The Stranger Read online

  THE STRANGER AN APPLE PAPERBACK SCHOLASTIC INC. New York Toronto London Auckland Sydney Cover illustration by David B. Mattingly If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any pay ment for this "stripped book." No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permis sion of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. ISBN

  Copyright [*copy] 1997 by Katherine Applegate. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. APPLE PAPERBACKS and the APPLE PAPERBACKS logo are registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. ANIMORPHS is a trademark of Scholastic Inc. 12 11 1078 9/9 0 1 2/0Printed in the U.s.a. 40 First Scholastic printing, April 1997 For Michael

  My Name is Rachel. And you know the drill. I'm not going to tell you my last name. I'm not going to tell you where I live. I'll tell you all I can, because you need to know what's going on. You need to know what's happening. But I need to stay alive. And if the Yeerks knew who I was, I would be dead. Or worse. The Yeerks are here. That's what you need to know. People look up at the stars at night and wonder what it would be like if creatures from another planet ever landed on Earth. Well, you can stop wondering. It's happened. The Yeerks are parasites. They live in the brains of other species

  - humans, for example. They turn human beings into mindless slaves

  - human-Controllers. So when I say that the aliens are here, don't go looking around for some cute little thing like E.t. You won't see the Yeerks. They are parasitic worms, evil gray slugs that live in the heads of humans. They can be in anyone. Your best friend. Your favorite teacher. The mayor of your town. Your brother. Sister. Mother. Father. Anyone might be a Controller. You might be a Controller. So I won't tell you my last name. Or where I live. But I will tell you the truth. The truth that only the Animorphs know. Animorph. Animal morpher. A human capable of becoming any animal. It's our one weapon against the Yeerks. Our only power. Without it, we're just five regular kids. But with that power comes certain extra re sponsibilities ... as I was trying to explain to my best friend, Cassie. It was a Sunday night. It was late. The circus had finished its last show. Their trailers and tents were clustered around the back side of the big City Arena. The Arena is a place where they hold rock concerts and ice shows and play basketball games. And where they have circuses. "Look, we both saw what we saw," I told Cassie. "Are you telling me it doesn't make you mad? That jerk using a cattle prod on an elephant doesn't make you mad?" "Of course it does, Rachel," Cassie said.

  "I don't even like circuses." "I don't, either. But my dad had tickets, and it was our big once-every-other-week, father-and- daughters thing. I had to come." My dad had taken my sisters and me to see the circus earlier in the evening. See, my mom and dad are divorced, so my dad does these little outings where we all get together every second weekend. Sometimes it's just me and my dad. Like when we go hiking together, or go to ball games or gymnastics events. Those are all things my dad and I like, but Jordan and Sara, my sis ters, don't. My little sisters loved the circus, but it's not my kind of thing. I guess I'm too old. That's why

  I dragged Cassie along. So I'd have someone to talk to when my sisters were getting all excited over the clowns and stuff. Still, it was an opportunity to spend time with my dad, which I enjoy. I don't get to see him

  as much as I wish I could. Everyone always says how much I'm like him. How he's kind of reck less, and so am I. He always seems so sure of himself, and I guess people think I'm that way, too. We're even both into gymnastics. My dad al most made the U.s. Olympic team when he was younger. Of course, I've never told my father about my other life. I couldn't. But I wish I could. He would worry about me and all, but he would also think it was cool. My dad is very big on standing up for what's right. I think he would admire what I do. That would be nice, feeling like my dad ad mired me. There wasn't much activity in the little tent and trailer city outside the Arena. I could hear dogs barking. I could hear raucous laughter corn ing from a brightly painted trailer. I could smell the usual circus smells

