Groomer's feet were filled with happiness as she bounded down the stairs to where Parvo was, right next to the machine, having a serious talk with Commander Storm. "Parvo, Parvo," she cried, waving the beaker containing Colleen's blood in front of her. "I've done it! I've succeeded! I've got it!"
"Good, you've gotten the DNA and blood samples?"
"Better than that, sir! I've managed to actually pilfer the blood of the next Road Rover to be cloned!"
"The English collie?"
"One and the same!"
"You have her actual blood?"
"Right here!" Groomer said triumphantly, holding up the beaker.
"Excellent!" Parvo said, taking the beaker and turning to Storm. "Didn't I TELL you she was one fantastic assistant! We've almost perfected our second Rover clone, this will be the perfect finishing touch!" He poured the blood into a tube to the left of the massive door. Smiling, he began to push different -colored buttons and pull several levers.
Groomer noted some interesting noises from inside the door, which was slowly being filled with thick, white smoke. Soon, Parvo threw a gigantic switch that sat on the right. After one more tremendous rumble, he threw open the door. A huge cloud of thick, dense smoke filled the room. As soon as it cleared, a figure stepped out of the machine. A figure that greatly resembled Colleen!
Parvo grinned his wicked grin again. "With the blood, a huge amount of greater information can be relayed. But just to make sure," he faced the clone. "Pop-quiz time again! Tell me, what is your full name?"
"Colleen," the figure answered in a perfect imitation of Colleen's thick English acccent.
"Correct. Where were you born?"
"London, England."
"Very good. What is your favorite color?"
"Red."
"Excellent. Your favorite food?"
"Sizzling shanks of fatty pork."
"Good. Which of the Rovers are you closest to the most?"
"Hunter."
"Why is that?"
"We have the most in common of any of the Rovers."
"Good. Now, what is your power?"
"Cunning, agility, and my martial-arts."
"Now," Parvo said, "A demonstration!" Immidiately the clone went into a fighting stance. Quickly she began to do side kicks, roundhouse kicks, over hand, under hand kicks, flips, even finishing off with a flying kick, all done with Colleen's trademark yells. Once again Parvo grinned his evil grin. "Fantastic! That blood has DEFINITELY done the trick!"
"Amazing!" Storm said, smiling at Groomer, who smiled back. "Parvo, you are a true genius!"
"Yes, I am! Now, to the Clone Room to join your fellow clones!"
Colleen ran along the bright sunlit beach. The day was so bright, so unbelievably perfect, she couldn't believe it was real. She ran her hands through her hair as she listened to the singing birds. Suddenly, she spotted a figure right in front of her. At first glance, she was sure this was Hunter and began to run happily to him, but soon she stopped in her tracks. This figure, coming closer and closer to her, looked just like Hunter, but his eyes were completely cold and empty. His very presence began to send a funny feeling down her back. She was certain that this was not HER Hunter, this was some look-alike.
She turned and began to run in the other direction, but stopped short when again she saw Hunter coming toward her. This Hunter's eyes were exactly like the first one's, unfeeling and cold. It was like somebody or something had taken his mind, his soul. Hunter was facing her, but he himself was not there! She began to turn and run again. This second Hunter began to walk calmly toward her, no expression at all marked on his face. From his pocket he brought forth a shining, silver pistol. Colleen gasped and ran even faster the other way, but the first Hunter was still there and began to run even faster toward her, baring a pistol of his own.
This Hunter then peeled off his face to reveal Groomer, her ebony hair flowing in the wind! Colleen prepared to fight, but her feet suddenly seemed rooted to the ground. However hard she tried, she couldn't move them! The Groomer and phony Hunter descended on her, waving their pistols triumphantly. A huge shot was then heard from a nearby cliff, and Colleen turned and saw with horror that Hunter - the REAL Hunter, she knew - was falling down, covered in blood, to the hard, jagged rocks below, giving one final death cry of agony...
Colleen sat up, gasping. She looked around her to find she had fallen asleep on the way home. Quickly, she glanced over to the other side of the ship to find Hunter safely asleep. She took a deep breath and pressed her hand to her heart to get it to calm down. What a nightmare! she thought to herself. What a horrible, horrible nightmare! Exile turned quickly from his spot at the controls.
"Comrade, you alright?"
"Yeah, Exile, yeah," she sighed. "I just had a terrible dream!"
"Yeah, I did figure," he said, "You were talking quite a lot in your sleep. Tell me, what was dream about?"
"It was really terrible, Exile."
"It does help if you talk about it. It can make you feel better. Do you want to talk about it, Comrade? You might feel better if you do."
