HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Chapter 10: Testing a Weapon
When the pair reached the dining room, the food was just being set on the table. Razor gave his partner a 'what the heck are you doing look' that he chose to ignore for the moment as he pulled a chair out for Aurora and seated her before sitting next to her.
Dr. Sinian eyed them speculatively while Professor Hackle was completely oblivious. While serving up his breakfast, Razor opened the conversation.
"Well, we've managed to make a magic negator but we won't know if it works until we try it on someone who can use magic." He said plainly.
"Well you're not using it on Aurora," T-Bone said gruffly as he stuffed eggs and bacon in his mouth.
"Of course not but it does mean we have to capture one of the invaders." Dr. Sinian said, forestalling a retort from Razor.
"It will be dangerous but not too impossible. I just have to see if I can spot one at my office before they spot me." Aurora said.
"What? That's crazy! All they have to do is see you and with the way they are able to pop here and there so easily, you'd be surrounded instantly." T-Bone objected strongly.
"Oh please! Give me a little credit here. I know my people better than you do after all." Aurora snorted in annoyance. "My magic is strong enough to hide me long enough to take one of them captive. But I won't bring him here. I need someplace where you two will be waiting to use that device you made quickly before anymore find me. Then we scat like the first time. It might be best to go at night, they are no better than you are at night and will give us the edge we need to do this." Aurora said, laying out a possible plan.
"I don't like the idea of you doing this alone!" T-Bone said, having stopped eating and was now looking at her sternly.
She sighed, "That's the way it has to be. If I take one of you along, it will strain my magical abilities when I need them at their peak. Trust me, this is the only way we're going to catch one of these guys and test the device. So let's just discuss the actual details and get this done." She said firmly, putting an end to any more arguments.
T-Bone still had a mulish look but didn't argue anymore. Razor eyed his partner carefully. Something major was going on between these two and he didn't really like it.
Truth be told, Aurora didn't like the plan either but she really didn't see how else they could do this. They spent the rest of the day discussing how to go about trapping one of her people and Razor came up with a way to keep the captive from using his powers on Aurora before she could bring him to them. He gave her a small glass capsule and told her to hold her breath and break it immediately before her choice could cry for help or use his magic on her.
She actually felt better now about what she planned to do with this little edge in her paw. Now all they had to do is wait till night fall. They finished breakfast and went their separate ways. Aurora decided to take a shower and rest up for tonight. The SWAT Kats left for their hangar and Dr. Sinian went to work.
On the way home, Razor finally voiced his concerns.
"T-Bone just what is going on between you and Feral?"
"What do you mean?" T-Bone grunted, concentrating on his flying and not really wanting to answer a question he hadn't had time to think about himself.
"Come on, T-Bone? I'm not stupid. You were in her room. It doesn't take a genius to know what the heck you two were up to!" Razor snapped angrily. "I just want to know why?"
"Remember that she-kat I told you about some time ago that I met at that bar and had such a good time with?" T-Bone asked, after a long pause.
"Wha...you mean Feral came on to you? Did she know who you were or was it just a fluke?" His partner asked, gritting his teeth, afraid of what the answer would be.
"She knew exactly who I was! She had wanted me for a long time but was too afraid to say or do anything but that night she just couldn't resist. She told me that last night." T-Bone said as he maneuvered the jet into the secret tunnel and landed it perfectly on its platform.
Razor didn't say anything as the platform rose to the hangar above. T-Bone shut the engines as they moved upward then popped the canopy as soon as they halted. He leaped down to the floor and glanced back at his partner who was still sitting in his seat.
Sighing to himself, T-Bone moved to their lockers and began to undress. He was zipping up his coveralls when Razor came up to his side and changed. Chance waited his partner out. There was no point in trying to get him to speak any sooner than he was ready.
Frowning Jake turned and stared at his partner. "So Feral knows who we are and has known for a long time, do I have that right?" He asked tightly.
"Yeah. That's what I found out." Chance said quietly.
"Damn! And yet, she didn't do anything about it. She just let us do our thing." Jake said in stunned wonder.
"Heh, yeah that kinda stunned me too but she said it was because we could protect the city when the omegas came calling and the aliens dropped in than her badly underfunded enforcers. Man, she had plenty to say about Manx and his frivolous spending on various outlandish projects that benefitted him and his over blown ego. Her words...not mine." Chance snorted in amusement.