  - manure, hay, beer, cotton candy. There were security guards around the perimeter of the area, but I wasn't worried about them. I've gone one-on-one with Hork-Bajir war riors. After you've fought one of those seven-foot- tall walking razor blades, regular old humans don't scare you much. Cassie and I walked silently past the tiger cage. The three big cats just stared blankly. It was night. They wanted to be in the jungle. Instead they were in a too-small cage, trapped in a nightmare invented by humans. Then I saw the elephant pen. There was a sturdy fence around four big Asian elephants. They were a little different from the African elephant I knew so well. But they were elephants, just the same. I have sort of a special relationship with ele phants. Cassie and I had come to the elephant pen before the circus and seen the way their trainer treated them. He had used a cattle prod on them. It's a stick with a massive electrical shock. He used it to control the animals. Later, during the show, he'd put on a big act of loving his elephants. But I'd seen the cattle prod. I just sat there, doing a slow boil all through the show. I knew I was going to have to take some action. The elephant trainer's name was Josep some thing. Something hard to pronounce. Well. He didn't know it yet, but Mr. Josep Something was about to have an eye-opening experience. "See anyone around?" I asked Cassie. "You know, Jake is going to read you the riot act over this," Cassie warned. I laughed. "Read the riot act? That's like something my mother would say. What does it even mean?" Cassie shrugged and smiled her shy smile. "I don't know. My dad says it all the time. I was try ing to sound responsible and mature and parental." "Look, I am going to do this," I said. Cassie sighed. "Why did I let you talk me into this!" "Because you know I'm right." Cassie rolled her eyes. "Just don't hurt the guy, okay?" "Me? Ms. Peace, Love, and Understanding? He'd just better not show up carrying that cattle prod, or I swear, I'll -- his I noticed Cassie had stopped walking. She was giving me her sorrowful look. Like she was ashamed of me. I cringed. "Okay, okay. I'll just talk to the guy. Turn off the look. I hate that look. You're going to be a really good mother some day, with a look like that." I found the gate in the elephant pen and opened it. I slipped inside while Cassie retreated into the shadows to watch my back. I moved slowly, not making any threatening moves that might alarm the elephants. Elephants may be gentle, but they are big. You don't want to be in the middle of four upset elephants. I went to a far, dark corner of the pen and be gan the familiar ritual of focusing my mind. I concentrated on the elephant. My elephant. The elephant whose DNA was a part of me. And then I began to change.

  C "People say I'm pretty, I don't know and I really don't care. But I'll tell you one thing

  -

  no one who has ever seen me morph into an ele phant ever used the word "pretty" to describe it. I felt the thickening of my legs and arms. I watched as my skin grew leathery and gray as mud. I felt the sudden sprouting of my trunk as my nose and upper lip seemed to explode outward. "Pinocchio, eat your heart out," Cassie whis pered. I felt the teeth in the front of my mouth run together, and then begin to grow and grow into long, spear-length tusks. It's a creepy sensation, by the way. Not painful, but definitely creepy. I was growing big. More than big. I was gaining several thousand pounds. Several thousand pounds. I was about twelve or thirteen feet tall. I had ears like beach blankets. I had a little, ropy tail. I was a full-grown African elephant, and I was ready to have a little, um, talk with Mr. Josep Something. "Hhhhuuuuhhhrrrooooooomm!" I threw up my trunk and let go of a trumpet blast. It was the soun
d of a very angry elephant. "You could have warned me," I heard Cassie whisper. "I almost wet myself over here." It took about three minutes before the trainer came rushing into the pen. In the dark, all he saw were the gray shapes of his elephants. I wasn't exactly hiding, because, let's face it, when you're an elephant, you can't scrunch up and look small. But I was staying back until he was all

  way inside the pen. Then . . . I lunged forward, pushing two of the other elephants aside. The trainer gaped up at me. "What? What the ...

  ?" In a sudden, fluid movement, as he stared in puzzlement, I wrapped my trunk around his waist. "Hey! Hey! You're not one of my elephants!" Here's the thing about elephant trunks. They are so subtle that I can pick up an egg with my trunk and never crack it. Or I can pick up a tree and throw it across the yard. Josep Something knew this. I wrapped my trunk tightly around his waist and then I lifted him up off the ground. His feet kicked helplessly in the air. His arms pounded weakly on my trunk. I lifted him up till he was at my eye level. less-than Hi, Josepeagreater-than I said, usin g thought-speak. "What the . . . his Who? Who said that? I'm hearing voices!" less-than Meeagreater-than I replied. less-than like said it. See, Josep, I am from the International Elephant Police. We have had some complaints about you. greater-than "This is crazy! This is crazy! What are you?

