Chapter 28: Tragedy
While Feral was preparing to head off toward the situation at the mint, his mate was doing a test run with the Turbokat in the desert. Chance had the day off and Jake wanted him to test the upgrades he'd made on the jet's engines.
They'd just finished a successful pass through the canyons and Razor was pleased with the performance of the new engines when he picked up the urgent call on the enforcer band.
Normally they wouldn't respond since the enforcers were capable of taking care of such things lately, however today was a different matter.
"Do you mind if we go catch that call and hang about, buddy?" T-Bone asked.
"Why? This is a hostage situation and we're not good in that type of thing anyway. Our presence could actually be a detriment," Razor said, surprised T-Bone even asked.
"Uh, well, Uly wasn't feeling so good this morning and I'm getting some not so great vibes through our bond. I'd just feel better if I was closer to him. Didn't you say you heard he was going on this call?" His partner clarified, his voice worried.
"Yeah, he is. Something going on with his pregnancy?" Razor asked in concern.
"Maybe...I don't really know but something about him isn't right."
"Okay, I can understand your worry and we're finished here anyway, so go ahead but be sure to stay high up so we're not seen, okay?"
"Got it!" T-Bone said in relief, as he turned the jet and sent it hurrying toward the mint.
At the mint, Officer Drake and his partner were part of the enforcer squad and guards that were keeping the criminals bottled up. They had heard over their radios that Feral and the SWAT team were on their way.
Drake shifted uneasily as his sensitive ears picked up the crying of some of the hostages, it made him tense and he had to consciously hold his energy in when he wanted to just blast the door separating them from the frightened kats.
His partner seemed to sense this when he put a careful paw on Drake's shoulder and said, "Easy Tommy, I know you want to get in there really bad but you won't be helping anyone if you lose control."
"I know! I just wish SWAT would get here already," Drake hissed tightly.
Just then an influx of heavily armored officers poured in the doors behind them. SWAT was here. Sighing in relief, Drake and his partner pulled back and let the experienced team move into their place. As they moved back to the door the team had come through, they were met by Commander Feral who stayed out of view, letting his team handle things.
He asked for a report and Drake's partner, Shaw quickly relayed what had occurred with Drake adding in his part of it. He nodded and told them to stand by. They stepped outside and waited. Meanwhile, Feral's second, Steele, immediately set about insuring a perimeter had been created then returned to the Commander's side to wait for the tense situation to be resolved.
On the SWAT team were two Sabrens. While the negotiator had the crooks attention they utilized their natural abilities to get close and incapacitate the small group of criminals with their energy bursts. The hostage situation ended quickly, with no casualties.
Feral sighed in relief as the unconscious criminals were unceremoniously hauled out and thrown into a prison van and the hostages were being treated by the medics. All that was left was to do a report on the incident and get the clean up started. He decided Steele could handle that and turned to tell him when a wave of severe nausea struck him.
He turned to throw up in a nearby trash barrel. Steele's attention snapped away from the activity in front of him to the sick commander just behind him. He raised his radio to call for medical assistance while standing protectively close to the ill tom. Sgt Fallon offered support to the still heaving Sabren.
Drake and his partner Shaw had been standing nearby waiting to be allowed into the mint to help clean things up when Drake heard the sound of retching, turning to look behind him, he was shocked to see it was the Commander. Extremely concerned, he and Shaw quicky formed a protective ring around the Commander.
Drake, however, began to feel something more was going on and leaned closer to Feral and sniffed. A look of shock crossed his face as his nose picked up the scent of fresh blood besides the one of vomit. His heart stuttered. "Lt. Commander Steele, sir...the Commander is bleeding somewhere!" He said urgently.
Steele looked over at the officer in surprise then recognized the young Sabren he had helped.
"He's bleeding? But he wasn't hit by anything...why would he be bleeding?" He asked in confusion.
"Is he pregnant, sir?" Drake asked hurriedly pushing Sgt Fallon to one side so he could wrap his arms around the tom.
"Uh, yes he is...but..."
"Then he may be miscarrying!" Drake cut the lieutenant commander off as he began to pour energy into the ailing tom.
"Oh no!" Steele blurted in horror. "I've already called for medical assistance!" He added quickly then sighed in relief when he saw them arriving at a run.
