FIGHTING TO LIVE
Chapter 10: Focusing on the Hunt
For the next few days they shadowed Feral and stayed with him at night. The drug required two doses on the next fit, three by the one the next night. Razor was becoming nervous by the gradually increasing amount of the drug Feral needed. The only good news was the drug did last at least eight to ten hours at a time.
Feral refused to worry about that information. He was just happy he could function during the day. He was back at work and his teams were still combing the area hoping for the one break they needed to catch the spy.
The three of them were actually surprised the spy was still in the city......at least they hoped he was. There was nothing they could do if he had managed to sell the plans and leave so they continued to hope he was still in the city trying to find a buyer.
It was Thursday when they suffered their first bad break. Feral had gone to work as usual but halfway through the day, he felt ill. He quickly left his office and made it as far as two blocks from his home before he was stricken. He'd pulled over into an alley, hoping not to be seen and triggered the signaler.
In less than ten minutes, the SWAT Kats located him. With T-Bone hovering above, Razor rappeled down to Feral's car and gave him an injection. It took five to finally stop the fits, much to Razor's consternation.
When Feral had recovered enough, Razor moved him into the passenger seat and drove him home with T-Bone following high in the air. When he reached Feral's parking garage, T-Bone was waiting for him to help get the Commander upstairs to his apartment.
Feral was more alert and able to stand but still needed some assistance. They hurried up to his home and got him to his bed. He was instructed to rest before taking a shower.
"Its really worrying me how much of the drug he needed today." Razor sighed.
"I know. But there's nothing else we can do. He sees Konway tomorrow so we have to do what we have to do to keep him going." T-Bone said, shrugging his shoulders. "I think we should order out tonight."
"Yeah good idea, but it's still too early for dinner as yet." Razor agreed.
"About three should be good then. Sounds like he's taking a shower. I'll check him when's done." T-Bone said quietly. Thirty minutes later, he went to the bedroom to see if Feral was alright.
Feral was just coming out of the bathroom when T-Bone went in.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better. I hope I didn't upset any of my enforcers. I had to leave rather quickly without explaining why. At least I was able to download the days reports before I had to leave." Feral sighed in resignation.
"Then I guess you plan to sit at your computer for a bit." The tabby said as he watched the Commander dress in sweats and tee.
"Yeah. I'm not tired and I need to stay on top of my work or it will bury me." Feral snorted.
T-Bone gave a light chuckle and led the way back to the living room. "I'm planning on ordering dinner around three." He told Feral.
"Sounds alright to me." He said as he flicked on his laptop.
T-Bone went to the couch and joined Razor watching TV. The room was quiet except for the muted noise of the set for about an hour.
"Yes!" Feral suddenly exclaimed studying something on the screen.
Curious, both SWAT Kats got up from the couch and walked over to stand behind Feral and peer at the screen.
"What's got your interest there, big guy?" T-Bone asked as he couldn't see anything from the information to cause the excitement.
"Here!" Feral pointed out something.
"Huh? But that just says some moke was spotted near the space center." T-Bone said in confusion.
"Yes, but that moke is 'Lunatic' . That's what the weird but smart trafficker in stolen goods is known by. His real name is Ray Linker. On our list, he's the most likely to have the balls and the funds to buy what our spy is selling. We knew about him but he's been keeping a real low profile so we've been looking at the others on our list. Looks like he's slipped up at last and was spotted in the dives located about ten miles from the center just a few hours ago. According to this report, word was he was waiting for someone. With luck he may be still there." Feral said in cautious excitement.
"Guess we're going hunting. Are you sure you're up to it?" T-Bone asked worriedly.
Instead of answering immediately, Feral flicked off his computer and removed the disk then stood up. He had a look of concentration on his face, his eyes distracted. T-Bone tilted his head and eyed him closely.
Feral looked better and more clear-eyed now. He took a quick, deep sniff of the Commander's scent.
The dark tom's expression cleared and there seemed to be a relieved set to his shoulders.
"I'm feeling well so the drug is still working." Feral finally said, locking the disk in his desk before moving for his coat.
"My nose agrees with you. You smell more normal, though there is still a hint of sickness about you." T-Bone agreed in relief.
Feral gave him a mildly disgusted look but made no comment about T-Bone's social faux pas.
They quickly left the apartment and headed for the roof. Razor sent for the Turbokat by remote and soon they were headed to the outskirts of town.
