Chapter 21
"Lord Lion-O perhaps we can help in this situation. Our medical man has knowledge of the Avian Plague. He could help your scientists confirm exactly what it is and help get the cure into production," Doctor MacComb said.
"I can appreciate your offer Doctor but my sister fears that New Thundera and her allies cannot afford me falling ill. Not only do I lead the ThunderGuard and the ThunderCats but I am King to my people. If I were to be out of commission while the Mutants intend to do us and those who support us harm, it would not be good," Lion-O admitted.
"You left your people to come rescue us? Most leaders would have sent troops to do so," the Doctor was surprised.
"It is tradition that the King and Lord of the ThunderCats go into battle for his people. One cannot lead if one has never faced battle and is not willing to die for those he protects," the lion smiled slightly.
"Very brave. Then let us be brave with you and return to New Thundera. We can help," MacComb said.
"Let me get Lea on the horn first. It is a four hour journey to our home from here and we need to make sure that things are secure by the time we get there," Lion-O told him.
"Let me speak to your chief medical officer. He or she will be in control of the situation, correct?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm sure Tygra has his hands full. Panthro is possibly one of the Cats infected and with Pumyra already in trouble; he's running a little low on help," the lion explained.
"What does Pumyra do?" MacComb asked.
"She's second in command of the medical staff. Doctor Pungali is our chief medical examiner. He's the one who called the alarm and Pumyra's blood samples were run through his lab. Lea said they had confirmed that the dead Cat, Che, was killed by Avian Plague as well. Che seems to be responsible for the attempted murder of one of Panthro's crew, Cavan, although we are unsure if she was in the intended target or Panthro was. They have successfully rounded up Che's family and they are confused and hurt by his actions. Che's work desk and home were searched for evidence as to why he would do such a thing and how he contracted the Avian Plague. As you are aware, Doctor, a disease like that is locked up securely. My guess is that someone wanted to use a possible outbreak of the disease to distract us from the Mutants' attempt to bring war to our planet," Lion-O explained as he and Cheetara showed the good Doctor to the ship in which the lion had placed his earlier phone call.
"Find Ben for me please. I need to tell him before we make any move off this planet," Lion-O said.
"You got it," she gave him a tight smile and a quick peck on the cheek. She knew that delivering news like this would crush Lion-O. He hated to give people bad news especially when it involved their tight little family of ThunderCats.
"The future Mrs. Lion-O?" MacComb asked after the cheetah had left.
"If there is a planet left to defend, then yes," the lion smiled slightly.
"You are very lucky. She is very beautiful," the Doctor smiled back.
"Thanks," Lion-O beamed as he punched up Cats Lair. He indeed felt lucky which is why telling Ben-Gali about Pumyra would hurt all the more.
"My King!" Punthar responded when he saw the lion's picture appear on the screen.
"At ease, Punthar. I need my sister. Is she around? Doctor MacComb believes he can help us," the King explained.
"I'll get her, sir. If I may speak freely sir?" The puma asked as he punched buttons to page the lioness.
"Yes of course," the lion nodded.
"Lady Lea is more frazzled than she's letting on. I don't doubt her abilities but this may be too much for her to handle as she tries to recover from her own demons. I mean no offense; I just care for her, sir. I know that she and Lord Panthro are close and I would hate for something bad to happen to either one of them," Punthar said.
"I appreciate your concern. Thank you for your honesty," Lion-O smiled and he heard the Control Room door open behind him.
"Here she is sir," Punthar then vacated the area and let her talk.
"Is everything all right?" Lea asked.
"The good Doctor MacComb has offered his teams' services in order to help us. He would like for us to travel back to New Thundera and get things under control. How are things?" Lion-O wanted to know.
"Tygra has initiated Biohazard Level Four alert. All of New Thundera is shutting down and everyone is returning to their homes to await instruction via the media outlet. Che's family is not showing any signs of being sick and his wife says that he thought he had the flu. We could be looking at someone whose intentions were never to get anyone hurt by that broken lift. Perhaps the point was to get everyone sick inside the hangar and then let them infect the rest of the planet," she admitted.
"This is Doctor MacComb, dear Lady. Has the mass production of the cure begun?" He asked.
"Yes. We're trying to make as much as we can but we still have no idea how many are infected. We're sending teams to places where Che's family has been and ordering anyone with the symptoms to turn themselves in for a full checkup at the Lair. I'm not sure what else we can do," the lioness heaved a sigh.
"Well it sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on things. Still I think it wouldn't hurt us to arrive on New Thundera. My team could help assess patients and help with anything else that is needed. This disease is thankfully not spread by air. I think it would be helpful to get a look at your lab as well. Someone with access removed a sample and knew how to use it," MacComb said.
"If you think it's safe, then by all means, Doctor. Lion-O can't afford to pick up this terrible disease. We still don't know who to trust and who is the one who gave Che the illness," Lea told him.
"We can keep him safe and we'll get this licked in no time. You'll see," he gave her a wink. The lioness smiled and Lion-O relayed to her the time they believed they would be coming in while she gave him an update on Pumyra. She had been given the cure and seemed to be responding but it was too early to tell. The call ended and the lion excused himself to speak with Ben-Gali.
To Be Continued…