HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Chapter 8: Saving Feral
She gave them a thumbnail description of her problems. "There's really too much to cover right now but that's the short version of the situation at the moment."
"This sounds really bad and now it's spilled into our world but perhaps with your help, we will have a better chance of inventing a weapon that will defeat this Red Force Leader of yours." Razor said thoughtfully.
"Uhm, that would be wonderful but what do I do in the meantime to keep out of the paws of the Red Force Leader? They know my identity now and I can't just disappear from being Chief Enforcer then the enforcers would start looking for me as well." She said unhappily.
"Uh...yeah...that is a problem...okay, then...I suggest you tell your second that you have a family emergency and will be out of town for a few days. I know its out of character but you don't have any other way to keep them from being concerned about your absence then we'll take you to Professor Hackle's lab. No one will look for you there." Razor told her.
"I guess that will work. So how do you want me to contact my office? I can't just go there, the hunters will be waiting for me and won't hesitate to just take me. They won't care if anyone sees them because they will never return here. They don't think much of the mortal world." She said drolly.
"From what we heard those two jokers say about being here, you're right about that. Best way is for you to use your radio and call dispatch. We'll go back down so that you can get a signal through then shoot back up here till were over the Professor's then drop straight down to his place. Less likely for anyone to note our presence. It's just a good thing the Professor lives outside the city in the first place." Razor ordered then paused as another thought of possible trouble crossed his mind. "Feral, can they find us, T-Bone and me? I mean we have to go home...will they be able to find us?" Razor asked seriously.
"No. Though our magic is really powerful, it's not omnipotent. They don't know you beyond what they'd seen and heard during their time here looking for me. They would have no reason to care about you." She said.
"They do now! That's if they got a good look at us. We took the prize and they are pissed." T-Bone corrected her.
"Yes that's true, but they have nothing of your bodies to trace. I'd say, stay very high when you're in the Turbokat and use your other identities to do everything else you have to but keep a low profile. They are perfectly capable of taking the jet out of the sky or take you right off your cyclotrons. Not knowing who you are without your masks will give you the edge, if you're careful. We'll have to hope we stay one step ahead of them and that no more omegas decide to make an appearance right now." She said grimly.
"Aw great. Well there's nothing we can do about that so let's put our plan into action. T-Bone, let's drop down far enough for her radio to work." Razor said with a sigh.
"Roger!" T-Bone said, directing the jet back into the stratosphere. He went down only about a hundred feet. "Okay, Commander, try your radio now." He told her.
She started to do that then blushed as she realized she had to change back to male. Muttering to herself, seconds later the male Feral reappeared. She heard Razor suck in a breath of amazement. She glanced at him briefly as she fiddled with her radio. She saw a look of keen interest on his face. 'Spare me from scientists and inventors!' She sighed in annoyance.
"This is Feral. Dispatch! Do you copy?" She barked into the radio.
To their relief, dispatch responded instantly. "Dispatch here, sir! What do you need?"
"Patch me through to Steele, asap."
It took several minutes before Steele's voice came through the radio. "Steele here, sir."
She spent the next few minutes explaining what was going on and about the reports still awaiting her attention. After receiving his acknowledgment, she cut the connection. That was T-Bone's signal to return to space. They were silent as he flew for a few minutes more before plunging down in a more or less straight line, to the Professor's lab.
On the back side of the Professor's huge mountainside lab was his large hangar for his bigger projects. It would be possible for them to park the jet inside.
"Razor calling Professor Hackle!" The smaller SWAT Kat called over a private frequency they used with him.
"Hello, my boy. What's the problem?" Came the Professor's voice.
"We need to see you urgently and it's necessary for us to hide the jet while we are there." Razor said without explaining further.
"Ahh, very well. I'll open the hangar door." Hackle said briefly, well aware of how to keep secrets.
T-Bone dropped their altitude and brought the jet close on hover control, gliding the jet into the now open hangar doors smoothly and easily. As soon as they had landed, the doors closed behind them.
