Chapter 22
Panthro barreled out of the Control Room, making a beeline for the Med Bay. He almost bowled Lea over as she exited the library carrying a stack of discs. The panther quickly stopped her and the discs from falling to the floor.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah but where are you going in such a hurry?" Lea wanted to know.
"The Med Bay. I need Lion-O and I need him in a hurry," the panther said.
"That doesn't sound good," the lioness admitted as they both started to hurry back down the hall to the same location.
"What do you have? I thought you'd be helping with the baby," Panthro said.
"Tygra wanted me to get as much information as I could about premature babies and the risk to the mother. It's been a very long time since anyone here has delivered a baby, especially a premature one," she explained.
"That doesn't sound good," the panther gave her a look.
"Well given how far away from a standard term Pumyra is, it isn't. We only have one shot at this and if we miss our opportunity…" Lea didn't want to finish that thought.
"Gotcha," Panthro nodded as they entered the Med Bay.
"Good timing, I need you," Tygra said to Lea. He was wheeling an incubator closer to the room where Pumyra was in labor.
"Let's get to work," the lioness nodded.
"I need Lion-O. We've got a bit of a situation," Panthro said.
"I'll send him out," Tygra told them. He two headed into the room and Lion-O headed out, with Cheetara. Now that they had three medical professionals in the room, the two were just in the way.
"What's going on?" Lion-O wanted to know.
"That moment we were dreading is here. Mandora and her Evil Chasers have picked up multiple signatures on the radar and they aren't the backup," the panther said as they headed for the door.
"How close is the Feliner to being complete?" Lion-O asked as they moved out into the hallway.
"That was my next stop after I found you," Panthro let him know.
"All right go. We'll check in with Mandora and see what we're up against," the lion said. The panther nodded and peeled off toward the hangar.
"Even if the Feliner is done, we were only planning on dealing with one ship," Cheetara gave him a look as they made their way down the hall.
"Get Arzu, she should still be in the Conference Room. We're going to need her, her crew, and her ship," Lion-O said. She gave a him a quick peck on the cheek and then was gone. The King walked into the Control Room to see Mandora at the screen with Corporal Simmons standing next to her. Privates Doogle and Turenne were manning the controls while Technicians Kane and Simmons were manning the weapons' computers. Willa, Snowman, Wizz-Ra, and Slythe were all watching the screens.
"So, I hear things are getting ugly," Lion-O said.
"They're not even bothering to cloak their ships," Mandora shook her head.
"What are they doing?" the lion wanted to know.
"We've got five ships hovering outside the planet's atmosphere. Didn't bother to reach out, I just bulked up our defenses and warned all the locals," the blonde explained.
"Well done," Lion-O nodded.
"Cheetara said you needed me," Arzu said as she walked into the Control Room.
"Do those ships look familiar?" the King asked. The female lizard worked her way closer to the screen.
"Sweet Gods of Plundarr…" she murmured.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Those ships shouldn't exist," she said, obviously recognizing the ships.
"What do you mean?" Mandora asked.
"We were told they were dead…" Arzu shook her head, unsure if she could believe her eyes.
"Well someone lied then," Cheetara said.
"And I have a good idea whom. Can you make an all-points bulletin?" Arzu wondered.
"Yes ma'am," Private Doogle said.
"Open a channel," Arzu told him.
To Be Continued…
