THE DISEASE

Written by A.J.W.

Hi, I'm Tobias. Half boy, half hawk. Confused? Don't worry, that's nothing. It gets even more confusing from now on. Me and my friends - the Animorphs, that's what we call ourselves. When we're not in school or caught up with homework and other stuff, we have to spend our time fighting mind-grabbing slugs called Yeerks for the survival of the human race. The Yeerks think we're Andalites, an alien species. The thing is, we're not. We're as human as you... if you're human in the first place. I guess there's no real way of knowing who might read this.

Anyway, there're six of us: Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, Ax and me. With the exception of Ax, our Andalite friend, we're just merely humans with morphing technology. That isn't a lot, if you think about it. But it's enough to keep us going. The morphing technology allows us to... well, morph into any animal we touch, or 'acquire'. We sort of absorb their DNA into our bloodstream, and then all we have to do is concentrate on that animal to turn into it.

There's a downside to all this however. Maximum time in morph is two hours, or you stay in morph forever and become a nothlit, as the Andalites call it. That's what happened to me at least. So ever since that time I overstayed the two hours, I spend most of my time flying around as a red-tailed hawk. I managed to reacquire my morphing ability and can become human or another animal for two hours at most whenever I want to, but how that happened is another story. Now, however, my true form is that of a hawk.

Today was just another normal day. I was hungry and soaring above the treetops looking for a mouse to eat. If you think that's gross, too bad. I can't help it. It's my life. And besides, human food can be pretty gross sometimes too. Ever eaten a mealworm cookie?

Anyway, I found something else which made me temporarily forget about the mouse. A huge beacon stood in the park nearby, and I swooped lower for a closer look. Yeerk design...

I quickly flew back to Jake. He thought for a while, then told me to continue spying on the Yeerk Beacon and report to him if I saw anything weird. So I flew back and saw Chapman standing next to the beacon. He's my school's assistant principal, and also happens to be a human controller - someone whose brain a Yeerk currently inhabits and who is therefore under Yeerk control. Every kid probably has the feeling that their assistant principal is up to no good. For me, it's more that a feeling. I know it to be true.

Unfortunately, I not only saw Chapman but he saw me as well and for some reason recognised me. He raised a Dracon beam at me and snarled. "Die Andalite scum!"

The next thing I knew, Chapman had pulled the trigger and I felt a sudden burning sensation in my right wing. I fell to the ground and hit the grass, whereupon Chapman grabbed me and stuffed me into a bag. After that, everything went black.

When I regained consciousness I heard a voice speaking in the room. "But Visser..."

"Do not argue with me, scum. I want that Andalite bandit on my ship. I wish to conduct an... experiment with our new technology." There was an evil sounding chuckle.

I opened my eyes and found myself locked up in some cage. A little way off, Chapman, Visser Three and two Hork-Bajir with Dracon beams were standing. Visser Three finally realised I was awake and walked over.

"My little Andalite bandit has awoken, I see?"

< In your dreams, birdbrain. >

"Oh yes, I forgot," the Visser sneered. "You're in morph."

He said something to the Hork-Bajir, and they carried both the cage and me aboard the Blade ship.

I had a bad feeling about this.

The next morning after school, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco and Ax were sitting in Cassie's barn and doing nothing in particular. Marco was sitting on a haystack reluctantly doing his homework.

"Rachel, how do you spell 'reluctant'?" he asked.

Rachel rolled her eyes and reluctantly answered.

"Where could Tobias be?" Jake questioned suddenly, as he looked up into the Tobias-free blue sky.

Marco snorted, not looking up from his homework. "He's probably eating a mouse or flying over now. He'll be here any minute, don't worry."

Cassie looked at the others and said, "You don't suppose the Yeerks found him while he was watching them, do you?"

Marco shook his head. "No way!"

"Yes way!"

Everyone turned towards the source of the voice to see Erek, their android friend, standing in the doorway.

"Ah, I see. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Ax commented.

Jake stared at him. "What?"

"I saw it on Earth cable television last night. It's about two youngsters who go back in time in a time travelling phone booth, though it is scientifically impossible to insert such advanced components in such limited space..."

"Ax, I think you've been watching too much TV." Jake turned his attention back to Erek. One thing about androids was that they could throw up a holograph around themselves. Underneath, they really looked like huge canines.

"Well?"

"I saw them capture Tobias."

"No! They couldn't have."

"They did," Erek confirmed.

It took a while for the truth to sink in, then Rachel spoke. "But if they captured him and infested him with a Yeerk..."

Jake nodded slowly. "Yes... they would know who we are."

* * *

Tobias looked as far around the Blade Ship as he could from his cage. It was full of weird machines that hummed and buzzed as Taxxons worked at their controls to get the huge ship into the air. Several Hork-Bajir walked around calling up display screens and shouting commands to the Taxxons, threatening to shoot those who disobeyed.

Visser Three moved towards Tobias in his stolen Andalite body, his tail arched over his back like a scorpion.

