best possibilities, and none of them offer so much as a clue. And of course Andalites will morph humans to stay on Earth, what would you expect?>

But once hope had swelled within me, I would not let it die. There had to be a way. <But then, would that not be a way to contact them? I mean, you could never deliver a note on the doorstep of their home base or whatever, but if you were able to use some kind of mass media to get a messege across. Maybe it could be an encrypted messege, that only their Andalite technology could detect, much less decipher. Or some kind of code, like what looked like a Pepsi comercial and was actually code-speak for "rendezvous at the park and we can talk peace. Come unarmed and I will also."> I was getting a little carried away, my active imagination churning away things that "we" could do like the plot of a mystery I would try to write when I was a little younger.

I felt amusement, and as I slightly admonished myself for being so rediculous, I knew that Kareis was laughing both at and with me. I became a indignant. <How else could they be contacted, then?>

She wasn't sure and was silent for a moment. Suddenly I was aware of Sharon talking to me.
"Julie. Julie! Are you okay?"
She had obviously been talking, but I, and consequently Kareis, had absolutly no idea what she had been saying. I had often become immersed in my thoughts when I had been pondering something even before being aware of such things as Andalites and Yeerks, and of course two minds conversing with one another would keep them from being aware of the outside world.

Kareis snapped to attention. "Oh, sorry," she said. She made me ruefully smile and give off a tiny little laugh. "I couldn't hear you."

Sharon looked at me a little strangely. Then, her expression lightened and she laughed. "Come on, I saw how you were looking at Perry." I hadn't realized it, but when Kareis and I had been absorbed in thought, my eyes had rested on a distant object and focused on it. Unfortunatly, that object had happened to be Perry, sitting at a table that intersected my line of sight. She smiled, and I knew that she was imagining how he and I would look together.

Normally, I would have quickly denied it and listed a few pros and cons (more cons, though, of course), concerning the guy in question, to make it clear that I wasn't just denying it because I didn't want anyone to know. As it was, I got annoyed by people "asking me out," always on someone else's behalf of course, and I didn't need Sharon, who had played matchmaker to at least fourteen "couples," that I knew of joining in. And yes, I did count them.

But Kareis decided otherwise. She changed my smile, which was still lingering on my face, to one that was slightly embarrased, yet glad and releived. "Well, he is cute. Then she quickly added for best effect, "but it's stupid, though. He probably wouldn't remember my name."

Sharon won't buy it, I thought. I would never have said anything that blunt and direct about something like that. And even if she ignored that, she'd have to think it sounded a little strange. She had been getting to be a pretty close friend, and she could tell if I suddenly said something totally unlike me,  with words that I wouldn't use. In every other respect Kareis could duplicate what I would do or say in any given situation, but in this case there was nothing in my brain or personality to draw upon. That dosn't even sound like me. I would have said that entirely . . .

Predictably, Sharon didn't notice a thing. "Are you kidding? I saw him looking at you in Algebra and Geography; I'm sure he likes you. And you two would be perfect together. You know, you're so quiet and thoughtful," -- I was a little surprised at this. Usually people just called me "shy" -- she continued, "and he's kind of quiet, too, except he can talk a lot when he's really into something." She grinned, "The two of you could have some involved conversations. It would be kind of interesting to see you say more than eight words at once." I'm not really shy, but I'm not talkative either.

Sharon had read some of my poems and stories, and was convinced that I was some kind of brooding genius, disconnected with the world. See, although Kareis had acess to all my memories and vocabulary and thoughts, my brain alone did not have the inspiration to put them together, and she was not a poet, or any other kind of writer, and I ended up writing these things, though Kareis moved my hands to write them. It all came out there, my anger and my fears, my hopes for my future and my feelings of opression. My teacher was delighted, and while "I" wrote these peices only as extra credit to make up for missed homework, they often became submitted to magazines and student publications, and whether it was because of the emotions and concepts that they felt no one my age should know, or because, somewhere in the judges, there too was an alien, and a host who recognized the feelings I told of, barely hidden beneath the mask of abstraction.

"Really? I mean, do you think he might like me?"

