At ten precisely, the Captain of the Wotan appeared at the Mayor's office with Kam. Callie was standing next to the Mayor's desk as Kam made the introductions.
"Thank you for meeting with me, sir," Captain Ing said pleasantly as he shook the short, pudgy Kat's paw.
"It was my pleasure, Captain. Please have a seat and we'll begin our discussion," Manx said, excited about this meeting.
Callie and Kam slipped from the room as the two leaders began talking about how to approach the United Nation's members.
"I'll be returning to Enforcer Headquarters now, Ms. Briggs," Kam told her. "Please give me a call on Commander Feral's cell phone to let me know to return."
"Certainly," Callie said politely then returned to her desk full of work while Kam turned and left. She hoped to get a great deal of it done before she left this afternoon.
Time seemed to pass far too swiftly as far as Callie was concerned. She just didn't see how she was going to get ahead but persevered, head down, mind focused. She had so focused on her work that she never noticed her friend, Abi Sinian, show up until the she-kat gently touch her on the shoulder. Her head flew up and she gasped, staring in confusion at her friend.
"Ohh, I'm sorry, Callie," Abi apologized.
"Oh...it's alright...must have been really focused to have missed hearing you come in. Have a seat...want some coffee?" Callie asked, smiling wanly at her friend.
"No...thanks...had my hit for the day. I'll just work on this report while I'm here. You just go on with your own work," Abi assured her, smiling warmly, then grimaced when she took in the totally covered work space. "Your desk looks worse than mine."
"Humph, that's what running the city gets you...reams of paperwork that never ends," Callie sighed then got back to work.
Abi just shook her head in commiseration then took one of the comfortable chairs in front of Callie's desk and set to working on her own project.
The room went quiet as they both worked. Another hour and a half later, the door to the Mayor's office opened. Callie looked up and sighed as she set aside yet another report she'd completed and picked up the phone to call for the Captain's ride. Kam responded quickly and said he'd be there in ten minutes. .
Mayor Manx eyed her questioningly having heard her on the phone.
"Your ride will be here in about ten minutes Captain Ing," she told the ship's captain, answering the Mayor's look.
"Thank you, Ms. Briggs. Please, continue to work. I know how busy you are and that this break will disrupt a great deal of it. I don't need entertaining and will wait here by the window so I can study your city's amazing skyline," he said, smiling congenially at her before moving to the window.
She returned his smile, already liking this alien visitor. He was very astute to have noted her importance in the scheme of things here and let her know he understood her position, wanting to ease things for her as much as he could. His thoughtfulness eased her trepidation on the coming trip to his ship. She had a feeling they would get along very well. More at ease, she returned to her work.
Manx looked a little surprised by the Captain's attitude but brushed it off as not important and went to the wolf's side to point out certain landmarks and talk golf while they drank coffee.
Because of Captain's understanding, Callie was able to get two very important reports completed and ready for the typing pool and finished a speech for the Mayor which she handed to him just as Kam arrived.
Manx shook Captain Ing's paw in farewell. "Have a good day, sir. I hope to get an appointment with the President of the United Nations quickly. I'd like to get this moving as soon as possible."
"As would I, Mayor Manx. Until we meet again, be safe and happy," Captain Ing said using his species' words of farewell."
That made Manx smile more warmly, "you too, sir. It's been a pleasure meeting you."
That surprised Callie because to her ears it sounded like the Mayor actually meant that rather than just paying political lip service. It was obvious Captain Ing had struck a major chord with Manx. The two shook paws again then the Captain looked toward Callie.
"If you're ready Ms. Briggs?" He asked politely.
"Yes, of course, just let me put these..." holding an armload of files, "...to my secretary then I'll get my purse and we can go," Callie said then made for her secretary's desk and dropped the files in the in-basket before turning around and returning to her desk to pull out her purse from the bottom drawer. Dr. Sinian halted her before she could head for the door.
"Can I leave this here, Callie?" She asked waving the work she'd been busy with while they waited. "I don't want this report with me."
"Oh certainly, here..." Callie said, taking the file and placing it in her center drawer for safekeeping then the two of them followed the males out into the hall and walked to the elevator.