  Is this some sort of a joke?" So I squeezed him a little tighter. Just enough so he couldn't really breathe very well. less-than Now, listen to me. Because I could just as easily squeeze you out like a tube of toothpaste. So pay attention. You have been using cattle prods on your elephants. That is a no-no. greater-than "But ..." he gasped. "They ... are ...

  my ... property!" This man was just not getting the message. So I extended my trunk a little and held him right over the tip of my left tusk. Like a worm about to be placed on fishing hook. less-than With one twitch of my trunk I can make you a shish kebab. Now are you going to listen to me8greater-than "Yes! Ves! I'm listening," he said. "I am listening very closely." less-than No more cattle prods. No more pain of any kind. Do you understand me8greater-than "y-y-y-yes." less-than Because I'll be watching. And if you ever, ever hurt an elephant again . . . ever. . . I'll come back for you. And I will squeeze you till you pop like an overcooked hot dog. Do you under stand me8greater-than "y-y-y-yes." less-than Josep, can you fly8greater-than "What? Can I fly? No. No, of course not." less-than l'll bet you ceagreater-than I said. And with that, I low ered my trunk almost to the ground. Then, with a sudden toss of my head and a deft twist of my trunk, I sent Josep Something flying. He landed safely atop a tent. About, oh, twenty feet away. "Nowcan we go home?" Cassie asked. You threw the guy into the air?" Jake asked. "Wasn't that maybe just a little unneces sary?" "No. He made me mad," I said. It was the next day after school, a Monday. We were walking through the woods. Me, Cassie, Jake, Marco, and Tobias. Of course, Tobias wasn't really walking. He was flying overhead in little hops from branch to branch. He stayed close so he could hear us. Red-tailed hawks have excellent hearing, but he still had to stay fairly close. "Well, Rachel, you know I sympathize," Jake said mildly, "but I don't think our job is really to right every wrong that's done to animals. That would be a full-time job, unfortunately." I looked at Cassie. She gave me a wink.

  We kind of didn't tell Jake that she had been there, too. Cassie and Jake like each other. She didn't want him to be mad at her. With me, it's a different story. Everyone knows I'm going to do whatever I feel like doing. "We have other stuff to deal with," Marco grumbled. "The Andalite didn't give us this power so we could turn into the Animorph Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals." "Fine," I said. Which wasn't exactly like admitting I was wrong. "But what's got you so serious, Marco?" "Let's wait till we find Ax. I don't want to have to tell the story twice." So we tromped noisily on through the woods. I felt a surge of excitement. You couldn't miss the tension in Marco's voice. Something was up. There was the smell of danger in the air, and that meant action. I like action. I like dstnothings instead of just talking about them. Marco makes fun of me over it. He calls me Xena, Warrior Princess. But I'm not one of those morons who is just into danger for its own sake. It's not about cheap thrills. It's about feeling like I am involved in something very important. I mean, let's face it

  - as corny as it sounds, we are trying to help save the world. It began months ago. The five of us just hap pened to hook up together at the mall. It's not like we were a group, really. Not before that night. Jake's my cousin, but we never hung out together much. Jake's sort of in charge. It's not something he ever asked for; it's just that he's good at dealing with responsibility. He's the kind of person you automatically turn to if there's a crisis. And probably the best thing about him is that he can tell people what to do without ever sounding bossy. "Since when don't you want to tell the same story twice?" Jake teased Marco. "I've known you to tell the same tired jokes eighty or ninety times." "It's your own fault," Marco said. "If you would just laugh the first time, I wouldn't have to keep telling them." Marco is Jake's best friend. He's smaller than Jake, funnier, darker, more skeptical. But his suspicious nature makes him very good at seeing beneath the surface of things. And as much as he whines and complains about the dangerous situations we get into, he's still there in the worst of the fight, still making dumb jokes. Marco has changed lately, at least a little. He doesn't resist being an Animorph like he used to. I don't know why. Maybe it's because his dad

  fi nally seems to have gotten over the death of Marco's mother. I don't know. "Hey, look! Over by that tree. See? A baby skunk with its mother." Cassie, of course. No one else would notice, or get excited over, skunks. "Let's run right over and pet them," Marco said. Cassie laughed. "I've handled skunks plenty of times and never.been sprayed." "Yeah, well, that's you, Dr. Doolittle." Cassie has been my best friend forever. I have no idea why. No one does, because we seem like we would never get along. Cassie lives on a farm. Both her parents are veterinarians. She spends all her free time in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic her dad runs in their barn. They save in jured animals. Cassie is very into animals, but she's not one of those animal lovers who can't stand people. She just thinks of humans as a different species of animal. Then there is Tobias. Back when all this started, Tobias was barely an acquaintance of Jake and Marco, although I kind of knew him. He was a sweet, poetic kind of guy. The kind bullies love to pick on. He used to have messy, out-of- control hair and dreamy eyes that always seemed to be looking at something no one else could see. Used to ... Now he has fierce, angry eyes that look through you like laser beams. Now he has brown ish feathers, and a white chest, and a reddish tail, and cruel-looking talons, and a wickedly- curved beak. Tobias was trapped in a morph. Now, he's a red-tailed hawk. A predator who lives on mice and rabbits and sometimes other birds. I still see him as sweet, gentle Tobias. But