"She said that??" Jake said flabbergasted.
"That and much more about how much she'd like to tie Manx up in his own golf clubs or send him to her homeland and see how well he'd fare there. She was really hot about him." The tabby said shaking his head.
"Well, hell, I'd be steamed too if I had my paws tied like that. No wonder she was always so hot under the collar. It wasn't about our interference but about her inability to do her job. I sorta feel sorry for her even more now." Jake said shaking his head.
"I know, so do I but more than that, she turns me on." Chance said fanning himself.
"You're telling me! I've never seen you so protective. You've got it bad for her. I have to admit, I can see why. She's a beauty." Jake said with a smirk.
Chance gave him a smack which Jake ducked good-naturedly. "Paws off dude, she's mine!" His friend said only half kidding.
"She's all yours. She's not really my type." Jake snorted. "Come on! We gotta see if we have work waiting for us and get it done quickly."
"Right, let's get to it." Chance sighed and followed his friend up the ladder to the garage.
By dusk, the guys finished up their work and closed their garage. Grabbing dinner, they went down into the hangar and reloaded munitions and refueled the jet then took off for Professor Hackle's place again.
Abby Sinian sighed as she finished up her paperwork and put away some of the more sensitive work in her safe. Closing her office, she quickly made her way to the entrance.
"Goodnight Dr. Sinian!" Said the night watchkat.
"Thanks, you too, Charlie." She said with a smile then pushed opened the door and hurried to her car. She would go home first, get a meal then hurry to Professor Hackles. She wanted to be there when Aurora returned from her mission. She prayed the Commander would succeed and not be captured.
The SWAT Kats were there already as she walked in with the Professor a little later.
"Well, are we ready to do this?" T-Bone said gruffly.
"As ready as I can be." Aurora said nervously. She wore a simple G-suit Razor had given her and checked her pocket once more for the capsule he had given her. She relaxed when her fingers felt it there.
"Okay, then let's get going." Razor said tensely. He was holding the negator in his paw.
They walked to the jet. Razor leaped up to the wing then climbed into his seat securing the device under his feet. T-Bone and Aurora leaped after him. After they saw Razor was settled then T-Bone helped her get in beside the smaller kat. T-Bone took his seat and started the engines.
Professor Hackle opened the doors and he and Dr. Sinian watched as the jet taxied out and was soon airborne.
"Oh I do hope everything goes well!" Dr. Sinian said uneasily.
"So do I, my dear." Hackle said heavily.
They had decided to park the jet on the city hall copter pad. Traveling very high in the stratosphere then coming down straight at the clock tower and using hover when they were less than a hundred feet up, they hoped to prevent their watchers from seeing them. With T-Bone's expert flying skills, they landed without hardly a sound on the landing pad. They jumped down to the roof.
"Okay, now its time for you to do your part. Be alert and very careful." T-Bone said, concern lacing his voice. He couldn't help giving her a quick hug of reassurance.
"I will!" Aurora said. She was terrified but kept that from showing on her face and in her scent. Swallowing her nerves, she focused her magic and pictured her office.
Seconds later she reappeared in her darkened office, to her relief. It was obvious no one was there and it took her a moment to force her body to stop shaking. She moved to her desk and saw a lot of work waiting. 'Steele was such a twit.' Aurora thought in annoyance. He was such a lazy officer she was soo tempted to just magic him away. Shaking herself, she forced herself to focus on the task at paw...finding a hunter.
Here's where she risked using a very small amount of magic to alter her form. Instead of taking her normal male form, she chose that of a smaller male wearing a sergeant's uniform. Opening her office door, she carefully peered out. No one was around at this time of night.
She quickly moved down the hall to the elevator, keeping alert for anyone, she boarded the elevator and decided to head down to the front desk. The door opened and she stepped out cautiously while still trying to act casual. It seemed to be a busy night for the booking area. A great many rowdy Kats were standing around with arresting officers making a lot of noise.
She looked around carefully as she took in the commotion. 'What was going on?' She wondered. She moved closer and asked a fellow officer and was told there had been a raid on a suspected drug lord's hideout. It had been a poor bust since only a small amount of catnip had been confiscated. The officer was disgusted that the tip they'd been given by Lt. Commander Steele had been erroneous. Feral was annoyed and angry but just thanked the officer and moved off, away from the commotion.
