Title: Doubletake
Chp 3: Dark Counsel
Author: Kristen Sharpe
E-Mail: skgirl@hotmail.com
Date: June 10, 2002
Rating: PG
Warnings: May contain slightly more than average violence for a children's cartoon.
Disclaimer: "SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron," its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.
Author's Note: Yes, this one took too long. Why? Because the vast majority of this particular chapter is new material. My entire original mystery centered around my two "mystery guests," but I realized you all know who they are (not that I expected you not to)... so that meant I needed to spend more time on that technological issue mentioned in the summary. So I am.
Oh, and I've belatedly realized that FFN's new system won't allow me to use my usual symbols to indicate thought (the lines disappear when I use them, in fact). So, I will now be using "--" on either side of thoughts to set them apart from regular speech.
----------------------------
Chapter 3: Dark Counsel
----------------------------
Puma-Dyne was in an uproar. Not so much over who had committed the theft. But, over how easily it had been committed. And, that there had been yet *another* security breach. Well before noon no less than five security guards had been fired, two of those re-hired before they had left the complex and one of those two then fired again. There was little rhyme or reason to any of it. Just a chaotic mess of finger-pointing.
And, it was the utter disorder that was riding Commander Ulysses Feral's last nerve. Among other things...
"Commander, this has to stop! This is the *second* prototype to be stolen!"
Feral finally rounded on the short kat that had been dogging his steps for the last half hour. The Enforcer Commander had not slept. And, sleep deprivation never did anything for his mood. Nor did such horrific disorganization. And, to think he'd hoped to take a moment today to check out that Blue Manx Mark II Puma-Dyne was supposed to be sending over to Headquarters. Blast it! Yellow eyes flashing, Feral fixed the portly tomkat in a glare.
"Are you sure it's not another one of your scientists or technicians behind this?!" he barked.
The face of Carlton Sykes, head of Puma-Dyne's aeronautics research, paled to match his white labcoat. "C... Commander!" he stuttered. "That was a one-time incident! Mr. Polekat was mentally unsta..."
"He passed all his screenings before he went berserk and stole that first prototype, didn't he?" Feral growled.
"It's the SWAT Kats in the security footage! NOT one of my researchers!" Sykes snapped. "You said yourself it was one of their weapons that kat had."
"Yes, it was," Feral returned tersely. He had no intentions of revealing his inside information - that he knew for himself that the SWAT Kats were innocent - just yet. Certainly not to Sykes. "But, there's little proof. The SWAT Kats already have a jet that can outmatch any I've seen. Selling the specifications, or just part of them, to their own jet would be profitable enough..."
"*Our* jets are far superior to..."
"So you've told me," Feral interrupted. "But, the day after a parade in their honor?"
"What better time than at the height of popularity!"
"Hmm, but in their familiar 'hero' costumes? It doesn't add up."
"Commander!" Sykes' face was reddening beneath his fur. "Are you *defending* the SWAT Kats?! I thought you, of all kats....!"
Again, Feral cut him short. "And, it's just because of my known dislike for the SWAT Kats that I need solid proof before I start making arrests. Good day, Doctor." With that, the Commander was gone, leaving the blustering Sykes in his wake.
---------------------------------------------------
At the Salvage Yard, Chance and Jake's puzzlement, and worry, was deepening.
"So whodya think those guys were, buddy?" asked Chance, indicating the TV with a wave of the remote control he'd commandeered.
"Y'got me. It was so dark you couldn't really see their faces," Jake replied, his face set in that frown that meant he was thinking.
"Feral'll blame us," Chance predicted. "Get ready for another APB on the SWAT Kats."
"No, he won't." Jake's face broke into a grin with the thought that had just occurred to him.
Chance blinked at the grin. "Whadya mean? Is it National No APB Day?"
Jake stifled a laugh. "No. I mean, we have an alibi," he returned smugly. "Callie."
