The ultimate animorphs 5.., p.1
The Ultimate (Animorphs 54), page 1
Chapter Two
The leader of the free Hork-Bajir bowed her head.
“I’m not criticizing,” she said. “Your plan is a good one. But only if everybody cooperates. It’s a good thing this was just a war game.”
Jake, Rachel, and Marco began to demorph. When he was human again, Jake gave me an odd look.
“The plan depends on rapid response and following orders. Where were you, Cassie? And why did you demorph before I gave you the safe signal?”
Good question. I’d forgotten we weren’t supposed to come out of roach morph unless Jake gave us the okay.
If we came out of the pipe and didn’t hear Jake’s private thought-speak, it meant that we should keep out of sight. Wait for further instructions. I felt my face get hot. “Sorry.”
Jake shrugged and turned to Toby. “What about the others? Did any of them get it right?”
Toby hesitated. “Well, let’s just hope the Yeerks don’t launch an attack any time soon. The adult humans need much drilling. Or else they will need a lot of protection.”
I guess it’s time to explain a few things. Like why a seemingly average kid was diving into mud and crawling through pipes. As a roach. My name is Cassie.
At first there were only five of us. Just five ordinary kids. Until one evening we hooked up at the mall and decided to walk home together. Through an abandoned construction site.
Mistake number one.
Because that’s where we stumbled on a crashed spaceship. And an alien named Elfangor.
And ended up in this war.
7 | P a g e
The pilot was close to death. Before he died he told us an amazing but true story. That Earth had been invaded by Yeerks, parasitic, sentient sluglike things that had been infesting bodies of various species around the galaxy. Now the Yeerks were on our planet. Busily invading the human race. Taking human bodies as their hosts. Elfangor also gave us a small blue box. A cube that held the key to the most valuable piece of technology his people, the Andalites, had ever developed. The ability to morph.
That was the beginning.
Later, we were joined by another Andalite. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Ax. A cadet in training. A kid like us.
Like we were, once. Because none of us will ever really be kids again. Now, a hundred or more battles later, I’m not sure exactly what we are. In the eyes of the innocent world, we’re still children. But in our own eyes…
We’ve won some of those battles. Lost others. At least we’ve come out alive. But the war rages on.
And everything is different. Because now, the Yeerks know we’re not “Andalite bandits.” Now they know we’re human. Most of us, anyway. They even know our names. They know who our families are, too.
Which meant we had to tell our families everything. About the Yeerks. About the Andalites. About why we call ourselves Animorphs. About the months of fighting and the incredible danger and the exhausting emotional drain. We didn’t have time to break the news to our families gently. Not with the Yeerks on the way. We had to evacuate our homes—our lives—immediately. Just about all of our parents are still in shock. Who can blame them? Even after everything I’ve witnessed, after everything I’ve done and had done to me, sometimes I can’t believe it’s real, either. Sometimes I just know what at any minute I’ll wake up from this nightmare.
So now we’re in hiding. Me and my parents. Rachel, her mom, and her sisters. Her father lives in another state. There was no time to find him. Marco and his parents are here, too. Tobias and his long-lost mother, Loren. Everyone except for Jake’s parents. And brother.
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We’re taking refuge with the colony of free Hork-Bajir. So far, the Yeerks haven’t found this new camp. For now at least, we’re safe.
The Hork-Bajif are by nature gentle tree-dwellers. And, well, by our human standards, not too bright. But Toby, their “seer,” is different. She’s done a good job of leading her people. Keeping them safe on a daily basis. Troubleshooting in emergencies.
Toby and Jake discussed logistics as we walked back to camp.
“The trenches need to be at least eight feet deeper,” she said. “And the escape pipes need to be imbedded in concrete to keep them from shifting.”
“What if they fill up with water?”
“That’s an easy problem to fix,” Toby answered.
