The Underground Read online

"So, that was the low-power setting," I said.

  Then, "What's keeping you?"

  A human voice! Female. I ducked back into the darkness.

  She stopped when she saw the Hork-Bajir stretched out on the floor. She was just about to yell when . . .

  TSEEEWWWW!

  Down she went, sprawling right across the Hork-Bajir. She groaned once, then passed out.

  128 I looked at the Dracon beam in my hand. "Cool. Phasers on stun, Captain."

  I took the woman's shoes. As always, you can't morph shoes or bulky clothing. I took her blazer, too. It wasn't a bad blazer. I checked the label. "DKNY. Excellent. A little big for me, but okay."

  I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. The blazer was large, the shoes were half a size too small, and the glasses I took from her face made the world seem a little distorted around the edges. But all in all, it wasn't a bad look. And I wanted to look good for my first trip around the Yeerk pool as a human.

  I stepped out of the storeroom into the office outside. No one there. A second office outside that one. A man sat there. He was wearing a cotton shirt with a collar. He'd been my ride. Before he could turn around, I fired.

  TSEEEEWWWW!

  He crumpled in his chair and looked like he was asleep. Which, of course, he was.

  I slid the Dracon beam into the pocket of the blazer. And then I stepped out into the world of the Yeerk pool.

  129 J. was slightly tense.

  I was walking around the Yeerk pool complex, wearing someone else's coat and shoes and glasses. I was carrying a Dracon beam. The smart thing to do would be to head for the nearest exit.

  But I had to see if the others were okay. Which meant searching the entire complex.

  The Yeerk pool itself is a sort of pond. But all around it is a base, with warehouses, armories, administration buildings, a motor pool, and a cafeteria for each of the major species of Controllers.

  It was always being enlarged. Around the edges were human construction equipment:

  130 Caterpillar earthmovers and backhoes and dump trucks.

  But the evil heart of the complex was the Yeerk pool itself, and the cages where hosts - human and Hork-Bajir - were kept. Some of them shouted threats and obscenities. Others just sat wearily on the ground. They were the creatures whose Yeerks were in the pool at the moment.

  There was a nicer area, almost like a beach club, where "voluntary" hosts hung out. Some humans. A lot of Taxxons. Both areas were larger and busier than when I'd last been there. There had to be fifty or even a hundred hosts in those cages.

  Wait a minute, I thought. There are a lot more than a hundred Yeerks in the pool.

  Of course. Obviously, a lot of them were Yeerks awaiting fresh hosts.

  I considered. What would happen if I aimed the Dracon beam right at the pool and fired at maximum power?

  You'd never get the others back, that's what would happen.

  A pair of Hork-Bajir marched by me. I stiffened, but they had no interest in me. I was just another human-Controller as far as they were concerned.

  Then another pair of Hork-Bajir came by at a

  131 run. I followed them with my eyes. There were other Hork-Bajir, all rushing toward the edge of the Yeerk pool nearest the steel pier where they unloaded the Yeerks.

  I drifted after them. I had to look cool, calm. No matter what. I couldn't look out of place.

  But what I saw, there in the center of a circle of Hork-Bajir, made me want to cry out.

  Ax!

  He was demorphed. Fully Andalite. And there were no less than thirty Hork-Bajir warriors around him, all with Dracon beams leveled.

  An Andalite can almost always beat one Hork-Bajir. Usually two. But not thirty. Ax was trapped.

  He seemed calm. Or maybe just resigned.

  I looked around for the others. I didn't see them. I reminded myself they could be in any number of bodies. Probably they were okay. Probably.

  I hoped he would notice me. It might encourage him. But Ax was facing a sea of angry, triumphant faces. He had a lot to look at.

  Two big Hork-Bajir stepped forward and very carefully slapped a metallic rope around his legs and arms. Then, even more carefully, they slid a sort of sheath over Ax's deadly tail blade.

  Once Ax was helpless, they shoved him rudely onto his side and dragged him off through the dirt.

  132 "An Andalite! Here!" someone said.

  I glanced toward the voice. A distinguished-looking older woman.

  "Yeah," I said. "I wonder if he was alone."