----------------------------------------------------
Callie Briggs had called in sick. It wasn't entirely a lie. The previous day and early morning's hectic events had left her stomach more than a little uneasy. So, she was than willing to inform the Mayor that she was not coming in to work but could work on his speeches at her apartment. Manx, preoccupied with an impending golf game with Mr. Young - a re-match, in fact, since the Siamese businesskat had beaten him five out of six games - had blithely told her to relax and hung up.
"Of course, *that* will only last until he remembers it's an election year and he needs a fresh publicity stunt," Callie muttered to herself as she drew her legs up to her chin and swapped her worn paperback to her left hand. In light of that fact, her phone was safely disconnected, her e-mail was being pointedly ignored, her cel phone was buried in her purse back in the bedroom and her TV was silent.
Which was why the knock at the door so surprised her.
Startled, Callie grabbed up a too heavy winter robe. It was hardly the height of summer fashion, but it made up for the lone extra large T-shirt she was wearing. Securing the robe, the blonde she-kat made her way to the door and opened it. She was greeted by a thin kat in an ill-fitting button-up shirt with an equally ill-matched tie.
Upon seeing her unusual attire he blinked and then busied himself straightening his own. "Er... Your Honor... That is, Deputy Mayor..." His voice was a nasal stutter that finally relaxed enough for him to relay his message. "The... er... City Council requests your attendance at an emergency meeting called for three o'clock this afternoon."
It took Callie a moment to respond with a proper acknowledgment and excuse herself. The meeting would begin in a little less than an hour. She needed a good shower to make herself presentable. But, that wasn't what had left her so surprised. It was that the Council would call an emergency meeting - what emergency? - and that they wanted *her*. City Council meetings were the one thing the Mayor handled personally, usually finding some other pressing duty for her to manage. That fact alone had long added substance to her private suspicions concerning just how Manx had been re-elected for eleven turns.
So, why had they gone to the trouble to hunt *her* down?
With a worried frown, Callie flipped on the television set as she made her way to the bathroom.
----------------------------------------------------
He ran a hand lightly over the jet's sleek hide. It was beautiful. Puma-Dyne had created a masterpiece with this one. Fast. Responsive to the slightest twitch of the stick.
--Still teasing myself. Drooling over jets like a kitten.--
The hand dropped away.
The jet was for the job. Nothing more.
"We're going to need missiles," he rumbled aloud.
His partner's face appeared at the rear of the cockpit, a wicked grin twisting it into a sneer. "Oh, that part's too easy."
----------------------------------------------------
The Enforcer Commander's mood had blackened to a rumbling thundercloud by the time of the City Council emergency meeting. The summons had been bad enough news. The personal call from the Council chair *demanding* his presence had been the final irritation. Since which he'd responded to all questions and greetings in monosyllabic grunts.
He sat alone at the farthest end of the council table, his ferocious scowl insuring his privacy. From his isolated corner, he melded with the room's dark wood paneling, silently watching the Council members file in. Clearly, they'd already met among themselves. Feral's yellow eyes narrowed.
The SWAT Kats were poor competition for the place of contempt in which he held the Council. It was the Council that used whatever means necessary to keep their favorite cohort as MegaKat City's mayor. It was the Council that had held an Enforcer budget cut over his head to force him to promote Senator Steele's son so quickly. The young kat had held promise before the easy ride to Lieutenant Commander assured him of a job regardless of his actions or skill.
Blast them! The lot of them. Them and their self-serving, money-grubbing schemes. That disaster Manx called MegaKat Tower was probably their doing too.
Feral's mental tirade was cut off as Callie Briggs entered the room. Her green gaze swept over Council chamber in a quick, distracted glance. Seeing him, her eyes briefly widened. Clearly, she thought this was a genuine emergency, and his presence had affirmed that idea. Feral's jaw muscles tightened. He knew better. That she had been called here was *not* a good sign.
Collecting herself, Callie settled into a chair and awaited the start of the meeting.
It was not long in coming. Now that the two city officials had arrived, the Council Chair was ready to begin.
"So glad you could join us."
As the Chair continued, Feral opted to parrot Callie's nod instead of voicing the snarl he'd have preferred.
"There's an issue we've long ignored that must now be dealt with. The SWAT Kats." The Chair locked his vermillion eyes on the slender figure of the Deputy Mayor, testing for some kind of reaction.