< Visser Three, what do you want? > Tobias asked.

The Visser laughed. < Nothing. On the contrary, I'm going to let you go to warn your Andalite friends to stay away from me. Just a minute. Hold on a while, will you? >

The Visser walked out of the room, and a while later was back with a strange looking contraption in his hand.

< Do you know what this is, my little Andalite bandit? >

< No. >

If Visser Three had a mouth, he would have smirked. < Well, you should, as your own scientists made it. It's a toginry. What humans call a 'syringe'. Just one shot and I'll let you go. >

Panicky thoughts started surging through Tobias' mind as the Visser stuck the toginry through the cage bars. What could be in that syringe?

He winced as the syringe's liquid entered his bloodstream. The last thing Tobias saw was Visser Three's sneering face... and then darkness closed in again.

"Why can't we take a Yeerk from a Taxxon or Hork-Bajir then kill the host?"

"We cannot afford to waste Yeerks. The Andalites are coming and we need as many troops as we can afford. The last attack on the Kadrona Pool was only too successful, I fear. We know that there are a group of Cy-Yeerks which are immune to the filthy gas the Andalite troops introduced into the air."

In his semi-conscious state, Tobias heard Visser Three sneer at the word 'Andalite'. There was a hatred in the Visser's voice that spanned over dozens of Yeerk-controlled solar systems.

"So, the liquid we injected into the Andalite will create an activating code which the Cy-Yeerks alone will be able to decode. They will then be able to capture the Andalite bandit."

Tobias blinked, trying to comprehend the situation, but his brain just didn't seem to be working too well.

Seconds later, he blacked out again for the third time, and was unconscious when a Yeerk released him onto the roof of a building.

When Tobias next opened his eyes, the sounds of traffic assured him that he wasn't dead. At least, he didn't think there would be traffic around after death... so he was probably still on Earth.

The hawk tried to turn around but a sudden pain cutting through his forehead stopped him. Gingerly, Tobias tried to stretch his wings. They were still working, a slight comfort to him. Ignoring the pain, Tobias lifted off into the air and headed over to Cassie's barn.

Tobias spotted Cassie before she could spot him. He glided into the rafters of her barn silently, his wing had slowed him down but he was determined not to let it be visible. He didn't want the others to think he was weak. He was a bit disturbed by the look the Visser had when he had left Tobias.

< Cassie? >

The girl who had been feeding an injured skunk whirled round. "Who said that?" She asked, looking round the barn between the cages of the animals.

< Me, up here. >

Cassie looked up. She squinted. "What's a red-tailed hawk doing up there?" Tobias stared at her. She must have gone bonkers.

< Cassie it's me, Tobias. >

Cassie stared at me with the oddest expression on her face. Then she ran out of the barn. Tobias stared after her. What happened to her?

Moments later, a chestnut colored horse ran towards the residence of the leader of the Animorphs. Jake.

* * *

"What are we gonna do?" Cassie was outside Jake's house. The sun was already setting and a group of geese in a V-shaped formation sailed across the sky. Jake was pacing the ground.

"I have no idea. We don't know for sure he ahs a Yeerk in his head."

Cassie cut him off. "We don't know? Jake, he has been missing for a few hours and was seen by Erek being captured by the Yeerks. Of course he's a Controller."

Jake ran his fingers through his hair.

"Don't put your dandruff all over me." Cassie said.

"I do not have dandruff." Jake replied.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"I thought we were discussing Tobias?" Cassie asked, a smirk on her face.

"Whatever. Just...stay away from him. And try not too morph. I have an idea. We could pretend that he's just a lunatic, and that all he remembers was just a mad dream. Tell Rachel. I'll tell Ax and Marco. If possible, we'll meet again at Ax's meadow tomorrow. I might have a plan."

"Okay, dandruff boy."

"I do not have dandruff!"

* * *

Tobias didn't understand. Every time he saw Rachel or Marco or anyone in the Animorphs, they turned in the other direction. Marco had even turned so abruptly he banged his head on a lamppost. Swearing under his breath, Marco had turned round again and tripped over a rock. The scream could be heard miles away.

To Tobias's excellent hearing, it sounded like the time in third grade when the principal, during one of his long, boring speeches, accidentally banged the microphone while gesticulating strongly why the change in syllabus would affect the Earth's electro-magnetic field and would result in the end of the world. The screech from the microphone that had followed was similar to the one Marco was making. Cassie appeared around the corner and glanced up at Tobias. "Marco, don't tell me you've been infected by a Yeerk too."

Marco shook his head furiously and hopped around on one foot. The other was being squeezed by his hand. Tobias was dumbstruck; did the others think the Yeerks had infected him? He didn't think he had been, but he distinctly remembered being put onto the Yeerk ship. Why wouldn't they have infected him? Tobias gingerly flapped a wing. He seemed to be in control of his body. He sighed a bird sigh and flew off. Preoccupied in his thoughts, he bumped into the lamppost and fell to the ground unconscious.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Copyright 2004 A.J.W.