  She snorted. "Andalite scum. Always skulking about, passing as some sort of animal or bug with their morphing technology. They caught two others. Or at least they think they did. A pair of bats." She grinned. "They could just be bats, I suppose. But we'll find out soon. The Visser is coming." She laughed an evil, somewhat frightened laugh. "He'll find them out."

  I tried to mimic her laugh. "Oh yes, the Visser will take care of the Andalite scum."

  "I wish I could stay and watch," she said. "But I have to get back. My host is a judge and there's an important case I must prepare for."

  She walked away. I made a mental note of her face and occupation. I also made a note of the fact that she was lying. She didn't want to be anywhere near Visser Three. Which just proved she was smart. The Visser had a temper. And when the Visser got mad, heads always rolled. Literally.

  So. Two bats and Ax. That left two of us not accounted for. Where would they be keeping the bats?

  Duh, Rachel The same place they were dragging Ax.

  133 I began to follow the drag marks. They led toward a low windowless building. There was a sign above the door. It was in lettering I didn't recognize. But there was a feeling about the place. A bad feeling.

  Should I rush in and try to save Ax and the other two? No, there was no rush yet. Nothing would happen till Visser Three arrived.

  «0kay. How about Rachel? Rachel? Are you listening?»

  It was Marco! I glanced around. But of course I couldn't see anything. Marco could be in any kind of morph.

  «Rachel, it's me, Marco. If you can hear me, Jake, Tobias, and Ax have all been taken. I'm trying to contact you and Cassie. Are you there? Can you answer?»

  I could have cried from frustration. In my own human body, I couldn't use thought-speak. It was a relief to know Marco was still free.

  «No? Well, I hope you're okay. I'll try again later.»

  I had reached the door of the sinister building. Now what?

  Suddenly, a commotion. A small knot of humans and one Hork-Bajir were coming toward me. Or at least toward the door.

  "I don't know how it got there!" a human voice wailed. "I'm telling you it's a mistake!" She

  134 was young. No more than eighteen. She was scared but helpless in the grip of the Hork-Bajir.

  An older, male human-Controller shook his head. "You can tell it to the Visser. He'll be here soon."

  "No!" the young woman gasped. "It's a huge mistake!"

  "It's a mistake, all right," the man said. He reached into the backpack the girl was carrying. He lifted out a small Rubbermaid container. He shoved it in the girl's face. "What do you call this?"

  "It's . . . it's just cereal. It's something the humans call raisin bran. Human bodies need fiber in order to function properly, so -"

  The man cut her off. He opened the Rubbermaid and sniffed it. He held it out for her to see. "No raisins. Don't lecture me about humans. I've been in this host body for two years. And I know the smell of maple and ginger. Fool. You're as stupid as the humans with their drugs. Never thought I'd see self-respecting Yeerks lower themselves to behaving like humans." He jerked his head. "Take her away."

  The Hork-Bajir dragged the girl into the building. The older man handed the Rubbermaid to another human-Controller. "Too many of our people going host-happy. These human hosts can

  135 be insidious. Check this in with the contraband locker."

  "They're running out of room over there. They've taken
in over two hundred human pounds of this stuff."

  Two hundred pounds?

  "Well, hello opportunity," I whispered.

  136 I hey kept the oatmeal in more of a shackthan a building. It was like one of those tin shedsthat people put in their backyards to store rakesand hoses and the lawn mower. I

  However, it was guarded by four very alert, very serious-looking Hork-Bajir.

  The shed was perhaps fifty feet from the edge of the Yeerk pool itself, and just behind the "human" cafeteria.

  I took a deep breath. Okay. Marco was free, but I didn't know where. Jake, Tobias, and Ax were all prisoners, probably back in the security building. Cassie was somewhere, and I had no idea where or if she was okay. I had to stifle an urge to cry at the thought of Cassie hurt.

  137 Okay, now stick to business, I told myself sharply. You're the only one who can save them.

  In addition to everything else, I knew Visser Three was on his way, Jake and Tobias were running short of morphing time, and there were two hundred pounds of maple and ginger oatmeal sitting in a shed within fifty feet of the pool.

