9

Excursion

"Thunderian?" came the surprised reply. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's Thunderian. But Panthro, it's a signature from a model of beacon that I have only seen in museums, unless your computer is messing up again." She hadn't meant to sound quite as rude as she'd ended up sounding, but they had not quite yet worked all the bugs out of the computers.

"Oh thanks a lot, Cheetara."

"Sorry, it came out a bit wrong. But this information can't possibly be right, that's what makes me think that."

The next voice she heard was Lion-O's. "Hold on, Cheetara, we're heading back. Panthro can check out the computers. Where does it say it's coming from?"

"A little island way out to sea," she said to them. She gave them a set of coordinates.

"Hmmm. All right, we'll be there in fifteen minutes or so. Lion-O out."

"Cheetara out." As she set the radio down, she looked up as the twins walked in. "Hello kittens. What are you up to today?"

"Nothing much," Wilykat said. "Just snitching some cookies while Snarf's not in the kitchen.' He grinned, finishing the last of the stolen cookie.

Cheetara frowned. "Wilykat, shame on you." But he could tell she wasn't mad.

Wilykit's eyes were attracted by the flashing indicator. "Hey what's that?" she asked, pointing, and coming closer to look. "It looks like a distress signal; are the others in trouble?"

"No, Wilykit," Cheetara said, shaking her head. "That's just it. I just got off the radio with Lion-O and Panthro, and they're headed back. This signal is Thunderian."

Stunned, Wilykit looked at the flashing again...and suddenly realized that she recognized that location. It was the little island a hundred or so miles from the blasted ruins they'd gone to that one night when they were supposed to be camping. The one that the Thunderians had gone to. The one that Mumm-Ra destroyed.

Wilykat, too, realized where it was, but his surprise was a bit more controlled. He only frowned.

"I know," Cheetara said. "I didn't believe it, either. I think the computers might be messing up, so Panthro's; coming back to tear it apart and check it out."

"Huh..." Wilykit said, finally reigning in her surprise. "You're probably right. Come on, Wilykat, let's go get some more cookies." She nearly dragged her brother out of the room.

"Don't spoil your appetites!" Cheetara called.

Back in their room, Wilykit paced excitedly. "Wilykat!' she said. "What if...what if some of those Thunderians didn't land on that island? What if someone went to the smaller island we saw, the one the signal's coming from! There might be more of us here!"

Wilykat frowned a bit. "But what if...what if they're like the ones in the forest?"

Wilykit shook her head. "No, they wouldn't be, or they wouldn't know how to use a distress beacon! And besides, didn't Lynx-O's journal say that they were leaving, like a week after the entry about the meteorite?"

Wilykat looked a bit startled. "It did..." he whispered. "Maybe they are there!"

"I wonder if the other ThunderCats are doing to check it out."

"If so, we're going with them!"

***

Not long afterwards, Panthro, Lion-O, and Snarf came back, and Panthro looked displeased. He had spent enough time on that computer system to last him a lifetime, and he would not be happy if it was malfunctioning again. When the twins came back into the control room, they saw the amusing sight of Panthro's rear end sticking out from beneath the computer screens, the panel that usually covered it lying on the floor nearby. "Um, hi, Panthro," Wilykat said with a grin.

Wilykit giggled. "You mean Panthro's - " but she was cut off by her brother's hand clamping over her mouth. They didn't need to be causing trouble now, else they might not be allowed to go with the adults if they went to investigate.

Cheetara gave them a disapproving look, but even Wilykat had to giggle. "Um," he said. "So what's wrong with it, Panthro?" he asked.

The panther growled, backing out of the recess and looking disgruntled. "Nothing," he said shortly. "Not a blasted thing. That signal, whatever it is, is genuine."

"Maybe it's a Mutant trick," Tygra suggested. He too had come up to see what was doing on.

"Maybe," Lion-O said, tapping his hand against the hilt of his weapon. "It might be someone who had a similar signal. As old as this would have to be to be Thunderian..."

