The Other

By:Ruby

Prologue-Rachel

        Rachel was sitting on the couch watching TV.
        FLASH
        She was standing on the bank of a lake, gazing over the smooth, cool surface. She glanced at her watch. It’ll be over soon. One more hour. Just one more hour.
        FLASH
Rachel picked up the phone to call Jake. It was happening again

Chapter One-Rachel

We were running through the woods. Dracon beams flashed.
 < Stop shooting. There’s nothing there. >
 < Why care for mere trees. >
 < You’re right. It we run out of oxygen, you and your little friends will die too. >
 < You are tiresome human. If you did not have morphing capabilities, I would have you executed and get myself a cooperative host. >
 < Go ahead, kill me. Do you think I care? >
 There was no response. I noticed we had stopped.
 “Spread out and find them! We have them surrounded.” My voice called out.
 Setting the Dracon beam to kill, we headed to the north. Five minutes later, I felt the point of a gun at my back.
 “Freeze.” I knew the owner of that voice.
 The Yeerk was not stupid. It stopped moving. I knew it was considering whipping around and firing, but knew that the chances were not good.
 “Tobias.” My voice was hard.
 “Hello, Rachel. Or maybe I should call you Visser Seven.”
 Something exploded in the distance. The pressure from the gun lessened. I turned around and aimed my weapon to fire.
 He fired.
 I fired.
 The beams collided and a hole emerged.
 It was pulling me in. Sario Rip.
 The last thing I saw before I fell into darkness was the pained look on Tobias’s face.

Chapter Two

        I opened my eyes. I opened my eyes.
        Me. Not some slug from outer space. Me. Rachel.
        I had just moved. That was impossible. Or was it?
        I looked up at the sky. Was I free?
        Wait a minute. The sky was blue. Not yellow and brown and green, but light pure blue.
        The way it was meant to be. They way it was for millions of years. Before the Yeerks came. That had been five years ago. Another lifetime ago.
        I looked around. I saw trees. Real green healthy trees. Not burned stumps and rotting poles with dead leaves.
        I could hear birds chirping. But all the birds were dead. Visser Three had ordered all of them killed.
        My memory rushed back to me. The chase, Tobias, the Sario Rip.
        I had either traveled backwards or forwards in time. By the look of the trees and sky, it was probably backwards.
        My stomach grumbled. I realized how hungry I was. I had been out for at least 12 hours.
        I needed to get out of the woods. I had no idea where I was. Could I morph?
        I tried to remember what morphs I had. The Yeerk only used alien morphs, and those would cause quite a stir if this was the past.
        Cockroach? No, too small. Cat? No, I needed to go distances. Elephant? No, It would look too weird. I needed something that could fly. Fly? No, something bigger. I had a bird morph. A bird of prey. What was it?
Eagle. Yes, that was right. A Bald Eagle.
        I closed my eyes and focused on that long-forgotten DNA I knew was inside me.
        Slowly, I felt the changes began. Feathers sprouted over my body. I was shrinking as my bones became hollow and light. My lips hardened and a beak emerged. My feet became talons and my eyesight sharpened. My
clothes fell around me like a tent. I spread my wings. I was a bird.
        I felt the Eagle’s mind. She wanted to get off the ground. I flapped to gain altitude.
        With my laser-sharp eyes, I spotted a rat in the grass. I was hungry.
        I pulled back my wings and plummeted. My talons were ready to sink into flesh.
        Noooooo! Stop it!
        I fought for control with the Eagle’s mind. I flared my wings and lifted from the ground once more.
        I couldn’t believe it. I had just lost control over one of the easiest morphs I had. True, it had been years since I last used it, but I should have been able to handle it.
         I looked around. Since I didn’t have any money, I’d have to steal food. I wasn’t looking forwards to doing that, but I didn’t want to starve either.
        I spotted a family playing Frisbee. Their picnic basket was sitting on the ground.
        I dove, letting the Eagle’s mind guide me. I snatched the basket in my talons.
        It was heavier than I thought. Fortunately, a bald eagle is a big bird.
        I guess I should have felt guilty about stealing, but I didn’t. The years of killing had hardened my soul.
        I carried the basket to the clearing where I first awakened. My clothes were heaped in a pile. A Dracon gun, my Dracon gun, lay beside it. I set the basket down and demorphed. I quickly pulled on my clothes. They were black and skintight. I would have to remember to morph with my clothes next time.
        I scarfed down the food: Ham and cheese sandwiches, iced tea, salad, and chocolate chip cookies. I was beginning to act like Ax. No, I couldn’t think about Ax. The memories were just too painful.
        After I finished eating, I hid the Dracon beam and leftover food. If I was lucky, the bears and raccoons wouldn’t get to it.

