The Visitor (11 page)

V
isser Three in person is worse than Visser Three as a hologram. There's nothing horrible about him. Not when he's in his normal Andalite body, at least. Andalites are strange-looking, that's for sure. But they aren't frightening.

But I had met a real Andalite. You could feel the difference between a real Andalite and the evil beast that was Visser Three. It was like he glowed with some dark light. A light that cast a shadow over your mind.

Visser Three. Even Chapman feared him.

Around the Visser, two Hork-Bajir guards deployed. Each was holding a Dracon beam, not that
Hork-Bajir ever look like they need weapons. They
are
weapons. Marco had called them walking SaladShooters. They are living razor blades. Wickedly curved blades rake forward from their foreheads. More blades are at their elbows and wrists. Their feet are like Tobias's talons, only much bigger, like tyrannosaur feet.

They are seven feet tall, maybe a little more, with spiked tails. The Andalite had told us that the Hork-Bajir were a good people, enslaved by the Yeerks, just the same way the Yeerks wanted to enslave humans. But it's hard to look at a Hork-Bajir and think they have ever been anything but killing machines.

Behind the Hork-Bajir came four Taxxons.

Imagine a centipede. Now imagine a centipede twice the length of a man and just as big around. Imagine that the centipede holds the upper third of its body erect. Imagine pointed legs like steel pins below, and smaller legs with little claws as you get closer to the head. Not that it has a real head. There are four separate globs that look like chopped-up red Jell-O that are the Taxxon's eyes. And at the very top, a mouth. The mouth is perfectly round and lined with row after row of small, needlelike teeth.

The Andalite told us that the Taxxons are all voluntary hosts. They are allies of the Yeerks.

And yet, as horrible as the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons were, it was Visser Three who made your skin crawl.

Without the hologram communicator, the Visser communicated in the usual Andalite fashion. He thought-spoke, much like we all did when we were in morph.

he asked Chapman.

“Yes, Visser.”

Visser Three advanced toward me, almost mincing on his delicate Andalite legs, looking like a cross between a deer, a human, and a scorpion. He aimed his main eyes at me. His stalk eyes scanned the area, always watchful. He brought his face close to the cage.

I was staring right into his face. I could see the nose slits open and close as he breathed. I could see the large, almond-shaped eyes narrow as he peered inside to get a better look at me.

He was only inches away. I should have tried to reach through the bars and at least bloody him a little.

But the fear was all over me. I was sick with terror. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I couldn't stand his eyes watching me. I turned away, afraid to look.

Visser Three asked.

It was the first time any of us had ever been spoken to directly by the Visser. His voice was in my head, threatening and cruel and foul beyond description. It was a voice full of power—and hate. When he called me an Andalite, I almost burst out, “No, no, Visser, not an Andalite. A human. A human!”

It was like I could feel the terrible force of his will battering me. In an instant I knew: I would never survive his questioning. I would tell him everything. His power was a million times greater than mine. His will was a vast, huge, irresistible thing. And what was I? Just some foolish little girl. A foolish, lost girl. Lost.

And yet, even as I felt my own mind wither before the black terror of Visser Three, another mind came forward.

I was not alone. There was another in my head with me. Someone whose species memory had no images of Visser Three. Fluffer. Fluffer's mind contained fears, but they were different from my fears. Fluffer feared big predator birds. Fluffer feared loud aggressive dogs. Fluffer feared dominant male cats.

But Fluffer was not at all impressed by Visser Three.

On the edge of absolute panic, I let the cat in my mind take over. I sank back, hiding behind the calm cat brain.

Visser Three took the cage from Chapman. He lifted it up so he could see inside better.

And what did I do? What did Fluffer do? He stuck his little pink nose up against the bars and sniffed the air.

Fluffer wanted to find out what this creature was, and that meant getting a good smell of him.

Visser Three said.

It took me a second to track on this. Then I realized: He meant Jake. Jake had been in his tiger morph when we battled in the Yeerk pool.

“Yes, Visser,” Chapman said. “They are a family of animals. Felines. These are the smallest.”

Visser Three said to me.

What was I supposed to say? Thank you?

I said nothing. I tried to think nothing. I was afraid that if I said anything he would instantly know I was not an Andalite. And if he realized I was human … the others would never be safe.

I had to stay in this body.

I had to die in this body, and take my secret with me.

Visser Three put my cage back down.

“Visser … I …” Chapman said.

The mask of politeness dropped from Visser Three in a microsecond. Even my cat eyes could barely follow his movements, they were so swift. Visser Three grabbed Chapman around the neck. His Andalite tail arched forward. The dagger point of the tail was in Chapman's face.

It was like a hiss. The hiss of a snake.

“N-n-n-o, no, Visser.” Chapman was trembling harshly. “I would never defy you. It's only … the host. Chapman. He and the woman rebelled.”

Visser Three sneered.

This wasn't going very well for Chapman. Either the real, human Chapman, or the Human-Controller that called itself Chapman.