Jake nodded. But he didn’t ask any more questions. Like how Toby planned to fix flooding pipes. And how long it would take. And could Taxxons dig up the pipes, concrete or no concrete.
That wasn’t like Jake. Jake was usually way in front of any situation. The truth was, and it hurt me to admit it, Jake just wasn’t Jake anymore.
———
Chapter Three
Jake’s parents, Jean and Steve, didn’t make it out in time. Their chances of escape were slim from the beginning.
See, Jake’s older brother, Tom, has been a human-Controller since the early days of the invasion. Even with the enemy under his own roof, Jake had managed to protect his parents from the Yeerks. And from their own son, their own first child. Because Tom wouldn’t have hesitated to kill either one of his parents if the Yeerk mission required their deaths.
Jake had done an almost superhuman job of protecting his parents. Both from death and a fate worse than death.
Infestation.
Until the last time. When the Yeerks finally took them. 9 | P a g e
Jake hasn’t been the same since. He blames himself.
Yeah, he goes through the motions. But it’s like he’s lost the spark. Lost whatever it was that kept him going.
That kept us going.
We got back to the camp. Ax and Tobias came wandering in from their positions. Tobias was in human form. These days, his human self is an acquired morph. Made possible by a powerful, enigmatic being called the Ellimist. Since the very first battle we fought, Tobias’s natural form has been red-tailed hawk. Tobias is a nothlit. Someone who stayed in morph beyond the two-hour time limit and got trapped in that morph.
None of us are one hundred percent sure it was an accident. Sometimes we think Tobias is happier as a hawk. That he let himself be trapped, on purpose.
But none of us has come right out and asked him. At least, I haven’t. And none of us has hasked if given the same situation he’d do it again. Assuming Tobias chose his fate and wasn’t just a victim of a really bad circumstance. Anyway, Rachel was upset.
“That was a disaster! People, we’ve got to get it together.” She turned to Jake.
“Well? Aren’t you going to do something?”
Jake rubbed his hand over his face. He looked exhausted. “If I knew what to do,” he said between gritted teeth, “I would be doing it.”
Marco stuck his fingers in his mouth and produced a loud “break-it-up” whistle.
“Time out. Look, we’re all on the same page here. We just need a little more practice. Tomorrow. Let’s call it a day.”
Still, Marco waited until Jake nodded. Then he walked off toward the cabin the Hork-Bajir had helped his parents construct.
Rachel turned to Jake. “You’re letting him walk off like that?”
Jake lifted his hand…and dropped it. Like he didn’t have the energy to argue. Then he, too, walked away.
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Rachel turned to me with that no-tolerance look in her eyes. “If we don’t get serious and focus…”
I tuned out. Rachel’s my best friend. She always puts the mission first. Which is a good thing in a fighter.
But sometimes she has trouble cutting an individual, a person, slack. She’s not cruel, just…hard sometimes.
I let her rage on. Everybody had gone back to work now that the drill was over. Hork-Bajir and humans worked on the structures that would house any new arrivals to the camp. The thumping and buzzing of hammers, axes, and saws made it easier to ignore Rachel’s voice.
But it didn’t block out another familiar voice. My mom, arguing with a Hork-Bajir workman. I left Rachel, still complaining, and hurried over to her. The Hork-Bajir used my arrival to get back to his task.
“Mom! You and dad were supposed to take cover. You know, the drill? All the training? What happened?”
She shook her head dismissively. Like she had something way more important to discuss. “Cassie, we’ve got to do something.”
“What’s the matter?”
She pointed to the long, low, windowless structure behind us. The place where the children, elderly, and ill would take refuge in case of a real surprise attack. It was a rock-and-wood fortress. No windows. Just little holes through which those who were strong enough could fire what weapons we had accumulated. Several Hork-Bajir were covering the structure with mud. Spackling up the cracks and covering the roof with vines so the structure couldn’t be easily spotted from the air.
“Look at that,” my mother said angrily.