  he has been a hawk for a long time now. The gift of the Andalite, the power to morph, is a wonderful weapon. But like any weapon, it can destroy those who use it. less-than Here he comeseagreater-than Tobias called down in the thought-speak we use when we are in a morph. less-than like think he sees us. greater-than I heard the sound of fallen leaves being stirred, a faint drumbeat of pounding hooves on pine needles. Then, with a leap, he cleared a fallen tree trunk and landed a few feet away from us. Aximili-Esgarrouth-lsthill. We call him "Ax" for short. The sole survivor of the destroyed An dalite Dome ship. The only living Andalite

  on planet Earth. Ax is the brother of Prince Elfangor, the Andalite who warned us about the Yeerk invasion and gave us the power to morph. Prince Elfangor, who was destroyed by Visser Three, leader of the Yeerk forces on Earth. less-than Hello, Prince Jakeeagreater-than Ax said. less-than Hello, alt. greater-than As much as I know Ax, and even consider him a friend, it's always a little bit of a shock to see him. He looks like some odd cross of a human, a deer, and a scorpion. But not really like any of those things. His upper body and head are more or less the human-looking parts. He has thin arms and many-fingered hands. His face is flat, with slits for a
nose and two large almond eyes. He has no mouth at all, which is why thought-speak is the natural language of Andalites. From atop his head rise two stalks, each with an eye on the end. He can turn these eyes in any direction he wants. They're completely indepen dent of his main eyes. His body is that of a pale blue-and-tan deer, or a thin pony. He has four legs that end in hooves. But his back slopes down, so that you would never be tempted to think of riding him. And he has a tail. A long, thick, powerful tail that ends in a deadly scythe-shaped blade. I've seen him use that tail. He can strike so fast that the human eye sees nothing but a blur. "Hey, Ax," Marco said. "How's it going?" less-than lt is going wonderfully. I was up in the hills yesterday, and I was attacked by one of those very large cats. What do you call them? Cougars? It was very exciting. greater-than "Are you okay?" I asked. less-than Certainly, Rachel. And I did not hurt the cougar, Cassie. Not fatally, anyway. But he won't try to eat me again, I think. greater-than Ax gave his strange Andalite smile, an expression he managed even without a mouth. Marco rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you, Ax and Rachel belong together. The two of you are sick. Someday you could get married while bungee- jumping into an active volcano." I squirmed a little. Not because I minded Marco thinking I was bold. But because I really was not interested in Ax that way. "Okay, now that we're all here, Marco, maybe you could tell us why we're all here," Jake said. "I have some news," Marco began. "Actually, Tobias and I have some news." I glanced up at Tobias, sitting in the tree.

  Of course he showed no expression. He just fixed his piercing gaze on Marco. Marco swaggered just a bit as we formed a circle around him. "It's a tale of initiative and courage and, yes, brilliance," Marco began. "No, no, no. Just tell us, Marco," I snapped. "Don't try to milk the suspense." "Okay," he said with an easy laugh. "My fellow Animorphs . . . and visiting al ien ... we have found a way into the Yeerk pool." The entrance to the Yeerk pool?" I echoed. "Where? How?" I looked around at the others to see their reactions. See, we had already invaded the Yeerk pool in an effort to save Jake's brother, Tom. Not a happy memory. I saw Cassie shudder. "Ax is the only one who wasn't there for our little vacation in the Yeerk pool," Marco said. "As the rest of you know, the Yeerk pool is in a huge underground cavern. It's practically a small city down there. It's under our school, but it's so big that it also runs beneath the fire station, a couple of gas stations, and most of the mall." Ax nodded. less-than Yeerk pools are generally