Callie made no reply, but the tip of her tail twitched back and forth once in a quick, agitated gesture. This was definitely not what she'd expected. Far from it. The Council had had no complaints about the SWAT Kat Day Parade. Why were they suddenly acting like they'd considered the SWAT Kats some sort of threat for years?
The blonde watched as two of the wall's richly textured wood panels slid aside to reveal a large screen. The lights subtly dimmed as the Chair took his seat and a second councilmember rose. Brindle, was it? She couldn't tell in the nearly darkened room.
The dark figure moved to stand by the screen, now glowing a vibrant blue.
"As you'll see, we've prepared a presentation concerning the SWAT Kat issue," Brindle stated as a video began to play on the screen. "While no one is denying the help they've been in dealing with the city's so-called "supervillains" like Dark Kat, the SWAT Kats are, nonetheless, vigilantes, outside the law."
Callie merely nodded again. They were only stating the obvious, mincing their words. There was something more to this. She focused her attention on the video, her mouth set in a thin line of worry.
Feral too watched the video, noting that it was a catalog of the numerous collateral damages the SWAT Kats had inflicted on the city. A catalog the Enforcer Commander knew well. He'd badgered his public relations department into creating it from news footage and some of the Enforcers' own archival footage. A catalog he'd personally submitted to the Council nearly three years ago. And, a catalog about which he'd never received a response.
--Because they were too busy editing it to tailor to their own agenda and claim it as theirs,-- Feral mused, withholding a snarl.
So, they were finally going to acknowledge concerns about the SWAT Kats. The Commander ground his teeth. This was *not* the time. The Puma-Dyne theft was not the work of the SWAT Kats. And, *that* needed to be his highest priority right now. Not playing errand boy for the Council. Not even when it meant he was finally given free rein to pursue the SWAT Kat issue.
Feral watched the video play through in a state of silent seething, his fists clenched together in an iron grip. Pity it wasn't around anyone's neck.
At last, the video ended, and the Chair turned in his seat to regard Callie. When he spoke, his voice was a smooth purr.
"Now do you see why we must act immediately, Deputy Mayor?"
Feral snorted softly to himself. They'd shown her nothing she hadn't already seen for herself. It would take a lot more than that for...
"Yes, Chairman, I do."
The Commander's gaze swung to the golden-haired she-kat in surprise. Her face was serious but there was none of the righteous indignation she usually leveled on him. Feral frowned. What was she...?
"Good, good. Well, with that out of the way, we'll be presenting yourself and the Mayor with a plan of action to deal with this in a few days," the Chair purred, his face set in a wide, Cheshire grin. "I trust we'll have City Hall's full support?"
Callie nodded. "Yes, Chairman. I'm sure the Mayor will feel the same as I do once I tell him what you've shown me."
"I'm sure as well," the Chair agreed. "Well, then this meeting is dismissed."
The Councilmembers and Deputy Mayor rose to leave.
Feral stood slowly, dazed. What had just happened?! What game was Callie Briggs playing? *Was* she playing?
Collecting himself, Feral strode out of the council room. There *must* be more to this. With long strides the Enforcer Commander hurried after the petite she-kat, hoping to catch her. Spying her entering an elevator at the end of the hallway, he was able to slip in just past the closing doors and join her in the otherwise empty elevator.
As the motor purred to life and catapulted them down the shaft in a controlled freefall, the twosome stood in silence. Callie stared ahead as though in thought. She held a briefcase in her left hand while her right was lost under her mass of golden waves, massaging her temple distractedly.
"Miss Briggs,...?" Feral ventured at last.
She cut him off. "I know what you're going to say, Commander, but I *have* seen the Council's point. They and you can expect my support in whatever action you have to take."
Then, the doors slid open, and she was gone, her heels clicking purposefully across the polished lobby tiling.
---------------------------------------
To Be Continued....
And... uh... Not much to say beyond, again, thanks to all of you that have been reading and reviewing this thing! I'll try to keep it interesting and updated... uh... well, reasonably often!
