Read The Stranger for Free Online Page B
Authors: K. A. Applegate
Larger than one of those big sports domes. The stairways and paths emerged from all sides, right about where the upper tier of seats would have been in a sports dome.
In the center of the area was the pool itself, a sludgy, muddy-looking lake that seemed to seethe with the mass of Yeerk slugs in it.
But that was not the worst of it.
Two piers were built out over the lake. One was where the Controllers â human, Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and other species â disgorged the Yeerks from their heads. Hork-Bajir guards would watch carefully as each Controller knelt at the far end of the pier and held his head down close to the surface of the lake.
The Yeerk slug would then slither out of the hostâs ear and drop with a flat splash into the lake.
Thatâs when you would discover whether the Controller was a âvoluntaryâ host, or someone who had been taken against his will.
See, the voluntary hosts â the ones who had chosen to turn themselves over to the Yeerks â would stand up and calmly walk away.
The involuntary hosts would realize that they were temporarily free of the evil alien in their heads. That they once more had control over their own minds and bodies. Some would scream. Some would cry. Many would beg to be released.
A few would try to escape. But the Hork-Bajir were there to grab them and haul them to cages. Thatâs where they would await the moment when they would be taken to the second pier.
The second pier was the place where Yeerks, now strong from their swim in the pool and full of the nutrition of Kandrona rays, would slither back inside their hosts.
When I had nightmares about the Yeerk pool ⦠and I had those nightmares a lot ⦠it would always be about that second pier.
The voluntary hosts would kneel and receive the Yeerks back into their brains.
The involuntaries would struggle. They would fight. Curse. Some would dare the Hork-Bajir to kill them.
We were on a ramp again. No one had said anything for a while as we still raced lower and lower, deeper and deeper, closer and closer.
That memory was in all of our minds. All except Ax, who had not been there.
Ax said.
I told him.
W e were at the end of the ramp. We reached the flat floor of the cavern.
Cassie wondered.
Ax said.
Jake said.
Marco joked.
I said.
Cassie said.
She was right. I donât know if they were fries, but my roach brain definitely detected food.
Jake said with a laugh.
We barreled away across the dusty ground. Just ahead, a wall loomed. It was easy enough to find a crack. A roach can slide through a crack no thicker than a quarter.
We emerged into brilliant light and an assault of sounds and smells.
Marco asked.
I said.
Ax confirmed.
I said, only half-joking.
Ax argued.
In the center of the area was the pool itself, a sludgy, muddy-looking lake that seemed to seethe with the mass of Yeerk slugs in it.
But that was not the worst of it.
Two piers were built out over the lake. One was where the Controllers â human, Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and other species â disgorged the Yeerks from their heads. Hork-Bajir guards would watch carefully as each Controller knelt at the far end of the pier and held his head down close to the surface of the lake.
The Yeerk slug would then slither out of the hostâs ear and drop with a flat splash into the lake.
Thatâs when you would discover whether the Controller was a âvoluntaryâ host, or someone who had been taken against his will.
See, the voluntary hosts â the ones who had chosen to turn themselves over to the Yeerks â would stand up and calmly walk away.
The involuntary hosts would realize that they were temporarily free of the evil alien in their heads. That they once more had control over their own minds and bodies. Some would scream. Some would cry. Many would beg to be released.
A few would try to escape. But the Hork-Bajir were there to grab them and haul them to cages. Thatâs where they would await the moment when they would be taken to the second pier.
The second pier was the place where Yeerks, now strong from their swim in the pool and full of the nutrition of Kandrona rays, would slither back inside their hosts.
When I had nightmares about the Yeerk pool ⦠and I had those nightmares a lot ⦠it would always be about that second pier.
The voluntary hosts would kneel and receive the Yeerks back into their brains.
The involuntaries would struggle. They would fight. Curse. Some would dare the Hork-Bajir to kill them.
We were on a ramp again. No one had said anything for a while as we still raced lower and lower, deeper and deeper, closer and closer.
That memory was in all of our minds. All except Ax, who had not been there.
Ax said.
W e were at the end of the ramp. We reached the flat floor of the cavern.
I said.
She was right. I donât know if they were fries, but my roach brain definitely detected food.
We barreled away across the dusty ground. Just ahead, a wall loomed. It was easy enough to find a crack. A roach can slide through a crack no thicker than a quarter.
We emerged into brilliant light and an assault of sounds and smells.
Ax confirmed.
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