The paramedics were all over the Commander instantly. One spoke to the ill Sabren in a low voice but it didn't appear Feral was able to answer. The other was already calling for a gurney.
At that moment, the huge Sabren gave a thick moan, eyes rolled up and his body began to slip to the ground as he lost consciousness. But the paramedic and Drake prevented him falling and laid the huge tom down slowly until he was laying on a blanket Shaw threw down.
Drake kept his hold on Feral and began to pour energy into his prone body. "The Commander may be hemmorging from a possible miscarriage. I can smell fresh blood! Our kind can keep from bleeding to death if others of us keep pouring energy into him to bolster his own system. I need more Sabrens asap to help me do this!" He shouted to the group around him
The paramedics stared at him in consternation. One raised his radio to start to call for assistance when Steele cut in and said he had Sabrens nearby and spoke into his own radio and issued and urgent call for any and all Sabrens to report immediately for a medical emergency at his location. He got multiple acknowledgments.
While they waited for the Sabrens to arrive, the paramedics quickly checked the Commander for bleeding and were dismayed to find a thick clot of it staining the tom's coat and pants. They quickly began IVs of ringers and blood plasma to try and keep ahead of the blood loss.
Sabrens began appearing, taking in the problem as a glance and quickly joining Drake in touching the Commander and pouring energy into the body. Everyone else moved away to give them room except for the two paramedics.
"Shaw!" Drake shouted.
"I'm here buddy!" Shaw called back from his place behind the sudden circle of Sabrens kneeling on the ground.
"I need you to get a hold of Nick for me. I'm going to need him to mate when I've finished aiding the commander. I guess I'm going to have to take my mate after all," he said glumly.
"I'm sorry Tommy. I'll call him immediately. Where do you want him to meet you?" He asked.
Drake frowned as he tried to think, there was so much commotion going on around them. "Have him meet me at the Energy Dumping Room at the plant," he finally said.
"Roger!" Shaw said, moving off so he could talk and be heard over his phone as he put in a call to Nick Shadwell.
Meanwhile, the medics were having a fierce discussion. There was a problem of transporting the sick Sabren when so many others had to remain around him.
The moment Feral lost unconsciousness, the Turbokat hovering above nearly dropped out of the sky as T-Bone lost control of the stick when he felt his mate shut down.
"Ulysses!" He screamed in anguished fear.
Razor yelped in shock and quickly regained control of the jet with his auxiliary controls. He realized immediately that something very serious had happened to Feral and he needed to get his partner on the ground as fast as possible.
"This is the SWAT Kats. The Commander is down and his mate must get to him. Clear us a path to land asap!" He broadcasted over an open frequency hoping someone down there heard him.
As everyone was preoccupied with the criminals, hostages, and the Commander, it was Sgt Fallon who heard the call and quickly ran down the street to clear an area for the jet. He'd just succeeded in making a large space on this side of the police barrier when the huge black jet came rushing toward the ground.
Razor landed the jet quickly then reached out and shook his partner hard. T-Bone gasped and trembled but managed to close his link enough to function. He noticed they were on the ground and wasted no time jumping out and running toward where he could sense his mate.
The medics, meanwhile, had gotten the Commander off the ground and onto a gurney. They were still trying to find a way to transport when T-Bone ran to their side. Nearly sobbing with fear, he pushed his way forcefully toward his mate's head. The Sabren's on either side sensed this was the Commander's mate and made room for him instantly.
"Uly, love..." He called anxiously, opening his bond enough to try and reach his mate.
"I'm sorry to tell you but he miscarrying?" Came a sad voice from nearby.
T-Bone looked up and stared in disbelief at the stranger speaking to him. He realized this was another Sabren, an enforcer at that. "How do you know?" He choked angrily.
Drake looked grim and sorrowful, "I smell blood, lots of it."
"Oh God!" T-Bone moaned. "He said he didn't feel very well this morning!"
One of the medics interrupted them urgently, "We were going to take him to the Sabren Hospital but we have no way to transport everyone here who has to remain connected to him."
T-Bone looked around and noticed for the first time that Uly was surrounded by about five Sabrens, all with their paws firmly pressed on his mate's body and pouring energy into it.
