Genus walked into Enforcer Headquarters on his first day of work. He went to the desk sergeant and asked where to find the contractor's temporary offices and was directed to lower level him, Genus headed for the elevators.
Meanwhile, his team leader was arriving separately, some fifteen minutes after Genus, so they wouldn't been seen together. Kam made for the elevator bank straight away since he already knew Commander Feral's office was located on the top floor.
He received many a curious look as enforcers got on and off during his ascension upward. He kept a pleasant expression on his face but didn't look anyone in the eye so he was left alone. As long as he looked like he belonged there no one had a reason to question him. That was one of the many lessons the insertion teams had learned very well.
The doors opened to a fairly quiet floor that was nicely carpeted and had tasteful paintings on the walls. A small number of personnel moved briskly in and out of a few offices, administrative types, he was certain. He looked both ways for a moment then noted a large opening down the right hand corridor. Taking an educated guess that this was where he wanted to go, he walked toward it.
'Good guess!' He congratulated himself as he came upon a large waiting area with a receptionist. To the rear and one side of her desk was a big door with the words 'Chief Enforcer' engraved on it in gold lettering. Walking up to the receptionist desk, he waited politely for her to finish her phone call.
The pretty she-kat put the phone back in its cradle and looked up at him questioningly.
"Hello, I'm Kam Bonner, Mayor Manx asked me to see Commander Feral. He called ahead and spoke to the Commander about me because he wanted me to get to the business we discussed, immediately, so here I am." He told her.
His team had come up with his last name. Donar had wanted to make it 'Boner' sending everyone into gales of laughter. Kam didn't think it would go over well with the Kats he had to deal with so they added an extra 'n'.
The receptionist blinked at him in surprise. "I've not been told about this. If you'll just wait a moment, I'll speak with the Commander." She said reaching for her intercom.
"Of course."
"Commander?...I have a visitor here who says Mayor Manx has sent him to see you? His name is Kam Bonner."
Kam listened as a very deep voice rumbled a rather unhappy answer. That attitude surprised him and added to the mystery of the Mayor's warning about the Commander probably not liking what he had to say on improving security
"Yes sir!" The she-kat said briskly. She smiled at Kam and told him to go on in. He nodded his thanks and went to the heavy door.
He pushed it open and entered an incredibly spacious office. Gleaming white tile covered the floor, a few potted plants were here and there as well as a comfortable couch and coffee table to the right against the wall, a small door was further down the wall (probably a bathroom) but what was right in front of him was very impressive.
On a two-step pedestal was a huge desk and behind it was a very powerful looking tom. He'd seen Feral's image on their scanner but it just didn't capture the true presence of the tom before him. A ripple of heat raced through his body, making Kam's pulse gallop when those gold eyes looked up and stared at him. 'Gods of my ancestors! He's hot!' He thought in stunned surprise.
He had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent the howl he wanted to bay out. He shoved the distracting sensation away, to be studied later, and walked up to the tom's desk. To the right of the desk and behind was a wall of windows. He bet the view was spectacular.
"Hello sir, I'm Kam Bonner." He said amiably, ignoring the rather grim expression on the tom's face.
Staring at the powerful looking Kantin, Feral felt a sudden heat in his most nether regions. That had startled him at first, causing him to simply stare rather than respond to the male's greeting. Mentally, he shook himself and got up from his seat.
'Was that a flash of heat in the eyes of the Kantin?' He thought with a gulp, nearly pausing in midstep but forcing himself to move smoothly forward.
"Yes, the Mayor told me you would be coming over." He managed to say, reaching to shake the proffered paw that was the same size as his own.
Their paws grasped in a firm handshake and sparks of fire raced up their arms but they both managed to pretend they hadn't felt anything and held onto polite smiles, hiding their stunned reactions from each other.
Turning away from the Kantin and making for his wall of windows, Feral desperately tried to get himself under control. The male made him feel hot and needy. He'd never felt such an immediate, intense desire for a complete stranger before.
Kam was having similar difficulties. He'd never experienced such an intense attraction to another since signing onto the Wotan. It was disconcerting as well as very distracting. As he walked up behind the tom, his eyes were riveted to the rather nervous swishing tail. 'So he's just as affected. Well now, that has possibilities.' He thought to himself.