It was well past three in the afternoon, when T-Bone put the jet on hover so they could case the area for a few minutes searching for the best place to stash it where it wouldn't be discovered. There were no buildings that would support it in the shanty town they were interested in.
The tabby called down to Feral for a suggestion.
"The space center would be the smartest place, let me get a hold of someone." Feral said pulling out his cell to make a call. After about ten minutes, he snapped it shut and called to the pilot. "Okay, you can put her down on the far side of the fuel tanks nearest the fence." He told T-Bone.
"Roger!"
T-Bone swiftly dropped to the ground and shut the engines then offloaded the dual and single cyclotrons. They were allowed to depart the rear gates of MASA thus coming to the town from the forest bordering the town on the MASA side.
It was decided to ride to where the town met the forest then stash the bikes and walk in on foot. T-Bone and Razor soon found a nice patch of hedge that would hide the cyclotrons well. Setting their security, they headed out.
Meanwhile, another Kat with an interest in finding the spy had arrived wearing baggy jeans and t-shirt topped by a long dirty trench coat that had seen better days. His blond hair was mussed and he had not shaven. He fit in with the other denizens of the area so no one remarked on his sudden appearance. People were coming and going from the area all the time.
The blond stranger headed for a particular watering hole. Opening the door, he stepped in. The room was dim and smoky. Here and there were disreputable individuals in groups or singles drinking beer and eating some of the greasy food being served.
He went to the bar and ordered a soda and chips. He studied the room in a dirty full length mirror over the bar. A surly bartender plunked his drink and chips down before him. The stranger didn't really look up as he paid the bill and the bartender moved off.
As he drank and ate, the stranger kept looking around. Suddenly his eyes narrowed as he apparently spotted who he was looking for.
Outside, Feral and the SWAT Kats had searched the buildings as they worked their way into town. Most were empty, a couple were stores and they peered through windows or cracks of doors to see who was inside so as not to give themselves away too soon.
They finally reached the nasty looking bar. This was going to be a little harder to look into. After studying the surroundings of the building, it was finally decided, Razor being the smallest would try to slip in and look for their target.
Feral and T-Bone waited anxiously behind some stacked crates in the rear of the place while Razor went to the roof and found a way in. Stale cigaret odor on top of cooking smells filled the cavity Razor was sneaking along. He reached the kitchen and managed to drop down from the ceiling without being seen.
No one was cooking at the moment, thankfully, so he was able to slip toward the pass through slit in the wall so he could look into the bar itself. He kept in the shadows and studied the occupants for several minutes until he heard someone coming into the kitchen. He slipped behind a huge freezer and waited silently.
The cook was a skinny, tall Kat wearing a dirty apron, brown jeans, and not so clean shirt. He went to the grill, flipped a frozen burger on it then moved to a counter to get the bread and make the fixings that went with it.
Razor's stomach turned at the sight of so much uncleanliness in this kitchen. Woe be the Kat that ate this food. 'Hope they have a strong stomach!' Razor snorted mentally.
It took about ten minutes but finally the cook determined the burger was done and flipped it onto the bun. Gathered up the plate, dropped the burger on it with chips and shoved it through the pass through with a barked, 'Order up!' then left again.
Razor waited tensely but the chef didn't seem to be coming back and the food had been taken from the shelf. He moved back again and peered out. While he searched the room, the door leading into the bar from the street opened and in came their spy.
Narrowing his eyes in tension, Razor watched as their target made his way through the crowded bar for a far corner where a squat, rather clean dressed Kat was sitting. Lunatic gestured to his guest to sit. At a table nearby, Razor could see the fence's bodyguards. These were four beefy looking Kats with hard eyes and bulges in their jackets that indicated they were armed.
Just as the smaller SWAT Kat decided this was the time to summon his backup so they could strike, someone else in the bar made their move toward the pair. Razor froze and frowned, 'Who the heck was that?' He wondered mentally.
The next moment he got his answer, the blond stranger flung his jacket open and sparks flew as he activated his surge suit.
"Damn! It's Hard Drive!" Razor snarled aloud. Not bothering to hide, he hit his helmet radio. "T-Bone! Hard Drive is in the bar confronting Lunatic and our spy. Get in here on the double!" He barked.
Outside, Feral was near enough to hear Razor's excited shout. His eyes flew wide. "Hard Drive? What the heck is he doing here?" He asked aloud.