  There had to be some way to make all this work. I just had to step back and see the big picture. Somehow. But the truth is, I'm not good at that kind of thing. Jake sees "big pictures." So does Cassie, in a different way. Me, I see what's right in front of me. I'm good at taking action.

  Okay. First of all, whatever you're going to do, do it before Visser Three gets here.

  First priority was rescuing my friends. I just needed time to -

  ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET!

  An alarm! Flashing lights! Hork-Bajir running. Running toward the store room where I'd Dra-coned those people.

  Oh.

  Okay, that was stupid. I should have realized they'd be found. Now the Yeerks would know they hadn't gotten all of us.

  «0ne more time. It's me, Marco. Calling Rachel. Come on, Rachel. You're starting to worry us all now. Where are you?»

  THUMP! BUMP! People rushing all around

  138 me. Hurrying. A huge Taxxon slithered past, needle-legs flashing, its big red, round mouth gasping at the air.

  What had Marco said? You're starting to worry us all now? Us all? Did that mean he'd contacted all the others?

  Someone grabbed me. "What's the matter with you? Get to your action station! There are more Andalite scum among us!"

  The man released me and ran about three feet. Then he stopped. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He turned back to me, his face alive with suspicion.

  I stepped right up to him so no one would see the flash. I lifted the Dracon beam and squeezed the trigger.

  TSEEEWWW!

  "Ahhh!" The Dracon blast was too close. Some of the energy bounced back off the man and stunned me. It was like grabbing a bare electrical wire and jabbing it in my stomach. I clutched my stomach and backed away.

  Heads turned. Eyes narrowed.

  "He's one of them!" I yelled, pointing at the prostrate man. "He tried to shoot me with this!" I held up the Dracon beam as evidence.

  A crowd rushed forward, Hork-Bajir among them. They encircled the man as I backed away and tried to become invisible.

  139 ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET!

  «0h, Ra-chel,» Marco sang in my head. «Where are you?»

  "Where's the girl who was just here?" I heard a voice yell from the midst of the crowd.

  I turned and walked away. Walk, don't run, I told myself.

  "Well, findherl"

  "Rachel!" a voice hissed.

  I swear I almost wet myself. I reached for the Dracon beam.

  "It's just me."

  Cassie! She was suddenly right there in front of me.

  "Oh, man, am I glad to see you! How did you get here?"

  "How did you get here?"

  "Never mind," I said. "I'm in trouble."

  "I am so not surprised," she said.

  "Come on, we have to get away from here." We walked away and I filled her in on what I knew. Which wasn't much.

  "So, what do we do?" she asked.

  "I was hoping you'd have some ideas."

  "Well, we'd better get Jake, Tobias, and Ax first."

  "Yeah, but how? They're surrounded by Hork-Bajir on a high state of alert. Visser Three's on his way."

  141 I saw her glance at the Yeerk pool. "They're almost helpless in their natural state, aren't they?"

  Suddenly a loudspeaker crackled to life. A blastingly loud message in some language neither of us spoke. And then, to my amazement, the top of the dome began to open up. It was just a circle, and from the filtered quality of the light that came down I could tell it was the bottom of a tunnel. It must have cut straight through some portion of the bat cave.

  Floating down on jets of brilliant blue gasses came a Bug fighter.

  "Three guesses who that is," Cassie muttered.

  140

  he Bug fighter bearing Visser Three floated down to a gentle landing not a hundred feet away.

  I caught a glimpse of him as he stepped out. He looked like an older Ax. But even though Visser Three had infested an Andalite body, there was no mistaking him for a real Andalite. Not once you knew him. There was a darkness you couldn't see, but could definitely feel. A darkness spreading outward from him that caused people to lower their voices, speak in whispers, and try to shrink inside their own skin.

  "Some butt is going to get kicked," I predicted.

  The Visser's thought-speak roar filled every

  142 brain in the Yeerk pool. «Seal every exit! No one move! Not a single twitch, do you hear me? I have secure troops coming down. Until they check you, no one moves. If any of you see any movement, destroy! Destroy it! Do you understand me? I will not tolerate failure!»

  Two more Bug fighters were descending now. Visser Three was being careful. He knew we could be anyone. He knew we could even theoretically be in Hork-Bajir morph orTaxxon morph. He'd brought fresh Hork-Bajir down from his Blade ship to begin checking us, one by one.