I did not like the way this was going. <No. You can't actually be serious about this.>

<Your preferences are of no importance. Do you realize that you have practically no close bonds or ties with anyone outside of your family? Being one of them, one of the group, is part of what I have to do. Of course there is The Sharing, which could be an outlet to socialize, though I have permission to be excluded from that, since it would hinder more than it would help. What I really need is to have a social life, have a close group of freinds, as well as some scattered looser ones. I'll have a boyfriend, and although this Perry is not one of us, it's the perfect oppourtunity to get into the human society. If the Andalites are among them, that will be the best place to locate them.>

"Of course he would, if he got to know you."

"Well . . ." Kareis tried to sound tentiative. "I mean, I couldn't exactly go up to him and just say I like him."

<Now that is lame. Besides, are you getting delusional? Do you actually think anyone would go out with me?>

Kareis laughed again. <Why not? You shut yourself away from everyone, what would you expect?>

I could think of no response to this. I drew back a little, watching and feeling more passive than ever as Kareis and Sharon traded predictable lines, concluding in the person who was apparently me going over to Perry and tried "the direct approach."

<This is insane. My first date is being arranged, by me, without my consent. And for the thing I've been waiting for half my life, it will be done by an alien bodysnatching slug!> Several other, even more superficial, thoughts came to mind, one of which was If I ever get out of this, what will everyone think of me, one day too afraid to add in on the conversation and the next walking up to someone I hardly knew and asking them out?

<If you do ever "get out of this,"> Kareis said, <if I can somehow make my way through this, form relations between the races and get a better host, then the humans are sure to get into this somehow. What your peers think of you will be the least of your worries.>

I did not know it at the time, but those words would prove to be like prophecy. Even after this seemed to be over, they would ring true, more so than any of our feeble predictions.

****************************

Kareis tried to find the Andalites, make some kind of contact with them, again and again. She had friends, partners-in-crime scattered across the various operations. Most of them disliked what she was doing even though next to none knew her true purpose; having anything to do with such rebellion could easily get them killed, but out of their hatred of Visser Three and anticipation of what a grateful Visser Nine could do for them, they were willing to supply information, permit acess into their networks and databases, or ignore certain breaches in security.

However, there were far too many who were loyal to the Yeerk dream of ruling the galaxy, and all of these and more were too afraid of Visser Three to turn against him even if it might further that dream. She even resorted to my plan: to broadcast a wide-range messege using a communicator that only higher technology could pick up, but it was impossible to send any secret messeges on it because anything a Yeerk transmitter could send, all of their receivers could pick up. There were a few high-level frequencies that were reserved and secret even to most other Yeerks, but they would still be laid open to Visser Three. Encryption was useless, because the only coding device Kareis could get a hold of, her enemies had an equivalent to, and her influence did not quite extend to making scientists willing to risk their lives developing secret machines. The kind of death they would suffer for doing such a thing is something Kareis refused to tell me about, but the emotions and vague pictures I received concerning them I don't care to think about.

She also tried regular human communications. With things like phone, e-mail, even webpage, with a few of her own tamperings with the inner systems, she could be almost completly anonymous; no one could trace. But anything that either one of us could think of proved to be a failure. And Visser Three was not happy.

"Do you have anything new on the Andalites?" he had said via the holophone one evening. From the way he said it, it was obvious that he knew she didn't. They hadn't interfered with any missions yet --that she knew of -- so there was no way she could spy on them or catch them in the act.

"No Visser. I have not found anything yet, but we will all try very hard, Visser. " Kareis's respectful tone got a little on the overdone, sarcastic side, especially since we all knew that Kareis had absolutely no respect for Visser Three. He looked at her sharply.

"You had better." He streched out his tail and let the hologram blade delicately brush my neck. If he knew anything about humans, it was where their jungular was. Kareis kept my face solid, with her posture in the correct amount of slouch, yet looking up at him with defiant eyes even as I felt all my instincts swelling up to make me run, or collapse, or shake with fear. "You have the Council on your side, but your reserve of alibis and excuses is running low. Keep that in mind." He started to fade as the transmission gradually turned off.

"Oh, I will, Visser. Beleive me, I will." Kareis muttered almost threateningly.

Suddenly his hologram snapped back in full clarity. "What was that? I don't think I heard correctly."

