THERE BE DRAGONS!
Chapter 16: The Commander's a Dragon?
Chance felt odd being alone after sharing space with someone for so many years but not as difficult as getting used to having a dragon as a best friend. It had truly been a shocking revelation the day of the unveiling but, now, after so many months, it was becoming easier. Though, it didn't hurt that Jake's Kat disguise was so flawless the tabby nearly forgot it wasn't the tom's true appearance.
But all that had been completely over-shadowed by these new revelations...learning Feral and Dark Kat were dragons as well. What a shock to hear the temper-prone commander wasn't even a Kat ... but the kicker had been hearing just how young Feral truly was.
Realizing the older appearing tom was really only in his late teens compared to Chance's more adult twenty-eight Kat years (though he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact Feral had lived ninety years on the planet but was still considered a hatchling... too strange...and that Jake was waaaay older than both of them...like centuries...) had truly blown him away. However, now some of Feral's abrasive and arrogant behavior was understandable.
Most teens acted snotty and were arrogant know-it-alls at that age. That thought made the tabby roar with laughter but it was brief as his thoughts grew serious again. Most teens didn't have as hard a life as Feral had to endure. Which made his ability to perform like an adult among a different species than himself and survive completely on his own without a support system truly extraordinary. That alone had earned him Chance's respect and admiration.
As for Dark Kat, that creature was a different story. Though Chance did have a moment of pity for the poor creature's life when growing up, he couldn't forgive the horror and pain the omega had visited on Megakat City's people over the past decade. There was no excuse for him to turn on all Kats because of a few that had tormented him. He wouldn't have blamed Dark Kat for taking out the ones that harmed him but not all the innocents as well. To Chance it spoke of a weak personality that gave into the evil side of itself rather than stand strong like Feral had. He was glad the omega was dead.
His thoughts were interrupted by the loud growling of his empty stomach ...he needed to focus on something else...like dinner...he was famished.
Making his way upstairs to their apartment, he ruminated about how much their world was changing and how he needed to adjust quickly as he knew he and Jake would become embroiled in keeping the peace alongside the Enforcers when conflict between dragons and Kats inevitably cropped up. It was going to take some time for the population to learn to come to terms with the fact they weren't the only species in their city. Especially, when the skies filled with dragons soaring over their heads on a daily basis.
Hmm, come to think of it, he better suggest to Jake that his fellow dragons should be outfitted with transponders. They didn't need near misses in the airspace they all shared. That venue was busy enough with regular planes let alone Enforcer patrols by jet and chopper...then you throw in the dragons and you'd have a real mess.
To make things even more chaotic, when Feral revealed himself, his Enforcers were going to be distracted and upset giving the other omegas, still on the loose, a perfect opening to attack the city. Yeah, things were about to become even more unsettled than they were already.
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Commander Feral still couldn't bring himself to reveal his dragon identity to his Enforcers and the world. It made his fur rise and skin tighten with fear and nerves every time he thought about it.
More than three weeks had past since a large number of the dragon community had revealed their Kat identities to each other. Though his mentor said he was being given time to adjust before being introduced to the community, he didn't believe he would ever be able to do what Adair asked of him.
However, when the two of them met in what was becoming their special place, Adair had made it abundantly clear that even though there was no time limit for him on revealing, that didn't mean he could let this go on for months.
"As I told you before Ulysses, it won't get any easier the longer you wait. More of our dragon brethren will get brave enough to reveal and it might not look good for your reputation if you're still in the closet when that happens and the public begin reacting to their appearance then learn you're one too. Not good timing," he said, pointedly.
"What we need, is for you to be in the forefront. Having known you as someone with integrity and a vested interest in their safety, proven over years of dedication as their Chief Enforcer, it is hoped the public will find the changes not to difficult to accept. With luck, only the small, bigoted part of the population that hates any kind of change will be all we have to contend with. Though, I'm not fool enough to believe everything will be all brotherly and nice. I'm not prone to wishful thinking," he snorted ruefully.