“Visser, I … I only report the facts to you. M-m-my host is under control. But I am constantly in contact with humans. I occupy a responsible position in their society. I cannot have my host body causing me to twitch and shake. Humans see such things as signs of mental illness. I could lose my position. And I would no longer be of any use to you.”

Visser Three sneered.

“Visser, my host begs leave to address you directly,” Chapman said.

Visser Three hesitated. I saw his stalk eyes scan around, checking for any signs of threat. Instinctively I looked around, too. I had no way of knowing how well Visser Three's borrowed Andalite eyes could see in the dark. But for me the darkness was no barrier.

I looked. I didn't even know what I was looking for. But all I saw were the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons, the Yeerk ships, silent and dark, and the buildings and forlorn construction equipment of the site.

Then I caught a glimpse of movement. It was in the woods that bordered the construction site. A swift side-to-side movement, just the sort of thing my cat eyes noticed best. But when I stared closer,
I saw no further movement. Probably just another Hork-Bajir patrolling.

Visser Three said.

I craned my head up as well as I could to watch. For a moment, nothing changed. Then, suddenly, Chapman sagged. It was like he was a marionette and someone had cut his strings. He collapsed, straight down. His legs just twisted up under him.

He tried to stand up. But it was as if he didn't know how to make his legs work. They would jerk and suddenly kick out, but he could not stand. Finally, he gave up.

“Fisher,” he mumbled. “Fisher Hree. Sor … I … sorry. Visher. Visser. Visser Three.”

The real, human Chapman had been out of control of his own body for so long he no longer remembered how to move or speak.

“Visser Three,” he said again. His voice was slurry and strange.

Visser Three snapped.

“Visser Three. You … We had a deal. You know I never wanted to join you. My wife did. But I said no. But … but then my wife … no longer my wife by then, of course.” Suddenly he began to cry. I could see his tears very clearly. “My wife who was
no longer my wife … my wife who was one of your creatures … threatened … threatened to give you my daughter.”

Chapman managed to raise one clumsy hand to his eyes. “I forgive her. She was weak. And you feed on weakness.”

Visser Three said.

A Hork-Bajir moved closer. He muttered something to the Visser, then moved away. I couldn't hear or understand what the Hork-Bajir had said, but it looked as if he was reminding Visser Three that they shouldn't hang around too long.

“The point is,” Chapman said, “that I agreed to be made into a host. I agreed to … to …” He looked like he was about to throw up. “I agreed to surrender my freedom. To become a Controller. To accept this filthy thing in my head. To accept your control. I agreed … but only if you would spare my daughter.”

It felt like my heart had stopped beating. Chapman had become a Controller to save Melissa? He had given more than his life to save his daughter?

Visser Three said.

“The girl — Melissa — is no threat. But …”
Chapman struggled to lift himself up once again with clumsy legs and awkward arms. He rose to his knees. Then slowly, slowly, he stood up. He was wobbling and swaying, but he was standing.

“The girl is no threat,” he repeated in a stronger, more confident voice. “But I am.”

Y
ou? A threat?> Visser Three laughed. He reached out with one hand to push lightly on Chapman's chest. Chapman fell back, sprawled out on the dirt. His head was just inches from the door of my cage. Tears were streaming down the side of his face.

“If you harm my daughter, I will fight you. I will fight you forever. Ask your Yeerk if he believes me. He knows me better than anyone. Ask Iniss Two-Two-Six if I will fight for my daughter.”

Chapman closed his eyes. The tears stopped. Then his eyes opened again. He picked himself up quickly
from the ground and stood before Visser Three. The Yeerk slug was in charge again. He was once again a Controller.

Before he stood, I had seen something that frightened me all over again. It was Chapman's watch. The time was now nine twenty-eight. I had about seventeen minutes before I hit the two-hour limit!

“Yes, Visser. And the woman as well. She is not as strong as this one, but she was able to gain control of one hand. Perhaps she has deeper strengths than we knew.” He hesitated before going on. I could still smell the fear on him. “I am of more use with a passive, voluntary host. But I am your tool, Visser. I will do as you command.”

Visser Three said. He nodded down at me.

Chapman didn't need a second invitation. He jumped in the car and tore out of there.

Melissa was safe. As safe as she would ever be with Chapman as her father. That was something. Not much, but something.

Visser Three yelled. I saw the
Hork-Bajir respond instantly to his command. The nearest one snatched me up and suddenly we were moving fast toward the Blade ship.

In seconds it would all be over. I would be aboard the Visser's ship. I would leave Earth. The only thing in my future was pain. Maybe I would die before I betrayed my friends. A depressing kind of thing to hope for.

“Mrrraaaoww!”
I jumped and spun around inside my cage.

The door of the Blade ship slid open silently. I could see dark red light inside. I could see a handful
of Taxxons that seemed to be standing over control panels of some sort. Hork-Bajir stood at attention.

Jake said.

Just at that moment I heard a strange sound. My cat brain didn't recognize it. But the human me did. It was an engine. A big engine. Like a big truck. Or maybe a tractor. Or—

An earthmover.