Chp 3: Dark Counsel
Author: Kristen Sharpe
E-Mail: skgirl@hotmail.com
Date: June 10, 2002
Rating: PG
Warnings: May contain slightly more than average violence for a children's cartoon.
Disclaimer: "SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron," its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.
Author's Note: Yes, this one took too long. Why? Because the vast majority of this particular chapter is new material. My entire original mystery centered around my two "mystery guests," but I realized you all know who they are (not that I expected you not to)... so that meant I needed to spend more time on that technological issue mentioned in the summary. So I am.
Oh, and I've belatedly realized that FFN's new system won't allow me to use my usual symbols to indicate thought (the lines disappear when I use them, in fact). So, I will now be using "--" on either side of thoughts to set them apart from regular speech.
----------------------------
Chapter 3: Dark Counsel
----------------------------
Puma-Dyne was in an uproar. Not so much over who had committed the theft. But, over how easily it had been committed. And, that there had been yet *another* security breach. Well before noon no less than five security guards had been fired, two of those re-hired before they had left the complex and one of those two then fired again. There was little rhyme or reason to any of it. Just a chaotic mess of finger-pointing.
And, it was the utter disorder that was riding Commander Ulysses Feral's last nerve. Among other things...
"Commander, this has to stop! This is the *second* prototype to be stolen!"
Feral finally rounded on the short kat that had been dogging his steps for the last half hour. The Enforcer Commander had not slept. And, sleep deprivation never did anything for his mood. Nor did such horrific disorganization. And, to think he'd hoped to take a moment today to check out that Blue Manx Mark II Puma-Dyne was supposed to be sending over to Headquarters. Blast it! Yellow eyes flashing, Feral fixed the portly tomkat in a glare.
"Are you sure it's not another one of your scientists or technicians behind this?!" he barked.
The face of Carlton Sykes, head of Puma-Dyne's aeronautics research, paled to match his white labcoat. "C... Commander!" he stuttered. "That was a one-time incident! Mr. Polekat was mentally unsta..."
"He passed all his screenings before he went berserk and stole that first prototype, didn't he?" Feral growled.
"It's the SWAT Kats in the security footage! NOT one of my researchers!" Sykes snapped. "You said yourself it was one of their weapons that kat had."
"Yes, it was," Feral returned tersely. He had no intentions of revealing his inside information - that he knew for himself that the SWAT Kats were innocent - just yet. Certainly not to Sykes. "But, there's little proof. The SWAT Kats already have a jet that can outmatch any I've seen. Selling the specifications, or just part of them, to their own jet would be profitable enough..."
"*Our* jets are far superior to..."
"So you've told me," Feral interrupted. "But, the day after a parade in their honor?"
"What better time than at the height of popularity!"
"Hmm, but in their familiar 'hero' costumes? It doesn't add up."
"Commander!" Sykes' face was reddening beneath his fur. "Are you *defending* the SWAT Kats?! I thought you, of all kats....!"
Again, Feral cut him short. "And, it's just because of my known dislike for the SWAT Kats that I need solid proof before I start making arrests. Good day, Doctor." With that, the Commander was gone, leaving the blustering Sykes in his wake.
---------------------------------------------------
At the Salvage Yard, Chance and Jake's puzzlement, and worry, was deepening.
"So whodya think those guys were, buddy?" asked Chance, indicating the TV with a wave of the remote control he'd commandeered.
"Y'got me. It was so dark you couldn't really see their faces," Jake replied, his face set in that frown that meant he was thinking.
"Feral'll blame us," Chance predicted. "Get ready for another APB on the SWAT Kats."
"No, he won't." Jake's face broke into a grin with the thought that had just occurred to him.
Chance blinked at the grin. "Whadya mean? Is it National No APB Day?"
Jake stifled a laugh. "No. I mean, we have an alibi," he returned smugly. "Callie."
