End of the war 2

I was terrified. Our superiors had just announced that an Andalite fleet had been detected nearby. And the flagship I was on was going to try to intercept them in what would undoubtedly be the final battle. If it continued straight, it would reach Earth in a few days. Tom, on the other hand, felt immense joy mixed with hope. For the first time, I got angry with him:

Could you at least pretend to care about me? After everything I've done for you.

(It is true that you didn't make me relive my worst memory over and over, or make me believe that my loved ones were dead for how you used to say: 'train me'. I should crawl to your feet in gratitude.)

You could at least not openly wish for my death.

What are you talking about?

(In case you forgot, I am in your head Tom. You hope for the Andalite victory)

(And not you? Why did you try to save that girl otherwise?)

(For the same reason I do not torture to suppress your insolence: I am a degenerate Yeerk. That does not mean I wish for the disappearance of my species)

You are not a degenerate Yeerk. You are (..) and as strange as it may seem, you are human.

(That's what I say)

Tom mentally rolled his eyes.

(In what way is it a problem not to want to make others suffer?)

(Because if all the Yeerks were like me, we would have already disappeared)

(Why? Because you wouldn't have enslaved enough species?)

I sighed and calmly resumed.

Tom, have you ever wondered why we are trying to invade Earth? Why do we want at all costs to seize a world where the oceans are too acidic and salty for us to survive? A world whose sun does not provide us with the radiation we need to feed ourselves? A world where, to survive, we need to feed exclusively on artificial kandrona by cramming into pools so overcrowded that we can barely move once we are inside?

He did not reply, but I very clearly perceived what he was thinking. For him, we were invading his planet, because we were evil and sadistic parasites who want to dominate the galaxy.

(Because we have no choice. The Andalites have decided that we represent a threat and therefore to exterminate us all to the last. Since they drove us from our home world, we have been from planet to planet, but the Andalites always find us. But your species, in addition to being close enough to the Ged for infestation to be easy, is extremely numerous and reproduces at a crazy speed. If we had taken control of all humans, we could have built a fleet large enough and had enough troops to repel the Andalites and even launch an assault on their home world. We could have won the war and finally lived in peace)

If all the Yeerks were like you, perhaps the Andalites would not consider you a threat and would never have attacked you.

I had never thought about it. In any case, we will never know and it doesn't matter much. The important thing is that today the Andalites want to exterminate us and besides, they will exterminate you too.

What are you talking about?

If you were in their place, how would you destroy the Yeerks that are on Earth?

I don't know. I've never thought about it. I suppose that once the enemy ships are destroyed, I would use a Yeerk detector to find them, then forcibly separate them from their hosts.

(Tom, there is a difference between technology and magic. How do you expect to detect a parasite that emits no signal? And even if it were possible, they couldn't be sure that we haven't found a way to jam the signal and hide ourselves. Not to mention the logistics required for our extraction by force without harming the hosts.)

(It could just detect and destroy the sources of artificial kandrona and then wait for you all to starve to death.)

(This is already a more realistic method, but it is precisely to avoid this kind of problem that we bury them deeply and build several of them. He could never be sure not to miss one. The only effective method is to annihilate all life on the surface of the infested planet. Or at least all potential hosts.)

I felt him hesitating, but he answered nevertheless.

(That's what you were taught, but it might be false)

The empire is never wrong.

(You eventually admitted that for humans the infestation was horrible)

(Yes, well, it's an understandable mistake. You look so much like the Ged physically)

(What is a GED?) Tom asked me.

(They are a kind of small monkey with which we lived in symbiosis on our home world. They had the advantage of actively seeking out our infestation. Before the Andalite attack, they were our only hosts. But the species is unsuited for war and space travel. And during the early years of our exodus, we did not have the resources to preserve a useless species.)

But briefly, if they were wrong about that, they might also be wrong about the Andalites? Otherwise, explain to me why the peace movement was cooperating with the Andalite soldiers?