Colleen smiled. "Well, it might be a little scary.."
"I do not mind, let me have it," his eyes grew bigger and wider as Colleen retold the horrid vision over again. He gave a low whistle.
"That DOES sound like quite a nightmare!"
Colleen nodded. "It WAS horrible. I think maybe I'll make meself some tea. That might help calm me down," but she couldn't help squeezing Hunter's sleeping hand as she walked past him.
Groomer stood beside Parvo happily as they gazed upon the hundreds of already-made clones gathered in the large room along with Commander Storm.
"Amazing!" Was all the Commander could get out.
"Yes," Parvo agreed. "To think no one thought of this before!" Groomer smiled, silently agreeing. Just think, she, Parvo, and Storm were about to pull off the biggest, most amazing plan in the world, the end result being complete world domination, and no one would ever know! "Well," Parvo said, "two of our master clones done, four more to go, then I think we'll be ready so show off our masterworks and begin our plan!"
"Absolutely," Groomer agreed. 'In fact, sir, I just discovered something that just might help us further!"
"Oh?" Storm said seriously. 'What might that be?"
"Something I just discovered using our new computer system. It's a wonder, that machine, sir! You'll never guess what it is I've found!"
"Enlighten us, then!" Parvo said.
"Just follow me if you please, Sir, and Storm," Groomer said, directing them to the huge computer at the very bottom of their hideout. Bending over it, she typed and typed on the keyboard, entering in letters and numbers, clicking on many things until she finally stepped back. Parvo stared at the screen and gasped at what he saw. Staring back at him was an ariel view of the Road Rover Headquarters! His evil, greedy eyes stealthily moved along the screen, the exact location was there as well! With careful studies of his many maps, he KNEW he could easily find out how to get there!
"Groomer, this is unbelievable! You are a true genius! How on Earth did you find this?"
"Lots of practice, Sir. And a huge amount of exploration!"
"Remind me to immediately give you a raise after we have taken over this world," Parvo said knowingly, turning his attention to the electric device in front of him. "With THIS discovery, we are so much closer to carrying out my master plan!"
"We won't even have to stage a fake emergency like we planned to!" Storm said.
"No we won't, "Parvo agreed. "Now that we know where they live we can easily slip in to kill them, dispose of the bodies, and replace them with our clones as soon as they're done. And with THEM out of the way, the world will pretty much be handed to us on a silver platter! My dear, NO ONE will be able to stop us!!"
Groomer nodded, her adreniline pumping, the way it always did before they carried out a plan. She placed her hand on Parvo's shoulder, who squeezed it in an unspoken pact, then they went back to the computer screen.
"Hmm...that DOES sound serious," Confusus said, stroking his chin carefully.
"Yes," Exile said. "That is why I come to you." Exile knew Confusus, being the great wise dog that he was, could also interpret dreams. Ever since Colleen had told her scary vision to Exile, he had been very concerned. Finally he had decided to go to Confusus for help. He fiercely loved all his comerades tremendously and hated for ANY of them to be hurt or sad in any way. He was truly hoping Confusus could analise the dream and help Colleen. He snuck out of the Headquarters with cocktail weenies to see him. "Can you help?"
"Well, I don' t yet know the exact meaning of the dream, but I DO know for a fact the end result can't be good. I really have to think this dream over for awhile. But I want you to do something for me."
"What?"
"Find out if Colleen has this dream again. If she does, tell me. In the meantime, I suggest watching over both Colleen and Hunter very carefully. Seeing as how Groomer is in the dream as well, we can almost bet the end result will not be good at all." Exile nodded, promising these things. These guys were like his brothers and sister, he would do anything to help them, absolutely anything at all.
Colleen stood on a high cliff overlooking the ocean below her. She saw the waves slowly roll in and break, one right after the other. She stretched her arms up way over her head, enjoying the hot sun shining down on her. Suddenly a noise startled her. Turning around, she spotted Hunter right behind her, his eyes glowing in that sweet, tender way she knew. He smiled and held out his arms to her. Grinning, she began to run to him, but something made her stop in her tracks.
A second Hunter, one that looked EXACTLY like him, appeared right behind the real one. Colleen tried to call out to the real Hunter, but she was too late. The second Hunter pulled out a gun and shot as a huge explosion seemed to ring out everywhere. The real, true Hunter, covered in blood, fell to the rocks below. The second Hunter pulled off his face to reveal Groomer, smiling triumphantly. "Have a nice day, Colleen!" she taunted...