----------------------------------------------------
Callie Briggs had called in sick. It wasn't entirely a lie. The previous day and early morning's hectic events had left her stomach more than a little uneasy. So, she was than willing to inform the Mayor that she was not coming in to work but could work on his speeches at her apartment. Manx, preoccupied with an impending golf game with Mr. Young - a re-match, in fact, since the Siamese businesskat had beaten him five out of six games - had blithely told her to relax and hung up.
"Of course, *that* will only last until he remembers it's an election year and he needs a fresh publicity stunt," Callie muttered to herself as she drew her legs up to her chin and swapped her worn paperback to her left hand. In light of that fact, her phone was safely disconnected, her e-mail was being pointedly ignored, her cel phone was buried in her purse back in the bedroom and her TV was silent.
Which was why the knock at the door so surprised her.
Startled, Callie grabbed up a too heavy winter robe. It was hardly the height of summer fashion, but it made up for the lone extra large T-shirt she was wearing. Securing the robe, the blonde she-kat made her way to the door and opened it. She was greeted by a thin kat in an ill-fitting button-up shirt with an equally ill-matched tie.
Upon seeing her unusual attire he blinked and then busied himself straightening his own. "Er... Your Honor... That is, Deputy Mayor..." His voice was a nasal stutter that finally relaxed enough for him to relay his message. "The... er... City Council requests your attendance at an emergency meeting called for three o'clock this afternoon."
It took Callie a moment to respond with a proper acknowledgment and excuse herself. The meeting would begin in a little less than an hour. She needed a good shower to make herself presentable. But, that wasn't what had left her so surprised. It was that the Council would call an emergency meeting - what emergency? - and that they wanted *her*. City Council meetings were the one thing the Mayor handled personally, usually finding some other pressing duty for her to manage. That fact alone had long added substance to her private suspicions concerning just how Manx had been re-elected for eleven turns.
So, why had they gone to the trouble to hunt *her* down?
With a worried frown, Callie flipped on the television set as she made her way to the bathroom.
----------------------------------------------------
He ran a hand lightly over the jet's sleek hide. It was beautiful. Puma-Dyne had created a masterpiece with this one. Fast. Responsive to the slightest twitch of the stick.
--Still teasing myself. Drooling over jets like a kitten.--
The hand dropped away.
The jet was for the job. Nothing more.
"We're going to need missiles," he rumbled aloud.
His partner's face appeared at the rear of the cockpit, a wicked grin twisting it into a sneer. "Oh, that part's too easy."
----------------------------------------------------
The Enforcer Commander's mood had blackened to a rumbling thundercloud by the time of the City Council emergency meeting. The summons had been bad enough news. The personal call from the Council chair *demanding* his presence had been the final irritation. Since which he'd responded to all questions and greetings in monosyllabic grunts.
He sat alone at the farthest end of the council table, his ferocious scowl insuring his privacy. From his isolated corner, he melded with the room's dark wood paneling, silently watching the Council members file in. Clearly, they'd already met among themselves. Feral's yellow eyes narrowed.
The SWAT Kats were poor competition for the place of contempt in which he held the Council. It was the Council that used whatever means necessary to keep their favorite cohort as MegaKat City's mayor. It was the Council that had held an Enforcer budget cut over his head to force him to promote Senator Steele's son so quickly. The young kat had held promise before the easy ride to Lieutenant Commander assured him of a job regardless of his actions or skill.
Blast them! The lot of them. Them and their self-serving, money-grubbing schemes. That disaster Manx called MegaKat Tower was probably their doing too.
Feral's mental tirade was cut off as Callie Briggs entered the room. Her green gaze swept over Council chamber in a quick, distracted glance. Seeing him, her eyes briefly widened. Clearly, she thought this was a genuine emergency, and his presence had affirmed that idea. Feral's jaw muscles tightened. He knew better. That she had been called here was *not* a good sign.
Collecting herself, Callie settled into a chair and awaited the start of the meeting.
It was not long in coming. Now that the two city officials had arrived, the Council Chair was ready to begin.
"So glad you could join us."
As the Chair continued, Feral opted to parrot Callie's nod instead of voicing the snarl he'd have preferred.
"There's an issue we've long ignored that must now be dealt with. The SWAT Kats." The Chair locked his vermillion eyes on the slender figure of the Deputy Mayor, testing for some kind of reaction.