T-Bone cut the engines and silence fell. Taking off their atmospheric gear, they hopped out of the cockpit. Feral surprised them by doing the same with ease.
Hackle's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Feral.
As they walked up to the elderly Kat, Razor spoke, "There's been a new development, one that will help us to make that invention more probable rather than theoretical."
"Ohh," The Professor questioned with an eyebrow.
"Yeah, lets go to the lab first then we'll explain. Is Dr. Sinian here by chance?" He asked as they matched the Professor's limping gait as he led the way to the smaller lab they had been using for their experiments on magic.
"As a matter of fact she is. I am guessing this is a good thing?" The Professor asked.
Razor sighed in relief. "Yeah, I least we don't have to explain this twice."
The Professor nodded at the logic of that as he pushed open the door leading the lab. Dr. Sinian was standing near their tentative model of a device they hope would negate magic. She turned as she heard them come in and was also surprised to see Feral.
They gathered round as Razor gestured toward Feral.
"Okay, remember we told you those strangers were looking for someone?" He began.
The Professor and Dr. Sinian nodded.
"Well, here she is..." He said.
Feral grimaced at Razor's method of telling the two scientists. They looked blankly at Feral and frowned. Sighing, she muttered the counterspell and her true appearance took the place of her male one in the blink of an eye.
The two scientists gaped in shock.
"My name is Aurora Feral." She said flatly. "I've managed to hide for some twenty years in your world by taking a male form and hiding my magical signature. Now the Red Force Leader knows what I look like and I can no longer show myself until he is dealt with."
"Well! There must certainly be an amazing story behind this." Dr. Sinian was finally able to say.
Feral nodded and launched into a more in-depth explanation than the one she'd given the SWAT Kats.
She told them of her world where magic reigned, about how the peace of centuries had been broken by a power hungry Kat known as the Red Force Leader. How he had begun trying to take over their world and be their supreme leader. How other sects fought back, starting a war that had been taking its toll for over twenty years now. How her sect had been neutral and in hiding but was found and destroyed, its members made slaves or killed. How her sect leader had given his life to save hers by shoving her into this dimension. Her struggle to exist in a city of science instead of magic, finding her place, and hiding her magical signature and true appearance all these years, never daring to make friends or find a lover. She fell silent, staring at the floor, unwilling to look at anyone and see the pity and sorrow in their faces.
Everyone was silent for several long minutes as they absorbed her story.
'Crud! What kind of life can one have being in hiding for years, forced to be alone and not knowing if you can ever go home again and to know your whole sect has been enslaved.' T-Bone thought, feeling a deep pain in his heart for her. Her crusty and cold behavior as male was now more understandable. She didn't dare let anyone get close.
Dr. Sinian was fascinated by this information on other dimensions and one that used magic, to boot, but she also felt a sadness as well for all that was lost due to one Kat's ambition. It seemed no matter what world you lived on, there was always someone who wanted more and didn't care how they obtained it, such was the nature of war. She didn't know what she could do for this she-kat but whatever they needed she would try to provide it.
Professor Hackle swallowed hard. This was why he had left the world of weapons development at Pumadyne. Such senseless acts of violence just so someone could be king of the hill, made him sick at heart. He looked at the bowed head of this beautiful female and his heart went out to her. He would do everything in his power to aid her.
Razor frowned in concentration. The situation Feral found herself in had now spilled into their world. He felt sorrow and pain for all that she had lost but he couldn't let that distract him from finding a way to possibly help her while saving their city from harm.
"You certainly got a raw deal and we're sorry about the mess your world is in but now it's coming to our world and we have to find a way to get rid of these hunters and maybe by doing that, save your world as well. I'll not make any promises but right now this is what we're going to do..." Razor paused, drawing everyone's attention toward him, before continuing on. "Now that we have a magic user here, we have a better chance of developing the weapon I've envisioned...one that negates magic. Without it, the enemy will be forced to fight the old-fashioned way and I seriously doubt they know how to do that. That will be our biggest advantage." Razor said grimly.
