Issid's eyes narrowed as she watched him. She could not fathom why a being like him would care for a mere human, much less one as misguided and weak as her host. For whatever reason, however, it seemed clear that he was as much attached to the Elayne of her own timeline as to the other. Although she did not relish the idea of angering Mar further, she had the distinct feeling he would know exactly when she was lying to him.
She nodded and turned to walk into the main seating area of the Bar, her head swiveling towards the source of the broadcasted thought-speak announcement. "I suppose they'll be leaving soon," she murmured as she sank into a chair. Good, she thought, so long as they don't take all the portable Kandrona with them. Surely there's another around here somewhere.
Looking to Mar, she began her story. "As you know, Elayne loved her father--or rather, the Yeerk who infested her father, Essam. The feeling was mutual; when he moved with his host's daughter to California near the end of the war, it was a miracle if he could shut up about her for ten minutes. Most of our colleagues ignored his prattling, but I saw something useful in the prospect of an intelligent mechanic for a host--albeit one not used to advanced Yeerk technology, but one still capable of learning."
She sighed and leaned against the back of her chair. "One evening while Essam was feeding, a friend of mine infested his host instead and took me to Elayne's house, where we used her trust for her father's Yeerk to infest her against her will."
Issid gave a bland shrug. "How could I have forseen that the pool in which Essam was stranded would be boiled by the so-called Andalite Bandits that night, the night they were captured and found to be humans--the night the war for Earth began its ending?"
There was a beat after Issid finished speaking, and then Elayne said to her in a quiet voice that was brimming with loathing. <Could it be any less clear why I haven't forgiven you yet? You show no remorse whatsoever. This isn't some tough-guy act; you just don't give a damn.>