<Oh, you heard it all right,> Kareis sneered privately, partially to me, I guess. I think that she was trying to get me to hate him as she did, because she was a little afraid that I might go along with his plans, whether out of fear or thinking that in the end they could help. She didn't need to be. To him she said, "I was only giving the formal parting. I think something's wrong with the audio on this end of the 'phone. Should someone be called to fix it?" She added a bright smile for best effect.

I could almost feel the Visser's rage. In most situations, with most subordinates, he would have calmly ordered my death the moment I stepped out of my house again, since he wasn't able to kill me here and now. But since his superiors would be angry at him for eliminating their best strategist and he was counting on a promotion soon, he had to just tolerate Kareis as long as she didn't say anything disrespectful outright. "You will just have to speak more clearly, lest there be any misunderstanding in the future."

Kareis nodded, getting the messege and eager to end the interview. With a slight bow, she said "Kareis nine-two-four of the Sulp Niar pool, out." The Visser's image flickered and vanished, leaving me in the darkness of the garage storeroom, where the holophone was set up.

<How much longer can you go saying "We have'nt found them yet?"> I asked a little fearfully. <I mean, did you see what he did to that one guy last time you went to the pool?> I had only seen the like in grotesque horror movies, and even they lingered with me for weeks. But this was real. It had been a real human being, and I had heard his cries as he had been. . .

<Stop it.> Kareis ordered harshly. <Yes, I am aware of what happened to Binad. But going over it makes it haunt you more. Besides, I'm not as low as Binad was. If I fail miserably the Visser will want to keep me alive. He'll have an excuse to interrogate me then, because I think that's what he's always wanted to do. If I . . . pass on, you'll be kept alive, and given as a host to another, someone much lower and in less danger. Visser Three dislikes youths, so those with them as their hosts hardly ever work with him.>

<Is that why you wanted me as a host, even though I was too young? Because you wanted to annoy Visser Three in another way?>

<That was one of the motives.>

I would have smiled. I knew that Kareis was not comforting me because she cared, but instead to quiet my contagious emotions, but I felt better nonetheless. Not that becoming the host to a new, probably much more ruthless Yeerk was an appealing prospect, but at least I wouldn't be . . .

<!!!!>That was Kareis. I dropped that train of thought for the time being. <Besides,> she said, <in case you didn't remember, tonight I return to the Pool.>

I groaned inside. Every time I was just starting to get over an encounter in the Yeerk pool, we would have to go back and it would be the same thing all over again. <Why do you have to make such a Hell out of that place? Why can't you just have a nice quiet, pretty, CLEAN facility where individuals are given Kandrona nutrients through the body so you don't have to tantalize us with a shadow of free will?> Of course, this led to some rather familiar ramblings. <For that matter, why did you slugs have to come to Earth anyway? Why couldn't you have been content with your Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and Gedds and everything and go conquer some other part of the galaxy? Why do you have to be conquering at all? Why can't you go back to your homeworld and build a civilization there?>

Kareis sighed and did not answer, as she never did, except for an occasional something about how patheic and helpless the humans were and the Yeerks being the conqurers of the galaxy, or something along those lines that I don't think even she really beleived.

*****************

So once again we returned to the Yeerk pool. It was just as I remembered it. The interactive FAQ for Hell. Ever wanted to know anything about Hell? Just sign up at your local chapter of the Sharing. Once again Kareis and Jiran decended down the long stairway. If I hadn't been so apprehensive and weary of all this at the same time, I probably would have wished the Yeerks, with all their superior technology, could have thought to put at least a mining-type elevator when they first dug through the cave and blew up the rock inside, explaining it as rare seismic activity.

Anyway, it was the whole routine again. The slug drained out of my ear and dropped into the Yeerk pool, happily feeding I'm sure. I was then dragged back to the cages. You'd think by then (I had lost track of how many pool-cycles I had gone through) I would, realizing that there was no possible chance of getting away from the armed Hork-Bajir guards, quietly walk over to the cage I was placed in and sit there to wait out my time. But, as stupid as it may sound, I just couldn't. Nothing, not even my own common sense, could stop me from fighting, or trying to, possessed by the dim hope that I just may be able to run away and leave this place.