Wilykit rolled her eyes. Adults were completely paranoid sometimes.

"We'll have to investigate it," Tygra said. "There's plenty of daylight left."

"The problem is, how do we get there?" This was Lion-O, frowning in thought. "We haven't completed the Feliner yet, and the ThunderTank can't handle water."

"Well that'll be fixed soon," Panthro muttered. It was ridiculous, being landlocked.

"But that does us no good for today," Tygra mused.

Wilykit spoke up. "Well, our spaceboards go on water,' she said.

Lion-O frowned, looking at her. "How do you know?" he asked.

Wilykat spoke up, saving the situation. "We've tried it out in the stream in the unicorn Forest," he said. "They don't even sink or anything."

Panthro spoke up. "No," he said. "You two are not doing there by yourself. That miserable S-S-Slithe could be there waiting in ambush. You two need to stay here where it's safe."

Wilykit growled, clenching her fists. Why couldn't Panthro take them seriously! Of all of them, he was the worst! He never treated them as equals. Never.

"Well I don't have too much of an objection to them coming along," Lion-O said. "It would be pretty mean-spirited if we took their boards and said they had to stay behind. But I agree they should not go alone. Their boards will support an adult, won't they?"

"Well yes..."

"And this once it would be all right if they rode double?"

Panthro shot the twins a look, then glanced back to Lion-O. "Well I guess, but Lion-O, they're just kids."

The young lord smiled. "They're ThunderCats."

Panthro didn't have anything to say to that, and the twins could have cheered Lion-O. But they didn't, they only tried to look mature and composed. After the remark about saying hello to Panthro's backside it wasn't easy.

"Besides. how are they to learn, Panthro? You can't keep them cooped up all the time," Cheetara said reasonably.

"Yeah, well..." he grumbled but argued no more.

"Who will go with them then?" Tygra asked.

Lion-O looked at the Sword of Omens. "Well I suppose it should be me, especially since I can send a signal out with the Sw--well no because you wouldn't; be able to get to me. but still, it's the most powerful weapon we've got. And as Lord I probably should be the one to greet them, whoever they are." He had been trying to sound less pompous and arrogant, and winced a bit as he wpoke this. But no one said anything of it.

"True, and if anything seems fishy you can always leave. it's not like the Mutants have vehicles that go on water yet either. I don't think." Tygra scratched the fur on his neck, a sure sign he was a bit tense.

Lion-O nodded. "All right then, it's settled. Panthro, you can take us to the shoreline in the Tank, and wait while we make sure the boards will work over the deeper water." The twins exchanged a surreptitious smile at this. "And then we'll head out and keep in contact."

"Great!" Wilykat said with a grin. "I'll go make sure they're fueled up and in working order, and stuff. Come on, Wilykit." The twins left the room eagerly.

A half an hour later, both boards had a pack of supplies strapped to its back end, and they were stored in the Tank's back compartment. Panthro was silent as he drove the trio to the water's edge, and they all got out. Wilykat pushed around some of the sand with his foot and was rather pleased when it stuck together in the shape he's made. This would be a great place to play, he thought.

"All right, twins, let's see how these boards of yours work on the ocean. You've got your life vests on?" That was one thing Tygra had insisted on, was that they wear life jackets in case they fell in. The ocean was not something to trifle with.

"Yep!" they chorused, identical grins on their faces.

"Then let's go!" Lion-o was a little wobbly on the unfamiliar boards, but soon gained his balance as the board started to move. he discovered what the twins already knew; that they powered just fine on the water, and waved back to Panthro. "All right, kittens, let's head out! Hoooo!" he cried, and started off.

The twins echoed the call, and then giggled as Lion-O nearly fell upon accelerating, but soon they were off, and the boards, each with a load of ThunderCat, began to move from the shore.

Part 10: Last Colony

Table of Contents
ThunderCat Stories Page
Main Page