Invasion

CHAPTER 21

"Where have you been all afternoon and evening?" my mom asked me as we sat down for dinner. My family is very old-fashioned about dinner. We ah have to sit at the table. No TV. My mom's a writer, so she hates TV unless it's one of her favorite programs.

"Where have I been?" I repeated the question. "I'm… hanging out. You know. Hanging with Marco."

"I don't know why you bother to ask," my dad said. "His answer is always the same — hanging out."

"So what did you do at work today, Dad?" I asked him. "Hung out," he said. He gave me a wink and we all laughed.

I glanced over at Tom. He was eating chicken cacciatore like the rest of us and laughing. He seemed so normal.

"You doing anything tonight, Tom?" I asked him. "Why?"

I tried to look casual. "You know, I was thinking maybe we could shoot some hoops," I said. "Maybe you could teach me some new moves and I could take another shot at making the team."

"Sorry, man," he said. "I have things to do tonight."

"Yeah, like what?" I asked.

"Hanging out, no doubt," my mom said. "Eat the broccoli, Jake, it's good for you. It's full of trace minerals and vitamins you can't get anywhere else."

"Okay," I said to my mom, "You know how much I love trace minerals." I popped the smallest piece of broccoli I could find and tried to gag it down. I guess it wasn't any worse than eating a live spider.

"So, Tom, what was it you said you were doing?" I asked again.

He gave me a dirty look. "Do I have to check in with you now? I have things to do. Is that okay, little brother?"

"A girl," my dad commented. "I know these things. I'm a doctor."

No, Dad, not a girl, I wanted to say — a Yeerk pool. What's a Yeerk pool, Mom? Well, it's kind of a long story.

I decided to try one more time. I guess a part of me still refused to believe what Tom was. "Maybe you're just afraid to shoot hoops with me. Maybe I'd kick your butt."

"Yeah, that's it. Happy now?" Tom sneered.

His gaze met mine. Was there some sign in those eyes? Some evidence of the selfish, evil creature that was controlling him? No. I wish there had been.

But there is no way to know who is a Controller and who isn't. No way. It's what makes them so hard to stop. They can be anyone. Anywhere.

Even a person you think you know. A person you admire. Look up to. Love. I broke my gaze away from Tom's and looked down at my food.

A few minutes later, Tom got up to go. I knew where he was going. After he left, I went to the upstairs phone, where my parents couldn't overhear me. I called Marco.

"He's on his way," I said.

I called Tobias and Rachel. I tried to call Cassie, but I got her mother instead.

"She's not in," her mom said. She sounded worried. "She wasn't home for dinner. She went out to feed some of the animals and didn't come back."

My stomach clenched.

"She's probably just out riding one of the horses," I said, trying to reassure myself as much as Cassie's mom. "You know Cassie."

"All the horses are in their stalls," she said.

I took a couple of deep breaths. Something was wrong. What had happened to Cassie?

"I'll look around for her," I said. "Don't worry. I'll bet she just saw some injured animal or something and went off to rescue it. You know Cassie," I said again.

"Yes, I'm sure she's fine."

Right. She was about as sure as I was. But what could I do? The plan was set to attack the Yeerk pool and rescue Tom. Maybe Cassie was already at the school, waiting.

Maybe.

I had a very bad feeling as I rode my bike to the school. I hid the bike across the street, the way we had planned. Then I hooked up with Marco and Rachel.

"Cassie's missing," I said. "And where's Tobias?"

Rachel pointed up at the sky. The sun was setting fast, but I could see Tobias circling high overhead.

"What is the matter with him?" I exploded. "He's got a two-hour time limit and we don't know how long this is going to take!"

"Maybe we should bail until we find out what happened with Cassie," Rachel said. "Could be she's just scared," Marco said. "I am."

"Maybe," I agreed, although I doubted it. But they say you never know who's going to be brave or cowardly in a battle.

I just hoped I wasn't a coward. The truth was, my mouth was already dry and my heart was already pounding. And we hadn't even done anything yet.

Tobias swooped down and perched on Rachel's shoulder, ft surprised me a little. Why would Tobias perch on Rachel's shoulder? And she didn't seem at all annoyed. She rubbed her head against him a little.

Tobias asked.

This was not starting off right at all. The bad feeling in my stomach was just getting worse. Cassie missing. Tobias already morphed.

Everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to decide.

"Yeah, we're doing it," I said.

The school was locked up for the night. But Marco had taken care of that little problem. He knew of a window in the science lab that didn't lock.

We crawled into the science lab through the window. It was dark, except for the dying light of the sun that glinted off the glass beakers and test tubes. Tobias drifted through and landed neatly on the teacher's desk.

"Let me take a look," I said. I opened the door as slowly as I could and peeked out through the crack. I could see down the nearly dark hallway to the janitor's closet. Instantly I pulled back in.

"There are people out there!" I said. "Three people heading into the closet."

"Controllers," Rachel said. "I guess it's dinnertime for Yeerks."

None of us thought that was very funny.

"How are we going to get in there?" Marco asked.

"Wait a minute," Rachel said. "Do all the Controllers know each other by sight? I mean, maybe we're Controllers, right?"

"So we just walk right on in like we belong there?" Marco asked. "Wonderful plan, Rachel. I have a better idea — let's just kill ourselves now and get it over with."

"Maybe Rachel's right," I said.

"Big maybe," Marco pointed out. "Big, huge maybe. How about Tom? He would know whether you were a Controller."

I cracked the door again and looked out. "I think Tom's already down there," I said. "Besides, the hallway's empty now. I guess they all… " I fell silent. "Wait, here comes someone."

I stared. It wasn't easy to see faces in the gloom. I could tell there were two people. One was wearing a uniform.

It was the Controller policeman. And he was rudely yanking someone along with him. I could see that it was a girl.

I didn't really want to see any more.

"Tobias," I said. "I need you to use your hawk's eyes,"

Tobias fluttered over and stood on my shoulder. He peeked his fierce head out into the hall and then drew back.

he said.

I felt like the floor had opened underneath me. Marco grabbed me because I looked like I was about to fall over.

"They have her!" I whispered. "The Controllers. They have Cassie!"