  "We're toast," Cassie said, barely moving her lips.

  We were alongside the building used to feed human-Controllers. We were partly blocked from view, and almost everyone in the place was staring straight ahead at Visser Three.

  Still, there were two human-Controllers and a Taxxon behind us, where they would see us if we moved.

  "Into the cafeteria here," I whispered. "Combat mode. Get ready."

  "Get ready for... where did you get that?"

  Cassie had seen my Dracon beam as I drew it. I spun to face the Taxxon. "He moved! It's an AN-DALITE!" I screamed.

  I squeezed the trigger.

  143 TSEEEWWW! Down went the Taxxon like a sack of pudding.

  TSEEEWWW! Down went the first human-Controller!

  TSEEEWWW! Down went the second.

  We were clear. For about three seconds. I ducked into the cafeteria and was already starting to morph. The building was empty. Everyone was outside, gaping in fear at their leader.

  «Who's firing over there?» the Visser bellowed. «l said, freeze!»

  Cassie and I banged through folding chairs and slammed around tables loaded with interrupted meals.

  "Back there!" I yelled, pointing to a door. I yanked it open. A food pantry.

  And there, sitting calmly atop a crate of canned minestrone and enjoying a banana, sat a gorilla.

  "Marco?"

  «No, some other gon\a,» he said. «l've been trying to contact you two for -»

  "Some other time!" I yelled. "Hold this! I'm morphing!" I tossed him the Dracon beam.

  «Cool!»

  "Visser Three is here. Jake, Tobias, and Ax are surrounded by Hork-Bajir, and there are two hundred pounds of oatmeal in a shed!"

  144 The gorilla blinked. «You have some brilliant yet probably suicidal idea, Xena?»

  "No."

  «What are you morphing?»

  "Grizzly bear. It's butt-kicking time!"

  "No, wait!" Cassie said. "The stupid oatmeal!
That's the key. If that was in the pool, they'd all go nuts. At least it would be a huge distraction."

  "We have to get out the front door of this place, around the building, back to the shed where they store it. A long way."

  Marco nodded, like a wise gorilla. «Doesn't that mean it's right back here?» He pointed through the wall.

  I smiled. "Come to think of it, it would be a lot shorter trip if we went through the wall."

  "Through the wall. Then through the two Hork-Bajir guarding the oatmeal. Then what?" Cassie asked.

  "Then ..." I began. I sighed. "I don't know."

  «Good plan,» Marco said.

  "Let's-" I began.

  Marco held up one massive, leathery paw. «No, no. My turn,» he said. «AII right, let's do

  145 -L began to morph the grizzly bear. But then I stopped. We needed raw power. Truck-style power.

  "You guys may get a little cramped," I warned. "I'm gonna get big."

  I began to morph the elephant.

  It's funny with morphing. It's like choosing your weapons in an old-time duel. In the old days two guys would insult each other, then they would arrange through their friends to "settle" the matter. The person who was challenged would get his choice of weapons. They'd go off early one morning, very civilized, with all the proper ceremony, and sword fight or shoot each other.

  146 Pretty much like some people do today, only nowadays the duelists always seem to slaughter some innocent bystanders.

  But that's a little of what it's like. I was going into battle. Which weapon should I use? I liked the bear because it was so utterly powerful and destructive. But in this case, the elephant morph was the proper weapon. And just like with one of those old-time, early-morning duels, I had plenty of time to think about being scared.

  I began to change. I began to get large. My legs thickened to become telephone poles. My arms thickened even more and the weight of them made me fall forward.

  My fingers and toes disappeared, leaving behind only thick, bony nails. I realized I could see something flapping around my head. Flapping like someone shaking a sheet out of the dryer. It was my ears, growing thin and huge.

  My face bulged outward. It was as if someone were blowing my head up like a balloon. My eyes moved apart, spreading farther and farther, blurring my vision. My nose melted with my upper lip and began to grow like some nightmare Pinoc-chio. It grew till it wasn't a nose anymore, but a rope, a cable, a massive octopus tentacle so strong I could rip trees out of the ground.