"You got that right, dude," a human I didn't know said.

"What is going on back there? Quiet down," the teacher demanded loudly. "What is ... what. .

. wha . . ." Suddenly, he clutched at his head with both hands. "Everyone be quiet! Quiet!"

Now Prince Jake looked very troubled. "Mr. Pardue, are you okay?"

All the other humans stared at the teacher, too. Everyone was very quiet.

"Okay?" Mr. Pardue demanded in a loud, angry voice. "Am I okay? Am I - aaaaahhhhh!"

Without warning, Mr. Pardue pitched forward. He fell on the floor. He clawed at his head with his hands.

And he cried. "Yeerk! Get out of me!"

He clawed at his head till blood began to flow.

"Aaaaaarrrggghhh!" the teacher cried as he clawed at his head.

One of the humans began screaming. "What's happening?! What's happening?!"

Someone else ran from the room into the hallway and began to shout, "Help! Help! Help!"

29 Prince Jake and I sat very still, side by side in the back of the room.

"Stop damaging our body!" Mr. Pardue cried. Then, as if he were answering himself, he said in a slurred voice, "Get out my head! Get out of my head! You're finished!"

Prince Jake's gaze met my own. We both knew what was happening.

"That makes two," Prince Jake whispered.

"Two that we've seen. Something is going wrong for ... for them."

Mr. Pardue began crying. He began cursing. All the while he writhed on the floor, and the other humans stood around horrified, helpless.

"Did you know this teacher was a Controller?" I asked Prince Jake, making my voice very quiet.

"No. He always seemed like a nice guy. I can't just sit here and watch this!"

"Get OUT OF ME!" Mr. Pardue screamed suddenly.

The Yeerk in the teacher's head was weakening. It was starving from lack of Kandrona rays.

The human host, the real Mr. Pardue, was fighting for control.

Suddenly, Prince Jake stood up and rushed to the teacher's side. I was right behind him. I tried to grab his arm to stop him, but he was too quick.

"Prince Jake!" I snapped, but he ignored me.

Prince Jake knelt by the teacher's bleeding head. "I know what this is," he whispered. "I know what this is, Mr. Pardue. Ride it out. The Yeerk will die. You'll be free."

Others were coming closer. Close enough to overhear. "Stay back," I said to them. "There may be danger."

I didn't know what else to say. It seemed to work. The others stayed back.

Mr. Pardue rolled his eyes up to focus blearily on Prince Jake's face.

Prince Jake grabbed the teacher's shoulder in a tight grip. "I've been there," he whispered.

"I've done it, Mr. Pardue. I was a Controller for a while. I survived. Just hang in."

I searched the faces of the other humans, try ing to see if they had overheard. Jake was my prince, but this was dangerous, foolish behavior.

Suddenly, the door of the room opened. I recognized the human who rushed into the room.

Chapman.

He is the assistant principal for the school. He is also a high-ranking Controller.

30 "All right, kids, everyone out," Chapman snapped. "Everyone out to the playground. Out of the building. Mr. Pardue is just sick."

"You!" Mr. Pardue cried. "No! Chapman is ... he's . . ."

"I said OUT!" Chapman roared.

The humans fled the room, anxious to be away from the scene of madness.

But Prince Jake did not move. He stayed by the human called Pardue. I saw his fists clenching. There was a dangerous light in his eyes.

Chapman looked at me. Then back at Prince Jake. "Jake, you and your friend get out."

For a frozen moment of time, no one moved. I held my breath. Would Prince Jake start a fight? If so, I would have to join him. But this was a foolish fight. Prince Jake could not afford to reveal himself.

I grabbed Prince Jake's arm and yanked him up to his feet. He glared furiously at me.

"We have to go," I said.

Slowly he nodded. "Yeah. Hope he gets better." He looked at Chapman. "He will get better, won't he, Mr. Chapman?"

"Who can say?" the Controller answered coldly.

I drew Prince Jake away. He stopped at the door, and we looked back to see Chapman draw a short steel cylinder from his pocket. He pressed it against the neck of the weeping teacher.

"No!" Mr. Pardue cried. "No!"

Then, very quickly, Mr. Pardue fell silent.

Prince Jake trned away and ran. He pushed his way through the others, who were still clustered just outside the classroom. He ran clear outside. He gasped at the air, as if he did not have sufficient oxygen.

I caught up to him, but it was difficult. He has more practice running on two legs.

"Prince ... I mean, Jake. Are you sick?"

He shook his head. "Pardue was a Controller. The Yeerk was starving. And why? Because we destroyed the Kandrona. Me and you and the others. We did this!"

"It was necessary," I said. "We struck a powerful blow against the Yeerks by destroying the Kandrona."

"Chapman killed him, didn't he?" Prince Jake said. "The little steel cylinder. Did you see that? Not just the Yeerk, but the real Pardue. He killed them both."

31 There was no point in lying anymore. Prince Jake had seen the truth. And the idea of lying now, here, made me feel unwell inside.

"If the Yeerk inside the teacher had died, the teacher would have survived and been free," I said. "He would have told other humans what happened. He would have warned them. The Yeerks can't allow witnesses."

"They're going to kill every host whose Yeerk dies, aren't they?" Prince Jake asked bitterly.

"Every human-Controller whose Yeerk dies is going to be eliminated. That's true, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Prince Jake's face showed an expression. I believed it was an expression of sickness.

"We did this," Prince Jake said.

"It's war," I said.

"My brother," Prince Jake said. "Tom. He's a Controller. What about him?"

I had no answer. The Yeerks would save as many as they could. But if their emergency system was breaking down, they would do what had to be done. They would eliminate any evidence.

Prince Jake was staring at me. "You knew they would do this?"

I glared back at him. Maybe it was the human adrenalin in my system, but I was becoming angry now. Angry at the accusing look in Prince Jake's eyes. "Yes, I knew."

"How did you know?"

I hesitated. Prince Jake did not like my hesitation. He suddenly wheeled around and pushed me against the wall.

' How did you know the Yeerks would do this?"

"Because it's happened before. You think this is the first planet the Yeerks have infiltrated?

Do you think Earth is the only place where we Andalites have fought them? They don't leave witnesses."

Prince Jake let me go. But he looked at me with unmistakable suspicion. "I don't like you keeping secrets from me, Ax. I'm your friend. We're your friends. We should know whatever you know. You didn't tell me about this."

"Terrible things happen in war," I said. "You did what you had to do. Destroying the Kandrona was part of that war."

"You can say it's a war," Prince Jake said. "But I hate it."

"Love the warrior. Hate the war. War-ruh."

32 "What is that, an old Andalite saying?" Prince Jake asked sarcastically.