Marc was in the hangar as T-Bone set the TurboKat down. "Well?" he asked, as they both jumped out.
"Nothing," said Razor. "And a lot of it."
"A waste of fuel," confirmed T-Bone. "It was rocks and sand and sand and rocks and sand and rocks." He tore off his helmet in disgust. "Back to square one."
Marc looked disappointed, but asked hopefully, "Did you get it on video?"
Razor reached up to the underside of the plane and emerged with a small disc. "You really want to sit through this?"
Marc shrugged. "I'll slow it down and watch - maybe I'll catch something you missed."
T-Bone joked, "Did I mention the rocks?"
"You did, T-Bone," said Marc dryly. "Thank you." He took the tape and went out the door.
Razor watched him go, shaking his head. "I wonder what's got into him."
T-Bone started shucking off his flight suit. "Aw, he's just pigheaded. Won't admit he's wrong."
"Really?" said Razor, smiling. "Which of us do you think he learned that from?"
"You callin' me pig-headed?"
"You ever admit you're wrong?" challenged Razor.
"Sure. If I ever end up being wrong, I'll be the first to admit it." He slammed his locker shut, and tossed on his t-shirt. "Feel like lunch yet?"
"Mmmm, better not - not with that Toyota still on the rack."
"Oh, yeah. That's why I keep you around - as my back-up conscience."
The Toyota was finished, as was the Jeep, but Jake and Chance decided towait until after lunch before tackling the helicopter. Their burgers were half-done when Marc came, bleary-eyed.
"Burger?" asked Jake, waving what was left of his.
Marc shook his head. "Could you two come take a look at this?"
Jake and Chance stared at each other, then got up to follow Marc into his office. He had a small color TV hooked up to a videodisc player on his desk, adding yet more clutter to the already cluttered office. He sat down heavily, then pointed to a spot on the TV screen. "Now have my eyes gone all funny, or is that what I think it is?"
Jake and Chance peered closely at the paused image. The resolution wasn't great, and the item that Marc pointed out was difficult to make out.
Sitting up, Jake said, "It doesn't look like much of anything. Just sort of a smudge."
"That's rather suggestive itself, don't you think?" said Marc, somewhat smugly. "It's certainly neither sand nor rock."
Chance looked closer, then opened his eyes wide. Turning to Marc, he asked, "That isn't a creepling, is it?"
Marc rubbed his eyes. "You tell me. I've never actually seen one, except in the newspapers."
Chance said, "It certainly could be."
"Well, heck, let's take the player and hook it up to the big TV," suggested Jake.
This took about four minutes. It would have taken less time, but when three kats try to do the work of one, these things tend to take longer. In the end, the image appeared on the big TV.
Even Jake was looking convinced. "Maybe it's some other animal."
"An animal that big? In the middle of nowhere?" Marc argued. "What the heck would it eat?"
"Hm." Jake sat down on the couch, head in hands. "If it is a creepling, what's it doing?"
Marc shrugged, but Chance, leaning against the wall, answered instead. "I bet it's checking us out."
Jake sat up. "Of course! We were zigzagging through that area, and it probably was sent out to make sure we weren't about to bomb the place."
Marc tapped the screen. "Can you pinpoint this location?"
"Sure," said Chance. "if I can match up the time on the disc with the on-board computer."
"Well, then," Marc said, sitting down in the rickety wooden chair. "Now what?"
Chance looked incredulous. "What do you mean, 'now what'?"
Jake waved him down. "No, he's right. Let's say that's their base right there. What do we do now?"
Chance turned to Jake. "You gone nuts too? We go in and blast the joint!"
"And what if they're not in there?"
Crossing his arms, Chance growled, "Then at least we've taken out their home base, right?"
"True," said Jake, "but then we've blown our one chance at taking them off-guard."
Marc spun his chair around, and sat back down, leaning against the back. "Plus, what if there happens to be civilians in that area, and you go in with our guns blazing?" added Jake.
"Mmmm, good point," concurred Chance.
"So...what? Do you have to case the joint, as they say in gangster films?" asked Marc.
"Possibly," said Jake thoughtfully. He leaned back and closed his eyes. "Is there any way to see who, if anyone, is down there?"
"Besides actually going down and looking?" asked Chance.
"Yeah."
Chance considered for a minute. "Um, nope."
Jake buried his face in his hands for a second. "Well then, it looks like one of us is going in there."
Marc put his chin down on the chair back. "I suppose this is the point when I volunteer."
Chance laughed, not very kindly, while Jake asked, "You aren't serious, are you?"
Marc shrugged. "I think I am."
"Thought you said you weren't the hero type," said Chance.
"I'm not. But even non-hero types have to bite the bullet sometimes. And this is the biggie. Bseides, if I go down, I've still got you two to come get me out. If one of you goes down, you've got the other one...and, like, maybe me, if I count, to get you out. I'd much rather have you two backing me up than either of you and me..." Marc stopped, looking very confused. "I think I said that right."
"Whatever," said Chance. "I think I get what you're trying to say. Still, you can't be serious about wanting to go down there."
Putting his chin down again, Marc paused, then said, "'Want' is sort of a strong word. Let's just say of the three of us, I'd be the best choice to go do it."
Jake put his feet on the table. "Marc, you're not thinking about this. Believe me, I appreciate you trying to help us out, but I can't send you down there. I wouldn't send anyone up against Dark Kat, let alone Dark Kat and whoever else might be down there."
Marc shrugged. "All right, then. But the offer's open."
Jake smiled. "I suppose that leaves you and me, Chance. Do we flip a coin?"
Chance shook his head. "Nah. I'll do it."
Jake opened his eyes wide. "You both have a death wish today?"
Shrugging, Chance said, "Unless you wanna do it."
Jake raised his hands. "Look, let's forget who's going in the lion's den for a minute. Whoever it is, we're going to need a plan of attack."
"Yeah," agreed Marc. "Easy in, but not so easy out."
"Hm.. Maybe one of us could go in civvies," suggested Chance. "You know, peek inside. If they spot him, he's a lost...backpacker, hunter, cross-country runner, whatever."
Marc considered the idea. "Not bad...but who's to say they won't shoot everyone on sight anyhow?"
"Well, they didn't have anything ready to shoot at us when we did the fly-by, did they?" countered Jake.
"Hm. Good point, sir."
"OK," continued Jake. "If by some miracle they don't notice whoever goes in there, that kat'll just make a real quick survey, then get out quick. Now what do we do if he's noticed?"
"Well, they certainly won't just let him go, no matter who he claims to be," said Marc.
"Yeah, which means we need someone right behind him, and he'd better be armed," Chance mused.
"And that's Jake's area," finished Marc, swinging around to face him.
Jake was about to argue, then shook his head instead. "All right, fine. Let's put me in cover position. What else?"
Chance tentatively said, "Well, we may need to turbo out of there..."
"...which means Chance in the TurboKat." Marc crossed his arms on the chair back. "Which means I'm back as the interloper."
Jake and Chance stared at each other for a minute. Finally, Jake said, "You're really serious about this?" Marc nodded again, and Jake sighed. "OK, then. Let's do it."
"When do we wanna do this?" asked Chance.
"No time like the present," quoted Marc.
Jake looked over at him, then checked the clock. It was 2:30 - plenty of time. He nodded. "You're right. Let's rock, guys."