“Mom, I’m not getting it. What’s wrong?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Cassie. Fifty, sixty Hork-Bajir might all have to live in that structure.”
“Only if we’re under siege,” I explained patiently. “And not for a long time. Hopefully.”
My mother shook her head again. As if what I’d said didn’t make any sense. 11 | P a g e
“I don’t care why they’ll be living there.” She held up three fingers. “One: There’s no ventilation except for some tiny squares in the wall. Two: The provisions for sanitation a re practically nonexistent. Three: An animal the size of a Hork-Bajir needs at least forty square feet of—”
I cut her off. “Mom! The Hork-Bajir are not animals.”
“Cassie, just let me—”
“Okay, they’re not humans, but they’re not big pets, either. The Hork-Bajir are a sentient species. They’re capable of understanding what’s in their own best interests. Just like humans.”
“I understand that,” Mom said in an exasperated tone. “Although I’m not sure I totally agree. But Cassie, you don’t seem to understand my point. If a group of Hork-Bajir spend any prolonged time in those conditions, they could easily die.”
Suddenly, unexpectedly, I was angry. Mad that my mother, a scientist, wouldn’t—or couldn’t—face the awful truth.
That we were at war. That the rules had changed. That we had to do things we’d never choose to do under peacetime circumstances. That we didn’t have that luxury. That every single minute of every single day we had to make scarifices we’d rather not make.
And I was angry that my mother was forcing me to confront her with this truth.
“That’s right, Mom,” I said, my voice hard. “The Hork-Bajir could die. Every single one of us, human and Hork-Bajir and Andalite, could die. Any day. At any time. I still don’t get your point.”
My mother gasped. It wasn’t a fake gasp, either. She was shocked. “Cassie! How can you say that? We’re talking about lives.”
“I’m being realistic. This is a war, Mom. Do you understand what that means? Some of us are going to die. That’s a fact. From disease or injury or deprivation. It doesn’t much matter how, does it? Nothing we do now can change that fact. Not building a nicer shelter or being all pleasant to each other. Nothing will stop the dying except winning the war. And right now, our chances of winning don’t look real good.”
I turned away from my mother’s stricken face. Walked away. Still angry at her for making me say the things I’d said. Angry at myself because I knew I had hurt her.
12 | P a g e
Angry mostly because I had wanted to hurt her.
Because she was making me be the grown-up. And even after all the endless months of fighting, with all the disgusting acts I had witnessed—or committed—I still sometimes wanted to be normal again.
Also, because I was worried. Not just about my own parents. If the adults didn’t accept the reality of the war, they would never be prepared when the time came to fight.
And if they weren’t prepared, they wouldn’t survive.
———
Chapter Four
Marco. Always vigilant. Always alert. Always scheming or, amazingly, figuring out the enemy’s schemes.
I’d go spend some time with him. The one totally aware of our enormously serious situation.
Life is full of suprirses.
Marco wasn’t noodling with the design of the trenches. Or calculating a faster way out of the compound during an attack.
No. Marco was sitting on a stump, messing around with a stick and pocket knife. Like a guy with all the time in the world. Like a character on a rerun of The Andy Griffith Show on Nick at Nite.
“What are you doing?” I asked quietly.
He looked up at me and grinned.
“This, Cassie, is the almost-lost art of whittling. It’s something people used to do when they were passing the time between milking the cows, plowing the back forty, and doing all kinds of labor-intensive jobs that are now rendered unneccessary by the proliferation of food courts.”
“There’s no food court around here,” I pointed out. “And there’s a lot of work to be done.”
He smiled. He looked positively serene. This was not the Marco I knew. 13 | P a g e
“Yes, Cassie. There sure is a lot of work to be done. But didn’t you see Jake give the go-ahead for a little downtime? All work and no play makes Marco one dull boy. So for once since this whole sorry mess began, I’m not worrying about what needs to be done.”
“Where are your parents?” I said. “You could be helping them with something.”