It mainly involved me punching and/or kicking the first big Hork-Bajir, who by now knew me and didn't even hold a Dracon at me, for fear of acidentally killing Kareis's host. He would knock me down and, aided by his partner, who seemed to have a very expressive vocabulary, drag my struggling self into the cage, push me in and have the bars promptly slam down. I'm not an expert at Galard or Yeerk or Hork-Bajir, or whatever language he was speaking, but I doubt he was saying anything polite. I'd have to remeber to ask Kareis what "dapsen" and "tphran" meant.

What sounds even stranger is that I couldn't wait for Kareis's feeding to be over. I had done the weeping and wailing thing the first few times, but now I was too exhausted and depressed to do anything besides speak. And there was no one to talk to, considering all the other occupants were screaming, banging on the bars, crying, too sullen to speak or all of the above, besides flexing my hands, stretching out and talking a little to myself to make sure my vocal-throat/mouth neural pathways didn't get atrophied from lack of use -- I was afraid that might happen -- there was nothing much to do. It was like a false freedom-- I could do and say what I wanted to now, except I couldn't. The only good side or silver lining I could possibly see was that it would keep my mind-body connections more open so that if  -- when I ever gained control in the near future, I would be ready and fast.

So then, the Hork-Bajir would come for me again. Once again I'd try to stay calm, but I'd end up going ballistic before we reached the end of the ominous steel pier. But my cries were interrupted by a voice in my head.

<Well, well, it's that involuntary again. Kareis's host, no less.> I jerked up my head just before reaching the end, where my head would be plunged in the pool, and saw the deadly centuar form of Visser Three. I stared at him, trying to convey my hate. Many times I had thought out the perfect words to say to him just before I, with a Dracon beam, blasted him out of existance of our universe. But now, I was at a total lack of words.

I was pushed under and once again my body came up belonging to Kareis. She too, had the hatred in her -- my -- eyes as she looked at Visser Three.

She gave a slight bow of her head. "Kareis nine-two-four of the Sulp Niar pool, submits to you, Visser Three." And, although it was so hard for her I could feel the strain it put upon her to say it, "It is good to see you back on Earth, Visser . . . " and took a little bit of risk. "May I enquire what you're here for?"

He looked coldy at me. <Buisness as usual.> He was not in a good mood. <But it does not concern you. Unless there are any updates on your mission, you may be dismissed.> He looked at me again. <Are there any updates?> He was trying to embarass Kareis by forcing her to give her answer:

"No, Visser. I will breif you on my progress at our next meeting."

<Very well, then, you are dismissed.>

Kareis spouted some more formal phrases, and left to get her Dracon back from one of the guards. Oh, that's one of the details I left out. Yeerks that carry Dracons, like Kareis, leave their weapons with a special guard before leaving their host in the pool. It was a small, compact weapon, just about the size of a regular pistol gun, one of the newest issues. She was just attaching it to the belt loop at my side when she noticed Visser Three and Jiran.

<What does he want with him?> she wondered. <His job isn't that large, because there are lots of other people in other departments doing the same thing.> She quietly and inconspicously as possible walked back to the part of the Pool where Visser Three stared angrily down at Jiran. My father.

<What do you mean, you're not sure exactly what she's planning?> Visser Three's voice was harsh with anger. <She should have told you everything! Have you given her any reason to mistrust you?>

He was talking about me, I realized. No, Kareis. She walked around, careful not to be noticed by him. Since he always spoke in public thought-speak, I could hear his words, even though right now I was too far away to be recognized. Kareis went from sector to sector, as quickly as possible. It was impossible to sneak up on Visser Three, with his ever-turning Andalite stalk eyes, but if she could just blend with the various groups of human-Controllers, busy with various things, she could get close enough to find out what it was Jiran and Visser Three were saying about her. She told me this as she went into the voluntary recreation area, sharply inquiring some people there about various things I was mostly unfamilar with.

<What are you talking about?>

<Be quiet,> she told me. <It's hard enough trying to listen to what they're saying and be carrying on a conversation at the same time.> She could almost hear Jiran now, just a faint murmur of my father's tenor voice.