I exclaimed in surprise:

They are cooperating with the Andalites? Tom, I'm sorry, but the survival of my species is at stake here. If there are traitors among us, I need to know and inform my superiors before the final battle. If you don't tell me everything, I will have to search your mind.

oOoOoOoOo

One hour and a few explanations later:

What you're trying to make me believe is that the Andalite commando defying the empire for over two years is just a group of Human and Andalite children led by your brother?

(That's it) he said with obvious pride for his brother.

His pride in what was a terrible humiliation for my race irritated me and prompted me to add:

It was Grouchy Smurf who destroyed the hospital where the Yeerks were treating humans for free and boiled hundreds of Yeerks alive? That it was he who led the attack on our base which in response led to the bombing of the city and the death of all the inhabitants? That he managed to convince amember of a race as proud as the Andalites, even if they were a lost child on Earth, to obey a primitive like him?

If you call giving up your body for the rest of your life to a Yeerk free, yes, it's that hospital he blew up. And if you don't want to be killed, you shouldn't have tried to invade our planet. We're just defending ourselves.

Defend against what? They're not killing you, it seems to me.

(Against being treated like cattle by a band of psychopathic slugs?)

Stop calling me a slug. In fact, the terrestrial animal we are closest to is plankton. And you are wrong. We would never treat you like cattle. You should know that by now. We would never subject our guests to even a tenth of the suffering you inflict on your cattle. If that were indeed the case, you would be justified in defending yourselves.

(But what are you talking about?) Tom asked me.

(It is true that you have never visited one of your farms.) I replied. I continued:

In short, that's not the point and it doesn't answer my question. Why does the peace movement think that the Andalites are not going to exterminate us? And when I say us, I include humans.

(Because the Andalite child promised us)

But this is madness. Even if he is sincere, how could he convince his people?

(No, what I mean is that according to him the Andalites do not want to exterminate us. Well, not exterminate humans. The Yeerk, I don't know. And then he belongs to a high-ranking family who will no doubt be relieved to find him alive and grateful to those who helped him survive)

(Is that all?)

(It is better than resigning oneself to a life of slavery and suffering. And then his version of the war is very different from yours. I think that everything you've been told about your species' past and the purpose of the war is a lie.)

I thought for a while. I felt he was anxiously waiting for my answer. But I couldn't concentrate with his thoughts and emotions overwhelming me. I started to think that it was because of them that I had given up on implementing Jack at the last moment, so long ago now. If I had made the right decision that day, we might have already won the war.

(Well, it's almost time for me to go feed myself. I'll decide what to do at that moment. This time, try not to provoke the guard when he escorts you to your cage. Whatever I decide, I'll need your body to be in perfect condition.)

oOoOoOoOo

I had finally made my decision. The crazies in the peace movement might be ready to bet the survival of our two species on the promise of an Andalite. No worse, a child Andalite. But not me.

I was going to tell Visser-3 everything, and he would take the necessary measures to prevent them from sabotaging our operation. Without the traitors, our surprise attack against the Andalite fleet had every chance of being a success. And without Jack and his little band of resistors, we would have taken control of Earth before he had time to send another fleet.

Once the war is over, there will always be time to peacefully advocate for better treatment of humans and Hork-Bajir. For once in my life, I was going to do what was logical. For once, I was going to behave as a Yeerk should. I headed towards the control screen at the back of the pool to request an interview with the Visser, but I could no longer move forward. I swam with all my might, yet I felt like I was moving backward. Then all of a sudden, I was tossed in all directions by a massive current. I kept bumping into other Yeerks in an eerie silence. Just like me, my fellow Yeerks must have been screaming with all their might, but the current prevented any exchange of pheromones.

Then all of a sudden everything stopped. I was relieved at first. Whatever had happened, it was finally over, and a peace such as I had never known now reigned in the Yeerk pool. If only it were less cold. It was so cold.

Just before falling asleep, my muddled mind had a thought: Jack had finally decided to throw me in the toilet and flush. I was in space. And the silent void of its infinite spaces would be my tomb.