"No telling, why don't we just go ask him?" T-Bone growled as he readied his glovatrix and charged for the back entrance of the bar.
Feral pulled his blaster and was hot on the SWAT Kats heels. As they rushed into the bar, they found Razor had charged from the kitchen and was already engaging the electrical creep.
The spy and his buyer were huddled on the floor under the table, unable to escape because Razor and Hard Drive was blocking their escape. T-Bone added his own disruption by firing a tarpedo at the criminal.
His aim was hampered by all the frightened Kats trying desperately to escape through the front door. Feral couldn't even get close until most of the panicked patrons had gone past his location near the rear door.
Hard Drive was yelling at them and firing bolts of energy keeping them ducking and weaving to avoid getting hit.
"Don't interfere SWAT Kats. I have business to do here and you're not going to stop me from getting revenge." Hard Drive shouted.
"Revenge? What the heck is he talking about?" T-Bone asked Razor as he ducked behind the bar to avoid another blast then popped up and fired a net at the blond Kat. The net fell over Hard Drive easily but his energy just disintegrated it.
Finally getting free of the fleeing patrons, Feral had a direct line of sight shot at Hard Drive and took it, hitting the creep in the back.
Unfortunately, it didn't do more than make Hard Drive yowl and spin around to fire a bolt of his own back at the annoying enforcer. Feral had no where to run or hide and took the bolt in the chest which sent him flying back out the back door.
He lay out cold on the ground just outside. Inside the battle still raged, with Hard Drive managing to clip T-Bone making his left arm go numb. Really angry, Razor combined his mini scrambler missile with a tarpedo and fired it at Hard Drive who had turned back to his original target, the spy who was trying to crawl along the floor heading for the door.
The electrical crook shot a shockwave at the spy and sent the Kat against the wall hard. The Kat never stood a chance and was knocked unconscious.
While he was taking out his target, Razor's munitions struck him squarely in the back. The scrambler messed up his suit while the tarpedo flattened and stuck him to the far wall of the bar.
Silence fell at last. T-Bone walked up to their prisoners while rubbing his arm to get the circulation going again.
"Great shot, Razor." T-Bone rumbled in pleasure then glanced at the other crook. "Looks like Hard Drive did us a favor as well." He said moving over to the fallen spy and searching him. A smile of triumph split his face as he brought out the precious disk that he hoped had the information the other had stolen.
Just to be sure, Razor went to the buyer, Lunatic, and held out a paw without a word. The crook stared at him tensely. Laying nearby on the floor was Lunatic's bodyguards, taken out by Hard Drive in the first few minutes of his attack. Seeing he was undefended and knowing he was no match for the SWAT Kat, he raised both paws and indicated he didn't have anything.
"We didn't conclude the deal, hell we didn't even get to discuss it before that freak started attacking." Lunatic spat.
Razor stared at him for a moment longer then concluded he was telling the truth. He went to the spy and searched him again, just in case T-Bone missed anything due to his injured arm.
"That has to be it, buddy!" He said standing up then frowned and looked around rapidly. "Hey! Where's Feral?" He asked in consternation.
T-Bone looked around anxiously too. "Crap!" Both Kats rushed for the back door. T-Bone saw Feral laying on the ground not far from the door. He dropped to his knees and reached down to check Feral's pulse.
After a long, tense moment, he sighed with relief.
"He okay?" Razor asked, keeping watch over them.
"Seems to be but there's no telling since it looks like Hard Drive blasted him." T-Bone said in concern. "Crud! I hope this hasn't hurt him more!"
"We better get out of here before the enforcers arrive. But first I'll go disarm and tie up the spy. We don't want him to get away after all this effort. Better leave my dissolver too so the enforcers can get Hard Drive off the wall." Razor growled turning and going back into the bar.
T-Bone arm was working a bit better though it still felt a little numb. He leaned down and hefted Feral up into a firekat's carry. He disarmed his security on the bike and carefully dropped Feral onto the seat. He strapped him in as best he could.
He heard sirens approaching just as Razor reappeared.
"I've still got the disk. I think Feral would rather turn it in himself rather than me give it to Steele." Razor said as he climbed aboard his own bike.
"Think you're right about that. Let's get out of here fast. I want to get Feral to Dr. Konway. He should be checked out to be sure he's going to be okay." T-Bone said as he started his bike.
Razor said nothing as he started his own bike. They vanished from sight just as the enforcers squealed to a halt before the bar.