Yes, I sounded like a nag. A pain in the butt.
“My dad and mom are inside. They’re figuring out how to mount a Dracon beam on the roof.” He chuckled. “They’re so romantic those two.”
Marco’s mother, Eva, was the former host body of the former Visser One. Long story short, we’d rescued the human and destroyed the Yeerk. Now Eva was back with her husband and son.
And Marco was thrilled. At least about his parents’ reunion. I tried to curb my mounting impatience. What was wrong with me? I mean, I was supposed to be the sensitive one. The one who understood people’s feelings. The one who cared. The one who’d just walked away form Rachel for not considering Jake’s feelings.
I should have been glad to see Marco so happy. Normally, I would have been. But so soon after the confrontation with my mother, Marco’s good mood only annoyed me. Plucked my last nerve.
He was acting like my parents. Clearly, he was in denial. And with Jake only partly focused on the mission, someone had to keep us in line.
“Marco, look,” I said. “Downtime is one thing. But we can’t just sit around. Sure, things seem peaceful. But the Yeerks are looking for us. Right now. As we speak.”
He nodded. “Yep. I reckon you’re right.”
“Huh?”
All color drained from Marco’s face. His voice was hushed. “I didn’t really say that. Did i?”
I nodded.
Marco flipped the piece of wood over his shoulder, shut his knife with a snap, and stood.
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“Okay. You’re right. This R and R thing has got to stop. I could wind up dead. What do you want me to do? Build a catapult? Battering ram? Lead the Hork-Bajir in work songs?”
“Galafth! ”
We froze.
Yeerks. So soon. We weren’t ready! Not the Hork-Bajir. Not the Animorphs. And for sure not our parents.
Eva peeked out the door of the cabin, her expression tense. “We’re powering up. You guys get out of the compound, spread out, and get ready to launch a counterattack.”
Everywhere, Hork-Bajir and humans scrambled to take cover. I saw my parents standing off to the right. Frozen. Like they had no idea at all what they were supposed to do. I started toward them, but Marco grabbed the back of my shirt.
“Let Toby handle it. You and I head for the trenches and…”
“Whoowhoo!”
The “all clear,” a high-pitched whistle. The activity came to a halt.
“Was that a drill?” Marco wondered. “Maybe Jake and Toby set up a surprise…”
That’s when I saw what had caused the disturbance. I couldn’t help but smile. The overall situation was as grim as it had been a moment ago, but my bad mood was lifting.
Two Hork-Bajir came into view. Between them marched Rachel’s mom, Naomi. To say she looked mad was a huge understatement.
Rachel, Jake, and Ax emerged from the trenches. Marco and I joined them at the center of camp.
The guards brought their prisoner to a halt before us.
“Mom.” Rachel’s voice was hard. She flung a clump of mud from her hand. “You tried to get away, didn’t you? How many times do I have to tell you not to leave the camp?” She barked a very unhappy laugh. “Are you actually trying to get everybody killed?”
Rachel’s mother yanked her arm from a Hork-Bajir’s grasp. 15 | P a g e
“This is outrageous,” she spit. “This is some kind of loony cult. Or a particularly weird and paranoid militia movement. If you don’t let me contact the proper authorities, I’ll—”
Rachel cut her off. “What authorities, Mom? The police, the FBI, and the CIA have all been infiltrated by Yeerks. So, who are you going to call? Your partner? He could be a Yeerk, too.”
Naomi flinched.
“Rachel,” Jake said quietly.
But Rachel wasn’t ready to back off.
“This isn’t one of your bogus lawsuits, Mom. This isn’t something you can fix on paper. Okay? It’s a war. We’re not worrying about being sued. We’re worried about being killed.”
Rachel took a breath and continued. “Look, you’re a lawyer. Maybe that’s something back in your old life. But here it’s useless and means nothing. But you can at least stay out of the way, follow orders, and try not to get us all killed.”
