The Encounter Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: K. A. Applegate
even pistols. I could see them clearly. They were carrying automatic weapons.
Suddenly, movement in the sky! What the—
To my left I spotted a pair of helicopters. They zipped just inches above the trees. They began to circle the lake. These also had Park Service markings.
This is all wrong
, I told myself.
These guys don’t act or move like Park Rangers. These guys move like an army.
And as I watched, half a dozen of the armed men surrounded a small patch of bright yellow. It was a tent.
Two people—they looked like college types— were cooking over a little fire outside the tent.
I could see the expressions of total amazement and fear when they suddenly realized they were surrounded by six men with automatic weapons.
The two campers were marched back to the nearest truck and driven away at high speed.
I don’t know what story the two campers were told. Maybe the Park Rangers told them there was a dangerous fugitive in the area. Or maybe they said there was a forest fire. I don’t know. I just know those two campers were out of there before they knew what hit them.
The two choppers circled the lake. Then they landed in a small clearing at the far side of the lake at the same time.
It was more than a mile away. Far, even for my hawk’s eyes, in the slanting light of afternoon. But I could still see what came out of those helicopters.
Out they leaped, one after another.
Seven feet tall. The most dangerous-looking creatures you’ll ever want to see. Foot-long, razor-sharp blades raked forward from their snake heads. More blades at their elbows, wrists, and knees. Feet like a
Tyrannosaurus rex.
The shock troops of the Yeerks.
Hork-Bajir warriors.
CHAPTER 8
H ork-Bajir!>
The first time I’d seen them was at the construction site. I was still fully human then. It was while Visser Three was taunting the fallen Andalite. The five of us had been cowering behind a low wall. A Hork-Bajir had been within a few feet of us.
The Andalite told us they had once been a good people, the Hork-Bajir. That despite their fearsome appearance, they were a gentle race.
But the Hork-Bajir were all Controllers now. They all carried a Yeerk slug in their brains. And they were no longer gentle.
I made a sharp turn back. I had to warn the others. I passed over a group of the Park Rangers and swooped low enough to read one man’s watch. My friends had been in morph for more than an hour.
Great. Low on time, and the Hork-Bajir are here.
I soon spotted the wolf pack, still trotting along resolutely, never tiring. Pausing only for Jake to pee.
I dived toward them. Just over their heads I pulled up suddenly.
“Yowl! Yip! Rrawr!”
They yelped and scampered around. Jake bared his fangs at me.
I came to rest on a decayed log.
Instantly, as if on command, the others started fanning out around me, encircling me. The five of them were acting like a wolf pack surrounding prey. In their own way they kind of reminded me of Hork-Bajir.
I said.
No answer. Jake snarled a brief command at one of the others.
Wait a minute.
Five?
Five wolves?
Jake, who wasn’t really Jake, leaped at me.
Whoa!
Wolves don’t usually hurt humans, but they will definitely eat a bird when they’re hungry enough.And one thing you don’t ever want to see is a hungry wolf, yellowed fangs bared, gold-brown eyes glaring, fur bristling, coming at you.
I flapped my wings hard.
The big male wolf went shooting past. Barely. But the rest were all around me!
I flapped again and got airborne, but just a few inches. I was skimming wildly over the pine-needle carpet, flapping for all I was worth, with five determined wolves hot on my tail.
SWOOOOM!
I caught the tiniest headwind, but it was all I needed.
I was up! Up and out of there, while the wolves yowled and snapped their powerful jaws in frustration below me.
Ten minutes later I found a second wolf pack. This time I counted.
Four
wolves.
Still, I was cautious.
Suddenly, movement in the sky! What the—
To my left I spotted a pair of helicopters. They zipped just inches above the trees. They began to circle the lake. These also had Park Service markings.
This is all wrong
, I told myself.
These guys don’t act or move like Park Rangers. These guys move like an army.
And as I watched, half a dozen of the armed men surrounded a small patch of bright yellow. It was a tent.
Two people—they looked like college types— were cooking over a little fire outside the tent.
I could see the expressions of total amazement and fear when they suddenly realized they were surrounded by six men with automatic weapons.
The two campers were marched back to the nearest truck and driven away at high speed.
I don’t know what story the two campers were told. Maybe the Park Rangers told them there was a dangerous fugitive in the area. Or maybe they said there was a forest fire. I don’t know. I just know those two campers were out of there before they knew what hit them.
The two choppers circled the lake. Then they landed in a small clearing at the far side of the lake at the same time.
It was more than a mile away. Far, even for my hawk’s eyes, in the slanting light of afternoon. But I could still see what came out of those helicopters.
Out they leaped, one after another.
Seven feet tall. The most dangerous-looking creatures you’ll ever want to see. Foot-long, razor-sharp blades raked forward from their snake heads. More blades at their elbows, wrists, and knees. Feet like a
Tyrannosaurus rex.
The shock troops of the Yeerks.
Hork-Bajir warriors.
CHAPTER 8
H ork-Bajir!>
The first time I’d seen them was at the construction site. I was still fully human then. It was while Visser Three was taunting the fallen Andalite. The five of us had been cowering behind a low wall. A Hork-Bajir had been within a few feet of us.
The Andalite told us they had once been a good people, the Hork-Bajir. That despite their fearsome appearance, they were a gentle race.
But the Hork-Bajir were all Controllers now. They all carried a Yeerk slug in their brains. And they were no longer gentle.
I made a sharp turn back. I had to warn the others. I passed over a group of the Park Rangers and swooped low enough to read one man’s watch. My friends had been in morph for more than an hour.
Great. Low on time, and the Hork-Bajir are here.
I soon spotted the wolf pack, still trotting along resolutely, never tiring. Pausing only for Jake to pee.
I dived toward them. Just over their heads I pulled up suddenly.
“Yowl! Yip! Rrawr!”
They yelped and scampered around. Jake bared his fangs at me.
I came to rest on a decayed log.
Instantly, as if on command, the others started fanning out around me, encircling me. The five of them were acting like a wolf pack surrounding prey. In their own way they kind of reminded me of Hork-Bajir.
No answer. Jake snarled a brief command at one of the others.
Wait a minute.
Five?
Five wolves?
Jake, who wasn’t really Jake, leaped at me.
Whoa!
Wolves don’t usually hurt humans, but they will definitely eat a bird when they’re hungry enough.And one thing you don’t ever want to see is a hungry wolf, yellowed fangs bared, gold-brown eyes glaring, fur bristling, coming at you.
I flapped my wings hard.
The big male wolf went shooting past. Barely. But the rest were all around me!
I flapped again and got airborne, but just a few inches. I was skimming wildly over the pine-needle carpet, flapping for all I was worth, with five determined wolves hot on my tail.
SWOOOOM!
I caught the tiniest headwind, but it was all I needed.
I was up! Up and out of there, while the wolves yowled and snapped their powerful jaws in frustration below me.
Ten minutes later I found a second wolf pack. This time I counted.
Four
wolves.
Still, I was cautious.
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