Colleen woke up with a start and looked around her. She was in her regular dog form, sleeping on the Prime Minister's bed. Her memory came back to her, she was in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House with her mistress visiting the President...and Hunter. She sighed with relief and laid her head on her paws..another dream. The second time in a row! She began to feel a bit nervous.
Carefully, so she wouldn't wake up the Prime Minister or his wife, she slowly got up off the bed, quietly pushed open the door, and ran outside to the huge backyard of the White House where she knew Hunter's dog house was. She HAD to see Hunter, part of her just HAD to know he was alright. Besides, tonight she was going back home, to London. They needed extra, EXTRA time together. As soon as she reached the doghouse, she saw to her horror that Hunter wasn't there!
Quickly she ran out into the yard, looking all over, her heart caught in her throat. To her relief she spotted him sitting on a high point near the fence, looking out at the sky. Quietly she went to him and rested one of her paws on his. He turned and looked at her. "Good morning," he barked.
She smiled back. "Good morning, Huntie. You're up early today."
"Yeah," he barked, looking out at the skyline.. "I've always liked to get up this early, just to see the sunrise. From the White House Lawn, it looks pretty spictacular," he looked at her. "Care to share it with me?"
"I'd love to," she answered as she leaned against him. He wasn't kidding, the view was so breathtaking as the round orange disk slowly began to climb from it's hiding place between two hills and turn the pale blue sky into millions of colors, finally caluminating on a lovely bright blue cloudless one. Hunter smiled at the awed expression on Colleen's face.
"Unlike anything you've ever seen, isn't it?" he asked.
"Definitely," she answered. "It's so beautiful, Huntie."
"Yeah," he said. 'But, I gotta admit, the SUNSETS in my home of Wyoming are even prettier."
"Are they really, Huntie?"
"Mmm-hmm. I remember when I was a puppy, I used to watch the sun go down with my Mom in our own special spot. No one else knew about it, but my Mom and I would go there, and we'd see the loveliest sunsets." He turned around, and Colleen could see a bit of homesickness in his eyes before he quickly recovered. "You've never met my Mom, have you?" he asked.
"No, Huntie."
He remembered what Exile has said once to him about making time for things. Quickly Hunter jumped to his feet. "Come on!" he barked to Colleen.
"Come on where?" Colleen asked.
"To Headquarters first, then to Wyoming. You're gonna meet my Mom!"
Soon they were both flying the Sky Rover in the outfits they wore on their mission in London. Hunter looked as excited as Colleen felt. Hunter had often told her about his mother, but she had never actually had the chance to meet her. Now here they were, on their way, here was her chance.
She began to feel nervous, what if his mother didn't like her? What if she thought that she was an "English snob"? What if she didn't want her son to be with a "foreigner"? Hunter turned and saw her nervousness. he put his paw on hers. 'Don't worry, as soon as Mom sees you, I KNOW she'll love you. You two will get along great!" Colleen smiled back. His mother must be a sweet person, after all..she had had HUNTER, hadn't she?
As soon as they reached Wyoming, Hunter got out of the Sky Rover, took Colleen's hand, and made it to the farm, this time without even hesitating once. He heard the familiar sound of the dog barking, and jumped over the fence. Immidiately he bent down and hugged a lovely Golden Retriever. "Hi, Mom!"
The dog smiled and barked. "Son!! What a great surprise! I wasn't expecting you to come!"
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to come either..but there's someone I'd like you to meet," he stood up then and took Colleen's hand. "Mom, I want you to meet my girlfriend. This is Colleen. Colleen, this is Starbright, my Mom." Colleen, remembering her English manners, bowed low before her. Starbright looked surprised at this, then returned the bow.
"Wonderful to finally meet you, Colleen! Hunter told me so much about you. You're just as beautiful as he described." Colleen smiled at these words. Just then she heard a bit of laughing and saw out of corner of her eye a bunch of chickens near her mocking her bow of respect.
Starbright looked at them and sighed. "Just ignore them, Colleen. Just because you have manners and they don't.."
"We got manners!! We DO!!" The chickens began to yell.
"Yeah, right!" Starbright called. "You have about as much manners as the farmer when he takes your eggs out from under you!!" Colleen had to laugh at that.
"It's alright, Starbright. I've dealt with that before."
"Yeah. I'm sorry you had to listen to that right after you got here. Come on, both of you, let's go sit on the porch right now, away from them. I'm sorry I can't offer you much to eat, a few dishes of dog food, some spring water..maybe a biscut later on."
"That's quite alright, Starbright. Believe me, as a stray I've eaten a lot worse. Anything at all is just fine." Starbright immidiately smiled at her words. So polite and respectful! So sweet! Already she was glad to know her.