The Hork-Bajir carrying me saw it, too. He ran into the Blade ship and tossed me down. Then he ran back to the Visser, who waited in the doorway.

I told Jake.

Jake said.

All at once, through the open door of the Blade ship, I spotted the earthmover. It lumbered at a
painfully slow speed. But it lumbered right toward the Blade ship.

Visser Three shouted.

The nearest Taxxon said something in their slithery snake-speech. It sounded like
“Sssree shway snerp snerrrrup ssreet.”

Visser Three said. His tail whipped forward. I saw a huge gash open in the flesh of the Taxxon. Greenish-yellow goo poured out.

The other Taxxons all looked kind of excited. They were waving their little upper arms and snapping their little claws.

Visser Three pointed at two of the Taxxons.

The wounded Taxxon emitted a wailing, slithery scream. Three other Taxxons rushed at him. Their circular mouths fastened onto their fellow Taxxon's writhing flesh and began chewing and tearing at him.

The sound of the diesel engine grew louder. Visser Three was rapping out orders. Hork-Bajir ran through the door and back outside.

Then I saw something happening in the dark corner of the cabin, over past the horrific Taxxon feeding frenzy. Something was growing. A human being was growing out of nothing.

Visser Three was in a rage. You could feel the waves of his anger radiating around the small space. he ordered.

Outside, two Hork-Bajir took aim at the five tons of slow-moving steel.

Jake was still cowering in the corner, but he had begun to change once again. In the darkness my cat eyes could see the beginning of a pattern of stripes. Black and orange. The stripes of a tiger.

It was time for me to do my part. I concentrated. I felt the change begin. The cage grew small around me.

Rumble rumble rumble
. The earthmover closed in.

The near-dead Taxxon screamed as his fellow Taxxons ate him alive.

Suddenly I saw a brilliant red light. There was a sizzling sound. I saw the earthmover disintegrate. My heart was in my throat. Marco! Cassie! Had they gotten away?

I had to concentrate. I had to ignore the Taxxon's screams. I had to stop wondering whether Cassie and Marco had been on that earthmover when it was hit. I had to control my morph. Not too far, Rachel. Not too much. I could not become human. Not totally human. I looked down at my paw. Short stubby
fingers had appeared. I stuck my stubby half-human fingers through the bars of the cage and found the lock.

One of the feeding Taxxons looked away from his meal just long enough.
“Yeerss srenn ssseere!”
It waved its creepy front legs in my direction.

Visser Three snapped around and glared at me with ferocious hatred.

I opened the door of my cage.

“Rrrrraaawwwrrr!”
Jake leaped through the air, his huge claws outstretched.

I flew out of the cage, a clumsy mass of fur and skin, a creature that was half cat and half human.

Jake hit Visser Three in the side. mine,
you jerk!>

Visser Three fell over, tangled up in tiger. His deadly tail flashed but missed. Jake ripped the Visser's flesh with claws infinitely bigger than mine.

It was a great pleasure hearing Visser Three scream that way. But I had other things to worry about.

I couldn't move in my half morph. I concentrated on regaining my cat form. I had only minutes left before the two hours would be up.

Jake rolled off Visser Three just as a handful of Hork-Bajir rushed to the Visser's defense.

Jake yelled.

I agreed.

We ran. I was back fully in Fluffer's shape. I could do thirty miles an hour, as fast as the fastest human being could run.

Unfortunately, Hork-Bajir are faster.

Jake was faster still, for short distances. Fast enough to outrun the Hork-Bajir that were after us. But he wasn't going to leave me behind.

Jake turned and came for the closest Hork-Bajir.

I saw him flying over my head, a huge beast, orange and black striped. The Hork-Bajir went down hard.

But there was still another Hork-Bajir on my tail. Faster than me. Too fast!

I dodged left. The Hork-Bajir shot past me. I turned back sharply, my little pads scrabbling in the dirt. The Hork-Bajir grabbed for me but missed.

Something else was moving. Something big. The ground was rumbling….

A second earthmover was grinding forward on its tank treads. Marco and Cassie had started another earthmover!

I raced toward the nearest half-finished building. I had to get away. And I had to morph back. Time was up. In minutes I would be trapped!

I saw a dark hole. I flew toward it in a single leap.
The hole led under a wall. Then it opened into a shallow basement. There was a concrete floor about two feet over my head. I was safe! Safe, and with room enough to morph back to human shape.

I tried to concentrate. Out beyond my little concrete shelter I heard growls and alien cries. I heard the rumble of the earthmover. I thought I heard the sizzle of Dracon beams.

Human, I told myself. Return to human. Only minutes left!

Then I felt a shattering noise. Then another. Another. It was like some giant was stomping around.

The giant steps stopped. I was frozen, unable to even think, let alone morph.

Crash!

All around me pillars of rock-hard, scaled flesh, each as big around as a tree trunk, ripped into the concrete.

Grrrunch!

The concrete was lifted off me. Torn away, like it was paper.

I was exposed. Trapped. And standing over me, with the shattered concrete floor in its mighty hand, was a beast that seemed to be made of living rock.

Visser Three said.