She gave a breif thanks and something of an apology to the voluntary person, and crept around and merged with another group of people, who were much nearer where the Visser was. They were busy at a computer, much larger than a PC, but not exactly a mainframe, whirlling with various controls and screens I had never seen the like of before. Probably the ultra-superior Yeerk technology Kareis often talked about. They were chattering about something  the network they had accessed.

"Look at this," An older man, maybe fifty years old, pointed at the screen. "Someone has hacked onto the system. See, there have been several consecutive breaks by an unauthorized 'Net entity. We can't trace him; he's got some heck of a track blocker."

"What do you mean?" a younger guy said. "How is that possible?"

"Obviously there's been a pretty good hacker surfing around," someone said sarcasticly.

<Is that true?> I caught Visser Three's words all of a sudden. He was still standing off, talking to Jiran. Jiran sounded nervous, and he was stammering something I couldn't make out. Something like "Yes, Visser, I've tried. No, Visser . . .  gone right."

"No!" the younger guy interjected. It startled me so much that Kareis jumpted a little. "Sorry, Kareis nine-two-four," he said, giving a respectful head bow. Returning to his conversation, and including me in it this time, "It's virtually impossible for anyone to get into the system and us not be able to trace him." He stood a little taller, I guess swelling with pride, as he said "I helped design the system myself. It's virtually inpenetrable by anyone who dosn't have knowlege of our equipment. How would a human hacker get a hold of a fleer, or something?"

"What if it's one of us? Like a rogue, or a traitor, or maybe even someone who got bored?"

"Even so, I ought be able to trace them. All of our own devices are encoded for just such a purpose, for identification."

"Then it could be the . . . " with a nervous glance toward Visser Three, a female Controller mouthed "Andalites."

"Kareis," one guy said, "you're in the intelligence department, right? Have you been informed of this? Has there been any chance to investigate?"

"Uh . . ." Kareis wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't about to say "Oh, I was hacking in the main system, hope you don't mind," but neither did she want to get into a long, involved fictional explaination when she just wanted to get closer to Visser Three and Jiran. I still couldn't tell much of what they were talking about, except they seemed to be having some kind of scheme against me and Kareis, but I can't say I wasn't a little scared. I mean, Jiran, besides being "my dad," was Kareis' most trusted ally. If what they were saying sounded anything like I thought it did . . .

"Actually, I just got a memo to that effect yesterday," she said calmly. "I've been working on it, though there's not much I can do. I tried getting on the network myself and catching him, making some kind of contact, but he managed to avoid me."

Suddenly the Visser's voice rang through my head, <LISTEN you . . . > we all turned to look at him, slowly and subtly turning our heads, the only ones paying attention since there was still the noise, and many people there, all the Hork-Bajir guards and fighters, who were trained that by pain of death they were not to be distracted from their duties unless given a direct order by a superior. We even pretended to talk, to carry on conversation about the mysterious hacker, though if Visser Three had bothered to listen, he would have found it sounded more fake than even a B-series producer could conceive.

<Listen,> Visser Three was very angry at this point, and had his tail blade near my father's throat. No. <You have had plenty of time to carry out your assignments. Is there any reason why I shouldn't kill you for failure?>

At that moment I knew, like you know in a dream, that my father was doomed. I knew that the Visser's scythelike blade would rise up and sweep down and my dad would die. And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. My head was spinning with ideas, but like whenever you see something breakable falling from somewhere high to the floor, you have plenty of reaciton time, and time seems to have slowed itself, but there simply isn't time to reach out and catch it or to tell someone else to. But that didn't matter. Kareis had thought for me, and before I knew it the Dracon was in my hand.

<Your hands are your own now,> she told me. <This is a breif grant of control. I cannot be held accountable for your actions, I'll say the emotion made you burst free. Go! Do it!> She knew what I was trying to do. I held up the Dracon gun with two hands, and with vocal cords already opened and muscles already constricted I screamed.

"VISSER!!!!"

There was no ignoring it then. Every head turned, the people in the group stared, even the guards stopped for a moment and those without a handful of involuntary stopped where they were. For a moment I thought that I had just committed the greatest act of deadly stupidity in my life and I had better quit while I was ahead.

<No. You have to do it.> To this day I am not sure who said this: Kareis or that subtle, half-dormant part of myself. I may never know.

