The Encounter by K. A. Applegate Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: K. A. Applegate
all that time with nothing to do.
“About time,” Marco said. “We’ve all been waiting here for, like, an hour.”
They’d been there for about two minutes. I said.
“We better make this kind of quick,” Cassie said. “Ms. Lambert gave us papers to write by the day after tomorrow, and I promised my dad I’d help him release this great horned owl. He was a mess. He’d landed on a power line and got fried. But he’s ready to go now. We have a habitat picked out.”
“Friend of yours, Tobias?” Marco teased me.
The others all shot him nasty looks. But the truth was, it made me feel okay to be teased by Marco. Marco teases everyone.
I said.
“He’s a beautiful animal,” Cassie said.
I said.
“Um, okay, look, if Cassie has to get going, maybe we better deal with business,” Jake said.
“Yeah, if you two are done with the bird-talk part of the meeting,” Marco added.
“I have to get going soon, too,” Rachel said. She looked a little embarrassed. “My gymnastics class is putting on an exhibition at the mall.”
“Oh, I’m
there,”
Marco crowed.
“No, you are
not
there,” Rachel snapped. “None of you is going near that place. You know how I feel about having to put on stupid exhibitions.”
Rachel is not one of those people who likes to perform in front of a crowd.
“We have learned how the Yeerks get their air and water,” Jake said, trying to get down to business. “And we even know where they do it. And we more or less know when. There ought to be some way for us to use this information. Any ideas?”
Rachel shrugged. “We try and find a way to destroy the ship.”
Marco raised his hand like he was in class. “How about if we, um, go back to talking about birds?”
Rachel ignored him, as she usually did. “Look, we find some way to destroy that ship and maybe the Yeerks will run out of air and water. Maybe that will even mean that they have to give up and go home.”
“Maybe,” Cassie said. “Or they may have a dozen more of those ships in different places all over the Earth. We don’t know how many ships they have.”
“This one would be all we need if—” Marco began to say. Then I guess he realized he was about to suggest something dangerous. “I mean … nothing.”
“What?” Jake asked him. “What were you going to say? “
Marco looked trapped. He shrugged. “Okay, look, what if that ship didn’t get blown up or disintegrated or whatever. What if it was flying over the city and suddenly the cloaking device was turned off?”
We were all silent while we thought about that image. Suddenly a million people would look up in the sky and see a ship the size of a skyscraper.
“People would probably notice it,” Jake said.
“Oh yeah, they would notice it,” Rachel agreed. “Radar would see it, too. A million eyewitnesses. The Controllers would never be able to cover it up!”
I said.
Jake grinned. “The whole world would see. The entire human race would realize what was happening.” He was getting excited now. “And
then
we could go to the authorities. The Controllers wouldn’t be able to stop us! We could tell all we know!”
Rachel’s eyes were gleaming. “We could tell themabout The Sharing. We could turn in Chapman!”
“And you figure Visser Three and his pals are just going to sit around and do nothing?” Marco asked. “Like you said, we have no idea how many ships they have. Or how much power.”
Jake looked a little disappointed.
I said.
“And how do you know that?” Marco asked.
![[Shadowed Path 01] - A Woman Worth Ten Coppers](/res/fboo/book5.jpg)
“About time,” Marco said. “We’ve all been waiting here for, like, an hour.”
They’d been there for about two minutes.
“We better make this kind of quick,” Cassie said. “Ms. Lambert gave us papers to write by the day after tomorrow, and I promised my dad I’d help him release this great horned owl. He was a mess. He’d landed on a power line and got fried. But he’s ready to go now. We have a habitat picked out.”
“Friend of yours, Tobias?” Marco teased me.
The others all shot him nasty looks. But the truth was, it made me feel okay to be teased by Marco. Marco teases everyone.
“He’s a beautiful animal,” Cassie said.
I said.
“Um, okay, look, if Cassie has to get going, maybe we better deal with business,” Jake said.
“Yeah, if you two are done with the bird-talk part of the meeting,” Marco added.
“I have to get going soon, too,” Rachel said. She looked a little embarrassed. “My gymnastics class is putting on an exhibition at the mall.”
“Oh, I’m
there,”
Marco crowed.
“No, you are
not
there,” Rachel snapped. “None of you is going near that place. You know how I feel about having to put on stupid exhibitions.”
Rachel is not one of those people who likes to perform in front of a crowd.
“We have learned how the Yeerks get their air and water,” Jake said, trying to get down to business. “And we even know where they do it. And we more or less know when. There ought to be some way for us to use this information. Any ideas?”
Rachel shrugged. “We try and find a way to destroy the ship.”
Marco raised his hand like he was in class. “How about if we, um, go back to talking about birds?”
Rachel ignored him, as she usually did. “Look, we find some way to destroy that ship and maybe the Yeerks will run out of air and water. Maybe that will even mean that they have to give up and go home.”
“Maybe,” Cassie said. “Or they may have a dozen more of those ships in different places all over the Earth. We don’t know how many ships they have.”
“This one would be all we need if—” Marco began to say. Then I guess he realized he was about to suggest something dangerous. “I mean … nothing.”
“What?” Jake asked him. “What were you going to say? “
Marco looked trapped. He shrugged. “Okay, look, what if that ship didn’t get blown up or disintegrated or whatever. What if it was flying over the city and suddenly the cloaking device was turned off?”
We were all silent while we thought about that image. Suddenly a million people would look up in the sky and see a ship the size of a skyscraper.
“People would probably notice it,” Jake said.
“Oh yeah, they would notice it,” Rachel agreed. “Radar would see it, too. A million eyewitnesses. The Controllers would never be able to cover it up!”
Jake grinned. “The whole world would see. The entire human race would realize what was happening.” He was getting excited now. “And
then
we could go to the authorities. The Controllers wouldn’t be able to stop us! We could tell all we know!”
Rachel’s eyes were gleaming. “We could tell themabout The Sharing. We could turn in Chapman!”
“And you figure Visser Three and his pals are just going to sit around and do nothing?” Marco asked. “Like you said, we have no idea how many ships they have. Or how much power.”
Jake looked a little disappointed.
“And how do you know that?” Marco asked.
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