The Stranger by K. A. Applegate

ready for a fight.
    â€œHer name is not your concern,” Tobias said.
    The woman sneered. “Oh? And why is that? You are spies, that’s what you are. Spies!”
    â€œHer name is not your concern,” Tobias repeated. “ His name is your concern.” He jerked his thumb at Ax. “Because his name … is Visser Three.”

V isser Three?” the woman repeated skeptically.
    It took me a few seconds to track. What was Tobias talking about? Why was he saying Ax was Visser Three?
    Fortunately, Ax caught on more quickly. He immediately began to demorph and return to Andalite form. And as soon as the Andalite stalk eyes appeared, the woman began to tremble.
    â€œBut … but … you said Visser Three . Only Visser One has an Andalite host body!”
    Great. Visser Three had been promoted.
    â€œYeah,” I said to the woman. “But he was Visser Three back in the old days. Back when we were all friends. Comrades in arms.”
    â€œI … we … no one told us you were visiting Earth, Visser,” the woman babbled.
    She was clearly terrified. Obviously Visser Three’s reputation had not softened any over the years.
    Ax had regained his full Andalite form. And the various Controllers on the street were staring in a mixture of fascination and fear.
    â€œIf I had known …” the woman moaned. “I would never …”
    Ax waved his hand dismissively.
    â€œYes, my Visser! Yes!” The woman took off. Fast.
    Which left us standing around in the street, gaping at the Yeerk pool. And a lot of Controllers gaping at us.
    â€œThis isn’t good,” Marco said. “Word is going to travel very fast that Visser Three is here. And someone is going to realize the truth.”
    â€œSo what now ?” Jake wondered. “How long does the Ellimist want to leave us here?”
    â€œUntil we are convinced he’s right,” Tobias said.
    â€œThere must be something more he wants us to see,” Cassie said.
    I glanced at Cassie. She looked puzzled. I guess I expected her to look like, “See, I told you so, here’s the future.” But she seemed troubled. Like she couldn’t make sense of something that was bothering her.
    â€œWhat?” I asked her.
    She shrugged. “Just a feeling. There’s something deeper going on here. Something we don’t get.”
    The Yeerk pool was a busy little place. Controllers coming and going. The host bodies were shoved into cages, and dragged back out when it was time. There was a steady procession along the six different piers, draining out and taking in Yeerks.
    Over it all loomed the EGS Tower, topped off by the glass dome.
    â€œWhy put a Yeerk pool here?” I wondered aloud. “I mean, there’s all kinds of open areas. Why go to the trouble of removing the buildings that were here? It’s not like this is exactly a scenic location.”
    â€œI wonder what year it is?” Marco said. “Is this next year? Ten years from now? Twenty?”
    I heard a low roar coming from the sky. A Yeerk Bug fighter swooped down low, took a turn around the EGS Tower, and settled toward the near side of the Yeerk pool.
    I don’t know why, but I felt drawn to that Bug fighter. Maybe it was some strange psychic urging. Maybe it was the Ellimist, making me go closer to see what he wanted to show me.
    Wherever the urge came from, I found myself walking toward the Bug fighter.
    â€œHey!” Jake said. “What are you doing?”
    â€œYou guys stay back,” I said.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Marco said, jerking his thumb at Ax. “We’re with Visser Three here. Excuse me, I mean Visser One. And congrats on the big promotion, by the way.”
    Ax stepped out quickly in front of me, swaggering and acting the role of the