Chapter 9: Freed
Since the Thunder Truck could not fit through the narrow passageway to the cave, the Swat Kats regretfully abandoned the truck making sure that it, too, was locked up tightly. Poking her head above a large boulder, Hacker immediately scanned and memorised the different equipment, which laid in huge piles all over the muddy ground. There was one large laser gun that an android and a few D'Airkats were tediously heaving into another tunnel at the far-left side of the cave.
"Holy!" exclaimed Hacker as she saw a small catch at the top of the cave open, letting a stream of sunlight in.
"Darkat is going to destroy the city with that laser gun if someone doesn't meet his demands," Razor said unnecessarily. "Looks like they are going to use the satellite, overhead Megakat City! They shot the laser from here, it reflects of the satellite and boom...one section of the city is in flames," Razor continued. "A small opening up on the cave is all they need."
"Great! This is just what we really need, now" groaned T-bone as he took out his binoculars to scan the area. "One push of the button and major catastrophes start happening."
"We've got to destroy that thing before they start creating havoc," declared Hacker.
"I don't think they're going to start firing that machine yet," predicted Razor mysteriously.
Hacker looked at him piercingly, as though trying to find out why he had thought so. Suddenly, it came to her as she snapped her fingers. "Of course! They still have to collect the ransom money."
"I don't think so," replied T-bone as he passed the binoculars to Razor.
"Crud!" Razor swore when he spotted a black suitcase with the Enforcers' emblem near the control station. Then he spotted a figure so familiar, that he had to readjust the binoculars' magnification to the maximum. "Now this is weird...I think I see Felina! She's being held in a little room in the right corner."
"What?!" cried T-bone in disbelief as he grabbed the binoculars from Razor, "How could they have done the exchange without Felina?"
"What I want to know is how they managed to do it so fast. I mean we were travelling at the speed of heat!" said Hacker.
"They had enough time, all right," replied Razor, "The Enforcers would do anything to get Felina back and at the shortest time possible and we live at the other end of the city and..."
"I think it's about time we move in," interrupted T-bone as he turned to face Hacker, "We'll go according to your plan, Razor and I'll take down the goons while you rescue Felina."
The trio nodded their heads in agreement as Hacker peeled off and headed to the right side of the cave, hiding and crawling whenever possible. Glancing over her shoulder, Hacker saw her partners doing the same thing she was. She also saw that the android and the D'Airkats were beginning to set up the machine.
Crud! she thought, we've already lost too much precious time. Now she reached a clearing, where there were no lose equipment large enough to hide her. Poking her head up again, she saw that the android was facing his back to her and the D'Airkats were busily making room around the laser just in case there was need for a quick escape. This was good for her but not for her partners.
Taking in a deep breath, Hacker did a smooth flip. Gracefully, she landed on her two feet with a soft thud and quickly ducked behind the next pile of rubble as she waited to hear if she had been caught. Seconds flew by and, to her relief, she realised that the D'Airkats were not coming after her. There, in front of her now, was the door to the room where Felina was held prisoner. Flicking out her middle claw, she set off to pick the lock and every so often, she glanced cautiously towards the laser to see if she had been spotted.
Felina was furious that Darkat had traded an unconscious Ann for the money. Of course! Why would the Metallikats want their secret to be out before their attack? she thought, making herself feel very foolish. They know I've more experience in getting conscious again. Suddenly, Felina was surprised by a sudden click of the door.
"Oh mo!" whispered the gagged Felina as she struggled fruitlessly for the hundredth time to break free from her chains.
The door opened slightly, and again, she was surprised when she saw Hacker crawling through the gap. Sighing in relief, Felina stopped her struggles and allowed Hacker to unchain her. Before the second last lock clicked free, Hacker and Felina her shouts, which were followed by gunfire and shrill shrieks of the D'Airkats.
"I knew I couldn't leave the guys to do something right," exclaimed Hacker as she furiously picked the last rusted lock.
Once the lock came off, Felina quickly untied the gag and spat at it disgustedly. The two felines sprang out of the room in full bursts before they were forced to duck under a shower of bullets. Swiftly Hacker pulled out her gun and returned fire. Slowly, they advanced toward the laser gun hoping to get a better shot at disabling it. Once the felines neared the laser gun, Hacker realised, from the information the android had computed in, that the laser gun was set on a timer, ready to unleash its deadly force in five minutes.
