This car ride Ryan was deciding to be silent which was a
huge relief to me. Of course the crime scene we had just come from was probably
the reason for his silence. He must be used to seeing dead bodies by now, but
the carnage had been something else. I was used to seeing dead bodies, I even
was used to making corpses, but to see corpses used in a theatrical manner was
something else entirely.
There had been blood, but only in specific places where you
were most likely to step in them. I had thought of morphing peregrine falcon
just to avoid stepping in the blood. The blood wasn’t there just to be a hazard,
though, but formed a red eye inside of the circle of victims. The victims being
six and I assumed that was because us Animorphs had originally numbered six.
“Did Rachel Berenson have a Grizzly Bear morph?” Ryan asked,
breaking the silence.
“Yeah,” I replied and hoped my voice didn’t crack. “That was
her battle morph.”
“And the victim in the Grizzly Bear costume was the only one
to have special attention given to them.”
“So you’re saying that Esplin is trying to unnerve me?”
“And if he succeeds in doing so this case is lost.”
“He won’t.”
Then it was silent for a few more minutes. But I guess Ryan
didn’t do silence or maybe he wanted to learn about me. I didn’t blame him for
being anxious, I was. Especially since I was now on a case with a new partner.
“You think the lead will tell us anything?” Ryan asked.
“She better. It took hard work finding her so it better pay
off.”
“About the vic-“
“Don’t.”
Then it was silent. He was aware that he had crossed a line
I didn’t want crossed right now. I didn’t want to think about Rachel because
then I would be reminded of the fact that I could die before bringing Esplin
down. She had died during the final battle, so who could say I wouldn’t die
while bringing down Esplin?
No one could reassure me.
We pulled into the driveway of the house and I saw two more
FBI agents waiting outside for us. I nodded at both men and headed for the
front door.
“Tied up?” Ryan asked and one of the FBI agents nodded back.
Well at least we wouldn’t have to worry about restraining
the member. All we would have to do would be to focus on interrogation. That thought helped me calm down as I looked
around the house. The house was sparsely furnished and had a few pictures of
family members. The furniture was all the same color so that they seemed to
flow into the walls.
“Good cop and bad cop?” I asked Ryan.
“I assume I’ll be the bad one.” He replied dryly.
“I was thinking that I had the reputation and it would look
odd if you tried to pull it off.”
“Thanks.”
With that we went into the kitchen where the informant was.
She was a red head and was dressed in a jogging outfit. The
outfit was made up of a top and shorts that were both white. She looked at me
and Ryan angrily, but remained calm as we sat down on the opposite side of the
table from her.
“So you’re Jake Berenson.” The woman said. “And who is this
man with you?”
“I’m Ryan Hardy.” Ryan said. “And who are you?”
“Lilly.” The woman replied. “I’ve heard that the FBI has
taken in some nothlits. You one of them?”
“Maybe.”
Andalites treated being a nothlit as worse than death. I
didn’t know the exact time frame of when Ryan had arrived on Earth, the
clearance to that information was too high for me to reach, but I knew that he
had done his best to integrate himself into human society. Whether him becoming
a nothlit was an accident or not, he was treating his shame as best he could.
If I was still talking with Tobias maybe he could give me
some insight into the matter.
“And what if he is? That doesn’t change the fact that you
were doing illegal activities for Esplin’s cult.” I said.
“The Cult of the Red Eye.”
I let Ryan take over for a little bit as he went into the
whole good cop routine. He did it very well and I suddenly remembered that he
had been a Prince. He probably hadn’t done much interrogation, as Andalites
seemed to be the type that would shoot a Yeerk before asking questions, but he
was really doing a good job. He had adapted to human life very well.
A hell of a lot better than I had adapted to post-war life.
Looking at Ryan you could hardly tell that he had once been an Andalite.
Looking at me you couldn’t help but remember that I had been the leader of the
Animorphs. He could change, I couldn’t. And yet he was the nothlit.
I also realized that we were similar in a small way. He had
become a nothlit to escape his responsibilities as a Prince while I had escaped
the responsibility of teaching people how to use the morphing ability by
becoming an FBI agent. We were both cowards in our own way.
“And all of us will worship Crayak.” Lilly said and I
snapped back to the present.
“That devil doesn’t deserve to be worshiped.” I said.
“Is that what Crayak is to you? Crayak, to the true
believers, is a way to salvation. He’s the way to unlock our true potential and
become the rulers of the universe.”
“I doubt a Yeerk would allow for other beings to control
things.” Ryan replied.
“Oh, Esplin has changed. He will allow for his followers to
have more freedom.” She said. “For Crayak has decreed it.”
“And we’ll see how long that will last.” I said.
“I trust Esplin and I trust Crayak.” Lilly replied,
straining against her restraints. “I know that you will crash and burn. You’re
weak. You’re human. And you’re on the wrong side.”
“If being on the side with all the cra-“ I started and then
stopped as I dodged gunfire.
Ryan was the first to fire back at the FBI agent and I
started shooting soon after. Dammit! A cult member in the FBI.
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