"Applegate, Katherine A - Animorphs - 05 - The Predator (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Applegate Katherine A)

2 They can be anyone. The policeman on the corner. The teacher in your
school. Your best friend. Your mother or father. Your brother.

I know. Because my brother Tom is one of them.

Tom is a Controller. A slave to the Yeerk in his head. If he knew who I
really was - what I really was - he would have me killed. Or turned into
a Controller, like him.

That's what my world is like now. A world where the enemy is everywhere.
Even sitting across from me at the breakfast table on a Satur day
morning, which is when this part of the story begins.

"Hey, midget, what's up?" Tom asked as I sat down. That's one of the
things he calls me. Actu ally I'm kind of big for my age. Almost as big
as Tom. But it's a joke we've had for years. You know how it is.

"Not much," I said. "What's up with you?"

"Oh, I'm going to a meeting."

"The Sharing?" I asked, trying to sound casual. The Sharing is this
group that tries to pretend like it's some kind of combined Boy Scouts
and Girl Scouts. It's really a front organization for Controllers. The
leadership council of The Sharing is made up of high-ranking Controllers.

"Yeah. We're doing some cleanup in the park.

3 You know, do our part for the community and all. Then we're having a
barbecue afterward." He gave me a serious look. "You really should join,
you know. We'd get to spend more time to gether."

I felt a wave of sickness. I tried not to show it. It wasn't Tom
talking. It was the Yeerk in his head. The Yeerk who wanted to take my
body and use it as a host for one of his fellow slugs.

As I sat there across the table from him, I was trying to decide
something. I was trying to decide whether I would have to ever destroy
him. Destroy my brother, who was not my brother. Not anymore.

"Maybe I will join some day," I said. Like when hell freezes over, I
added silently. I poured myself some Wheaties and milk. "So you'll be
out for a while?"

"All morning. Mom and Dad are out playing tennis, you'll have the house
to yourself. Throw a party."

"Uh-huh," I said, and spooned up some ce real.

It was hard not to just yell at him. To let him know that I knew all