Since the Thunder Truck could not fit through the narrow passageway to the cave, the Swat Kats regretfully abandoned the truck making sure that it, too, was locked up tightly. Poking her head above a large boulder, Hacker immediately scanned and memorised the different equipment, which laid in huge piles all over the muddy ground. There was one large laser gun that an android and a few D'Airkats were tediously heaving into another tunnel at the far-left side of the cave.
"Holy!" exclaimed Hacker as she saw a small catch at the top of the cave open, letting a stream of sunlight in.
"Darkat is going to destroy the city with that laser gun if someone doesn't meet his demands," Razor said unnecessarily. "Looks like they are going to use the satellite, overhead Megakat City! They shot the laser from here, it reflects of the satellite and boom...one section of the city is in flames," Razor continued. "A small opening up on the cave is all they need."
"Great! This is just what we really need, now" groaned T-bone as he took out his binoculars to scan the area. "One push of the button and major catastrophes start happening."
"We've got to destroy that thing before they start creating havoc," declared Hacker.
"I don't think they're going to start firing that machine yet," predicted Razor mysteriously.
Hacker looked at him piercingly, as though trying to find out why he had thought so. Suddenly, it came to her as she snapped her fingers. "Of course! They still have to collect the ransom money."
"I don't think so," replied T-bone as he passed the binoculars to Razor.
"Crud!" Razor swore when he spotted a black suitcase with the Enforcers' emblem near the control station. Then he spotted a figure so familiar, that he had to readjust the binoculars' magnification to the maximum. "Now this is weird...I think I see Felina! She's being held in a little room in the right corner."
"What?!" cried T-bone in disbelief as he grabbed the binoculars from Razor, "How could they have done the exchange without Felina?"
"What I want to know is how they managed to do it so fast. I mean we were travelling at the speed of heat!" said Hacker.
"They had enough time, all right," replied Razor, "The Enforcers would do anything to get Felina back and at the shortest time possible and we live at the other end of the city and..."
"I think it's about time we move in," interrupted T-bone as he turned to face Hacker, "We'll go according to your plan, Razor and I'll take down the goons while you rescue Felina."
The trio nodded their heads in agreement as Hacker peeled off and headed to the right side of the cave, hiding and crawling whenever possible. Glancing over her shoulder, Hacker saw her partners doing the same thing she was. She also saw that the android and the D'Airkats were beginning to set up the machine.
Crud! she thought, we've already lost too much precious time. Now she reached a clearing, where there were no lose equipment large enough to hide her. Poking her head up again, she saw that the android was facing his back to her and the D'Airkats were busily making room around the laser just in case there was need for a quick escape. This was good for her but not for her partners.
Taking in a deep breath, Hacker did a smooth flip. Gracefully, she landed on her two feet with a soft thud and quickly ducked behind the next pile of rubble as she waited to hear if she had been caught. Seconds flew by and, to her relief, she realised that the D'Airkats were not coming after her. There, in front of her now, was the door to the room where Felina was held prisoner. Flicking out her middle claw, she set off to pick the lock and every so often, she glanced cautiously towards the laser to see if she had been spotted.
Felina was furious that Darkat had traded an unconscious Ann for the money. Of course! Why would the Metallikats want their secret to be out before their attack? she thought, making herself feel very foolish. They know I've more experience in getting conscious again. Suddenly, Felina was surprised by a sudden click of the door.
"Oh mo!" whispered the gagged Felina as she struggled fruitlessly for the hundredth time to break free from her chains.
The door opened slightly, and again, she was surprised when she saw Hacker crawling through the gap. Sighing in relief, Felina stopped her struggles and allowed Hacker to unchain her. Before the second last lock clicked free, Hacker and Felina her shouts, which were followed by gunfire and shrill shrieks of the D'Airkats.
"I knew I couldn't leave the guys to do something right," exclaimed Hacker as she furiously picked the last rusted lock.
Once the lock came off, Felina quickly untied the gag and spat at it disgustedly. The two felines sprang out of the room in full bursts before they were forced to duck under a shower of bullets. Swiftly Hacker pulled out her gun and returned fire. Slowly, they advanced toward the laser gun hoping to get a better shot at disabling it. Once the felines neared the laser gun, Hacker realised, from the information the android had computed in, that the laser gun was set on a timer, ready to unleash its deadly force in five minutes.