Visser Three looked at me with all four eyes, actually frozen with shock, his tail blade still raised in the position to strike my father like a guilty child's hand lingering over the cookie jar when his mother comes in and catches him. Jiran collapsed to the ground.

<WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?> The Visser roared, his voice echoing through all our heads. I was aware then that I had a headache. And I knew I had to say something, something that would make him spare Jiran's life because it wasn't worth killing him. But what?

Wracking my usually fertile brain, I could not find the words to say. I opened my mouth to speak, only to find my own physical control being interfered with. Strangely, it was not as if  Kareis was taking over, but as if she was adding her control to my own, putting words in my mouth which I could still choose to close or to change the words as I wished.

"Visser," we both said, not concealing the cold hatred that word contained. "That's my father. You kill him, and I kill you."

He looked incredulous, and stepped toward me. <Kareis nine-two-four?>

An almost evil smile of what felt like wicked pleasure crept across my face, and I was sensing that the words were becoming more and more mine. "No. It's not Kareis. It's just me. It's just her little host." I held the Dracon up again, pointing straight at the Visser's chest, with the settings on Level Seven. It would certainly kill him if I pressed the trigger.

His eyes narrowed, and he walked even closer, as if not beleiving what I said. <I saw you enter back into your host, Kareis. Are you telling me you have lost control?>

As if on cue, Kareis roughly snatched the freedom that she had just given me. I wildly struggled, trying to gain control again, and we fought for a minute. My body trembled, and I dropped the Dracon. It clattered on the ground, and I was crouched down, in an almost fetal position. These were natural impulses from the horrible conflict going on in my brain, but I had the feeling that Kareis was putting on an act for the Visser's benifit too. All of a sudden she stood up and looked him in the eyes, breathing heavily from my now rapidly beating heart, but still strong and defiant.

"N-no." She pronounced the words carefully and clearly, as if there was a chance that I could interfere at this moment. "I have control over my host, now. There was . . . " she paused, "a sudden burst of emotion when you were going to strike Jiran. His host is her father, so there is a strong bond between them. I will -- I will not let it happen again."

His eyes narrowed, and once again he raised his blade against me. Now it looked as if he would kill me in my father's place. <These . . . disturbances in your control will not occur as long as Jiran or anyone else that your host cares for are in any immediate danger?>

"Yes, Visser." There wasn't even any sarcasam in her voice. She sounded like the model of respect. "Jiran, whose host is her father, and my host's mother, Jiran's host's . . . wife. This includes her being made one of us."

He nodded, and lowered his tail a little. <Very well. Jiran and this human will have protection.> He sounded tolerant, but I could feel the anger seething underneath. <Although, you should keep in mind that if anything of this nature occurs again, the results will not be so fortuate, for you or Jiran, he said, gesturing to the figure of my father now standing, crouching low as far away as he could get from Visser Three.

Kareis demonstrated respect in every way I had seen it done among Yeerks before, with a few human things thrown in for good measure. "Yes, Visser Three. It will not happen again."

He left, and as it did practically every breathing body in the Pool area heaved a sigh of releif. All people's eyes were on me, amazed at what I and Kareis had gotten away with. Jiran came over to me, too. He did not say much, but his eyes were filled with awe and immense gratitude. He looked at me, and for a second I thought I saw something -- but then it was gone. "Kareis," he said softly, "I don't know what was going on, but I know it was more than you made it look like." He was silent for a good deal of time until we had both left the Pool and were in the fresh air of aboveground.

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but to my dismay she quickly pushed me down. <This is not the time for this,> she admonished, and lowered the Dracon slightly to speak with the Visser.

She looked at each one of the poeple in the group, in a friendly/respectful gesture, and said, "Excuse me, I have some important buisness to conduct. I'll notify you on any further progressions. They all nodded, some smiling slightly, most grim.                         

.

   sagreed with what she was doing, the Three times she attempted t


 

Dizzy from the heights,

From soaring ever higher

Lungs lacking the oxygen

To quench or feed a fire


That is the timeline,
The path of destiny

Wandering on the road of destiny
Infinity paths at infinite angles every step of the way
But some are blocked, others condemned
Others need payment, most cannot be seen
So of the few roads there are to take,
There is no alternative but to follow fate,
A pawn, a tool in your own free will.