He moved to the side and didn't stand too close to the tom, giving them both breathing space, as he looked out the windows as well. He'd been right, it was an incredible view.
"Wow! Nice view from up here!" He rumbled admiringly.
"It is. Mayor Manx wishes you to discuss how the Enforcers might be able to improve our security methods." Feral said, rather tightly.
'Ohh, touchy subject. Must be careful.' Kam warned himself. "Well, he thought our company might help you finally take down those dangerous omegas once and for all. We've studied your problem and part of it, of course, is your severe lack of funding from your council." He said, trying to show sympathy for Feral's untenable position and one they had uncovered in their research of the city's workings.
He found it reprehensible for a city plagued by such problems to fail to fund the very military that was supposed to keep them safe. He didn't doubt Feral was constantly frustrated in trying to do his job with nearly nothing but inadequate equipment and outdated training.
A growl of discontent escaped the tom at his side but he didn't voice what he really thought about the situation. In that, he was a good politician who knew the writing on the wall and didn't try to point blame by airing his true feelings to strangers.
"We do our best with what we have. Our city is still standing."
Kam could appreciate Feral's attitude but it didn't change the facts of the matter. "Yes, you certainly do but unfortunately, your omegas manage to return and repeat their attempts over and over again. You've been fighting a defensive war for a very long time. Why not go on the offense?" He asked carefully.
Feral grit his teeth. This Kantin knew their situation all too well for an outsider. He was either extremely good at his job or he was working for the very ones they fought against. He truly hoped it wasn't the latter. For reasons he didn't want to examine too closely, he would hate to have to arrest this very charismatic Kantin.
"For the same reasons you already gave." He admitted unwillingly. "And because the laws don't permit killing a criminal without a trial."
"Admirable and exactly what makes this city so civilized. So, what has to be done is to find a quicker method of capturing this omegas and a much tighter, escape proof method of holding them." Kam said firmly.
Feral turned his head toward Kam and frowned. The Kantin grinned and suggested they sit down and he'd lay out what he and his company could do for the enforcers.
Intrigued, Feral walked to the couch followed by Kam. Over the next hour, Kam laid out the ideas his team had come up with that might help the beleaguered defenders of this city.
At the west end of the city, another of his team was making their way to their new job. Tara walked into the Megakat Museum of Natural History, pausing long enough to ask directions to Dr. Abi Sinian's office, before finding the elevator and taking it up two floors to the research wing of the museum.
She found the beautiful she-kat in her library researching something, a big fat book of obvious age lay before her on a table. She was wearing special protective gloves to keep oils from her fingers from damaging the delicate ancient pages.
"Dr. Sinian? Hello, I'm Tara Genworth." Tara introduced herself when she had reached the side of the female.
"Oh, hello. So nice to meet you. Your credentials were exceptional." The doctor said, shaking Tara's paw warmly.
"Thank you! What are you working on?" Tara asked, genuinely interested.
Smiling at the Kantin, Abi was pleased her new assistant was willing to get down to business so quickly.
"I've had to set aside my desires to uncover the now buried anew Katchu Pichu site to one of studying how to stop that annoying and dangerous sorcerer, the Pastmaster. It was due to him the ruins were reburied. Years of work ruined in minutes." She huffed in annoyance. "So, I've been pouring through the tomes left by Queen Callista that concern magic, hoping to find something to ban him from ever coming to our time again." Sinian explained.
"An ambitious project, doctor and one I'd be honored to help you with. I've been fascinated by magic most of my adult life. Perhaps between the two of us, we'll find something." Tara said encouragingly.
Tara was relieved. She'd been afraid she would have had to try and convince the doctor to take on this study but here the doctor was already digging into the problem.
The team's mission was on how the omegas operated but Kam had added the proviso of actually aiding this city in its fight. They couldn't take action directly so they would help the Kats find a way themselves with just a little push from them and their advanced methods and technology.
This was not their normal modus operandi but they were beginning to really like this planet and the Captain had expressed a desire to see if it were possible to make this planet a galaxy-wide destination point. It would raise the planet's wealth and prestige as well as increase its technology and standard of life but first the omegas had to go before such a plan could be presented to the various governments.
