SO FAR FROM HOME
Chapter 2: As if things weren't bad enough!!!
The days passed slowly. Everyone tried to make the best of a bad situation. Steele whined a bit but subsided when Feral took him aside and gave him a severe talking to. Hard Drive sulked but was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to give the Commander an excuse to beat the shit out of him.
Ms. Briggs tried to keep everyone's spirits up by making them watch TV and then engage them in lively discussions about the differences between this world and theirs. They actually found some use in those shows that could help in their world.
Capt Jerson and Detective Forman dropped by many times a week to talk to Feral. They traded stories about each others police procedures and differences in weapons. The two humans were stunned to learn how far advanced the 'kat' society was to humans. They tried to pick Feral's brains for technical data to help perhaps update Earth's defenses.
Time dragged on and cabin fever was beginning to set in when someone new appeared on Earth to cause some major problems.
Detective Forman arrived about midday on the twelfth day of their installment in the house, looking grim. Ms. Briggs answered the door.
"I need to speak with the Commander." He said in a low, urgent voice.
She nodded and stepped back to let him in. "Something's wrong, I can tell."
Forman eyed her unhappily but didn't get a chance to answer when Feral walked into the room.
"Is there a problem Detective Forman?" The dark tom asked, frowning.
Forman nodded then gestured to the kitchen, "We need to talk.....privately."
His frown deepening, Feral rumbled, "Certainly." And lead the way. They weren't aware Ms. Briggs was following close behind. As he pushed opened the door, Feral saw Konway and Sinclair just finishing making sandwiches for themselves.
"Could you two excuse us please?" Feral asked quietly.
"Oh, certainly sir," Konway said tugging at Sinclair. They grabbed their meal and left passing Ms. Briggs with a surprised look on their faces but not stopping to speak to her.
Callie pushed her way into the kitchen. Feral asked a question with his eyes.
"As Deputy Mayor, I feel I should hear what Detective Forman has to say." She said lightly.
Feral sighed, "Very well, Ms. Briggs."
Forman gaped at the female in surprise. "You're a deputy mayor?"
"Guilty!" Callie said with a small smile.
"That's why I said the SWAT Kats would be after us rather quickly. They seemed to have an invested interest in her welfare." Feral grunted then dismissed the subject for a more important one. "So why are you here and looking worried?"
Forman's lips tightened as he explained, "We've had another of your people arrive but unlike you, whose offered no threat, this guys taken a real dislike to being here. To make his point, he's taken hostages at a small software business and demands to see you. He promises to kill a hostage if you are not brought there immediately. He is using a weapon we've never seen before but acts like a mini laser that he demonstrated on a police cruiser. Turned it into junk in seconds. That clinched it for the Captain that he's one of you. So I'm to take you there and see if you can defuse this situation before it becomes a media nightmare and the hostages are harmed."
Feral hissed in concern. "That is soo not good! Can you tell me what this guy looks like?"
"Not very well, unfortunately. The guy has some kind of suit on but its covered by a huge cape with hood that covers his head and is wearing a black face mask to hide his features. He's taller than you by at least four feet and broader through the shoulders.
Callie gasped. "Oh no...that sounds like........"
"Dark Kat.......yeah it certainly does sound like him but why is he here? He had the means to bring Megakat City to its knees why risk that to come here?" He muttered in angry confusion.
Callie frowned then a thought occurred to her, "Maybe he didn't have a choice. If the SWAT Kats had found him........
"Kat's Alive!!! He would try to escape any way he could even to coming through the dimensional gate he opened." Feral completed her thought. "That's just great! We now have to deal with an insane criminal that managed to bring his weapons with him and could very likely have one of those bombs he likes so well on his person, too and here we are with antiquated weapons used by these humans."
"Hold it! Hold it! What are you two talking about?" Forman interrupted, getting a nasty feeling that things were going to get much worse than a weirdo holed up in a warehouse using alien weapons.
"Its only a guess based on what you've told us Detective but it appears our most dangerous criminal and the one who sent us here is the one holding your SWAT at bay.......Dark Kat! He is crazy and very dangerous. It doesn't help that he has his own weaponry from our world with him since you have nothing in comparison to fight it." Feral explained.
"Add to that, the SWAT Kats are most likely hot on his tail at this very moment. You might be able to cover up what Dark Kat is doing but hiding that pair and their jet will be neigh on impossible. Hope your Captain is ready to try and do a media blackout or you'll have a panic on your paws." He finished grimly.
"Oh my God!" Forman groaned. "I'll leave that to the Captain. Right now, we have this Dark Kat guy to deal with so let's get you over there."
"Right! Ms. Briggs, Steele is in charge of Hard Drive because he is second but if I was you I'd have Major Firestar back that fool up for all your sakes." Feral muttered to her on his way out.
"Will do, Commander." She murmured back.
He and Forman went out the kitchen back door and made for the detective's car. Feral tried to come up with some ways he could hold off Dark Kat while they waited for the SWAT Kats to make an appearance as they drove rapidly toward the office building the evil kat was hold up in.
Forman interrupted his thoughts, "Is this guy really that bad?"
"He's vicious and cold! If it weren't for my enforcers and those SWAT Kats, he'd have leveled our city by now and believe me he's tried many times. We're not a small place either not with a population of more than 1.6 billion katizens." Feral grunted. "Oh yes, he's bad alright and add to the fact, he's a Kat not a human which makes him stronger than you."
Forman grit his teeth and pressed on the pedal to get them there a little faster. It wasn't long before they pulled up to a police barricade. Forman flashed his badge and pushed through the line with Feral close on his heels until they reached the command post.
Captain Jerson was talking to the SWAT Commander......trying to find ways to get to the hostages. Feral and Forman listened for a few minutes before the Commander decided to break into the conversation.
"None of those tactics will work and besides if he is who I think he is, he'll be armed with a bomb."
Jerson and the SWAT Commander turned to stare at Feral in mixtures of suspicion and worry.
"Who are you? And how do you know about our perp?" The SWAT Commander demanded.
"This is who our perp is asking for." Jerson cut him off. He turned to Feral, "So you think you know who this guy is?"
"I believe from the description Forman gave me, it's the one responsible for our predicament." Feral said flatly but not being very specific since he didn't know if the SWAT CO had been clued in on just who or what he was dealing with.
Jerson face paled. If this criminal was as bad as Feral had described to him during their little talks, they were so very screwed.