the departure

[instar]

Trouble did a very good job of not leaving breadcrumbs leading to the other Animorphs any more than was already inevitable. Still, the cops - who may or may not have been Controllers - talked to Bella just because Trouble has been known to hang out with her; they talked to Renée a little too. Bella thinks she did a good job of affecting ignorance and dismay. Andi didn't, but Andi defaults kind of expressionless anyway even though her braces have been off for a year and a half.

At school - now in its very last days - everyone knows that Trouble borrowed fifty dollars from Amber Jefferson and made off with it. Amber is very gossipy and can afford to lose fifty bucks; he chose well.

Bella hasn't heard from Trouble - or for that matter Aspret - yet.

Comments

[pandion]

<Unauthorized - individuals? Species? Weight ranges?>

[aeskhyne]

"Species."

[pandion]

<So we could still get in if we were morphed Yeerks, or humans, or the other host types.>

[aeskhyne]

"It'd just about have to be humans," he says. "The other host types almost never poke their noses out, 'cause of secrecy, and a Yeerk slurping along the floor would be out of place as hell."

[pandion]

<Well, yes, but we could go in stacked Yeerks-in-humans if that were a good idea for some reason, and if we ever acquired Hork-Bajir such a filter probably wouldn't zap us, though it'd still be risky.>

[aeskhyne]

"...Who in who?"

[pandion]

<I don't have an actual plan contingent on us presenting through a filter that isn't installed for purposes that don't exist as three humans instead of five such that we need to figure out a configuration today. I'm just noting that the constraint is 'go in as humans, Yeerks, or other host species' and not 'go in as humans' - come to think of it, unless Visser Three likes having equipment around that can zap him, Andalite morphs would probably be safe too.> (Write, write.)

[aeskhyne]

[pandion]

<Anyway. How - unified, I guess, is the Yeerk population? Are the ones on Earth generally on board with the infiltration effort or is there a chance of dividing them against themselves?>

[aeskhyne]

"If anybody's got qualms, they're not dumb enough to talk about 'em."

[pandion]

<Okay. Other aliens besides Yeerks, Andalites, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxons who might be relevant at all?>

[aeskhyne]

"Not that Aspret knew about."

[pandion]

<How likely do they think Andalites showing up and saving the day is?>

[aeskhyne]

He shrugs. "There was that one ship that Elfangor came off of, but nobody acts like they're expecting another one."

[pandion]

<And all Elfangor's shipmates were wiped out, like Visser Three said? Or was he posturing?>

[aeskhyne]

"Down in flames," Trouble confirms. "That's the story. So if he was lying, he lied to his own side too."

[pandion]

Write, write. <If he kicks it, who takes over?>

[aeskhyne]

"Good question. I'm not sure," says Trouble. "He got the job from Visser One, and that's pretty much all I know about Visser One, so maybe Visser One will come back or maybe somebody'll get promoted."

[pandion]

<How does the general structure of Vissers and so on work?>

[aeskhyne]

"There's a Council of Thirteen back on the home planet, and they're the big bosses. Then there's Vissers - no idea how many - the lower the number, the more important they are, and a bunch more Sub-Vissers with the same deal. The rest of them have numbers too - Aspret is Aspret 112 - but that just means they're the umptieth Yeerk born with that name."

[pandion]

<Are the local Yeerks in pretty regular contact with the higher-ups?>

[aeskhyne]

"Well, Aspret sure wasn't. If anybody else was, she didn't hear about it or it didn't seem important."

[pandion]

<What about ordinary Yeerks on other planets?>

[aeskhyne]

"What, are these ones in contact with them, you mean? No. The higher-ups might be; the grunts aren't."

[pandion]

<Interstellar communication is expensive? No one thinks it's important? They're on radio silence for security reasons?>