"You got that right. There's already been some serious clashes, fortunately on a small scale but..."
"...it takes only one loud, charismatic, dissenter to really stir up the masses and force the fence sitters to pick a side...yes I know." Adair huffed out a sulfurous sigh of disgust at that truism.
"Even knowing all that, I still find it terrifying to reveal what I am," Feral admitted, ashamed he couldn't find the courage to do this very important thing.
The red dragon reached out a clawed finger and raised the hatchling's head up so those golden eyes were forced to stare into the ruby ones that showed only sympathy and understanding in their depths.
"I know, truly I do. You're not a coward, Ulysses, it's only the past that holds you back. You were treated so poorly during your formative years that you are now afraid to step out of your comfort zone that you created to protect yourself. We understand this, which is why all of us are being so patient with you. Ninety years cannot be erased in a few weeks, but I and the rest of the community will do all we can to help you past that, I promise."
Feral stared into those warm, understanding eyes and almost cried. It was so strange but wonderful to have someone who truly cared how he felt and didn't belittle or punish him because he was having difficulties. He rubbed his face against the elder's paw, begging for comfort.
Smiling gently, Adair obliged, pulling Feral close and scratching behind the hatchling's ears then between his horns eliciting a purr of pleasure and a sigh signifying how comfortable and safe the young one felt in his arms.
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Feral felt much better when he left for home a little later but still hesitant to reveal himself despite the very good reasons that he should do this and quickly... but courage was still lacking which was hilarious considering his bravery in the face of everything else he'd faced in his life up to now.
So he delayed and put off until an odd emergency that only dragons could solve forcefully shoved him out of the closet. And it had a silver lining as well, giving dragons another chance to show how integral they could be as part of the city's defense force. So Feral couldn't really complain later about being revealed in such an abrupt fashion.
The incident happened a week after his meeting with his mentor. Alarms went off at the Biochemical's huge storage plant on the edge of the city where their enormous chemical tanks were maintained. A high fence and adequate security protected the plant from intruders but it wasn't a security breach that turned out to be the culprit but a faulty valve.
Gases had built up in one of the tanks and the automatic release valve that would normally relieve the pressure had malfunctioned. The result was a massive explosion that shook the city, violently.
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"What the heck was that?" Chance asked as the ground suddenly rolled beneath his feet.
Before Jake could respond the sound of the explosion arrived seconds later.
"Whoa!" Jake exclaimed then rushed outside their garage and stared in the direction of the explosion where a huge plume of gas and smoke was rising into the sky.
"Crud! Isn't that where Biochemical has its tanks?" Chance shouted.
"Yes and we'd better scat and see if there's anything we can do to help...come on!" His friend said worriedly, turning away to run to the back of the garage.
Chance followed, pausing only long enough to put their 'out on a tow' sign out and close the doors.
Within minutes they were airborne and flying toward the toxic cloud that was already being pushed toward the city on swiftly prevailing winds.
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The monitoring system for the city, located in the heart of Enforcer Headquarters, had already been alerted, giving Feral and his Enforcers a heads up at the same time the ground shakes told them an explosion had occurred.
Scrambling a squadron, Feral was already on his way by chopper to the plant with the entirety of Alpha Chopper Squadron behind him. They hadn't needed to get that close to see the cloud heading toward them. Feral immediately ordered his troops to avoid and circle around the cloud until they knew what it was composed of for their safety.
As they passed over the plant, they could see that one of the huge tanks was actively on fire but the fire control team on site were already handling it. Feral signaled half his squadron to circle and monitor the gas cloud while the rest were to land with him. Once down, he leaped from the cockpit before the blades had even stopped spinning.
The plant manager and his head of security had seen them coming and ran to meet him halfway. Feral could see the plant workers not involved with the fire or repair needs, were watching from a safe distance. Things on the ground seemed to be well controlled.
