Chapter 28
"My King, we have some troubling news," Commander Cougara called into the Control Room from Lo-ta's house.
"More troubling than what we've already been dealing with?" Lion-O asked.
"On a scale of one to ten, ten," the cougar replied.
"Shit. What did you find?" The lion wanted to know.
"Well first we found the stolen Avian Plague vials and we also found the powder he mixed up to feed Che with. My guess is that he didn't make only one of those little packets," the cougar held up a container with a gloved hand. It was a large plastic tub which was labelled "lemonade".
"It gets worse. We found out that the bastard is nowhere to be found. Apparently when the quarantine alert went out, he didn't stay inside. The team at his office says that according to the other employees, they haven't seen him. I had my guys run a check on the liquids they found in the refrigerator and almost everything in there was contaminated. We've evacuated all the personnel to the hospital for an immediate checkup," Cougara continued.
"Sweet mother of Jaga. What was this Cat thinking?" Lion-O shook his head and placed it into his hands before running his hands through his hair.
"We found a manifesto. It's a long one. Thought the crime scene guys would want first crack at it," Cougara said.
"All right. I want an alert out to every team. I want his picture spread all over this planet and Third Earth. Tell people to not approach him. He could be armed besides having the virus on him. Lock everything down," Lion-O instructed.
"Yes sir," with that the call ended and the Lord of the ThunderCats slumped into the chair behind him.
"What should I do sir?" Punthar asked.
"Can we get a call into Mandora? This thing just got ten times worse," the lion said.
"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, Lord Tygra called while you were on with the Colonel. He needs you in the med bay," the puma told him.
"I'm on my way," the lion nodded. He exited the room and bumped into Cheetara out in the hallway.
"Good news?" She asked.
"Worse news. Our guy is in the wind and he tried to poison his coworkers with the same powder that killed Che," he shook his head.
"Great Jaga," she heaved a sigh.
"Any luck with the wife?" He asked.
"She's either completely in the dark or she's the best liar I've ever seen. Panthro and Lea haven't found anyone else on the list of people who had access with money transfers. We're still missing something," she pointed out.
"We need a deeper background check on Lo-ta. He could have a girlfriend or someone who knows what he's been up to and has been too afraid to say anything," the lion said. He then turned toward the med bay and Cheetara followed.
"I can get Panthro and Lea on it. What's up?" She asked, curious as to where he was going.
"Tygra needs to see me. I have a bad feeling about it too," he said. She frowned. Usually when Lion-O was needed in the med bay it wasn't a good sign. As King, he was required to be there if a ThunderCat or ThunderGuard soldier was dying and being given last rights. Only the King could free them from their earthly duties as it were by telling them that they had served their people well and it was now time to join their ancestors. Cheetara knew it and she swallowed hard.
"King Lion-O, I have Mandora on the line," Punthar paged overhead. Cheetara promised to handle the call and bring the Evil Chaser up to speed as the lion continued onto the med bay.
To Be Continued…