She was about to go elsewhere when she spotted her quarry. One of the hunters, whose identity had been given to her, was standing near the elevators watching the commotion near the booking area.
Her heart in her throat she pretended she was going somewhere important and stepped to the elevator the hunter was standing near. As soon as the doors opened, she stepped in then got the hunter's attention.
"Hey! You hoo!" She called in her real voice.
The hunter turned to stare at the male officer in the elevator with a frown of confusion. Aurora waved coyly at him and altered her eyes for just a moment. Inhaling sharply, the hunter leaped for the car just as the doors were closing, just as she'd hoped. As he regained his balance and reached out for her, she broke the capsule under his nose. To her relief, he was out in seconds and falling into her arms.
She grunted under his weight but concentrated on transporting them both. Moments later the body was being lifted from her by T-Bone.
"You did it!" He said, pleased.
"Yeah! But we have to hurry before they detect my magical signature." She said urgently.
"Right!" Razor said as he aimed the negator at the hunter.
The sedative was short termed and wore off quickly. The hunter shook his head and struggled to his feet from the ground where T-Bone had laid him. Seeing Aurora in her true form, he made a gesture and was shocked when nothing happened. He frantically tried again, even speaking a spell aloud and again nothing happened.
"What have you done to me?" He shouted angrily.
"Neutralized you!" T-Bone snarled as he slammed a fist in the hunter's face and knocked him out.
"Okay. We know it works but not how long. What do you want to do?" Razor asked Aurora.
"Take us to a remote spot. We'll wait to see how long it take him to regain his power but have a knockout capsule ready to take him out the second he does." Aurora said firmly.
"That's really risky since he could still manage to do something to you before you incapacitate him." T-Bone said in concern.
"No, he'll be disoriented enough not to be efficient in using his magic and I'll be able to block anything he throws at us. We'll have time to knock him out." Aurora said with certainty.
"Okay, you know more about that than us. Pack him up T-Bone and let's get going before he comes to." Razor said heading for the jet and lowering the cargo doors.
"I'll stay with him. Give me another capsule, Razor." Aurora demanded as she climbed in with the hunter.
Razor handed her one and climbed up to the cockpit. T-Bone gave her a look of worry but followed his partner.
T-Bone wasted no time taking off and heading for the an open field near Pumadyne. They didn't have time to go much further than that. Landing quickly and quietly with no lights showing, he shut the engines and lowered the cargo ramp. He and Razor dropped down into the cargo area just in time to see the hunter regain consciousness.
Aurora was standing a few feet from him in a ready stance, her paws raised, the capsule clenched tightly in one of them.
The hunter groaned then rolled to his knees, shaking his head. He saw her legs then looked up. Growling angrily he raised his paws and nothing happened. Furious he lunged for her but was brought up short by T-Bone who had snuck up behind him. He held the hunter by his collar off the floor.
"Guess we have to wait!" T-Bone growled as he shook his prisoner.
As a precaution, Razor held his glovatrix on the prisoner. Having seen the thing used before, the hunter froze when T-Bone set him, hard, on his feet.
"What did you do to me?" He asked again.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Razor jeered at him.
"You can't escape forever, witch! The Red Leader is determined to make you his mate." The hunter snarled at Aurora.
Her eyes narrowed. "He'll never succeed!" She said flatly.
"Arrogant she-kat..." He started to curse her but T-Bone cuffed him into silence. The hunter glared at the big tom but shut up.
They stood tensely as time passed. It was thirty minutes when the hunter felt a warmth in his body, hoping it signaled his powers returning he carefully made a magical sign but was thwarted when it hit Aurora's shield.
Razor fired tarpedo and slapped him against a wall of the Turbokat. Aurora quickly magicked him away. T-Bone closed the cargo door. The three quickly climbed up to the cockpit and T-Bone took them back to the stratosphere quickly.
"Well we know it lasts at least thirty minutes. The Professor and I will try to extend that more when we get back then we'll produce more of them. As soon as we have enough for a small squad, we'll go hunting." Razor said, sounding odd with his oxygen mask on.
"Yeah! I'm ready to kick some magical tail!" T-Bone shouted.
Aurora only smiled at their enthusiasm. Soon her people would finally be free.