Chapter Three

        I remorphed and flew into town. I needed to know where, or rather, when I was. I demorphed behind a Dumpster. During the short fly here, I saw the city I used to live in. That meant I had not traveled too far back in time.
        I walked to the mall, astounded by the buzz of life that surrounded me. I had changed. A lot. The mall was like I remembered. The Gap, The Limited, Cinnabon, Banana Republic. I was like nothing had happened.
        “But nothing has happened. Not yet.” I told myself.
        That’s when I spotted them.
        They were sitting at a table in the food court, eating nachos.
        My heart nearly stopped as I watched myself laugh at one of Marco’s lame jokes.
        They didn’t know how it was going to end.
        I ducked into a bookstore. I couldn’t let them see me.
        There was Dilbert calendar sitting on the counter. You know, one of the small, thick ones with a comic for each day that you rip off at the end of the day. It was actually a pretty nice calendar. It was the date that stopped me cold.
        September 25th, the day we lost.

Chapter Four

I wanted to throw up. But I didn’t. I walked calmly out of the store and left the mall. I had seen the future. I had lived the horrors. And now I had a chance to change it.
 I was going to change it. The Animorphs were not going to lose. I flew back to the forest and finished the food. Then I morphed my Bald Eagle. Carrying the Dracon Beam in my talons, I flew for the island where we had left David. We had trapped him, yes. But we had left him alive, and dangerous. David was still power-hungry, and he wanted revenge. He wanted us dead; and if he couldn’t kill us, he’d get someone else to do it.
 David would betray us, and Visser Three would know the truth. I just prayed I’d get there in time to stop it.
 When I got to the island, Visser Three was already there. He was standing in a clearing, surrounded by Hork-Bajir guards.
 < Come out, Andalite! > He called.
 My heart lurched. It was David. < Do you think I’m that stupid, Yeerk? If I show myself, you’ll simply kill me. >
 
 < Really. Did you ever think I could by crawling through your fur? Or in the waters? > A pause, < No? Think about it. >
 Visser Three said coldly.
 
 < Don’t toy with me. I don’t have patience for you meddling Andalites. >
 < Fine. I have a proposition for you. >
 < Of what kind? >
 < You want the Andalites on Earth. >
 < Are offering them to me? >
 < Yes. >
 < And what do you want in return? >
 < Only two things. One, I want to have a little chat with them before you infest them. And two, I wish to be present when you infest them. >
 < Interesting terms. I agree. >
 Visser Three was lying. I knew that. David was a fool to think he could deal with one of the cruelest Yeerks in the Empire.

Chapter Five

I said in private thought-speak to David.
 < Rachel, > he said smoothly, < How did you know? >
 < I’m not who you think I am. > With that, I dove. Right at Visser Three.
 Before they knew what was happening, I had pressed the trigger and incinerated a few Hork-Bajir guards. Pity my aim was not good. I would have loved to slice Visser Three in two. Dracon beams sizzled the air. I dodged them, never ceasing the pressure on the trigger. Finally, I flew into the woods, leaving a dozen dead
Hork-Bajir and a very pissed off Visser.
 < I’ll get you for this, Rachel! > David scream.
 No you won’t. I vowed silently.
 < This was a trap like I suspected! > Visser Three yelled. < Find them, kill them! > He ordered. < Kill every animal on this island! >
 I flew to the other side of the island and demorphed. Then I morphed a Conctrap. I had acquired it on a planet the Yeerks were infesting. At least, a planet the Yeerks would be infesting in the future. It was powerful
enough to take on an army of Hork-Bajir and Visser Three.
 First, my arms and legs thickened. Then I grew about five feet. My skin turned a mud color. It was rough and uneven, like rock. I continued to grow taller, stronger. Another arm shot out of my chest. Two extra legs grew. My fingers melded together so I was left with only two, but I held onto the Dracon beam. My hair vanished as my head swelled in size. My hair disappeared as my third eye grew on my forehead. I felt the curved, deadly sharp teeth fill my mouth. The morph was complete.
 I headed for Visser Three. I could smell him. There were some Hork-Bajir who saw me. They obviously wanted to fight. They were annoying, and delayed me for a few minutes.
 When I finally got to the clearing, Visser Three was already in his Blade Ship ready to lift off.
 < Coward! > I yelled. < Why don’t you stay and fight? >
 He thought he had trapped the ‘Andalite Bandits’. He was wrong.
 I ran and dove into the waters. Visser Three didn’t know a Conctrap was an extraordinary swimmer. I had to swim underwater to avoid pot shots from the Blade Ship.
 When I was about a thousand feet away from the island, I felt a shock wave from the island exploding. I only wished I had the pleasure of killing David myself.
 I swam underwater until I was about a mile from the island. Visser Three could not have followed me when I was at that depth, yet I was cautious. Even as I rose to the surface, I was demorphing. It is harder to spot a
human than a Conctrap; especially if you are not searching for a human.
 After catching my breath, I morphed a dolphin. The string of morphs was tiring, but I didn’t care. I had done what I set out to do.