"I hope you succeed and I'll do what I can to help. Remember though, I can't risk using too much magic or they will be able to find me." She warned quietly then a thought occurred to her. "After all these years, I'm not certain why they are hunting for me now." She said hesitantly, frowning in concentration. Something the hunter squad leader had said tickled her memory. "That squad leader that tried to take me, said something about me meeting my 'husband'. I don't pretend to understand what that is all about." She relayed in puzzled confusion.
"Hmm..." Dr. Sinian murmured to herself. "Perhaps it has something to do with the Red Force Leader hunting you. Is he single? Is he required to breed to keep his position or perhaps he's being pressured to marry and breed?" She asked, giving some possible reasons for the leaders behavior based on historical data.
"Oh Goddess of Nature!" Feral exclaimed in dismay. "You may be right! He would be required to breed for the next generation. We are a long-lived race, the young are treasured as there are so few born. A leader who is able to sire a kitten has the right to retain his throne, if not, he can be deposed."
"Oh dear! Then they do want you to be this leader's mate." Dr. Sinian said, worried for Feral's fate should she be taken.
"Crud! Then it's really important you guys find a way to defeat this creep." T-Bone said tightly.
"That's easier said than done, buddy. Magic is just not understood that well but now that we have what they are looking for maybe we'll have a chance." Razor said grimly, looking at Feral pointedly.
"Well I don't understand science very well but what I've learned living here. Tell me what you want from me." Feral said plainly.
"Okay, let's start with the questions about how magic works." Razor began. The three scientists sat down with Feral and began to grill her thoroughly.
T-Bone sat nearby, bored to tears. After about an hour, he got up and began looking around the Professor's lab finally finding his way to his actual home area. When he entered the main living space, he was startled by a robot.
"May I help you?" It intoned blandly. Its voice was a bit tinny and its body was all metallic with a tiny head.
"Uh, yeah. I thought I'd bring something for us all to eat. It's getting late and there's no telling how long they are going to be talking to Feral. Since I'm not a scientist, I thought I'd rustle up some food." T-Bone told the thing, a little leerily.
"If I understand you correctly, you wish to take food to the rest working in the Professor's lab. This I can do. Would sandwiches, soup, and milk be sufficient?" It asked.
"Yeah, sounds perfect." T-Bone said in relief.
"Please wait here. You may watch TV if you wish. I won't be but fifteen minutes at my task." It said disappearing from the room.
"Oh, uh, okay." T-Bone said looking around and seeing a big screen TV. Finding the remote, he flicked on the set. The news had a bit about the defeat of the Pastmaster but there was nothing more interesting there. He managed to find a Scaredy Cat cartoon and settled to watch.
Fifteen minutes later, the robot reappeared. "I will carry these sir, if you will follow me." It told T-Bone.
T-Bone quickly turned off the TV and followed the robot back to the lab. The group was now talking without Feral who was looking bored and tired. He felt a twinge of concern.
"Hey guys, I've brought some chow. I think eating would be a good idea to help the old brain cells to keep working." T-Bone called out to the group.
"Oh, yes, thank you. I'd forgotten about dinner." The Professor said distractedly. The three scientists grabbed a sandwich, soup and drink from the robot and continued their discussion.
T-Bone just shook his head and took his food and gestured with his head toward Feral to join him in a more private area away from the scientists. The robot silently disappeared again.
For a few minutes, the two ate their food in silence. Feral realized she was very hungry and made short work of her meal. T-Bone ate his more slowly and kept casting looks in her direction.
He couldn't believe this was the stunning female he'd had such a good night with. He nearly blushed at the memory. There were a lot of question he wanted to ask but they applied to his civilian persona. He scowled mentally at the quandary he was in.