"Any injuries or casualties?" He asked of the manager.
"No, we were lucky there. No one was near the tank when it blew but Commander, that cloud...it's toxic and if it doesn't change direction, it will drift over the city then sink to building level in thirty minutes then street level shortly after. It can and will either make people ill or kill them. It has to somehow be forced to veer away or be dispersed but I have no idea how we're going to do that. I strongly urge you have the Mayor declare a state of emergency and have people in the affected area evacuated until the gas disperses on its own."
Feral frowned as he stared upward and studied the path the cloud was taking. He shook his head, the winds were strong today and the cloud of toxic gas was moving fairly quickly toward the heart of the city. It would be nice to think the winds would just keep sweeping it further out to the bay but this city was never that lucky and waiting was definitely not a good idea. Unfortunately, evacuating the area affected wouldn't work either as there was no telling what part of the city the cloud would drift to and settle and besides, they just didn't have time.
No something else had to be done.
Frowning, he asked, "If this was on the ground, what would you have done to be rid of it?"
"Would have used flame throwers to burn it off quicker but since that's not the case, we have no way to generate enough flames safely enough to do that in the air," the manager said, shaking his head. "Besides, even if we did have some kind of weapon or device that could do it, the size of the cloud would mean a really big fire and that's too big to keep contained and prevent it from setting nearby buildings aflame."
"I understand. Just one more question...there's no chance of it igniting into a fireball when flamed?"
The manager could only gape at the Commander as if the tom had lost his mind. But he could see Feral was dead serious. "I don't know what you're thinking, but, no, it won't ignite, just burn off safely. What the heck do you..."
But Feral was already hurrying away toward his chopper while pulling out his communicator, the special one Razor had given him for private conversations with his mentor. His solution had to be presented to the only one who could tell him if his idea was even feasible.
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Flicking the communicator on, Feral waited for a response from its mate above him.
Razor pulled the buzzing communicator from his pocket, surprise on his face as he flicked it on. "Yes?"
"Sir, I have an idea on how to clear the gas which is toxic and, though moving fairly quickly from the winds, there's no guarantee it will move past the city. There's every possibility it could pause and sink to building level where it poses a deadly threat to the public. There's simply no time to evacuate people especially if we don't know where it might drop down."
T-Bone was startled by the way Feral addressed Razor then realized instantly that the tom was calling his mentor, not the SWAT Kat persona Razor wore, and had made that clear by his form of address.
Razor was surprised by contact as well, but answered quickly, "You have an idea...I'm listening." Feral explained his proposal. His mentor was silent for a long moment before saying, "Excellent solution and one we can do, however, the problem is two-fold...reaching enough dragons and praying they have enough courage to respond to our plea."
"Yes, sir...I understand. For the first problem...we can have our plea broadcasted by the news chopper that just arrived. The second problem will just have to solve itself."
Razor glanced out their window, sure enough, away from the cloud of gas but near enough to get it on camera, flew the Kat's Eye News chopper. "Agreed! Go for it and since it's your suggestion it will have to be you that makes the plea."
Swallowing down his fear Feral said, tightly, "Understood, sir!" He pocketed his communicator and headed for his chopper. Climbing aboard, he engaged the radio, calling the dispatcher. He ordered an open frequency that got him connected with the news crews chopper pilot who, in turn, connected him with Ann Gora.
"Yes, Commander?" She shouted, the noise of her chopper nearly drowning her out.
"Ann, I need your help to stop that cloud from reaching the city. It's very toxic and can kill. There's no time to evacuate those in its path so we need to do the next best thing."
"What would that be?"
"A call to dragons. They can burn the cloud off. On the authority of an elder dragon, I have been given permission to do this but I need your help to call them."
"Wow! You got it, Commander. Be down to meet you in a few minutes..." she paused to call to the pilot, Al, over her radio and ordered him to land then turned back to Feral to say, "...were coming down now."