"The Turbokat can take all of us. Let's go!" He said immediately.
Razor had been hovering nearby and heard what was going on. He turned and ran back to the jet to get the cargo hold open. Behind him the medics and Sabrens surrounding the gurney hurried as fast as they could to roll the bed to the jet.
Reaching the Turbokat, they rolled the gurney aboard. T-Bone ensured the gurney was latched into floor cleats on the cargo floor to hold it still. Unfortunately, everyone else had to stay standing for the trip. Closing the cargo door, Razor knew he would be the one flying them to the hospital as T-Bone was staying glued to his mate for the trip. He quickly but carefully sent the jet skyward then switched to forward motion and flew to the hospital on the far side of the city.
During the flight, Feral regained consciousness. His eyes seemed to be looking for something. T-Bone immediately leaned over and nuzzled his face.
"Oh love, don't leave me, fight...hold on..." T-Bone begged, his voice choked with fear.
"T-Bone," Feral croaked weakly.
"I'm here love, we're going to get you to the hospital just hold on," T-Bone begged him desperately, continuing to rub his face against his mates to comfort him.
Drake watched the pair in awe. 'So this is what being mated truly meant between a loving couple,' he thought, feeling less upset about his impending mating when this emergency was over.
Despite wanting to fly as fast as the jet was capable, Razor knew Feral wouldn't tolerate the g's in his condition nor could the standing crew be able to keep their footing, so was forced to go at a moderate rate of speed, still he managed to get them there in under fifteen minutes.
"Razor calling Sabren Emergency Control!"
"Emergency Control here! What is the nature of your emergency Razor?" A brisk, professional voice requested.
"Commander Feral is apparently miscarrying and bleeding out. His mate is with him as are medics and five other Sabrens attempting to keep him stable. Will be landing on your pad in five minutes!" Razor relayed rapidly.
"Message received! Will be ready for you as soon as you land!"
"Roger, out!"
Five minutes later, he took the jet to VTOL and landed on the hospital chopper pad and immediately opened the cargo door. A medical team rushed out and quickly boarded. They squeezed out the paramedics and assessed Feral's condition, then hurriedly made the group surrounding the gurney to move quickly to the ER at a near run.
Inside, despite all the paws on his body, the medical team efficiently stripped the tom of his clothes, inserted lines for meds to go with the IVs and blood he was already receiving, took a history from T-Bone then when Feral was stable, told the Sabrens to desist their energy pouring.
The Sabrens gratefully pulled away as one and allowed the doctors to roll Feral off to surgery.
Glowing like so many small suns, the Sabrens came out of the trauma bay.
Knowing the Sabrens were going to need their mates, Sgt Fallon who had slipped aboard the jet when Feral was loaded per Lt. Commander Steele's order, now gathered the enforcers to him, got their mate's locations and requested aid from Razor to transport them.
No longer needed and knowing he would have to wait for any news on Feral, Razor readily agreed and lead the group out to the jet. In very little time, he had the jet in the air and was on the radio with Sgt Fallon who gave him each location. It took over an hour to delivery everyone, the last stop was at the Energy Plant to leave Officer Drake.
"I'm sorry you were forced to mate under such circumstances," Sgt Fallon said sympathetically on the ride to the plant.
"It's alright, sir. It was for a good cause and I truly hope Commander Feral recovers quickly though losing his kitten will cause him and his mate a great deal of grief," Drake said sadly.
"You're right about that and he's going to be gone from duty again. Anyway, take as much time as you need. I've already gotten prior authorization from Lt. Commander Steele on that. I'll inform your CO as well. Congrats on your new mating!" Fallon told him warmly.
"Thanks, sir," Drake said then waved as he was off loaded at the plant and ran off to greet Nick who was waiting for him.
"We're clear, Razor!" Fallon called through the radio. "Would you drop me back at the scene, please?"
"Sure, no problem!" Razor responded, closing the cargo door and lifting off once more, heading back to the mint.
On arrival, they could see Steele was still on the scene but much of the mess was already clean up and the crowds were gone finally. Razor could no longer land on the street so opted to put down on a rooftop with stair access so Fallon could go down to the street. Once his passenger was off loaded, he flew back to the Sabren Hospital to wait and hope Feral made it through this dangerous trauma.