"By the way, Captain, this is my friend Dr. Abi Sinian. She's an archaeologist and curator the Megakat Natural History Museum. She volunteered to be with me during this examination," Callie introduced them.
"Ah yes, Tara told me about you doctor. I'm pleased to meet you in person," Captain Ing said shaking the she-kat's paw.
"Likewise, sir. I truly enjoyed working with Tara and hated losing her," Abi said warmly, liking his handshake...it was firm but not too firm. 'He's a rather handsome and distinguished looking wolf," she thought, admiringly.
They caught a down car and got on...the ride was quiet, no one willing to speak at the moment. Callie was nervous about the coming trip and tests but was hiding it well. Soon they were walking across the lobby of city hall and down the steps to Feral's hummer. No one really looked at them though there were a few that were confused by the Captain's attire but dismissed it.
Even though the public had been told Dark Kat was dead and that a race of friendly visitor's had been the reason, no pictures of them had been disseminated yet. So the people that saw the wolves simply dismissed them as Kantins which made moving among them easier for the visitors.
Captain Ing preferred it that way since he didn't want to expose his people to the populace until his meeting with the United Nation's members. Their answer would decide what he would allow next. If it was a negative response, they would leave just as quietly as they had arrived. A positive answer would be a media event and many would get to meet the crew as the Captain would allow them to take shore leave and cement relations with the fledgling members of the Galactic Alliance.
Reaching their ride, the Captain and Kam politely saw the females into their seats in the back then Kam took the driver's seat while Captain Ing rode shotgun.
As they began to drive off, Callie broke the silence. "I heard you use a shuttle type craft to travel to and from your ship, Captain, is that correct?" Callie asked, making conversation.
Captain Ing turned his head to answer. "That is correct Ms. Briggs. Have you ever been in space?" He asked politely.
"No, not even with the SWAT Kats. I'm kinda excited to see my world from out there," she admitted.
Ing smiled broadly. "I promise you, it is an awe inspiring sight. Your world is beautiful and I hope my people will be able to take shore leave soon. Our last mission was very bad and we are tired in body and spirit."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I hope the last of the omegas can be dealt with soon though I have to admit you could probably visit now if you wished because the two worst omegas are gone. The rest are a problem, don't get me wrong, but they are in no way in the same class as Dark Kat and Dr. Viper. Only the Pastmaster and Mad Kat were of any real threat and Mad Kat is back in his box and his host, Lenny Ringtail, is back in the insane asylum," she said.
Captain Ing blinked in surprise. "This is the first time I've heard of this other omega, Ms. Briggs. Might I ask what precautions have been made to prevent this creature in a box to be used by someone else?" He asked in concern.
Callie frowned. "Well, I know the box is locked up in the evidence locker at Enforcer Headquarters. I don't know if it's possible for anyone else to use it," she said slowly, thinking about that. "I don't think it ever occurred to us. Perhaps I should mention the possibility to Commander Feral but since we're not versed in magic, I'm not sure what he could do about it."
"Yet another reason for your world to have a magic user, Ms. Briggs," Kam interjected quietly.
Captain Ing gave his officer a piercing look that told Kam, he should look into this at his first opportunity. Kam gave an almost imperceptible nod that he understood the unspoken order.
"I hate to think what would happen if someone new was taken over by that demon in the box," Dr. Sinian spoke up. "I'm surprised it hasn't happened by now but I guess there isn't much traffic in the evidence locker...at least I hope that's the case. I'm ashamed to admit, I should have taken a closer look at the history of that thing and spoken to Mr. Katzmer. He owned it for a long time, I understand, and must know more about it."
Callie turned to stare at her in unhappy surprise. "You mean no one did? That's terrible! I can't believe no one followed up on it so we could prevent any further problems with it or be aware of what to do if it did escape again," she said worriedly. "Abi, you need to pursue this as soon as you can. I'll speak with Feral and request he give you access to the box and the report on the incident. You can ask him if he's even had anyone check on that thing's history."
Abi was nodding as Callie talked. "Good idea, Callie. I'll get right on it. It makes me shiver and not in a good way that this was missed."