"Copy that!" Feral put his radio away and climbed out of his chopper.
The news chopper came in quickly and landed not far from his own bird, shutting its engines down. Ann and her camerakat climbed out and hurried to his side.
As she reached him, she asked, "Are you sure you'll be able to convince them to answer your call, Commander. They still seem too fearful about revealing themselves and why would they have any reason to listen to anything you have to say?"
Feral felt his heart stutter with fear and looked away to give himself time to gather his courage. His eyes fell on the cloud...it seemed to be moving faster and getting lower to the ground ... time was running out. What he had to do next was the hardest thing in his life.
Butterflies swarmed his stomach but he turned resolutely back to Ann and her camera. Now or never. "Begin the broadcast, Ann. They'll listen to me," he said firmly.
Eyeing him closely a moment, Ann came to a decision. Nodding at her camera Kat, she said, "Alright Jonny let's do this. On my mark, one...two...three...this is Ann Gora from Kat's Eye News at the scene of the explosion that occurred at the Biochemical plant outside town. A toxic cloud of gas is moving quickly toward the city but Commander Feral has a plan to deal with it before anyone can come to harm. To do this he needs all dragons within the sound of my voice to listen to his message." She paused and turned to Feral while making a cutting motion to Jonny to halt the transmission for a moment. The tom nodded then turned his camera to focus on Feral...waiting for the signal to resume filming.
Ann held out her mike to Feral but he waved her off. "You'd best stand back a bit Ann, then hold the mike upward. You'll see why in a second."
Ann looked confused only a moment when, in the blink of an eye, Feral went from the imposing dark tom in the Commander's uniform to a huge golden dragon.
Lowering his head, Feral eyed her with his beautiful golden jeweled eyes and said, "Sorry about that but there's really little time to explain things now. Are you ready?"
"Huh? Oh yes, Commander... uh...go ahead," the normally unflappable Ann blurted, holding the mike upward and signaling Jonny to resume broadcasting.
"Attention my fellow dragons. This is Commander Feral. We desperately need your assistance to burn off the toxic gas cloud before it can lower to the ground and harm people. We have less than thirty minutes before it reaches the heart of the city. I and Adair beg you to drop your fear and come to our aid. Please hurry and, for your safety, avoid flying into it. We'll be waiting. Thank you!" Feral nodded his huge head at Ann that he was done.
She stepped back a bit and signaled Jonny to cut the feed again then stared up at Feral with stunned eyes. "Isn't Adair the red dragon who first revealed himself in the science magazine?"
"Yes, he's an elder dragon and he's nearby waiting for me. I just hope others answer our plea. Now excuse me, I have to get airborne."
"You owe me an interview, Commander," she shouted. He just nodded as he leaped into the air, down thrusting with his wings, nearly knocking both Kats over as he grabbed air and headed upward.
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"Wow! He did it! He actually did it!" T-Bone said, amazed and pleased. The Turbokat had been hovering above watching and had seen Feral change before the cameras.
"Yeah he certainly did. I'm very proud of him but I'm willing to bet his butterflies have butterflies," Razor chuckled. "I'd better go join him, buddy. Go hide in the clouds so I can get off without being seen by the Enforcers."
"Roger." When he'd flown the jet into a nice thick, cloud bank, T-Bone called over his headset, "Be careful out there, sureshot."
"I will! Take station keeping and don't get too close."
"Copy that!"
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Razor bailed out the side door and changed his form in free fall. He'd just gotten his wings going when Feral soared up to meet him. "I'm very proud of you, my little hatchling," he said warmly when Feral drew close enough to hear him.
Feral ducked his head and blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, sir." He smiled shyly before turning serious again. "Will any come? We're running out of time." His gaze went to the cloud which was alarmingly closer to the city now.
"Yes...at least the ones who helped before...as for the others...we'll just have to wait and see." Adair sighed. He hoped they were in time and that enough showed up.