Callie made no reply, but the tip of her tail twitched back and forth once in a quick, agitated gesture. This was definitely not what she'd expected. Far from it. The Council had had no complaints about the SWAT Kat Day Parade. Why were they suddenly acting like they'd considered the SWAT Kats some sort of threat for years?
The blonde watched as two of the wall's richly textured wood panels slid aside to reveal a large screen. The lights subtly dimmed as the Chair took his seat and a second councilmember rose. Brindle, was it? She couldn't tell in the nearly darkened room.
The dark figure moved to stand by the screen, now glowing a vibrant blue.
"As you'll see, we've prepared a presentation concerning the SWAT Kat issue," Brindle stated as a video began to play on the screen. "While no one is denying the help they've been in dealing with the city's so-called "supervillains" like Dark Kat, the SWAT Kats are, nonetheless, vigilantes, outside the law."
Callie merely nodded again. They were only stating the obvious, mincing their words. There was something more to this. She focused her attention on the video, her mouth set in a thin line of worry.
Feral too watched the video, noting that it was a catalog of the numerous collateral damages the SWAT Kats had inflicted on the city. A catalog the Enforcer Commander knew well. He'd badgered his public relations department into creating it from news footage and some of the Enforcers' own archival footage. A catalog he'd personally submitted to the Council nearly three years ago. And, a catalog about which he'd never received a response.
--Because they were too busy editing it to tailor to their own agenda and claim it as theirs,-- Feral mused, withholding a snarl.
So, they were finally going to acknowledge concerns about the SWAT Kats. The Commander ground his teeth. This was *not* the time. The Puma-Dyne theft was not the work of the SWAT Kats. And, *that* needed to be his highest priority right now. Not playing errand boy for the Council. Not even when it meant he was finally given free rein to pursue the SWAT Kat issue.
Feral watched the video play through in a state of silent seething, his fists clenched together in an iron grip. Pity it wasn't around anyone's neck.
At last, the video ended, and the Chair turned in his seat to regard Callie. When he spoke, his voice was a smooth purr.
"Now do you see why we must act immediately, Deputy Mayor?"
Feral snorted softly to himself. They'd shown her nothing she hadn't already seen for herself. It would take a lot more than that for...
"Yes, Chairman, I do."
The Commander's gaze swung to the golden-haired she-kat in surprise. Her face was serious but there was none of the righteous indignation she usually leveled on him. Feral frowned. What was she...?
"Good, good. Well, with that out of the way, we'll be presenting yourself and the Mayor with a plan of action to deal with this in a few days," the Chair purred, his face set in a wide, Cheshire grin. "I trust we'll have City Hall's full support?"
Callie nodded. "Yes, Chairman. I'm sure the Mayor will feel the same as I do once I tell him what you've shown me."
"I'm sure as well," the Chair agreed. "Well, then this meeting is dismissed."
The Councilmembers and Deputy Mayor rose to leave.
Feral stood slowly, dazed. What had just happened?! What game was Callie Briggs playing? *Was* she playing?
Collecting himself, Feral strode out of the council room. There *must* be more to this. With long strides the Enforcer Commander hurried after the petite she-kat, hoping to catch her. Spying her entering an elevator at the end of the hallway, he was able to slip in just past the closing doors and join her in the otherwise empty elevator.
As the motor purred to life and catapulted them down the shaft in a controlled freefall, the twosome stood in silence. Callie stared ahead as though in thought. She held a briefcase in her left hand while her right was lost under her mass of golden waves, massaging her temple distractedly.
"Miss Briggs,...?" Feral ventured at last.
She cut him off. "I know what you're going to say, Commander, but I *have* seen the Council's point. They and you can expect my support in whatever action you have to take."
Then, the doors slid open, and she was gone, her heels clicking purposefully across the polished lobby tiling.
---------------------------------------
To Be Continued....
And... uh... Not much to say beyond, again, thanks to all of you that have been reading and reviewing this thing! I'll try to keep it interesting and updated... uh... well, reasonably often!