The Hork-Bajir Chronicles by K. A. Applegate

Author:K. A. Applegate [Applegate, K. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 043999652X
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 1998-11-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18 - Esplin 9466

In an instant I had learned one of the terrible drawbacks of having a host body. A host body can be hurt. And the pain cannot be filtered out. The very capability that gives us control ties us into the pain.

The Hork-Bajir had slashed me with his blade. He had aimed the blow well. The spine of my host body was cut in two. All of the body below my chest ceased to exist.

I lay helpless. No one came. For a very long time I lay there, staring up at the night sky through the ominous Hork-Bajir trees.

I saw spacecraft landing. I heard the grunts of Gedds, rushing around in futile pursuit of the Andalite.

Only hours later did anyone come looking for me.

They dragged me aboard the nearest fighter and ferried me back up to the transport ship. I drained back into the Yeerk pool. I was blind again.

Blind, and being interrogated mercilessly.

<Where did the Andalite girl go?>

<I don't know.>

<How many Hork-Bajir were with her?>

<Only one.>

<What happened to Carger?>

<He ran away. Beyond that, I don't know.>

Over and over again. And the more I was questioned, the more I learned. A total of seven of our people had passed through the blue vapor barrier. One had survived to tell wild tales of huge, shambling monsters appearing out of the mist.

Eventually it was decided that the Andalite girl must have died, too. If these monsters had killed our people, surely they had killed the Andalite as well.

Only I disagreed. <Just because some Gedds were killed, just because Carger was killed, that does not mean the Andalite died.>

<Do you mean to imply that an Andalite girl is stronger, braver, more resourceful than our own warriors?>

<Yes,> I said. <Yes. The Andalites did not become the dominant species in this part of the galaxy by being weak or stupid or cowardly.>

But no one listened. And I was left to wander, blind, around the home that had once been my entire universe and was now a filthy trap.

At last, days later, when enough Hork-Bajir had been taken, I was given a new host body. A new Hork-Bajir.

"We have sent strong, armed parties into the blue mist," Akdor told me. He now had a Hork-Bajir host body, too. "The monsters are real. They have killed more of us. We found the bodies of the others. We searched for the body of the Andalite, but did not find it."

I listened, trying not to gloat too openly.

"It seems you were right, Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six. Now you will go back to the surface. You will find this Andalite. You will destroy her."

"Yes, Akdor. I will. And if I do, what will be my reward?"

"You will be made a sub-visser. How many troops will you need?"

"None, Akdor. I will go as a spy, not a conqueror. I will pass as a Hork-Bajir. I will find the Andalite. And I will kill her."

But of course, I was lying. You see, I had already realized one very important thing: From now on, the host body one had would be an indication of power.

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