Chapter Six

The next day I checked the newspapers. The Yeerks had covered up the explosion well. Supposedly, an B-12 had accidentally dropped a bomb on the island. Amazingly, everyone bought the story.

        Over the next few years, I got odd jobs and lived in the woods. Sometimes I robbed Controller’s houses, for revenge as much as money for food.
        Eventually, someone noticed I was a whiz at computers. After all, I had worked with advanced alien technology. I got myself fake documentation and a job as a computer programmer. I was sure not to advance technology too much in case someone noticed.
        At the same time, I spread word of the invasion and sabotaged Yeerks projects the Animorphs never knew of. After all, I was from the future.
        I kept a close eye on the Animorphs, always ready to step in and help. Occasionally, I did, but they never knew it was me.
        A few years later, the Andalites finally came. After a long battle the Yeerks were defeated, and Earth was safe. Andalites and humans became allies in the war against the Yeerks.
        Ax went back to his homeworld, but visited often, acting as an ambassador. The rest of Animorphs never revealed their identities. They decided they would rather live normal lives than be paraded idols. I never told anyone who I was, not even the Animorphs.

        Sometimes, I had flashes of the other Rachel. At first, I did not realize the importance. Later, I found that when I had flashes, so did my other self. The flashes were a side effect of the Sario Rip. They tried to locate me, but I made sure they didn’t.
        Despite my desire for privacy, the Animorphs do deserve to know the truth. Which is why I’m writing this.
And now, I will drive to Lake Tahoe, and wait. I am confident the Animorphs will come.
        I will end this with a quote. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” I do not know who said it, but they are right. I hope I have lived up to my responsibility.

Epilogue-Jake

        Rachel called me and said that she had another flash. This time, she was overlooking Lake Tahoe. I knew what that meant: The other Rachel, the one not from this time, was at the lake.
        I drove to the lake as fast as I could, hoping to find some answers. When I arrived, I saw her, standing by the waters.
        I walked up slowly to her. “Rachel.”
        She whipped around, tense, ready to fight. In her hand was a Dracon beam. Even in the poor light, I could see this was not the Rachel I knew. She was older, more mature, more experienced. In her eyes was a
haunted look that would never leave.
        She blinked. “Jake?”
        “Hi.”
        “How did you find me?”
        “Rachel, our Rachel, had flashes of you doing things. Ax guessed that there had been a Sario Rip. And that those flashes were of another Rachel, from either the future or the past. You are from the future, aren’t you?”
        She nodded. “I’ve had flashes too. You guys are okay.”
        “Where, or when are you from? How did you get here?”
        She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. None of it will happen.”
        “You changed the future?”
        “Yes.”
        “Why?”
        “Because you weren’t going to live to see the Yeerks win.”
        “But we won. The Yeerks are gone.”
        “In my world, we didn’t. You were dead, Cassie and Marco were overseeing the infestation of Leera, Tobias was leading the resistance on Earth, and I was Visser Seven. And Ax, well, he killed himself.”
        “Why?”
        “We had been captured. He thought death was better than being a Controller. I guess I didn’t have the guts to kill myself.”
        “You’re not a coward.”
        “Maybe you’re right, but that doesn’t matter. That timeline ceased to exist.”
        “We searched for you. Why didn’t you ever try to contact us, tell us who you were?”
        “You were young, happy, enjoying life. It brought back too many memories, and I wanted my privacy. Besides, I didn’t belong in this world.”
        “How long have you been here?”
        “Five years.”
        “What have you been doing all this time?”
        “Watching you. Making sure the Yeerks wouldn’t win.”
        “Like a guardian angel.”
        She laughed, and then began to cry. “God, it’s been so long since I laughed.”
        I gave her a hug. “It’s okay. We’re friends, remember?”
        “I’ve changed.”
        “Everyone has. War changes people.”
        “Look, Jake, you better leave.”
        “Why?”
        “You don’t want to see what I’m going to do next.”
        “What?”
        “It’s time I became a real angel.”
        “You can’t do that!”
        “Jake, there can only be one Rachel. You know what happens when there’s two. The time the Sario Rip occurred is near. And if there are two of us, we will both be destroyed.”
        “You’re just going to kill yourself?”
        “It’s the only way.”
        “I can’t let you do that.”
        “Jake, if I don’t, I’ll die anyway. And so will your Rachel. She still has her life ahead of her.”
        My throat was dry. I tried to swallow. “I understand.” I managed to whisper.
        She dug into her purse and took out a key. “This opens my apartment. Riverside Complex. C4. If you want the truth, it's on the computer.”
        I took the key slowly and blinked back tears. I didn’t want Rachel to see me cry. I don’t know why I felt that way, maybe because the Rachel I knew would never cry.
        “Goodbye, Rachel.”
        She nodded. “Be happy, Jake.”
        I turned and walked away. Five minutes later, I heard the sizzle of a Dracon beam firing behind me. I didn’t turn around.

THE END

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