"Why thank you Ms. Genworth. I'd really appreciate that." Dr. Sinian was saying, dragging Tara's attention back from her musing.
"Please, call me Tara." The alien requested, smiling back.
"Tara, then you must call me Abi. I find calling me doctor when we're going to be working so closely to be very standoffish." Abi said. "Now how about we get you started." She said briskly, heading for the sealed bookcase and retrieving a book.
"Alright, Abi it is." Tara agreed. "And I'd love to get started. Where are the gloves stored?" She asked.
"Oh, in the drawer at the table you're standing at." Abi said as she carried the book back to the table. "Here you go." She said with a smile, placing the book before Tara."
"Thank you."
Over the next several hours the pair worked in amiable silence, searching tome after tome and takng copious notes. They only broke for lunch and used the time to discuss what they'd found before going back to work. They studied many different books for hours. Dr. Sinian was very pleased with the sharpness and keen intellect of her new assistant. Her hopes of finding a way to stop the Pastmaster looked to be within her grasp with such excellent help.
Two days later...
"So how is everyone doing in their new positions?" Kam asked as they shared a pizza in their ship.
"I lucked out. Dr. Sinian was already researching Megakat City's ancient past to find a way to block the Pastmaster from ever returning to this time period. We studied a lot of information from a Queen Callista. She was the leader during the Pastmaster's most frequent appearance during the period of their history known as 'the dark ages', circa the fourteen hundreds. This Queen was conversant and skilled with magic. So we're heading in the right direction with her." Tara reported.
"I've been accepted easily by my new co-workers. Today we repaired electrical lines that handled the lift ramps for one squadron of jets. This put me in the right place to listen to some of the scuttlebutt from the fly guys. There's a lot of grumbling about losing to the SWAT Kats constantly when they go into battle, anger at their lack of good equipment and jets, and the frustration with their enemies escaping from poorly maintained prisons." Genus rumbled as he downed a container of soda that he was beginning to take a fancy to.
"The only problem I've been having is learning to get through the ridiculous traffic then dealing with rather nasty tempered security at each point. What I could get from them was they were tired of taking flack for failing to prevent their facilities from being broken into so easily. They are very dispirited about the constant attacks by these omegas." Donar reported, grabbing another pizza.
"Hmm, seems the complaint isn't restricted to just the enforcers." Kam commented with a deep sigh. He couldn't get out of his mind how hot the Chief Enforcer was. It made it hard to concentrate on the mission when he was close to the tantalizing tom. "Feral wasn't giving away secrets or ratting out his incompetent Mayor that has tied his paws effectively, instead he just keeps trying to do his job with that inadequate military hardware you mentioned Genus and getting royally humiliated by the SWAT Kats on a frequent basis. Though he won't come out and say it, he'd give almost anything but his integrity to take those omegas out permanently." Kam observed, chewing on his large sub sandwich contemplatively.
"Does he appear to be losing heart and depressed by this?" Tara questioned seriously.
Kam frowned. "He's not happy but I've only been around him a few days and I can't detect anything like that, though I'd be very much surprised that he isn't. He is just very good at hiding his emotions."
"Sounds like he's a lot like you." Tara said with a small smirk.
"We are...surprisingly. Though he was hostile about what he conceives as a direct criticism about his job by having me there giving him advice about how to secure his city better, at first. But I managed to pique his interest and he became more open to what I was saying. He hasn't accepted what I suggested as yet, but I'm hopeful he may come around soon." Kam remarked.
"Not that I want it to happen, but I hope these omegas make an appearance soon. We can't judge what we need to do to help them until we see how they handle themselves against these guys then we can tailor our assistance around that." Genus said thoughtfully.
Kam sighed. "I agree, meanwhile, it sounds like we've manage to infiltrate well without the natives catching onto us being a bit different. So, I'll report in to the Captain and I'll see the rest of you again in two days time unless something big comes up. Any questions...anything else we need to discuss or data you have to share?" Kam asked.
Heads shook.
"Right. See you guys in a few days." Kam said, dismissing them and going to his com console while his crew cleaned up and prepared to leave for their temporary new homes, except for Genus who would ride with Kam back to their shared apartment.