For quite a while Hunter, Starbright, and Colleen sat on the porch eating, talking, getting to know one another. Starbright's instant liking to Colleen made both her and Hunter relieved. The hours seemed to fly by and soon two hours had gone buy. Hunter took Colleen out into the woods near the farm. He showed her all the spots he used to play in as a puppy. She wondered which one was his special spot.
Finally, he quietly took her to a far place deep in the woods. There a small river was flowing and several animals were gathering for a drink. it was so quiet and peaceful it took Colleen's breath away. "Right here," he said. "This is the place. I remember I used to play near these trees, then my Mom would call me over because the sun was going down, she knew I loved to watch it from here."
"I can see why," she agreed. "It's so lovely." They just stood for a long time, looking at the river enjoying the peace and tranquility of their surroundings. This place was without a doubt one of the loveliest Colleen had ever seen in her life. She felt Hunter's arms go around her and she leaned against him gently.
"If I could, I'd show you the sunset," Hunter began. 'But we really should get back soon."
"I know," Colleen agreed. Soon she, Mr. And Mrs Blair would have to go back home. For the first time in her life, she was not looking forward to seeing London again. Hunter bent down and gently kissed her. She threw her arms around him, wishing for just a few minutes time could stop. Just then he swung her into his arms. "What are you doing?" She laughed. "Put me down!"
"Never," Hunter said seriously. "This is my idea of Heaven. This wonderful woods, the river beside me, and the most beautiful dog in the world in my arms. I'll never let you go, Colleen. Not ever."
She leaned her forehead against him. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried," she whispered. "I'm never leaving you."
He tightened his grip on her. "Yes, you will," he said sadly, reminding them both of the truth neither one wanted to admit. "God, I'm going to miss you so much."
"There's always Headquarters."
"Yeah, for emergencies. Even then, we really can't spend that much time together."
"I know. But it's all we have."
An idea began to form in Hunter's mind. "Yeah.." He said slowly, "It IS all we have..and we can take advantage of that!"
"What do you mean?"
"Like we did today! What if we make a pact that we meet at Headquarters, just the two of us, every night at a given time, say eight o' clock here! That way we can be together!"
Colleen's eyes widened. 'That's a good idea!" She laughed. "I like it, Huntie!" He put her down gently and enfolded her in his arms.
"We should get back home now, in case they start to worry."
Starbright smiled. "Take care of yourselves, both of you, and please, don't hesitate if you want to come back and visit!"
"We won't, Mom!" Hunter agreed, bending down to give her a hug. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, Son!" She licked his cheek tenderly. Colleen smiled and bowed low again, but Starbright smiled, came to her, and put her paws on her neck to indicate it was alright to hug her. Colleen looked surprised, then pleased, then hugged her tenderly. Starbright licked her cheek as well. "Come back real soon. It was so wonderful to meet you, Colleen."
"It was wonderful to meet you, too, Starbright," Colleen said. 'Thank you for your hospitality."
"Thank you for YOURS!" Starbright said. "Please come back soon." She whispered to Hunter, "I like your girlfriend, Son! She's so sweet and polite. Please bring her here more often, I'd like to get to know her some more!" As she watched them take off, she sighed and turned to the chickens. 'You were ALL very rude!"
"Aw, come on, who bows like that anymore? A weirdo, that's what!"
"No, someone with manners and respect. Nothing wrong with that. Personnally, I wish some of it would rub off on YOU!" She looked at the sky.
That night, Mr. And Mrs. Blair were making their last minute thank you's to the President and the First Lady before the limo proceeded to take them to the airport. Hunter and Colleen, dogs once more, went out for a last look at the garden. He plucked out a rose from the Rose Garden and tenderly gave it to Colleen. "For you," he barked. Colleen took the rose and ran into the White House with it, where she secretly hid it in the suitcase of the Prime Minister. Mrs. Blair looked down at Colleen.
"Ready to go, Sweetheart?" she asked, petting her. She saw Hunter come right next to her. "Oh," she said with amused eyes. "All right, say good bye to your friend first, then we'll go." She saw Hunter begin to bark at Colleen with amusement in her eyes. "DON'T YA JUST HATE IT WHEN YOU CAN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE?" she thought with affection.
"Don't forget, six your time, eight mine, meet me at Headquarters."
"Yes, at headquarters. I won't. Thank you for everything, Huntie. I had such a wonderful time."
"I did, too. " He put his front paw on hers. "Never forget I love you, Colleen."
"I love you, too, Huntie. I'll see you soon."
He smiled as she got into the limo with the Prime Minister. "Soon."