Chapter 8

"We'll be landing in five blasknots." Cheetara said.

"Translation please?" Lion-O asked.

"Roughly three and three-quarter minutes from what I can figure." Panthro told them.

"That is correct." The cheetah smiled.

"Nice work, Panthro." Lion-O said.

"It wasn't that hard. Do they have the exact coordinates to Cat's Lair?" The panther wondered.

"I gave them the right coordinates, Panthro. I even gave them the right frequency to try to contact the ThunderKittens but they haven't been able to get any response." Lynx-O told them.

"I don't like this." The Lord of the ThunderCats said. A silence settled between the ThunderCats. They all hoped that everyone was all right down on the planet.

"We're landing now at Cat's Lair. Sensors indicate there is outer damage to the fortress. Prepare to disembark." Cheetara interrupted the silence. The three male cats stood as the long silver ramp lowered from the Lockti's ship. Quickly, they disembarked and made their way to the large front door on Cat's Lair.

Once at the front door, Lion-O couldn't get the code to work. He poked the buttons on the keypad and nothing happened.

"They've lost power. We're going to have to force the door open." The lion said.

"Sounds like a job for brute strength. Think you can handle it?" Panthro smirked.

"If you can." Lion-O smiled. The two ThunderCats placed their fingers in the crack separating the two doors.

"On three. Ready?" The panther asked.

"Ready." Lion-O told him.

"One, two, three!" Panthro said. The two pulled and the doors slowly came apart. Cheetara watched as Lion-O's muscles bulged and rippled. She quickly shook the feeling away as he spoke to her.

"Cheetara, we need your bo-staff to keep the doors apart." Quickly, the cheetah grabbed her staff off her cuff and extended it. Jamming it in between the doors, the ThunderCats and Lockti were able to pass through. Bol turned to some of his men and told them something. They went back to the ship.

"What's going on?" Lion-O asked Cheetara quietly.

"Bol told his men to return to the ship and pull out their Extractor and something called the doocube." She whispered. The Lord of the ThunderCats raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Whatever it is I hope it helps us with the ThunderKittens." He muttered.

"Lion-O, up ahead the control room door is closed." Panthro said.

"Come on." The lion said. Quickly they rushed to the doors.

"WilyKit? WilyKat? Can you hear us?" Cheetara called.

"I doubt they heard you. Those doors are six inches of reinforced steel." Panthro said. Lynx-O moved to the front of the door and pressed his right ear up against it.

"There is movement from inside. I hear about twenty pairs of feet." The lynx said.

"Let's get this apart." Lion-O placed his fingers in the crack and Panthro did the same again the pulled on the count of three. The doors came slightly apart.

"Again!" Panthro shouted. The two pulled again but the door only moved fractions of an inch leaving but a small six inch gap between the large heavy doors.

"Kit? Kat?" Cheetara called.

"Cheetara! Boy, are we glad to see you." Kit said.

"How are you guys holding up?" The cheetah asked.

"We've got fifteen moderately injured and five slightly injured. The rest of us are basically just dealing with bumps and bruises. How'd you get here so fast?" Kit asked.

"A long story, we'll tell you when we get everything under control." Lion-O said.

"We have to get that door open. With the power off they're going to be breathing in each other's carbon dioxide and this six inch gap won't supply enough clean air for them to breathe properly." Panthro told the Lord of the ThunderCats. Lion-O nodded and wondered,

"Any ideas?" Before they could answer, Cheetara spoke up.

"We have something that will help getting the door open."

"What do you have Sen?" Lion-O asked. The Lockti had one of his men bring a small cube forward.

"This will solve all your problems." Sen smiled as Cheetara translated. Panthro gave a Lion-O a skeptical look.

"Well go ahead." The Lord of the ThunderCats said. Sen moved forward and placed the cube in the gap between the two doors.

"Get everyone back from the doors." Cheetara told them and Cae motioned with his hands.

"Kit, Kat, get everyone back!" Lion-O shouted.

"Right! Give us a few minutes." Kat told them. Five minutes passed and then they heard Kit say all clear. Sen moved and pressed the side and top of the doocube and then he backed up. Everyone watched as the cube expanded and forced the door open. It formed an upside down 'T' and kept the door open with almost six foot tall clearance for someone to walk through. When it was done moving, the ThunderCats and Lockti went through the gap.

Back on Third Earth, Qual had his men using the Extractor on Pumyra. She was taking longer to heal than Tygra and it was making Ben-Gali nervous. The Lockti leader could sense the worry and the tension. He wished he could comfort the white tiger but with their translator off helping the others, Qual could not reach Ben-Gali telepathically. So the alien did the only thing he could do, he placed a reassuring hand on the white tiger's shoulder. At this Ben-Gali smiled and Qual smiled back.

"I appreciate everything you're doing but there has to be a way to talk to you. If only Panthro were here he'd be able to whip something up." Ben-Gali said.

"Any translators we had were destroyed in Cat's Lair. We don't even have anything to modify." Tygra told him. The two tigers thought for a few minutes and then Pumyra spoke up.

"Isn't there any translators at the Tower?" She asked.

"That's true but our vehicles are under the rubble." Tygra pointed out. Ben-Gali was about to say something else when the ground beneath them shook.

To Be Continued…