"Well we've uncovered a problem before there was any serious repercussions, thankfully. I just hope there aren't any others we missed as well," she said frowning. Her mind went back to most of the omega incidents of the past to see if there was anything they failed to check thoroughly on. She didn't need them to come back and haunt them, that's when her mind lit on yet another possible problem.
"Oh dear! I wonder if anyone has followed up on Rex Shard?" She said aloud, remembering just how much damage that temporarily altered criminal had caused.
"Who?" Kam asked in surprise, really unhappy that more names were cropping up.
"He is a criminal who misused a new invention and managed to get himself altered into a great crystal monster. Everything he touched turned to crystal. The machine that did had been quickly changed to reverse the damage and returned Rex Shard to normal. However, no one knows if he retains any of the problem in his body. I think he was examined and given a clean bill of health but I can't be sure," Callie explained, unhappily.
Captain Ing shook his head and frowned. "Ms. Briggs, it seems you have quite a few incidents that should have been followed up on. But you are only one person and far too busy running the city to take on such a huge project. You need to delegate someone who can give this one hundred percent of their attention, be completely trustworthy, unbiased and with enough authority to get the answers you seek. They should also discover ways to permanently solve these serious concerns," Captain Ing advised, gently, speaking from experience.
Callie felt her face blush. Of course he was right. As Captain of a space ship with a fairly large crew and their families, she knew he would have had to learn the art of delegation and trust his people to get the job done as he would have wanted it.
Unfortunately, Callie was not in complete charge of the city even if she did the lion's share of the work. The Mayor was the voice of authority. She had asked for assistance many times but had been told firmly that money was tight. Suddenly, at that moment, she realized just how Feral felt being chronically cut off from sufficient support and funds. No wonder he was always so short tempered.
A feeling of angry frustration swept over her as she muttered bitterly, "I wish I could."
Those four little words told the Captain a lot about what life for this she kat was like as a public servant for this city. He heard a wealth of frustration, anger and exhaustion in her voice. Having met the Mayor, he could easily understand why. He wished he could help her in some way but this was where the non-interference rule played a major part.
"All you can do is your best, Ms. Briggs, and, perhaps, using some close friends you trust with this investigation could help where lack of funding couldn't. It's just a suggestion," he said carefully, offering the small bit of advice he dared to.
Callie blinked at that. 'Well why didn't I think of that!' She thought. "Thank you, sir. That's a good idea and one I should have thought of ages ago."
"You're just too close to the problem, Ms. Briggs," Ing said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Too true!" Callie said with a rueful smile, liking this leader more and more. She just knew he was very well loved, admired and respected by his crew, and showing it by giving him their total loyalty without questions.
She realized she had people who thought the same of her and they were the ones the Captain were talking about. Many of them had offered their paw on countless occasions when she was buried under work but she had been too concerned with security and not wanting to abuse those friendships so turned them down. She realized now she had unwittingly thrown away the help she so desperately needed. It was time to change that.
A welcome calmness settled over her as she went over in her mind the list of friends that would be perfect for this job.
Smiling to himself, Captain Ing could practically see the wheels turning in the she-kat's mind as she stared thoughtfully out the window. He hoped he had helped her enough. In his own mind, he was seriously concerned about the number of problems this city had endured. He hoped Callie could get a handle on it quickly before old problems made a reappearance.
Abi was frowning to herself. She turned her face to the window, as she ran over the many attacks the city had suffered for so many years. Captain Ing was right, they needed to have one person follow up on all these incidents. They needed to know if new problems were waiting to appear or if the any particular problem was truly solved in the first place.
She knew she had no time to do this but she could think of a few people that could do this and were trustworthy. She would check on them then present the one she thought would be the best choice to Callie. She knew she would have to pay for this person to work on the project but an inkling of an idea told her how she could go about it.
A smile graced her lips as her mind worked through the details of her plan. 'Oh yes, this could work nicely and all of it funded by the museum. Callie will be so relieved. I'll make sure to tell her at my first opportunity as soon as this business aboard the Wotan is concluded,' she thought, pleased she could be of help to her friend.